Favorite Source Port? (Multiple Choice Poll)

[HeyItsDuke]

I use Zandronum 3.0, mainly because my PC is a potato and most mods run near perfect on my PC with it. (EDIT: and also it has the best multiplayer in my opinion.)

Edited February 2, 2018 by V0idH0und : Because I wanted to. :)

[Nems]

11 hours ago, bonnie said:

 

am i getting punked

 

litetally one of the defining characteristics of zdoom ports is how difficult it is to set them up and use them compared to most ports

 

like the settings are a complete maze and most of the settings are difficult to understand and don't always have obvious immediate effects

 

i can only assume you're all joshin me

Considering you focused on just part of my and someone else's post to go on a tangent that looks (to me) like an attempt at shit-stirring, yes, you punked and joshed yourself.

[DoomedFox]

I use a mixture of source ports but if I really had to choose I would pick Crispy Doom, its the small visual details you can enable in the crispness settings that make me love it even more. 

[CorianderCastor]

I'm going to try not to be passive aggressive friends.¹ See I was thinking about Firestorm Viewer and a lot of the flack it gets. And how added features always lead to some headaches somewhere, the curse of progress as it were.

 

12 hours ago, bonnie said:

Yeah, pretty easy: as vanilla as possible and let the user choose from there.

So, we, as a community, have gotten past square v. rectangular pixels and opl v. gus v. native midi? And if we want to annal wouldn't 'vanilla' require no resolution higher than 320x240? 320x240 full screen as default is what should be then, no? Or would that be 320x200²? Not to mention the problems involving hardware and software limitations, but I digress.

 

12 hours ago, bonnie said:

watered-down meme version of Doom

Ahahahahaahahahahah!!!111!!1oneoneone

 

Okay personal history time to show where I'm coming from. In like 200X I wanted to play more by that company that made my favorite games I played on that 286 I destroyed: Commander Keen. And there was that GBC game, maybe that's why I can almost stomach it, too hard though. I mean that 286 also had Wolf, but I wouldn't like that for a while. I found Doom Legacy on the net, and shareware Doom.  Sometime after Doom 3 came out, and I had already played Quake 3 and Doom II on GBA, I got that collection of Doom minus Master Levels that did not have original executables. So I got to experience Doom 95 on a Windows ME. Fun. And that's why I hate squashy-squashy doom. So after playing 'vanillia³' I moved on to Doomsday, with 3D models and all that Quake 2 stuffs. (Techbases and memories of Doomsday, you'd think I'd like Quake 2 more than I do.) There was a brief stint with Risen3D, because the maps by Sitters and Abbs. Then I wanted multiplayer, since my siblings wouldn't play with me. So I found Player Connector where I quickly became a Skulltager. I still was when Zandronum was being born, which I quickly changed to. But then Doom Classic Complete on PS3 happened, and I fell in love again. After playing Batman Doom and the Raven games in Chocolate I noticed the vanilla mapping era, like BTSX and DTWID and DINO. And Thou shall not save, and Skillsaw's Boom maps made me want to try out a Boom descendant, because I was more of a purist then. So I tried both PrBoom and Eternity, and hated both, that I just went to ZDoom anyway, but that annoyed me too. Then Retro came out and I was like, I can play NRFTL chocolate-like, heck yes! Eventually I came around to Eternity, I think Vaporware helped a lot there. So I think if I spent more time with any source port I could love it, maybe even Legacy again. But for now, Eternity works for me for what I tend to play. GZDoom for maps that require it, or with tag 0 lifts. GlBoom+ as a demo player, since most demos are PrBoom+ nowadays. Chocolate when I feel like it. I need more time with Crispy and Delphi, and even 3DGE, SLaVE looks interesting. Oh that's a wall of text with minimal editing, I hope I didn't Willits it.

 

 

1. Shoot, not even a sentence in.

2. See above

3. I was a child dang it!

[Erick]

17 hours ago, bonnie said:

No, that's the point: they aren't. Like at all. It's might be obvious from the get-go that the default settings are somewhat of a problem to some users, which will alert them that perhaps the settings need to be tinkered with more, which of course leads to them getting lost in the poorly designed menus. Other users who don't realize this though...

 

You do realize that changing the controls and video settings are pretty much what everybody does when starting up a new game, I don't know about you but if menus titled "Customize Controls" or "Video Settings" are too hard to figure out well...

 

17 hours ago, bonnie said:

The point I'm making is that you shouldn't force some watered-down meme version of Doom on newcomers. Just let them play something vanilla like chocolate or DOS or something almost entirely vanilla with added features like Prboom+. Let them experience Doom the way it was when it was released, don't force your own way of playing on them because you think decals, low quality sound, and choppiness in a game from 1993 is more fun. Let them play true, authentic Doom in a user-friendly, customizable sourceport like Prboom+ (or fully vanilla with chocolate) and then let them branch out from there, unless they wanna play Brutal Doom first or something. If they play one level and hate it, so be it. At least that way they actually hate Doom, 1993 ID Software's release of Doom, bugs, quirks and all, and not just some vague resemblance of it.

Where is it in ZDoom ports that makes Doom some watered down "meme" game. If that were the case, ZDoom related ports would be shunned more than anything, but it isn't. And really, Doom is how you want to play it regardless of how "vanilla" the source port is, just so happens to be that ZDoom is the most recommended engine given the advanced features and how modding is often one of the things that entices people to try out Doom. That's also not to say some people won't try out other ports, some like using multiple source ports to spice things up in how they play Doom. I do like using PrBoom+ don't get me wrong, I just prefer ZDoom at the end of the day, but I won't criticize others on what port they use as long as they enjoy themselves.

[kb1]

On 2/1/2018 at 4:12 PM, bonnie said:

The cluttered, squished, poorly worded, and mostly undocumented scrolling menus.

Designing menus and other GUI elements in programs is *very* difficult to get right. The idea of what's "right" may be somewhat subjective, but there are some definite rules to follow.

 

On ZDoom's scrollable menus: They are scrollable, because ZDoom's menus can be dynamically modified/added to by mods. Making them scrollable resolves the issues that might occur with multiple mods all adding menu options. Non-scrollable menus would eventually run out of room without scrollability.

 

This thread should prove that people like to have choices. That's what you get when a port offers lots of options. Without those menu options, your choices are simply restricted. It's a small price to pay to be able to custom tailor your experience.

 

I'm sure some people don't understand video resolution, but is that a reason to remove the option from the menus? Of course not. I'm blown away by the idea that one could have too many options. Sure, it's possible to have cluttered menus, and poorly-organized option sets. But, even then, it doesn't take very long to become familiar with where each option can be found in each port's menu system. I'd rather have a cluttered refrigerator full of choices, than a clean cabinet full of Ramen noodles!

 

Granted, some options are worded poorly. Traditionally, for each option, you need room for a cursor, the description, and room for a Yes/No indicator, all on one row. The text font has to be chosen carefully to be big enough on high-res video modes, yet not too big on 320x200. This leaves only a small size for the description. So, many descriptions are abbreviated. There is a learning curve, as there are many obscure options. But, rest assured that if an option exists, it is desired by someone.

 

Cleaning up and decluttering option menus is a worthy project. But, it is a *lot* of work, with little return on investment. There's so many cool things to work on, that menus tend to become low priority, I would imagine.

[snapshot]

18 hours ago, bonnie said:

The point I'm making is that you shouldn't force some watered-down meme version of Doom on newcomers. Just let them play something vanilla like chocolate or DOS or something almost entirely vanilla with added features like Prboom+. Let them experience Doom the way it was when it was released, don't force your own way of playing on them because you think decals, low quality sound, and choppiness in a game from 1993 is more fun.

So Skulldash, BoA, Doom 64 Retribution and .... And ..... to you are nothing more than crap sound and decal replacements and memes ? OK.

[Danfun64]

On 1/31/2018 at 7:06 PM, _42_ said:

I use DOSBox.

 

I know...Wow! I am a weird person

Yeah, that is weird, especially considering how low the accuracy of DOSBox is. Have you tried something like PCem?

[Count651]

I pretty much only use zDoom software mode. Otherwise I use zandronum for multiplayer.

[hawkwind]

On 02/02/2018 at 1:51 AM, bzzrak said:

Almost all of them do use DOOMWADDIR. Dunno about PATH. So try setting that.

Except for Risen3D ofc because that one just has to be special in every regard and not be a playable port like everyone else is

Risen3D can indeed use DOOMWADDIR ...

 

This ... if you bothered to read ...

Risen3D/R3D_Docs/Launcher/r3d_launcher.htm

 

and it is very playable, but for you obviously not.

 

[129thVisplane]

My port of choice these days is GZDoom in software mode, but I've been growing fond of PrBoom+ lately as well. Especially so since I found out I can launch it through ZDL.

 

My favorite multiplayer port is of course ZDaemon, mostly because of Thursday Night Survival.

[BigDickBzzrak]

@hawkwind Please please please don't think I'm some sort of mean hater or whatever. Quite the opposite. I gave R3D an honest chance. I genuinely, really did try to get myself to like it, and make the first R3D-specific map (that wasn't made by someone from the dev team) in the last 10 years. I spent a lot of time reading every single TXT in the docs folder, studying R3D's peculiarities. But there were far too many for me, and I gave up.

 

Yeah, IIRC it does search for IWADs in DOOMWADDIR, but not for PWADs. All other ports (ZDoom, Chocolate, PrBoom+, heck, even Legacy) do. I believe I've PMd you about this thing once... you said you forwarded it to the main dev, but that you doubt he'll deem it necessary, or something. (I don't remember the exact response anymore, sorry)

Also about the launcher... the last time I checked, you couldn't change the directory where the launcher would keep its WADs, so, in order to have all your WADs in the launcher, you'd have to copy them all into the launcher directory inside the R3D directory. I think I've mentioned this as well in that PM, but not sure, memory's hazy.

[yakfak]

most of the best wads run perfectly fine in prboom+. the only time i wanna use gzdoom is along with a complete conversion or a brand new game ie Adventures of Square. playing gzdoom as if it were actually Doom just makes you feel like you're on drugs the whole time. those wall damage decals are glyphs of bullshit. it is *the other*. plus yr main dev believes most of the coolest engine exploits are bugs to be eradicated and spends his days trying to belittle good authors, actually making gzdoom the single worst doom engine in gaming history. thank you

[Grain of Salt]

5 hours ago, yakfak said:

playing gzdoom as if it were actually Doom

This single phrase is the best thing I've read on dw for ages. \o/

[bioshockfan90]

I suppose any thread discussing the differences of these sourceports and favorites are gonna cause some derailing. But I digress.

 

i gotta go with GZdoom here, 90% of the time. It's what I'm used to, is pretty simple to get up and running (don't hate me), and makes the game look pretty nice. Just a matter of tweaking a few lesser-known options (to be fair, that's one of the more annoying features of the port, I have to agree there) in order to get a pretty-close-to-vanilla experience.

 

 

Now when I'm playing something I know is gonna lag GZdoom out i.e slaughterWADs or am testing a Boom Format map, I'll use Prboom+. Can't say I'd use it for much of anything else due to it just feelin' kinda weird after so many years of using GZdoom, but I respect those that use it. That's my 2 cents on it. 

[Steve D]

After receiving some guidance, I was able to set-up Risen3D to be more like GZDoom. Setting Player Deceleration to 5 instead of 0 made the gliding problem go away, and as it turns out, the slip-slidey movement was the problem with autoaim, because I kept over-rotating. I couldn't compensate for the over-rotation because I'm a keyboarder, so whatever direction I'm pointing in is where I'm gonna shoot, and I was always a little bit off until I made this change.

 

Setting lighting to Torch mode put an end to the gradient light problem, though it does make the area outside the gradients darker than normal. It's kind of a cool effect, though.

 

I have determined that my current version of R3D, which is only a few months old, does not have the extra-high speed I encountered in older versions.

 

I've also got the kills/items/secret counter working on the automap. IMO, this and the Torch lighting should be defaults rather than options.

 

One nice thing about R3D is that when launched from ZDL, if you click in the "blank" section of the mapslot menu, it opens on the title screen, whereas GZDoom and the Boom Twins open in Map01. It's a nice feature.

 

So basically, R3D is now back in the list of ports that I'll use on a regular basis.

[Steve D]

One thing I forgot to mention before, is a problem I keep having in the Boom Twins.

 

In my experience, the Boom Twins are the worst ports for playing MOD files, and since I like to use MODs for my music, this is a big deal for me.

 

Specifically, the Boom Twins are much more likely to experience loop failures, i.e., instead of looping the song properly, they can get stuck endlessly looping an end section, or they can simply stop the song at the end and never loop, or they can stop, and then start a loop a minute or so later. This pretty much never happens in GZDoom or Risen3D, where the only problem I typically encounter is their inability to recognize .DBM files. The only way to work around the Boom Twins looping problem, for me, is to beg one of our musically-inclined Doomers to edit the loop points in a MOD file.

 

Yet another issue I encounter in the Boom Twins is normalizing volume between music formats in a mapset. So if I have a mix of MIDI, MOD and MP3, one format might be very loud -- typically, whatever is encountered first, and another can be very quiet, and the other can be somewhere in between. This issue is in GZDoom and R3D as well, but to a much lesser extent.

 

In fairness, Pr/GLBoom 2.5.1.4 does a much better job if you select PortMidi than 2.5.1.3 does. But it does require the mapper to insist on using that version of the Boom Twins and that specific player, raising the likelihood that many Doomers will not read that advice, or ignore it even if they do.

 

So if anyone here is a Boom Twins dev or knows one, this is an issue that can be addressed in future versions. Either that, or maybe I'm missing a setting or three like I did in Risen3D, so any help would be appreciated.

[hawkwind]

3 hours ago, Steve D said:

One nice thing about R3D is that when launched from ZDL, if you click in the "blank" section of the mapslot menu, it opens on the title screen, whereas GZDoom and the Boom Twins open in Map01. It's a nice feature.

Steve D, I know you are now aware of this but for other users, if you want the title screen using the Risen3D launcher, under the skills area, click the down button and select "Start game from New".

 

@bzzak - sorry of I came across a bit grumpy - put it down to "old age".

 

 

[NoCaloriePepsi]

My main one is Crispy Doom. I like having the look of Chocolate Doom but I want the uncapped frame rates and the higher resolution support. But if im not playing vanilla and wanna play mods i'll just use GZDoom.

[drfrag]

ZDoom for obvious reasons.

[Spectre.Charles]

I want to do something like Savagegrant's Top Wads post, but with source ports:

I don't know if anyone has done this before and I'm sorry if they have, link the post and I'll delete this.

The way voting works for this post is you say what your favorite source port is and I'll add tallies to them. If there's a source port not listed here you can still vote for it I'll add it. You can list multiple source ports, but there's no point system, each vote is only one point. Dosbox doesn't count.

 

GZDoom [13: DepravedDiptera, Anidrex_1009, Caffeine Freak, YukiRaven, Apaul27, Cyan0s1s, HAK3180, ZeroTheEro, Ajora, MFG38, Cacodemon345, Aquila Chrysaetos, Gez]

PrBoom+ / GLBoom+ [7: Caffeine Freak, Mun, GhoulDesecrator, Agent6, DoomeroHispalense, Zahid, Fonze, Aquila Chrysaetos]

Eternity [3: Jon, Edward850, Gez]

ZDoom [3: Ex Oblivione, Caffeine Freak, Urthar]

Chocolate Doom [3: DepravedDiptera, YukiRaven, DoomeroHispalense]

Zandronum [3: Doomkid, Teder, Aquila Chrysaetos]

DelphiDoom [2: YukiRaven, Gez]

CrispyDoom [2: Cyan0s1s, HAK3180]

Doomsday [2: Caffeine Freak, YukiRaven]

ZDaemon [2: Doomkid, Rosh Fragger]
Odamex [2: Doomkid, DoomeroHispalense]

3DGE [1: Gez]

Doom Retro [1: Gez]

Edit: I agree with Doomkid's comment, I might add the point system eventually, but for now I'll be using the single vote system.

 

Edit2: I can't keep up with this. I give up on keeping track. REEEEEEEEE

Edited May 7, 2018 by DepravedDiptera

[Deleted_Account]

ZDoom

[Endless]

GZDoom.

 

My first source-port and favorite. Its really simple to use and has a lot of great stuff. It makes Doom run way better in modern systems and allows quite some personalization with its great list of in-game options. I'm not a connoisseur of programming, I actually feel a lil bit stupid in the forums cause theres lots of programmers and smart pc fans that actually understand a lot more about the source-port, but me?  I just love it because its simple and complete.

[Jon]

 

Eternity

[Edward850]

4 minutes ago, Jon said:

Eternity

 

[Catpho]

There are a ton of threads like this actually:

 

Your format is a bit different tho, so i dunno.

[Spectre.Charles]

4 minutes ago, Catpho said:

There are a ton of threads like this actually:

 

Your format is a bit different tho, so i dunno.

I want to rank the source ports by the amount of votes with it being a poll and instead just people telling me source ports so I can get as many ranked as possible.

[Caffeine Freak]

People *have* done this topic many times, but I feel like it's an appropriate thing to ask periodically, as source ports get updated many times over the years and can potentially fall out of favor or reach newly found preference with different people. Especially since new Doomers join the scene over time, particularly in the first few years after a new installment in the series.

 

Anyway. For me, it's 1. Gzdoom 2. Zdoom 3. PrBoom+ 4. Doomsday.

 

I like Prboom's old-school vanilla feel, and how versatile and compatible it is. Zdoom may be discontinued, but it's the first source port I ever used, and I always found it easy to use, even as a newbie, and I always liked the small enhancements it introduced while retaining the feel of the original .exes. Gzdoom is my favorite for the plethora of OpenGL options and ability to *really* take advantage of modern hardware acceleration. It has 10x the number of tweakable features that most modern games have, and I love that fact.

 

Doomsday is always cool for just how far it takes the engine, and all of the different texture packs available for it and re-mastered music files you can stick in there. In some ways, it feels a generation or two ahead of the Doom engine, in that the rendering reminds me a bit more of the original Unreal Engine, or maybe Quake 3 Arena. However, I've always found the overall feel of it to be a bit awkward, like there's a lag in the response time of the game that slows it down behind how the Doom engine games originally played. So it ranks last on my list of favorites.  

[mun]

I like prb-plus because of it's compatbility with older exes and it's demo recording feature. It's also fast on large maps.

I also like chococolate-doom, crispy doom and zdoom.

Edited May 6, 2018 by mun

[Doomkid]

I like the points system of the WAD thread much better, I feel like 10 points to allocate would be suitable for Source Ports. Really hope we re-do it with this sort of tally system.

 

4 points - Odamex

4 points - ZDaemon

2 points - Zandronum
 

Picking just one port feels blasphemous. Points allows for varying degrees and thus a more accurate tally. I honestly like all 3 of the above pretty evenly. If I have to pick just one... I guess give it to Odamex? Really tough to say though. It could have just as easily gone to ZDaemon or Zand.