Warning/Advice About Doom Engine Games on Steam

[A Nobody]

This is for those that don't know about the Doom engine games on Steam. With the exception of Strife Veteran Edition, id Tech 1 games on the platform use an outdated version of DOSBox that causes problems to the games. It can be fixed however, but what id Software did was just wrong.

 

The GoG version doesn't have this issue, as it uses the latest version of DOSBox, and the setup is said to be better. Final Doom on GoG is also said to have been patched and not FD on Steam.

 

If you purchased Doom Classic Complete, Heretic, and Hexen on Steam, don't feel down! Why? Well I'll tell you. With the purchase of any of those games, you get the iwad. You can then use that iwad on a source port such as ZDoom, Zandronum, GZDoom, Chocolate Doom, or whatever other source port you like. To get the iwad, go to Steam\SteamApps\Common\ in your local drive. Find a folder with the name of your game and go in. You'll find a folder called, "base". That's where the iwad is stored. Copy the iwad and paste it on to your chosen source port.

 

Keep in mind, once you purchase any of the games, the iwad is yours forever. You have it on your Steam account all ready to go at any time, anywhere. Same applies to the GoG version. If you bought the game there, you get the iwad forever.

 

Do NOT get a refund. If you do, you'll lose the game, meaning you lose the iwad. Be happy that you bought the game on Steam. I do wonder, why didn't id Software just use Chocolate Doom instead of DOSBox, or why didn't they use the latest version of the emulator? Well I hope this warning and advice helps gamers out. :)

[TakenStew22]

Yeah, I play on Steam aswell and I don't like the DOSBox version. I always replace dosbox.exe with ZDL or GZDoom and do all the settings from there.

[chungy]

None of the ports you listed require copying the IWAD out of Steam. They will all automatically find the installed Steam version and run with it.

[A Nobody]

37 minutes ago, chungy said:

None of the ports you listed require copying the IWAD out of Steam. They will all automatically find the installed Steam version and run with it.

Really?

[D4NUK1]

I got a guide to replace that with steamedit, and running always with doom explorer with screansots taken for my steam.

[Edward850]

11 hours ago, The-Heretic-Assassin said:

Really?

Really. All currently maintained major ports support Steam and GOG installs for IWAD locations using simple registry checks. Including BFG Edition and even NERVE.WAD where supported (Eternity and ZDoom). A new user doesn't need to copy anything.

 

Chungy is a trustworthy source for this sort of info.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Edward850

[Pegleg]

13 hours ago, chungy said:

None of the ports you listed require copying the IWAD out of Steam. They will all automatically find the installed Steam version and run with it.

 

All you really need for any of the ports is a copy of the iwad. Wherever you got them. Personally, I was going to use GOG, but I ended up buying the used CDs of the Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 off eBay and just pulling the iwad files off of them. (In retrospect, I should have looked for Final Doom, but I didn't think about it then.) I went that route because I have a Mac and was just going to use a port so as to avoid potential compatibility issues with whatever was on GOG.

[Marlamir]

I allways buying older games on gog since they are patch to latest version and fixed/improved to work on modern os. Steam just didnt care about this, so for me gog is more safe way.

[A Nobody]

Very sad that Final Doom on Steam uses the original version of TNT instead of the patched version found in id Anthology.