How do I record a demo?

[twistedhydrgoen]

How do I record a demo? Need some help ovah' here.
Apologies for my lack of knowledge, I'm new to doom so yeh
I'm also talking about the og doom's from the '90s (DooM & DooM 2)
(by the way, I use GZDooM as my port)

Edited February 9, 2020 by twistedhydrgoen

[cambreaKer]

launch doom with the command line parameter -record demoname.lmp

[twistedhydrgoen]

Just now, cambreaKer said:

launch doom with the command line parameter -record demoname.lmp

How do I do that?

[Lüt]

24 minutes ago, twistedhydrgoen said:

How do I do that?

From the DOS prompt.

 

Type: doom -record demoname.lmp

 

If you want to jump to a specific map and skill level, add it to the command line, like this:

 

For Doom, type: doom -warp 1 1 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

For Doom 2, type: doom2 -warp 01 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

 

The "warp" parameter uses the values episode (1-4) and level (1-9) for Doom, and map number (01-32) for Doom 2. The "skill" parameter selects the difficulty setting (1-5), with 4 being the most common, Ultra-Violence.

 

If you're recording with a port, substitute that port's name for "doom" or "doom 2."

 

For example, if you want to record with Eternity, type: eternity -warp 1 1 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

 

Then when you exit the program, it should give a message "Demo demoname.lmp recorded," and the file should be in the directory you ran the game from.

[twistedhydrgoen]

1 hour ago, Lüt said:

From the DOS prompt.Type: doom -record demoname.lmp

 

If you want to jump to a specific map and skill level, add it to the command line, like this:

 

For Doom, type: doom -warp 1 1 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

For Doom 2, type: doom2 -warp 01 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

 

The "warp" parameter uses the values episode (1-4) and level (1-9) for Doom, and map number (01-32) for Doom 2. The "skill" parameter selects the difficulty setting (1-5), with 4 being the most common, Ultra-Violence.

 

If you're recording with a port, substitute that port's name for "doom" or "doom 2."

 

For example, if you want to record with Eternity, type: eternity -warp 1 1 -skill 4 -record demoname.lmp

 

Then when you exit the program, it should give a message "Demo demoname.lmp recorded," and the file should be in the directory you ran the game from.

Does it work with ultimate doom aswell?

[spd7693]

It does. Just the same way. Just make sure your -complevel is compliant. 

 

Just to clarify - I found out I needed to type the source port as .\glboom-plus.exe instead of just glboom-plus.exe. I think it's either because Lenovo requires typing like that or because I launch the game from an external SDD. 

 

PS: I also noticed that the command prompt doesn't launch the wad if it has symbols other than letters and numbers in the name, so I need to re-name my wad. I thought only Chocolate Doom had this issue, but it applies to GlBoom as well. 

[seed]

The OP mentioned GZDoom as their port of choice, some of these tips won't apply to it.

 

The procedure is the same, but instead of -complevel when needed it'll have to be +compatmode, these are required to emulate the correct game behavior. I'd advise against using ZDoom and its derivatives for demo recording though, because these ports are not aimed at maintaining demo compatibility. It breaks between versions and they do not play back in vanilla. I'd recommend using PrBoom+, Eternity, Chocolate/Crispy Doom instead for this purpose.

 

If you're on Windows, the easiest way to use command line parameters is by just creating a shortcut of the game executable and adding them in the Target box at the end. For Ultimate Doom in PrBoom+ it will be something like: -iwad doom.wad -warp -skill 4 -complevel 3 -record demoname. You can also try -longtics to circumvent a vanilla limitation which causes mouse movement to become less precise while recording demos, but it doesn't work with Boom and MBF megawads, only vanilla/limit-removing.

Edited February 9, 2020 by seed

[DoomGater]

It's always a good idea to rtfm. It's all in the original README.TXT :-)

 

README.TXT.zip