New to Classic DOOM? Read this tutorial for help!

[shooter_n00b]

So, do I need the actual doom game to use fan-made WADs, or will Freedom/Chex Quest/Shareware/HACX work too?

[r6d2]

On 4/22/2023 at 11:38 AM, shooter_n00b said:

So, do I need the actual doom game to use fan-made WADs, or will Freedom/Chex Quest/Shareware/HACX work too?

In most cases doom2.wad will suffice. If you don't have it, you can use freedoom2.wad instead, although the wads and mods you'll run will likely look very different than expected.

 

Treat yourself. Get the official Doom classic package!

[shooter_n00b]

^{Okay, thanks!}

[continuum.mid]

10 minutes ago, shooter_n00b said:

^{Okay, thanks!}

If you're going to use Freedoom, try to stick to WADs that don't use custom enemy sprites or include sprite fixes. Otherwise you might get a weird effect where the sprite flashes between the Freedoom sprites and the WAD's custom sprites.

 

Anything that sticks to vanilla graphics should work perfectly, though.

[waffleman132950]

How do i make a startup log for LzDoom i think version 3.88 

[Cdijk21]

Is there a way to add the Unholy Massacre difficulty from LZ Doom to GZ Doom?

Note: I'm not sure this belongs here, but I don't know what the right thread for this is, if any.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Cdijk21

[StuartT]

Hi everyone. New here so be gentle ;-)

 

I bought Doom II back in the 90s and loved it, so I was psyched to find it can still be played today! I downloaded Steam and bought Doom II. The options seem a bit limited playing it in Steam tho (no strafe key!!), so I learned about ports and downloaded GZDoom. That plays it much better and it's not so pixelated.

 

I read this n00b guide (thank you!), but there are still a bunch of terms I don't understand, so perhaps these could be added in too at some point? 

 

1. what is the difference between a wad, a mod and a map?

2. what is a 'vanilla wad'?

 

Sorry to be dumb, but I haven't played any games for ages!!

 

Thanks

[Dragonfly]

5 hours ago, StuartT said:

1. what is the difference between a wad, a mod and a map?

 

• WAD: "Where's all the data" format, it's essentially like a "zip file for your doom assets", inside here will be levels, graphics, music, etc etc.
• Mod: a more nebulous term, mod generally is used to refer to anything that modifies a game, but in Doom specifically, a mod is essentially a more full-on series of changes to the game to make it play very differently, or even appear as a different game or it's own new game entirely. For example, The Adventures of Square might be referred to as a mod.
• Map: A singular level. Most WADs contain Maps. 👍

 

 

5 hours ago, StuartT said:

 2. what is a 'vanilla wad'?

 

"Vanilla" refers to a game as it was released, in doom's case, that means the original doom or doom 2 games that ran on DOS. If something is "Vanilla compatible", that means it will work on the original game's release, and wouldn't require a source port such as GZDoom.

 

Hope this helps!
 

[Xaser]

Sorry, that "Doom specifically" definition of "mod" doesn't fit -- theres no historical precedence for the word being used in that fashion in the community. Sounds more like it's describing what folks call a "total conversion".

 

"Mod" is a very generic term -- folks nowadays generally understand it to be synonymous with "user-created content", and we shouldn't try to assign any meaning more specific than that, else it will confuse every newcomer.

 

Somewhat related though, the common term for a mod that doesn't contain maps is a "gameplay mod" -- but you gotta attach the word "gameplay" in front of it or it loses its meaning. The "Mods and Resources" subforum name gets this wrong, which is something I've been meaning to bring up for a while since it's actively confusing newcomers (i.e. folks are posting projects with maps in there by accident).

 

Sorry to be a pest, but I gotta play the "old guy who's been here forever" card in this case. :P

 

 

[Tristan]

38 minutes ago, Dragonfly said:

For example, The Adventures of Square might be referred to as a mod.

 

I do have to take issue with this one point because there are a lot of Doom-engine based indie games now and I've seen this kind of thing a lot, and honestly I wish it would stop :P

It's technically true, I guess, but to me this has always come across as pretty reductionist considering the amount of work that goes into some of these games to just call them "Doom mods" because they just happen to share the engine (and a heavily modified one at that, considering the vast majority run on GZDoom). It's like calling TF2 a Half-Life 2 mod. Heretic or Hexen aren't thought of as Doom mods, so stuff like Square or Selaco shouldn't be either!

[Dragonfly]

Valid comments; yeah, maybe I overstepped on what mod means, but from my perspective it's "a map / maps / wad / megawad / etc" when it's just levels or light modding (e.g. new enemies), and a "mod" when the gameplay gets drastically changed, e.g. Reelism; which essentially falls into what Xaser said above.

 

Square was definitely a bad example in this case - I happened to read it somewhere else on the forum today so it was at the forefront of my mind when writing that post, heh. I suppose an "entirely new game" is the logical extent to which you can mod doom, but at that point it is, as was said, underselling the amount of work that goes into such endeavours. My bad!

[StuartT]

2 hours ago, Dragonfly said:

• WAD: "Where's all the data" format, it's essentially like a "zip file for your doom assets", inside here will be levels, graphics, music, etc etc.
• Mod: a more nebulous term, mod generally is used to refer to anything that modifies a game, but in Doom specifically, a mod is essentially a more full-on series of changes to the game to make it play very differently, or even appear as a different game or it's own new game entirely. For example, The Adventures of Square might be referred to as a mod.
• Map: A singular level. Most WADs contain Maps. 👍

 

 

"Vanilla" refers to a game as it was released, in doom's case, that means the original doom or doom 2 games that ran on DOS. If something is "Vanilla compatible", that means it will work on the original game's release, and wouldn't require a source port such as GZDoom.

 

Hope this helps!
 

yes it does! Thanks. 

 

When I press Play in Steam I get the option of four IWADs (are those the same as WADs?). It looks to be four different actual games (though the Unity one looks just like Doom 2, as far as I can tell. So is the IWAD the actual game and the WAD just the content?

 

(sorry, this is v confusing!)

 

[dististik]

1 hour ago, StuartT said:

So is the IWAD the actual game and the WAD just the content?

 

In essence, yes. IWAD would be short for "Internal WAD", it has everything the engine is looking for in order to run so it has all of the base assets the normal unmodified game comes with. Custom levels would usually come as PWADs (Patch WAD) instead and only replace/add things that custom level set needs to have in order to be played. To play a PWAD you'd load an IWAD first, and then the PWAD on top of it, if that makes sense.

[StuartT]

11 hours ago, dististik said:

 

In essence, yes. IWAD would be short for "Internal WAD", it has everything the engine is looking for in order to run so it has all of the base assets the normal unmodified game comes with. Custom levels would usually come as PWADs (Patch WAD) instead and only replace/add things that custom level set needs to have in order to be played. To play a PWAD you'd load an IWAD first, and then the PWAD on top of it, if that makes sense.

thanks for this. I guess I shall just download some of the recommended WADs and see if I can load them, and if so if they create a bunch of cool new levels! Fun :-)

[Meerschweinmann]

Nice tutorial @Doomkid. You could mention the new "International DOOM" from @Julia Nechaevskaya as Crispy DOOM on steroids with optional quad-resolution and optional 32bit renderer for the Chocolate DOOM family ports. I like it alot for my "vanilla" needs.

[Jepsi]

thanks DoomKid

[DoomGappy]

Doom Runner deserves a spot on the launcher list. Ever since I switched to it from ZDL, I've never gone back.

[Doomkid]

I'll add a spoilered list of launchers and newer source ports soon - I know the selection in the OP is a little limited compared to what's on offer today!

[LoatharMDPhD]

On 10/23/2023 at 2:55 PM, DoomGappy said:

Doom Runner deserves a spot on the launcher list. Ever since I switched to it from ZDL, I've never gone back.

// Dewm Whad Lawn Chair...

[Jerem]

revising the original post here is even a good idea for people like myself who thought they knew all they had to!
thank you for making this~✨

[CacoKnight]

@Doomkid, what do you think about adding Doom Runner to the first post? It's my fav launcher. IMO it's the best/simplest, especially for new users, you set 2-3 folders and done, it's all automatic from there.

Edited November 29, 2023 by CacoKnight

[RushupDen]

I have been lurking arround here for a while now and just wanted to say thanks alot for all this useful info for a old school gamer! 
Im trying to set this up on my Raspberry Pi at the moment. 

Which source port is giving the best graphic quality? 

Cheers! 

[Master O]

For people who use the program NOVERT.COM when playing Doom in DOS, Dosbox-Staging has its own utilities you can use instead of NOVERT.COM:

 

https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/wiki/Controller-issues#ultimate-doom

 

 

[Coilingeat]

Big thanks for information. Going to finish both dooms firstly. What is better to download later for a newbie gzdoom or some other source port?

[DJ Groggy in the Morning]

On 3/19/2024 at 1:56 PM, Coilingeat said:

Big thanks for information. Going to finish both dooms firstly. What is better to download later for a newbie gzdoom or some other source port?

I'd say pick one of these:

Chocolate Doom for the pure vanilla experience (original 320x200 resolution, 35fps cap).

DSDA-DOOM for a compromise between the vanilla and modern experience (higher max resolution, unlimited FPS, QoL features).

GZDOOM for modding and complex wads.

 

I suggest you go with DSDA if you're new to classic DOOM and you're planning on playing through the original games without any mods (which I highly encourage for a first playthrough).