Army of Darkness TC

[typh0id]

Does anyone know if the Army of Darkness TC works with Vanilla DOOM in DOS? I've tried both the DOOM and DOOM II versions but the game always crashes with a "numlumps" error. As an example, for DOOM II I used DeHacked to add the aoddoom2.deh file to the executable and then ran the game with "doomhack -file aoddoom2.wad".

[Dimon12321]

The official text file says this:

Quote

May Not Run With...  :

Original doom2.exe (no provisions made for extra sprites/flats).  However, it will run with the original executable if you take the time to append the sprites and flats or other such measures.

and I'm confused with the underlined phrase (so concerns aoddoom1.wad), like you're supposed to do something more, besides applying the deh file.

 

In short, don't bother yourself and just use a sourceport.

[typh0id]

I guess I assumed if I used DeHacked to append the DOOM executable with the .deh manually, it would cover that. I guess not?

[TheNoob_Gamer]

 According to the Doom Wiki article of the mod + the txt file, the mod is vanilla-compatible, but you will need to take some time modifying sprites in a WAD editor (Slade 3) in order to get it running properly. If this is too much of a hassle for you, better use a source port.

[Linguica]

I feel like Aslan. Do not cite AOD-DOOM in DOS to me, I was there when it was written...

 

AOD-DOOM had new sprites and flats so you can't play it in DOS using the -file command. You have to use a utility to create a new IWAD with the custom stuff embedded in it and then run DOS Doom using that custom IWAD. In 1996 this was considered fairly "normal" as there was no better option. Teaching someone to do this from scratch in 2020 is kind of absurd however. You might as well use Chocolate Doom https://www.chocolate-doom.org/wiki/index.php/Army_of_Darkness_Doom

[typh0id]

I was able to get it to run with BOOM, which will suffice. Thanks you for all the tips!

[Buckshot]

Whoa. Haven't played that in decades lol.

 

Remember tools in a shovelware wad disc that had to be used to convert it for compatibility (amongst other TC's)

[Redneckerz]

2 hours ago, typh0id said:

Does anyone know if the Army of Darkness TC works with Vanilla DOOM in DOS? I've tried both the DOOM and DOOM II versions but the game always crashes with a "numlumps" error. As an example, for DOOM II I used DeHacked to add the aoddoom2.deh file to the executable and then ran the game with "doomhack -file aoddoom2.wad".

That is coincidentially the default way of doing things for a lot of bigger release WADS of that era, often supplying with DeHackEd and DeusF to begin with (and sometimes NWT)

Unfortunately, some releases are quite difficult to install. Ottowau is one other release that, prior to Maes's fix up, was impossible to run.

I have been testing/researching these things in DOS to build up a list of WAD sets and how they should be installed if you want to play them in DOS, because such a list does not exist yet (And obviously, its not really that important anymore given we have source ports these days).

So fear not! You assumed everything correctly in your post :)

1 hour ago, Dimon12321 said:

The official text file says this:

and I'm confused with the underlined phrase (so concerns aoddoom1.wad), like you're supposed to do something more, besides applying the deh file.

 

In short, don't bother yourself and just use a sourceport.

Appending means the sprites and flats of a WAD get merged in with an executable. If you would do this with your official Doom executable, then the original game may not work anymore. This is why a lot of WADS have a solution for that:

• Restore the process. This is usually down with DeusF and NWT and a custom batch file.
• Make use of DoomHack. This is a copy of your Doom executable which is then altered with the dehacked patch and other things. Sometimes they are also renamed, aswell. DoomHack also works with shareware executables, so technically one could put a pre-patched Doom executable on idgames in some way or form, but this was not a practice done often.

In this day and age however, appending stuff is not too common anymore. It still works quite well in DOSBox but it is indeed quite a cumbersome process - A proper batch file that automates it is often preferred.

I would only advise going that route if you either have basic DOS knowledge or if you are set on a purist experience - In which case you can wonder if Chocolate Doom is not a viable alternative there.
 

1 hour ago, typh0id said:

I guess I assumed if I used DeHacked to append the DOOM executable with the .deh manually, it would cover that. I guess not?

No, you are correct - That's usually how you would do it, provided you do such with a batch file. In most of these it adds variables to call DeusF and then use DeHackEd to merge things in.
 

1 hour ago, Linguica said:

AOD-DOOM had new sprites and flats so you can't play it in DOS using the -file command. You have to use a utility to create a new IWAD with the custom stuff embedded in it and then run DOS Doom using that custom IWAD. In 1996 this was considered fairly "normal" as there was no better option. Teaching someone to do this from scratch in 2020 is kind of absurd however. You might as well use Chocolate Doom https://www.chocolate-doom.org/wiki/index.php/Army_of_Darkness_Doom

This is basically the preferred solution today. Having recently tested (and still testing) several dozen high profile WADS of that era, the vast majority follow a standard, but there are outliers where the installation was more than just a tasklist - it was quite the process. Some don't even work with the current instructions in DOSBox anymore either.

AOD-DOOM is one of those outliers that requires tinkering - I recall it had a conversion to a modern DeHackEd patch, to begin with.

[Wraith777]

Ugh.. If only people back then knew, that all you have to do to insert a new sprite in a wad so that it will work in Vanilla DooM is:

1) rename a sprite you want to replace using dehacked

2) insert sprite frames with new name in wad using SS_START and S_END (!!) lump markers (in doom2 place them BEFORE BOSSBACK GFX, otherwise it won't work)

 

Maybe a simple renaming utility would solve the problem with old wads like this (but who cares now)..