My PrBoom modification

[entryway]

Can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/e6y/doom.html

usage.txt
---------
glboom -playdemo 30uv1441.lmp -warp 29
glboom -playdemo 30uv1441.lmp -skipsec 192

glboom -iwad doom.wad -playdemo e1uv-405.lmp -warp 1 6
glboom -iwad doom.wad -playdemo e1uv-405.lmp -skipsec 12.5

glboom -timedemo e4uv-232.lmp -framescapture 1 frm

several additional key-bindings and settings available:
1) Main Menu\Options\Setup\Key Bindings (on last page)

GAME SPEED
Speed Up - PAD+
Speed Down - PAD-
Step of Speed Change - 10
Set Speed to Default - PAD*
PLAY DEMOS
Next Level - PgDn
RECORDING DEMOS
Join - Alt

2) Main Menu\Options\Setup\Status Bar / HUD (on last page)

ADDITIONAL
Show GameSpeed - yes/no
Show LevelTime - yes/no
Secret Areas - yes/no
Permanent Strafe50 - yes/no
Strafe50 on turns - yes/no

3) See "a.bat" for understanding how to use rerecord feature

a.bat
-----
if not exist u.lmp goto begin

copy _u.lmp __u.lmp /y
del _u.lmp
glboom.exe -iwad doom2.wad -file av.wad -nomusic -recordfrom u.lmp _u.lmp -skipsec 3.1
goto end

:begin
glboom.exe -iwad doom2.wad -file av.wad -nomusic -warp 1 -skill 4 -complevel 1 -record u

:end

[Grazza]

Fantastic! I'll definitely give this a good work-out.

[DEMOn]

and the awesomeness continues...

[Kinsie]

This is great!

A suggestion though. Maybe a togglable option to make sounds pitch change according to the game speed? Hey, it's an idea.

[entryway]

Trasher][ said:
Maybe a togglable option to make sounds pitch change according to the game speed? Hey, it's an idea.

BUT FOR WHAT???

[Kristian Ronge]

Thanks... That app really needed a usage instruction. :-)

Very cool. I'll go make some cheated demos of things I couldn't do normally now... :-D

[xit-vono]

Thanks for the files. I've started my Requiem TAS movie now.

[Vile]

I had a few questions about the process of making a TAS run:

1. What's a good speed for recording, related to the speed number given in the lower-left corner of the modified prboom?

2. What is the usual rerecording procedure? Do you complete a level, save the demo, then paste them together, or can you redo mistakes that occur in the middle of a level?

EDIT: 3. Also, when running at a slower speed, the mouse response seems jerky rather than smooth... normal or no?

[Grazza]

I'm definitely no expert on this, but I'll offer some answers.

1) I'd suggest experimenting with various speeds of slo-mo. This can be varied in-game (a bit clumsy if you're trying to play at the same time...) or, more usefully, between attempts to extend the run. Maybe 10% for really difficult parts of the run that demand great accuracy, and 50% for general running (IIRC, 50% was pretty standard for TASMBF runs).

2) The batch file a.bat provided by Andrey shows how to do this. Naturally, you don't have to copy his exact system of filenames and so on. Stripped down to its basics, if you have a demo called, e.g. attempt1.lmp (no need for there to be a save in it; for the sake of argument let's say it's an HR demo), and wish to rerecord from part way through it, then your command line would be:
prboom -complevel 0 -file hr.wad -recordfrom attempt1.lmp attempt2.lmp
This plays back attempt1.lmp. When you reach the point at which you wish to start recording, press the join key and take over the controls from there. When you're done, you have a demo called attempt2.lmp. Repeat until finished.

To avoid having to watch the whole thing each time, you can add "-skipsec x" to the command line, where x is the number of seconds you wish to skip. Note that you can change the game speed while watching the existing demo, so that you have it running at the desired speed when you take over.

3) The mouse control seems to me no worse than normal in Prboom (i.e. pretty good, except for at the very start of a level).

BTW, I don't see any way to record a demo in parts (e.g. one level at a time, using saves) and then add them together, TASMBF-style. I tried recording a demo with MBF compatibility, but MBFLMPC didn't recognize it as an MBF demo. Also, Prboom rejects any attempt to make or load a savegame unless it is with -complevel -1.

[Fredrik]

The lowest I can play at is about 35%. Anything below that kills my feel for the game's physics, and makes most events slower than my reaction time anyway.

[entryway]

Grazza said:

Maybe 10% for really difficult parts of the run that demand great accuracy, and 50% for general running (IIRC, 50% was pretty standard for TASMBF runs).

I used 10 % two or three times in uv01-1441. Usually I played with 20 %-speed. My doom2 maxkill demo was recorded with 50%-speed. Therefore movements in it look more smoothly.

2) The batch file a.bat provided by Andrey shows how to do this ... ... ...

All is true.

3) The mouse control seems to me no worse than normal in Prboom (i.e. pretty good, except for at the very start of a level).

PRBoom on slow speeds processes events from a mouse worse (less frequently) than on full speed. For more smooth movements I used low sensitivity. 4-5 instead of 10 on full speed. Also tried to do as small as possible turns, moved back to front etc.

[Vile]

http://stickmen.dreyermachine.com/vile/sc01x009.zip

Nine craptacular seconds.. neat little tool though.

[entryway]

Vile said:

Nine craptacular seconds.. neat little tool though.

without strafe50 :)

[Vile]

BTW, thanks for your replies, they helped quite a bit. :)

[xit-vono]

Well in my Requiem movie I'm working on I used 30% for the whole thing basically. For all of level 1 and part of level 2 I used 20% but then I decided it was too slow and that the mouse didn't feel right so it was pointless to play at that speed. Btw I'm in the middle of map8 right now. I'll probably post a demo when I finish level 10.

[AdamW]

entryway, would you please provide me with the source code for this GPL software.

[Fredrik]

Meh. I get "I_SignalHandler: Exiting on signal: signal 11" when I try to press an exit switch.

[Grazza]

Fredrik: Are you using prboom.exe or glboom.exe? And what resolution? Which maps?

[prboom.exe tends to have issues with some resolutions (640x480 is normally safest), and there is one of the intermission screens in UDoom that some versions can't handle for some weird reason]

[Vile]

Bleh, I'm not going to bother making a scythe TAS run. Doing TAS stuff got boring fast, which was the same thing that happened when I messed with those NES timeattacks briefly. Oh well, at least I understand what kind of work goes into it.

[Fredrik]

Grazza said:

And what resolution?

Changing resolution indeed fixed it.

Meh, there aren't words for how much I'd like to see a ZDoom with demo compatibility fused in.

[Grazza]

glboom.exe doesn't appear to suffer from these resolution issues, which is one of the main reasons why I tend to use it rather than prboom.exe.

[Fredrik]

There are a billion other issues with PrBoom.

[entryway]

AdamW said:

entryway, would you please provide me with the source code for this GPL software.

May be tomorrow

[AdamW]

I'll be waiting.