STRAIN

[Bonemonster]

I recently downloaded a megawad called Strain. It can be found here:

doomwadstation.com

in the total conversions part of the site. It isn't on the TC List so you will have to scroll down to see it.

Anyways, after extracting the files I notice that there is no Wad file. I read the Txt that was included and it said to run the unpack.bat. I did so but MS DOS just blinks and the ends. I am currently using WinXP SP2.

Is there anyone out there that has this TC and can tell me what I am doing wrong?

[myk]

Open a command prompt, go to the folder where you unzipped the stuff, and execute the batch file from there.

[Bonemonster]

THE CP won't do it. I think there is a bad line in the batch file that is supposed to install the Wad. I've tried numerous changes to the batch file and nothing works. I think that instead of displaying the information you need to know so you can properly change/install the program, the batch file just ends. I've tried to cahnge its lines so that it never ends but the same thing still happens.

I think I'll just delete the wad and forget about it.

[myk]

Well, if it's the batch that's causing the issue, you can do this:

A good unpacking program (such as 7-Zip) will unpack the 00x files. I've tried it and it creates a file named strain (no extension). Rename that to strain.exe and execute it. It should unpack the wad and other files.

[Bonemonster]

Neat. With 7-Zip I can unzip .rar files which means I can get those Morrowind Mods I've been after.

Well I extracted with 7-zip. It was the same situation when using WinZip. So I just renamed Strain.001 to Strain.exe and that unloaded the Strain.Wad and the other neccessary files.

I launched Doom95, formt he Collectors edition, and I used the Strain.Wad. I get a bad lumps error.

In the Strain Folder is a program called StrainFE, I run it and the installation program comes up, which is good.

Except it does not recognize the filepath in which the Collectors edition is stored in, it only wants the follwoing path "C:\Doom2"

I will now try to make a filepath to that directory.

If you have any ideas I am open to suggestion.

[Bonemonster]

Nope. the installer doesn't want to work. into the trash it goes.

[Grazza]

You'll find some help here. See either my post or Graf Zahl's.

[Bonemonster]

I tried Graf Zahl's method of installation. when i opened unpack.bat it stays open for a second then closes.

so i edit the bat program and add the following line just after the line "@echo off" :

Unpack "c:\program files\doom collector's edition\strain10" "c:\program files\doom collector's edition\doom2"

This is to the the way graf said to input the line. When I run the bat again the prompt comes up but its just a blank screen and no input can be made.

If I turn echo on, well you can imagine what it does im sure, infinite loop of course. If I delete @echo off i also get an infinite loop. If I place my line before @echo off I get an infinite loop.

Here is the Bat Program in its entirety, just tell me where to put my line, if thats what I do:

@echo off

if "%1"=="" goto usage
if "%2"=="" goto usage
if not "%3"=="" goto usage

if not exist %1\strain.001 goto bad_ddir

if exist %2\unpack.bat goto skip_cp
echo Creating STRAIN directory...
md %2 >NUL
:skip_md

if exist %0 goto cp_plain
if not exist %0.bat goto copy_error
copy %0.bat %2\unpack.bat >NUL
goto cp_cont
:cp_plain
copy %0 %2\unpack.bat >NUL
:cp_cont
%2\unpack.bat %1 %2
:skip_cp

if not exist %2\unpack.bat goto copy_error

echo Copying file strain.001...
copy/b %1\strain.001 %2\strain.exe >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto copy_error

:lk_file2
if exist %1\strain.002 goto cp_file2
echo Insert STRAIN Disk 2 into %1 and press any key...
pause > NUL
if not exist %1\strain.002 goto lk_file2

:cp_file2
echo Copying file strain.002...
echo copy/b %2\strain.exe+%1\strain.002 %2\strain.exe >NUL
copy/b %2\strain.exe+%1\strain.002 %2\strain.exe >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto copy_error

:lk_file3
if exist %1\strain.003 goto cp_file3
echo Insert STRAIN Disk 3 into %1 and press any key...
pause > NUL
if not exist %1\strain.003 goto lk_file3

:cp_file3
echo Copying file strain.003...
copy/b %2\strain.exe+%1\strain.003 %2\strain.exe >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto copy_error

:lk_file4
if exist %1\strain.004 goto cp_file4
echo Insert STRAIN Disk 4 into %1 and press any key...
pause > NUL
if not exist %1\strain.004 goto lk_file4

:cp_file4
echo Copying file strain.004...
copy/b %2\strain.exe+%1\strain.004 %2\strain.exe >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto copy_error

echo Unpacking distribution files...
cd %2
%2\strain
if errorlevel 1 goto unpack_error

echo Cleaning up the temporary directory...
del %2\strain.exe >NUL

goto credits

:copy_error
cls
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
echo º S T R A I N º
echo º Copyright 1996,97 -- Alpha Dog Alliance º
echo ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
echo º There was an error concatenating the files. º
echo º º
echo º - Make sure that you have at least 20 MB available on the drive where you º
echo º are installing STRAIN and that you are able to write to the directory º
echo º that you have specified. º
echo º º
echo º - Make sure that the parent directory exists. C:\GAMES\STRAIN can not be º
echo º created if there is no C:\GAMES. º
echo º º
echo º - Make sure that the DOS/Windows "copy" command is located in your PATH. º
echo º º
echo º - Make sure that you have all of the distribution files from the STRAIN º
echo º FTP site. º
echo º º
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
goto end

:unpack_error
cls
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
echo º S T R A I N º
echo º Copyright 1996,97 -- Alpha Dog Alliance º
echo ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
echo º There was an error unpacking the files. Make sure that you have at least º
echo º 20 MB free on the installation drive. If you have adequate disk space, º
echo º then the files that you downloaded may have been corrupted somewhere along º
echo º the way. You should try downloading them again. º
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
goto end

:bad_ddir
cls
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
echo º S T R A I N º
echo º Copyright 1996,97 -- Alpha Dog Alliance º
echo ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
echo º The following file is missing from the distribution directory: º
echo º º
echo º strain.001 - located at the STRAIN FTP site º
echo º º
echo º Make sure that you have all of the distribution files in the directory that º
echo º you specified (if you are installing from a hard drive) or that you have º
echo º STRAIN Disk 1 in your floppy drive (if you are installing from floppies). º
echo º Also, make sure that you have fully-specified the path to the distribution º
echo º directory, including the drive letter and excluding a trailing backslash. º
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
goto end

:usage
cls
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
echo º S T R A I N º
echo º Copyright 1996,97 -- Alpha Dog Alliance º
echo ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
echo º Usage: º
echo º unpack DIST-DIR STRAIN-DIR º
echo º unpack the distribution files located in DIST-DIR to directory º
echo º STRAIN-DIR. There must be 20 MB of free space on the drive º
echo º containing STRAIN-DIR. Both directories should be entered as full º
echo º paths (including the drive letter). º
echo º º
echo º Examples: º
echo º unpack a: c:\strain - unpacks from floppies in the A: º
echo º drive to c:\strain º
echo º º
echo º unpack c:\strain\dist c:\doom2\strain - unpacks from c:\strain\dist to º
echo º c:\doom2\strain º
echo º º
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
goto end

:credits
cls
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
echo º S T R A I N º
echo º Copyright 1996,97 -- Alpha Dog Alliance º
echo ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
echo º º
echo º Type "strain" to begin... º
echo º º
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
goto end

:end


Is this the Proper location for the line or do i put it somewhere else?

[myk]

Bonemonster said:
Well I extracted with 7-zip. It was the same situation when using WinZip. So I just renamed Strain.001 to Strain.exe and that unloaded the Strain.Wad and the other neccessary files.

I'm not sure if this is what you did, but I meant extracting strain.001 (after unzipping the ZIP) with 7-Zip. Right click strain.001 and choose extract here; that'll create a 4.8 MB file named strain, which should be renamed to strain.exe and then executed. That should work, since the EXE seems okay on your system, as shown when you renamed strain.001 to strain.exe (which was missing some of the packed info). It'll basically append all the files into one (the full EXE).

[Bonemonster]

Excellent!

That worked just fine, thanks!

[Gusta]

I just want to say here that Strain is great and highly recommended Megawad, my oldest demos were for this. I remember having a good fun with it, ecspecially with punching with double-fist berserk :)

[Craigs]

I agree. My only question is, why does it come the way it does? Why not just a wad file and a readme?

[Da Spadger]

Craigs said:

I agree. My only question is, why does it come the way it does? Why not just a wad file and a readme?

For the sake of being able to put on four floppys and share to others, i think.

[Snarboo]

That method of file distribution has long since passed. I believe it's about time that someone re-releases Strain in a source port friendly form.

[Graf Zahl]

I could do it. But doesn't this need some kind of permission?

[Grazza]

Snarboo said:

I believe it's about time that someone re-releases Strain in a source port friendly form.

Someone would have done long ago, if the documentation allowed it.

Anyway, it really isn't a big problem to stitch these pieces together, is it? I mean, a simple one-liner in the command line?

[Graf Zahl]

Grazza said:

Anyway, it really isn't a big problem to stitch these pieces together, is it?

For many younger Windows users it is an unsolvable problem due to M$'s attitude towards command line usage in Windows.

You won't believe what I have seen at work on occasion.

[RjY]

Grazza said:

Anyway, it really isn't a big problem to stitch these pieces together, is it? I mean, a simple one-liner in the command line?

It could be a problem if you can't run DOS executables :)

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to get at the v1.1 shareware wad. I found a page called Installing DOOM Wads in Linux the instructions for which can be applied to the files in the Strain archive.

Also just now looking for this page again I found Chocolate Doom's instructions for extracting Strain.

The method should work on any platform to which lha has been ported. (In Debian you can just apt-get install lha)

[Bonemonster]

Grazza said:

Someone would have done long ago, if the documentation allowed it.

Anyway, it really isn't a big problem to stitch these pieces together, is it? I mean, a simple one-liner in the command line?

Why not just do it? How about I just archive the wad using 7zip, uplaod it to a site and just fucking do it dude. it would make it a lot easier for us noobs out there and since 3.5 file distribution is damn near extinct why the hell not?

In fact I think i will.

[Bonemonster]

Well I have now placed the already combined and other neccesary files into the zip folder.

You will need 7zip in order to extract the information from the combined file.

you can find it in the txt file found within the zip folder.

Now, disregarding the original txt file of Strain which does not allow for this, which is actually ridiculous this day in the modern age, who wants to host this file? To make it easier on anyone that wants Strain?

i don't think ADA (Alpha Dog Alliance) will mind since i don't think they are operational any longer. For instance the email provided does not work and their website does not work, for me at least it is "Forbidden" by the servers or something, dunno why.

I don't see why it matters anyways, no alterations to the program or the wad have been made, its just a much faster install process.

[Grazza]

RjY said:

It could be a problem if you can't run DOS executables :)

With DOSbox, how many such people are there? Anyway, in the rest of your post, you seem to cover fairly thoroughly how non-Windows users can extract it.

Bonemonster said:

disregarding the original txt file of Strain which does not allow for this ... I don't see why it matters anyways

It matters because in this community we respect the wishes of those who create Doom addons.

[Graf Zahl]

Ok, but if 'respect the wishes' means to leave a horrible package in the archive I don't know whether that's the right attitude. The file is barely usable as it is and for many users it's a major pain or worse to get it to run. Nobody speaks about altering the contents - just repackaging the split archive as one so that it's easier to use. I think it's more disrespectful to the creators to leave this technically outdated installation in there because it needlessly gives the WAD a bad reputation.

Someone should try to track down the creators of this WAD and ask them - even though I'm 100% sure what the answer will be.

[scwiba]

Graf Zahl said:

I think it's more disrespectful to the creators to leave this technically outdated installation in there because it needlessly gives the WAD a bad reputation.

Someone should try to track down the creators of this WAD and ask them - even though I'm 100% sure what the answer will be.

This is a good point. It's sad to see people discouraged from trying the WAD because of difficulty getting it installed. Is there anyone from the Alpha Dog Alliance still around in the community, or someone who knows them?

[Bonemonster]

Bob Larkin who runs DoomWadStation I believe stated that he had exclusive distribution of Strain but I might be wrong. I have sent him an email regarding the new distribution method.

If he accepts I will send him the new file and the program needed to open it.

The files are:

*A txt document stating how the original method was done and how to use 7zip to extract the files from the new file.

*The new file created by 7zip which inlcudes:

1.CWD
2.DEHACKED
3.DEHACKED.txt
4.Strain.bat
5.Strain.txt
6.Strain.deh
7.Strain.wad (the file made after combining the 4 strain files)
8.StrainFE

*If it is legal to do so I will include 7zip. If not, there is a url in the new txt pointing the user where to get 7zip.

I think this will keep new users, like myself, from asking a lot of questions on how to get Strain to work. Thus freeing up space on these forums and keeping bandwidth down, and thats something Doomworld Forums expects right. It works for all of us in a positive way.

If Bob accpets I'm sending it, disregarding the original txt and therefore making it easier on all of us.

[myk]

Bonemonster said:
Bob Larkin who runs DoomWadStation I believe stated that he had exclusive distribution of Strain but I might be wrong. I have sent him an email regarding the new distribution method.

Who said this? He certainly does not have "exclusive distribution rights". He just copied the addon from the idgames archive (the main repository for DOOM addons since ages ago), which is where the authors uploaded it.

[emailking]

After beating the game when it goes through all the monsters, it comes to the Polydrone, which replaces the Spider Mastermind. Except it calls it the Spider Mastermind instead of the polydrone. When you click spacebar to move on to the mini cyber demon, the polydrone dies and you hear a rocket firing as you would at the start of the cyberdemon sequence in the original doom 2. However, the screen doesn't change. And there's nothing you can do at this point except exit the game. I tried messing with the .deh file in the section where it tells doom what to replace the spider Mastermind text with, but I couldn't get the behavior to change at all. Anyone have an idea?

[scwiba]

You probably shouldn't have resurrected the thread for this question, and I don't really see why such a small bug is an issue at all, but it has to do with the Polydrone not technically being dead when you destroy it because it still attacks to emulate fire damage when you're close. I'd have to look at the DeHackEd work to tell you exactly why, but I wouldn't think there is a way to fix it without breaking the Polydrone effect.

[emailking]

I thought it would be better to post to an existing, generic thread rather than making a new one. As for posting at all, I guess I just want to be able to cycle through all the baddies at the end, and I spent a good deal of time trying to figure it out so I figured I'd just ask if anybody knew. Thank you for your ideas.

[Grazza]

I presume this is just a consequence of the dehacked changes to that monster. The polydrone's "death" is not a standard one (it remains "toxic", rather than being a corpse), so I presume it doesn't trigger the piece of code that moves on to the next monster in the rollcall.

Another rollcall quirk demonstrated by STRAIN is that the invisible holobot doesn't show up as invisible (in Doom2.exe and any ports that don't change the behaviour in this respect).

[emailking]

Ok, sounds like that might be the issue then. I had thought it all stemmed from the text itself since it calls the Polydrone the Spider Mastermind before it even dies, and no amount of messing with the .deh could change this. Maybe there are two bugs here.