How do you guys like to play DOOM?

[Killamangiro91]

Do you like to play doom the classic way (no up or down view) or freeview?
What source port do you prefer to use? Do you use texture packs?
Favorite mods?
Favorite maps?


I have been playing it with Zdoom classic way. Favorite map is Scythe 2.

[qoncept]

I always play classic. I've used Doom Legacy the most but just downloaded zdoom when I couldn't remember the name of Legacy. Didn't care for zdoom holding ammo and weapons after deaths. D:

I always use the keyboard -- arrows, ctrl, shift, space. No mouse, no looking up or down, no jumping until I'm about ready to quit for the night.

[Killamangiro91]

qoncept said:

I always use the keyboard -- arrows, ctrl, shift, space. No mouse, no looking up or down, no jumping until I'm about ready to quit for the night.

No mouse? I need a mouse.

[Aldaraia]

I shift between both ZDoom and Skulltag. Skulltag since its GL mode runs much smoother than GZDoom ever has, although the game still gets choppy when there is a whole lot of action.

For control set up, I use simple WASD with Q set for jump, Z for crouch. Mouse is for turning, firing and I occasionally turn on free-look when I'm in the mood. Its the usual FPS control fare.

When I first started out on Doom all those years ago, I used the keyboard controls for over ten years and I don't miss it, and thinking now, I don't regret it either. I still have memories as a child, those Baron of Hells in E1M8 were much harder, with their torpedoing fireballs and my lack of experience with strafing made them That One Boss. Never used the rockets past E1M6 because I had to have a meaty supply of rockets to throw aimlessly in their direction.

[printz]

I try to always play classic wads using DOSBox and Doom+/Heretic+/Hexen+ (does the latter exist? VPO hazard is intolerable especially because it tends to happen in any complex old map) or plain old Strife1.

Boom or MBF wads are played using Eternity however. I find it much more reliable than PrBoom(+) on this computer. On the OSX computer I always use PrBoom+ because it's not like I have much choice (ZDoom is ZDoom).

I play Doom in Ultra-Violence. Nightmare is often too hard. I also play Strife in skill 4, because Bloodbath is buggy. In Heretic and Hexen I always choose skill 5 however.

Some traditional Doom wads (such as Whispers of Satan) are almost always played on Nightmare. I find that's the only way to enjoy them, otherwise I get bored.

I never use ZDoom (unless on OSX). GZDoom's the shit, and it's my port of choice for the limit-removing Heretic, Hexen and Strife maps (until JHeretic and JHexen catch on by finally getting updated and fixing critical SDL bugs -- cue the developer asking me about what).

[PRIMEVAL]

I usually play in GZDoom with the WASD key set up (as well as E for jump and Z to use items...Q did something as well but I forget) and I prefer to use full mouselook.

[TomoAlien]

Skulltag, Hurt Me Plenty, WASD to walk around, E to use things, full mouselook and no crouching/jumping unless forced to.

[qoncept]

Maybe I'll try it with a mouse some time. I don't really have any aversion to new features (I'm not a purist), but I only play the original maps (because I'm playing for nostalgia). Jumping is clearly cheating and the keyboard just feels right. But I bet I'd be a lot better if I used wasd+mouse.

[40oz]

I used to use prBoom plus but lately I've been using Odamex for single player for some reason. I use a Logitech F310 Gamepad instead of a keyboard and mouse like most people and it's working surprisingly well as a sufficient replacement. I've grown quite attached to it. I've been doing a lot of mapping and testing lately but when I'm not testing my own levels, I like to play on nightmare. I especially like playing with solo-net settings so I can respawn after I die like the monsters do, and when playing Doom 2 or any other PWADs, I like to play with an infinite ammo dehacked patch I made. My favorite wad so far as been Perdition's Gate. It's not perfect but the level of detail and the layouts of the maps are very influential for my mapping. Other times I like to run deathmatch wads with bots on Skulltag, or look for some FFA games on Odamex.

[Xaser]

I switch off-and-on between "classic mode" (no new nothin' besides maps, often in Chocolate Doom) and "random weapon mod spree", of which I've been testing out a new one I've been working on. So the answer to the usual question (old or new) is "both". ;)

[Technician]

I'mma ZDoom fan-babby. I allow mouse and freelook. I don't particularly use any special rendering options.

[Technician]

Actually, didn't we just have this topic a couple of month ago?

[gravager]

zdoom set up as vanilla as I can get, except with higher resolution for my large monitor. strict doom compatibility, 35 fps capped, old style automap, no "secret is revealed!" sound and message, crouch/jump/freelook are off, no bullet & blood decals, no transparency & particle fx... etc. as long as it's not a zdoom mod that requires newer features.

when I had a desk, crt monitor, and mouse I could just use Chocolate Doom. now my only pc is a netbook, but i connect a widescreen monitor & dualshock ps3 controller. Zdoom has great support for these. I can sink into the couch like that chick in the old anti-weed commercials and pretend I have a faithful console port of Doom with all the worlds .wads at my disposal....

[PRIMEVAL]

Technician said:

Actually, didn't we just have this topic a couple of month ago?

We seem to have this every couple months, it seems.

[Snakes]

Choco Doom for vanilla wads, PrBoom+ for limit-removing and boom-compatible wads, Zdoom for Zdoom wads, EE for EE wads and the random "Why not?" mood, etc. Also, I can't do anything other than fullscreen. I've tried it.

Didn't like it.

Technician said:

Actually, didn't we just have this topic a couple of month ago?

And with a remarkably similar title!

[chexwarrior]

Technician said:

Actually, didn't we just have this topic a couple of month ago?

Yeah, but these topics are fun.

I started with ZDoom, then switched to GZDoom when I got a better comp, but I'm a recent convert to PrBoom+ (glboom+ specifically). I use a mouse, but not for freelook -I have to use the mouse to run, its an old habit from ZDoom.

[188DarkRevived]

Nowadays I alternate between either DoomsdayEngine or GZDoom or ZDOOM, depending on the compatibility issues of various WAD files.
Back in 1999 and 2000 I used to alternate between prBOOM and DoomLegacy.
My favourite megawad for DOOM2 remains Batman Doom even today. Although I haven't launched it in ages.

[Grain of Salt]

prboom-plus for DOOM. ZDoom for Hexen, sadly, because Chocolate Raven hates me.

wasd + touchpad

q = use
e = jump (in Hexen)
space = fire

[DuckReconMajor]

I go back and forth between playing classic way in as vanilla a sourceport as the wad will allow, to playing ZDoom all the time with freelook.

[hex11]

Chocolate Doom, usually with Freedoom but no gameplay mods unless the PWAD supplies its own DeHackEd. Difficulty is usually HMP, interface is just keyboard with custom bindinds. I don't even own a mouse. :)

[darkreaver]

I prefer prboom(+), but there is something fucked with the sound drivers or something, so I either dont have any music at all, or the music is at full volume, and there is a big risk of the game crashing each time the midi loops.
So therefore: I use Skulltag, software, wasd, no freelook.

[Platinum Shell]

My absolute favorite way to play DooM (Ultimate,2,Final, and all of the good megawads out there like WOS) is:

*Perkistan's SFX mod
*Perkistan's Weapon Animations mod
*decorate.txt that gives the noble demons (HellKnight and Baron) dark green blood, and Caco blue blood
*decorate.txt(2) that makes barrels pushable

Along with running it in opengl Skulltag, with everything remaining nice and pixely; I love DooM pixelated, as it should be, but I use OpenGl for some effects, dynamic lighting, and control of overrall level lighting. Oh, and I love round particles; Quake got me into it. (but DooM still comes first!)

[Phobus]

I ask myself this question every day.

[Phml]

Darkreaver- if you haven't yet, check out the latest PrBoom+ release. Your problem sounds like the Vista/7 SDL_Mixer (what used to be used for MIDI playback in PrBoom+) issue, but since a few versions there's more options to choose from and that fixes it.

[Brewtal_Legend]

Platinum Shell said:

My absolute favorite way to play DooM (Ultimate,2,Final, and all of the good megawads out there like WOS) is:

*Perkistan's SFX mod
*Perkistan's Weapon Animations mod
*decorate.txt that gives the noble demons (HellKnight and Baron) dark green blood, and Caco blue blood
*decorate.txt(2) that makes barrels pushable

Along with running it in opengl Skulltag, with everything remaining nice and pixely; I love DooM pixelated, as it should be, but I use OpenGl for some effects, dynamic lighting, and control of overrall level lighting. Oh, and I love round particles; Quake got me into it. (but DooM still comes first!)

Pushable barrels sounds fun. Where could I find that?

[david-arquette]

The original Playstation controller!

[DuckReconMajor]

Brewtal_Legend said:

Pushable barrels sounds fun. Where could I find that?

Same here. Also why not combine the two decorates if you are always going to use both?

[Maes]

Technician said:

Actually, didn't we just have this topic a couple of month ago?

That. Other variations include "How do you like your Doom", "Your favourite way of playing Doom", etc. and, if you are really asking for it "Which is the best source port?". The latter is guaranteed to degenerate into a flaming shitfest of people dissing each other's favourite source port or the merits of playing in way A over way B.

IMO asking it in a roundabout way ("how you like", "how you prefer", "favourite style") is a more diplomatic way of asking which saves a lot of grief. That being said, such threads do pop up way too often.

[qoncept]

Maes said:

That. Other variations include "How do you like your Doom", "Your favourite way of playing Doom", etc. and, if you are really asking for it "Which is the best source port?". The latter is guaranteed to degenerate into a flaming shitfest of people dissing each other's favourite source port or the merits of playing in way A over way B.

So what IS the best source port?

[printz]

qoncept said:

So what IS the best source port?

I think GZDoom and VaVoom are competing for being the most advanced Doom port, at least quantitatively. But is that really the important trait in gameplay? After all, even Doom.exe (well, maybe Doomp.exe) is the best at true Doom gameplay for the right wads.

I'd say Eternity. Even though it can't do as many gameplay tricks as ZDoom, it's headed in that direction. It's also very close to covering all of PrBoom's capabilities (if it gets a -complevel and I don't have to change settings in the menu or with OPTIONS, and --shudder-- uncapped framerate, then it's settled.).

There, I said it!