Doom Launcher - Doom frontend & database v3.7.4 (12/2023)

[PasokonDeacon]

6 hours ago, hobomaster22 said:

 

I can update the screenshot selection dialog to allow for selecting multiple files. Would this work?

 

That should work perfectly! Thank you for these recent updates.

Edited July 28, 2020 by PasokonDeacon

[hobomaster22]

21 hours ago, PasokonDeacon said:

 

That should work perfectly! Thank you for these recent updates.

No problem. This build has the change you requested. Will be officially rolled out in the next release. Only need to copy the exe.

https://ci.appveyor.com/project/hobomaster22/doomlauncher/builds/34364883/artifacts

Edited July 29, 2020 by hobomaster22

[JaMpocalypse]

Is there a way to rearrange the tabs manually not by name?

Edited July 30, 2020 by JaMpocalypse

[PasokonDeacon]

Would it be possible to save demo lumps under their Record File names in the Demos directory? They currently get garbage filenames after recording and saving, which makes it difficult for me to dig in and organize the demos afterward. Worst case, you could auto-generate a txt log that matches each filename with metadata from the corresponding WAD+port configuration. Either solution would be very useful.

[DrR0Ck]

Hi there!  I have been using DoomLauncher for about two weeks.  So far I am really happy with it.  I have gotten all of wads/mods more or less organized using it.  I do have a few questions/observations:

 

I only just figured out how to get an image assigned to a wad - i.e. by automatically using the first screenshot.  There is no information on the Edit dialog, and clicking or right clicking does not provide any options.  Perhaps a mention of how this works in the help documentation could be added.   One suggestion I have that would be sweet would be if the Launcher could pull the title screen image from the wad and use that automatically. 

 

In the select individual files dialog, it would be great to be able to change the order of wads/pk3 files.  The reason is that within a zip, multiple files are going to list in alpha order and this may not be ideal as far as load order goes.

 

Adding a loose pk3 file to the launcher does not work properly; they are being treated as zip files and this can cause issues.  I have had to add all of my pk3 files to zips to get them to work.  I noticed a mention of this in github that helped me figure out what was going on and how to address it, but was frustrating in the interim, and I almost gave up on using the launcher as a result.

 

I would love to see the ability to assign multiple configs to a wad.  For example, one config configured to run with a particular mod, with an alternate more vanilla set of files or perhaps to test another mod.  As it stands, one needs to remove and add back in files in order to config differently; unless one keeps track separately of what files are in the list, the prior config is lost.

 

The Recent tab tracks what has been added to the launcher recently and not what one has played recently.  An option to change this behavior would be nice.  Failing this or perhaps in addition, the ability to specify a startup tab (or to startup on the last used tab), since starting on the Recent tab may not be desired.

 

Finally, a minor nitpick: frequently, when I launch a wad, the launcher deposits me back at the top of the list on the current tab instead of staying on the current selection.  This seems to occur intermittently, but at least half the time.

 

That's all I can think of for now, but if any of this is helpful for you folks, I will post additional suggestions/observations as I have them.  Thanks for building a really nice tool!

[hobomaster22]

On 7/30/2020 at 2:34 PM, JaMpocalypse said:

Is there a way to rearrange the tabs manually not by name?

 

Currently there is not. I can add a feature request for it on github.

 

On 7/31/2020 at 2:30 PM, PasokonDeacon said:

Would it be possible to save demo lumps under their Record File names in the Demos directory? They currently get garbage filenames after recording and saving, which makes it difficult for me to dig in and organize the demos afterward. Worst case, you could auto-generate a txt log that matches each filename with metadata from the corresponding WAD+port configuration. Either solution would be very useful.

 

Doom Launcher is using the file system as the database here because storing files inside of a database isn't really a great thing to do. The names are random so they do not collide and were never intended to be seen or touched by the user. Let me know you are trying to do so I can better understand, because I can't find a reason to go into that folder. If Doom Launcher is missing something with demos then I can add new features to accommodate.

[hobomaster22]

14 hours ago, DrR0Ck said:

Adding a loose pk3 file to the launcher does not work properly; they are being treated as zip files and this can cause issues.  I have had to add all of my pk3 files to zips to get them to work.  I noticed a mention of this in github that helped me figure out what was going on and how to address it, but was frustrating in the interim, and I almost gave up on using the launcher as a result.

I'm guessing this means you are using the new unmanaged file feature that was just released. There is a bug with adding pk3 files in unmanaged that is currently fixed on github for the next release.

 

14 hours ago, DrR0Ck said:

I would love to see the ability to assign multiple configs to a wad.  For example, one config configured to run with a particular mod, with an alternate more vanilla set of files or perhaps to test another mod.  As it stands, one needs to remove and add back in files in order to config differently; unless one keeps track separately of what files are in the list, the prior config is lost. 

 

You can do this by adding a new profile. The first drop down is the profile selection and the menu right next to it will let you add and edit profiles.

 

14 hours ago, DrR0Ck said:

The Recent tab tracks what has been added to the launcher recently and not what one has played recently.  An option to change this behavior would be nice.  Failing this or perhaps in addition, the ability to specify a startup tab (or to startup on the last used tab), since starting on the Recent tab may not be desired. 

 

Finally, a minor nitpick: frequently, when I launch a wad, the launcher deposits me back at the top of the list on the current tab instead of staying on the current selection.  This seems to occur intermittently, but at least half the time.

 

I can add these to be added/fixed on github. Thanks for the feedback.

[DrR0Ck]

4 hours ago, hobomaster22 said:


I'm guessing this means you are using the new unmanaged file feature that was just released. There is a bug with adding pk3 files in unmanaged that is currently fixed on github for the next release.

  

You can do this by adding a new profile. The first drop down is the profile selection and the menu right next to it will let you add and edit profiles.
 

I can add these to be added/fixed on github. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Yes - I'm using unmanaged - looking forward to the new build.

 

I'll try the profiles.  Thanks for the info!

[Ant1]

I just wanted to say I just downloaded this and it's absolutely amazing!

[PasokonDeacon]

17 hours ago, hobomaster22 said:

Doom Launcher is using the file system as the database here because storing files inside of a database isn't really a great thing to do. The names are random so they do not collide and were never intended to be seen or touched by the user. Let me know you are trying to do so I can better understand, because I can't find a reason to go into that folder. If Doom Launcher is missing something with demos then I can add new features to accommodate.

Basically, demo lumps recorded for a specific WAD/PKx can get specific names, which you see in said file's demo drop-down menu under Launch, but the lumps themselves each get randomized names. This makes it hard for me to dig into ../GameFiles/Demos and figure out which demo matches which game file, source port, and/or difficulty I specified in the demo name. Playback is no issue so long as the lump's there with its randomized name. 

I'm wondering if there's a way the files could have the same names as what you give them at the Launch menu. This could be optional for people like me who want to archive demos for Doomworld threads or just personal organization.

[hobomaster22]

9 hours ago, PasokonDeacon said:

Basically, demo lumps recorded for a specific WAD/PKx can get specific names, which you see in said file's demo drop-down menu under Launch, but the lumps themselves each get randomized names. This makes it hard for me to dig into ../GameFiles/Demos and figure out which demo matches which game file, source port, and/or difficulty I specified in the demo name. Playback is no issue so long as the lump's there with its randomized name. 

I'm wondering if there's a way the files could have the same names as what you give them at the Launch menu. This could be optional for people like me who want to archive demos for Doomworld threads or just personal organization.

 

You can find the demo in Doom Launcher and right click and select copy which will copy it to your clipboard, and then you can paste it anywhere you want. The name will still be the auto-generated name. I've meaning to change the feature to an export instead of copy, this way the files can be renamed on the export to something like mydemoname_sourceport_gamefile.lmp.

You can do this for screenshots, demos, and saves.

[BMWAG65321]

I've been using this for a few years I think, here's my feedback:

Spoiler

 

Bugs:

• When downloading from idgames, release date metadata is downloaded inconsistently [Haven't tested since 3.0, though there's no mention in git changelogs]
• Pressing delete on a file in the Additional Files / Load Order in the launch window does nothing.
• Pressing enter on a file in the explorer goes down an entry in grid view, and returns to the first entry on the page in tile view, instead of proceeding to the launch window as expected.

Feature Requests:
As I have no real experience with coding, I have no clue how difficult or even viable these are

• Ability to reset cumulative statistics
• Eternity Engine statistics
• Overwriting a file keeps metadata, and/or the ability to quickly/easily copy metadata to different files. This would be great for updating mods.
• Retain column order and size across all tabs of the explorer, excluding IWads and Id Games since they lack most columns
• Dark color scheme: I vastly prefer dark UI. I made a quick mockup with paint.net, preserved what needed to be and then inverted the colors. The mockup also confirmed my suspicion, the white background crushes the perceived saturation of most colored text. 
  • So, I bothered to look around before copying this comment over to DW. I had completely forgotten about support for High Contrast as I'd opted in to the Windows 10 update that added a dark theme ASAP. I'd forgotten I disliked High Contrast's high contrast between the lines in the explorer. Obviously, non-HC users are still left in the dark. I moved away from HC because I'd had too many instances of black text on black backgrounds or other general illegibility.

Here's a comparison with my mockup in the middle. ^{Hopefully this is formatted properly}

Spoiler

 

 

[hobomaster22]

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

• When downloading from idgames, release date metadata is downloaded inconsistently [Haven't tested since 3.0, though there's no mention in git changelogs] 

When downloading from idgames Doom Launcher will by default parse the text file. There are files that have different release dates compared to what was entered in the idgames database, for whatever reason. Like this file:
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/btsx_e2

 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Pressing delete on a file in the Additional Files / Load Order in the launch window does nothing. 

I can add this to fix.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Pressing enter on a file in the explorer goes down an entry in grid view, and returns to the first entry on the page in tile view, instead of proceeding to the launch window as expected. 

Pressing the enter key will default to pressing the search button. Default behavior of Window's grid view is to move down a row when pressing enter.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Ability to reset cumulative statistics 

Not really sure what this means. Every time you check cumulative statistics, it adds up all stats in the current view.
 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Eternity Engine statistics

I didn't see an command line option to output statistics. The engine needs some sort of output file like prboom's -levelstat parameter.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Overwriting a file keeps metadata, and/or the ability to quickly/easily copy metadata to different files. This would be great for updating mods.

The only reason it shouldn't keep metadata is if there is an idgames style text file in the zip. There is a 'Copy From File..' button the bottom of the edit that allows you to copy metadata from a different file.
 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Retain column order and size across all tabs of the explorer, excluding IWads and Id Games since they lack most columns 

Doom Launcher remembers the order and size per tab. New tabs will copy the settings from Local. Currently there isn't a way to set them all but I can add an option for that.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 1:29 PM, BMWAG65321 said:

Dark color scheme: I vastly prefer dark UI. I made a quick mockup with paint.net, preserved what needed to be and then inverted the colors. The mockup also confirmed my suspicion, the white background crushes the perceived saturation of most colored text.  

Dark UI is something I've wanted to do for a while. Unfortunately Windows Forms wasn't designed with this in mind and they made it extremely painful to change after the fact.

 

Are you using the latest version? High contrast should work in 3.0.1. A user brought it up a while back and it should work now. If Doom Launcher is open when you change to high contrast it will have to be restarted.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[FrogMaster]

I had another suggestion that I think would be pretty neat to see. The image that is shown on the right side of the screen, I think it would be really awesome if multiple screenshots can turn that into a slideshow. If you take multiple photos in a specific WAD, then it could possibly be set on a timer and flip the pictures. Hopefully that isn't too difficult to set up, I think it would look amazing. Keep up the incredible work! :)

[hobomaster22]

On 9/9/2020 at 3:54 AM, FrogMaster said:

I had another suggestion that I think would be pretty neat to see. The image that is shown on the right side of the screen, I think it would be really awesome if multiple screenshots can turn that into a slideshow. If you take multiple photos in a specific WAD, then it could possibly be set on a timer and flip the pictures. Hopefully that isn't too difficult to set up, I think it would look amazing. Keep up the incredible work! :) 

Added an enhancement for it in GitHub. Thanks!

https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/issues/191

[DrR0Ck]

I have had a bunch more time with the Launcher and absolutely love it.  Having this launcher has enabled encouraged me to download a pretty sizable collection of maps, mods, conversions, etc.  There is no way I could keep track of them all without a tool like this.

 

A couple of additional observations/suggestions:

• I do agree with the suggestion in a prior post that the enter key should launch a mod.  On a similar note, I would like to see additional keyboard shortcut functionality:  If you have a column such as file, title, author sorted, pressing a letter key should jump to the first entry with that letter; subsequent presses should advance to the next entry with the same letter.
• Since mods assigned to IWADs get inherited by mods/maps that leverage the IWADs, I would like to have the ability to have the Extra Parameters (i.e. additional  command line settings inherited as well.  Having to copy/paste these is a bit of a pain and they largely are used most of the time in my configuration.  Edited to note - I know you can specify command line parameters at the source port level, but these are not editable later on a per-wad basis; they don't appear in the Extra Parameters settings for wad files.
• I would really like the ability to reorder the files on the "Select Individual Files" dialog.  Since it's difficult to control the order that files will populate within a zip, and to prevent needing to have separate entries for mods or patches that exist for a single map, being able to add a patch or resource to a zip with the wad and control the load order would be ideal.
• I have also noticed that adding in new pwads/zips, often does not populate a release date.  FWIW, I think this happens more frequently when adding files in bulk. I know this was previously mentioned; in my case, nothing is being populated vs. what I interpret to mean dates that are not consistent from text file to idgames archive. This is a minor issue and easy enough to work around.

If I think of anything else, I'll post.  Thanks for the great work on this!

 

 

Edited September 12, 2020 by DrR0Ck

[hobomaster22]

3.1.0 Release:

 

Import allows for multiple files to be selected, so multiple screenshots can be imported at once.
Export file feature to create nicer name for files, e.g. mydemoname_sourceport_gamefile.lmp.
Map list can be edited.
Option to automatically deleted a screenshot after it has been imported. Located in Settings -> Configuration -> Delete Screenshots After Import.

Fixed crash if send to path did not exit.
Fixed crash for copying game file fields (Copy From File).
Fixed issue that caused zip files to be unpacked in unmanaged mode.
Fixed redraw issue when adding additional files caused by high DPI in combination with the System (Enhanced) compatibility setting.
Fixed selection issue in tile view when control key is pressed.

 

https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/releases/tag/3.1.0.0

[DrR0Ck]

I have noticed since updating to 3.1.0 that using the update metadata option for newly added levels is causing the number of maps to be set to zero for some wad files.

 

Edit - I tried reverting to 3.01. Seems to have resolved the issue.  Note that the Number of maps is correct on import, but choosing update metadata reverts the number to zero.  As example, I loaded 3 Hours of Agony 1 & 2.

 

Thanks

Edited September 16, 2020 by DrR0Ck

[DrR0Ck]

One additional thing I would appreciate seeing addressed are the statistics gathering routines.  When I play a PWAD, I end up with multiple identical entries in the statistics tab for the wad.  I think these are getting added every time I update a save file and/or advance to a next level.  So by the time I complete a multi-level wad, I end up with dozens of identical stats for MAP01, MAP02, MAP03, etc. although they may have different date/timestamps. Is there any way to automatically filter out stats that are identical across Map, Kills, Secrets, Items, and Time (ideally before they are populated)?  While individual stats can be deleted by hand, the stat list does not default sort by Map, and any sort applied for the list is lost after a stat deletion, making it more of a hindrance to remove the dupes.

 

Thanks again for the work on this!

[hobomaster22]

15 hours ago, DrR0Ck said:

One additional thing I would appreciate seeing addressed are the statistics gathering routines.  When I play a PWAD, I end up with multiple identical entries in the statistics tab for the wad.  I think these are getting added every time I update a save file and/or advance to a next level.  So by the time I complete a multi-level wad, I end up with dozens of identical stats for MAP01, MAP02, MAP03, etc. although they may have different date/timestamps. Is there any way to automatically filter out stats that are identical across Map, Kills, Secrets, Items, and Time (ideally before they are populated)?  While individual stats can be deleted by hand, the stat list does not default sort by Map, and any sort applied for the list is lost after a stat deletion, making it more of a hindrance to remove the dupes.

 

Thanks again for the work on this!

 

I can see this happening with newer versions of GZDoom (4.4.x). Doesn't appear happen with 4.3.x. Now I have to figure out what happened with GZDoom save files. Thanks for the report!

[hobomaster22]

On 9/21/2020 at 2:13 PM, DrR0Ck said:

One additional thing I would appreciate seeing addressed are the statistics gathering routines.  When I play a PWAD, I end up with multiple identical entries in the statistics tab for the wad.  I think these are getting added every time I update a save file and/or advance to a next level.  So by the time I complete a multi-level wad, I end up with dozens of identical stats for MAP01, MAP02, MAP03, etc. although they may have different date/timestamps. Is there any way to automatically filter out stats that are identical across Map, Kills, Secrets, Items, and Time (ideally before they are populated)?  While individual stats can be deleted by hand, the stat list does not default sort by Map, and any sort applied for the list is lost after a stat deletion, making it more of a hindrance to remove the dupes.

 

Thanks again for the work on this!

 

@DrR0Ck I created an issue on GitHub and posted a build that hopefully resolves the issue:
https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/issues/196

Let me know if it fixes the issue, thanks!

[DrR0Ck]

14 hours ago, hobomaster22 said:

 

@DrR0Ck I created an issue on GitHub and posted a build that hopefully resolves the issue:
https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/issues/196

Let me know if it fixes the issue, thanks!

I'll do some playing and will let you know.  Thanks!

 

Edit - looks good so far.  Will let you know if I encounter further issues as I play more.

 

Thanks again!

Edited September 27, 2020 by DrR0Ck : update

[DrR0Ck]

On 9/26/2020 at 6:59 AM, hobomaster22 said:

 

@DrR0Ck I created an issue on GitHub and posted a build that hopefully resolves the issue:
https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/issues/196

Let me know if it fixes the issue, thanks!

As near as I can tell, this has been fixed in the build I downloaded.

 

Thanks again for the great support!

[hobomaster22]

3.1.1 Release:

 

Updated icons
Fixed issue causing duplicate ZDoom statistics
Fixed map issue when pulling metadata
Fixed selection issue when ctrl key was held while selecting game files in tile views

 

https://github.com/nstlaurent/DoomLauncher/releases/tag/3.1.1.0

 

[DrR0Ck]

Me again. I'm running 3.1.1 and I'm getting inconsistent results and exceptions trying to search Id Games tab.  If I search for "hansen" or "lainos" I get a list of wads authored by Chris Hansen or Lainos as expected.  Searching for "vader" or "cheesewheel" throws an unhandled exception.  I ran the same searches on the website and got results searching on Author.

[hobomaster22]

2 hours ago, DrR0Ck said:

Me again. I'm running 3.1.1 and I'm getting inconsistent results and exceptions trying to search Id Games tab.  If I search for "hansen" or "lainos" I get a list of wads authored by Chris Hansen or Lainos as expected.  Searching for "vader" or "cheesewheel" throws an unhandled exception.  I ran the same searches on the website and got results searching on Author. 

 

Do you have the exception data to post? Those searches are working as expected for me at the moment. Would be a good idea to post the issue on GitHub to have a discussion there.

[DrR0Ck]

29 minutes ago, hobomaster22 said:

 

Do you have the exception data to post? Those searches are working as expected for me at the moment. Would be a good idea to post the issue on GitHub to have a discussion there.

I'll move it over to Github.

[DrR0Ck]

I have a little issue that's been bugging me for a while, but I thought it was a GZDoom issue; I'm now convinced it's DoomLauncher causing the issue.  When I started using DoomLauncher, GZDoom was dropping savegames by default into the GZDoom root directory.  I eventually created a Save subfolder and started using the "-savedir" command to specify that save games should be located in the Save subdir, and I moved the savegames out of the root and into the Save folder.  However, whenever I start up a game, I get a bunch of old saves appearing in my GZDoom root folder again.  These include autosaves, and differing save files depending on the mod I'm running.  What I think is happening, is that save file information from prior to my use of the "-savedir" parameter is still stored in the DoomLauncher database these old save files are being created in the GZDoom root folder, where they were originally located.  I see that save file information is stored on the sqlite File table - it may be I just need to identify and clear the entries for the misbehaving save files, but I'm not certain how to positively identify the affected entries, as I don't see any path information stored.  

Please let me know if I'm off base on my assumption that DoomLauncher is dropping the save files in the GZDoom directory or if I can further help troubleshoot.  Thanks for this great tool and your fantastic support!

[DrR0Ck]

On 11/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, DrR0Ck said:

I have a little issue that's been bugging me for a while, but I thought it was a GZDoom issue; I'm now convinced it's DoomLauncher causing the issue.  When I started using DoomLauncher, GZDoom was dropping savegames by default into the GZDoom root directory.  I eventually created a Save subfolder and started using the "-savedir" command to specify that save games should be located in the Save subdir, and I moved the savegames out of the root and into the Save folder.  However, whenever I start up a game, I get a bunch of old saves appearing in my GZDoom root folder again.  These include autosaves, and differing save files depending on the mod I'm running.  What I think is happening, is that save file information from prior to my use of the "-savedir" parameter is still stored in the DoomLauncher database these old save files are being created in the GZDoom root folder, where they were originally located.  I see that save file information is stored on the sqlite File table - it may be I just need to identify and clear the entries for the misbehaving save files, but I'm not certain how to positively identify the affected entries, as I don't see any path information stored.  

Please let me know if I'm off base on my assumption that DoomLauncher is dropping the save files in the GZDoom directory or if I can further help troubleshoot.  Thanks for this great tool and your fantastic support!

A couple of interesting additional bits of information:  When I launch GZdoom directly via the exe and not DoomLauncher, I don't get save games appearing in the gzdoom folder.  Further, I noticed on the File table, that save files are tied to a source port.  So I created a new source port and loaded up a mod that had previous save games appearing in the root of the gzdoom folder.  After setting the source port to the mod, starting it up, no save files appeared in the gzdoom folder.  However, after creating a new save (which saved to the save folder properly, quitting out and starting it up again, the new save appeared in the gzdoom folder.  Also not - in case it wasn't clear, the saves appear in the gzdoom folder simply upon starting up gzdoom via the launcher; before any saves are loaded or saved out.

[hobomaster22]

On 11/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, DrR0Ck said:

I have a little issue that's been bugging me for a while, but I thought it was a GZDoom issue; I'm now convinced it's DoomLauncher causing the issue.  When I started using DoomLauncher, GZDoom was dropping savegames by default into the GZDoom root directory.  I eventually created a Save subfolder and started using the "-savedir" command to specify that save games should be located in the Save subdir, and I moved the savegames out of the root and into the Save folder.  However, whenever I start up a game, I get a bunch of old saves appearing in my GZDoom root folder again.  These include autosaves, and differing save files depending on the mod I'm running.  What I think is happening, is that save file information from prior to my use of the "-savedir" parameter is still stored in the DoomLauncher database these old save files are being created in the GZDoom root folder, where they were originally located.  I see that save file information is stored on the sqlite File table - it may be I just need to identify and clear the entries for the misbehaving save files, but I'm not certain how to positively identify the affected entries, as I don't see any path information stored.  

Please let me know if I'm off base on my assumption that DoomLauncher is dropping the save files in the GZDoom directory or if I can further help troubleshoot.  Thanks for this great tool and your fantastic support!

 

I believe this was a feature that was started that copies the save files for the launched file into the source port directory. I recall the idea was that the saves could be deleted so the saves would only be for that file.