Best Engine for all DOOM WADs

[The Doommer]

Hi , I've downloaded some WAD file from the following link : http://www.doomworld.com/10years/bestwads/
But when i tried ChocolateDoom , PrBoom , Doomsday and ZDoom , they cannot play them . Which engine allows me to play all DOOM WAD files ?

[esselfortium]

Different wads are built for different source ports (engines), so there's no single choice that will always work. But if none of those are working on anything you're trying, you're most likely doing something wrong. How are you loading the wads?

[Arctangent]

None of them.

Because each source port has different intentions ( i.e. ZDoom intends to be able to play any idTech 1 game and make them as moddable as possible, PrBoom basically intends to be Doom+ with a whole lot at attention to keeping demo compatibility ), the only maps you can assume will work with all of them are pure vanilla maps, and even then some of the more moddable ports change the fundamentals of the engine in such a way that various vanilla tricks no longer work.

Your best bet is to keep a copy of PrBoom and ZDoom on you, then read the text files the maps come with to tell what source port you need. You don't need Chocolate Doom if you have PrBoom unless you're looking for something that is nearly 100% vanilla Doom; PrBoom is really close itself and supports Boom-format maps. ZDoom can probably play all the wads on the list, but there might be some issues that change how they play, and if there're say, EDGE or Eternity mods on the list then they'll likely have issues. Though to be honest I've never personally seen an EDGE map and Eternity-only maps seem more modern than 2003, so it doesn't seem like a big deal for what you want to do.

[Bloodshedder]

Do you own a copy of Doom or Doom 2?

[Gez]

If you want a port that can load nearly every wad you throw at it, try GZDoom. It should work with anything vanilla/limit removing, nearly everything Boom/MBF, a fair chunk of Legacy, most Vavoom, and of course everything ZDoom. You'll still need a backup second engine (like PrBoom+ or Eternity) for mods that use especially contrived engine hacks, extremely obscure Boom features (like non-trivial transparency maps), or extremely complex dehacked works (Batman Doom is still broken on some maps IIRC).

Of course if you're a stickler for perfect accuracy, the use of a truecolor hardware renderer instead of the original software renderer and the slightly different ZDoom physics can be an issue. But that shouldn't stop 95+% of the single-player stuff on the idgames archive from working right.

Keep in mind a few things, though:
- Pay attention to the IWAD needed. Loading a Doom wad in Doom II will not work right, and that won't be the fault of the port.
- Pay attention to the level(s) replaced. Suppose you load Doomsday of UAC (UAC_DEAD), the level replaced is E1M8. Start a new game, you get the plain old vanilla E1M1, but it's not because it didn't work.
- Some of these mods (e.g. Aliens TC) use a modified engine, which is why you have a dehacked patch provided with them. You generally need to tell the port to load that dehacked patch.

So, if something looks like it didn't load correctly, read its text file and check if you haven't missed something.

[The Doommer]

Bloodshedder said:

Do you own a copy of Doom or Doom 2?

Yes , I have a copy of Doom II : Hell on earth & Doom Shareware WADs.

[Zed]

I recommend you do this:

-First of all, read the text file. Most wads have one and that way (along with what others have said) you'll know what will work best.
-Download at least PrBoom+ and ZDoom, maybe around 90% of the wads out there run on either. If you plan to play vanilla maps as close as possible to the original (and you can't do it the "old way"), use DosBox.

I hope this helps.

[LogicDeLuxe]

Shareware Doom is not supported with PWADs. You would need Ultimate Doom or the compatible Freedoom wad for Doom 1 maps. The majority of wads are for Doom 2, though.

[The Doommer]

I Launched the Cyberdreams map , but i see Doomguys instead of creatures. Is this regular ? All the maps are the same with Doom II.

[scifista42]

No, you shouldn't see stock Doom 2 maps. Which port did you use, and how exactly did you launch the .wad and the .deh? Your description sounds like you have only launched the .deh.

[Maes]

LogicDeLuxe said:

Shareware Doom is not supported with PWADs

That is not entirely accurate. Many source ports will not check for whether the player uses the shareware IWAD or not. Also, at least the first DoomBuilder will not refuse to work with the shareware IWAD as a basis.

I had documented these findings here, thought things may have changed. E.g . GZDoom 1.5.x did not honor the -file restriction with the shareware IWAD, while 1.7.1 and onwards seems to do it.

In any case, even if you manage to bum out of a proper IWAD, there aren't many mods that will work with it. Many of the simplest E1-based, 1994 PWADS won't work simply because of missing textures and things.

[Koko Ricky]

I was gonna download Boom, but I wasn't sure which version to get. What's recommended?

[Gez]

GoatLord said:

I was gonna download Boom, but I wasn't sure which version to get. What's recommended?

There's only one version of Boom (if indeed you mean Boom, something to run in DOSBox or on a retro rig), and it's 2.02. Previous versions are extremely hard to find and nobody uses them.

If you don't really want Boom but instead a modern engine derived from Boom and perfectly compatible with it, then PrBoom+ is what you should look into. Eternity should also fit the bill.

[The Doommer]

scifista42 said:

No, you shouldn't see stock Doom 2 maps. Which port did you use, and how exactly did you launch the .wad and the .deh? Your description sounds like you have only launched the .deh.

I launched the .bat file and the i opened cydreams.exe with DOSBox.

[hex11]

Maes said:

That is not entirely accurate. Many source ports will not check for whether the player uses the shareware IWAD or not. Also, at least the first DoomBuilder will not refuse to work with the shareware IWAD as a basis.

Also, SW Doom 1.2 will happily run any PWAD that uses only shareware IWAD resources. That really limits the number of PWADs though, because many of the 1994 maps are set on E2M1 and/or use textures or things that aren't in E1 (as this is what id software asked map authors to do). There's still a few that work though, like ORIGWAD.PWD (well at least once you rename it to ORIGWAD.WAD).

Oh, and I think some of the DOS editors will also edit the shareware IWAD (and let you save your work, etc.) if you just change a small setting in a CFG file. Look at the DETH IWAD config files, for example...

But anyway, it's all academic now. Only a few hardcore grognards would consider mapping for such an ancient engine, and anyway there's full Freedoom IWADs...

[scifista42]

@The Doommer: Here's your mistake: You must run the .exe with a parameter:

-file Cyber110.wad

Or you must use a source port and run it with parameters:

-file Cyber110.wad -deh Cyber110.deh

[The Doommer]

scifista42 said:

@The Doommer: Here's your mistake: You must run the .exe with a parameter:

-file Cyber110.wad

Or you must use a source port and run it with parameters:

-file Cyber110.wad -deh Cyber110.deh

Where should i type this ?

[scifista42]

Right after the .exe when you run it. Applies to both the game's .exe, or the executable of any source port you use (modern source ports run under modern operating systems without DosBOX, of course).

[The Doommer]

How ? DOSBox will run the game immediately.

[scifista42]

The parameters should be on the command line along with the .exe when it's being launched. How do you launch the .exe? Surely you put the text "cydreams" or "cydreams.exe" somewhere (into a command line?). So instead of that, put this text: "cydreams -file Cyber110.wad". Of course, Cyber110.wad must be in the folder.

[Gez]

scifista42 said:

The parameters should be on the command line along with the .exe when it's being launched. How do you launch the .exe?

I guess he has the game on Steam and uses the Steam shortcut.

[The Doommer]

Gez said:

I guess he has the game on Steam and uses the Steam shortcut.

Yes , i guess.
bt the way , How to run the .wad file under the engine to run them without any problem ? I copied the wad files in the engine's directory , but it cannot detect them.

[Flesh420]

Just highlight the wad you want to play, click and drag it to the port's .exe. Example: Click and drag Cyber110.wad to Zdoom.exe and it'll launch, just be sure to pick proper Iwad like Doom2.wad.

[scifista42]

Click the .wad file -> Context menu -> Open with -> choose the source port.

You can set up .wad files to open in said source port upon double click, too.

Or launch the source port from a command line as I've advised you before.

[Gez]

The Doommer said:

Yes , i guess.
bt the way , How to run the .wad file under the engine to run them without any problem ? I copied the wad files in the engine's directory , but it cannot detect them.

Okay, you'll need to run the port directly instead of going through Steam. Here's a simple walkthrough:

Get ZDoom. Just unzip it somewhere.

Double-click ZDoom.exe. Note how it detects the IWADs you have available from Steam (including, if you have them, Heretic and Hexen). Cool, it works. Now quit.

Drag-and-drop the .wad file on zdoom.exe. It starts, choose the appropriate IWAD, and there you go.

[Buckshot]

different strokes for different folks.

[The Doommer]

Only one question remains : How to keep multiwads in the engine directory without problem ? Keeping them will overwrite the file_id.diz file.

[Graf Zahl]

You can safely overwrite that. It's just some ancient information that's not needed for playing.

[The Doommer]

I have trouble using ZDoom , because it's movement controls are not making sense. Isn't there a better engine instead of that which can support mouse movement ? (If we don't count PrBoom+)

[scifista42]

You can reconfigure controls in "Options -> Customize controls" and in "Player setup". The possibilities are very wide, particularly in ZDoom, which is an advanced port that even supports console bindings etc.