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Frisky

How can I make ZDoom feel more retro?

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Note: I have made a thread similar to this one which was about making GZDoom retro. Similar =/= Identical.

How can I make ZDoom more retro? I want it to sound like OPL, look like DOS, and generally just make it really really DOS-y overall.
I want your guys' suggestions on how I can do this since I'm looking for a more old-school experience.

I will not be switching Source Ports because I like the way ZDoom works and feels.

If you need an idea on what I want, I want it similar to this.

Spoiler


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Turn the resolution down to 320x200 and choose OPL as a sound device (or whatever it's called).

And also you can enable ENDOOM screen in settings for more DOSy pleasure.

Oh, and you can also select 'Doom' compatibility mode for some Vanilla bugs.

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cl_capfps 1. If that affects the 'feels' part you like with ZDoom then you're already too far down the modern source port rabbit hole. :)

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If all you want is uncapped framerate, Crispy Doom can do the trick. If you want ZDoom style controls in an old school port, try Odamex. If you want an old school environment with support for modern ZDoom mods...

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Danfun64 said:

If all you want is uncapped framerate, Crispy Doom can do the trick.


Sometimes, actually *reading* a question might avoid giving pointless answers...:

Frisky said:

I will not be switching Source Ports because I like the way ZDoom works and feels.

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'I will not be changing Zdoom because I like how it looks and feels'.
'Tell me how to change how it looks and feels'.

I'm going to answer your question as if you need Zdoom to play particular custom wads that require it, but still want some semblance of playing the original game.

Probably not exhaustive because there are a so many options. Some are going to be more noticable than others and you can pick and choose, this is just trying to come as close as possible. I'm also just going down the menus and noting changes so the first few aren't the most important. This is from a fresh install of Zdoom 2.8.1 with default options.

    /* customize controls */
  • tailor these to your needs
  • if playing vanilla maps don't use jump/crouch

    /* mouse controls */
  • overall sensitivity: set to your preference (matching vanilla mouse feel is non-trivial)
  • enable mouse in menus: no
  • show back button: no
  • (forward/backward speed: 0; if you want to simulate novert)

    /* automap options */
  • map color set: traditional doom
  • show item counts: off
  • show monster counts: off
  • show secret counts: off
  • show time elapsed: off
  • show secrets on map: never

    /* hud options */
    (make sure crosshair:none and stretch status bar:on)
  • use old ouch mugshot formula: on
    >> /*message options */
  • show secret notifications: off
  • scale text in high res: on

    /* sounds options */
    this is too deep a subject for this post. you might want to try different soundfonts, SC55 in particular are popular as that's the gear Prince used to compose the ST. you can try OPL but even back in the day there were better alternatives. http://zdoom.org/wiki/Sound_options can help you.

    /* display options */
  • rendering interpolation: off (original framerate)
  • show endoom screen (if you want, I don't tend to have this shown)
  • lost soul translucency: 1
  • use fake contrast: on
  • rocket trails: off
  • blood type: sprites
  • number of particles: 0
  • number of decals: 0
  • interpolate monster movement: no
  • menu dim 0

    /* set video mode */
    this will obviously depend on your setup and preferences. on my setup Zdoom can be set to 320x240 with fullscreen: on (should be 320x200, but there is no proper aspect ratio correction in Zdoom so 320x200 displays as a 16:10 resolution. 320x240 achieves a 4:3 aspect ratio and is good enough).
Zdoom is really comprehensive so there are probably many more CVARs that can help. The main one I remember using is 'r_drawtrans false' to disable translucency altogether. The Zdoom wiki is a great resource, http://zdoom.org/wiki/Main_menu has all the menu options documented and http://zdoom.org/wiki/CVARs:Display has console variables.

Hopefully some of this is helpful in tweaking Zdoom to feel more like the original game. Ultimately if you don't actually need Zdoom compatibility or features then other source ports do a better job of replicating the original experience. Also I've never hacked on zdoom so people like Graf et. al. know unimaginably more than me, anything they say is pretty much authoritative!

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If really want to get the look/feel of the original DOOM experience, then you have to resize the playing screen to the size
of a stamp (almost). I remember that was the only way to have a halfway decent multiplayer game.

aah, the memories

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Kappes Buur said:

aah, the memories

Well, at least the pistol sprite is in the "same" resolution as everything else, now.

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This is a long shot with the thread being a couple years old, but it goes along with the above discussion. In vanilla Doom, you were able to double right click to open doors. I recently got zDoom downloaded from a friend and have been trying to double right click in the customize controls options menu, but it always records the single right click input. Is this even possible in zDoom? 

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yeah, you can with the console command

doublebind mouse2 +use

I don't know if there's a menu option for doublebinds at the moment.

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5 hours ago, InsanityBringer said:

yeah, you can with the console command

 


doublebind mouse2 +use

 

I don't know if there's a menu option for doublebinds at the moment.

 

So I was trying this out and couldn't get it working. But after searching some more forums I discovered the need for quotation marks to execute the command (common knowledge I guess, but I'm a noob).

 

This was the holy grail I was looking for:

doublebind mouse2 "+use"

 

InsanityBringer, thank you so much for the help. You have made the zDoom experience way more enjoyable for me!

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