A Doom equivalent to Quake Injector

For those who don't know what Quake Injector is, here is an overview:

Quake Injector is a tool to download, install and play Quake (some call it „Quake 1“) singleplayer maps from Spirit's Quad­dicted archive – basically the complete history of all quake singleplayer maps ever made. Ever been annoyed by an excruciating installation process? Could not figure out how to install a certain map? Well, this tool makes it a piece of cake. Simply pick a map and click Install.

So here is my question: is there an equivalent of this gem regarding idgames resources? Wouldn't it be awesome to have one if not?

With additionnal features like favorite mirror for downloading and filters for engine specific wads / rating based on users votes, I think it would be an awesome tool.

It would certainly be a nice gimmick. At least for lazy people or those who just like to play a random map every now and then without the hassle of having to go through the archives manually. Since the QI source is GPL, and the principle quite simple, it probably wouldn't be overly difficult to port it for idgames.

My gripe with the QI is that it requires JRE instead of coming as a standalone executable.

I agree with you. Perhaps Qt would be a better option?

BTW, I effing love your Quake maps! Even that "my home" map was well executed.

REoL TOUGH Quake: now featuring REoL TOUGH ELEVATORS

Pavera said:

REoL TOUGH Quake: now featuring REoL TOUGH ELEVATORS

lol

I didn't even know about this Quake Injector thing, will have to try it out. A Doom Injector would be certainly interesting..

Someone who I was in contact via e-mail with was making something like this a while ago. Unfortunately I never got around to implementing the support in the archives frontend that he needed...

What does this do that a Doom Frontend wouldn't do?

Download maps.

neg!ke said:

It would certainly be a nice gimmick. At least for lazy people or those who just like to play a random map every now and then without the hassle of having to go through the archives manually. Since the QI source is GPL, and the principle quite simple, it probably wouldn't be overly difficult to port it for idgames.

My gripe with the QI is that it requires JRE instead of coming as a standalone executable.

As a Java developer I have a hard time sympathizing. It's pretty uncommon to find someone without a JRE already installed unless they are actively avoiding it, and in that case they have no basis for complaint.

40oz said:

What does this do that a Doom Frontend wouldn't do?

Did you read the OP?

That would be awesome. You could use Wadseeker to download the wads through a custom frontend I believe.

Internet Doom Explorer (Ide.exe) can search the internet for specific wads. If you attempt to join an online server for which you don't have the wads for, It will go to the download link (if the information for it is provided) or search on a few WAD resource websites, then store it in a specified wad directory. It's not always reliable though and I don't think you can browse for wads you don't have without attempting to join a server that is running them.

40oz said:

It's not always reliable though and I don't think you can browse for wads you don't have without attempting to join a server that is running them.

There ya go buddy answered your own question.

Bloodshedder said:

Someone who I was in contact via e-mail with was making something like this a while ago. Unfortunately I never got around to implementing the support in the archives frontend that he needed...

So does that basically mean this isn't possible? Is that other guy first in line?

DuckReconMajor said:

There ya go buddy answered your own question.So does that basically mean this isn't possible? Is that other guy first in line?

Of course it's possible, I just didn't end up helping him, I don't remember why. I was (and still am) willing to help him. Matt Tropiano, if you're reading this let me know.

Yup, I'm reading this, and I am still totally down with helping. We're going to need to design this a little bit better, or maybe get input from the community for features, etc.

Unfortunately, everybody - what I was working on still requires a JRE. However, I could always look into bundling a minimalist one into the final product.

EDIT: Also, I've got a bunch of working components that can predict the port/game that certain WADs work with, so that, in and of itself, would be useful for this. Sorry if I'm a tad all-over-the-place - my brain is buzzing with possibilities at the moment.

Requiring JRE is still better than having nothing. Looking forward!

The conversation that I had with Bloodshedder about two years ago was about extending a frontend launcher that I made, found here, so that it could allow the user to pull wads from idGames and store them locally, to be "managed" later by the frontend.

We briefly chatted about what information could be made available to it via connecting HTTP-wise to a PHP page that would get me the necessary information based on provided parameters in a REST-like way, but we just fell out of contact.

I could also write the PHP necessary for generating that info if need be, but that would hinge on Bloodshedder allowing a stranger into the guts of idGames. ;)

I'm guessing you're just looking for an xml or JSOD (or something easily parsed) version, right?

Pretty much, but there will need to be discussion between him and I about what would I (or anybody) would need to be exposed to.

For the client, there could be two incarnations - a heavier one that would essentially be a richer idGames Frontend or Wad Manager application, or a lighter one that would be associated to a URL like "idgames:12243" or something, and that would download from a primary FTP, inspect the file, tell the user about it (author info, rating, etc. plus suggested port and game, which can be inspected by the client), and ask to run it. Client setup would involve linking port types to executables and game types to IWADs.

Mista_T said:

For the client, there could be two incarnations - a heavier one that would essentially be a richer idGames Frontend or Wad Manager application, or a lighter one that would be associated to a URL like "idgames:12243" or something, and that would download from a primary FTP, inspect the file, tell the user about it (author info, rating, etc. plus suggested port and game, which can be inspected by the client), and ask to run it. Client setup would involve linking port types to executables and game types to IWADs.

The latter idea sounds good. That way, you could browse /idgames, click a idgames://21423 link and the client side launcher would download, extract and launch it. Saves having to keep a local copy of the idgames data, or duplicating the wad navigation in a desktop application.

Mista_T said:

I could also write the PHP necessary for generating that info if need be, but that would hinge on Bloodshedder allowing a stranger into the guts of idGames. ;)

I'm fine with that. If you write the code, I can upload it to the site and put in the mySQL access information. Are table schema (and maybe field descriptions) all you need?

Yeah, that'd be great! You can E-mail it to me. An SQL script would be preferable (CREATE and INSERT commands), since I would be able to replicate the structure locally for testing. You do not need to give me the data in the tables (unless some data is necessary).

I've got vacation time coming up, so that would be the perfect time to get started!

EDIT: Also, include what version of PHP Doomworld uses/included package info so I don't start writing unsupported things. :)

Thanks, Bloodshedder!

exl said:

The latter idea sounds good. That way, you could browse /idgames, click a idgames://21423 link and the client side launcher would download, extract and launch it. Saves having to keep a local copy of the idgames data, or duplicating the wad navigation in a desktop application.

Well, it could be a combination of the two - keeping a local copy would be useful should you not realize that you've already downloaded it, and you can always keep track of what you played and when. The key, in this case, is to strike the balance of utility and feature.

So hey - REST interface up: http://doomworld.com/idgames/api/. Now to actually write a program...

Sweet!

Mista_T said:

So hey - REST interface up: http://doomworld.com/idgames/api/. Now to actually write a program...

Indeed, thanks for this... A few years ago I made a thing with WWW::Mechanize that queried /idgames basically by screen scraping, maybe it's time for version 2 ☺

RjY said:

Indeed, thanks for this... A few years ago I made a thing with WWW::Mechanize that queried /idgames basically by screen scraping, maybe it's time for version 2 ☺

Back then, that was going to be my only recourse, too. You're welcome!

Well this looks pretty fucking cool. Haven't tested it or anything, but I know this would be helpful in many ways. Mad props, dude.

Sweet. Nice work everyone involved. Now to get coding some apps... :)

damn. thanks for reminding me of quake injector, it's a great tool. i forgot it because i haven't played much quake for a while and didn't need fresh maps. now doom with its idgames archive would be the perfect game for a similar tool. just click on the map and play it.