PARKER INFORMATION RESOURCES HOW TO PAGE

In this file, all example commands have been indented to distinguish them from the surrounding text.

-LOADGAME allows you to start DOOM from a specified save game. Instead of using the saved game name, simply enter the number that corresponds to the slot you saved the game to on the SAVE GAME screen (0-5). -loadgame [# of the game]

-DEATHMATCH starts DOOM as a DeathMatch game. If you don't enter DEATHMATCH as a command line parameter, DOOM will default to the Cooperative mode. -deathmatch

-ALTDEATH specifies respawning items during DEATHMATCH. NOTE: Invulnerability and Invisibility do not respawn. -deathmatch -altdeath

-SKILL sets the skill level (1-5) you wish to play. Only useful with -warp -- see below. -skill [# of skill level]

-EPISODE sets the episode (1-3) you wish to play. The default episode is Episode One, Knee-Deep in the Dead. -episode [# of the episode]

-CONFIG allows you to use your configuration file from any directory you choose. This is primarily for diskless workstations that don't have a C: drive to save config information to. You need to rename the default.cfg file created by the SETUP program to a directory and name of your choosing to avoid conflicts. -config [pathname] example:

-NOMONSTERS allows you to start playing with NO MONSTERS running around! This is great for DeathMatch where, really, the monsters just get in the way. Only useful with -warp -- see below. -nomonsters

-RECORD tells DOOM to record the game you are starting. Demo files will be saved as [filename].lmp. -record [filename]

-MAXDEMO xxx If you want to record a demo bigger than 128k, use this option. xxx will be the size (in kilobytes) of the demo. example -MAXDEMO 1024 will record a 1 megabyte demo. -record [filename] -maxdemo xxx

-RESPAWN tells DOOM that, yes, you are a badass, and yes, you want all the monsters to respawn around 8 seconds after you kill them. The NIGHTMARE skill level already does this. Note that using -respawn and -nomonsters at the same time is a dumb thing to do. Only useful with -warp -- see below. -respawn

-TURBO xxx gives you a speed boost. This is great in DeathMatch! The value xxx can be from 0 to 250. The other player(s) will be notified of your speed increase! THIS IS CONSIDERED CHEATING IN SINGLE PLAYER MODE! -turbo xxx

@ will allow you to specify a Response file that DOOM will read additional command-line parameters from. For example, typing 'DOOM @MYPARMS' will tell DOOM to look in the MYPARMS file for additional command-line parameters. The file format is simply one parameter per line with a carriage return to terminate the line. Each parameter is typed exactly as you would type it on the DOS command-line.

-FAST will make the monsters move and shoot up to 3 times faster, just as if you were playing in Nightmare mode, but without the respawning. Only useful with -warp -- see below. -fast

-TIMER [# of minutes] will make DOOM exit the current level after a specified amount of minutes, going to the intermission screen. This option is only useful in DeathMatch mode. -timer xxx

An example line for entering the above information would be:

IMPORTANT: Only the following command-line parameters are available while using the -WARP parameter: -fast, -nomonsters, -skill, -respawn.

How to use PWAD files:

After you have unzipped the PWAD zip file, place the WAD file in the same directory as your DOOM.EXE and DOOM.WAD file. Then enter:

Then just start a new game on the appropriate episode and/or level. Some PWADs replace levels that are not level 1 on an episode. For these, you can start by activating any new game and then just use idclev to get to the appropriate level; e.g. if a PWAD replaced E2M5, for example, then you could run Doom with the usual:

then you could start a new game on any episode and once the game has begun, you would type:

And that would teleport you to the appropriate level (note: every PWAD should come with a text file which says which episode and/or level it is replacing). Alternatively, you could warp straight to the level using a command line; e.g. for the above example you would use:

Where (skill number) is in the range 1 to 5. Yet another way to use PWADs, and the easiest I think as it saves you worrying about which level the PWAD is replacing, is to use a PWAD manager program of some kind. (FRONTEND) DWM is one. Another is DOOMENU. There are several more available as well. These will let you select a PWAD to play, which skill level, etc. and will warp you straight to the appropriate level. They will also keep track of how many times you have played a particular PWAD, and so on. Both of these programs allow you to supply a short descriptive comment for each PWAD as well. These programs become more and more useful once your PWAD collection grows beyond 20 or 30.

Parker Information Resources NOTE*

(*While the various frontend software packages available are very convenient to use, we have found that creating you own frontend can be a more rewarding way to manage your wad collection. In particularly, the beginning PC student will benefit from the file manipulation education. For more details, look toward the end of this page)

They also support multi-player games, modem play, etc. One final thing on WAD manager programs: they usually allow you to keep your PWADs in a separate directory (e.g. DOOM\WADS). You simply specify where this directory is when first installing the PWAD manager. This is how DOOMENU works. I use DOOMENU, in case you're wondering. It is currently up to version 18 and is a pretty cool program. You can get it from:

Note 1: all the usual things can be done with PWADs. e.g.

To play this back you'd use:

Note 3: for some reason, I know not what, some PWADs will not allow you to save your position when playing them.

Parker Information Resources NOTE*

(*This white paper was originally published back in 1995. A whole lot more is now known about the DOOM Game Engine. The inability to save while playing a level is caused by overpopulation of the PWAD by the author of the PWAD. [TOO MANY MONSTERS] Most of the wads available today will not be effected by this bug.)

Other info:

You must be using the registered version of Doom. WADs written with one version of Doom (e.g. v1.2) will often not work properly with another version of Doom (e.g. v1.666), usually because of the various small differences between the DOOM.EXE files, etc. The usual effect of this is that the game will freeze up after a short period of play, or will not load at all. Check the accompanying text file to see what version of Doom the WAD is intended for. However, there are programs available to convert PWADs from one version to another, available from the Doom ftp sites.

Parker Information Resources NOTE*

(*Now days it will be hard to find an old enough copy of DOOM to cause any of these problems. The worst case is the demo won't run and may crash the game. Get around these problems by using the -warp command to go directly to the map level.)

Some WADs are pretty extensive patches and change many things in Doom, often using the 'Dehacked' program. These kinds of patches often come with useful batch files to save you all the bother of figuring out how to run the WAD. An example is Aliens TC. This is installed by entering "INSTALL" and is thereafter run by entering "ALIEN". Have fun!

Ian.

Parker Information Resources NOTE*

(*We are happy to help you here with any questions that may arise. Please drop us a note by E-mail.)

The front end we are going to talk about here, is not particularly complicated at all. But, you will learn to move files and create .bat files. First you need to create some directories. I'm going to assume that your hard drive is your c: drive.

So, please create directories as follows:

c:\bat

c:\wads

Now then, take the wad that you are going to work with and put it in c:\wads.

Now then, while in DOS, change directories to c:\bat and type:

edit blah.bat (blah being the name of the wad you're working with)

Now type this, (you should belooking at a blank blue screen):

echo off cd\doom (or doom2 depending what the wad runs with)
doom.exe -file c:\wads\blah.wad -warp 1 -skill 1
cd\bat

Now save the file as blah.bat . When you get back to the DOS prompt type the name of the wad and get ready to play it. Repeat these steps for all of your wad collection and enjoy!