I need help with Co-Op and PVP multiplayer.

[BullfrogProphet]

My son and I each bought a copy of this and simply want to play local (not online) multiplayer on our two different computers (NOT splitscreen one one PC). How do we do that? We cannot find any way to invite one another to a lobby. The game features say "local PvP and co-op multiplayer splitscreen" or something like that, but we don't want splitscreen. We just want to play it "old school" where he's on his pc and I'm on mine, just one room apart, in the same house, without having to download several different programs and move files around and do all of these workarounds that seem to be required for online multiplayer. Every tutorial I can find is how to connect to servers and play in online multiplayer with hundreds of other people. That's well and good, but we just want to play each other locally over the same network and we can't seem to find any way to do it. Shouldn't it be easy to do that if we both own a copy of the same Steam game and are both on Steam? What am I missing? Shouldn't it be easier to simply play multiplayer anyway?

[NightmareGats]

Get zandronum

[PainkilleR]

I am not a Doom multiplayer guru but I am pretty sure that without downloading any "external" files you won't be able to play it online. As far as I know the Unity port only allows you to play it in a splitscreen mode. As for the dos version of the game - to play it via ipx emulation at the very least you'd need to get setup.exe which sadly doesn't come with the Steam version.

In other words either get the missing game files to play the game via ipx in dosbox or download some source port which is focused on multiplayer (for example Odamex).

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

Get zandronum

Thanks Nightmare. I've seen that suggestion before and watched a tutorial on how to set it up, but it seemed to me that it was just a solution for playing in large, multiplayer lobbies and not simply playing co-op or pvp with people in the next room. It seemed overly complex just to play the way I'm describing, but I guess that's the way it has to be apparently.

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by PainkilleR:

I am not a Doom multiplayer guru but I am pretty sure that without downloading any "external" files you won't be able to play it online. As far as I know the Unity port only allows you to play it in a splitscreen mode. As for the dos version of the game - to play it via ipx emulation at the very least you'd need to get setup.exe which sadly doesn't come with the Steam version.

In other words either get the missing game files to play the game via ipx in dosbox or download some source port which is focused on multiplayer (for example Odamex).

Ok, now it's starting to make sense to me...somewhat. I didn't realize there were "missing game files" that are needed to play the way we want to play. Now I have so many more questions, some of which I've already raised somewhat, such as, "Why aren't these missing files included in modern releases like this one?", but your comment is most helpful in that it simply states that it's just not possible to do what we want to do without doing what we didn't want to have to do, and that's employ some semi-complex workaround. I miss the days when you simply walked into a room of networked pcs and played several other people, each on their own screen to themselves. I love splitscreen on consoles, but on my pc, I want to have my own screen to myself. I like online multiplayer, but sometimes I just want to play with one other person. Is it possible to have a private lobby when using Zandronum or Odamex?

[Shallex]

the Unity/Bethesda version of doom features no local multiplayer functionality outside of splitscreen. if you play the DOS(box) version, it is possible to set up a game over lan, but it will involve some slightly-involved command line action in DOSBox which could take a bit of setup depending on your inclination towards that stuff. and like PainkilleR said, i believe you will need a setup,exe which is missing from the steam version (i guess they thought no one would need it, kinda silly), which i believe you can grab from the shareware version of doom

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by Shallex:

the Unity/Bethesda version of doom features no local multiplayer functionality outside of splitscreen. if you play the DOS(box) version, it is possible to set up a game over lan, but it will involve some slightly-involved command line action in DOSBox which could take a bit of setup depending on your inclination towards that stuff. and like PainkilleR said, i believe you will need a setup,exe which is missing from the steam version (i guess they thought no one would need it, kinda silly), which i believe you can grab from the shareware version of doom

Thank you Shallex. I guess I was hoping too much that by 2022-2023 Bethesda or the Doom fanworld at large would have made it super simple to start playing local multiplayer, simulating the good-ol-days of Doom in the mid-90s, but I realize now that there are technical limitations related to the fact that the DOS system the old computers and game were built around is no longer at the heart of modern operating systems on which DOOM would be played, so perhaps it is simply impossible to make it any easier and more simple than it's already been made and I just need to accept that I'm going to have to learn how to navigate the complexities of setup or just get over not being able to play with my son the way I would like to play it with him. I feel like following instructions like following a recipe to set up the files correctly is doable, but I have a thimble-full of understanding behind what I am doing and then when I get into the server options or interface for playing games I will have more questions than I can find answers for and it will be just overwhelming and frustrating. I have been a bit better than average with computers for many years but this kind of stuff just makes me feel stupid. I don't understand how so many of the parts that are necessary to play Doom multiplayer with just one other player of my choice work and interact together and how they are related. I feel like I need more than just the "recipe" I have found online because that set of instructions will only carry me so far and at some point I will be at a loss as to what to do to accomplish the results I want. Ugh, if only we could just click "Multiplayer", "Co-op", "Invite [friend] to Lobby", and play! That would be too easy, I guess, and perhaps truly impossible even if Bethesda and Steam wanted to make it work. Thanks for your help in getting me to see the light.

[PainkilleR]

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

I guess I was hoping too much that by 2022-2023 the Doom fanworld at large would have made it super simple to start playing local multiplayer

To be honest they did... Playing over lan is absolutely trivial, even if we are talking about non-multiplayer oriented source ports.

Let's take a look at Crispy Doom for example:

On one of your PCs in command line you type:

crispy-doom.exe -iwad DOOM.WAD -skill 4 -server -privateserver

Where "-iwad DOOM.WAD" should point to the DOOM.WAD file, so if it's not in the same folder as crispy-doom.exe, you will need to type a relative path to it like so:

-iwad "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\base\DOOM.WAD"

The "-skill 4" stands for difficulty (possible values 1-5).

On one/multiple of your other PCs you type:

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -autojoin

Set -iwad path/to/iwad if it's not in the same folder as crispy-doom.exe, otherwise neglect this argument.

Done. You are now playing the game in coop. That is if both of your PCs are in the same local area network of course.

P.S. And if you'd want to start a deathmatch server then you'd type:

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -server -privateserver -deathmatch

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -autojoin

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by PainkilleR:

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

I guess I was hoping too much that by 2022-2023 the Doom fanworld at large would have made it super simple to start playing local multiplayer

To be honest they did... Playing over lan is absolutely trivial, even if we are talking about non-multiplayer oriented source ports.

Let's take a look at Crispy Doom for example:

On one of your PCs in command line you type:

crispy-doom.exe -iwad DOOM.WAD -skill 4 -server -privateserver

Where "-iwad DOOM.WAD" should point to the DOOM.WAD file, so if it's not in the same folder as crispy-doom.exe, you will need to type a relative path to it like so:

-iwad "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\base\DOOM.WAD"

The "-skill 4" stands for difficulty (possible values 1-5).

On one/multiple of your other PCs you type:

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -autojoin

Set -iwad path/to/iwad if it's not in the same folder as crispy-doom.exe, otherwise neglect this argument.

Done. You are now playing the game in coop. That is if both of your PCs are in the same local area network of course.

P.S. And if you'd want to start a deathmatch server then you'd type:

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -server -privateserver -deathmatch

crispy-doom.exe [-iwad path/to/iwad] -autojoin

This sounds really good and promising, but you're overestimating my basic knowledge of some of these things. I guess I'm more of a dunce when it comes to this stuff than I thought since you say this is relatively "easy" to understand and execute. I guess this raises questions for me since I have the Steam version of Doom 1993 and Doom 2, not Crispy Doom. So, do I need to get Crispy Doom instead or type another command line for Steam Doom? Also, when you talk about having the files in the correct/ideal folder, I need to make sure I don't mess up something there. I have seen a tutorial or two that shows how to put Doom wads in certain files but I'm not sure if that exact same recipe is what is called for to make this work. You have to understand that I know little about "pointing" to files and folders etc. That's above my nascent skill level.

[Dodo]

too much work. just buy GOG versions they come with the stup files and a multiplayer game exe file

[PainkilleR]

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

This sounds really good and promising, but you're overestimating my basic knowledge of some of these things. I guess I'm more of a dunce when it comes to this stuff than I thought since you say this is relatively "easy" to understand and execute. I guess this raises questions for me since I have the Steam version of Doom 1993 and Doom 2, not Crispy Doom. So, do I need to get Crispy Doom instead or type another command line for Steam Doom? Also, when you talk about having the files in the correct/ideal folder, I need to make sure I don't mess up something there. I have seen a tutorial or two that shows how to put Doom wads in certain files but I'm not sure if that exact same recipe is what is called for to make this work. You have to understand that I know little about "pointing" to files and folders etc. That's above my nascent skill level.

Crispy Doom is a source port that you'd need to download separately. You can find the official Crispy Doom page here: https://github.com/fabiangreffrath/crispy-doom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNsC8FgVsQ

Just an example...

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by PainkilleR:

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

This sounds really good and promising, but you're overestimating my basic knowledge of some of these things. I guess I'm more of a dunce when it comes to this stuff than I thought since you say this is relatively "easy" to understand and execute. I guess this raises questions for me since I have the Steam version of Doom 1993 and Doom 2, not Crispy Doom. So, do I need to get Crispy Doom instead or type another command line for Steam Doom? Also, when you talk about having the files in the correct/ideal folder, I need to make sure I don't mess up something there. I have seen a tutorial or two that shows how to put Doom wads in certain files but I'm not sure if that exact same recipe is what is called for to make this work. You have to understand that I know little about "pointing" to files and folders etc. That's above my nascent skill level.

Crispy Doom is a source port that you'd need to download separately. You can find the official Crispy Doom page here: https://github.com/fabiangreffrath/crispy-doom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNsC8FgVsQ

Just an example...

Thank you

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by Bot:

too much work. just buy GOG versions they come with the stup files and a multiplayer game exe file

Would you post a link please so that I can make sure I'm getting the right thing? Thanks.

[SuperFly]

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

Originally posted by Bot:

too much work. just buy GOG versions they come with the stup files and a multiplayer game exe file

Would you post a link please so that I can make sure I'm getting the right thing? Thanks.

Here you go, bud:
https://www.gog.com/en/game/doom_1993

I hope you and your son can get your game on sooner, than later.
LAN parties were always the ♥♥♥♥. =)

[BullfrogProphet]

Originally posted by SuperFly:

Originally posted by BullfrogProphet:

Would you post a link please so that I can make sure I'm getting the right thing? Thanks.

Here you go, bud:
https://www.gog.com/en/game/doom_1993

I hope you and your son can get your game on sooner, than later.
LAN parties were always the ♥♥♥♥. =)

Thanks a bunch SuperFly! Yes they were!

[Slipgate Tourist]

Very cool that you want to play Doom with your son :)

These days we use Doom Explorer in combination with Zandronum 3.1 for LAN and online co-op games. It takes some time to set everything up the first time but it's pretty straightforward and after that it's very easy to get games going.

I host and play on the same PC. We played through a lot of wads and never ran into any connection or other issues. Just make sure to enable cheats (see below) so players can noclip out of rooms in case they get softlocked.

You can add Doom Explorer as a "non-steam game" if you want to use the Steam Overlay to chat.

My current co-op settings for reference:
https://imgur.com/a/COa0rkG

In the last image you can see my server in Doom Explorer's server browser. You see it twice because it was set to LAN and Public. You also have to use that window to join your own server if you set a password.

I never use freelook but I disable it in-game and not on the server that way each player can decide how they want to play. Use Zandronum's in-game graphic settings to make Doom look as vanilla or modern as you like.

Some screenshots:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/slipgatetourist/screenshots/?appid=2280
All recent multiplayer screenshots are DE+Zandro. I like to use GZDoom or ZDoom for single player but you can also use DE + Zandro to easily play Doom wads and mods solo.

Good luck and let me know if you need more info.