Playing custom WADs

[Spikee1975]

Hiya.

Long time Doomer, usually running Chocolate, Crispy and GZDoom.

Can you run WADs that are not single file in DOOM + DOOM II?

I can choose Hell Revealed for example, but I cannot load the HRMUS.WAD for the music. I take it it only plays single file WADs.

Had to figure out you must place them in C:\Users\YOURNAME\Saved Games\Nightdive Studios\DOOM\ so they can be selected via PLAY, but can only select one file at a time.

[QUAKETALLICA]

I don't know about this Steam re-release/ KEX port. But for GZDoom, you can absolutely just select multiple files (Ctrl + click) then drag and drop them into GZDoom and they should load.

That said, the order you select files sometimes matters and not all files are always compatible to run simultaneously.

[Spikee1975]

Yes I know, just bought this and was curious about its ingame mod manager. Of course it won't replace my fav ports.

Just accepts single file wads, Back To Saturn X for example doesn't work here as it's split in two wads plus DeHackEd patch which works fine in Chocolate Doom or GZDoom.

Anyway, mainly got this for Legacy of Rust and the brilliant new soundtrack. SIGIL II works too in here (only SIGIL I is included), as well as Romero's E1M4B/E1M8B.

[benakenobi]

there are ways to load multiple wads, yes.
first, put your wads to the local mod directory, you can open it from menu Mods/Play
then switch back to game, press ~ to open developer console and type: d_pwads wad1.wad,wad2.wad.wad3.wad etc. (separated by commas)
then type: refreshgame
if your mod is for doom 1, type d_iwad doom.wad

alternatively, make shortcuts to doom application and add parameters to target line: -file yourfile1.wad yourfile2.wad -deh yourfile.deh -iwad doom2.wad

[Spikee1975]

Thanks - that's what I was looking for.

Started Doom II, opened console, entered "d_pwads btsx_e1a.wad,btsx_e1b.wad,btsx_e1.deh" and "refreshgame". Works like a charm :)

Shortcut to SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\rerelease\doom.exe -file btsx_e1a.wad btsx_e1b.wad -deh btsx_e1.deh" also working.

[inkus]

Originally posted by Spikee1975:

Shortcut to SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\rerelease\doom.exe -file btsx_e1a.wad btsx_e1b.wad -deh btsx_e1.deh" also working.

I was sure that it works flawlessly too. Until tried to save the game and load the save back few second later. "ERROR: missing WAD files for this save game". Be warned. Didn't trested this on the latest build, though.

[Spikee1975]

Never used savegames, but ok. (Except for MyHouse.pk3)

I like this port as staying close to vanilla but being MBF21 and ID24 compatible, playing almost anything that's not exclusively GZDoom.

What I don't like is the MIDI soundfont used, MAP01 of BTSX Ep1 for example sounds weird, the arpeggio is muffled, better in Choco or Crispy.

There's also a sound issue in TNT Wormhole, in the underground section there's supposed to be a humming "generator" type sound that comes from a hidden room using a crusher, but you're not supposed to hear the "clank" sounds at the end of the sample in the original. I think these hi freq loops were truncated in vanilla.

[Spikee1975]

Found it's pretty easy using SLADE to merge multi-file wads into one. Single-filed Hell Revealed, just open both HR and HRMUS in SLADE, select all songs in HRMUS, copy and paste them into HR.wad.

Care needs to be taken that, if present, data stays between SS_START and SS_END markers as in the source wad.

QoL improvement not needing shortcuts or console commands. Simple click now.

[Spikee1975]

So I just merged the Aliens TC 2.0 (updated by Qasar, originally by Justin Fisher).
Its loading command in Chocolate Doom is

chocolate-doom -deh atcud19.deh -merge alitcsf.wad -file alitcsnd.wad alitcwad.wad

Apparently "merge" is not needed in KexDoom, as modern ports know what to do with the data (Chocolate emulating Vanilla behaviour which would need DEUSF.exe to alter the IWAD for merging), anyway I've successfully Kex'ed it to single .wad.

The drawback is KexDoom (aka DOOM + DOOM II) doesn't allow changing the menu graphics, so Alien's replacement graphics for the Episopde menu "M_EPI2" and "M_EPI3" which would display "ALIENS" instead of "The Shores Of Hell" and "BONUS LEVEL" instead of "Inferno" don't show up - as it is a graphics not a dehacked patch which Kex doesn't allow because its menu system is different than vanilla's.

Otherwise, it works fine as a single wad. :) Opened SLADE and the three wad files, copy pasted all into one wad, then imported the deh file (lump must be renamed to DEHACKED in SLADE to work).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435878585

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435878629

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435878660

[Spikee1975]

Maybe I'm late to the party but I noticed the old DEHACKED format isn't working with D+DII.

Example: The level name replacements in the format TEXT <#origsize> <#newsize> <ORIGTEXT> <NEWTEXT> do not work. (which looks like a simple search and replace code). KexDoom seems to need string identifiers.

Instead, HUSTR_1 = L01: Sunset etc. must be used in the case of Alien Vendetta.

So it seems we need to rearrange some wads' DEHACKED lumps to be compatible. They must be in DEHEXTRA format.

Still, this is interesting. The intermission screen INTERPIC doesn't work still.

[AWMonopolyMan]

Originally posted by Spikee1975:

Maybe I'm late to the party but I noticed the old DEHACKED format isn't working with D+DII.

Example: The level name replacements in the format TEXT <#origsize> <#newsize> <ORIGTEXT> <NEWTEXT> do not work. (which looks like a simple search and replace code). KexDoom seems to need string identifiers.

Instead, HUSTR_1 = L01: Sunset etc. must be used in the case of Alien Vendetta.

So it seems we need to rearrange some wads' DEHACKED lumps to be compatible. They must be in DEHEXTRA format. I've succesfully one-filed Alien Vendetta now to be compatible with D+DII.

Well, I mean there has been a team (Pixel Scuba, Elf Alchemist among others), that have been “Bethesda Editioning” a chunk of the mods, Alien Vendetta being one of them

[Spikee1975]

I'll check that out, thanks for pointing me to that one by PixelScuba which seems to be "official".

On the other hand, I'm doing this for myself to learn stuff. I see that Bethesda Edition has got a different soundtrack than the original (and shows MAP01 instead of L01)

[AWMonopolyMan]

Originally posted by Spikee1975:

I'll check that out, thanks for pointing me to that one by PixelScuba which seems to be "official".

On the other hand, I'm doing this for myself to learn stuff. I see that Bethesda Edition has got a different soundtrack than the original (and shows MAP01 instead of L01)

Yeah, the Bethesda Editions are more or less made to work with the KEX port generally speaking, like right now, I’m playing Elf Alchemist’s Bethesda Edition for Erik Alm’s Scythe 2. Also giving proper internal credits for maps and what have you. The mod you may be looking for is Alien Vendetta: Deluxe Carnage, as that includes the MIDI pack, main game and Black Label rolled into one. (How well it works, I have no clue).

[Spikee1975]

Good to know the [Bethesda Edition] mods are done by people who know what they're doing, as seemingly anyone can upload anything.

[inkus]

Originally posted by Spikee1975:

Apparently "merge" is not needed in KexDoom, as modern ports know what to do with the data (Chocolate emulating Vanilla behaviour which would need DEUSF.exe to alter the IWAD for merging), anyway I've successfully Kex'ed it to single .wad.

But merging all mod files into a single PWAD is still mandatory. Otherwise, as I mentioned above. saved games will not load back.
Obviuously a bug. Snice engine writes all needed IWAD and PWAD filenames into the save file as a comma-separated list. But during save loading whole list's content is used as a single filename. Thus game attempts to find "alitcsf.wad alitcsnd.wad alitcwad.wad" instead of three separate files. And fails to, OFC.

[Spikee1975]

Yep, figured that out pretty soon after subscribing to Featured Mods - they are all single wad files.

I've done that with my own favourite wads, adapted dehacked patches and so on. I mean SLADE is really simple to use, and the whole Doom data structure ain't rocket science :)

Still, there's pros and cons with this new engine. I mainly play Vanilla and Limit-Removing WADs, so Crispy is still my main engine. And I'm not happy with KexDoom using GUS as MIDI Synth, especially BTSX sounds better using the Microsoft MIDI Mapper on Windows (default settings in Choco/Crispy), albeit mono. But that is almost exactly like the SC55 Original Soundtrack. Haven't checked how to customize that yet.

And there's just something about playing the "original" full artwork package, including changed menus, fonts, F1 screens and ENDOOMs.

But, we have the choice. The amount of available ports is amazing. Gotta check out SoDoom, which currently is Vanilla Choco codebase but with a high resolution backbuffer software renderer that is highly efficient and well performing.