How to run Doom 2 as it was meant to be played.

[Yuki Nagato]

Hello. This is a guide you clicked on with the intent to learn how to play Doom 2 properly. As you may have figured out... Doom 2 through Steam sucks.. ALOT. (and I figured that out in less than an hour)
This is how you fix this issue(kind of):
As you know Doom 2 runs through DosBox.. But the version you install when you get it on Steam is terrible. We don't need that trash. Instead go to dosbox.com and install whatever the newest version of DosBox is for whatever device you have(I already have DosBox installed so this isn't something I needed to do)
Next go into your folder where Steam games are stored:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common
Copy the Doom 2 folder. Now create a folder somewhere in your computer that you will remember.
C:\My_Apps\og
(og: old games)
Paste Doom 2 in this folder.
Now, inside the Doom 2 folder create a shortcut. It will ask what item you want to create a shortcut for, find your DosBox folder and choose DOSBox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74\DOSBox.exe
Name it whatever you want, but I'll call it Doom2.
Now click finish.
Now right click on your new shortcut and select "Properties".
Go to the "Shortcut" tab.
Now where it says "Target:" you will type,
"C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74\DOSBox.exe" -c "cycles 184000" -c "mount c c:\my_apps\og\doom2\base" -c "c:" -c "doom2.exe"
The file location will already be there ("C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74\DOSBox.exe") so you won't have to type it in.
Let's quickly run down what all of this means.
Every time you type in "-c" it is telling DosBox that you want to input a command.
The first one is "cycles" which basically sets how fast each frame will render. Set it to low and the game will run like a turtle with its legs cut off. Set it too high and you will have problems with control and sound.
For Doom 1 and 2 I find that 184000 works great.
Next you have to tell it what folder it needs to be looking in.
"mount c" will tell Dos that you want to mount a drive and that the drives name is "c"
The rest is just the folder where your game is stored "c:\my_apps\og\doom2\base"
The next command "c:" will tell it that you want to use the drive that you just mounted (in this case named "c")
The final command tells Dos what file to run "Doom2.exe"
There you go. You can now run Doom 2 without all the BS of Steam. The only downside of this is that you will only be able to use the original controls. (Not a problem for me personally)
But who knows, maybe I will make a guide on mouse controls next time.

[Hyper Sonic]

I don't think even the creators of Doom play with the original exe, much more fun with source ports.

[Yuki Nagato]

Originally posted by 3DMightyMouse:

I don't think even the creators of Doom play with the original exe, much more fun with source ports.

if you want to play a source port why bother buying it on steam in the first place?

[Hyper Sonic]

For the wads. Or from GoG.

[Gameo]

Never understood this purist attitude.
You do understand intentional design vs technical limitations, right?

[Hyper Sonic]

If it was titled 'how it was originally played' I probably wouldn't have mentioned anything.

[Gameo]

If the dude finds playing with arrow keys and ctrl more fun, more power to him.
I turn off autoaim and actually aim, don't jump or crouch though if a wad I'm playing isn't made for it.
Clearly jumping around in vanilla breaks the game design.

But, 'way it was meant to be played' is nonsense. They'd have done things much differently had the tech available allowed them to.

[Yuki Nagato]

Originally posted by Gameo:

If the dude finds playing with arrow keys and ctrl more fun, more power to him.
I turn off autoaim and actually aim, don't jump or crouch though if a wad I'm playing isn't made for it.
Clearly jumping around in vanilla breaks the game design.

But, 'way it was meant to be played' is nonsense. They'd have done things much differently had the tech available allowed them to.

1.
i don't dislike mouse aim. im fact I'm trying to figure out how to get it working within the vanilla game. I think I figured out how, just have to set it up. I did make a comment that I might make a guide on mouse control.
2.
The title was named because of how terrible this game is when you first load it through steam. i dont think id intended it to be played with choppy sounds, extremely high gamma, and stretched to fit a 16:9 monitor without actually changeing the resolution.This guide simply gets the game working properly and without all the bs of steam.

[Pumpkinreaper]

Or you could just drop zdoom and its files into the base folder (steam\steamapps\common\Doom 2\base) and just run it with zdoom allowing you to fiddle with the settings until they're just how you like them (mouselook, jumping and crouching, fully customizable controls, etc.)

[Thelightingking9000]

just take and install a joystick for the pc and then configue the settings for it then unplug the mouse and keyboard and after you hit start then you can do everything in the game

[Mewsette]

Alternatively, you could just replace DOSBox with Chocolate Doom[www.chocolate-doom.org], which replicates the vanilla experience whilst adding compatibility to modern operating systems.

While I prefer using Zandronum as my source port, I still use ChocoDoom as an alternative either to test out custom levels or simply to experience the game as it was originally designed.

[Thelightingking9000]

the jump on the second level to get the red key doesn't work because the hit box makes you hit the cealing of where the gap is and you simply fall down. It's probably a glitch since the green lava doesn't hurt me when it's supposed to.