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B O O M S D A Y R E A D M E

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UNSUPPORTED BETA RELEASE BOOMSDAY Beta 1.8.4 3rd March 2003

ADD ON PROGRAM TO RUN DOOM/DOOMII/MBF and BOOM maps with DOOMSDAY V1.7

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INSTALLATION

YOU MUST HAVE A WORKING INSTALLATION OF DOOMSDAY V1.7.7
NOTE: This is an unsupported beta release.
Before installing the software read the BDay_lic.txt enclosed with the distribution.

For jDoom to work following installation of Boomsday you must update Doomsday to V1.7.7.

If using the Lees zenith_particles mod with Doomsday then please read the readme_latest.txt.

GWA FILES (OR EMBEDDED GL NODES) ARE MANDATORY FOR IWADS/PWADS.

If you haven’t already created gwa files for any iwads or pwads you wish to use, then please do so using glbsp.exe (V2), which is shipped with Doomsday.

gwa files for iwads/pwads must be stored at the same location as the iwad/pwad and must be in a recognised folder.

To create a separate gwa file (which stores the gl nodes) use;
glbsp any.wad

To embed the gl nodes in a pwad use;
glbsp any.wad -o any.wad

Unzip Boomsday_v184.zip (BOOMSDAY) directly into your DOOMSDAY directory.
All doomsday files will remain unaffected except for the addition of the textures and ded files for the extended particle support. These are put into data\jdoom\textures and defs\jdoom respectively. For all other files boomsday just adds its own.

DO NOT - Unzip into any other directory in DOOMSDAY.
DO NOT - Unzip into a new directory. If using WinZIP then right drag Boomsday_v184.zip to your doomsday folder and use the 'unzip here' option.
The use of batch files (or short cuts) is strongly recommended to avoid problems.

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GENERAL SET UP

Example - DOOM2

Create a batch file in Doomsday named (for example) DOOM2_BD.BAT
Open it for editing.
Insert the line;

@bin\boomsday -doom2

close the file.
Run it!

Note: example assumes iwad is in a compliant directory and that a gwa file has been created. See further down for more details.

For other iwads just use the appropriate switch.

If you want to use your existing settings just copy jdoom.cfg in your doomsday folder to jboom.cfg in the same folder.

NOTE; Since Boomsday will only run with the jboom.dll there is no point in including the -game *.dll switch on the command line.

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NEW PARTICLE EFFECTS

To use the new, additional, effects add;

-def jdoom\special.ded

to the command line.

The switch -BDeps has been removed.

For further details see the readme_latest.txt

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RUNNING PWADS

EXAMPLE: BATMAN.WAD using the -udir switch

1) Create a new directory in doomsday called batman.
2) Unzip batman.zip into doomsday\batman.
3) In the doomsday\batman directory create a new directory called pwads.
4) Move the files batman.wad and batman.deh into the pwads directory.
5) Using glbsp create a .gwa file in the doomsday\batman\pwads directory.
6) In the doomsday\batman directory create a new text document. Rename it to batman.bat. (When asked ‘if sure’ reply yes).
7) Open the batman.bat for editing.
8) In batman.bat enter the following two lines (tip: you can copy and paste them from here);

@cd..
@bin\boomsday -doom2 -udir batman -file batman.wad -deh batman.deh -warp 1 -nomd2 -win 1024

9) You’re done! Use your new batman.bat file to launch the game.

To use models just delete -nomd2 (although in this case, since batman has its own sprites, it is better to leave it in).
To change the window size to, say, 800x600 then use -win 800
If you want fullscreen delete the -win 1024 switch completely.
If you want to start with the splash screen/menu delete -warp 1.
The -warp switch is used to go directly to a map, 1 being the first in the wad.
Skill levels set using the -skill switch range from 1 (easiest) to 5 (nightmare).
3 is the default if switch not present but warp is used. Starting a new game, when the difficulty can be selected in the normal way, will override any skill settings from the command line.

You can use this method for all your megawads putting each into their own directory.

Batman has been used as an example since it ships with a .deh file and the above shows how this is loaded. Most don't so, for those, just ignore the -deh switch.

If you prefer to have the batch file in the doomsday directory then move it from doomsday\batman to doomsday and just delete the line;

@cd..

SHORTCUT method

To create a shortcut just drag and drop boomsday.exe from doomsday\bin to wherever you want it.
In the Start in: box delete the \bin from the end of the line.
In the Target: box append everything following the bin\boomsday above.

Using the -udir switch gives six main benefits;

1) It gives you control over what's happening.

2) It keeps games separate - each udir directory will have its own savegames.

3) Savegames are handled automatically - no need to create or specify a savegames folder.

4) It keeps the doomsday directory structure tidy and consistent.

5) Can be simply used with batch files or shortcuts that won't crash the OS, will not cause erratic or unpredictable results when running the game and don't need any additional or special files to be loaded or updated.

6) Batch file command lines are kept mercifully short.

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BOOMSDAY specific ENHANCEMENTS

Renders maps using DOOM special effects used by DOOM TC's.
Supports the MBF extended Doom features. For full details see Boomref.txt in BD_doc.
Faked sector teleporting. See FakeSectorsTeleport.txt.
Supports ZDOOM ANIMDEFS method to add textures & flats allowing author's to add their own.
Note: Switch definitions use the MBF method.

WHAT DOES IT NOT DO?

# It may not be backward compatible with demos or savegames other than where created with this version of Boomsday. There is also no guarantee that games saved with this version will be compatible with any future release.

# Does not support friendly monsters or dogs or ‘touchy’ items or grenade launcher.

# Does not work with later ZDoom maps.

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS to run:

# A minimum of a pentiumIII 800, 256Mb of ram and a good 3D card with at least 32Mb of video RAM (64Mb recommended) that supports OpenGL preferably in windowed as well as full screen modes.

# Creative Labs PCI or compatible sound card.

# To run large maps or maps with excessive dynamic lighting then system memory of 256Mb is recommended, a 1.4Ghz CPU and a fast graphics card (min GeForce2) with at least 64Mb of video RAM.

# Win 98 or WinXP OS. DirectX 8.0 or higher.

# NOTE: Luminosity is off by default as this places a considerable burden on the system which, for medium to large maps, severely impacts frame rates. To enable it use the -lumAllow switch (see below).

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BOOMSDAY FILES

The following files should be in the zip;

bin\Boomsday.exe,
bin\JBoom.dll,
bin\drBDOpenGL.dll
bin\drBDD3D.dll
bin\dpBDDehRead.dll
bin\dsBDA3D.dll
bin\dsBDCompat.dll
data\Boomsday.wad
data\jDoom\textures\Particle00.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle01.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle02.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle03.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle04.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle05.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle06.tga
data\jDoom\textures\Particle07.tga
defs\jboom\BDObjects.ded,
defs\jboom\BDSprites.ded
defs\jboom\BDzenParticles.ded
defs\jDoom\Particles.ded
defs\jDoom\Special.ded
BD_doc\read_this_latest.txt.
BD_doc\BOOMSDAYreadme.htm (This file).
BD_doc\Boomref.txt (overview of all BOOM features),
BD_doc\Doomlic.txt (DOOM license text),
BD_doc\BDay_lic.txt (BOOMSDAY license text),
BD_doc\FakeSectorsTeleport.txt

* dll's included for a3d and compatibility sound modes.
Note: to use a3d you will need the commercial a3dapi.dll which must be placed in the windows\system directory.
(Check DoomsdayHQ to obtain the a3dapi.dll).

Distribution: The zip may only be distributed unchanged. Individual files contained in this zip or an incomplete set of files may not be distributed.

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CREATING BATCH FILES/SHORTCUTS

There appears to be unprecedented confusion when the executable is not in the root directory. Just remember the following two rules;

1) Only ever call Boomsday from the game's ROOT directory (usually called doomsday). Use BIN\BOOMSDAY in any batch files or from the DOS prompt. If a batch file is put anywhere other than the game's root, then the first line(s) of the batch file should direct you to the root directory. Let's say you want the batch file on the desktop. If you've installed doomsday to the default c:\doomsday directory then the first lines of the batch file should be;

c:
cd\doomsday

2) Shortcuts. When creating a shortcut ensure the root is in the Start in; box. Dragging and dropping boomsday.exe will mean Windows putting the root\bin path in the Start in; box. Just delete \bin off the end.

If you’ve written your own loader then change focus to the doomsday directory and use BIN\BOOMSDAY as the name of the executable.

Creating batch files.

If you don't know what a batch file is then don't worry - it's dead simple. Just create a new .txt file and then change the extension from .txt to .bat. This can be opened for editing (use right mouse click) and all you do is type in the commands described below. The name of the batch file can be anything you like.

As most Boom maps need the doom2.wad this is used in the following example where the batch file is created in the game's root (i.e. your current doomsday directory);

@bin\boomsday -iwad <path\doom2.wad> -file <path\pname.wad>

So if your pwad is called 10sector.wad and you've placed it in the doomsday folder together with the doom2.wad then your line would be;

@bin\boomsday -iwad doom2.wad -file 10sector.wad

Since the game root is one of the compliant iwad directories you could alternatively use;

@bin\boomsday -doom2 -file 10sector.wad

NOTE: the @ sign just stops the line being echoed to the DOS box.

If your doom2.wad is in a compliant directory (see below);

then to run a pwad with doom2

@bin\boomsday -doom2 -file <path\pname.wad>

or if just running vanilla doom2 then

@bin\boomsday -doom2

is all that is necessary.

NOTE: Since BOOMSDAY only works with the jboom.dll the switch -game jboom.dll is redundant. The @ stops characters being echoed which helps to ensure the DOS box used to launch the program closes automatically. if it is not closing use the command cls on the last line. The fact that a batch file opens a DOS box does not mean the program being launched is a DOS program - any program can be launched from a DOS box. It is only the batch file that needs the DOS box.

Alternatively create shortcuts (which don’t need the @ character and don't need DOS boxes).

USING AUTOMATIC IWAD LOADING WITHOUT THE -IWAD SWITCH;

The switches;

-tnt looks for TNT.wad,
-plutonia looks for Plutonia.wad,
-doom2 looks for Doom2.wad,
-sdoom looks for Doom1.wad,
-doom looks for Doom.wad,
-ultimate looks for Doom.wad

NOTE; Running with an ultimate doom.wad using the -doom switch will limit you to the standard doom episodes. Hence the -ultimate switch. This is to enable compliance with the rules governing the release by ID Software of the DOOM source.

For a command (from the root) to work such as

BIN\BOOMSDAY -doom2

where no iwad path is specified the iwad (and its corresponding gwa file) must be in one of the following five locations;

Compliant directories for iwad search;

a) Level 1

|--Doomsday Games directory (iwads/gwas here)

b) Level 2

|-----|
|
|--Doomsday      Games directory
|     |
|     |------data
|     |        |
|    |        |-jdoom (iwads/gwas here)
|

c) Level 3

|-----|
|
|--Doomsday      Games directory
|     |
|     |------data (iwads/gwas here)
|     |       |

d) Level 4

|-----|
|
|--Doomsday      Games directory
|     |
|     |--iwads (iwads/gwas here)
|     |
|

d) Level 5 (Only searched for automatically in Boomsday)

|-----|
|
|--Doomsday Games directory
| |
|
|--iwads (iwads/gwas here)

NOTE: Level 1 takes precedence over level 2 and so on.

ALWAYS put the gwa file together with it’s corresponding wad. Do not split these between directories.

A gwa file can be merged with a pwad as Boomsday supports embedded gwa files.

The default dir name doomsday has been assumed in the above examples. If you used a different name when installing doomsday then use whatever you've called it. Note that the doomsday directory does not have to be in the drive's root. It could be in e:\games\boomsday for example. The same rules still apply.

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GENERAL

Trying to run BOOMSDAY on an old graphics card risks destabilisation through graphics drivers failing to cope with or not properly supporting the functions within the program. In addition the game will run at an unacceptably low frame rate. You have been warned! This program has been conceived as a result of the benefit of the speeds of modern hardware - not to run on a museum piece. If you are using a GeForce 2 NVidia graphics card then upgrading this with a CPU that runs at, or less than, 1.6GHz will have little or no effect on improving frame rates. It is better to upgrade the CPU.

FULLSCREEN RESOLUTION

can be set from within Boomsday from the GRAPHICS menu. Choosing ‘default’ will mean that the set resolution will automatically be used when starting the map.

USING a WINDOW - I.e. running Boomsday in a WINDOW on the desktop.

When setting resolution for a window then any (sensible) values for width and height can be used. In the absence of the -window switch fullscreen will be used.

ENSURE that any settings you enter can be handled by your monitor.

Note: a new switch has been added for windows resolution. See

ADDITIONAL COMMAND LINE SWITCHES that follows.

IMAGE QUALITY:

If your card supports it then from the Doom setup screen select;

OPTIONS/CONTROL PANEL/TEXTURES and in the mipmapping and texture filter box select ‘linear filter, linear mip’.

This can dramatically improve rendering quality and will remove moire patterning from floors using textures with small tiles for example.

NOTE: Texture breakthrough can occur, in certain instances, due to z-buffer values used within Boomsday/Doomsday. This is normally caused by having a line with a texture very near a second line. When a certain distance away both lines' textures will be displayed - the additive effect usually causing the texture to look black. This is due to having to choose values which are a compromise for differing requirements.

LOADING TIMES

The time to load large maps can seem quite long.

With standard maps then load times should appear no slower than with Doomsday. The additional time taken (over and above the standard Doomsday code) is printed to the console and boomsday.out. Note: Doomsday cannot handle maps over a certain size (will just crash) so you can only assume - could it do so - that the time Doomsday would take is the entire load time less the BD timings.

MISSING LOWER SKY HEMISPHERE

If, when running a map, you notice the bottom sky hemisphere is missing then you can get it to render with the cvar rend-sky-full. This, however, can slow down the game. CVARS can be entered using the console. This can also be changed in OPTIONS\CONTROL PANEL\GRAPHICS ‘Always render full sky’.

SOUND PROBLEMS

If you get problems with sound on your system put -csd on the command line. This tells Boomsday to use a compatible sound driver.

See Doomsday documentation for other cfg variables, command line switches etc.

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ADDITIONAL BOOMSDAY COMMAND LINE SWITCHES

LC value

The relative lighting levels are dependant upon the graphics card. This is a separate issue to gamma levels (cycled with the F11 key).

To overcome this problem the -lc switch can be used to compress the range of lighting levels making darker areas relatively lighter.

Users can set their own values to suit using -lc. The value should be in the range 0 to 100. The higher the value then the lighter dark areas will become.

The default is 76 which seems to suit NVidia cards.

Use -lc 0 to render with the same brightness range as Doomsday.

LUMALLOW

Luminance iteration (used for halos) is off by default as algorithm is incompatible with some extended MBF and 3D line features. If suffering speed problems then it is better not to use this switch and to also set the cvar ‘rend-light’ to 0.

If you want to use this switch then for MBF/3D maps you may well have to increase the number of occlusion ranges allowed. The Boomsday default is 2048 but some large MBF maps require 2500 or more. Use the -maxor <num> switch to increase the limit.

DOOMGLOW

This reinstates the default Doomsday glow algorithm. This is not recommended with TC’s or MBF pwads as many spuriously glowing surfaces will appear.

IMWDS (Meaning - Inhibit Models With Duplicate Sprites)

Normally new sprites, which by convention have the same name as those being replaced (both types being present in the wad), are not replaced by models. Where, however, they are similar (as some wad authors duplicate entries) then Boomsday will force the use of a model. This action can be overriden with this switch forcing all new replacement sprites to be rendered as sprites.

This can generally be ignored as Boomsday automatically sets the required selection.

MAXZONE numM

Used to set amount of memory required. If program exits with a;

Z_MALLOC: failed to allocate memory <amount> error, increase from the default using this switch on the command line.

E.g.; -maxzone 64M will tell Boomsday to allocate 64 Megabytes.

This can happen when exiting at the end of a map and starting another although starting the same map from scratch is OK. This is caused by heap fragmentation within the zone (so not so much is available although, in theory, there is enough available). As such you may want to just allocate as much as you can afford by default. E.g. use -maxzone 128M with all your batch files.

The maximum allowed is 128Mb. As a rule it is unwise to assign more than half the available RAM.

SKY240

Adjusts sky to suit a sky texture height of 240. There is no parameter needed, just put -sky240 on the command line.

WATERDYNAMICS or WD

This switch invokes enhanced Boomsday underwater handling. Swimming underwater is possible using QuakeFly type movement (point with the mouse and go).

WIN width

Shortform version to set up a window with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

e.g. -win 1000

creates a window on your desktop of 1000x750

The value 750 is created automatically.

win 1000 [is equivalent to] -window -width 1000 -height 750

The limits allowed are in the range 120 to 1600.

UDIR (User Directory)

Works in conjunction with the -file and -deh switches.

This switch allows you to separate out different games and pwads into their own directory. To do this create a child directory in the Doomsday root directory. As an example let’s create a directory called 10sector. In this directory create a new one called pwads. pwads must have this name. Now place the 10sector.wad and 10sector.gwa into the 10sector\pwads directory and create a batch file in the Doomsday root directory. Let’s say this is 10sector.bat. Edit the file with this entry;

@bin\boomsday -iwad <path\doom2.wad> -udir 10sector -file 10sector.wad

If using a compliant iwad directory this can be further shortened to;

@bin\boomsday -doom2 -udir 10sector -file 10sector.wad

Launch this and the 10sector.wad should now be loaded. If you hit save game you will see that all the slots are empty. This is because a new savegame folder has been created in the 10sector directory. This allows you to have different savegames stored where using this scheme. This is sensible because trying to load a savegame with one pwad when another is loaded causes a forced abort. This allows keeping savegames together with the relevant pwad and extends the availability of savegame slots. In addition the automated savegames feature prevents having to type yet more switches and paths on the command line.

If you want to store the batch file in the 10sector directory then amend it to;

@cd..
@bin\boomsday -iwad<path\doom2.wad> -udir 10sector -file 10sector.wad

Alternatively use shortcuts ensuring the paths are set correctly.

The -iwad switch does not have to be used - see automatic iwad loading above.

The above example would give a structure something like;

|-----|
|
|--Doomsday              Root directory
|     |
|     |--10sector        User directory
|     |      |
|     |      |-pwads     Put 10sector.wad and 10sector.gwa here
|     |      |
|     |      |-savegames Created automatically for savegames
|     |
|     |

If, in addition, the iwads are stored in a compliant directory then the command line in a .bat file can be shortened to;

@bin\boomsday -doom2 -udir 10sector -file 10sector.wad

To do the same with another pwad (say par1-4) then repeat the above with a directory named (say) par.

With this structure the command line in a .bat file can be shortened to;

@bin\boomsday -ultimate -udir par -file par.wad

or if you want to put the batch file in the par directory;

@cd..
@bin\boomsday -ultimate -udir par -file par.wad

If the pwad has an accompanying .deh file then this file must be placed in the pwads dir together with the .wad. The .deh file is then loaded using the -deh switch. E.g. (for a batch file in the root);

@bin\boomsday -ultimate -udir par -file par.wad -deh par.deh

This scheme can be extended for other pwads as required.

NOTE for wad authors: If a.deh file is embedded in the wad using the DEHACKED lump name then this will automatically be loaded by Doomsday/Boomsday.

USERDIR

This is a DOOMSDAY not a BOOMSDAY switch but is supported in Boomsday. It differs from -UDIR. For details see the Doomsday documentation. Use whichever you prefer. Do not use both together.

General note: switches are not case sensitive. These are command line switches only and are not accessible from the console.

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STATUS (V Beta 1.8.4)

This release of Boomsday is considered as largely finalised for rendering and in correctly supporting the MBF logical code extensions.

The beta status indicates that other areas remain outstanding.

Revision history;

# Extended particle effects uses Doomsday code. Mar 01

# 3D lines removed.
# Texture scaling (DeeP/ZDOOM method) removed. Feb 26

Outstanding issues;

# Testing network code.

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CREDITS and LINKS;

1) Engine: ID Software for conceiving and then releasing the Doom/DoomII code.
http://www.idsoftware.com/

Lee Killough for MBF.
http://classicgaming.com/doom/

Jaakko Keränen for his inimitable (definitive) port without which I would never have dreamt of doing Boomsday and for providing space on the server, using his account, for its distribution.
http://jdoom.newdoom.com/ or http://www.doomsdayhq.com/

Rand Heit for ideas culled from ZDOOM.
http://zdoom.notgod.com/

2) Models: Cheb, webmaster of Cheb’s Modelyard.
http://chebpage.narod.ru/jdoom/

For updated info on models and links see Jaakko’s website;
http://jdoom.newdoom.com/

3) Node gen: Andrew Apted for glbsp.exe V2.00 without which this port would not have been possible.
http://glbsp.sourceforge.net/

4) Editor: SB Software for their excellent editor DeepSea. I would not have been able to derive the map analysis algorithms without this program. Also thanks go to Jack Vermeulen for his support and encouragement. The Kaboomt.wad and DeePSea editor is available from;
http://www.sbsoftware.com/

5) Abbs and Rob for extensively testing changes made and for suggesting the addition of further compatibility. Abbs alternative HUD weapons can be obtained from; http://www.doomsdayhq.com/

USING ABBS HUD WEAPONS

To use the weapons add the following to the command line;

1) For replacement of standard weapons;

defs defs\jdoom\jdoom.ded defs\jdoom\fullpack.ded

2) For alternative weapons;

defs defs\jdoom\jdoom.ded defs\jdoom\alternative.ded

Note: the need to add the defs\jdoom\jdoom.ded points to a potential problem.

This will be addressed in a later release (as time allows).

LINKS

http://www.3ddownloads.com/ (10sector.wad etc.)
http://www.teamtnt.com/ (tntrecl.wad available here).
ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/themes/TeamTNT/eternal/eternal.zip
ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/requiem.zip
ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/av.zip
ftp://3darchives.in.span.net/pub/idgames/levels/doom/ports/p-c/par-lutz.zip
ftp://despayre.org/pub/games/doom/wads/cc-cod.zip
http://www.sbsoftware.com/ (for the kaboomt.wad - something a bit different!)

Other sites (where can also get 10sector.wad, batman.wad etc.)

http://www.3ddownloads.com/

http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/

NOTE: P;AR and COD are authored by Chaos Crew. To see all effects as intended by the authors then P;AR should be run with MBF and COD with the Eternity engine (no OGL though or Windows support, MBF is a 2D DOS engine and currently so is Eternity. Note that the revised Things functionality that has been added to Eternity are not emulated in Boomsday.).

Author; G. Jackson

Last revision: 3rd March 2003

END