Source Ports Doomworld Uses [adding up later this month]

[baja blast rd.]

I got curious about source port use around here.

 

In the loose spirit of m8f's tally threads:

 

- choose up to 3 source ports

- and assign up to 9 points total (not each), loosely based on how much you currently use them, however you want to do that

- if you use 4+ ports semi-regularly, or just want to talk about some ports you use once in a blue moon, feel free to add commentary to your post 

- for flexibility, forks should be treated as different ports, but I'll group the results in ways that make sense based on their proximity

 

Here are some examples of ways to assign points that work (with placeholder names). 

 

ADoom - 6
BDoom - 3

 

The Ephemerality Engine - 9 

 

SteveD oom - 4
Xaser - 3 
Bobboom - 2 

 

Discord-Nitro-Only Doom - 4 
Kraflab's Best Friend - 4

I'll tally the results in multiple ways. Since it's meant to be a quick sample, I don't have any plans to keep it open for many months. 

 

Caveat for anyone who happens to be linked this in the future: this will be a sample of ports used by Doomworld users who responded here, not "ports people who play Doom use." Those can differ. 

 

latest results: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/post/2366714

 

I will keep this poll up for more results to trickle in until later this month, and then put together a (hopefully) tidy tally. 

[Horus]

prBoom+: 7 points

GZDoom: 2 points

 

Basically I use prBoom+ to play Doom maps, unless it requires GZDoom, or I just fancy a change. I’m not including ports only used for testing purposes, e.g. chocorenderlimits

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Let's see, I have 9 points right?

• Eternity - 4 - I mostly use this due to its nice HUD + accessibility + accuracy.
• PRBoom+/DSDA-Doom - 4 - Demo-recording or just to run really huge maps. DSDA-Doom's ease of use almost overwhelm Eternity for me nowadays, hence the tie.
• GZDoom - 1 - Rare cases, when I feel too lazy.

Honorable mentions include Crispy, which is just an all-around solid port, its cousin Woof and Doom Retro.

Edited August 11, 2021 by TheNoob_Gamer

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

GzDOOM: 6

prBOOM+: 3

I'm a boring guy. 

 

Also, you gotta give Kraflab's Best Friend more representation than a 4! It was a big improvement over Kraflab's Worst Enemy.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

GZDoom : 5 points

DSDA: 4 points

 

Until recently, I would've given 9 points to GZ, but I use DSDA quite frequently now (the movement feels fantastic in ways I can't explain, and it's been in part due to a work-in-progress project). 

 

Like Horus, I'm not including ports I use strictly to test stuff (prBoom+, Crispy, Eternity, Chocolate, ChocoRenderLimits), but they probably deserve an honorable mention (certainly CRL). 

[baja blast rd.]

4 minutes ago, TheNoob_Gamer said:

PRBoom+/DSDA-Doom - 4 - Demo-recording or just to run really huge maps. DSDA-Doom's ease of use almost overwhelm Eternity for me nowadays, hence the tie.

 

Seems like this is for DSDA-Doom based on the comment? (If forks are very closely related, like those two, I'll end up grouping them in the same general area of the tally so that the combined use of "that group of port" can still be easily ascertained.) 

[GarrettChan]

DSDA-Doom: 9

(as there's no real point of using vanilla PrBoom+ now because you can just turn off everything you don't want to emulate vanilla PrBoom+)

Edited August 11, 2021 by GarrettChan

[Lorenz0]

Zandronum: 5 points

GZDoom: 4 points

 

Because I play co-op more often than single player

[rzh]

Chocolate Doom: 1

Crispy Doom: 3

prboom+ umap: 3

LZDoom: 2

[ReaperAA]

GZDoom: 5 pts

DSDA-Doom: 2 pts

Eternity Engine: 2 pts

[Omniarch]

Crispy Doom: 4 points

PrBoom+: 3 points

GZDoom: 2 points

 

I use Crispy to play all lim-rem/vanilla maps, which make up the majority of my Doom 'diet', while PrBoom+ is, unsurprisingly, used mainly for Boom/MBF maps. Geezy rounds out the list, since I use it for almost anything that doesn't run in the first two.

 

I also have a few HMs: Chocolate Doom is used for 'TWiD-style maps, and Eternity for exclusives (atm only Heartland) and whatever else I randomly feel like running with it. DSDA-Doom & Woof! may end up becoming mainstays in the future, especially the latter since it seems in many ways like a Boom/UMAPINFO/DEHEXTRA/MBF21 compatible replacement for my beloved Crispy.

[dmslr]

ZDoom32 - 9

[ReaperAA]

3 minutes ago, rd. said:

 

Seems like this is for DSDA-Doom based on the comment? (If forks are very closely related, like those two, I'll end up grouping them in the same general area of the tally so that the combined use of "that group of port" can still be easily ascertained.) 

 

I think this is a good idea. I would group PrBoom+/Umapinfo fork/DSDA-Doom together. Likewise, I would also group ZDoom, GZDoom, LZDoom and QZDoom together

 

[TheGreenZap]

Doom Retro: 4

GZDoom: 4

K8VaVoom: 1

 

I have to say that I was using Crispy in place of Doom Retro. However, I have really grown to like Doom Retro to where I am using it instead of Crispy. Having a console in a limit-removing/vanilla style port is awesome.

 

 

[Endless]

Doom Retro - 5

GZDoom - 4

 

Doom Retro has been pretty much 60% of my Doom time these last 2 months, and I love it.

[LUISDooM]

GZDoom: 5 points

Prboom+: 3 points 

Zandronum: 1 point

 

I use GZDoom for general dooming (mostly vanilla/limit removing maps), Prboom+ for DEHACKED mods/mapsets and Zandronum if I feel like deathmatching some bots.

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by LUISDooM

[StoneMason]

DSDA-Doom - 5 points

Eternity Engine - 3 points

GZDoom - 1 point

 

I used to use Eternity more, but DSDA-Doom has been appealing to me more lately. Occasionally I'll load up GZDoom for mods that require it.

Edited August 11, 2021 by StoneMason

[baja blast rd.]

On 8/11/2021 at 1:04 PM, rzh said:

Chocolate Doom: 1

Crispy Doom: 3

prboom+ umap: 3

LZDoom: 2

You can do up to 3 ports, so I'll let you repost this one.

 

@Redneckerz it's up to 3 ports. I'll check a bit later for an edit. (I don't want to make a new post for this so I'm just repurposing this one.)

 

 

On 8/11/2021 at 1:07 PM, ReaperAA said:

 

I think this is a good idea. I would group PrBoom+/Umapinfo fork/DSDA-Doom together. Likewise, I would also group ZDoom, GZDoom, LZDoom and QZDoom together

 

ZDoom and GZDoom are generally treated as two separate ports, so I plan to do something like

 

ZDoom: ...
GZDoom (family): ...

   GZDoom: ...

   LZDoom: ...

   QZDoom: ...

[Loud Silence]

Eternity Engine - 9

[Moustachio]

Crispy Doom: 4 points

DSDA-Doom: 3 points

LZDoom: 2 point

 

Some commentary: Crispy is my favorite overall. I love the vanilla look and feel at 480p, and all of the quality of life features are super excellent! Runs smoother than melted butter as well.

 

As for the others, DSDA-Doom is by far the most compatible source port, and pretty much knocks PrBoom+ out of the water in terms of QoL.

 

I use LZDoom for highly compatible split screen co-op. It’s messy to set up, but it is so much fun after you do. Being able to do some gameplay mod couch co-op with friends is a real treat.

 

The id Unity Port I appreciate for more symbolic reasons. I arguably don’t use it too often, but when I boot it up, it retains that classic feel. It’s great to know that id is still supporting Doom as a game and supporting the community by featuring custom wads and even DEH support.

 

k8vavoom is simply the most technically impressive source port I’ve ever used. Doom 3 style stencil shading on the dynamic lights (which means floor and ceiling height differences cast a shadow now, unlike GZDoom’s shadow maps). There are some bugs to iron out, and the options menu is super overwhelming, but it’s so cool to try out different mods with the new lighting system. It feels modern and immersive.

 

EDIT: I cannot believe I haven’t even mentioned Chocolate Doom despite vanilla being kinda my forte right now. Chocolate Doom is a beautiful source port. It’s just Doom, no bells and whistles, and it’s magical playing wads in vanilla. By stripping away all the advanced features of other ports, you’re really forced to see Doom for what it is — a 1993 DOS game. For better or worse I suppose, but I would argue that Doom from 93 is still very playable and fun, even in the modern age.

 

Spoiler

On a side note, I feel like the three port limit in this thread is a bit arbitrary. The 9 point limit already provides a hard limit of up to 9 ports, which gives people more space to talk and think about it.

 

My original ranking went as follows:

Crispy: 4

DSDA: 2

LZDoom: 1

id’s Unity: 1

k8vavoom: 1

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Moustachio
Forgot to shout-out Choco.

[Midnight_00]

PrBoom+ - 6 points

GZDoom - 3 points

 

I like the reliable performance and the compatibility options for PrBoom+, so that's what I usually use. I mostly use GZDoom for Heretic and Hexen and sometimes gameplay mods and TCs.

[Aurelius]

DSDA-Doom: 7

GZDoom: 2

 

I use DSDA-Doom for almost every wad that doesn't require a ZDoom family port, so the point distribution is directly proportional to the type of wads I usually play. I do use Eternity for Eternity-UDFM maps, occasionally Crispy for limit-removing stuff and ZDoom 2.8.1 for old ZDoom wads, but since those are in a small minority I decided not to include them (giving them 1 each would be disproportionate wrt how often I use them).

 

 

[Mr Masker]

DSDA Doom - 6

GZDoom- 3

I only really use GZDoom for stuff that requires it, gameplay mods, total conversions etc

[msx2plus]

currently mostly GZDoom because it's what i'm developing time tripper with, but when playing other things i use whatever the wad targets, usually without question. so it's usually something like

 

PrBoom+ or GlBoom+ / 5

Crispy Doom / 3

GZDoom / 1

 

i'm sure this will change shortly to include dsda-doom (or similar) though, given the advent of MBF21 and how excited i am to use it

 

apparently i should be checking out Retro as well! doing so reveals that they offer dithered lighting which is absolutely hot, so i'm sure that'll be on the list shortly too

Edited August 11, 2021 by msx2plus
added mention of doom retro

[Andromeda]

DSDA-Doom: 9 points

[Xyzzу]

DSDA-Doom: 5 points

Chocorenderlimits: 3 points

GZDoom: 1 point

Edited August 11, 2021 by Xyzzy01

[baja blast rd.]

hi OP, good thread 

 

just dropping off my own

 

Eternity Engine: 5 

GZDoom: 4 

[GoneAway]

DSDA-Doom: 🦆

[Kinsie]

GZDoom: 9 (I do pretty much everything in this)
EDGE: 1 (Okay, it's really more whatever esoteric port I need for some other mod, but nobody else is gonna vote EDGE and I'm about due for my annual play of Don's Challenge, so...)

[esselfortium]

Eternity Engine: 6

Chocolate Doom (really, Chocorenderlimits): 2

GZDoom: 1