Some good doom launchers or just use bats?

[Cilian]

So I'm using ZDL but it's getting inconvenient to manage all the files in one big list so I'm thinking of just switching to bats, for example launch ancient aliens with woof and pistol start or launch TNT in LZDoom with project brutality, put all the wads in a folder and create a shortcut to it and put it on desktop. I've tried rocket launcher v2, it has similar function to bats I described, configurations, but they are much more inconvenient than just a double click on a bat: you have to click on favourites tab, select a config, click on load, click on the main tab and then finally click on launch. I know about doom launcher but it seems overwhelming so I didn't try actually using it. Is doom launcher fitting for what I want or some other launcher exists? I don't mind not using one, bats aren't bad.

That is not really on topic of the topic but I even have an idea for a doom launcher that is just a bat manager: there's, a list of bats, ability to create a bat inside the list, a command line to edit the bats (always one liners), two checkboxes for recording demons and playing demos, input for demo's name and  a launch button. So the idea is that if you just want to launch a config you already made all you need to do is double click on it and that's it, but if you want to create one it's also really easy, you just create a bat inside the bat list, type the command in the one-line command line, save it and it's done. For demos you type in the demo's name, check one of the checkboxes to play or record one and launch like usual.

[DoomGater]

Use batches! At least that's what I did with DGDDT ("doomgate's dumb doom tool") back in 2005 :-)
It's easy and is always working. (Maybe I should re-create a new version.) Is there a VisualBasic6 for Linux?

                                                                                                                                                    (duck and run...)

 

[Dusty_Rhodes]

About ninety - five percent of what I play is on PrBoom+/MAPINFO so I use PrBoom Launcher. Anything else I just drag and drop or copy paste. If using an old school port like ReBoom I make .bat files. So I do a little of both.

[Dweller Dark]

I use Hobomaster22's Doom Launcher, it works with a lot of sourceports and you can organize WADs by tags, as well as download them from idgames.

[Mr. Alexander]

I like Doom Explorer a lot, but lately I've just written batch files in PowerShell, following a format like this:

 

C:\path\to\wadname_modname_sourceport.ps1

 

$sourcedir = "C:\path\to\sourceport\"
$sourceport = "$sourcedir\sourceport.exe"

$complevel = "-complevel [whatever]"
$iwad = "-iwad C:\path\to\iwad.wad"
$pwad = "C:\path\to\pwad.wad"
$mod = "C:\path\to\mod.wad"
$fullfile = "-file $pwad $mod"
$argument = "$complevel $iwad $fullfile"

Start-Process `
-WorkingDirectory $sourcedir `
-FilePath $sourceport `
-ArgumentList $argument `
-Confirm

Using variables like this makes it easy to swap out the important parts if you like using various different source ports, mods, etc. Obviously $complevel isn't necessary if you don't use PrBoom+ or a derivative thereof. Making these doesn't take too long once you get the hang of it.

[Shepardus]

On 11/26/2021 at 9:20 AM, Cilian said:

So I'm using ZDL but it's getting inconvenient to manage all the files in one big list

You don't have to add all your wads to the list... Just add the ones you want to load, you can drag and drop files to the list. ZDL also lets you save configs as .zdl files, which you can load later to bring back a particular set of files and parameters. If you associate the .zdl file extension with ZDL, you can even launch the .zdl files directly by double-clicking on them from Windows Explorer, much like you would with a .bat file. Your idea for a .bat manager is something that ZDL can already do.

[Widosm]

On 11/28/2021 at 4:37 AM, Eddie 2077 said:

I use Hobomaster22's Doom Launcher, it works with a lot of sourceports and you can organize WADs by tags, as well as download them from idgames.

I second this, the launcher has a very nice UI, and you can organize any files (not just WADs) into categories. There's also a sort of drag and drop functionality, where you can pick a WAD and choose what other files to load on top of it. Like you mentioned, you can also toggle demo recording. Pretty solid, only gripe is that ZDL and bats always load faster.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

I don't see the problem. The launcher is working as intended.. You just need to better organize your files than having a giant pit for all of them. maybe organize by release years or alphabets? Takes a bit to organize them at first but you won't run again into this same mess.

[rzh]

I might have a really round about way of doing it, but I just make shortcuts and store them in a folder.

I use Woof as my main source port and inside it's folder, apart from the autoload subfolder, I also have one for IWADs, and one for WADs, which I then split based on complevel.

I store the main command in a notepad so I just copy and paste it in the shortcut and change the variables:  

-pistolstart -complevel x -iwad .\IWADs\x.wad -file .\PWADs\complevel_x\x.wad (-deh .\PWADs\complevel_x\x.deh) -save .\savedir\x

 

 

[Cilian]

7 hours ago, Shepardus said:

If you associate the .zdl file extension with ZDL, you can even launch the .zdl files directly by double-clicking on them from Windows Explorer, much like you would with a .bat file. Your idea for a .bat manager is something that ZDL can already do.

Oh, that would be really convenient, thanks.

[Lemonzest]

https://github.com/Youda008/DoomRunner

 

I use this, works really well

[Lippeth]

Was just going to mention Doom Runner from the post above. It's biggest strength is that you can deselect files while keeping them in the list, and there's a dedicated window for as many different profiles as you can imagine. ZDL is also great of course, and there's nothing wrong with batch files.

[CBM]

I prefer bat files

[magicsofa]

I prefer baseball bats