Best way to launch your game (on Windows)

[Fluuschoen]

I wonder why almost nobody (at least it seems like that to me) uses Doom Explorer (2.20) for creating parametered shortcuts in a very easy, quick and transparent way. So simple and streamlined, you just have to define the paths. Many parameters have tick boxes, but you can manually add others, if you'd like, and you can even search for duplicate WADs, if that's your thing.

I totally understand the old school charm of *.bat files, but if you are on Windows (well, I don't know if this works properly under WINE or not), and you don't particularly enjoy making the batch file from a blank text document, it's much more convenient to use DE imo.

How do you launch your game and why did you vote for the method you use? Discuss! : >

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Fluuschoen

[CoolerDoomeR]

I like the Classic way to running the doom wads, "Drag & Drop" to the Exe :)

[Fluuschoen]

1 minute ago, CoolerDoomeR said:

I like the Classic way to running the doom wads, "Drag & Drop" to the Exe :)

: >

Not every source port supports it though. But I get it, if you don't use various parameters/not recording different demos and you don't have a metric tonne of ports and WADs, it's a pretty straightforward way.

[Gregor]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

Why use a fancy launcher when batch files and command lines get the job done just as well? To make a new batch file, all i have to do is just copy an existing one and change the end of the -file parameter for the path to the new wad. Takes less than a minute.

 

It also feels appropriately low-key, if you know what i mean. This is an old DOS games we're talking about after all.

Batch files work just fine for my needs and are fun to use. I don't need no launcher.

 

If i recorded lots of demos, i might think about streamlining the process a bit more. But even then i'd probably just prepare a couple of template batch files and then copy-paste them to the command prompt and do some quick editing in there.

Keepin' it Real.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Gregor

[Fluuschoen]

26 minutes ago, Gregor said:

It also feels appropriately low-key, if you know what i mean. This is an old DOS games we're talking about after all.
 

Yeah, I'm into retro computing and vintage stuff in general, so I understand the crave for authenticity. I sure miss those times, but I tend to concentrate on the gameplay aspect in this instance, not necessarily the ancient (albeit perfectly working) tools of the trade, meaning I'd like to have '90s essence in a very quick, comfortable "wrapper", so I can concentrate on the game itself; the less I have to fuck around with files and paths manually, the better  – which can get pretty tiresome if you are like this:

: D

I'm all in for nostalgia, in my mind there are constant '80s/'90s VHS dreams, but regarding gaming I only miss the games themselves tbh (and the overall design of hardware), not necessarily the clunky and/or limited accessability – the only exception would be console gaming, where nothing beats the original experience. But it's funny that three people posted in this thread so far, and all three of them uses different methods for basically the same purpose. : >


 

26 minutes ago, Gregor said:

 

Why use a fancy launcher when batch files and command lines get the job done just as well?

 

Tbh I only use it to make the shortcuts themselves (not launching anything from it), even though it has a lot more functions (multiplayer, chat etc.). When you have multiple HUNDRED parametered shortcuts, and  – like you mentioned – you tend to record various demos (different ports, maps settings), it's way more convenient imo. : >

Edited March 14, 2022 by Fluuschoen

[Gregor]

18 minutes ago, Fluuschoen said:

 

 

Jesus Christ! That really is an obscene amount of sourceports.

Well, you certainly have my blessing for using a launcher to handle THAT mess...

 

I only ever have one version of every sourceport in use at the time. I keep backups for some, like DSDA, since it's not on GitHub, but in the end i only really use three or four ports for all my wads (DSDA, LZDoom, Eternity and sometimes Woof).

 

Funny enough, when it comes to old console games, i'm the exact opposite to you, in that i don't like dealing with real hardware at all and instead prefer playing everything through emulators. I just can't deal with having bulky CRTs taking up space, cables everywhere, not to speak of the actual consoles taking up room, and having to manual put the games in, and hope that the cartridge/CD still reads.... no thanks. Emulators are far more convenient. Besides, they offer you options to make the games look & play better, or at least just as bad, than having to deal with the original hardware limitations. Best example would be an emulator like Duckstation for PS1 that let's you turn off that annoying dithering filter most PS1 games made use of, as well as eliminating a lot of the visual noise you got though correcting the affine texture warping issues and polygon instability. Makes the games almost look like they are hardware accelerated PC ports from the era. Not for everyone perhaps, but a nice option to have that you can always turn off.

 

I have no problem with investing time into setting up config files and batch files, and dealing with patches and emulators settings. That virtual setup work is part of the fun for me. But practical setup work involving cables and consoles is just a hassle. 

 

I guess, i'm consistent in that i like to have everything in one place - my PC. ;)

[Wyrmwood]

I use the ZDL front-end, simple to set up and use and really easy to set or modify load orders. I like to keep mods and wads in separate folders by game so dragging and dropping everything was a pain. Not tried Doom explorer but it looks much more complex.

[RHhe82]

I haven't tried Doom Explorer, but it does look a bit complicated. I personally use DoomLauncher, which is simple to use, communicates with IDGames server for easy downloading of wads (but also supports importing wads downloaded from elsewhere), and most wonderfully keeps track of my map completions with kills/items/secrets counts.

 

Edit: I also sometimes use ZDL, and for when I seriously try recording demos (for example for Ironman challenge hosted on DW), I even use command-line processor and a batch file (I grew up with DOS as a kid, so it's no foreign territory for me, either).

Edited March 14, 2022 by RHhe82

[blackthorn]

I use the Rocket Launcher 2.0 frontend, which is fairly simple but has some nice features. The biggest advantage of this for me is that it allows you to save configs for all of your WAD/source port combinations (plus command line arguments) as a list within the program for easy loading. There are a couple of QoL improvements it could do with, but otherwise it's my preferred solution.

Edited March 14, 2022 by blackthorn

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

The command line is more than enough for me

[OpenRift]

4 hours ago, CoolerDoomeR said:

I like the Classic way to running the doom wads, "Drag & Drop" to the Exe :)

It's not really "classic" at all, that's mostly a GZDoom thing, which is faaaar from classic.

[OpenRift]

ZDL is the gold standard for me. Not to bloated, but just enough to be able to do everything from within that little launcher.

[Loud Silence]

I edit desktop shortcut's target line to add pwads. For IWad selection Eternity Engine have beautiful launcher.

[Drywtler]

Doom Launcher. I tag my maps with their requeriments to get it running (sourceport as a tag, complevel as a comment) as well as mods (PCs and TCs alike) with tags explaining if they only edit weapons, the enemy roster, all of the gameplay mechanics, etc.

I don't take screenshots for each pwad since i primarily use the list view.

I also use the idgames tab to download stuff from time to time, writes the READMEs and everything when processed by the Launcher.

Wish it had a dark mode tho

 

[Mayomancer]

ZDL works great for me, it's a nice and simple interface, and i got used to it.

[DuckReconMajor]

When I learned you could Shift-RightClick in Windows file explorer to open a CMD (now PowerShell) window I never went back

[Lippeth]

I used to use ZDL exclusively for years, but as much as I cycle through ports and download new versions, I actually found batch files to be less of a hassle to update than setting them up in the launcher every time and removing the old version. In DOSBox I also have a lot of fun making batch menus that open different files and toggle options.

 

I do still use a launcher, but only for GZDoom specifically, and use Doom Runner because it's modular and I can untick a file but leave it in the list. And the best part is I can right click any file and open its file location instead of going there manually. It's basically ZDL on steroids, but only works with ZDoom ports unless you copy the full command line it generates, paste it into the new arguments field and remove "-file" from the beginning of every new additional file. I'm not sure why it works that way, but it contributes to why I prefer batch files for most applications.

[Shepardus]

A pet peeve of mine is how quick people are to dive into explanations of .bat files and Windows shortcuts, when a good launcher gets the job done just as well while being much simpler to explain to the non-technically minded. Don't get me wrong, being able to navigate the command-line and construct a well-formed path is a good skill to have, but it shouldn't be a prerequisite for playing Doom.

 

ZDL is just right for me. I'm fine with using the command-line, but ZDL is more convenient for me since I like storing my IWADs, PWADs, and source ports in different folders (not to mention I've got a bunch of each of these), and managing the paths to them is a lot easier through a GUI. The "extra command-line arguments" box gives the flexibility to enter any parameters I want, and if I really need to use the command-line (i.e. to see the error output on a crash) there's an option to show the command that will be run so I can copy that to a terminal, and that still saves me the trouble of typing out the paths myself.

 

You can save configurations as .zdl files and associate them with ZDL to get the convenience of .bat files. Unlike .bat files, you can open a .zdl file in ZDL and then make modifications just for that session. For example, I have a .zdl file saved with the mods I typically load with GZDoom, so when I want to play something with GZDoom I open that ZDL file and then add the specific WAD I want to play, and disable anything in the list that's incompatible with the WAD (which is why I don't just autoload the list).

 

ZDL also avoids being bloated with stats tracking and a bunch of other features unrelated to the simple task of launching Doom, making it ideal for a beginner. All you have to do to set it up is tell it where your source ports are and where your IWADs are, through a familiar file chooser dialog. The version I use has precompiled binaries for Windows and Linux so I don't even have to build it myself.

[maxmanium]

I just use the command line along with some simple batch files I made to navigate the directories more easily. Pretty simple.

[Rymante]

I use the same version of ZDL that Shepardus mentioned, it's lightweight, works with almost every source port I've thrown at it & let's me save presets with the correct load order ready.  I've tried a few other launchers like Doom Runner & Doom Launcher, but I just keep coming back to ZDL.  Doom Runner probably came closest to replacing ZDL, I like it's interface.

[PasokonDeacon]

For casual play and recording demos of released works, I happily stick with Doom Launcher. It's particularly great for managing demo LMPs & source port screenshots. 

 

For testing WADs/PK3s, ZDL is as straightforward as I want it and is less finicky to manage than DLauncher in these scenarios.

[Jaccident]

I use steam for wads I plan on playing fully and possibly replaying, and use ZDL for everything else. Usually for the steam shortcuts I just completely copy and paste a version of GZDoom into a new folder so I can tweak settings to suit the wad I’m playing. In order for them to look decent, I’ve made a template where I can just drag the title pic onto them and then export them and it’ll look fine. I do this mainly because if it’s not in my steam library I’ll never get around to playing it (although there’s plenty in my steam library that doesn’t get played xD)

[Shepardus]

8 hours ago, Fluuschoen said:

<image of source ports directory>

By the way, if you have multiple copies of the same source port version for the sake of having different configs, you can avoid this using the -config parameter and still have it integrate with a launcher (at least ZDL, I haven't tried with other launchers). This is more important on Linux where the config is written in the home directory rather than the program directory, so having multiple copies of the program doesn't produce separate configs, but it might be nice to know for Windows anyway.

 

For example, I have separate dsda-doom configs for software renderer and OpenGL renderer (changing some things such as resolution, gamma, and map scroll speed). In my dsda-doom folder, I have a .bat file "dsda-doom-gl.bat" with the contents:

dsda-doom.exe -config dsda-doom-gl.cfg %*

This basically says to launch dsda-doom.exe with the parameters "-config dsda-doom-gl.cfg" followed by all the parameters passed to the batch script.

 

On Linux, I use the following shell script:

#!/bin/sh
./dsda-doom -config ~/.dsda-doom/dsda-doom-gl.cfg "$@"

What makes this useful is that you can you can add this script to ZDL just like a source port (if it doesn't let you select the .bat file in the file chooser, make sure to display "all files" or just edit zdl.ini directly). With this, I can select between "dsda-doom" and "dsda-doom-gl" in ZDL's source ports list depending on which config I want to play with and not have to bother adding the -config parameter myself.

 

So I guess technically I use a .bat file and a launcher at the same time, which is inherently the best possible way to launch Doom.

[Dark Pulse]

I currently use ZDoom Executor, but I'm certainly interested in this thread to see if there's something a bit better. While ZDoom Executor does its job fine, there's definitely some niggling aspects of it for me.

[Fluuschoen]

On 3/14/2022 at 11:17 PM, Shepardus said:

By the way, if you have multiple copies of the same source port version for the sake of having different configs, you can avoid this using the -config parameter and still have it integrate with a launcher

I know, it's just that these ports don't require installing and are so small in size, that I like to seperate them starkly. I'll probably use -config sometime around 2025, as I'm not sure I'll be staying on the Microsoft platform. It's a shame that Linux doesn't use the folder of the port itself.
 

 

On 3/14/2022 at 3:34 PM, RHhe82 said:

I haven't tried Doom Explorer, but it does look a bit complicated. I personally use DoomLauncher, which is simple to use, communicates with IDGames server for easy downloading of wads (but also supports importing wads downloaded from elsewhere), and most wonderfully keeps track of my map completions with kills/items/secrets counts.

I checked out DoomLauncher, and tbh it's more complicated than DE. : > That statistics thingie is cool though.

 

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It seems (so far) that ZDL might be pretty popular besides the classic batch route, but it's funny that now quite a few people replied to this thread, and I'm still alone with DE. I always had popular choices. : D

Edited March 16, 2022 by Fluuschoen

[rzh]

I just create shortcuts of the .exe and add proper parameters.

I tried messing with batch files, but the main advantage for me was being able to create my own centralized launcher.

But I have too many .wads and source ports and setting-up submenus and categorizing everything was too much of a nightmare. Fun experience though.