DOOM Runner is an underrated launcher

[skaags]

I don't know how well known this launcher is, I never see a lot of people bring it up. Being on Linux I thought my only real option was ZDL. It's a great launcher and served me well for a good while, but Runner blew me away. I want to thank the dev and list a couple of features that set it apart from ZDL.

 

- Ability to assign a GZDoom config file per preset. I try to keep my GZDoom as close to vanilla as possible, but it causes compatibility problems for mods. I hadn't really tried voxel or brutal doom because I'm too lazy to re-make and re-name config files. Now I just have a config called "mods.ini" that essentially runs GZ stock with a few preferences enabled, and "vanilla.ini".

 

- Presets are listed in the GUI, and can be renamed and organized. Having a neat list of presets that get you into the game in 2 clicks is very much appreciated. I would love a tile view of these presets where we could assign a picture to them.

 

- WORKS WITH STEAM. Back when I was on Windows I would replace dosbox.exe with gzdoom so Steam would track my playtime. I tried that with ZDL but could never get it to launch GZ right. Doom Runner does.

 

I know the command line mafia been holdin it down for years, but I want to hear from the launcher patrol. Have you guys tried Doom Runner? What killer features are keeping you from switching or trying out new ones?

[Lippeth]

Doom Runner is great with the ZDoom family ports, it's the only minimal looking launcher I've found that lets you deselect files while keeping them in the list, or open file locations by right clicking any file in the list. Those two features alone make it the most handy lightweight launcher I've ever used.

 

One oddity I've found is that it adds the "-file" argument before every file, which doesn't work with other ports unless you copy everything after the first "-file" command to the additional arguments field and remove all but the first instance of "-file".

Edited September 3, 2022 by Lippeth

[skaags]

2 hours ago, Lippeth said:

Doom Runner is great with the ZDoom family ports, it's the only minimal looking launcher I've found that lets you deselect files while keeping them in the list, or open file locations by right clicking any file in the list. Those two features alone make it the most handy lightweight launcher I've ever used.

 

 

Yes! I forgot to mention that. 

[Shepardus]

You might want to provide a link if you want other people to give it a try. Here, I'll do it for you:

https://github.com/Youda008/DoomRunner

I haven't tried it myself, but if what Lippeth says about the -file parameter is right then it's unfortunately a no-go for me because I mostly use other ports besides ZDoom. I'm quite happy with ZDL, though, so it'd take a lot to get me to switch.

 

I do something similar to you with my GZDoom configs - I have a default config with GZDoom's various bells and whistles enabled and cluttered with a bunch of mod settings, and a separate config that I keep pristine with vanilla-ish settings. I also have separate configs for dsda-doom, one for software rendering and one for OpenGL rendering. I'm able to add them as separate entries to ZDL by creating a simple script that runs the source port with the -config parameter followed by all the parameters that were passed to the script ("$@" in Bash), and adding that script to ZDL as a "source port."

 

7 hours ago, Lippeth said:

Doom Runner is great with the ZDoom family ports, it's the only minimal looking launcher I've found that lets you deselect files while keeping them in the list, or open file locations by right clicking any file in the list. Those two features alone make it the most handy lightweight launcher I've ever used.

You can deselect files in ZDL too! At least in the version I use, you can either double-click on a file in the list or click on the fourth button under the file list. Can't directly open the file location, though; that sounds like it'd come in handy.

[Lippeth]

8 hours ago, Shepardus said:

You can deselect files in ZDL too! At least in the version I use, you can either double-click on a file in the list or click on the fourth button under the file list. Can't directly open the file location, though; that sounds like it'd come in handy.

Oh wow, so you can! I never used that version long enough to notice because I preferred the UI of 3.2.2.2, but that's actually pretty huge, and the visual feedback of a strikethrough is very clean.

 

And yes, the only way I can get Doom Runner to work with other ports is to copy everything after the first "-file" command to the additional arguments field and remove all but the first instance of "-file". But at that point a batch file might even be simpler. I asked about it in the ZDoom forum thread but didn't get a response.

 

The "map pack" window is cool in theory because it's essentially a file explorer and you can drag & drop files to the mod list, but it doesn't let you scroll horizontally, so depending on how deep into your files you need to go, you may not even be able to access it.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Lippeth

[Youda008]

Thanks for feedback. The issue with -file has already been fixed in the recent release.

 

About the Map pack tree view clipping the long names, i'm trying to find a way how to solve this, hopefully i'll come out with a solution soon.

[Lemonzest]

I love this launcher :)