Latest reliable port

[Red-XIII]

Hello guys,

I have been out of the loop for some time, but now I would like to play a bit again and hopefully speedrun something.

However, it seems that the ports page of DSDA (https://dsdarchive.com/ports) is not updated to what I read here in the "source ports" thread. 

My heart always belonged to vanilla doom and prboom+, and based on what I read, prboom+ v2.6.66 is the latest version.

Now, I really don't want to change unless it is strictly necessary, so:

1) Is prboom+ v2.6.66 a stable version that it's reliable?

2) If 1) is not verified, which "vanilla-like" port should I use?

 

[CacoKnight]

I'm not an expert or anything but I try to test and gather all I can on the main ports, started a discussion here https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/141224-source-ports-personal-deal-breakers-dec-23-2023 and there are some good replies too. Hope it helps.

 

IMO if you want vanilla like for the the fastest and smoothest software renderer + higher res than 400p (up to 4k in fact) give Nugget Doom a try, if you're fine with 400p Woof! is awesome as well obviously. Listing those two because they support all the complevels.

 

I personally only use GZDoom (Vulkan) and DSDA (OpenGL) right now, so I can match my screen native resolution and have that extra smoothness.

Edited December 23, 2023 by CacoKnight

[Darkcrafter07]

If you want instant classic doom experience now, crispy doom, the closest, best looking on modern monitors and fastest you can taste it without fiddling around bs settings, renders, drivers, etc.

 

Eternity for specific projects like Heartland, also very reliable and fast. It also loads boom stuff, so it's nice.

DSDA-Doom - is like prboom on steroids but still has infintely tall monsters which I hate, fastest of them all though but only supports Boom maps.

 

GZDoom comes last when a WAD like mine was specifically made for it. LZDoom when you need to run GZDoom on an old computer, still needs a graphics card with OpenGL 2 at least (2005 + cards and adapters), install your video drivers.

ACE engine when you need GZDoom on DOS but it also doesn't support UDMF unfortunately.

[Scorcher]

PrBoom+ is now deprecated, v2.6.66 is just a maintenance release to merge changes from the past 1.5 years and is not a sign of active development.

 

DSDA-Doom is the modern continuation of PrBoom+, so it's recommended you use that port instead. :)

Edited December 23, 2023 by Scorcher

[CacoKnight]

6 hours ago, Darkcrafter07 said:

DSDA-Doom - is like prboom on steroids but still has infintely tall monsters which I hate, fastest of them all though but only supports Boom maps.

*Fastest in hardware renderer mode agree but in software mode Nugget is the fastest hands down.

*Only supports Boom maps? What? DSDA supports every complevel, in fact IIRC MBF21 was created with the intent to work firstly and perfectly on it.

Agree for the infinitely tall monsters, hate it too.

[Demion]

I only use:

• DSDA-Doom: for vanilla, limit-removing, Boom, MBF and MBF21 compatible wads, so almost everything posted in Doomworld. Use this one if you want something that is still being upgraded and similar to prboom+. It's more accurate than GZDoom.
• GZDoom: I use it for GZDoom compatible wads, although it plays everything that DSDA-Doom does as well. https://zdoom.org/downloads

[MFG38]

On 12/23/2023 at 3:37 PM, Darkcrafter07 said:

crispy doom, the closest

 

Technically, the source port closest to the original game would be Chocolate Doom.

 

On 12/23/2023 at 3:37 PM, Darkcrafter07 said:

DSDA-Doom [...] only supports Boom maps.

 

Not true. You can play vanilla maps in dsda-doom, and UDMF support for the port has been finalized as of v0.27.

 

On 12/23/2023 at 3:37 PM, Darkcrafter07 said:

ACE engine when you need GZDoom on DOS but it also doesn't support UDMF unfortunately.

 

I don't think ACE Engine was conceived with the intention of supporting GZDoom's full feature set in a DOS environment. Sure, it's possible to implement a rudimentary DECORATE parser with it, but with how the whole engine works on a fundamental level, I feel like adding UDMF support would be pushing it. Besides, do we really need UDMF support in every port possible?

[Darkcrafter07]

6 hours ago, MFG38 said:

 

Technically, the source port closest to the original game would be Chocolate Doom.

 

 

Not true. You can play vanilla maps in dsda-doom, and UDMF support for the port has been finalized as of v0.27.

 

 

I don't think ACE Engine was conceived with the intention of supporting GZDoom's full feature set in a DOS environment. Sure, it's possible to implement a rudimentary DECORATE parser with it, but with how the whole engine works on a fundamental level, I feel like adding UDMF support would be pushing it. Besides, do we really need UDMF support in every port possible?

Chocolate Doom looks way too pixelized on a modern screen and it's a matter of a click to go 320x200 if needed, crispy doom fixes a bug with infinitely tall monsters though. I like 320x200 but on a smaller size CRT like 15 or 17.

Thanks for clarificaion on DSDA, every source port supports vanilla but UDMF support is kind of revelation to me, DSDA-Doom is being a really good alternative to chocolate doom then but again, those infinitely tall actors is something I dislike about the original doom the most, hasn't it been fixed yet?

[CacoKnight]

5 hours ago, Darkcrafter07 said:

hasn't it been fixed yet?

It's not really a "fix" from what I understand but a feature and they won't add it, maybe to keep it more like the vanilla? Not sure, I hate it too. > edit: This is why: https://github.com/coelckers/prboom-plus/issues/220

 

You can disable it on Nugget but no UDMF there, if you really need that. GZDoom has all those features + UDMF and you can tweak it however you want honestly.

Edited December 28, 2023 by CacoKnight

[Professor Hastig]

DSDA supports Hexen so it logically has all code for actor height checks available. It is accessible through MAPINFO but not as a user option.

 

[CacoKnight]

2 hours ago, Professor Hastig said:

It is accessible through MAPINFO but not as a user option.

Wait wait wait wait ...can I load a MAPINFO file that enables walk over/under universally from the autoload folder?

[Doomy__Doom]

42 minutes ago, CacoKnight said:

Wait wait wait wait ...can I load a MAPINFO file that enables walk over/under universally from the autoload folder?

In current dsda-doom mapinfo only applies to UDMF maps.

[Trov]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:56 PM, CacoKnight said:

*but in software mode Nugget is the fastest hands down.

Nope, that would be Rum And Raisin Doom, which does a huge amount of work to make the software renderer multithreaded (giving it an 4-8x or more speedup depending on how many cpu cores you have)

 

Eternity Engine has also added something similar.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Trov

[CacoKnight]

Did you actually try it/them or you're saying it because of the specs on paper? I just tested that one and Nugget is clearly faster. Crispy is awesome too but I mean with all the complevels + speed. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by CacoKnight