PR Boom+ shortcut/launcher on Ubuntu

[smeghammer]

Not sure if this is the right place for this...

 

I'm a lazy GZDoom user, but today I was playing a bunch of WADs and my system was becoming really choppy. Not quite sure why. So I decided to try PR Boom+

 

I'd already deployed it from the package repository, and this installs it with FreeDoom. I wanted a desktop launcher (as a native `.launcher` type file), similar to my GZDoom launcher, that catered for drag and drop, and used either Doom or Doom 2 IWAD.

 

There may be another way, but the solution I came up with was to create a .desktop file configured as follows:

 

[Desktop Entry]
##  The name of the application ##
Name=PRBoom (D2)
GenericName=PRBoom
 
## A comment which act as a tooltip ##
Comment=Run PR Boom or drop PWAD
 
## The executable of the application with optional args ##
## You can state full path too ##
Exec=bash -c "/usr/games/prboom-plus -iwad /media/smeg/data/Games/Doom/IWADs/DOOM2.WAD -file %U"
 
## State the name of the icon that will be used to display this entry ##
Icon=/media/smeg/data/Games/Doom/prboomplus.png
 
## Is it a terminal app? For example htop will be set as Terminal=True ##
## Then default terminal app will be used to open the 'htop' ##
Terminal=true
 
##  The type as listed  ##
Type=Application
 
## States the categories in which this entry should be shown menu ##
Categories=Games

The key here was the `Exec=` line.

 

Rather than directly calling the executable, it runs a terminal session with the full path to the prboom-plus executable and two arguments:

 

 - the `-iwad` is simply the full path to your IWAD (NOTE: you will need separate icons for doom 1, Heretic etc.)

 - the `-file %U` is key to the drag and drop capability - `%U` represents the path/filename of the dropped PWAD.

 

To use:

1: create a text file called `prboom.desktop`

2: put the above text in it, adapting to your paths as required. The icon I found with a google search; and `Terminal=true` can be false if you don't want the terminal to show.

3: copy/move the text file to your desktop. You will see it is greyed.

4: right-click and choose the 'allow launching' option. It should now un-grey and a double-click will launch Doom2.

5: you can also drop a compatible PWAD and PRBoom should launch with that PWAD.

 

Note that depending on your OS version, you may be able to create the file directly on the desktop.

 

If you want a Doom1 launcher as well, copy the above and modify the `Exec=` line to refer to your doom.wad IWAD file

 

Spoiler

This did solve the choppiness problem!

 

Hopefully, someone finds this useful.

Edited December 30, 2023 by smeghammer