How to play older wads?

[Pdda]

I downloaded GZDoom and that worked for playing Doom 2 Redux. I'm now looking at some of the older wads people have made in the 90's. GZDoom won't play them. 

What do I need to use to play some these older wads?

 

Thanks in advance and thanks for the help with Doom 2 Redux. 

[General Rainbow Bacon]

gzdoom will play them all.  An easy way is to drag and drop the wad onto the .exe file.  Or you can use a command prompt to load them up.  gzdoomdir -file "wad.wad" then any other parameters you want to use.  Some older maps weren't map 01 if you're trying single maps.  Make sure you know the map #, the command line for that is "-warp xx" for doom 2, "-iwad doom.wad -warp e m" e = episode, m = mission.  You must use a space.

 

Edited November 14, 2017 by General Rainbow Bacon

[Kaido]

try dos :)

[Salt-Man Z]

Older WADs might also have a .deh patch that needs to be loaded alongside the wad. (gzdoom.exe -file abc.wad -deh xyz.deh)

 

With very few exceptions, newer versions of GZDoom will run everything, old or new. If there's a specific WAD you're having issues with, someone here can likely help you out.

[Pdda]

I notice that when I run GZDoom the "status" area that includes the player face at the bottom is very small.

Is there any way to enlarge this as in the original version of Doom 2?

My wife and daughter find one of the most fun features of playing Doom is watching the face of your character get bloody as your health deteriorates. The image in the GZDoom is so small you really lose that look and feel to the game.

 

If there's no way to change it is there another emulator that retains the original look of the game interface?

 

Thanks,

[yakfak]

Just now, Pdda said:

I notice that when I run GZDoom the "status" area that includes the player face at the bottom is very small.

Is there any way to enlarge this as in the original version of Doom 2?

My wife and daughter find one of the most fun features of playing Doom is watching the face of your character get bloody as your health deteriorates. The image in the GZDoom is so small you really lose that look and feel to the game.

 

If there's no way to change it is there another emulator that retains the original look of the game interface?

 

Thanks,

if yer looking for a more authentic Doom port, check out PRBoom-plus, which maintains *most* of the feel of the original game while still being able to load many modern extended levels, or Chocolate Doom, which concentrates on the vanilla experience

[Salt-Man Z]

1 hour ago, Pdda said:

I notice that when I run GZDoom the "status" area that includes the player face at the bottom is very small.

Is there any way to enlarge this as in the original version of Doom 2?

My wife and daughter find one of the most fun features of playing Doom is watching the face of your character get bloody as your health deteriorates. The image in the GZDoom is so small you really lose that look and feel to the game.

 

If there's no way to change it is there another emulator that retains the original look of the game interface?

In (G)ZDoom, at least, I believe all graphics that aren't strictly "within" the gameplay itself (including the status bar/HUD and the menu graphics) are tied to your screen resolution. Go into GZDoom's video settings and decrease your resolution; that should fix it. (That's part of the reason I keep my res at 800x600, though I still prefer to play with the statusbar disabled.)

[Glikkzy]

3 hours ago, Pdda said:

I notice that when I run GZDoom the "status" area that includes the player face at the bottom is very small.

Is there any way to enlarge this as in the original version of Doom 2?

My wife and daughter find one of the most fun features of playing Doom is watching the face of your character get bloody as your health deteriorates. The image in the GZDoom is so small you really lose that look and feel to the game.

 

If there's no way to change it is there another emulator that retains the original look of the game interface?

 

Thanks,

In GZDoom, go into Options -> Hud Options -> Scaling Options and fiddle around with the Status Bar slider. In this menu you can scale nearly every interface aspect independently of your screen resolution.

[Ed_Deth]

if the wad or mod has multiple files .wad .deh i make a .pk3 file using ie 7-zip, rar, pkzip.  then you can drag and drop the .pk3 on the exe.

[bonnie]

For levels that don't specifically require a zdoom-based port (most of them), I'd strongly recommend something like Prboom+. It's 1000000x easier to set up than any zdoom port, looks great, feels great, plays great, and is pretty vanilla. So I'd go with that, especially if you're looking for more vanilla features.

[Pdda]

Thanks Bonnie,

I tried Prboom+ but when I drag a wad file over it (from a different folder) it starts at the first level of Doom 2 ("Entryway" I believe). If I finish that level it goes to the normal second level. How do I get it to start the wad i want?

 

I'm trying to load Eternity (Serenity 2) that I got from this site;

https://www.doomworld.com/10years/bestwads/1994.php

 

Thanks

[baja blast rd.]

That is a Doom 1 wad. Based on that and the original post, it looks like you don't have doom.wad. 

[Memfis]

Should there be a sticky topic with a tutorial on how to use wads?