Welcome to WADGOD 3.0 Ultimate Control Over DOOM! By Chuck Agne WADGOD is a front end for id Software's DOOM/DOOM II. It allows you to launch WAD files automatically, specifying loaded games, warping, demos and other features. Several things drove me to write WADGOD: the pain of unzipping all those great wads that are being written, reading the text file to see what level to go to, fooling with the DOOM command line, then deleting the wads, text files, etc. to keep things tidy, blah-blah-blah. I also wanted to keep the wads in a different directory. Okay, I'm a tidy freak. (Does "anal retentive" have a hyphen?) WADGOD also lets you keep your WADs in space-saving files that have been compressed using Phil Katz's PKZip 2.04g. You don't need to unzip your files before running WADGOD! The program will find WAD, LMP (demo) and TXT files in your zipped archive and list them. With the exception of net and modem play (sorry, I have no way to test), all DOOM command line options are supported. You need only click to launch. WADGOD will zip your WAD files for you, launch your favorite WAD map editor, modify saved games and specify a text viewer, should you choose not to use the one that's conveniently built-in. Version 3.0 brings with it compatibility with DOOM II, user defined menuing for running external programs, and more. In fact, it's so easy to use, you don't even need documentation! (How's THAT for a cop-out?) But for those who insist, here's how to install WADGOD, and how the program works. REQUIREMENTS: I didn't worry too much about the size of WADGOD, figuring that if you had enough memory to run DOOM you weren't going to sweat 200K of either memory or disk space. There are, however, a few requirements: You must be using a registered version of DOOM. If you aren't, shame, shame, shame. You're probably going out later tonight to rob candy from children - or maybe paper someone's house. ANSI.SYS must be part of your CONFIG.SYS file PKZIP/PKUNZIP 2.04 must be in your PATH You must have a mouse with a mouse driver installed. I'm also assuming that you're using a VGA monitor and hardware able to support up to 50 lines on the screen. WADGOD uses the 50 line mode but resets to 25/43 lines should you desire. UPDATING FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS Due to many changes made to the configuration file's structure, it's best to start from scratch. This should be no big deal since it'll take about 3 minutes to configure WADGOD. The easiest way to install (whether you're a new user or not), is to unzip the WGDG30.ZIP file into your DOOM directory and run the setup program, "WGSETUP.BAT". This deletes your pre-existing WADGOD files if they exist and gets you ready to go. (see below) SETUP: 1. If you want to keep your wads (except for DOOM.WAD) in a separate directory, first create that directory and move the zipped wads into it. If you have some unzipped ones, don't worry, WADGOD can help you zip them, just move them into the wad directory now. For instance, my directory setup looks like this: C:\FUN\DOOM\STUFF. STUFF is where all the wads are kept, all of DOOM (including DOOM.WAD) is in the DOOM directory. If you want to keep everything in your DOOM directory, that's okay, too. NOTE: DO NOT ZIP DOOM.WAD OR DOOM2.WAD! 2. Place the contents of WDGD30.ZIP in your DOOM/DOOM II directory. 3. Type WGSETUP and press Enter. This batch file will delete any older versions of WADGOD if they exist, and put some more WADGOD files on your machine. 4. Enter WADGOD.BAT (or just WADGOD) at the DOS prompt. Make sure you enter WADGOD and NOT WG3.EXE or things will get a little confused. 5. You'll be told that WADGOD can't find a configuration file. That's okay, Just click on Utilities and then Configure on the menu bar and fill in the blanks. If you want to use an external text viewer or map editor be sure to include the full path if they aren't in the DOOM directory. 6. Enter all Path names WITHOUT a trailing "\". 7. Be sure to save your configuration right away. RUNNING WADGOD: Everything is pretty self-explanatory once you get started. The interface is point-and-shoot (just like DOOM). No help is included due primarily to my getting too tired to continue. You'll notice that when you select a file for unzipping it puts the WAD, LMP, and text files in the proper places. Just play around for a while, you'll figure it out, no sweat. Select the things you want with the mouse by double-clicking, click on LAUNCH and have at it. Also, WADGOD consists of several files: FILE_ID.DIZ brief description WGSETUP.BAT the Setup batch file WADGOD.BAT gets WADGOD started WG3.EXE main program WADGOD30.TXT this file _WADGOD_.BAT finishes off the program WADGOD3.CFG the configuration file The last two files are created when you first run WADGOD. Don't delete them, especially WADGOD.CFG. Once in WADGOD, there will be a window listing all the ZIP files in the directory. UnZipped wads won't appear, so if you need to, select Utilities/Zip Files from the menu and zip up the wads. I find it most convenient to just keep everything in the zipped form the wad is distributed in. Caution: There are some wads in distribution that require other related wads to be present in the DOOM directory but not actually named in the command line that you (or WADGOD) start DOOM with. "ALIEN" is a good example of this. At present, what WADGOD unzips, it tries to load. Those few wads of this type will need to have the resident (but non-loaded) wad present in its unzipped state - sorry, but it ain't no big deal. The only one I know of that requires this kind of thing is ALIEN. NEW IN VERSION 3.0 User Defined Menu: When you configure, you'll see a button labeled "Menu". Pressing that button gives you the option of entering up to 3 different programs to run from WADGOD. There is a place for both the menu name you wish to use as well as the DOS command line needed to execute the program. If you want to have a "hot key" tied to the menu item, precede the hot key letter with the '&' symbol. For example, entering "&Play CD" (without the quotes) allows you to simply press P to execute the menu item. When you are through, save the configuration, exit WADGOD to DOS and then re-enter WADGOD. This loads in the new configuration data. Now when you select the Utilities menu, you'll see new items to choose. These are the programs you entered. Choosing them causes the selected program to be run, returning to WADGOD when it is through. Caution: Programs bigger that 200K may not run due to memory restrictions. Suggestion: If you have cd-rom, create a menu item which will launch your CD player. Put in your latest Metallica disk and crank it up. Now return to WADGOD and start up DOOM with [X] No Music selected. I have tried this with both Frank Sinatra and the Carpenter's greatest hits. *very* wierd! DOOM II Compatibility: Be sure to select either DOOM or DOOM II in the Configuration screen. The SuperShotgun will be activated for game editing when WADGOD has been configured for DOOM II. Spin Control: No, this is neither an aerobatic maneuver or the latest in political campaign hanky-panky. Fire up the Edit Game window and notice those little up and down arrows. Now you can change the contents of the box next to it with your mouse's left button. Pressing a shift key and the mouse button increases the speed. NEW IN VERSION 2: Game Editor: Pretty straightforward. Turns out that DOOM accepts higher values for most stuff than id lets you have. For the totally exasperated, there is a Go Crazy button which gives you lots of everything (except invisibility... Don't worry, though, with all that firepower, health, armor, etc., you'll WANT those suckers to see you!) AutoWarp: When activated, automatically determines the Episode/Mission of the chosen wad and sets you up to warp there. One note, however. AutoWarp looks for the wad's Episode/Mission info but some wads, like those dealing strictly dealing with sound, etc. (i.e., non-level wads) don't have such info. At least as for as I know. With AutoWarp activated, such wads will cause WADGOD to report an error. No harm done, though, just tell it to continue and all will be well. Multi-Launch: You can now launch with several wads selected. Level Editor: Edit the Episode/Mission of a wad. Handy if you're fond of Multi-Launch. OTHER STUFF: I've tried to include most things I thought would be useful but would welcome any comments concerning problems/improvements (heck, even praise). Mail can be addressed to: Internet: chucka@kaiwan.com Compuserve: 73006,1610 AOL: chucka I tend to be on the 'net more than the other two. Responses to mail sent via AOL may take a while 'cause I have a heck of a time getting on. Special thanks to Dwight Silverman for his incessant prodding, clever ideas, selfless testing, the name, all the hype in the introduction and general support. For those of you who live in the Houston area, be sure to catch his computer column in the Houston Chronicle. Oh yeah, like most defendants in high profile Los Angeles court cases (Rodney King, the cops, the guys who trashed Reginald Denny, the Menendez Bros., etc.), I am not responsible for anything that I do - that includes anything that happens as a result of using this program. This was freeware, but the time has come to pay the piper. But the piper is not asking for much. If you like WADGOD, please send $5: Chuck Agne 67 La Perla Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 All contributions will be placed in the Aaron Agne College Fund, Class of 2013. Please feel free to distribute it, but only in it's original Zipped state and with all/only the files noted above. DOOM is a trademark of id Software. PKZIP is a trademark of PKWARE, Inc. WADGOD: Copyright 1994 by Chuck Agne - the name, the code, etc. is mine.