DOOMUTIL USER'S MANUAL VERSION 1.05 David W. Poole, Jr. PO. Box 747 Pacolet, SC 27342 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Table Of Contents Introduction .............................................i Features .................................................ii Installation and Quick Start .............................1 General Program Usage ....................................3 Menus ...................................................3 Field Editors ...........................................3 List Browsers ...........................................4 Differences with WAD selection.........................4 Hot Keys ................................................5 Information Windows .....................................5 Main Menu Functions ......................................6 Exit DOOMUTIL ...........................................6 DOOM (1 or 2) ...........................................6 DOOM 1 ..................................................6 DOOM 2 ..................................................6 Configure ...............................................6 WADs ....................................................6 Miscellaneous ...........................................6 Session .................................................6 Configuration Menu .......................................7 Current Game Configuration. .............................7 Play Mode..............................................7 Episode (DOOM edition 1 only)..........................8 Mission................................................8 Skill..................................................8 Monsters...............................................8 Respond................................................8 Death Match............................................8 Alternate Death Match..................................9 Fast Monsters..........................................9 Turbo..................................................9 Timer..................................................9 Optional Parameters....................................9 Load Game from Slot....................................9 Serial Configuration ....................................10 Modem COM Port:........................................10 Direct Connect COM Port:...............................10 Dial:..................................................10 Server Name:...........................................11 Network Configuration ...................................11 Socket.................................................11 Server Name............................................11 New Game Player Count..................................11 Edit Program Configuration ..............................11 Text Editor............................................12 WAD Editor.............................................12 Path to DOOM...........................................12 Path to DOOM ][........................................12 Path to WADs...........................................13 Swap to EMS............................................13 Swap to XMS ............ DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Boss Mode..............................................13 Boss Command...........................................13 Use Log File...........................................13 Use Auto Build WAD.....................................13 Auto Build PWAD name...................................14 View WAD command.......................................14 DOOM Response file.....................................14 Lump sprites & floors..................................14 Edit MODEM.CFG ..........................................14 Run ID's SETUP ..........................................15 WADS .....................................................16 Selection Menu ..........................................16 Select WAD files.......................................16 Select All WAD files...................................18 Deselect All WAD files.................................18 Invert WAD selection...................................18 Change Sorting Order...................................18 Save Selection to file.................................18 Load Selection from file...............................18 Merge Selection from file..............................19 Generate Selected WAD list.............................19 Force Refresh of all WADs ...............................19 Force Refresh of selected WADs ..........................19 Backup Selected WAD files. ..............................19 Restore Selected WAD files. .............................19 List WAD files. .........................................20 Build new WAD from selected PWADs. ......................20 Episode/Mission Menu. ...................................20 Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs.....................20 Globally Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs............20 Incrementally Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs.......20 THING Menu ..............................................20 Invert Selected WADs things Death Match Status.........21 Remove Selected WADs things Death Match Status.........21 Randomize Selected WADs things with user seed..........21 Replace one thing with another.........................21 Sector Menu .............................................21 Highlight SECTORs......................................21 Maximize Brightness of SECTORs.........................22 Remove Damaging SECTORs................................22 Miscellaneous ............................................23 Access Dialing Directory ................................23 Launch External DOOM Editor. ............................23 Register DOOMUTIL .......................................23 Session ..................................................24 New Session .............................................25 Save Session ............................................25 Load Session ............................................25 Resume Last Saved Game ..................................25 Hints, problems, and observations. .......................26 Problem: Some of my WAD files do not show up in DOOMUTIL. ...............................................26 Problem: DOOMUTIL crashes when scanning my WAD files. ...26 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Problem: SERSETUP crashes when used with multiple WADs. ...................................................27 Problem: DOOM aborts multiple player sessions with a consistency failure. ....................................27 Problem: DOOMUTIL complains about "Command Line Too Long", and won't invoke DOOM. ...........................30 Using DOOMUTIL to manage sessions. ......................30 Using DOOMUTIL to learn new WADs quickly. ...............31 Using DOOMUTIL to add life to old levels. ...............31 Using DOOMUTIL to exchange WADs with other DOOMers. .....32 Contacting the Author ....................................34 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Introduction DOOMUTIL was originally written to eliminate the need to use the setup program supplied with DOOM when attempting to initiate multiple player games. As new facets of DOOMing were encountered (PWADs, version 1.666, DOOM ][, WAD building via DEU, and playing against various opponents), features were added to DOOMUTIL to support these. I hope that you'll find DOOMUTIL to be a worthy accessory to your DOOMing system. It's a powerful utility. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU READ THE PROGRAM CONFIGURATION SECTION BEFORE RUNNING DOOMUTIL FOR THE FIRST TIME. Page i DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Features DOOMUTIL offers many features for controlling your DOOM system. Some of these features include: SESSION MANAGEMENT DOOMUTIL Manages sessions for you, allowing you to quickly resume a saved game for any player. With session management, you can play DOOM deathmatch against one player, DOOM ][ Cooperative against another, have a WAD development session, and have a single player session, without having to worry about re configuring for a particular use of DOOM. As many sessions can be maintained as your disk space allows. VERSATILE WAD CONTROL DOOMUTIL provides many functions for managing and modifying any PWADs you have accumulated or created. DOOMUTIL supports PWAD files for DOOM 1 or 2, and during the selection process, tells you if a selected WAD file contains levels for the currently configured version of DOOM. DOOMUTIL also displays the suitability of a selected PWAD (if levels are present) for multiple player sessions. This suitability is based on the presence of enough multiple player starts, (cooperative and competitive), and methods of exiting the level. Also displayed is a consistency value, used for verification BEFORE DOOM IS INVOKED, of the consistency value of a level. This prevents interruption in mid- session due to the dreaded Page ii DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual "consistency failure" when a new level is loaded. DOOMUTIL provides the ability to modify the episode and mission for selected WADs, so that you can create your own scenario based on the WADs you've selected, and arrange them in any order you like. DOOMUTIL provides functions to modify the WADs, and quickly restore the WAD to it's original condition as you see fit. The file used to restore the WAD to it's original state is often a fraction of the original file size. The modifications that can be performed to THINGs are: Randomization (a user provided seed value is used, allowing support for multiple player randomized WADs!! Great for tired old levels!!), removal of Multiple Player status (modifies the WAD so that things normally present only in multiple player session are available for single players, adds more stuff to most levels), inversion of Multiple player status (things present only in multiple player games will be available to a single player, things common to both single player and multiple player will be available only for multiple player. Handy for newbies to learn where the "toys" are, in preparation for deathmatchs). The modifications that can be performed to SECTORS are: Removal of damaging sector status (no more hurting in slime baths), full illumination (no more dark rooms), and secret sector illumination (all normal areas Page iii DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual are fully illuminated, areas considered secret blink). Support is also provided for WAD developers. A keystroke is all that's required to invoke a configured WAD editor on a given WAD, and launch DOOM upon return from the editor. Serial/Network support Support is provided for any second party serial or network drivers. Independent configuration is provided for DOOM 1 & 2. Page iv DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Installation and Quick Start NOTE: For the purpose of this document, version will refer to the version of the DOOM engine (as of this writing, it's 1.666 for both DOOM 1 and DOOM 2), and edition will refer to the copy of DOOM (1 or 2). DOOMUTIL currently supports DOOM editions 1 and 2, and has been tested with DOOM versions 1.2 and 1.666. Before installing DOOMUTIL, it's strongly recommended that you copy all WAD files, except for DOOM.WAD, and DOOM2.WAD, to their own directory. This is to reduce confusion when DOOMUTIL scans for WAD files. Improperly configuring DOOMUTIL will result in certain WADs appearing twice in the list, and will generally make life difficult. To install DOOMUTIL, copy DOOMUTIL.WAD, DOOMUTIL.EXE, & DOOMUTIL.WK1 to a directory in your path. It's recommended that you do not install DOOMUTIL in the same directory containing your WADs, DOOM 1, or DOOM 2. This is because DOOMUTIL does not need to reside in the DOOM 1 or DOOM 2 directory to invoke the desired edition of DOOM. This allows you to play either edition of DOOM at any time, regardless of your current drive and directory. The first time DOOMUTIL is executed, a configuration screen is presented. Various aspects of DOOMUTIL's configuration are presented from this screen. The most important configuration options are the "Path" fields. Specify the complete drives and paths for each of these values. If, for some reason, you've decided not to take the earlier advice of moving your PWADs to their own directory, leave the entry for "Path to PWADS" blank. IF ANY OF THESE ENTRIES IS DUPLICATED IN ANOTHER FIELD, THERE WILL BE MULTIPLE COPIES OF WADS IN THOSE DIRECTORIES IN THE WAD SELECTION LIST. GOOD LUCK!! The remainder of the program configuration fields are not as important, and are detailed in the Program Configuration section. Save your changes by pressing the key sequence. You are now at DOOMUTIL's Main Menu. To quickly start DOOM 1 or 2, press <1> or <2>, depending on the edition you wish to play. Then press , which will invoke DOOM. If you are playing DOOM 1, you'll start DOOM in Episode 1, Skill Level 4. If you are playing DOOM 2, you'll start DOOM in Skill Level 4. Page 1 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual To change these settings, from the Main Menu, select "Configure|Modify Current Game Configuration". Again, save your changes with the keyboard sequence. Starting DOOM from the main menu will execute DOOM with your new settings. Page 2 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual General Program Usage User interaction with DOOMUTIL is performed using either the keyboard or a mouse, if present. DOOMUTIL's user interface consists of 5 methods: Menus, Field Editors, List Browsers, Hot Keys, and Information Windows. All methods except for Hot Keys and Information Windows are two-way communication methods. Their usage is detailed below: Menus All functions provided by DOOMUTIL can be reached through the menu system. The various functions supported by DOOMUTIL are detailed later, and are reached through a hierarchical menu structure. Menu functions are invoked using one of three methods. The first is the cursor control keys. These keys can be used to move the highlighting from entry to entry, until the desired entry is highlighted. The function is then invoked by pressing . Pressing is the same as selecting the first option (which is always to exit the current menu) and pressing The second is the alphanumeric keys. Each entry in the menu has a character that is highlighted, to inform the user which key will invoke this function. Pressing the key immediately invoked the corresponding function. The third is the mouse. Positioning the mouse cursor on the desired function, and clicking the left mouse button will invoke the function. The right mouse button functions as the Escape key, outlined in the first method of menu usage. Field Editors Field Editors allow the user to communicate with DOOMUTIL in context sensitive method. Information that is associated with other information is placed into fields, and the field editor is present to the user to allow modification of desired fields. Some fields allow the user to launch a menu (such as skill setting in game configuration) or a list browser (such as the file name for load session). Movement from field to field is performed with the up and down arrow keys, or the key, or by positioning the mouse cursor in the desired field and left clicking. The left and right arrow keys allow for Page 3 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual positioning within the current field. Special functions that are field dependent are described at the bottom of the current window. To save changes, you must press . Pressing discards all changes made. List Browsers List browsers are provided when DOOMUTIL needs information from the user regarding some list, such as WADs or File Names. With the exception of WAD selection, all list browsers function identically. The differences of the WAD list browser are explained at the end this section. To select an entry with the keyboard, use the cursor control keys to move the highlight bar to the desired entry, and press . If you wish to abandon your selection, or leave it unchanged, press . To select an entry with the mouse, position the mouse cursor to the desired entry, and left click. Right clicking the mouse while in the window functions as the key, described above. If the list exceeds the size of the window containing it, place the cursor on the top or bottom line of the window. Left clicking at this time scrolls the window one line in the desired direction. Right clicking scrolls the window one page in the desired direction. Middle clicking scrolls the window to the end of the list, in the desired direction. Differences with WAD selection. The WAD List Browser functions differently than the other list browsers. This is because the WAD list browser allows the selection of MULTIPLE entries at a given time, versus single item selection with the remainder of the list browsers. Multiple item selection affects the browser as follows: Items are selected or de selected by pressing the Space bar or left mouse button while the item is highlighted. After this, you are allowed to select or de-select other WADs until you are satisfied with your selection set. To end the selection process with the keyboard, press to save changes to your selection, or to discard them. To end the selection process with the mouse, position the cursor in the window, and Right Page 4 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual click to save your selections, or middle click to discard them. NOTE: THE WAD SELECTION PROCESS IS THE ONLY INTERACTIVE PROCESS THAT MODIFIES THE ACTIVE CONFIGURATION AS IT IS BEING PERFORMED. ALL OTHER CONFIGURATION OPTIONS ARE NOT MADE ACTIVE UNTIL THEY ARE CONFIRMED ( FOR OTHER LIST BROWSERS, FOR FIELD EDITORS). If you are a registered user of DOOMUTIL, and use the hot key sequence to invoke DOOM while in the WAD selection browser, changes made to your selection will be made used for the DOOM session. Conversely, if you are modifying the game configuration and invoke DOOM using the hot key sequence, changes in your game configuration that been made since the last will not be in effect. Hot Keys Hot keys are only available to registered owners of DOOMUTIL. These keys can be used any time DOOMUTIL is awaiting input from the user. ALT-B Begin DOOM with current configuration. ALT-C Modify Current Game Configuration. ALT-D DOS Shell. ALT-I Program Information. Displays memory available to DOOMUTIL. ALT-M Launch Configured DOOM Editor. ALT-P Edit Program Configuration ALT-W WAD Functions. ALT-X Immediate Exit from DOOMUTIL. Information Windows From time to time, DOOMUTIL will present the user with information regarding a choice that has been made. After the information has been viewed, the user informs DOOMUTIL to continue with operation by pressing any key. Occasionally, DOOMUTIL will require an answer to the information, such as "Do you really want to over write this file?" At these times, the information window will inform the user to press a specified key sequence (usually ) to confirm their choice. Page 5 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Main Menu Functions Exit DOOMUTIL Quite simply, this ends DOOMUTIL. All settings are saved for your next session with DOOMUTIL. DOOM (1 or 2) Starts the selected edition of DOOM (signified by the number in parenthesis). DOOM 1 Selects DOOM 1 for the desired edition of DOOM. Note that changes made to game configuration, serial server, network server, or selected WADs are independent of changes made to these for DOOM 2. DOOM 2 Selects DOOM 2 for the desired edition of DOOM. Note that changes made to game configuration, serial server, network server, or selected WADs are independent of changes made to these for DOOM 1. Configure Activates the configuration menu, outlined below. WADs Activates the WAD menu, outlined below. Miscellaneous Activates the Miscellaneous functions menu. These are functions that don't really have a place anywhere else, so they are included on this menu. This menu is detailed elsewhere. Session Activates the session management menu. These functions are detailed elsewhere. Page 6 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Configuration Menu The configuration menu controls all aspects of DOOM, with the exception of the selected WADs. The configuration values are categorized by type. This allows for a one-time configuration of serial and network server configurations. With respect to the various configuration options, DOOMUTIL manages unique configurations for the current game, serial server, and network server for both editions of DOOM. Changes made while one version of DOOM is selected will have no effect on the settings for the other version of DOOM. This means that you'll have to configure the serial server and network server (if you'll be using them) twice; once with each edition of DOOM selected. The program configuration is not tied to either edition of DOOM, and thus does not have this restriction. Current Game Configuration. This invokes a field editor that allows for configuration of game settings. As mentioned elsewhere, two sets of configurations are maintained, one for each edition of DOOM. Play Mode This field accepts one of 4 values. A "S" designates single player mode. A "M" designates modem play, and will place the configured serial driver into dial or answer mode based on the contents of the Dial field in the Serial Server configuration. A "D" designates direct serial play. Use this if you are playing across a null model serial connection, or if you are playing across a modem where the connection has already been established with another utility. No dialing will be attempted for this type of configuration. A "N" designates network play. To specify the number of players in a network session where a new game is being initiated, use the Network Server Configuration option. Page 7 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Episode (DOOM edition 1 only) Select which of the three episodes you wish to play. If the value of this field is changed, and you've selected a saved game (described below), then the save game slot is automatically replaced with 0, specifying a new game. Pressing the key when modifying this field brings up a menu, allowing you to select the desired episode. Mission This allows you to specify the initial mission to begin game play. As with the episode field, changing the mission when a load game slot is selected results in a 0 being placed into the game slot field, specifying a new game. Pressing the key when modifying this field brings up a menu for DOOM 1, or a browse list for DOOM 2, allowing you to select the desired mission. Skill This field allows you to select the skill setting for the session you are configuring. Pressing presents a menu with the various skill settings available. Nightmare mode is omitted, as this is merely Skill 4, with Respond and Fast Monsters fields set to "Y". Monsters This "Y"es or "N"o field allows you to select the presence of monsters in your session. Respond This "Y"es or "N"o field allows you to specify if killed monsters reappear after they've been killed. Death Match This "Y"es or "N"o field allows you to specify if the session will be a death match session. Note that single player sessions can play death match. In this manner, the player possesses all keys, and starts from the death match entry points, as opposed to the normal Player 1 entry point, upon starting the game, or starting from being killed. Page 8 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Alternate Death Match Note: This option valid only for DOOM versions 1.666 and later. This "Y"es or "N"o field allows you to specify Death Match 2.0 rules. In this manner, weapons, health, ammunition, and artifacts reappear, with the exception of the Invisibility and Invulnerability spheres, after they've been picked up. Fast Monsters Note: This option valid only for DOOM versions 1.666 and later. This "Y"es or "N"o field allows you to select attack speed of the monsters in your session. Normal play is specified with a "N". Turbo Note: This option valid only for DOOM versions 1.666 and later. This parameter allows you to select the scaling factor for your running speed. The allowable range is 0 to 255, inclusive, and represents the percentage of normal running speed. Timer Note: This option valid only for DOOM versions 1.666 and later. This parameter allows you to select the number of minutes to remain in a level before automatically advancing to the next level. Optional Parameters This allows you to specify optional parameters not directly supported by DOOMUTIL, such as "-record" or "- playdemo". Consult the DOOM FAQ or the README for DOOM for a list of these parameters. Load Game from Slot This numeric field allows you to select the game slot to play a saved game from. Slots are numbered from 1 to 6, inclusive. Specifying a 0 informs DOOMUTIL to begin a new game. Specifying a "?" informs DOOMUTIL to search for the saved game with the most recent date/time file stamp, allowing you to quickly determine Page 9 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual the most recent saved game. When a game is specified, the Episode (if relevant) and Mission fields are updated to indicate the episode and mission for which the game was saved. Pressing while in this field invokes a menu with entries for each of the saved games. While browsing these entries, information about each saved game is displayed. This information is the episode (if relevant), mission, skill setting, player count, name, and frag count. For example, for a DOOM 1 game saved on Episode 2, Mission 3, with 2 players, Skill 4, and no frags, the entry would display [(E2M3S4P2) "GAME NAME" 0 0]. Serial Configuration From this screen, parameters affecting serial configuration are specified. Please refer to the Play Mode field of the Current Game Configuration for an explanation of the difference between Modem & Direct Connect communications modes. As mentioned elsewhere, separate configurations are maintained, one for each version of DOOM. Modem COM Port: This field allows you to specify the port which your modem is installed on. A numeric value between 1 and 4, inclusive, is permitted here. This is the port used when a "M"odem Serial Game is specified under the Play Mode of the Current Game configuration section. Direct Connect COM Port: This field allows you to specify the port which your null modem is installed on. A numeric value between 1 and 4, inclusive, is permitted here. This is the port used when a "D"irect Connect Serial Game is specified under the Play Mode of the Current Game configuration section. Dial: This field allows you to specify the mode of connection for your modem, which is dial or answer. If you are playing a "M"odem Serial Game (specified under the Play Mode of the Current Game configuration), your modem Page 10 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual will dial if this field is non-blank. If the field is blank, your modem will answer. Server Name: This field specifies the server to use for serial multiple player games. The default is "SERSETUP.EXE", although if you wish to use another, substitute the name of the server in this field. Network Configuration This field allows you to configure the IPX network driver for multiple player sessions. Again, separate configurations are maintained for DOOM 1 & 2. Socket This allows you to select the IPX socket for multiple group multiple player sessions. Specifying a unique number for each group of players allows more than one group to be playing independent games over the same network. Server Name This allows you to select the IPX driver for your session. IPXSETUP is the default, although if you have a replacement, you place the name of it in this field. New Game Player Count This allows you to specify the number of players in a new networked session. If saved games are being used, the value of this field is ignored. It allows values between 2 & 4, inclusive. Edit Program Configuration Configuration of DOOMUTIL is performed here. The previous sections configured each edition of DOOM for operation, and so separate configurations were maintained for both editions. Only one program configuration is necessary, so program configuration can be performed regardless of the edition of DOOM currently selected. WARNING! You must specify independent paths for DOOM, DOOM ][, and WADs. If you currently have your PWAD files in your DOOM sub directory, you have two options: Page 11 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual 1) Create a new directory for your WAD files, and MOVE all of your PWADs (all .WAD files with the exception of DOOM.WAD or DOOM2.WAD) into this directory. This is the recommended method. 2) Leave the Path to WADs file blank, if you wish to leave your PWADs in the DOOM 1 or DOOM 2 directories. Failure to perform one of these steps will result in having multiple listing for some or all of your WAD files. Multiple listings for a given WAD generally result in erroneous multiple player consistency values (described in the WAD selection section). Text Editor This specifies the name of the text editor that will be invoked for any text editing functions (currently only used for Edit MODEM.CFG, outlined below) that may be required. WAD Editor NOTE: THIS FIELD & FUNCTION IS OBSOLETE. SEE THE "VIEW WAD FILE COMMAND" DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION FOR A BETTER ALTERNATIVE. This allows you to specify the WAD editor that will be launched when the "ALT-M" hot key sequence is invoked. Path to DOOM You MUST place the complete path (drive included) to DOOM. For example, if DOOM is on drive D:, in a directory called "DOOM", off of a directory called "GAMES", off of the root directory, specify: "D:\GAMES\DOOM". A trailing back slash is not required. See the warning at the beginning of this section for an important note. Path to DOOM ][ This allows you to specify the location of DOOM ][, following the same specification as DOOM. See the warning at the beginning of this section for an important note. Page 12 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Path to WADs This allows you to specify the location of your PWAD files, following the same specification as DOOM. See the warning at the beginning of this section for an important note. Swap to EMS This allows you to specify EMS as the destination of DOOMUTIL's memory image when DOOMUTIL launches another application. If Swap to EMS and Swap to XMS is set to "N", the image is stored as a file in the current directory. Specify a "Y" if you have enough memory. DOOMUTIL will require approximately 300k of memory for spawning, leaving a 9k foot-print behind. Specifying a "Y" for both Swap to EMS & Swap to XMS is valid. In this case, the swapper will determine the best location for the memory image. Swap to XMS See "Swap to EMS", above. Enable BEEPS This disables or enables those (to some) annoying beeps that occur frequently when editing values. Boss Mode Placing a "Y" in this field invoked the command specified by "Boss Command" when DOOM is exited. Use this to help circumvent problems with your wife..... Boss Command Specify the command to be executed when DOOM is exited, if Boss Mode is enabled. Use Log File Placing a "Y" in this field caused DOOMUTIL to create and maintain a text file recording various events using DOOMUTIL. This file name will have the same name as the executable (unless you've renamed DOOMUTIL.EXE, it will be DOOMUTIL) with an extension of .LOG. Use Auto Build WAD This "Y"es or "N"o field informs DOOMUTIL to automatically build a PWAD consisting of the selected PWADs (described later) when DOOM is launched. Page 13 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual This option was originally created to overcome the limitation of MS-DOS's 128 character command line limit. With the advent of DOOM version 1.666 and the "@" (response file) parameter, this option should have become obsolete. However, I've had problems with SERSETUP and response files containing more than one PWAD file, so this option remains. This problem is outlined in the "Problems" section. Auto Build PWAD name This specifies the name of the PWAD that will be built when DOOM is launched, if more than one PWAD is selected from the WAD selection menu. Unless a path is specified, this PWAD will be created in the directory for the currently selected version of DOOM. You may wish to specify a drive and path to a RAM drive if you have enough space. This will result in faster building time for the Auto Build PWAD. View WAD command This allows you to configure the command for viewing and modifying PWADs when browsing them during WAD selection, outlined later. For my own setup, I have a modified version of DEU 5.21 which works for both DOOM 1 and DOOM 2. I've copied it into each of the DOOM directories, and placed the following in the View WAD Command field: "deu -file %s". In this manner, I can quickly and easily invoke DEU on the highlighted file, for either version of DOOM. DOOM Response file Note: This option valid only for DOOM versions 1.666 and later. This specifies the name of the response file to be generated for DOOM, the serial server, or network server. Lump sprites & floors This option is not supported at the present. Edit MODEM.CFG Invoking this option launches the configured text editor for MODEM.CFG in the directory configured for the current edition of DOOM. Page 14 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Run ID's SETUP This option launches SETUP.EXE in the directory specified for the current edition of DOOM. Page 15 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual WADS This menu is used for selecting and modifying the WADs for your DOOM session. WADs selected for a given edition of DOOM are referred to as a selection set. WAD file selections are maintained dependently of the edition of DOOM selected. This means that if you have selected PWADs for use with DOOM 1, then select DOOM 2, the WADs you've previously selected with DOOM 1 will not be selected for DOOM 2. When you reselect DOOM 1, the old selection will be reactivated. Changes made to WAD files are permanent, but can quickly be restored to their original status. A WAD file used in one session that is modified for use by another will affect the original session. Selection Menu Select WAD files This allows you to interactively select PWADs for use in your DOOM session. WADs are selected using the list browser method. While browsing WADs, a wealth of information is provided the WADs as they are displayed. This information is as follows: A "*" is displayed if DOOMUTIL considers the WAD to be a user modifying WAD. This is a WAD file that has a file by the same name, with the extension of ".BAK" in the same directory. DOOMUTIL will not allow modifications to user modifying WADs, due to the potential dynamics of the WAD. A "!" is displayed if DOOMUTIL considers the WAD to be a properly designed WAD. For a WAD to be considered properly designed by DOOMUTIL, it must meet the following criteria for EACH level present in the WAD: 1) There must be at least one exit. 2) There must be at least four death match starting points. 3) There must be exactly one player 1 starting point. 4) There must be exactly one player 2 starting point. Page 16 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual 5) There must be exactly one player 3 starting point. 6) There must be exactly one player 4 starting point. The name of the WAD file is displayed. The level information, if any is present in the first set of parenthesis. Within these parenthesis, the number of levels detected for the current edition of DOOM are displayed, along with the first episode (if relevant) and mission encountered. Within brackets, a 4 character code is presented to convey the consistency value of the level. The consistency value is useful for establishing multiple player games. DOOM will abort with a consistency failure if the corresponding consistency values for the selected WADs do not match for each player's machine. Finally, a "DM" or "dm" is presented if DOOMUTIL determines the levels found within to be death matchable. If an uppercase DM is present, then all levels within the WAD have enough death match starts for use. If a lower case dm is present, then some (but not all) levels have enough death match starts for use. The next information present refers to songs, and is currently only valid for DOOM edition 1. The number of songs present, as well as the first episode and mission for a song, are present in the second set of parenthesis. The next information presented refers to the number of sounds in the WAD file. The next information presented refers to the number of sprites in the WAD file. The next information presented refers to the number of wall textures in the WAD file. The next information presented refers to the number of floor/ceiling textures in the WAD file. The WADs are displayed using a color scheme to indicate the status of the WAD. The color scheme is displayed by pressing while displaying the WADs. The color scheme refers to whether or not a WAD is selected, modified, and archived. Selection is performed as outlined in the special section regarding the List Browser Method at the beginning of this document. Page 17 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual During the browsing process, several options are available. Pressing will invoke the configured WAD File Viewer on the highlighted WAD. Pressing will perform the same function, but will automatically launch DOOM upon return from the Viewer. This handy for developing PWADs. As an example, if you are a DEU user, when your modifications for the current DEU session are complete, you can inform DEU to Save, and while it's rebuilding the nodes, reject, and blockmap, press "q" twice. After DEU builds, it will read the keyboard buffer and exit DEU. DOOMUTIL will then launch DOOM, stuff a carriage return into the keyboard buffer (to prevent the "Press Carriage Return" message from id regarding modification to DOOM). This allows you to get a drink or what ever during the period of time that your machine is basically useless. Select All WAD files This immediately selects ALL wad files. Deselect All WAD files This immediately deselects ALL wad files. Invert WAD selection This inverts the currently WAD selection, making selected WADs deselected, and vice-versa. Change Sorting Order This invokes a menu allowing you to configure the order which WADs are displayed during the selection process. Note that the WAD list is not sorted until WAD selection begins, so changes made during the selection process are not immediately sorted. Save Selection to file This allows you to save the list of selected WADs to a file. Load Selection from file This allows you to load a list of WADs to be selected from a file. The previous selection is lost. Page 18 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Merge Selection from file This allows you to load a list of WADs to be selected from a file. The previous selection is merged with the new one. Generate Selected WAD list This generates a file with the name of the DOOMUTIL program file (unless you've renamed it, it will be DOOMUTIL) with an extension of .LST, in the directory containing the program. This can be used as input into PKZIP or some other utility as needed. Force Refresh of all WADs This causes DOOMUTIL to discard all of it's knowledge regarding the WAD files, and build the list from scratch. Doing so will result in the loss of information regarding the number of times a given WAD has been used, and the date of it's last use. If you choose not to discard the information, the list is merely updated, adding information for WADs that it's not scanned before, and discarding information for WADs that no longer exist on your system. Force Refresh of selected WADs This allows you to rescan information for the WADs that are currently selected. This is useful to bring WAD information up to date when WADs have been modified by some utility other than DOOMUTIL. Backup Selected WAD files. This caused DOOMUTIL to create a file in the directory containing each of selected WADs, with the name of the WAD file, and an extension of ".WBU". This archive is contains the THINGS & SECTORS for each WAD, and is provided so that DOOMUTIL can quickly restore a selected WAD to it's original status. These files are usually a fraction of the original WAD size. NOTE: Deleting the .WBU files from your system can result in invalid operation of DOOMUTIL. Restore Selected WAD files. This causes DOOMUTIL to read the THINGs & SECTORs from the .WBU file and place them back into the Page 19 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual corresponding WAD files, effectively removing all modifications made to a given WAD. List WAD files. This causes DOOMUTIL to generate a text file with information regarding the selected WAD files. This information is provided for developers of PWADs and other DOOM accessories. Build new WAD from selected PWADs. This causes DOOMUTIL to create a new PWAD containing all WADs currently selected. This is used for a variety of reasons, described in the "hints" section. Episode/Mission Menu. Note that modifications performed here will update the level consistency value for each WAD. This is particularly important for multiple player sessions! Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs This allows you to change the initial Episode & Mission for the levels and songs present in each of the selected WADs, on an individual basis. Multiple levels PWADs are assigned sequential episode/mission values. Globally Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs This allows you to change the initial Episode & Mission for the levels and songs present in each of the selected WADs, on an global basis. Multiple levels PWADs are assigned sequential episode/mission values. Incrementally Modify Episode & Mission for PWADs This allows you to change the initial Episode & Mission for the levels and songs present in each of the selected WADs, on an global basis, with the episode/mission being assigned sequentially. Multiple levels PWADs are assigned sequential episode/mission values. THING Menu This menu lets you modify various aspects of the THINGs present in the selected PWAD files. Note that player starts (both cooperative and death match), keys, Page 20 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual teleport destinations, impassable furniture, and enemies considered bosses are not modified. Note that modifications performed here will update the level consistency value for each WAD. This is particularly important for multiple player sessions! Invert Selected WADs things Death Match Status This modifies the WADs so that things present only in multiple player sessions will appear in the session. THINGs that normally appear will not after this is used. This allows you to learn the differences between normal and death match things for the given WADs. Remove Selected WADs things Death Match Status This modifies the WADs so that things present only in multiple player sessions will appear in the session. They will appear with the things that normally appear. This usually results in more weapons, ammo, health, and sometimes monsters. Randomize Selected WADs things with user seed This allows you to modify the locations of things in the selected PWADs. You are prompted for a user seed to be used in the randomization process. If you are modifying the WADs for multiple player use, all players must use the same seed value. Replace one thing with another Not yet implemented. Sector Menu Note that modifications performed here will update the level consistency value for each WAD. This is particularly important for multiple player sessions! Highlight SECTORs This causes DOOMUTIL to maximize the brightness of each of the areas in the game. Areas that are considered secret are set to pulsing. Note: there are events in DOOM that modify the brightness of a sector during game play. DOOMUTIL does not modify these events. Page 21 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Maximize Brightness of SECTORs This maximizes the brightness of each of the areas in DOOM. Note: there are events in DOOM that modify the brightness of a sector during game play. DOOMUTIL does not modify these events. Remove Damaging SECTORs. All damaging SECTORs are set to normal, so that slime areas no longer hurt. Note that this can result in your player getting into locations that he can not escape from, and can not exit (normally) since he's not killed in the area. Page 22 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Miscellaneous Access Dialing Directory Non-functional. Actually, it works, but is unstable. Launch External DOOM Editor. Obsolete; see viewing selected WAD in the WAD selection section. Register DOOMUTIL This is used for the registration process of DOOMUTIL. It is used twice during the registration process. The first time is to enter your name you wish to register with DOOMUTIL. DOOMUTIL will generate an order form in the directory containing DOOMUTIL, with an extension of ".FRM". Print this, and send it with a check for $15 (US) to the address listed at the top of this document. Upon receipt, I will return a form to you that contains the registration key and DOOMUTIL's serial number, which you then enter back into this menu. After the process is completed, your copy of DOOMUTIL is registered. Page 23 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Session DOOMUTIL will manage sessions for DOOM owners who meet any of the following criteria: 1) Have more than one opponent/partner for network, modem, or direct connect games. 2) Have more than one person using DOOM on their system. 3) Develop PWADs or DOOM add-ons. A session, as far as DOOMUTIL is concerned, is the following: 1) Selected DOOM Edition. 2) Saved games for both editions of DOOM. 3) Game configuration for both editions of DOOM. 4) Serial configuration for both editions of DOOM. 5) Network configuration for both editions of DOOM. 6) Selected WADs for both editions of DOOM. Note that the WADs themselves are not saved in the session. If it's possible that you'll be using one or more of the same WADs for various sessions, and modifying them for only one session, you have to perform the following process: a) Select the desired WADs. b) Modify them as you see fit. c) Build them into a new WAD file. It's recommended that you give new WAD the same name as the session, or some name that you'll know to delete when you are permanently finished with the session. This name should be unique. Using the same name from session to session invalidates this procedure. d) Deselect all of the WAD files, and select the WAD file created by the previous step. Page 24 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual New Session Selecting this option deletes the saved games for both editions of DOOM, deselects all WAD files, and erase the session name. Be sure you wish to do this! Save Session This saves the session information outlined above to the specified file. Load Session This restores the session information outlined above from the specified file. Note that a New Session is performed before the session is loaded, to prevent any saved games from the previous session from conflicting with the loaded session. Resume Last Saved Game This automatically selects the most recently saved game, and launches DOOM. Page 25 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Hints, problems, and observations. DOOMUTIL is an extremely complex program. Since it's conception, it's been expanded every time I find that there is something I want to do with DOOM that I need to automate. It started out as nothing more than a replacement for the command line building portion of SETUP.EXE with regards to serial or network play. As new facets of the DOOMing experience came to light, more was piled into DOOMUTIL. DOOMUTIL consumed another utility that I wrote (but was never released), WADUTIL, that performed various operations on WAD files. WADUTIL was a batch oriented program, and didn't recover from run-time errors gratefully, as it did not need to. Unfortunately, this lack of grace is present in DOOMUTIL as well, but will be corrected in the near future. Also, my lack of experience with interactive programs is minimal, and that (to some) may be obvious. My apologies for this; I hope that the functionality of DOOMUTIL will be more than worth the effort of dealing with the interface. The following sections address frequent problems and work-arounds, and ideas for minimizing set-up time for DOOM sessins (getting the most out of DOOMUTIL). Problem: Some of my WAD files do not show up in DOOMUTIL. This is because DOOMUTIL has not scanned the WAD file directories since either DOOMUTIL or the WADs in question were installed. To correct this, selected the Force Refresh of all WAD files from the WAD menu, and press any key other than , as outlined in the WAD menu section. Problem: DOOMUTIL crashes when scanning my WAD files. This is usually the result of DOOMUTIL encountering an incomplete PWAD. If DOOMUTIL returns an error message to the effect that memory could not be allocated for a type of buffer, then the WAD file described in the error message either has too large of a list (greater than 64k) or no entries in the list. This is usually the case with "example" wads, such as those supplied with DEU. These WADs are generally not playable anyway, so move the offending WAD out of DOOMUTIL's search paths, and start the scan again. Page 26 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Problem: SERSETUP crashes when used with multiple WADs. This is a problem, I believe, with SERSETUP. It probably exists as well in IPXSETUP, although I've been unable to verify as of this writing. This problem occurs only when response files are used (version 1.666 & greater). Several solutions are available: 1) Use the Build WAD function from the WAD menu to combine the selected WAD files into one wad. Deselect all WAD files, and select the WAD file just created. This is the recommended method of solving the problem, ESPECIALLY if you are using sessions. Refer to the Session section for concerns using WAD files. 2) Use the Auto Build WAD File function from the program configuration menu to specify the name of a WAD to be automatically built when DOOM is invoked. 3) Don't use a response file. Blank the entry for the Response file in the program configuration. Note that this may introduce another problem, in that the command line may be too large. This is described elsewhere. Problem: DOOM aborts multiple player sessions with a consistency failure. A variety of reasons cause this. The more common ones are listed below. 1) If WAD files are involved, the consistency value for the WADs may be wrong. This is due to modification of one or more of the WADs, with regards to one or more of the players. All WADs must be in the same state in order for DOOM to allow play with them accross multiple player sessions. DOOMUTIL provides a consistency value that will help to determine where WAD related consistency problems will occur. During the WAD selection process, examine the number in brackets. If the values differ for each corresponding player for the same wads, then this is the problem. For example, player A & player B both want to play a wad called "SOMEWAD.WAD", but receive consistency values when starting the WAD. Both players should Page 27 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual enter their WAD selection menu, veryify that SOMEWAD.WAD is selected, and then verify that the value in brackets compares on both machines, as well as the episode and mission for the WAD are in agreement. If they differ, then this is a cause of the problem. If the episode and mission differ, then the Episode/Mission submenu should be used to force the selected WADs to consist of the same starting episode/mission. Then the comparison procedure outlined in the previous paragraph should be repeated. If the consistency values match, then you can invoke DOOM. If it fails a second time, and all of your WADs compare, then the problem lies elsewhere. Note that if any external utiltity modifies a WAD file since DOOMUTIL has scanned it, then the consistency value may have changed. In order for DOOMUTIL to have valid information, select the "Refresh Selected WADs" from the WAD menu, and compare the values again. If they still differ, there have two options: a) Player A should give the Player B the offending WADs, replacing them on Player B's machine. b) All players should use DOOMUTIL to restore the selected WADs to their original status, then perform any desired modifications in tandem. After the modifications are performed, comparing the consistency values for the selected WADs a second time is recommended. If there are no brackets present in the for a given WAD (as in the case of WADs that contain only sprites, sound, or music), then it's selection is not a factor. This means one player can be playing with PYTHON sounds, while the other is using the original sounds, for example. Another possibility is that one or more of the players have attempted to "cheat" by modifying their own copy of the WAD. DOOMUTIL will catch this type of cheat with the consistency value. There are methods of cheating through the use of WAD files, Page 28 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual however, neither DOOM or DOOMUTIL will catch these. 2) If saved games are involved, then it's possible that one or more players have modified their save game (inadvertantly, by saving over it in a seperate session), or by cheating, with a utility that modifes saved games. You can attempt to load older saved games to see if you can find one that will work. Other than that, your only solution is to begin a new game. Another reason for a saved game to crash is because the WAD that was being used when the game was saved has been modified. No solution to this problem, unless you've got copy of the WAD in it's state when the game was saved. This is the main reason for the recommendation of creating a single unique PWAD for each session you play; if you do this, it's doubtful you'll have this problem. Note that if you begin a new game, and DOOM still crashes, then the problem may not be in the saved game, and when you find the problem, you may be able use the saved after all. 3) Line noise or improperly configured communications hardware (modem/network) can also cause consistency failures. These generally occur during the course of the game, not at initial connection. 4) If the above doesn't resolve the problem, it's possible that one or more players are using a copy of DOOM.EXE or DOOM2.EXE that's been modified in some manner, or are not the same version. If the same version is being used by all players, then the EXE has most likely modified in some manner. To solve this problem, both players must have identical program files. It's been my experience when playing someone who has used DEHACKED, even if they use DEHACKED to undo the changes to DOOM.EXE, it still causes problems later in the game. Also, I've experienced problems when connecting with another player using DEHACKED, even if the patches applied were the same. These problems were not Page 29 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual immediately obvious, and occured some time into the session. Problem: DOOMUTIL complains about "Command Line Too Long", and won't invoke DOOM. This occurs when too many options and/or WAD files have been selected. The cause of the problem is that MS/DOS only allows 128 characters to be specified for a command line, and the more options and WADs that are selected, the more characters are used. If you have version 1.666 or greater, you can alleviate the problem by using a response file, although you should be aware of the problem described under "SERSETUP Crashes with multiple WADs" if you are playing multiple player sessions. If you don't have version 1.666 or greater, and have multiple WADs selected, you can build them into a single WAD and use that one (either automatically, as described under the program configuration section, or manually, as described under the WAD menu section). If you manually build a new PWAD, be sure to deselect the other WADs and select the new one. If this still doesn't help, and you're using a version of DOOM earlier than 1.666, then you must reduce the number of parameters on the command line. This can be accomplished by removing certain features, such as monster respawning, etc. Using DOOMUTIL to manage sessions. This is the most recently implemented feature in DOOMUTIL, and, in my opinion, the most useful. I do quite a bit with DOOM, DEU, and DOOMUTIL. As of this writing, I have a DOOM 2 death match session, a DOOM 1 death match session, and a DOOM 1 PWAD death match session going with one player. With another opponent, I have a both a DOOM 1 & 2 death match session going. With a third player, I have a DOOM 1 death match session, and with a fourth I have a DOOM 2 death match session. Then, I have indepent sessions for PWAD development with DOOM 1 & DOOM 2, as well as a few sessions with no monsters for my son to explore the environment, using "gentle" PWADS (all the walls are wood, and nothing is present except for barrels for him to shoot). Page 30 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual The session manager allows me to quickly move from session to session, without concern for reconfiguring anything. When I play Bill, we decide which session to play, and load it, then instruct DOOMUTIL to resume it. After we've finished playing, we save the session. Then, if another opponent becomes available, I load the appropriate session, and inform DOOMUTIL to resume it. When that one is complete, it's saved. All I have to do, once a session has been initially configured, is select the session I want to play, and instruct DOOMUTIL to resume it. It's too simple to believe. The only concern is that you make sure that you save the session once you've exited DOOM, and if you're going to do change the session in any way, make sure your partner(s) perform the same changes. Using DOOMUTIL to learn new WADs quickly. A player new to deathmatch often suffers seriously due to their lack of familiarity with the location of weapons present in multiple player mode. A new player can use the Invert Thing Death Match Status to learn the location of things are present only in multiple player mode, or the Remove Thing Death Match Status to learn the location of things present in both single and multiple player game. Using the Maximize Sector Brightness function and Remove Damaging Sectors from the Sector Menu, and playing with no monsters affords the player the ability to concentrate on learning item locations and exploring in preparation for the up-and-coming blood fest. Using DOOMUTIL to add life to old levels. With the THING randomization provided by DOOMUTIL, it's easy to modify the location of things present in the selected WAD files, including DOOM.WAD & DOOM2.WAD. This works for single and multiple player sessions, although for multiple player sessions, each player must start off with their WADs in the same state (else problems described in the consistency failure will occur; refer to that section for the WAD validation procedure) and use the same user seed. This produces new challenges to old levels, especially in multiple player mode. Since weapons and artifacts change positions, it removes the advantage one player may have over another with respect to locations of Page 31 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual items in given levels. Also, some weapons may now be unobtainable, due to placement on ledges or behind fences. Using DOOMUTIL to exchange WADs with other DOOMers. DOOMUTIL makes it simple to determine what WADs you have that your partners do not, assuming all involved are using DOOMUTIL. To copy all of the WADs that you have to another player, the other player must invoke the WAD selection menu, select all WADs, and save the selection set to a file. Then, that player must provide you a copy of the selection set, which you load into DOOMUTIL as described in the WAD Selection Menu. After loading the selection set, Invert the Selected WADs. At this point, the selected WADs on your system are the WADs that do not exist on your partner's system. At this point, you can Generate a Selected WAD list from the WAD Selection Menu. Be aware that you may have some WADs, such as those created by the Auto Build function, or manually built for sessions, that may not be appropriate for exchanging. You may wish to deselect these files before generating the selected WAD list. You can use this list, for example, as input into PKZIP(tm), to create an archive of these files, by issuing the following command, which will produce a ZIP file with the unique WADs: "PKZIP -ex sendwads @doomutil.lst" NOTE: Since most WAD files are small, you may wish to "double zip" the archive, which will generally result in better compression, due to the mechanics of the compression routines. To do this, use "PKZIP -e0 whatever @doomutil.lst" followed by "PKZIP -ex sendwads whatever.zip" The trade off varies from case to case, but for small files, most noticably text files, better compression Page 32 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual can often be realized at the expense of an extra step for compression and decompression. Page 33 DOOM UTIL 1.05 User's Manual Contacting the Author I maintain a PO Box for permanent correspondence. The address for this is listed at the beginning of this document, and is also displayed while in DOOMUTIL. As of October 27, 1994, is David Poole, Jr. 2044 Pineview Drive Spartanburg, SC 29307-3805 My phone number is 803-579-1419. I keep odd hours (I'm a DOOMed Programmer!!!), so you if desire to talk about problems with DOOMUTIL (or DOOM for that matter), you can call any time. Death Match sessions are always welcomed, and I'll negotiate the cost of the phone bill for long distance games. I can reached through internet email as david.poole@swcbbs.com and through RIME COMMON (private/routed only!!) as DAVID POOLE ->1122 or DAVID POOLE ->ENGINE Page 34