Cobra Utilities for Doom & Doom II

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The DOOM Hall of Fame: Collectors Edition ========================================= Volume 1: Shareware viewable .LMPs R E A D M E / F A Q =================== ============ [1] CONTENTS ============ [0] CONTENTS [1] NOTES ABOUT VOLUME 1 [2] INTRODUCTION [3] WHAT IS AN .LMP? [4] HALL OF FAME BREAKDOWN [5] FEEBLE .LMP SPECS [6] FINAL WORDS [7] ABOUT THE AUTHOR ======================== [1] NOTES ABOUT VOLUME 1 ======================== This is volume 1 of a two volume package. Only .LMPs that can be viewed with the SW version of DOOM are included in this volume. Volume 2 contains three times as many .LMPs, but they can only be seen if you have the registered version of DOOM. The remainder of this text file was written assuming you have BOTH Volumes 1 and 2. ================ [2] INTRODUCTION ================ Welcome to the first release of The DOOM Hall of Fame: Collectors Edition. This package contains a compilation of the most visually entertaining (not to mention highly educational) .LMP files that you will ever see. When you finish watching these you will not only be a veteran at the techniques and secrets of DOOM, but you will also have seen some of the most spectacular near-death battles this side of Phobos. Included with this package are: - LMP's of ALL the levels, with ALL the secrets and ALL Kills. - The famous Hall of Fame .LMPs! - Unbelievable RanDOOM .LMPs! - LMP's created with different PWADs .wad files. - ALFRED, The Automatic LMP File Recorder and Developer, to make viewing and recording as simple as firing a shotgun. (NOTE: Unfortunately, no Multiplayer or NetDOOM .LMPs were submitted or recorded successfully to be included in this collection - sorry. Maybe next time.) Every .LMP has been created with the goal to not only highlight the level, but also to entertain. You'll see death-defying feats that only the pros can accomplish, as well as near-death sequences of pure terror! Here's what people are saying about The DOOM Hall of Fame: Collectors Edition: "I used to be a wimpy geek-wad until I got The Collectors Edition. Now I have a job, a girlfriend and plenty of respect from my peers." - George Costanza, former hand-model "My DOOM Dreams have never been better." - Timothy Leary fomrer LSD specialist "After watching these, I don't need to play anymore." - Bill Gates God of Microsoft "By watching The Collectors Edition .LMPs, I've realized how much I really suck at the game. Thanks a lot, butthead." - Jay Wilbur id Software "When is DOOM 1.2 going to be released?" - A. Nonymous And, if you order within the next fifteen minutes, we'll send you a lovely set of ginsu knives!!! Woah...I'm getting carried away...Better go on to the next section... ==================== [3] WHAT IS AN .LMP? ==================== The makers of DOOM (bless their souls) implemented many nifty cheats and options when they created DOOM. One of them was the possibility to actually record a DOOM session to a file, and thus create a visual record of a player's accomplishments. These files ended with the .LMP extension, and because of their high compressibility (95-98%), they became very popular on USENET as uuencoded files (usually found alt.games.doom and comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action). Pretty soon people were launching challenges, giving advice, and proving the impossible with their .LMPs. Recently, somebody figured out how to record NetDoom .LMPs, which satisfied the curiosities of those who weren't lucky enough to have access to a network. Now with the new modem-serial V1.2 out, who knows what kind of .LMPs are in store for us? ========================== [4] HALL OF FAME BREAKDOWN ========================== All .LMP files have been tested to run with the registered DOOM 1.2 and RanDOOM version 1.55. Listed below is a breakdown of all the files and directories: Directory structure: DOOM (your DOOM directory - contains LMP.BAT and RANDOOM.EXE) │ │ └─── LMP (contains README text and template files) │ │ ├─── HALL (The DOOM Hall of Fame Classics) │ ├─── LEVELS (.LMP files of all the levels, with all the secrets) │ ├─── MISC (Weird and Miscellaneous .LMPs) │ ├─── MULTIPLR (Multiplayer .LMPs) (currently empty) │ ├─── NITEMARE (.LMPs recorded in NIGHTMARE! mode) │ ├─── PWAD (.LMPs recorded with pwad .wad files) │ └─── RANDOOM (.LMPs created with RANDOOM.EXE, with their .W files) Description of files that are not .LMP files: DOOM\LMP\READ_LMP.TXT : This file. DOOM\LMP\ALFRED.TXT : Instruction Manual for ALFRED DOOM\LMP\INDEX.TXT : Index of .LMPs released in this volume. DOOM\LMP.BAT : ALFRED, the Automatic .LMP File REcorder and Developer DOOM\LMP\TEMPLATE.TXT : Blank .LMP Intro text file. DOOM\LMP\TEMPLATE.W : Blank RanDOOM weight file (similar to ALLITEMS.W, except all values are set to 0.0) DOOM\LMP\LMPDIR\*.TXT : Accompanying text files for most .LMPs, where LMPDIR could be any of the seven directories listed above. DOOM\LMP\PWAD\*.WAD : Accompanying Pwad .wad files for pwad .LMPs. DOOM\LMP\RANDOOM\*.W : Accompanying weight files for RANDOOM .LMPs. DOOM\LMP\RANDOOM\RANDOOM.EXE : Program needed for RANDOOM .LMPs (v1.55). DOOM\LMP\RANDOOM\RANDOOM.MAN : Manual for RanDOOM v1.55. DOOM\LMP\RANDOOM\README.NOW : Another readme file for RanDOOM v1.55. ===================== [5] FEEBLE .LMP SPECS ===================== After a few small tests I have discovered a few useful but minor technical characteristics about .LMPs and their format. They are included here along with a few other basic instructions to keep in mind: - I asked Dave Taylor of iD Software what .LMP stands for, and he replied with 'LUMP'. Bit of a letdown, eh? - To record (without LMP.BAT), start doom like this: doom -devparm -warp e l -skill s -record movie.lmp For a NetDoom session, use: doom -devparm -net p -skill s -warp e l -record test where e, l, s and p are numbers for episode, level and skill and players, respectively. NOTE: For NetDOOM .LMPs ALL players participating must record the .LMP by using the same command. - I have tried recording Multiplayer Doom sessions (modem and serial) with the above similar parameters, and have been unsuccessful. There may be a way, but no one has figured it out yet. - You can end recording anytime by pressing 'q'. - You can see the other player's views in NetDoom .LMPs by pressing F12. - .LMPs can only be viewed with the DOOM version (0.99, 1.1, 1.2) with which they were recorded. The same applies to different versions of RanDOOM. All .LMPs in this package have been recorded using the Registered DOOM v1.2, with RanDOOM v1.55. - Recently someone recorded a Doom session with the 0.99 DOOM.EXE file, but with the registered 1.1 .WAD file. Those who tried viewing it without the same setup noticed that it was saving over all the save slots before exiting. Be cautious when viewing them, or at least back up your save games first. - .LMPs can only last for a maximum of about 20 minutes. If you ever record one, it's a good idea to begin finishing the level by the end of 17 minutes, otherwise you might be kicked out of the game without ANY saved .LMP file. NOTE: Although not confirmed, NetDOOM .LMPs might have a shorter maximum recording time- Be cautious! - Out of curiosity, I recorded an .LMP of doing absolutely nothing, to test whether keystrokes either shorten or lengthen an .LMP file. It quit at 19 min, 55 seconds, which somewhat proved that .LMPs are time based, not keystroke based. - I figured that a 20 minute .LMP file is about 130k (no matter what keystrokes are pressed. With a calculator, I noticed that 130,000 bytes / (60 seconds * 20 minutes) = 108 bytes / second, i.e. each second of recording time allows 108 slots for keypresses (I think). Hmmmm....Useless to know, but interesting nonetheless. - There's a slight slowdown in frame rate when recording, although it's not enough to hinder playability. - There have been cases that recording with a mouse causes sloppiness. This is probably due to the fact that an .LMP file records keypresses, which is not easily translated with a mouse (just a guess). - There is a common bug which causes the player to move uncontrollably. This can occur during regular play OR while recording an .LMP. I've been able to quickly fix the bug by pressing all the direction keys, one after the other. =============== [6] FINAL WORDS =============== I only realized now that I put quite a lot of work into making The DOOM Hall of Fame: Collectors Edition. It was really just intended for me, but I thought that maybe others might find the .LMP batch file useful as well. I firmly believe in the Hacker Ethic, and welcome others to make whatever changes or additions they want to it, just as long as it remains free for others to do the same. This collection is far from perfect. There are a lot of .LMPs, text files and .W files, and there may be some mistakes I may have overlooked. I tried to be as careful as possible with crediting those who submitted their .LMPs, but if I made a mistake please forgive and correct me. I tested practically all the .LMPs (especially the ones I made), and they worked fine. Please don't hesitate to mail me whatever comments, suggestions, problems, corrections, rants, raves, etc. you have. Also, if this project is successful, I plan to release other .LMP volumes in the future. If you have anything you think is worth submitting, don't hesitate. Thanks to all you who helped me out during the development of ALFRED, especially Scott Coleman for letting me use RanDOOM with ALFRED, and John Van Essen, who provided both fresh ideas and criticisms toward ALFRED. A BIG Thanks to Alan C. Wen, for providing most of the LEVELS .LMPs. Without him this collection would've been delayed for at least another month! And thanks to all the other actors, directors and set designers out there who helped me out by submitting their .LMPs to make this collection complete. Finally, a VERY BIG THANK YOU to the folks at id Software for making DOOM not only the most playable action game out for the PC, but also the most re-playble. - Michael Houston. mp_hous@pavo.concordia.ca ===================== [7] ABOUT THE AUTHORS ===================== I asked Alan C. Wen to give me a little note explaining himself. This is what he came up with: Well, I've been a LMP fanatic ever since I found out about that feature in Doom... kinda funny about my fondness of Doom. I only played the shareware version of Wolf3D...not the others. Then, very early Dec '93 a friend here at A&M told me about Blakestone. I thought it was great! Since I left the Amiga gaming scene, I never really kept up with games (hence, I've never even HEARD of doom at this point). Played it for a day but had other things to do. Then about 2 or 3 days after I got Blakestone, the SAME guy told me about this new game that totally blew blakestone away from the same creators. He went on and on about the features of doom and that I had to ftp a copy of it. I didn't believe him so I didn't. Then a week later, finals were over and he brought it over. I nearly passed out! Played Doom all December and then even though someone already ordered a copy of Registered Doom for me for Christmas, I couldn't wait... not to mention the terrible phone contractors they had. So a friend and I *DROVE* 4.5 hours from Houston to Dallas to get our own copy! Got it, drove back and played net doom to death! Been playing net doom ever since. Then of course, the game started to seem choppy so I upgraded my 486DX/33 ISA Speedstar 24x to a 486DX2/66 VLB S3-805 based card to 47.6fps. Doom is *much* better now... *grin* later! alan -----------/--------/---------- And here's my blurb: Michael "Sky God" Houston is currently attending his second year at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, in Mathematics and Computer Science. At 23, he currently holds the Guiness World Record for Academic Procrastination, which was helped set in part by the tremendous amount of time he spent play- ing DOOM. Although his main ambition is to design GOOD shareware games for a living, his other ambitions include graduating, traveling the world, and growing a goatee. Michael started programming at age 12, writing a "Choose your own adventure" type game on an Apple II+, which didn't get very far, since typing in a whole book with PRINT statements wasn't a very fun thing to do. His next big flop was when he wrote a computer dating program for his High School, which mistakenly matched up all the Grade 11 girls with all the Grade 7 boys. Needless to say that he has finally outdone himself with ALFRED, since it is written in what he considers the most powerful programming language available today - the Batch Programming Language. He has a 486-33DX, with 256 Cache, 120 MB drive, 4 Megs and a Trident SVGA card. He recently painted it cherry red and dark green, and although most of his peers have their own opinions, he likes the way it looks.