Cobra Utilities for Doom & Doom II

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Text File | 1994-06-29 | 13.1 KB | 267 lines

DOOM Control Center v2.3 by Nold Software Engineering DOOM is a trademark of id Software - What is DOOM Control Center? DOOM Control Center is a utility program that greatly simplifies running serial/modem/network games. DCC replaces and enhances all of the functionality of DOOM's SETUP.EXE with the exception of the hardware configuration portion. - Features: - Uses all of the command line features that are built into DOOM but are not accessible through SETUP.EXE. - Start on any level of any episode. - Select NO MONSTERS for serious DEATHMATCH games. - Give monsters eternal life (for you crazies out there). - Specify external WAD files so that you can play modified levels of DOOM. - Easy to use Windows-like mouse driven user interface; just point and click! (keyboard also supported, mouse not required) - WAD file level assignment editor - WAD file browser - Saved game WAD file tracking - Chat macro editor - Saved game file editor - Allows the use of third-party serial and network drivers - Context sensitive hints displayed on the bottom screen line - Notes: - DCC.EXE must be placed in your DOOM directory. - DOOM Control Center was designed for use with DOOM version 1.2; as such it expects to find DOOM.EXE, IPXSETUP.EXE, SERSETUP.EXE, DEFAULT.CFG, and your save game files in the same directory from which DCC was launched (i.e. your DOOM directory). - If you use third-party replacements for the network and/or serial drivers make sure they are named IPXSETUP.EXE and SERSETUP.EXE; otherwise DCC will not be able locate and run these programs. - The user interface for DCC is simple and very intuitive if you are using a mouse. If you don't have a mouse (you should get one! DOOM is much easier to play with a mouse!) press the F10 key to get to the main menu, then use the cursor keys to navigate the drop down menus. Once the desired menu item is highlighted hit the enter key to activate it. This will usually open a dialog box. Inside dialog boxes use tab and shift-tab to jump between item groups. Within item groups use the cursor keys and spacebar to make selections. - The Edit | Default Params menu item brings up a dialog box that allows you to set up your favorite configuration so that you don't have to keep selecting your COM port, Network Socket, etc. every time you play. Note that this dialog box is divided into two sections; Multi-Player Defaults and Single-Player Defaults. I usually play multi-player games in DEATHMATCH with no monsters and the easiest skill level (more ammo!) while single player games are usually normal monsters and Ultra-Violence. Whatever your preference, you have the flexibility to set things up to suit your taste. The WAD File Path lets you tell DCC where to look for your WAD files. If your WADs are in your DOOM directory simply leave this item blank. After you enter the WAD file path and save the defaults you will need to exit and restart DCC as WAD files are only scanned once at startup. NOTE: If your WADs are in a separate directory you should strive to keep the WAD path as short as possible due to the 128 character DOS command line limit. For example, assume your DOOM directory structure looks like this: C:\ | +-DOOM | +-WADS You could enter the path as C:\DOOM\WADS\ however, a better choice would be WADS\ - Notes on loading saved games - DCC keeps track of the WAD file(s) in use when games are saved. You will be prompted to add the necessary WAD if you attempt to load a saved game without first selecting the WAD file. Note that this feature will only work if DOOM is launched from DCC. If you run DOOM from the DOS command line and save a game, DCC has no way of knowing what WAD files you used (unfortunately, DOOM does not store this info in the save game file). Also, if you have a previous version of DCC ignore the gibberish in the documentation referring to loading saved games and external WADs. If you save a game while using an external WAD then you need to use the WAD when you load the game if the WAD completely replaces a level. - The Load Game dialog boxes have a control group named Monster Options; this item does not affect the level on which the game was saved, however, it does affect the following levels. For example, if you select Normal Monsters when you load a saved game that was started with No Monsters then there won't be any monsters on the saved level, however, there WILL be monsters when you exit that level and proceed to the following levels. DCC remembers the Monster Option in effect when a game is saved (provided DOOM was launched from DCC) and will automatically select it for you when loading the saved game. - When loading multi-player saved games the Game Type (Cooperative or DEATHMATCH) must be set to the type of game that you were playing when the game was saved. DOOM does not store this information in the save game file. DCC remembers the Game Type in effect when a game is saved (again, provided DOOM was launched from DCC) and will automatically select it for you when loading the saved game. - The WAD Files | Select WADs menu item brings up a dialog box that lists all of the WAD files that are in your WAD file directory (with the exception of DOOM.WAD). Double-click with the mouse or use the cursor keys and spacebar to select WAD files from the Available WADs list. Next to this list is a 3 x 9 matrix that shows you the episode(s) and level(s) that the highlighted WAD file replaces. Note that WAD files that only replace sounds or textures do not indicate any replaced levels. As you select files, they will appear in the Selected WADs list on the right. There is another 3 x 9 grid next to the Selected WADs list that shows you the episode(s) and level(s) replaced by all of the selected WAD files combined. When there are one or more files shown in the Selected WADs list (i.e. the Selected WADs list is not empty) a check mark (√) will appear next to the WAD Files item on the main menu to alert you that external WAD files will be specified when you run DOOM. Also, when you have WAD files selected that replace at least one game level, a window will be displayed when you close this dialog box that shows you which level(s) are replaced. To clear the Selected WADs list simply press the Clear button. - DCC detects collisions between WAD file level assignments (i.e. you attempt to select WADs that replace the same level). When this occurs you are given the option to re-assign the levels of the offending WAD file. - The Level(s) Replaced grid in the Select WADs box allows you to quickly double check which level is replaced by which file. Simply click on the 'X' in the ExMy column/row and the corresponding WAD file will be highlighted in the Selected WADs list. - The Level(s) Replaced box that appears in the upper right after you close the Select WADs box will also show you the WAD file associated with a particular level. Again, simply click on the 'X'. - DCC will recognize the first 500 WAD files that it finds in the specified directory. Any beyond this number will be ignored. And really, if you have more than that you should seriously consider getting some professional help. ;-) - New game selection with external WADs - DCC will automatically default to the first episode and level that is replaced by an external WAD file. - The level(s) replaced are indicated by an 'X' in the WADs column to the left of the episode and level selection buttons. Once again, clicking on the 'X' will show you the associated WAD file name. - If you specify WAD files during multiple player games make sure that all players have their own copies of the files and that everyone selects the same ones. If you don't, DOOM will crash with a consistancy failure. - The WAD Files | Re-assign Levels menu item brings up a dialog box that lists all of the WAD files that are in your WAD file directory (with the exception of DOOM.WAD). Use the mouse or cursor keys to highlight the file that you want to re-arrange and then click the Re-assign button. This will open a window that shows you all of the level map(s) that are in the selected WAD file in the order that they appear in the file. To change the order of the level(s) or assign them to a different episode, highlight the level that you want to change in the list box on the left and then select the new assignment (ExMy) on the buttons on the right side. When you are finished, click on the Save Changes button to save the new level assignments to the WAD file. - WAD file browser - This utility allows you to view the internal directory of a WAD file. The browser lists the names of the resources as well as their size and offset within the WAD file. If you know the names id has assigned to the WAD resource data you can determine what aspects of the game a given WAD file will replace. For example, a WAD that replaces a single level will have at least 11 directory entries consisting of ExMy, THINGS, LINEDEFS, SIDEDEFS, VERTEXES, SEGS, SSECTORS, NODES, SECTORS, REJECT, and BLOCKMAP. Music resources are identified by D_ExMy (x and y are the episode and level numbers), sound effects are DSxxxxxx (example: DSPUNCH is the punching sound), game demos are DEMO1, DEMO2, and DEMO3, etc. For a complete list of resource names and their functions I suggest you obtain a copy of the DOOM specs written by Matt Fell. - DCC generates many command line parameters automatically for DOOM.EXE, SERSETUP.EXE, and IPXSETUP.EXE. Following is a list of the command parameters that are supported: DOOM.EXE: -episode selects the starting episode -skill selects the skill level for new games -devparm necessary to use -warp (see below) -warp selects starting episode and level -nomonsters runs doom with no monsters -respawn causes monsters to re-appear 8 seconds after you kill them -deathmatch players have all the keys, transport into levels at random locations, and score is kept based on how many times you kill the other player(s) -loadgame specifies which saved game to load -file specifies a list of .WAD files to replace the original level maps SERSETUP.EXE: -com selects the com port that you are using -answer sets the modem to answer the phone on modem games -dial causes the modem to initiate the call and dial the number given IPXSETUP.EXE: -nodes specifies the number of players in net games -port selects the network port address that is to be used for the net game If you are using a modified version of SERSETUP.EXE or IPXSETUP.EXE then you may need to generate command parameters that are not listed above (anybody who is playing serial or modem games is certainly using a modified driver as id's original SERSETUP had bugs that made the game unplayable). For example, your SERSETUP.EXE may support commands that allow you to set the baud rate, irq number, port address, etc. If you need to use these parameters you may specify them by selecting Extra Params | Driver Params from the Edit menu. This will open a dialog box where you can enter different parameter strings for serial, modem, and network games. The command strings that you input here are simply inserted into the command list normally generated by DCC. Once you figure out the correct parameters DCC will remember your settings and use them again when running future games. NOTE: For running modem games you still need to make sure that MODEM.CFG contains the proper initialization strings for your modem. The Extra Params option is strictly for driver parameters, not modem initialization. - When running modem games, DCC remembers the telephone numbers that you call and will default to the last number dialed. - DOOM shareware version - In keeping with id Software's wishes, DCC detects the shareware version of DOOM and disables all of the WAD file functions (this was also true with DCC v2.0, I just forgot to mention it in the DOC's). Have fun! Now you can spend your time playing DOOM instead of fooling around trying to figure out what command line parameters you need!