Cobra Utilities for Doom & Doom II

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Text File | 1994-05-25 | 22.4 KB | 499 lines

================= =============== =============== ======== ======== \\ . . . . . . .\\ //. . . . . . .\\ //. . . . . . .\\ \\. . .\\// . . // ||. . ._____. . .|| ||. . ._____. . .|| ||. . ._____. . .|| || . . .\/ . . .|| || . .|| ||. . || || . .|| ||. . || || . .|| ||. . || ||. . . . . . . || ||. . || || . .|| ||. . || || . .|| ||. . || || . .|| || . | . . . . .|| || . .|| ||. _-|| ||-_ .|| ||. . || || . .|| ||. _-|| ||-_.|\ . . . . || ||. . || ||-' || || `-|| || . .|| ||. . || ||-' || || `|\_ . .|. .|| || . _|| || || || || ||_ . || || . _|| || || || |\ `-_/| . || ||_-' || .|/ || || \|. || `-_|| ||_-' || .|/ || || | \ / |-_.|| || ||_-' || || `-_|| || || ||_-' || || | \ / | `|| || `' || || `' || || `' || || | \ / | || || .===' `===. .==='.`===. .===' /==. | \/ | || || .==' \_|-_ `===. .===' _|_ `===. .===' _-|/ `== \/ | || || .==' _-' `-_ `=' _-' `-_ `=' _-' `-_ /| \/ | || || .==' _-' `-__\._-' `-_./__-' `' |. /| | || ||.==' _-' `' | /==.|| ==' _-' F R O N T E N D \/ `== \ _-' `-_ / `'' ``' Release v1.32 - May 08, 1994 EST Written by: Josh Jackson (joshjackson@delphi.com) "DOOM: Where hackers gnaw the bones left from the banquet of data prepared by the mighty wizards of id." - The Unofficial DOOM Specs v1.3 - "The poets talk about love, but what I talk about is DOOM, because in the end, DOOM is all that counts." - Alex Machine/George Stark/Stephen King, _The Dark Half_ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------- Thanks Id for such a KICK ASS game!! DOOM is a registered trademark of Id Software. Hank Leukart for the "OFFICIAL" DOOM FAQ. (And the cool header!) Matt Fell for the Unofficial DOOM Specs v1.3 -------- CONTENTS -------- =SECTION ONE= Introduction [1-1] What is DFE? [1-2] Distribution of DFE [1-3] Obtaining the Source [1-4] Disclaimer =SECTION TWO= Using DFE [2-1] Single Player Games [2-2] Serial Link Games [2-3] IPX Network Games [2-4] Modem Link Games [2-5] Sprite Viewer [2-6] Map Viewer =SECTION THREE= Misc Info [3-1] Known Bugs [3-2] Trouble Shooting [3-3] Version History [3-4] Setting up an IPX Network for DOOM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SECTION *1*: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1-1]: What is DFE? DFE is a Front End for that wondrous program DOOM! For those of you that are not familiar with the term "front end", well, it is simply a way of configuring DOOM without all of the hassles of trying to remember the which of the bazillion command line parameters you can pass to DOOM and the SERSETUP/IPXSETUP programs you need to use. DFE gives you an easy to use, text based user interface for selecting things like: Starting Episode, Starting Map, Skill Level, Number of players, etc. [1-2]: Distribution of DFE PLEASE distribute this utility to anyone and everyone that can make use of it. There is no registration fee or any other such BS. The only thing that I do request is that you include this document, in its entirety along with the program. The following files are needed for DFE: DFE.EXE (The Front End executable file) THING.DEF (Things Definition file for the Map Viewer) DFE.TXT (This document) UNIVBE.EXE (Universal VESA driver in case your card isn't VESA compatible) [1-3]: Obtaining the source for DFE If you would like a copy of the source to this program, I will gladly mail you a copy. It was written in Turbo Vision for Borland Pascal v7. Mail your request to the following: Jackson Software 10506 Bayard Rd. Minerva, OH 44657 Please include $5.95 for shipping of just the source diskette, or $9.95 for the diskette and a printed copy (at this point it is a good 50 pages or so). [1-4]: Disclaimer This program come with with no warranty, expressed or implied. Anyone who uses this program, uses it at their own risk (what risks these are, one can only guess). The Author excepts NO responsibility for anyone who should become clinically insane, or otherwise incapacitatied for any reason during the use of this program. Nor shall the Author be held responsible for anyone out there that obtains the source, and thinking they are a brain, should modify it and cause damage to themself or their computer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SECTION *2*: Using DFE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2-1] Single Player Games After Loading DFE (this should not be too difficult!) you will receive a menu giving you selections for Single Player, Serial Link, IPX Network, and Modem Link. To play a single player game, select modem link (just kidding) After selecting your game type, you will be prompted for the episode name or an External Wad file. If you choose a predefined Episode (1-3), you will then be given a list of your game options. This area will differ depending on the game type and episode selected. For a single player game, you will be given the option to select your level, skill, and no monsters The option of No Monsters is exactly what it sounds like, NO MONSTERS. In a single player game, the only use I can think of for this is when you just feel like poking around, trying to find secrets and the like. After you have made your selection, press the OK button or Enter if you haven't already selected the cancel button. The option of loading and External WAD file is not a whole lot more difficult than the above. From you Episode selection box, simply select External WAD File. You will then be given a file list dialog box. Select the appropriate WAD file. DFE will then open the selected WAD file to ensure that is both valid and contains a level to play. If both of these criteria are met, it will then load the level names out of the WAD file. At this point in time, you can only have up to 9 levels in a patch wad file and access it from DFE. [2-2] Serial Link Games If you have not read 2-1 yet, please do so, as I only explain the difference between a the two here. In a Serial Link game the only real differences from a single player game is the selection of your COM port and whether or not you want to play a DEATHMATCH. Before DFE will spawn DOOM, it will attempt to locate the DOS external command MODE.COM. It uses this utility to set the Baud rate and parity of your selected COM port. If it can not locate MODE, it will simply display a message box, pause briefly, and then continue with execution of SERSETUP.EXE. [2-3] IPX Network Games If you have not read 2-1 yet, please do so, as I only explain the difference between a the two here. In an IPX Network game the only real differences from a single player game is the selection of the number of players and whether or not you want to play a DEATHMATCH. Please do note that an IPX driver must be loaded before DFE will even enable the IPX Network menu selection. It is NOT necessary to be connected to a Local Area Network (LAN), nor does there need to be any form of server present for IPX Network DOOM to work. Simply installing LAN cards in more than one machine, linking them with cable and loading the IPXODI packet drivers is all that is necessary. (See section 3-4 for information on setting up your own DOOM network!) [2-4] Modem Link Games If you have not read 2-1 yet, please do so, as I only explain the difference between a the two here. In a Modem Link game the only real differences from a single player game is the selection of your COM port,whether or not you want to play a DEATHMATCH, and the type of modem connection you will be making. The possible modem connections are: Dial and connect, Wait for call, and Already connected. If you specify Dial and connect, you must fill in the Number to Dial field. Before DFE will spawn DOOM, it will attempt to locate the DOS external command MODE.COM. It uses this utility to set the Baud rate and parity of your selected COM port. If it can not locate MODE, it will simply display a message box, pause briefly, and then continue with execution of SERSETUP.EXE. [2-5] Sprite Viewer This function has been dropped from the main menu and has been incorporated into the Map View. [2-6] Map Viewer This Function allows you to view the DOOM maps before you play the game. It will display monsters, weapons, and "goodies". The goodies include keys, ammo, health kits/bonuses, armor, soul spheres (supercharge), invisibility sphere, light goggles, radiations suits, berserk, and computer area maps. If you select this option from the main menu, you will then be prompted for the desired episode. You can also specify an external WAD file, this is real handy when downloading DEATHMATCH WAD files from various BBSs, etc. After selecting the episode or WAD file of your choice, you will be given a list of viewer options. First of these options is the level that you wish to view. Next, whether or not you want it to display the monsters, weapons, or goodies, the skill level you want to view (Viewing a skill level will show you just what you are going up against.), and finally whether or not you want to view it as a MultiPlayer game (some items will only appear in a multiplayer game). Once you are viewing the map, the following keys will have effect on the map: M (Toggle monsters on/off) G (Toggle goodies on/off) W (Toggle weapons on/off) P (Toggle Multiplayer on/off) 1-5 (Select skill level 1-5) S (Toggle secrets on/off) + (Zoom in on map) - (Zoom out) Home (Return view to original) Arrows (Move map around on the screen, handy for zooming) You will also notice the status display in the upper left hand corner. This display shows the current status of the display toggles, as well as the color of each. Using the mouse to select any one of these options is allowed and works the same as pressing the keys to do so. The color scheme used by ViewMap is as follows: Blue Walls Lt. Blue Doors White Secrets Red Monsters Yellow Weapons Green Goodies Note for DOOM TechHeads: The Secrets the will show up in white are LineDef based and will not show a Sector that is marked a secret. I have noticed that some secrets do not have a LineDef defined as a secret, but only the Sector that they border. (However the majority of DOOM's secrets have at least one LineDef defined as a secret.) New to DFE 1.3 is the ability to view sprites from the Map Viewer. To view any sprite that is drawn on the map, simply select to wil the mouse and press the LEFT mouse button. You will be given a Sprite Viewer window in the lower right corner of the screen. To clear the sprite viewer, simply select any option that redraws the Map. (Changing Skill Level, Scale factor, X and Y Offsets, Mosters, Goodies, Etc.) =SECTION THREE= Misc Info [3-1] Known Bugs At this point I have not found any major bugs in the program. (AMAZING!!) If you do run into any errors or glitches, please let me know by EMail or snail mail (to the address seen later on in this document). I have spent many hours developing this program and don't want anyone considering it a pain to use because of some nasty little glitch. [3-2] Trouble Shooting The following is a list of problems that you may encounter while running DFE. Q) Why am I running out of memory when running DOOM? I used to have plenty. A) There are a couple of things that could be going wrong. If your system uses and Expanded Memory, DFE will take advantage of this for Program Swapping. If you have less than 8Mb in your computer, I would recommend that you either disable your Expanded Memory while playing DOOM, or specify the parameter /NOEMS when running DFE. Note: DFE only requires about 1k of base memory after it has swapped out; I can't foresee this causing any problems! But it will use up to about 250k of EMS if it is available, this will reduce the amount of DPMI memory available to DOOM by about 256k. Personally, I have a 386dx/40 with 8Mb of RAM, I have never had a problem with memory, even when I am running a series of IPX network drivers and a 2Mb disk cache. Q) Why is the IPX Network selection disabled? A) You don't have an IPX driver installed! Q) Why won't the Serial Link work? A) Welp, these is slew of problems that you could be having. Mainly, you should make sure that you have the DOS command MODE.COM in either the current directory or the Path. (DFE uses this to ensure that your COM port is set correctly) Secondly, I have not had much luck with Serial Link, especially when linking two computers of different speeds together. After about 2-3 minutes of play they will begin to bog down until the game becomes unbearably slow. Q) Why is Modem Link DOOM so slow? A) Make sure that you are connected at 9600 baud, N81. Also, make sure that any error correction or data compression is turned OFF! This makes a big difference in the way the game performs. Q) Why won't the Map Viewer allow me to view sprites? A) DFE was unable to set 640x480x256 color mode. This can be caused by any of the following: 1) An incompatible SVGA video card 2) Lack of an SVGA video card (DUH!) 3) Not enough video RAM (265k SVGA cards don't support this mode!) #1 can be corrected on most machines by installing the supplied UNIVBE driver of a vendor provided VESA driver. [3-3] Version History v1.0 Allowed you to only select the level you wanted to play from existing levels. v1.1 Added Map Viewer and .OVL file to save on memory. Map Viewer was in a separate executable file. Allowed the selection of external WAD files. v1.2 Removed .OVL and added memory swapping. Saves an extra 150k of memory Integrated the Map Viewer into DFE. v1.21 Fixed a small bug in v1.2 that would not allow you to view a map if the filename was 8 characters long. (Sounds weird, but thats what I get for using so many stinking pointers and linked lists in this program!) v1.3 MapView has been COMPLETELY rewritten into fully object oriented code, allowing for better control over the map (Internally). MapView also now allows you to "Click" on any sprite on the map and view it. v1.31 Fixes a Memory allocation problem when disposing of a Map Viewer. v1.32 Fixes a bug when loading an external WAD file, it would not present you with the correct list of contained level names. (SHEEZE, why don't you guys ever tell me these things?!?) Future Releases: v2.0 Will include a Map Search to find the selected sprite on all maps. I Plan to also include a LineDef tag locator to associate those secrets that you just can't seem to figure out with their necessary trigger locations. I have also located the source to both a SERSETUP and IPXSETUP communications driver for DOOM, I am currently converting them to Pascal so that they can be built in to DFE. The only thing stopping v2.0 from going into beta at the moment it the fact that the Map Viewer User Interface is currently begin revised into a fully event driven GUI. The new user interface will look and behave somewhat like Microsoft Windows. Since such a GUI is no small task, this is going to take a little time. DOOM_DOS v.99 is currently being developed for those of you who are "balls to the walls" DOOM players. This program, which is a COMMAND.COM replacement, will allow you to view any part of the WAD file directory as a DOS style directory structure. It will also allow you to import new levels, sprites, sounds, and textures. It will enable you to load SERSETUP and IPXSETUP style drivers as DOOM_DOS device drivers. These driver, which are also under development, will be written in 100% 80386 assembly language to provide optimal efficeincy and speed. Since this program will be a COMMAND.COM replacement, it will also have its own AUTOEXEC.BAT style start up file. This will enable you to load any other programs as well (Mouse Drivers, Disk Caches, etc) [3-4] Setting up an IPX Network for DOOM If you have never played IPX Network DOOM, you are missing out BIG TIME! Imagine playing up to 4 player DOOM with very little or NO slowdown in game performance. Unlike Serial Link or Modem Link DOOM which can very seriously slow down the game if one of the two players (and ONLY two players) is running on a 386 based or a slower 486 based machine, IPX networks give you high speed, fluid game play. The reason is simple, DOOM is designed to communicate with a serial device (this includes modems) at only 9600 baud. At this rate, you are only transferring around 800-1000 bytes per second. A SLOW network transfers about 1,250,000 bytes per second!! Some of the faster networks can transfer up to 16,000,000 bytes per second! (Talk about a speed increase!) Welp, Jackson Software can help. I am currently selling everything that you need to setup a full blown EtherNet IPX driven network. This may sound a bit expensive, but its not too bad. (I have one myself) Do note that it is not necessary to set up a Novell LAN or any other such outrageously priced network just to play Network DOOM. All that is needed is a set of EtherNet (or similar) cards, the cables, your computers, and DOOM! My current setup for IPX DOOM is 2 386dx/40Mhz and 2 486sx/33Mhz. With these machines I can not tell the difference between a single player game and a multiplayer game as far as speed is concerned. If this sounds appealing to you, here is how to obtain your network hardware: Send check or Money Order to: Jackson Software 10506 Bayard Rd. Minerva, OH 44657 or Call: (216) 868-1169 Network Pricing: One EtherNet Node.........................................$75 LanPro NE2000 EtherNet Card Software Drivers Instructions for NetDOOM Setup The latest copy of DFE 10ft EtherNet Coax Cable 2 50ohm EtherNet Terminators Two EtherNet Nodes........................................$145 2 LanPro NE2000 EtherNet Cards Software Drivers Instructions for NetDOOM Setup The latest copy of DFE 10ft EtherNet Coax Cable 2 50ohm EtherNet Terminators Three EtherNet Nodes......................................$215 3 LanPro NE2000 EtherNet Cards Software Drivers Instructions for NetDOOM Setup The latest copy of DFE 2 10ft EtherNet Coax Cables 2 50ohm EtherNet Terminators Four EtherNet Nodes.......................................$285 4 LanPro NE2000 EtherNet Cards Software Drivers Instructions for NetDOOM Setup The latest copy of DFE 3 10ft EtherNet Coax Cables 2 50ohm EtherNet Terminators The following is included on disks FREE of charge for each purchase of any of the above Network packages: The DOOM Hacker's tool kit (Disk 1) The Latest version of the Unofficial DOOM Specs The Latest version of the "Official" DOOM FAQ The Latest version of the DEU level editor Includes a demo and all C source The Pascal Source for DFE Includes MANY routines for accessing a variety of info in the WAD file. The Jackson Software's "Outstanding DeathMatch WAD collection" (Disk 2) This collections includes many of my favorite WAD files created by varying authors especially for DEATHMATCHES! !ATTENTION! Tired of the old dog of a computer that you have? Need something with a touch more zip for DOOM and anything else that requires some decent speed? Call Jackson Software today and ask about setting up a real screamer of a computer. I am currently selling everything from a super cheap 386/33 to a full blown Pentium/90! Prices on Pentium systems start at just under $2000 Happy Hunting! \ / (O) (O) | \_____/ JJ