"DooM" Source Port Suggestions

[openroadracer]

Okay, so, for probably over a year now, I've been playing around with the Zandronum source port for classic DooM, running the freeware FreeDOOM .WADs in it. I chose Zandronum for hardware reasons, as I'd been told by someone on a Discord server I frequent that GZDooM doesn't play nice with AMD cards. However, well, everybody knows that Zandronum will never be up-to-date with the other source ports, and there are some mods I'd like to play like DooM 4 for DooM that require an up-to-date source port to run.

For reference, my PC runs a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 R5 motherboard(AMD chipset), an AMD 9590 8-core CPU running at 4.7GHz, an AMD R9 Fury GPU and 16GB DDR3 RAM running at 1866MHz. Definitely overkill for a game from the 1990s when Pentium processors were top of the line(well, I'm guessing they were; Tyrian's highest graphics settings was named "Pentium", and I know that from playing the open source version OpenTyrian).

Also worth noting that, yes, I will be getting the actual id Software .WADs soon, via Steam's "DooM Classic Complete Pack", $15USD for Ultimate DooM(DooM 1 with additional episode "Thy Flesh Consumed"), DooM 2, Final DooM(two additional episodes for DooM 2, "TNT: Evilution" and "The Plutonia Experiment") and Master Levels for DooM 2(twenty or so .WADs compiled by id Software themselves). However, I might just hang on to the FreeDOOM .WADs just for the sake of having them.

And no, despite the fact that I'm running Zandronum, I couldn't be less interested in running multiplayer. Again, I'm only running Zandronum for hardware reasons. One source port I've heard of but haven't learned much about is called "QZDooM", and I'd like to know if anyone knows anything about that. If you guys think I should just stick with Zandronum then I will, but I'd rather not if I could help it.

[LogicalElf]

I would start by looking at the Doomworld Wiki, here: https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_ports

Remember that with DooM sourceports, you really aren't limited to just one, it's not like you have a monolithic installer; so play around and figure out what you like most. And really, at this point, you should be most concerned with compatibility between the engine and the WAD in question - specifically, Vanilla or Boom. I don't know DooM 4 for Doom, but I'm going to guess that it's for the "Vanilla" engine, rather than one of the more extensible ones. I'm on much slower and older hardware than you and many of the ones listed there have run reasonably for a few WADs I like.

I would definitely start with Chocolate for the WAD in question - and for Boom wads, if GZDoom doesn't work, just go with PrBoom+ or vanilla ZDoom - the "final version" of the latter is from 1/2017 - and frankly it's not like DooM is really a big moving target or a massive security hole like a browser. Old versions are not death incarnate.

[openroadracer]

I would start by looking at the Doomworld Wiki, here: https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_ports

Remember that with DooM sourceports, you really aren't limited to just one, it's not like you have a monolithic installer; so play around and figure out what you like most. And really, at this point, you should be most concerned with compatibility between the engine and the WAD in question - specifically, Vanilla or Boom. I don't know DooM 4 for Doom, but I'm going to guess that it's for the "Vanilla" engine, rather than one of the more extensible ones. I'm on much slower and older hardware than you and many of the ones listed there have run reasonably for a few WADs I like.

I would definitely start with Chocolate for the WAD in question - and for Boom wads, if GZDoom doesn't work, just go with PrBoom+ or vanilla ZDoom - the "final version" of the latter is from 1/2017 - and frankly it's not like DooM is really a big moving target or a massive security hole like a browser. Old versions are not death incarnate.

That's the thing: I'm pretty sure DooM 4 for DooM(now known as Death Foretold or DooM 4 for D-Touch) is most likely incompatible with the vanilla engine, considering how many changes it makes to the gameplay. And quite honestly, I don't really care about the accuracy of the emulation, hence why I'm not particularly interested in Chocolate DooM. That said, currently, FreeDOOM does require a limit-removing source port in order to run its single-player IWADs, but they are trying to make them fully vanilla-compatible. FreeDM, the multiplayer-focused IWAD, maintains strict vanilla compatibility.

In general, I want to have a source port that is capable of running mods that heavily alter the gameplay: new weapons, new monsters, bigger levels with larger enemy counts, things like that. I also like the fact that Zandronum has vertical free-look, which allows me to feel more like I'm actually aiming the weapon myself rather than the game handling the vertical aiming for me.

And I have found a PWAD that more or less brings DooM 4's gameplay to classic DooM: Zion. I've been running it in FreeDOOM: Phase II(meant to be a replacement for the DooM 2 IWAD) and enjoying it.

I do think I'd rather run a Boom-compatible limit-removing source port rather than anything more limited. Especially if said source port comes with controller compatibility, which Zandronum does.

[LogicalElf]

I've never tried DOOM with anything but keyboard controls, but I figure if ZDoom can support mouselook and mousemove, it should be able to support a controller. I do know about FreeDOOM and FreeDM - they're valuable replacements for the core WADs. So I would suggest grabbing vanilla ZDoom's "final" version.