BOOM.CFG(5) BOOM.CFG(5) NAME boom.cfg, glboom.cfg - Configuration file for PrBoom v2.1.0 onwards USAGE When a version of PrBoom is run, it searches for this configuration file to modify its default settings. Every time PrBoom exits, it rewrites the configuration file, updating any settings that have been changed using the in-game menus. PrBoom expects the config file to be ~/.prboom/boom.cfg, or ~/.prboom/glboom.cfg if compiled with GL support. Alternatively, it can be made to look elsewhere by using a command-line parameter: {prboom,glboom} [-config myconf] FORMAT boom.cfg consists of a number of variables and values. Each line is of the following format: [ { {{#,;,[} comment_text , variable {decimal_integer, 0x hex_integer, "string_text"}}] Any line beginning with a non-alphabetic character is treated as a com- ment and ignored; for future compatibility you should start comments with a #, ; or [. Note however that when PrBoom rewrites boom.cfg it does not preserve user added comments. Any line beginning with an alphabetic character is treated as a vari- able-value pair. The first word (sequence of non-whitespace charac- ters) is the variable name, and everything after the following block of whitespace is taken to be the value assigned to the variable. Variables not recognised by PrBoom, or which are given an invalid value or a value of an inappropriate type, are ignored. Warning messages are given where relevant. The variables recognised by PrBoom are described per-section in the following sections. The sections are informal however; when PrBoom rewrites the config file it writes in section headings and puts vari- ables into the relevant sections, but when reading these are ignored. MISC SETTINGS compatibility_level PrBoom is capable of behaving in a way compatible with earlier versions of Doom and Boom/PrBoom. The value given here selects the version to be compatible with when doing new games/demos. See README.compat for details. realtic_clock_rate Selects the speed that PrBoom runs at, as a percentage of normal game speed. Leave at 0 unless you want to experiment. Note that it is considered `cheating' to use this at any setting below 0 (or above?). max_player_corpse Sets the maximum number of player corpses to leave lying around. If this limit would be exceeded, an old corpse is removed. Use- ful for big/long Deathmatch games, where the sheer number of corpses could slow the game down. flashing_hom Flag indicating whether a flashing red background is drawn to highlight HOM errors in levels (for level developers) demo_insurance Selects a method of protecting demos against `going out of sync' (where the player seems to lose control and behave madly, but in fact the players original instructions as stored in the demo have got out of sync with the game he was playing). 0=No protec- tion, 1=Full protection, 2=Only while recording demos. Safest when left set to 2. endoom_mode This parameter specifies options controlling the display of the credits screen when Doom exits. Currently it is the sum of 3 options: add 1 for colours, 2 for non-ASCII characters to be displayed, and 4 for the last line to be skipped so the top line doesn't scroll off screen. level_precache If set, when loading a new level PrBoom precaches all the graph- ics the level is likely to need in memory. This makes it much slower to load the level, but reduces disk activity and slow- downs reading data during play. Most systems are fast enough that precaching is not needed. FILES SETTINGS wadfile_1, wadfile_2 The names of 2 .wad files to be automatically loaded when PrBoom is started. A blank string means unused. dehfile_1, dehfile_2 The names of 2 patch files (.deh or .bex) to be automatically loaded when PrBoom is started (empty string for none). GAME SETTINGS default_skill The default skill level when starting a new game. weapon_recoil Enables recoil from weapon fire. doom_weapon_toggles Flag indicating whether pressing 3 or 1 when that weapon is already selected causes the selected shotgun or fist/chainsaw to be toggled, as in original Doom. Some people prefer to use a number for each weapon alone. player_bobbing Enables player bobbing (view randomly moving up/down slightly as the player runs). monsters_remember Makes monsters remember their previous enemy after killing their current target. monster_infighting Whether monsters will fight each other when they injure each other accidentally. monster_backing Whether monsters without close combat weapons will back away from close combat (unlike original Doom). monster_avoid_hazards Whether monsters avoid crushing ceilings. monkeys Whether monsters will climb steep stairs. monster_friction Whether monsters are affected by changed floor friction (they should be, but weren't in Boom) help_friends Whether monsters will help out injured monsters by aiding them against their attacker. player_helpers The number of helper dogs to spawn. friend_distance Distance within which friends will generally stay. dog_jumping Whether dogs will jump. sts_always_red PrBoom can make the colour of the text displays on the status bar reflect your current status (red=low, yellow=average, green=good, blue=super-charged). This option if set selects the traditional Doom behavior of always-red status bar display; set to 0 to allow the coloured display. sts_pct_always_gray See above, this makes just the percent signs always gray, instead of changing colour. sts_traditional_keys Doom and PrBoom have two types of keys; PrBoom will normally display both keys of a given colour if you have both. This option, if enabled, instead makes PrBoom only ever display one key of each colour, in the same way Doom did. traditional_menu Changes PrBoom's menu ordering to be the same as original Doom if enabled. show_messages When enabled, text messages are displayed in the top left corner of the screen describing events in the game. Can be toggled in the game, this is just to preserve the setting. autorun Makes the player always run, without having to hold down a run key. Can be toggled in the game, this just preserves the set- ting. SOUND SETTINGS sound_card Selects whether sound effects are enabled (non-zero enables). For compatibility reasons with Boom, a range of values are accepted. music_card Selects whether in-game music is enabled (non-zero enables). For compatibility reasons a range of values are accepted. pitched_sounds If enabled by this variable, this enables `pitching' (making pitch adjustments to the playing sounds) for 16 bit sound cards. samplerate The samplerate for soundmixing and timidity. The sound quality is much better at higher samplerates, but if you use timidity then higher samplerates need much more CPU power. Useful values are 11025, 22050, 44100 and 48000. sfx_volume Sound effects volume. This is best adjusted in the game. music_volume Music volume. This is best adjusted in the game. mus_pause_opt Selects what PrBoom does to the music when a games is paused. 0=stop the music, 1=pause the music (stop it playing, but when resumed resume it at the same place - not implemented), 2=con- tinue playing. sounddev, snd_channels, soundsrv, musicsrv These variables are no longer used by PrBoom, but are kept for compatibility reasons. COMPATIBILITY SETTINGS These are settings that let you choose whether the normal game mechan- ics are used, or whether various quirks, bugs and limitations of the original Doom game are emulated. VIDEO SETTINGS screen_width, screen_height For versions of PrBoom which support high-res, these specify the default screen or window size for PrBoom. These settings are ignored and preserved by versions of PrBoom which do not do high-res (they assume 320x200). use_fullscreen If set, this causes PrBoom to try to go full screen. Depending on your video driver and mode, this may include changing screen resolution to better match the game's screen resolution. use_doublebuffer Use double buffering to reduce tearing. On some machines this is even faster than the normal method, but on others this makes problems, so you have to try out which setting works best. translucency Causes PrBoom to display certain objects as translucent. tran_filter_pct Selects how translucent objects are when they are translucent. Play with this and see for yourself. screenblocks Selects a reduced screen size inside the PrBoom window (the player's view is surrounded by a border). Normally this is unde- sirable, but it can help speed up the game. Can be changed in the game with the +/- keys, this variable is just to preserve that setting. usegamma Selects a level of gamma correction (extra screen brightening) to correct for a dark monitor or light surroundings. Can be selected in the game with the F11 key, this config entry pre- serves that setting. OPENGL SETTINGS If you are knowledgeable about OpenGL, you can tweak various aspects of the GL rendering engine. gl_nearclip The near clipping plane *100. gl_colorbuffer_bits The bit depth for the framebuffer. (16, 24 or 32 bits) gl_depthbuffer_bits The bit depth for the z-buffer. (16, 24 or 32 bits) gl_tex_filter_string A string, one of the following: GL_NEAREST or GL_LINEAR (no mipmapping), or one of GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST, GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR, GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST, GL_LIN- EAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR with mipmapping. gl_tex_format_string One of the following strings: GL_RGBA - means format selected by driver (not so good), GL_RGBA2 - means 2 bits for each component (bad), GL_RGBA4 - means 4 bits for each component (like GL_RGBA on most cards), GL_RGB5_A1 - means 5 bits for each color compo- nent 1 bit for the alpha channel (default), GL_RGBA8 - means 8 bits for each component (best quality, but only a little bit better than GL_RGB5_A1 and slower on most cards) gl_drawskys If 0, disables drawing skies, which may be needed with some problematic 3D cards. gl_sortsprites Experimental option, possibly faster but less reliable. MOUSE SETTINGS This section specifies settings for using a mouse with PrBoom. There are several settings that control button bindings (what action each button causes in the game); these are easiest set from the in-game menus, these config entries are to preserve the settings between games. use_mouse Enable or disable the use of a mouse with PrBoom. mouse_sensitivity_horiz, mouse_sensitivity_vert Sets the sensitivity of the mouse in PrBoom. Easier set from the in-game menus. KEY BINDINGS These specify the keys that trigger various actions in PrBoom. The codes used for keys are internal to PrBoom, though many keys are repre- sented by their ASCII codes. It is easiest to modify these via the in- game menus (OPTIONS->SETUP->KEY BINDINGS). These config file entries preserve the settings from this menu between game sessions. JOYSTICK SETTINGS There are the trigger variables here, which are calculated during joy- stick calibration (the values received from the kernel driver outside of which movement is caused in the game). Also there are the button- bindings, again best adjusted using the in-game menus. use_joystick This selects the number of the joystick to use, or 0 selects no joystick. You have to have the relevant device files (/dev/js0 etc) and the kernel driver loaded. CHAT MACROS These are pre-written text strings for quick transmission to players in a network game (consult your Doom documentation). Easiest set via the in-game menus (OPTIONS->SETUP->CHAT MACROS). AUTOMAP SETTINGS These are settings related to the automap. These are easiest set from within the game. HEADS_UP DISPLAY SETTINGS These are settings related to the heads-up display, that is messages received while playing and the heads-up display of your current status obtained by pressing + while the view is full-screen in PrBoom. See the Boom documentation for details. All controlled best from within the game. WEAPON PREFERENCES Here are the settings from the Weapons menu in the game (OPTIONS->SETUP->WEAPONS). ALSO SEE prboom(6), PrBoom's documentation (including the Boom and MBF documen- tation) and your Doom documentation. AUTHOR See the file AUTHORS included with PrBoom for a list of contributors to PrBoom. This config file reference written by Colin Phipps (cph@moria.org.uk). PRBOOM-GAME-SERVER(6) PRBOOM-GAME-SERVER(6) NAME prboom-game-server - Server for network games of PrBoom. SYNOPSIS prboom-game-server [ -adfnrv ] [ -e epis ] [ -l level ] [ -t ticdup ] [ -x xtics ] [ -p port ] [ -s skill ] [ -N players ] [ -c conffilename ] [ -w wadname[,dl_url ]] DESCRIPTION PrBoom is a version of the 3D shoot'em'up Doom, originally by id soft- ware. It includes, amongst other things, the ability to play with sev- eral players connected by a tcp/ip network. prboom-game-server is the `server', that is the program that passes data between the different players in the game. To start a network game (often abbreviated to `netgame'), first the server is started. prboom-game-server accepts various parameters to control the type of game (the skill level, number of players, level to play, optional WAD file(s) to load, etc). Then each player that wishes to participate runs prboom -net hostname, where hostname is the name of the machine on which the server is run- ning. Each copy of prboom retrieves information about the game from the server, and when the specified number of players have joined, the game begins. Options -N players Specifies the number of players in the game (default 2). The server will wait for this many players to join before starting the game. -e epis The episode to play (default 1). Unless you are playing Doom 1 or Ultimate Doom, and wish to play one of the later episodes, you do not need to change this. -l level The level to play (default 1). -s skill Specify the skill level to play (1-5). -d Set game mode to (old) deathmatch (default is cooperative). See the original Doom docs for information about the different net- work game modes. -a Set game mode to `altdeath' (v2 deathmatch) (default is coopera- tive). See the original Doom docs for information about the dif- ferent network game modes. -f Select fast mode (monsters move faster). -n Selects nomonsters mode, i.e. there are no monsters in the game. -r Respawn mode. If you don't know what this is, you don't want to ;-). -c conffilename Specifies a configuration file to read which sets parameters for the game. This is in the same format as the PrBoom configuration file (in fact, you can ask it to read your normal PrBoom config- uration file if you want). Only certain settings are acknowl- edged: default_skill, default_compatibility_level, the compati- bility options and some of the game settings (use -v to have the server print the options as it recognises them). -w wadname[,dl_url] Specifies a WAD file to play. This is added to the internal list that the server keeps. When a client connects, the server sends the list of WADs; PrBoom will then add this to the list of WADs specified on its command line. Optionally, an url to the file can be given too; if when PrBoom connects it cannot find the named WAD, it will attempt to retrieve the file from the given url, extracting it if necessary. See prboom(1) for information about the supported url types and compression formats. -t ticdup Reserved. -x xtics This causes extra information to be sent with each network packet; this will help on networks with high packet loss, but will use more bandwidth. -p port Tells prboom-game-server what port number to communicate via (default 5030). Note that if you change this from the default, then all the clients will also need to specify this number when they try to connect (the default programmed into prboom is also 5030). -v Increases verbosity level; causes more diagnostics to be printed, the more times -v is specified. More Information prboom(6), boom.cfg(5) For more information, see the README that came with PrBoom. Doom is a registered trademark of id software (http://www.idsoft- ware.com/). Author See the file AUTHORS included with the PrBoom distribution. This man page was written by Colin Phipps (cph@moria.org.uk). PRBOOM(6) PRBOOM(6) NAME prboom - PrBoom, a version of Doom for Unix, Linux and Windows systems SYNOPSIS prboom [ -complevel lvl ] [ -width w ] [ -height h ] [ -viewangle n ] [ -vidmode gl ] [ -[no]fullscreen ] [ -[no]window ] [ -iwad iwadname ] [ -file wad1 ... ] [ -deh deh_file ] [ -noload ] [ -loadgame {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7} ] [ -warp { map | epis level } -skill {1,2,3,4,5} ] [ {-fastdemo,-timedemo,-playdemo} demofile [ -ffmap num ] ] [ -record demofile ] [ -solo-net | -net1 ] [ -net hostname[:port] ] [ -death- match [ -altdeath ] ] [ { -timer mins | -avg }] ] [ -nosound ] [ -nosfx ] [ -nomusic] [ -nojoy ] [ -nomouse ] [ -noaccel ] [ -nodraw ] [ -config myconf ] [ -save savedir ] [ -bexout bexdbg ] [ -debugfile debug_file ] [ -devparm ] [ -noblit ] [ -nodrawers ] DESCRIPTION PrBoom is a version of the 3D shoot'em'up Doom, originally by iD soft- ware. It is based on Boom, a version of Doom adapted by TeamTNT (http://www.teamtnt.com/) for DOS. PrBoom uses the SDL library, meaning it can run on a variety of different systems, including Windows, X11, Linux/SVGALib. Options -complevel lvl This sets the compatibility mode that PrBoom runs in. If you need to change this, see README.compat. Video Options -width w Specifies the width of the PrBoom window, in pixels. Default is 320, the width must be greater than 320.. -height h Specifies the height of the PrBoom window, in pixels. Default is 200, the height must be greater than 200. -viewangle n Causes the player view to be rotated by a given offset (speci- fied in 45degree increments, in the range 0..7) from the way the player is facing. -vidmode gl Use the OpenGL video mode. The default is to use the software video mode. -fullscreen, -nofullscreen These options toggle fullscreen mode. The default is fullscreen. -window, -nowindow This pair of options also toggle fullscreen mode. They only take effect for this prboom session and do not alter your configura- tion file. WAD Options -iwad iwadname Specifies the location of the IWAD file, typically doom.wad or doom2.wad (or doom2f.wad). This tells prboom where the main .wad file that came with the version of Doom that you own is. -file wad1 ... Specifies a list of PWAD files to load in addition to the IWAD file. PWAD files modify the existing Doom game, by adding levels or new sounds or graphics. PWAD files are widely available for download; try ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames for starters. -deh deh_file Tells PrBoom to load the dehacked patch deh_file. Game Options -loadgame {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7} Instructs PrBoom to load the specified saved game immediately. -warp { map | epis level } Tells PrBoom to begin a new game immediately. For Doom 1 or Ultimate Doom, you must specify the episode and level number to begin at (epis is 1 for Knee-Deep in the Dead, 2 for Shores of Hell, 3 for Inferno, 4 for Ultimate Doom; level is between 1 and 9). For Doom ][ or Final Doom, you must specify the map to begin at, which is between 1 and 2 (0 for German Doom ][). -skill n Tells PrBoom to begin the game at skill level n (1 for ITYTD, 2 for Not Too Rough, 3 for Hurt Me Plenty, 4 for Ultraviolent, 5 for Nightmare). -respawn Tells PrBoom that monsters that die should respawn (come back to life) after a while. Not for the inexperienced. -fast Tells PrBoom to make all the monsters move react faster. Not for the inexperienced. -nomonsters Tells PrBoom to include no monsters in the game. Multiplayer Options -net hostname[:port] Specifies that a TCP/IP network game is to be started. hostname is the name of the machine on which the network game server is running (prboom-game-server). For more information about this, see prboom-game-server(6) and the README that came with prboom. port is the port number on the remote machine to which to con- nect; if not specified, the default of 5030 (which is the default for prboom-game-server(6) ) is assumed. The server will configure your PrBoom settings, so that all the players have the same game settings (skill, map etc). Also, the server may specify additional PWAD files to play with; if you do not have the required .WAD file, PrBoom will ask the server for a download path, and attempt to use wget(1) and if necessary unzip(1) to download and extract the required WAD. -port portnum Specifies the local port to use to communicate with the server in a netgame. -deathmatch No longer used. Tells PrBoom to begin a deathmatch game, but this is overridden by the server's settings. Only works for sin- gle play (!). -altdeath Similar to -deathmatch, but implies a different set of rules for the deathmatch game. No longer used (specified by the server). -timer mins No longer used. Specifies that levels will end after mins min- utes of play if the level is still being played, but is overrid- den by the server in a netgame. Not really useful for single play. -avg Equivalent to -timer 20 -solo-net | -net1 Used to run a single-player network game, without a network game server. This enables network game items & options for an other- wise single-player game; some demos are recorded like this. -net1 is an alias for -solo-net. Demo (LMP) Options -record demofile Instructs PrBoom to begin recording a demo, to be stored in demofile.lmp. You should specify game options to specify which level and skill to record at. -playdemo demofile Play the recorded demo demofile.lmp -timedemo demofile Play the recorded demo demofile.lmp, reporting information about the length of the demo (in gametics) afterwards. -fastdemo demofile Play the recorded demo demofile.lmp as fast as possible. Useful for benchmarking PrBoom, as compared to other versions of Doom. -ffmap num Fast forward the demo (play at max speed) until reaching map num (note that this takes just a number, not a map name, so so -ffmap 7 to go fast until MAP07 or ExM7). I/O Options -nosound Disables all sound effects and in-game music. This prevents the sound server loading, which lets the game run a little faster. -nosfx Disables sound effects during the game. This does not stop the sound server loading, however, so for best performance use -nosound. -nomusic Disables playing of music in the game. -nojoy Disables joystick support. -nomouse Prevents the mouse being grabbed by the prboom window. -noaccel For prboom, this prevents it using the MITShm server extension for passing the screen data to the X server. This option may be required if the X server is not local. For lsdoom, this tells lsdoom not to use the accelerated graphics functions that SVGALib provides even when they are supported for your video card (normally this is autodetected). -1, -2, -3 Specifies the scale factor by which to enlarge the window. The default, -1, displays the normal 320x200 pixel Doom screen (or whatever size is specified by the -width and -height parameters or in the config file for prboom). If this window is too small, try using -2 or -3 to enlarge the window. -nodraw Suppress all graphical display. Only for debugging & demo testing. Configuration -config myconf Loads an alternative configuration file, named myconf. The default is boom.cfg(5), taken from the same directory as PrBoom was run from, except when running with OpenGL, then the default is glboom.cfg(5). -save savedir Causes prboom to save games in the directory specified by savedir instead of ~/.prboom/. Debugging/Profiling Options -devparm Development mode. Mostly redundant these days, but it does force non-lazy generation of texture lookups which can be useful for level authors debugging PWADs. -debugfile debug_file Causes some debugging information, mainly network info I believe, to be written to the named file as prboom runs. -nodrawers Causes no rendering to be done. The only conceivable use of this is (a) a multiplayer server (b) to test the speed of the other routines in the program, when combined with -timedemo. -noblit Causes no copying to the screen from the rendering buffer to be performed. The only conceivable use of this is (a) a multiplayer server (b) to test the speed of the other routines in the pro- gram, when combined with -timedemo. -bexout bexdbg Causes diagnostics related to bex and dehacked file processing to be written to the names file. More Information wget(1), unzip(1), boom.cfg(5), prboom-game-server(6) For more information, see the README that came with PrBoom, the Boom documentation, and your original Doom documentation. Doom is a registered trademark of id software (http://www.idsoft- ware.com/). Author See the file AUTHORS included with the PrBoom distribution. local PRBOOM(6)