Doom for DC v1.4

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Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

Okay, here's v1.4 of Doom for Dreamcast. Doom for the Dreamcast is a port based on older Doom code. In that sense, it's more like Chocolate Doom. It does support variable resolution, allowing you to run at 320x240, or 640x480, for example. It plays the MUS format music in the WAD files by converting them to MIDI, then playing that via libWildMIDI. Doom for DC supports regular controllers, the mouse, and the keyboard. The primary stats from the HUD are shown on the VMU screen of the controller so that you can play with the screen size set to turn off the status bar.

There are quick cheats, cheat selection, and of course all cheats via the keyboard. Read the readme file for details on that. The game starts in a GUI that allows you to set nearly every option, and save them to the VMU. All IWADs are supported and easily selected through the GUI. It also allows up to four patch WAD files, and four dehacked files, also all easily selected through the GUI. Note that patch WAD files or replacement IWAD files should be DOOM compliant, not BOOM compliant.

Network support allows you to play against up to three other players across the internet. On the Dreamcast, you need the BBA to use networking. The readme describes how to setup the network options. It can be a bit involved, so please read it carefully.

Since the last official release, preset files have been added. They are text files that go in the presets directory. There is a readme in the directory that explains how the files should be made, and includes a couple examples. This version also uses the store queue to improve the frame rate... you get an extra four FPS in 640x480. Remember that the music is also currently being played by the main CPU, so you can turn off the music for another one or two FPS. Every little bit helps in 640x480 mode. :grin:

There are two files: one is the SelfBoot Inducer file; it's a zip file that is load by SBI to make a DC disc. Be sure to add any IWADs to the iwad directory (and other files to their respective directories) before actually making the disc in SBI. The second file is a 7zip arc of the source directory the way it is in my projects directory, suitable for making a self-boot disc via makefile (make selfboot). Again, add any needed files to the proper directories before doing so.

DCDoom-SW-CW-1.4.sbi
DCDoom-1.4.7z

If you make this yourself, be sure to remember to make libwildmidi (included in the source), and be sure to patch and update the KOS biosfont (also included). Here's an arc of just the biosfont diff file for anyone who just want to look at that (cough - BlueCrab - cough). Also remember that KOS thread functions changed a bit, so the Doom source won't compile on older versions of KOS. Please update your toolchain and KOS. There's a thread on how to update to the latest here. It's for Windows, but can easily be applied to linux as well. The only thing is to use gcc-4.5.2.tar.bz2 instead of gcc-core-4.5.2.tar.bz2 as the instructions say; the core version has a bug that causes it to fail when building gcc for ARM.

biosfont-diff.zip
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

Cool, I'll have to try it asap, 4 extra fps is nice at the higher resolution.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by mankrip »

:grin: Great news, thanks.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Basil »

Thanks for update but it seems like it's not working through sd adapter . Dreamcast just reloads . Can you make it work from sd card ?
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Nico0020 »

very cool. without a dreamast in Japan so wont be able to try it until the end of summer (which hopefully more releases will happen by then lol)

If I could request something. Is it possible to give customizable controls at all?
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

Basil wrote:Thanks for update but it seems like it's not working through sd adapter . Dreamcast just reloads . Can you make it work from sd card ?
If I can get an SD adapter, I will. That would be much better than the CD. :grin:
Nico0020 wrote:If I could request something. Is it possible to give customizable controls at all?
That is in the plans for the next MAJOR update. It will also feature a new core... one that is Boom compatible. Probably PrBoom+.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

sweet. :)
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Stryfe »

As always, thanks CW.

:grin:
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

will the new core be faster, slower, or equal in speed?
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

law56ker wrote:will the new core be faster, slower, or equal in speed?
That depends. The game itself should be about the same; boom just added a few things, like new definitions. It all comes down to the rendering portion. I think if I use the same software rendering, it should be about the same, you'll just have all the new boom features. I might look over the GL renderer to see if it could be used - hardware 3D on the PVR might do better than the software rendering. Won't be sure until I've got it running.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

Sounds good, how much more do you think you can optimize doom for the dreamcast? It would be nice to see 25-30 fps for the higher resolution. I noticed when music is disabled there is only a small increase in frame-rate. Am I I wrong to think that the frame-should be higher with sound disabled? Will you have an option to enable free look once you the new engine is implemented? Of course being able to map controls will be nice.

I think another good idea is to show a "load" or "save" text on the save load screen, it would be a little less confusing, not really necessary. Could you possibly have a game-save browser implemented?

This is one of the best homebrew on the dreamcast, IMO. I hope you continue to improve it. I know the scene isn't as big as it used to be, but there is still many hardcore dreamcasters that appreciate the work of the home-brew developers. Dreamcast is where I started with console emulation, I saw the birth and I don't want to see the death.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Stryfe »

...

I'd be happy with just support for (Pr)Boom mods being added. The rest sounds like asking a bit too much. The DC has it's limits after all, in a homebrew done-in-your-own-free-time kinda way.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

law56ker wrote:Sounds good, how much more do you think you can optimize doom for the dreamcast? It would be nice to see 25-30 fps for the higher resolution. I noticed when music is disabled there is only a small increase in frame-rate. Am I I wrong to think that the frame-should be higher with sound disabled? Will you have an option to enable free look once you the new engine is implemented? Of course being able to map controls will be nice.
25-30 in high-res is a bit much to expect from a software drawn game on a system like the DC. Hence the 3D processor. :wink:

I did say turning off the music would only give a frame or two per second. The sound mixing is all fairly low-impact. I used the same kind of mixing on the A1200 which was a 14MHz 020 CPU with only a 5% impact on speed. It would only be a BIG difference on much older and slower systems, like the 32X and GBA. I recently did a MOD player for the 32X putting all the sound mixing and mod handling on the Slave SH2 - it takes much more of the CPU power there than it would here on the DC.

I think PrBoom+ GL has the free look option. It's one of the pros of switching to the hardware 3D rendering.

I think another good idea is to show a "load" or "save" text on the save load screen, it would be a little less confusing, not really necessary. Could you possibly have a game-save browser implemented?
If you mean Doom's load/save, that is part of Doom itself. I left the game mostly as-is. I probably could insert my own load/save, but I won't in this version. That's too much work for something I'm getting ready to replace. After I get the new core working I could look into it.

If you mean my settings load/save at the start, the OSK shows "Enter Load Name" or "Enter Save Name" at the top of the screen. I think it's fairly self-explanatory. :grin:
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by BlueCrab »

Chilly Willy wrote:If you make this yourself, be sure to remember to make libwildmidi (included in the source), and be sure to patch and update the KOS biosfont (also included). Here's an arc of just the biosfont diff file for anyone who just want to look at that (cough - BlueCrab - cough).
Well, its not exactly the same as what your patch had, but I've committed something very similar to what you had as r705. The major difference is that you have to set the color in the right color format, rather than always in 32-bit xRGB8888 notation. This is a bit more general, and will allow people to use ARGB4444 and ARGB1555 if they want to (to, for instance, render to a texture).
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

BlueCrab wrote:Well, its not exactly the same as what your patch had, but I've committed something very similar to what you had as r705. The major difference is that you have to set the color in the right color format, rather than always in 32-bit xRGB8888 notation. This is a bit more general, and will allow people to use ARGB4444 and ARGB1555 if they want to (to, for instance, render to a texture).
Great! Yeah, that's better than what I did. Thanks for implementing that - I'll modify my code in Doom for the new facilities.
:grin:

EDIT: Okay, here's the v1.4 altered to use the new biosfont code. You won't notice anything different about the display... the new biosfont functions handle everything I used to do. In any case, this is perhaps the last update on this code base; I've already started working on prboom2, so there's no reason to keep updating this. If the music sounds a bit different for this version, I swapped the normal GUS patches for a set of Roland instruments people claim is "superior". I guess I'll leave it to folks to make up their own mind.

DCDoom-v1.4.1.7z
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

Not to get off topic but, Chilly, I also have a psp and xbox. The newest version I can find for psp is 1.4, is that correct? Is it possible that you could develop a port for the xbox?
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

law56ker wrote:Not to get off topic but, Chilly, I also have a psp and xbox. The newest version I can find for psp is 1.4, is that correct? Is it possible that you could develop a port for the xbox?
I believe that's the latest for the PSP. When I finish prboom2 for the DC, I'll be porting that back over to the PSP, and probably the N64... and maybe the PS2 and GC. I probably could port it over to the XBox... if I had one. :lol:

Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a used one... that would give me pretty much everything in the older generations of consoles.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by law56ker »

You should really invest in an xbox, cool homebrew, emulation of almost every gamings system up to the psx and n64. I have the xecuter modchip with an lcd/usb front panel, you can use a mouse and keyboard on many homebrews.
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Stryfe »

Anyone else have issues with the game presets not loading correctly? I have to manually add the files before launching.

Also...

After creating myself a mod disc with the last release, I never bothered testing anything other than the regular Doom wads with this one.

I can't seem to get any pwads working in this revision. And yes, I'm using vanilla compatible pwads (They've been tested in ChocoDoom, and DosBox).
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Re: Doom for DC v1.4

Post by Chilly Willy »

Stryfe wrote:Anyone else have issues with the game presets not loading correctly? I have to manually add the files before launching.
Can you be more specific about the issue?

After creating myself a mod disc with the last release, I never bothered testing anything other than the regular Doom wads with this one.

I can't seem to get any pwads working in this revision. And yes, I'm using vanilla compatible pwads (They've been tested in ChocoDoom, and DosBox).
Works fine for me. Both this problem and the previous sound like you aren't setting the path correctly, or the path cannot be handled for some reason... spaces or "special" characters in the paths maybe? I don't know if KOS can handle that. Look again at my example settings file:

Code: Select all

Doominator
-width
320
-height
240
-music
-iwad
/cd/iwad/doomu.wad
-file
/cd/pwad/D1/Doominator/dminator.wad
-deh
/cd/deh/suprwep8.deh
-maponhu
-rotatemap
-forcedemo
-rumble
That works just fine for me. It should for you as well, given you have the files in the proper place with the proper name. Are you matching the case exactly? Maybe KOS is case sensitive.

The arg handling code uses strcasecmp(), so the switches should be case insensitive. Remember that -file and -deh should only appear ONCE, with up to four filenames following.
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