Vanilla Doom DOSBox Tutorial: Setup, Playing WADs and DEHs

[@ClassicDOOM]

Nicely done. This video's now linked from the classicdoom site in the 'news' section, for at least a couple weeks. :)

[@DoomKid]

Thanks Ledmeister!

[@DoomKid]

0:20 Configuring DosBox 2:49 Running DosBox and setting Doom up 5:18 Setting mouse sensitivity and "always run" (joyb_speed 29 or 31) 6:13 Running custom Wads and Dehacked files in Vanilla Doom 9:08 Using DEUSF for Wads with custom sprites (crashing on Playloop State) Download Doom EXEs - doomshack.org/~doomkid/doom_vanilla_exes.zip

[@thedoominator]

Just the thing I need. I'm making a strictly vanilla wad, but never knew how to setup a dosbox & play custom stuff on it or test it. Thanks!

[@DoomKid]

No problem!

[@alexh2790]

I'd add that novert is nice to have too, it disables the vertical movement of the mouse so you're not going forward/backward while looking left and right.

[@DoomKid]

Absolutely, although I play with mouse movement I always keep a copy of novert

[@samuelpinfold4136]

How exactly do I use novert? I've never used any kind of dosbox or similar software before. No idea what I'm doing, any help would be appreciated.

[@alexh2790]

@@samuelpinfold4136 If memory serves correct you either run the executable prior to doom.exe or you add it after the doom.exe. ex: "doom.exe novert.exe" One of those should work.

[@Nikku4211]

When Chocolate Doom isn't accurate enough.

[@Nikku4211]

@Sadist Fake Bootleg Tiki When you need all of the classic vanilla quirks with the complete classic vanilla aesthetic.

[@asais1024]

You may use DOSBox-X instead of the main DOSBox branch due to one massive feature: DOSBOX-X support GL shaders, which means you can emulate a CRT monitor using those shaders (the one I personally use is CRT-Easymode, albeit there are more included) so DOOM will look more intended as it was in the 90's, the scanlines blend those pixels together and mask the rather very low internal resolution of DOOM. For the people that don't want to use DOSBox-X but still want the darker look of DOOM that CRT's scanlines cause, there's the Jovian Palette. You can set fullresolution=desktop which is faster than setting fullresolution=2560x1440 or whatever resolution your monitor has.

[@DoomKid]

Thank you, this is very useful!

[@asais1024]

@@DoomKid Now I use the DOSBox SVN branch included in RetroArch solely for that CRT-Royale shader, despite difficulties setting up it looks gorgeous.

[@TrashMindFuck]

@@asais1024 Any guides on how I can set up a CRT shader in DOSBox SVN?

[@domukaz]

Thanks a lot for making this video and keeping up with new information in the comments. I recently started digging into your Vanilla Megapack from Doomworld and have been wondering about testing Down the Drain, Scythe, etc. in the original .exe files.

[@DoomKid]

If you have any trouble, let me know. Doom32.exe can run Scythe fine, even Scythe II will work if you use DEUSF alongside it. I’m pretty darn sure Down the Drain also works as long as you use Doom32!

[@domukaz]

@@DoomKid It was pretty easy, all things considered. I think I'll probably default to Chocolate Doom for my vanilla needs, but if I get into vanilla-compat mapping, I'll want a Truly Vanilla Environment for testing. Thanks for doing so much work to make this accessible!

[@MartinJungblut]

In addition to being super informative, this video also has a certain ASMR feel to it. Thank you very much!

[@DoomKid]

No problem!

[@RK_LEO19]

Thank you so much sir, runs well and no lag also run wads and a tutorial that are less complicated than the others. Agian, thanks😁

[@DoomKid]

I know this was half a year ago but you are welcome!

[@ArchDoomAddict]

If a WADcan be played in vanilla, I always use Dosbox, I use it also with the 4 iWads. DOSBox is a great way to play the classic games in my opinion, just has a charm to it.

[@DoomKid]

Totally agreed!

[@Hayden49]

6:46 how do I get those dehacked exes? I've got dhe31 downloaded but there isn't all those exes.

[@Hayden49]

Nevermind figured it out

[@DoomKid]

In the description, I have a link to “vanilla EXEs”. When you download that, you should be able to find a DEHACKED folder, which will have all that stuff inside.

[@Hayden49]

@@DoomKid thanks you still helped me out

[@DARBOID.]

What should I do if my mod doesn't have a .deh?

[@Lippeth]

Thanks so much for this, I always forget how to load custom sprites with Deusf and keep having to come back. See you in a month.

[@coderpenguin1]

Thanks for the tutorial! Been wanting to stray a bit from sourceports and go a pure as I can without lashing tons of money on old hardware. Also I had bought the Steam version of Ultimate Doom, the utilities were missing as Bethesda decided not to include them with the Steam Version, but you so happen to have the download link for it plus the other EXEs for other DOOM games I may buy in the future, along with some other goodies for setup. Just a big thanks overall, got me set up for old school slaying!

[@DoomKid]

Glad this vid helped you out!

[@fornaza-n8q]

Hey! Can you answer me a question? How to i only look with the mouse? Because i can normaly turn my camera left and Right normaly with the mouse, but i walk with It, i dont want to walk with mouse, How can i disable the mouse walk option? I Just want to walk with the keyboard look with mouse not walk with It.

[@DoomKid]

There's a tool called NOVERT.COM that helps to avoid that issue! Run it before booting Doom in DosBox: www.doomworld.com/idgames/utils/misc/novert

[@fornaza-n8q]

@@DoomKid thanks for the help! Now i can play normaly

[@asais1024]

Chocolate DOOM is also an alternative to DOSBox for people looking for the vanilla experience but with an easier setup. Albeit DOS edition objectively has it's charm.

[@asais1024]

Albeit, despite the common belief, Chocolate DOOM actually adds some new features that were not in the DOS versions (or more accurately, not possible to do in the DOS version), namely digital music pack support (albeit you can use the EmperorGrieferus' SC-55 soundfont on DOSBox to basically get the same result if we're talking about emulating the SC-55 experience, considering it's what DOOM's music was composed on), more mouse buttons are mappable (namely, you can bind use to the right mouse button without having to double-click), and built-in DeHackEd and DeuSF support without having to install additional executables. Fun fact: The new Unity-wrapper rerelease actually uses code from Chocolate DOOM for the DeHackEd functionality.

[@Twenteeeee]

dude thank you i have been wanting to play on dosbox since I got doom II

[@DoomKid]

You're very welcome

[@Twenteeeee]

@@DoomKid I got a high quality sound mod to work but it sounds extremely compressed but that's dosbox

[@RedHelix]

Hey Mr. Doom Kid thanks for all your hard work and contribution to the doom community. I've been inspired to use dosbox to play through doom thanks to you but I have a weird bug and cannot find anything else on the internet about it. When I use the -fast command, and reload a save as soon as there's a big moment of action and i fire my gun it freezes and I just cannot figure out why this happens. Have you heard of anything like this? it doesnt happen with sourceports only dosbox. My settings are exactly as you outlined in this video.

[@DoomKid]

This is so strange - thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'll look into it. Never heard of this issue til now!

[@haseenabadshah5381]

doesn't*

[@PSIBoredomOmega]

@@haseenabadshah5381 why does that matter? Its just a missing apostrophe.

[@dorys__toes]

k so everything works but whenever i click “save parameters for doom2” it says “bad V_DrawPatch” pls help

[@brainstewX]

5:35 So, 'always run' IS possible in DOSBox Doom after all.... Mind blown.

[@DoomKid]

I didn’t know for many years!

[@reptongeek]

If you wanted to play Alien Vendetta or Hell Revealed without mods on DOSbox how would you do that? Or something like The Classic Episode which replaces The Shores of Hell in The Ultimate Doom

[@nikithegamer5165]

heya doomkid, thanks for this, I've now been playing doom on dosbox only when it doesn't have any new features, but I do need help in setting up doom and, deusf is giving me some problems, maybe a video on setting up boom for the future? you are doing a lot for the community already, but wich files do I need to put in my doom folder from the deutex one for it to work? I am trying to keep it lean on the read me files, so I need help on that

[@DoomKid]

Hi, have you tried asking about this at Doomworld forums? Someone may be able to help you with this!

[@nikithegamer5165]

I will try it

[@G_pack55]

when i type in setup in dosbox it says illegal command

[@Vix_Inhaler]

Thank you for this good tutorial

[@DoomKid]

You are welcome!

[@kittykenderson]

im curious, do you actually use windows 7 or is that windows 10 with windowblinds and what not?

[@MondySpartan]

Somehow, I also want the experience of installing DOOM itself from DOSBox, this one already has stuff aside from the IWADs prepared. Is there any way?

[@benrichardson5798]

Hi, Doomkid! Nice tutorial. I have some questions for you: - I put an higher resolution, I put true after fullscreen but when I run DOSBOX and Doom it's just a tiny screen. How do I resolve this? (EDIT: Nvm, I solved this thanks to the comment above) - After I alredy put a wad inside the DOOM2 directory can I put another one? Does this operation confuses the program when I type "dehmake"? Can it recognize multiple wads in one directory?

[@DoomKid]

Having multiple wads should be no problem! Just comment again if you have any troubles.

[@benrichardson5798]

@@DoomKid Sorry for late reply. Yeah, you're right. The program asked me what .deh file I wanted to load and it worked fine. Thanks!

[@benrichardson5798]

@@DoomKid I have two more things to tell you : - First, I wanted to inform you that I sent you a translation of this song as a response to your comment where you asked for it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4HKZKKoidiprZY - Two, I downloaded Memento Mori (updated version: www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/mm/mm_allup ), I loaded the MM.wad and the MMMUS.wad but I noticed that the title screen won't change (while judging by some videos made by people on YT show a custom MM title screen). How can I solve this?

[@benrichardson5798]

@@DoomKid EDIT: Ok, maybe it's not a real problem. The Doom Wiki says that it has no title screen. But I noticed that some videos show a black and white title screen like here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZKqYXSJfKqMhrs

[@Bytefyre]

Thanks for the very informative video! I have a question…I’ve tried using Doom32 to run BtSX in DOSBox, but it always seems to get stuck when it tries to load the a and b WAD files together. Considering Doom32 came into existence because of BtSX, can you think of any reason why this would happen?

[@theoriginaldrdust]

Could you speedrun with this or will it be full of crazy sr69 movements

[@DoomKid]

Sorry for my late reply, but you can speedrun with this for sure.

[@Baeath]

Thank you so much!

[@bensnacmachine5037]

Mine crashes every time I try to save game when using doom32 and udoom32 exes. The doom plus exes work fine though. Anyone have this problem?

[@enora2700]

for the dehmake command, it says its an illegal command :(

[@headstomper4857]

Can you make a video on loading wads for ipx multiplayer

[@PSXDRIVERPLAYERBSTH]

Similar to my explanations on the subject made a while back, but without all the mod stuff and I let people find everything themselves - with DOSBox I prefer to autoexec to whatever is set to C:\ drive, then just use the own installer of any game I want to play, then config using the SETUP.EXE, which in Doom's case, comes up automagically when the installation is done anyway, to make some configurations (General MIDI is not so bad as everyone says, I use that as well) and then play, after that I usually play the game when I return to it. I seem to use a different control setup, still modified though. Surprised that NOVERT wasn't utilized here at all (I know what it does, but I don't personally use it). Also I recall that inside DOSBox you could just move to another folder and then back to make it refresh the folder contents, or just move away from it and then add all the stuff and move back to it.

[@jess648]

oh I’m definitely gonna try this

[@DoomKid]

Hope it works for you!

[@jess648]

@@DoomKid Crispy Doom already was my gateway into Doom itself so it shouldn’t be too bad plus getting a window into what people had at the start (with the advantage of 30 years of hardware development) should be quite eye opening

[@gta_s555sad]

i still dont understand what you´re supposed to do ive tried everything in this video and it doesnt work

[@spudmatix8770]

Dude i love you!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! nothing i did worked and then ur video immediately allows me to play DOOM :-D THANk YOU X1000000000000000

[@DoomKid]

I’m glad it helped!

[@BetterCallNico]

Hello! When I try to run it on doom 1993, it say that ´´setup`` is a illegal command

[@DoomKid]

Is this in DosBox?

[@McSpongeCartoons]

I would play dos box, i just hate the bugs that affect gameplay, like visplane overflow, and when you save and load the enemies go back to sleep

[@DoomKid]

In general, even aside from bugs, it’s way more of a pain in the ass than using any source port. I still use it because at this point I’ve got the process as streamlined as possible, but I’d only recommend it to people who insist on the “true original” Doom, which is arguably worse than the slightly improved iteration most ports are. (Btw there’s a program called Doom32.exe that you can look up on DoomWiki that avoids the damn visplane overflows).

[@McSpongeCartoons]

@@DoomKid im aware of doom32, but i just cant get over the whole thing when you save and load the game monsters go back to sleep. It can ruin some teleport ambushes on maps like hell revealed map 18.

[@lmaoxy1423]

Do you know how to disable the 'Move mouse = Move the direction you moved' option in dosbox? Its, quite annoying for my muscle memory.

[@DoomKid]

Here’s a small util that will do it, simply run this before launching Doom www.doomworld.com/idgames/utils/misc/novert

[@chrisgamesgr8562]

Could you make a tutorial, on how to setup the doom 2 beta ? Thank you!

[@quixoticdragon2357]

Hey, is there a way to get the full version for magic dosbox on Android

[@DoomKid]

Unfortunately, I’m not sure one way or the other (though someone at Doomworld May be able to help)

[@Windows-bf1ds]

why does nobody break down what i have to do before this?

[@BF-Gator]

why do you mount directories instead of just dragging dropping your game onto dosbox icon

[@DoomKid]

Just for the sake of playing wads really

[@swagmaster4284]

how to run just wads in dosbox? I want to play wads i have in dosbox but they dont have dehacked files.

[@DoomKid]

Sorry for late reply, That would just be "doom2 -file wadname.wad" for example

[@swagmaster4284]

@@DoomKid yea I figured it out know thanks though:)

[@xX_Lol6_Xx]

@Paintball-Bomb once you are mounted in the directory where your doom exe is, type "DOOM2.EXE -file yourwad.wad" and press enter

[@borpothewizard]

Problem(s): After I enter "Save parameters and launch DOOM II" it just says "Problem EXECing DOOM2.EXE! Probably not in same directory!" I'm not sure what it means because... yes it is, along with DOOM2.WAD. If I try to start it manually it'll just say: "Game mode indeterminate." Whaaat

[@DoomKid]

So doom2.exe, setup.exe, doom2.wad are all in the same dir? (It sounds like it, but I just want to triple check, lol.) It may be the issue that you need to "CD" to your actual Doom2 folder. So if your folder is in C:\Doom\Doom2\, you would type "CD C:\Doom\Doom2\" to make sure you're "in" that folder before trying to actually run Doom2.exe. I hope this helps, I know this can be a bit of a bitch at times.

[@borpothewizard]

@@DoomKid Hm, I see. I'll try that in a bit. Thanks lad.

[@azio301]

You deserve more views

[@DoomKid]

Thanks!

[@eliteguard225]

DOSBox refuses to mount to any other drive and says "You are still on drive Z:, change to a mounted drive with C:."

[@DoomKid]

That's really strange, I usually just type "mount c c:\doom2" which works for me (as long as my doom2 folder is in C: of course)

[@yasocks7009]

First mount c c: /doom2 Then type c: Then you will be mounted to c:/ drive

[@PSIBoredomOmega]

Hey, this is a really great tutorial, even in 2021, but I have a slight issue, as my games framerate shits itself when I make a single sharp turn with my mouse. Is there a way to fix this so that way it is at least less impactful on the experience?

[@DoomKid]

Sadly I’m not sure how to fix it as I’ve never experienced it - you could try asking at Doomworld or at VOGONS which is a hub of dos experts

[@apolinario_57]

If I only have the wad file how can I do it?

[@DoomKid]

Check out Doom Full collection on archive dot org, sorry I'm so late to reply.

[@powerfulaura5166]

Why emulate over Chocolate Doom? For the novelty?

[@DoomKid]

Novelty/familiarity mainly, I would definitely recommend Chocolate or a source port for someone who is just looking to jump in though

[@josephfrye7342]

@@DoomKid well actualy chocolate doom will kinda be like doom 95 or mac doom but compared to the actual vanilla dos doom but chocolate doom can be macintosh compatible i tried loading those to mac os x but it's kinda a bitch to run or get it to work while I checked it out. but I'm settled for gzdoom and lzdoom for modern computers such as windows 10 and mac os x catilina

[@Lippeth]

Back again to say thanks because I never seem to remember how to use DeuSF.

[@DoomKid]

You're very welcome, Lippeth!

[@teoslayer2005]

About the DOS vanilla, I've been playing it on a browser instead of downloading a DOSBox Emu hee hee

[@vic3083]

i did everything but it wont launch sad

[@DoomKid]

If vanilla gives you trouble, I'd recommend trying a source port, it's far easier

[@patrickhebenstreit3824]

Thank you!

[@DoomKid]

No problem!

[@Crackers0106]

Has anyone ever gotten Timidity to work with Chocolate Doom? I want my good ol SC-55 soundfont

[@BF-Gator]

how do you run a wad i don't get it

[@DoomKid]

Put the wad in your Doom folder, then navigate to that folder in DOSBox, and type “Doom -file wadname.wad”. Same process for Doom2 as well

[@BF-Gator]

@@DoomKid Thank you very much!!

[@BF-Gator]

@@DoomKid It's working thank you so much!!

[@DoomKid]

@@BF-Gator No problem at all!

[@Vict7633]

for some reason, i dont find the file in my steam doom directory. dosbox is the but the options batch insnt.

[@DoomKid]

In the description, there’s a link to “vanilla EXEs”, it has a bunch of the missing files - Steam “attempted” to include the DOS version, but forgot essential files, so it’s basically worthless without the extras provided in that ZIP in the description

[@maratonec5]

hey doomkid, thanks

[@DoomKid]

No problem!

[@pseudojournalist]

it is saying setup is ilegal help

[@DoomKid]

You need to run Setup.exe under DosBox

[@MrGhoulster]

I know this video has few years on it now, but for some reason, doom 2 refuses to start. Plutonia and Ultimate Doom works like a charm though…

[@josephfrye7342]

yep vanilla the rabbit or vanilla ice cream more like vanilla original md dos version or dosbox version. this is the original dos version the one that had ms dos mode or using ms dos.

[@josephfrye7342]

and we know this is gonna render software vanilla mode.

[@yasocks7009]

I can't load any wads that aren't total conversions and yes I am using doom32

[@DoomKid]

Have you tried a source port such as Chocolate Doom? When DosBox gives trouble, it's a decent fallback

[@yasocks7009]

Thanks

[@Jrremess]

thx dude

[@DoomKid]

You're welcome!

[@zatozatoichi7920]

Man, talk about cumbersome! I don't want to sound like a dick, but why not just simply Chocolate Doom 3.0.1 + Doom Explorer for the easy creation of parametered shortcuts? I'm honestly just curious.

[@DoomKid]

This is just for people who are nostalgic for DOS, lol. Chocolate Doom is undoubtedly easier!

[@zatozatoichi7920]

@@DoomKid Ah, so you miss the convoluted fuckery as well, not just the actual gameplay. You must be leading a relatively happy life. XD I get it, man. Have a C-64, a P233 MMX, a Tualatin Voodoo box and such. Grew up roughly in the same era as you.

[@wirebrushofenlightenment1545]

DOOM!

[@Doomer6699]

and if that doesn't work buy it on Steam XD

[@rblvdk]

You cant play user wads on doom steam version

[@asais1024]

@@rblvdk And it's a pile of crap too. Preconfigured like this: Enabled Gravis Ultrasound emulation, albeit no GUS patches provided, making it nonfunctional, but that's not so noticable since the config has soundblaster music selected by default Aspect correction disabled 800x600 full resolution by default, instead of fullresolution=desktop, that makes the game play in a minimized screensize Fulldouble/vsync enabled, causes the game to slow down a lot of the time No setup executable provided, making key rebinding impossible No multiplayer executables provided, making multiplayer over DOSBox's TCP/IP emulation impossible

[@blakethecat5556]

Nope, fuck it, GZDoom it is

[@Green_Gorilla_]

Spasibo from russia

[@Scaley_Reptile]

and when I follow the video... no matter what WAD I try.. keep getting stuck at "init daemon" part of load screen.. Think I give up for now, Meant to hang with my son today, been up all night my eyes are burning.. FIRST TRY... got one to work, first try.. using the DWANGO20.WAD..... then after that, always detected its a different WAD and refused to boot.

[@DoomKid]

This is really frustrating - I wish I knew what would cause this. That hang usually happens when a wad needs to be appended using DeuSF, but I don't know if that's the case here

[@theCHAINER.RAMMSTEIN]

it says game mode not specified and doesn't launch doom :(

[@Z4r15thus]

same here

[@DoomKid]

You might be using the wrong version of the EXE with the wad - if you check out "Doom full collection" on archive dot org, you'll find ISOs that have the original wads and EXEs which pair together properly.