prboom - PrBoom, a version of Doom for Unix, Linux and Windows systems

prboom [-complevel lvl]

[-width w] [-height h]

[-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]

[-net hostname[:port]] [-deathmatch [-altdeath]] [-timer mins | -avg]

[-nosound] [-nosfx] [-nomusic] [-nojoy] [-nomouse] [-noaccel] [-1|-2|-3]

[-config myconf] [-save savedir]

[-bexout bexdbg] [-debugfile debug_file] [-devparm] [-noblit] [-nodrawers]

PrBoom is a version of the 3D shoot'em'up Doom, originally by iD software. 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.

-complevel lvl

This sets the compatibility mode that PrBoom runs in. If you need to change this, see README.compat.

-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.

-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.

-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 32 (30 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.

-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 connect; 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 tha 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 single 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 minutes of play if the level is still being played, but is overridden by the server in a netgame. Not really useful for single play.

-avg

Equivalent to -timer 20.

-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).

-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.

-config myconf

Loads an alternative configuration file, named myconf. The default is prboom.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/.

-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 program, when combined with -timedemo.

-bexout bexdbg

Causes diagnostics related to bex and dehacked file processing to be written to the names file.

wget(1), unzip(1), prboom.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.idsoftware.com).

See the file AUTHORS included with the PrBoom distribution.