BadMood alpha v0.1 - 'Classic Doom'

[16/01/2014]


This is the first fully playable release of 'Doom I' using the 'BadMood' 3D
engine on the Atari Falcon030 platform. It has been in development for a
ridiculous amount of time, albeit not continuously :-) Finally you can play it!


Requirements:

- Atari Falcon030 @ 16MHz
- 14MB RAM (sorry - for now at least)
- minimum of 30MB HD free (12MB for main WAD + space for fully expanded cache)
- Doom IWAD file v1.9 - Shareware Doom / Registered Doom / Ultimate Doom
- Atari mouse (or better)
- RGB/TV or VGA display (RGB/TV recommended for slightly better performance)
- 50Hz signal compatibility in case of RGB/TV equipment

Non-requirements (because, needing these would suck!):

- FPU
- Accelerator
- FastRAM


Setup:

Copy these files to a directory on your HD:

> bmdoom.ttp 
> default.cfg
> doomu.wad (for Ultimate Doom v1.9)

Three IWADs are currently accepted, with 3 different names. The name *does*
affect how the game runs so don't try to be too clever with renaming! If you
get problems, check that you do have the right version of the WAD. There are
several of each in circulation...

Ultimate Doom v1.9:		doomu.wad	12,408,292 bytes
Registered Doom v1.9:		doom.wad	11,159,840 bytes
Shareware Doom v1.9:		doom1.wad	 4,196,020 bytes

Note that you may need to get patched/updated WADs in order to make them v1.9
compatible. Check the filesizes.

Ultimate Doom may be found with the name 'doom.wad' but must be renamed to
'doomu.wad' to work with this fork of the game code, otherwise problems will
occur accessing named resources.

Doom II support is disabled for the alpha release. It will likely be 
introduced later.


Configuration & Keys:

There is a default configuration 'default.cfg' which the game looks for each
time it is launched, and is 'good to go'. You will probably want replace it
though if you prefer different keys or settings.

Many of the usual Doom commandline arguments will work with bmdoom.ttp, as will
the usual Doom configuration fields in default.cfg. However there are a few
differences if you decide to start changing things.

Key mappings for normal alphanumeric keys are expected as ASCII value codes,
but can be entered as plaintext e.g. use 'w' for the W key

(use single ' quotes for keys - don't use double " quotes because this infers
a string and key bindings are not string arguments! The game will crash...)

Special keys (e.g. arrows, SHIFT, CTRL) must be specified using funny Doom
scancodes, as decimal or hex values (without any quotes) and these can be found
as extra comments in the supplied default.cfg file. Use those comments for
reference. Note that these 'funny scancodes' are not Atari scancodes!

The old 'detaillevel' config variable still works, but it has been split into
two more variables: 'xdetaillevel' 'ydetaillevel'. These set the horizontal
and vertical detail levels independently. They are also accessible at any time
during play using the F5 (for horizontal) & F4 (for vertical) keys to toggle.

'screenblocks' sets the size of the play window. 3 is the smallest possible
size. 11 is the highest (fullscreen). 10 uses a full sized window but retains
the statusbar. The default is 8, which seems to give a balanced framerate on
the Falcon using only horizontal low detail mode.

Using both detail modes together is mainly useful if playing with a full sized
window or fullscreen mode, otherwise it's a bit too blocky for gameplay.

The +/- keys resize the game window (screenblocks) from within the game.

'sfx_volume' sets the audio volume. The default is 12. Max is 15.


Game Controls:

There are only a few essential keys/controls, but several different styles of
control. They are approximately the same as Dos Doom, with a few differences
to better suit the Atari keyboard layout.


1) Simple keys

This is probably recommended for new players. It's easy to learn quickly. 
This is also the default setting for the released package.

 UPARROW         move forwards
 DOWNARROW       move backwards
 LEFTARROW       turn left
 RIGHTARROW      turn right
 SHIFT           (hold) 'strafe mode' i.e. converts 'turning' into 'sidestepping'
 CTRL            fire weapon
 SPACE           use switch / open door / nudge platform etc.
 ALT             (hold) walk / fine movements
 'a'             strafe left
 's'             strafe right
 
 TAB             toggle the automap.

 HELP            toggle the help screen (content is now stale, from Dos Doom)


2) Pro controls (two handed 'mouselook' control)

Note: this requires using a second config file (pro.cfg), which you can rename
or pass to bmdoom.ttp using the commandline -config pro.cfg

 UPARROW         move forwards
 DOWNARROW       move backwards
 LEFTARROW       strafe left
 RIGHTARROW      strafe right 
 MOUSE           turn left/right
 MOUSE-LB        (click or hold) fire weapon
 MOUSE-RB        (slow doubleclick) use switch / open door
 MOUSE-RB        (hold) walk
 
 SPACE           use switch / open door
 
 TAB             toggle the automap.

 HELP            toggle the help screen (content is now stale, from Dos Doom)
 

Note: JagPad support is 50% done, but not quite there yet.


Launching the game:

Make sure bmdoom.ttp, default.cfg, <?>.wad are in the same directory.

Run bmdoom.ttp without arguments to run the game normally. It will read the
'default.cfg' file, but an alternative config can be passed using the command:

 -config myprefs.cfg


Disk usage:

The game will create a new folder 'BMC' which will become populated with many
files as you progress through the levels. This significantly accelerates
loading versus reading from the WADs directly. There must be a decent amount of
free space to build this cache - e.g. 2x the size of the WAD at least.


Performance notes:

See release notes (RELNOTES.TXT) for IMPORTANT information on performance and
other problems with the gameplay experience.



Now go give those demons some Atari-shaped trouble.

d.m.l