PrBoom demo support =================== PrBoom has lots of demo options compared to most Doom ports, so I decided to write a brief document outlining the features. If you're thinking of recording demos, you're strongly advised to read this. To play demos, you of course use "prboom -playdemo demoname" (the .lmp is optional). PrBoom will usually be able to detect which version of Doom the demo was recorded under, and will try to emulate it so that the demo plays back OK. PrBoom plays most demos from v1.9 of Doom. Note, however, that Doom ][ 1.9 had some significant differences from Ultimate/Final Doom/Doom95, but they all use the same version identifier in demos. PrBoom guesses based on which IWAD you are using which it ought to emulate. If it guesses wrong, use the -complevel parameter as so: -complevel 2 Doom2 v1.9 demo -complevel 3 Final/Ultimate Doom or Doom95 demo To the best of my knowledge, PrBoom should play all MBF and new PrBoom demos perfectly, and it should play most Boom v2.01 and v2.02 demos, although I don't know of that many to test with - if you find any that don't work, let me know. It will also try to play older Doom demos, LxDoom demos, and Boom v2.00 demos. Recording demos is done with "prboom -record demoname". **IMPORTANT** PrBoom will record to a number of demo formats, namely Doom v1.9, Boom v2.02, MBF, and PrBoom - which format it records is determined by your current compatibility level, see README.compat. The purpose of this feature is so people like me that won't let DOS anywhere near their computers can record demos compatible with other engines. PrBoom supports the -recordfrom parameter, which starts recording a demo from a given savegame. "-recordfrom demoname n" is a synonym for "-record demoname -loadgame n", which records a demo from savegame number n. People doing speedrun demos may be interested in the comp_moveblock option, see README.compat. PrBoom supports loading and saving games during demo recording and playback (but only for new PrBoom demos, not for older demo formats, obviously). Don't worry, saves in demo playback are written with different names, they don't overwrite your own saves. Saves when recording, do. You can load games during recording, but they'd better be games saved during the same recording, otherwise it won't play back. PrBoom supports continuation of recorded demos. This is the scenario this feature is designed for: say you're beta testing a level for someone, and you want to send them a *complete* demo of how the level went (saves, deaths and reloads and all). You start with "prboom test.wad -record test", play for half an hour, save and exit. Next day, you go to play again, with "prboom test.wad -record test" again. PrBoom will scan the existing test.lmp, find the savegame command, and insert a loadgame command to reload that game; it will reload the game and continue recording of the demo. This is an experimental feature, but hopefully it works :-). **IMPORTANT** The observant will have noticed from the above that PrBoom won't overwrite existing demos anymore. If you want to record over a demo, delete it first. I think that's all for now. - Colin