[idSIRS 1037]
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=                        DOOM on SGI (FAQ)                           =
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SGI DOOM FAQ
************

Version 1.02
August 8, 1994 

Information for SGI people
==========================

 1. What is DOOM? 
 2. Where can I get DOOM for the SGI? 
 3. It doesn't work! 
    1. It crashes with a broken pipe! 
    2. It gives an error about incompatible architecture! 
    3. It gives an X error in X_CreateWindow! 
    4. It runs for a while and just stops! 
 4. The window is too small! 
 5. I have an R3000 and it's too slow! 
 6. Why can't I use the mouse? 
 7. Can I run DOOM on one machine and display it on another? 
 8. Can one SGI host multiple DOOM processes for a
   deathmatch? 
 9. Can you play across the internet? 
 10. Why is there no music? 
 11. How do I get the other levels? 
 12. How do I register? 
 13. When will the DOS registered version of 1.6 be out? 
 14. I need to ask id Software a question. 
 15. Where is DOOM information on the net? 
 16. Are there DOOM utilities for unix? 

Information for PC people
=========================

 1. What is an SGI? 
 2. Wow, it must scream then, huh? 
 3. Does it look really cool? 
 4. Any other differences? 

About this FAQ
==============



Information for SGI people
==========================

 1. What is DOOM? 

   Basically, Doom is an 3D arcade game where you run around
   in a maze and kill things with shotguns and chainsaws. The 3D
   action is good enough to make some people nauseous. (If the
   animated gore wasn't enough.) There is a slim plot, if you care
   about those things. After you get tired of killing things, you can
   run it over the net and kill things together with your friends.
   After you get tired of that, you can kill your friends. 

   DOOM was originally written for the PC. It was tremendously
   successful because 1. everybody was amazed you could do that
   on a PC; 2. a playable portion was available as shareware; and
   3. it was user-extensible. SGI loaned David Taylor of id
   Software an Indy and he ported it. 

   From the README 

   I did this for fun.  It doesn't generate revenue.  Please don't
   call or write us with bug reports.  They cost us money.  Thanks.
   Besides, the Indy has to go back, so the bugs can't be fixed.

   The design philosophy of this port was to get something working
   which was fun.  It ain't no opus just because it runs on an SGI
   so don't get your hopes up.
          

 2. Where can I get DOOM for the SGI? 

   From the README.sgi 

   SGI will be releasing a prettier version of this (icons, standard
   Indizone install style, etc) on the next Indizone CD they master.
          

   Until then, you can get the SGI version via anonymous ftp
   from 

   ftp://infant2.sphs.indiana.edu/pub/doom/id/sgixdoom.tar.gz
   ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/games/id/sgixdoom.tar.Z
          

   Unpack it in it's own directory. Read the README.sgi. There
   are two programs, sgixdoom and sndserver. doom1.wad
   is the data for the first level. 

 3. It doesn't work! 
    1. It crashes with a broken pipe! 

      You probably don't have sound on your system. (A
      $180,000 computer with no sound? Go figure.) Move
      the sndserver somewhere out of your path and it'll
      work fine, just with no sound. 

    2. It gives an error about incompatible architecture! 

      The original version id Software released was compiled
      with the -mips2 flag, which meant that only R4000
      machines could play it. A new version has been released
      that will work with R3000's; go get a new version off
      one of the ftp sites. 

      (If you got the version before 5 Aug 94, sndserver was
      not recompiled and still won't work; go download it
      again.) 

    3. It gives an X error in X_CreateWindow! 

      Your Xserver is probably running in TrueColor mode. It
      should be running in PseudoColor mode. Check 
      /var/X11/xdm/Xserver or use the command 
      xdpyinfo to see. If it is, restart your Xserver in
      PseudoColor mode. Instructions from Kevin Luster,
      kluster@goth.engr.sgi.com: 

      goth 123% cat Xservers.8
      :0 secure /usr/bin/X11/X -bs -nobitscale -c -pseudomap 4sight -solidroot sgilightblue -cursorFG red -cursorBG white
                    
      goth 124% cat Xservers.24
      :0 secure /usr/bin/X11/X -bs -c -cc 42 -class TrueColor -depth 24

      So when I want to start up in 8 bit mode I su and then do a
      cp /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers.8 /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers
      and then reboot my machine (ick!) 

      When I want to go back to 24 bit I copy over the Xservers.24 file and
                    

      The new version of 5 Aug 94 may have fixed this
      problem so that it runs on 24-bit machines. Anyone? 

    4. It runs for a while and just stops! 

      Mine has dumped core once with no provocation. If
      DOOM runs for a while and won't run again, or if you
      notice other memory problems, reboot your machine.
      Sometimes memory is not recovered if you do not use
      the "Quit" command from within the game. 

 4. The window is too small! 

   Read the README.sgi file. Start the game with the -2, -3, or
   -4 flag set. Reports are that r3000 machines run ok with -2,
   low-end Indys can handle up to -3, most everything else can
   use -4 (pixel quadrupuling: full screen). 

 5. I have a R3000 and it's too slow! 

   Use only -2 to get a decent-sized screen, not -3 or -4. Use 
   -turbo XXX (where XXX is a number 0-250) to help the
   jerkyness. 

 6. Why can't I use the mouse? 

   Read the README.sgi. No mouse support on the SGI version.
   Use the arrow keys to move, ALT left/right arrow to sidle
   left/right, SHIFT arrow to run, CONTROL to fire, TAB to get
   the map, ESC to pop up the new game menu. 

 7. Can I run DOOM on one machine and display it on
   another? 

   Yes, but you don't want to. It will be very, very slow, and the
   console of the originating machine will thunder with gunfire
   and screams :-). 

   Warning: speculation follows. DOOM needs to throw a huge
   amount of pixels to the screen using X, not GL. To do this, it
   uses a shared memory extension to X. (DOOM shares a
   portion of memory with your Xserver so all those pixels don't
   have to be copied between processes.) If the Xserver is on a
   different machine, it obviously can't do this, and it's wicked
   slow. 

 8. Can one SGI host multiple DOOM processes for a
   deathmatch? 

   Not as far as we know right now. Both because of the speed
   (see the above question), and because the networking code
   refuses to talk to itself on the same machine. 

 9. Can you play across the internet? 

   Don't know. Depends on how the routing is set up. Anybody
   tried this yet? 

 10. Why is there no music? 

   Dunno. I assume the music is inside the wad file, so
   presumably some enterprising hacker could get it out. In the
   meantime, download a stereo audio MPEG player and go visit
   the Internet Underground Music Archive for songs to DOOM
   by. 

 11. How do I get the other levels? 

   This is alluded to in the README.sgi, but not spelled out. You
   obviously need a registered version. Buy the DOS version of
   the DOOM (see below). You'll need version 1.6, which should
   be out sometime in August. If you have a PC, you can get the
   current version (1.3) and use a forthcoming patch to upgrade
   to 1.6 instead. 

   The registration magic is inside the new doom.wad file you'll
   get. The file is 10 Megs. You should be able to just transfer it
   over from your PC to your SGI and start playing. (If you ftp,
   remember to use binary mode.) Having the registered wad also
   enables things like the -file argument to load in homemade
   patched wad (PWAD) files. 

   Nobody's done this yet, so stay tuned to see if it'll actually work. 

 12. How do I register? 

   It costs $40 to register DOOM. From the README 

   To register the entire DOOM trilogy call 1-800-IDGAMES. 
   If you live outside of the USA, or if you wish to purchase
   DOOM with a check or money order please refer to the text
   file, (ORDER.FRM) located in your DOOM directory. 
          

   I don't have an ORDER.FRM, so go download a DOS
   shareware version to get one. 

 13. When will the DOS registered version of 1.6 be out? 

   The beta of the shareware version is out now. The registered
   version should be out in a few weeks (sometime in August), so
   they say. finger help@idsoftware.com for more info. 

 14. I need to ask id Software a question. 

   Their email address is help@idsoftware.com. Don't mail
   them bug reports or ask for help about the SGI verison. 
   From the README.sgi, 

   I did this for fun.  It doesn't generate revenue.  Please don't
   call or write us with bug reports.  They cost us money.  Thanks.
   Besides, the Indy has to go back, so the bugs can't be fixed.
          

   That's why I made this FAQ. If the answer to your question is
   not here, post to comp.sys.sgi.apps or 
   alt.games.doom . Then email me the answer so I can
   include it in this file. You can safely assume that no bugs will
   get fixed in the SGI version. 

 15. Where is DOOM information on the net? 
    o WWW sites 
       o Original Unofficial Doom Site (VHhold's
         DOOM Web Node) 
       o Pherion's DOOM Web Node 
       o Sven's DOOM Web Node 
       o Tim's DOOM Web Node 
       o Piotr's Doom Web Node 
       o DOOM Home Page 
    o finger help@idsoftware.com for the latest on
      DOOM releases 
    o alt.games.doom, alt.games.doom.newplayers,
      alt.games.doom.announce, alt.binaries.doom 
    o anonymous ftp. The main ftp site is
      ftp://infant2.sphs.indiana.edu/pub/doom (also fsp, port
      21); infant2 is mirrored at ftp.uwp.edu, ftp.orst.edu,
      ftp.uni-erlangen.de, and aurora.bld189.jccbi.gov; other
      sites are ftp.uwp.edu/pub/games/id,
      ftp.uml.edu/msdos/Games/ID, and
      wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games/doomstuff
    o A huge FAQ is available. (here is HTML form of
      version 5.7) Excerpted from the FAQ: 

         The "Official" DOOM FAQ can still be requested from me, however.  My
      Internet E-mail address is "ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu."  Please make the
      subject of your E-mail "DOOM FAQ Request."
         The "Official" DOOM FAQ is posted every two weeks (or earlier
      if a new version is released) on the following Usenet groups.
              (1) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
              (2) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce
              (3) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc
              (4) alt.games.doom
         The "Subject:" line of the post will be "'Official' DOOM FAQ v??.??"
      where "??.??" is the version number of the FAQ.
         New releases of the "Official" DOOM FAQ are uploaded to the
      following Internet FTP sites.
              (1) ftp.uwp.edu              IN /pub/incoming/id
                                           IN /pub/msdos/games/id/home-brew/doom
              (2) infant2.sphs.indiana.edu IN /pub/doom/incoming
                                           IN /pub/doom/text
              (3) wuarchive.wustl.edu      IN /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games/doomstuff
         The file name of the upload will be "doom??.faq" where "??" is the
      version number of the FAQ.

 16. Are there DOOM utilities for unix? 

   Obviously, you can't use any patches for DOS on your SGI
   executable. You can use people's homemade wad files once you
   are registered. Since a linux port of DOOM is coming, many of
   the wad editors, etc., may be ported soon. Look around the ftp
   sites; some of the utilities may come with code; port them
   yourself and then announce them! 

   janer@isy.liu.se (Jan Eriksson) says: 

   If anyone is interested I have made a UNIX port of id's BSP 
   node builder. Actually it's a port of Ron Rossbach's port to DOS.
   It's available via anonymous ftp from ftp.isy.liu.se in 
   /pub/colour/doom/bsp_unix.tar.Z
   In the same directory there's also wadgc.zip which contains
   some other UNIX programs for editing DOOM .WAD files (Made by
   a friend of mine).
          

Information for PC people
=========================

 1. What is an SGI? 

   Silicon Graphics, Incorporated. If you don't know, you can't
   afford one :-). High-end 3D graphics unix workstations.
   Indvidual models called things like Indigo, Indy, Crimson,
   Onyx, Challenge etc. You know, Jurrasic Park.

 2. Wow, it must scream then, huh? 

   It does ok. But DOOM is mainly doing a lot of pixmap blitting
   to the screen. It doesn't take advantage of SGI's special
   graphics hardware, which is used to do very fast 3D
   transformations, since DOOM isn't doing "real" 3D. 

 3. Does it look really cool? 

   It's an exact port. All the bitmaps, sounds, etc. are exactly the
   same. Even though you can play with quadrupled pixmaps on a
   1280 x 1024 screen, the images look good and move fast. I don't
   have a PC, so I can't compare. From the README 

   The design philosophy of this port was to get something working
   which was fun.  It ain't no opus just because it runs on an SGI
   so don't get your hopes up.
          

 4. Any other differences? 

   No music. No mouse support. 

About this FAQ
==============

This is a frequently-asked questions file for the SGI version of the
game DOOM from id Software. I am putting this together as a service
since id is offering no technical support on this port. 

This is hastily thrown together from net sources. No guarantees on
any of the information. I will update it as I become aware of changes,
but please mail me, since I don't spend every minute fingering id
software and reading alt.games.doom. I am neither a DOOM expert
nor an SGI expert, although I play a biochemist on TV. Nor do I plan
to get heavily into making .wad files and the like, so I'm not going to
be up on the latest poop. If you would like to take over responsibility
for this SGI DOOM FAQ, just ask. 

All this information is from the net. Unfortunately I didn't save
people's names. If you feel you should be credited for some piece of
information, or would like to be listed here in the acknowledgements,
just email me and I'll add you. 

This FAQ will be posted once or twice to alt.games.doom and
comp.sys.sgi.apps. Please feel free to put it on any ftp sites, etc. It is
also available via the World Wide Web at 
http://cornelius.ucsf.edu/~troyer/sgidoomfaq.html.

You can mail me, John Troyer, at troyer@cgl.ucsf.edu. Corrections and
suggestions appreciated. 

john <troyer@cgl.ucsf.edu>
(Mon Aug 8 02:41:23 1994) 

