DOOM playable on a 4MB 386/40? Just barely...
Ian Mercado
a 386/40 with 4MB. Talk about a task in itself...phew! At first, the
only way I could get it running was to not load Smartdrive. Ack! That game
was just insanely jerky, as it constantly went to the hard drive everytime
I turned my head. Argh! Well, I was finally able to get Smartdrive loaded
with a 384K cache (she's got Stacker that HAS to be loaded as well). I
disabled EMM386.EXE and the Mouse driver. Fortunately, she's running DOS
6.2, so she can pick from these different configurations at boot time.
The final verdict?...
DOOM become pretty playable on her 386/40 with the 386K cache loaded. We
can play with the next to highest window size on low detail, and about
half that size on high detail and get a decent frame rate (around 10 frames
per second, it seems).
So all you people that were complaining about DOOM being slow on a 4MB machine,
try making your disk cache as large as you possibly can and see how things
work out.
Good luck!
Ian
--
Ian Mercado
i...@slammer.atl.ga.us
mathcs.emory.edu!slammer!iam
Wolf Gerecke
It was probably a cold, scary night the 07.03.94, when i...@slammer.atl.ga.us
wrote about "DOOM playable on a 4MB 386/40? Just bare":
> Well, just installed DOOM on my sibling's computer back at home. She's got
> a 386/40 with 4MB. Talk about a task in itself...phew! At first, the
> only way I could get it running was to not load Smartdrive. Ack! That game
> was just insanely jerky, as it constantly went to the hard drive everytime
> I turned my head. Argh! Well, I was finally able to get Smartdrive loaded
> with a 384K cache (she's got Stacker that HAS to be loaded as well). I
> disabled EMM386.EXE and the Mouse driver. Fortunately, she's running DOS
> 6.2, so she can pick from these different configurations at boot time.
> The final verdict?...
(...)
Well, that just doesn't fit my experiences with Doom. My hardware
is the same as yours. The difference is in the software. I run Doom
under DrDos 6.0 and himem.sys without any difficulties and VERY fast
at low detail and the biggest window. if there are not too much
aliens around I even get a pretty good high detail-feeling!!
In my opinion you should try to get rid of this MicroSoft-trash, especially
the Stacker-Stuff! It SUCKS! Perhaps its the Stacker who's slowing your
system! DOOM needs hell of a lot machine-power and Stacker needs it too,
unpacking the files... (?)
Try to see DOOM on a clean ;-) system!
bye
wolf
+---------------------------------“-----------------------------------------+
| E-Mail: W.GE...@LDB.HAN.DE.EU | Don't mistake lack of Talent for Genius |
+---------------------------------–-----------------------------------------+
## CrossPoint v2.1 R ##
Ron Christian x5545
>
>DOOM become pretty playable on her 386/40 with the 386K cache loaded. We
>can play with the next to highest window size on low detail, and about
>half that size on high detail and get a decent frame rate (around 10 frames
>per second, it seems).
Shareware, or registered version?
Ron
--
-
I try to keep an open mind, but not so open my brains fall out.
Lorenzo Micheletto 260777/IL
On my 386/25 with 4Mb Doom 1.2 runs fine using my standard configuration
(Stacker loaded high with EMS buffer and with the following TSR loaded
high: Thunderbyte antivirus ( fast like a lightning and with all
the antiviral options you may dream of), VESA driver, doskey,
mouse driver, SHARE with a 16k cache and a max lock of 255, scanner
driver, for a total of 96kb of stuff loaded high)
I just don't use smartdrive because stacker provides caching on its own
and most of the file accesses in Doom are sequential
( it seeks a little and then loads big chunks of data).
Doom just barely playable on a 386/40 ?
Try it on a 385/25 and you will see what means NOT playable. :-(
May the BFG9000 be with you. :)
Lorenzo Micheletto
P.S. By the way, it's just my immagination or lots of people that did
NOT upgraded their system to move to Windows NT or OS/2
NOW are upgrading because of Doom ?
David Cassell
Wolf Gerecke <w.ge...@ldb.han.de> wrote:
>Hi there
>
>It was probably a cold, scary night the 07.03.94, when i...@slammer.atl.ga.us
>wrote about "DOOM playable on a 4MB 386/40? Just bare":
>
>
detail with a slightly reduced window. I think the trick is to press F5 on
reboot (if you have MsDros 6) and not load all the usual stuff such as himem
and smartdrv.Doublespace still works though!
I noticed a significant increase in playabilty when starting from a 'clean'
system as above.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The merciful and fair get nowhere" Dave Cassell
-King Of The Slums
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Earle Williams
miserably. I upgraded the motherboard (to speed up spreadsheet calculations,
of course) to a 386DX-40, and I'm quite happy with the performance. My system has
a paltry 4 MB RAM, with Qualitas 386MAX, Messy-DOS 5.0, and Stacker. I have
a 486DX-33 at work with 16MB to compare to, and I do see some slowdown with
disk access which I attribute to the Stacker overhead.
Your mileage may vary ;)
===========================================================================
Earle M. Williams | Internet: ea...@maxwell.drc.usbm.gov
U.S. Bureau of Mines |
Denver Research Center | "No matter where you go, there
Environmental Studies and Geotechnology | you are." -- B. Banzai
#include <disclaimer.h>
== any opinions stated do not represent the USBM or Dept. of Interior ==
tsa...@netcom.com
on Wed, 9 Mar 1994 13:12:22 GMT:
: I run DOOM on a 25MHz 386sx.Obviously its slow but still very playable on high
: detail with a slightly reduced window. I think the trick is to press F5 on
: reboot (if you have MsDros 6) and not load all the usual stuff such as himem
: and smartdrv.Doublespace still works though!
: I noticed a significant increase in playabilty when starting from a 'clean'
: system as above.
Also, w.ge...@ldb.han.de wrote:
: In my opinion you should try to get rid of this MicroSoft-trash, especially
: the Stacker-Stuff! It SUCKS! Perhaps its the Stacker who's slowing your
: system! DOOM needs hell of a lot machine-power and Stacker needs it too,
: unpacking the files... (?)
I have a 386/40, 4 megs of RAM, and use messydos 5.0 and all of it's
assorted memory stuff, and Stacker 3.1. Also a SB Pro. Doom runs fine,
even at high detail with sound FX and full window. Furthermore, Stacker
works flawlessly... and it's not a Microsoft product, it's a Stac product.
Microsoft *STOLE* it to create DoubleSpace... which IS a Microsoft product.
I would hazard a guess that smartdrive is the problem (Another Microsoft
goodie... I *never* load that thing except when I must use Windows, which is
rarely, because SmartDrive seems to just drag things down). Try living
without Smartdrive while you play your games and see if things improve.
Ron Christian x5545
I admit it, I'm running messydos 6.2, but I'm not crazy enough to
run disk compression. (I had a very bad experience with superstor
and recently read one testimony after another about the horrible
side effects of Dos 6.0 doublespace.)
So, with no stacker overhead, detail low, lots-o-ram, response sucks
at any but the smallest screen size with the registered version.
(Shareware 1.2 runs great at low res, screen size down one or two notches.)
So, either we're talking about different Dooms, or there's something
else going on.
Ron
In article <5KO_a00...@ldb-wg.ldb.han.de> w.ge...@ldb.han.de writes:
>Well, that just doesn't fit my experiences with Doom. My hardware
>is the same as yours. The difference is in the software. I run Doom
>under DrDos 6.0 and himem.sys without any difficulties and VERY fast
>at low detail and the biggest window. if there are not too much
>aliens around I even get a pretty good high detail-feeling!!
>In my opinion you should try to get rid of this MicroSoft-trash, especially
>the Stacker-Stuff! It SUCKS! Perhaps its the Stacker who's slowing your
>system! DOOM needs hell of a lot machine-power and Stacker needs it too,
>unpacking the files... (?)
>
>Try to see DOOM on a clean ;-) system!
Ron Christian x5545
and I had it set to low detail. Just... No... EXCUSE... Doom 1.2
registered version was just UNPLAYABLE.
And of course, it was a BUG in doom.exe. Here's the story:
I had registered and shareware working side by side. Shareware
gave acceptable performance, registered didn't. Damn damn damn.
Well, I'd tried everything else, why not swap wad files?
And, the problem DIDN'T MOVE. After the wad swap, the shareware
directory could play The Gates of Hell and Inferno at acceptable
speed, and in the other directory with the "real" doom.exe and the
shareware wad file, the performance SUCKED.
Now, the two doom.exe files were different sizes. I don't know how
significant that is, but the game guts appear to be all in the wad files.
I think the doom.exe file on my registered disks was either screwed up
somehow, or an earlier buggy version that escaped from ID. Given the
pressure ID was under to get 1.2 out, I suspect the latter. :-)
Anyway, if you have a performance problem with the registered doom that
you just can't fix, get ahold of the shareware version and do a wad
transplant. Works for me!!
Ron
SEL...@hasara11.sara.nl
386dx 40Mhz with 128k cache and it runs fine. Then again, if you used to play
yours games (any games) on a SX then anything that runs on a DX is pure magic.
That's my opinion anyway......
ronald
Adam Karpowicz
Could someone please upload the shareware version of this file to an
FTP stite. Please! I am also experiencing this problem on a 386-40 with 8 megs
of RAM and Doom is choppy. I have the registered version and my account at the
university vax is too small to download the Whole shareware version. I'd really
appreciate if someone could do this and tell me where and the name of the file.
Thanks.
Phillip K.
Mike Laster
Ron Christian x5545 <r...@sapphire.gasco.com> wrote:
>386/40, 256 K cache,and 16 Mbytes memory -- a truly studly machine,
>and I had it set to low detail. Just... No... EXCUSE... Doom 1.2
>registered version was just UNPLAYABLE.
>
>And of course, it was a BUG in doom.exe. Here's the story:
>I had registered and shareware working side by side. Shareware
>gave acceptable performance, registered didn't. Damn damn damn.
>Well, I'd tried everything else, why not swap wad files?
>
>And, the problem DIDN'T MOVE. After the wad swap, the shareware
>directory could play The Gates of Hell and Inferno at acceptable
>speed, and in the other directory with the "real" doom.exe and the
>shareware wad file, the performance SUCKED.
>
>Now, the two doom.exe files were different sizes. I don't know how
>significant that is, but the game guts appear to be all in the wad files.
>
>I think the doom.exe file on my registered disks was either screwed up
>somehow, or an earlier buggy version that escaped from ID. Given the
>pressure ID was under to get 1.2 out, I suspect the latter. :-)
>
>Anyway, if you have a performance problem with the registered doom that
>you just can't fix, get ahold of the shareware version and do a wad
>transplant. Works for me!!
Before you get too excited, run a quick test. Go into very happy ammo mode
with the keys IDKFA. See if you have the Plasma Rifle and the BFG. I
believe the code to implement these two guns only exists in the registered
version. If this is the case, then you'll definitely need to use the
registered executable, since these two guns are very useful.
--
==============================================================================
Mike Laster | las...@hpserv.utulsa.edu | 1:170/300.23@fidonet
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GCS d? -p+ c++++ l(!) u++ e+ m---/+ s n--- h/--/* f? g+ w+ t(+) r y?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to step in front of a
bus or something? I'm having one of those years.
==============================================================================
Peter Ramsden Microbiology and Plant Pathology
The registered doom really sucks though, and some levels are rediculously
slow, so I guess it all must come down to quality hardware.
I know this much, playing doom on a slow pc makes you a fuck of a lot better
marine than anyone who plays on a 486 dx.
aceman
Ron Christian x5545
>I've got a 386 dx 40 which runs at 56MHz, and shareware doom is ok.
>
>The registered doom really sucks though, and some levels are rediculously
>slow, so I guess it all must come down to quality hardware.
No it doesn't. Try moving the doom.wad file from your registered directory
into your shareware directory and run it there. By the way, what are
the sizes of your two doom.exe files? (Shareware and registered.)
Ron Christian x5545
>Before you get too excited, run a quick test. Go into very happy ammo mode
>with the keys IDKFA. See if you have the Plasma Rifle and the BFG. I
>believe the code to implement these two guns only exists in the registered
>version. If this is the case, then you'll definitely need to use the
>registered executable, since these two guns are very useful.
I'll do the experiment tonight, but happily I don't think this is true.
Here's a direct quote from Shawn Green of ID Software:
"The executable file is the same except for the the name of
the .wad file it looks for."
Matt Adkins
Wolf Gerecke (w.ge...@ldb.han.de) wrote:
: Hi there
:
: It was probably a cold, scary night the 07.03.94, when i...@slammer.atl.ga.us
: wrote about "DOOM playable on a 4MB 386/40? Just bare":
:
: > Well, just installed DOOM on my sibling's computer back at home. She's got
: > a 386/40 with 4MB. Talk about a task in itself...phew! At first, the
: > only way I could get it running was to not load Smartdrive. Ack! That game
: > was just insanely jerky, as it constantly went to the hard drive everytime
: > I turned my head. Argh! Well, I was finally able to get Smartdrive loaded
: > with a 384K cache (she's got Stacker that HAS to be loaded as well). I
: > disabled EMM386.EXE and the Mouse driver. Fortunately, she's running DOS
: > 6.2, so she can pick from these different configurations at boot time.
: > The final verdict?...
: (...)
:
: Well, that just doesn't fit my experiences with Doom. My hardware
: is the same as yours. The difference is in the software. I run Doom
: under DrDos 6.0 and himem.sys without any difficulties and VERY fast
: at low detail and the biggest window. if there are not too much
: aliens around I even get a pretty good high detail-feeling!!
: In my opinion you should try to get rid of this MicroSoft-trash, especially
: the Stacker-Stuff! It SUCKS! Perhaps its the Stacker who's slowing your
: system! DOOM needs hell of a lot machine-power and Stacker needs it too,
: unpacking the files... (?)
:
: Try to see DOOM on a clean ;-) system!
:
: bye
: wolf
flies........
I have run DOOM on a 386DX with 4 MB of ram and it is just
barely unplayable at high detail...
And I have run DOOM on a 386DX-40 with 5 MB of RAM and she
played ok.....
The difference is RAM folks.......DOOM needs all of the ram it
can get or it hits the disk.....
Never disable emm386......that is just killing off the RAM
available to DOOM......nuke smartdrive if you have to.....in a 4 MB
system you need all of the RAM that you can get.....I would suspect that
the Stackjer drivers are slowing you down a little but not much..,...(if
you are using 3.0 or higher). I used to run Stacker 3.0 on a 386DX-33
and there was no slowness.....
Aside from that buy more RAM....I have a lot of people with 4MB
coming down to my room to use my machine....
:
:
:
: +---------------------------------“-----------------------------------------+
: | E-Mail: W.GE...@LDB.HAN.DE.EU | Don't mistake lack of Talent for Genius |
: +---------------------------------–-----------------------------------------+
: ## CrossPoint v2.1 R ##
:
:
--
Matthew S. Adkins Technician
Michigan Tech University, CS Major MTU Sound & Light Services
Internet: msad...@major.cs.mtu.edu Internet: msad...@mtu.edu
"As MTU has no opinions, my opinions "The fastest way to accelerate a
couldn't possibly be theirs." Macintosh is 9.8 m/s^2."
John Kahoon
at the root of a lot of chkdsk type error's. I'd loose that piece
of crap if I were you. I did and all of my disk error's stopped
(I wasn't even using write delay)
Ron Christian x5545
>with the keys IDKFA. See if you have the Plasma Rifle and the BFG. I
>believe the code to implement these two guns only exists in the registered
>version. If this is the case, then you'll definitely need to use the
>registered executable, since these two guns are very useful.
Just a quick update, I started The Shores of Hell last night using
the shareware doom.exe and the registered doom.wad and invoked the
happy ammy mode, and got very happy Plasma Rifle and BFG. Berzaaap!
After 3 hours of play last night, (my wife thinks I've lost my mind)
I haven't found any difference between the shareware doom.exe and the
registered doom.exe except that the shareware executable is significantly
faster.
Ron
Jeronimo Breitenbach
I run Doom in same system without DoubleSpace or Stacker with high detail and
full window without any kind of trouble, and somedays with a 256K video board.
Jeronimo Breitenbach
jero...@inf.ufrgs.br
Kolbjoern Broennick
>From: r...@sapphire.gasco.com (Ron Christian x5545)
>Subject: Re: DOOM playable on a 4MB 386/40? Just
>Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 17:43:54 GMT
Well- I have DR-DOS 6.0, latest patch, and it's no better than MSDOS 6.0 or
6.2. so I think this speed difference got more to do with tolerance for
jerkiness than with actual differences.
Coolbear