BOOM.CFG(5)BOOM.CFG(5)NAME
boom.cfg, glboom.cfg - Configuration file for PrBoom v2.1.0 onwards
USAGE
When a version of PrBoom is run, it searches for this configuration
file to modify its default settings. Every time PrBoom exits, it
rewrites the configuration file, updating any settings that have been
changed using the in-game menus.
PrBoom expects the config file to be ~/.prboom/boom.cfg, or
~/.prboom/glboom.cfg if compiled with GL support. Alternatively, it can
be made to look elsewhere by using a command-line parameter:
{prboom,glboom} [-config myconf]
FORMATboom.cfg consists of a number of variables and values. Each line is of
the following format:
[ { {{#,;,[} comment_text , variable {decimal_integer, 0x hex_integer,
"string_text"}}]
Any line beginning with a non-alphabetic character is treated as a com‐
ment and ignored; for future compatibility you should start comments
with a #, ; or [. Note however that when PrBoom rewrites boom.cfg it
does not preserve user added comments.
Any line beginning with an alphabetic character is treated as a vari‐
able-value pair. The first word (sequence of non-whitespace charac‐
ters) is the variable name, and everything after the following block of
whitespace is taken to be the value assigned to the variable.
Variables not recognised by PrBoom, or which are given an invalid value
or a value of an inappropriate type, are ignored. Warning messages are
given where relevant.
The variables recognised by PrBoom are described per-section in the
following sections. The sections are informal however; when PrBoom
rewrites the config file it writes in section headings and puts vari‐
ables into the relevant sections, but when reading these are ignored.
MISC SETTINGS
compatibility_level
PrBoom is capable of behaving in a way compatible with earlier
versions of Doom and Boom/PrBoom. The value given here selects
the version to be compatible with when doing new games/demos.
See README.compat for details.
realtic_clock_rate
Selects the speed that PrBoom runs at, as a percentage of normal
game speed. Leave at 0 unless you want to experiment. Note that
it is considered `cheating' to use this at any setting below 0
(or above?).
max_player_corpse
Sets the maximum number of player corpses to leave lying around.
If this limit would be exceeded, an old corpse is removed. Use‐
ful for big/long Deathmatch games, where the sheer number of
corpses could slow the game down.
flashing_hom
Flag indicating whether a flashing red background is drawn to
highlight HOM errors in levels (for level developers)
demo_insurance
Selects a method of protecting demos against `going out of sync'
(where the player seems to lose control and behave madly, but in
fact the players original instructions as stored in the demo
have got out of sync with the game he was playing). 0=No protec‐
tion, 1=Full protection, 2=Only while recording demos. Safest
when left set to 2.
endoom_mode
This parameter specifies options controlling the display of the
credits screen when Doom exits. Currently it is the sum of 3
options: add 1 for colours, 2 for non-ASCII characters to be
displayed, and 4 for the last line to be skipped so the top line
doesn't scroll off screen.
level_precache
If set, when loading a new level PrBoom precaches all the graph‐
ics the level is likely to need in memory. This makes it much
slower to load the level, but reduces disk activity and slow‐
downs reading data during play. Most systems are fast enough
that precaching is not needed.
FILES SETTINGS
wadfile_1, wadfile_2
The names of 2 .wad files to be automatically loaded when PrBoom
is started. A blank string means unused.
dehfile_1, dehfile_2
The names of 2 patch files (.deh or .bex) to be automatically
loaded when PrBoom is started (empty string for none).
GAME SETTINGS
default_skill
The default skill level when starting a new game.
weapon_recoil
Enables recoil from weapon fire.
doom_weapon_toggles
Flag indicating whether pressing 3 or 1 when that weapon is
already selected causes the selected shotgun or fist/chainsaw to
be toggled, as in original Doom. Some people prefer to use a
number for each weapon alone.
player_bobbing
Enables player bobbing (view randomly moving up/down slightly as
the player runs).
monsters_remember
Makes monsters remember their previous enemy after killing their
current target.
monster_infighting
Whether monsters will fight each other when they injure each
other accidentally.
monster_backing
Whether monsters without close combat weapons will back away
from close combat (unlike original Doom).
monster_avoid_hazards
Whether monsters avoid crushing ceilings.
monkeys
Whether monsters will climb steep stairs.
monster_friction
Whether monsters are affected by changed floor friction (they
should be, but weren't in Boom)
help_friends
Whether monsters will help out injured monsters by aiding them
against their attacker.
player_helpers
The number of helper dogs to spawn.
friend_distance
Distance within which friends will generally stay.
dog_jumping
Whether dogs will jump.
sts_always_red
PrBoom can make the colour of the text displays on the status
bar reflect your current status (red=low, yellow=average,
green=good, blue=super-charged). This option if set selects the
traditional Doom behavior of always-red status bar display; set
to 0 to allow the coloured display.
sts_pct_always_gray
See above, this makes just the percent signs always gray,
instead of changing colour.
sts_traditional_keys
Doom and PrBoom have two types of keys; PrBoom will normally
display both keys of a given colour if you have both. This
option, if enabled, instead makes PrBoom only ever display one
key of each colour, in the same way Doom did.
traditional_menu
Changes PrBoom's menu ordering to be the same as original Doom
if enabled.
show_messages
When enabled, text messages are displayed in the top left corner
of the screen describing events in the game. Can be toggled in
the game, this is just to preserve the setting.
autorun
Makes the player always run, without having to hold down a run
key. Can be toggled in the game, this just preserves the set‐
ting.
SOUND SETTINGS
sound_card
Selects whether sound effects are enabled (non-zero enables).
For compatibility reasons with Boom, a range of values are
accepted.
music_card
Selects whether in-game music is enabled (non-zero enables). For
compatibility reasons a range of values are accepted.
pitched_sounds
If enabled by this variable, this enables `pitching' (making
pitch adjustments to the playing sounds) for 16 bit sound cards.
samplerate
The samplerate for soundmixing and timidity. The sound quality
is much better at higher samplerates, but if you use timidity
then higher samplerates need much more CPU power. Useful values
are 11025, 22050, 44100 and 48000.
sfx_volume
Sound effects volume. This is best adjusted in the game.
music_volume
Music volume. This is best adjusted in the game.
mus_pause_opt
Selects what PrBoom does to the music when a games is paused.
0=stop the music, 1=pause the music (stop it playing, but when
resumed resume it at the same place - not implemented), 2=con‐
tinue playing.
sounddev, snd_channels, soundsrv, musicsrv
These variables are no longer used by PrBoom, but are kept for
compatibility reasons.
COMPATIBILITY SETTINGS
These are settings that let you choose whether the normal game mechan‐
ics are used, or whether various quirks, bugs and limitations of the
original Doom game are emulated.
VIDEO SETTINGS
screen_width, screen_height
For versions of PrBoom which support high-res, these specify the
default screen or window size for PrBoom. These settings are
ignored and preserved by versions of PrBoom which do not do
high-res (they assume 320x200).
use_fullscreen
If set, this causes PrBoom to try to go full screen. Depending
on your video driver and mode, this may include changing screen
resolution to better match the game's screen resolution.
use_doublebuffer
Use double buffering to reduce tearing. On some machines this is
even faster than the normal method, but on others this makes
problems, so you have to try out which setting works best.
translucency
Causes PrBoom to display certain objects as translucent.
tran_filter_pct
Selects how translucent objects are when they are translucent.
Play with this and see for yourself.
screenblocks
Selects a reduced screen size inside the PrBoom window (the
player's view is surrounded by a border). Normally this is unde‐
sirable, but it can help speed up the game. Can be changed in
the game with the +/- keys, this variable is just to preserve
that setting.
usegamma
Selects a level of gamma correction (extra screen brightening)
to correct for a dark monitor or light surroundings. Can be
selected in the game with the F11 key, this config entry pre‐
serves that setting.
OPENGL SETTINGS
If you are knowledgeable about OpenGL, you can tweak various aspects of
the GL rendering engine.
gl_nearclip
The near clipping plane *100.
gl_colorbuffer_bits
The bit depth for the framebuffer. (16, 24 or 32 bits)
gl_depthbuffer_bits
The bit depth for the z-buffer. (16, 24 or 32 bits)
gl_tex_filter_string
A string, one of the following: GL_NEAREST or GL_LINEAR (no
mipmapping), or one of GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST, GL_NEAR‐
EST_MIPMAP_LINEAR, GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST, GL_LIN‐
EAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR with mipmapping.
gl_tex_format_string
One of the following strings: GL_RGBA - means format selected by
driver (not so good), GL_RGBA2 - means 2 bits for each component
(bad), GL_RGBA4 - means 4 bits for each component (like GL_RGBA
on most cards), GL_RGB5_A1 - means 5 bits for each color compo‐
nent 1 bit for the alpha channel (default), GL_RGBA8 - means 8
bits for each component (best quality, but only a little bit
better than GL_RGB5_A1 and slower on most cards)
gl_drawskys
If 0, disables drawing skies, which may be needed with some
problematic 3D cards.
gl_sortsprites
Experimental option, possibly faster but less reliable.
MOUSE SETTINGS
This section specifies settings for using a mouse with PrBoom. There
are several settings that control button bindings (what action each
button causes in the game); these are easiest set from the in-game
menus, these config entries are to preserve the settings between games.
use_mouse
Enable or disable the use of a mouse with PrBoom.
mouse_sensitivity_horiz, mouse_sensitivity_vert
Sets the sensitivity of the mouse in PrBoom. Easier set from the
in-game menus.
KEY BINDINGS
These specify the keys that trigger various actions in PrBoom. The
codes used for keys are internal to PrBoom, though many keys are repre‐
sented by their ASCII codes. It is easiest to modify these via the in-
game menus (OPTIONS->SETUP->KEY BINDINGS). These config file entries
preserve the settings from this menu between game sessions.
JOYSTICK SETTINGS
There are the trigger variables here, which are calculated during joy‐
stick calibration (the values received from the kernel driver outside
of which movement is caused in the game). Also there are the button-
bindings, again best adjusted using the in-game menus.
use_joystick
This selects the number of the joystick to use, or 0 selects no
joystick. You have to have the relevant device files (/dev/js0
etc) and the kernel driver loaded.
CHAT MACROS
These are pre-written text strings for quick transmission to players in
a network game (consult your Doom documentation). Easiest set via the
in-game menus (OPTIONS->SETUP->CHAT MACROS).
AUTOMAP SETTINGS
These are settings related to the automap. These are easiest set from
within the game.
HEADS_UP DISPLAY SETTINGS
These are settings related to the heads-up display, that is messages
received while playing and the heads-up display of your current status
obtained by pressing + while the view is full-screen in PrBoom. See the
Boom documentation for details. All controlled best from within the
game.
WEAPON PREFERENCES
Here are the settings from the Weapons menu in the game (OPTIONS->SET‐
UP->WEAPONS).
ALSO SEEprboom(6), PrBoom's documentation (including the Boom and MBF documen‐
tation) and your Doom documentation.
AUTHOR
See the file AUTHORS included with PrBoom for a list of contributors to
PrBoom. This config file reference written by Colin Phipps
(cph@moria.org.uk).
local BOOM.CFG(5)
