
                        How To Make Doom .lmp Demo's.
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

                             Last Change: 4/3/94


First of all, what IS a .lmp Doom demo.?

Answer: in Doom, it is possible to record a playing session. ie. you can save
to a file exactly what you do during a chosen episode and level. This file can
then be played back later so that you can sit back and watch exactly what you
did. The file itself does NOT contain any graphics images. The demo file merely
records which keys get pressed and also the various mouse movements. However,
there are certain key actions that are NOT recorded. These include using the
ESC key to bring up the main menu and any actions taken using that menu. Also,
you may find that using the mouse is not _quite_ as smooth as when playing
normally - this is probably due to the overhead of having to record the various
mouse movements as you play.


HOW TO RECORD A .lmp DEMO.:

The general command for recording a .lmp demo is as follows:-


doom -devparm -warp <ep> <lv> -skill <num> -record <file> [-respawn]


Where:

   <ep>    is 1 for the shareware version, or 1 to 3 for the full version,

   <lv>    is 1 to 9 (level 9 is always the secret level, although the actual
           from which you get _to_ a secret level is never level 8),

   <num>   is 1 to 4 for v1.1, or 1 to 5 for v1.2,

   <file>  is the name of the file that the demo is to be saved to. NOTE: the
           '.lmp' suffix MUST NOT be included in the file name. If you _do_
           include it, Doom will not be able to find the file!

The option '-respawn' may be included; this makes the bad guys regenerate
each time they get killed and also makes them faster, more accurate with
their weapons/fire balls, enables them to shoot more often, etc. Thus, running
Doom on skill level 4 with the -respawn option gives a level of difficulty
kinda half way between 4 and 5 (where 5 is Nightmare mode).

If you start the game in Nightmare mode, the '-respawn' option isn't needed
(has _anyone_ managed to get past the initial set of doors in E3L1 in
Nightmare mode?! If so, I wanna see a .lmp of it!).

Demo making examples...

Example 1:

Record a demo of the Cyberdemon (Episode 2 Level 8) on skill level 3, saving
it to a file called 'mydemo1.lmp'...

   doom -devparm dem -warp 2 8 -skill 3 -record mydemo1
                                                       .
                                                      /|\
                                                       |
                                            Note! NO SUFFIX!

Example 2:

Record a demo of The Unholy Cathedral (Ep 3, lev 5) on Ultraviolence with
respawning to a file called 'e3l5resp.lmp'...

   doom -devparm dem -warp 3 5 -skill 4 -record e3l5resp -respawn


Example 3:

Record a demo of the secret level on Epiosode 1 (The Military Base) in
Nightmare mode, to a file called 'e1l9ntmr.lmp'...

   doom -devparm dem -warp 2 9 -skill 5 -record e1l9ntmr


PLAYING BACK THE DEMO:

The general command to play back a demo file is:

   doom -playdemo <file name>

Where <file name> is the name of the .lmp demo file, BUT WITHOUT THE SUFFIX!.

If the '-respawn' option was used to make the demo, it must be used when
playing back the demo (the option is NOT needed for Nightmare mode demo's
though).

Thus, for the three examples above, they would be played back with the
following commands respectively:

   doom -playdemo mydemo1

   doom -playdemo e3l5resp -respawn

   doom -playdemo e1l9ntmr

You can save the demo at anytime by pressing Q. The demo also terminates when
you get to the end of the level. If you die, then press Q to save. F10 will
quit without saving.


USING THE DEVPARM PARAMETERS BUT NOT TO MAKE A DEMO.:

You can use the various devparm parameters to start a game off from a
particular episode and level _without_ making a .lmp recording. This is done
by not including the '-devparm dem' option, ie.:

   doom -warp <ep> <lv> -skill <num> [-respawn]

The various parameters are just the same as before.


Other notes:

Trying to use ANY of the cheats when making a .lmp demo., will HALT the demo! One
thing to remember, therefore, is that since the demo is going to STOP at the end
of the level, there is no need for you to 'conserve' ammo for the next level.

However, the PAUSE key _does_ get recorded during demo making, so try and make
sure you don't get interupted by anything during play.

You cannot save your position during a demo recording session. Pity... :(


Anyway, that's all I can think of at the moment. I reckon that just about covers
it!


Have fun! :)


)*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This help brought to you by:

Ian Mapleson,
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering,
Heriot Watt University,
Riccarton Campus,
Edinburgh,
Scotland,
United Kingdom.

email address: mapleson@cee.hw.ac.uk

Doom on! :)

