HOW TO PLAY BACK DOOM AND DOOM II DEMOS
=======================================
(Note to Macintosh users: The demo instructions here are
primarily for IBM-PC based systems and games; Macintosh
Doom games cannot record or play back external demo files.)
To play LMP files (demo files), first copy them into the
main directory or folder where your game is located.
If you're using a "front-end" program, you'll find controls
within that program that will let you select and run demos.
Click below for instructions on:
Playing demos for all classic Doom games using Doom 95
Playing Doom 1 or Ultimate Doom demos from DOS
Playing Doom II, Final Doom or Master Levels demos from DOS
TO PLAY DEMOS WHEN USING DOOM 95
--------------------------------
1. Copy your DOOM.WAD (or DOOM2.WAD, PLUTONIA.WAD, TNT.WAD,
etc.) file into your Doom95 folder, if you haven't
already done so. If the demo was recorded with an
additional WAD file (like a Master Levels WAD), you may
wish to copy that WAD into your Doom95 folder as well.
2. Copy the LMP files (demo files) into the Doom95 folder.
3. Start Doom 95, and in the "Doom for Windows 95 Launcher"
window, select the correct "Game WAD file" (DOOM.WAD,
DOOM2.WAD, etc.) in the pull-down menu at the upper
right corner of the window. If you're also using an
additional WAD file, such as one of the Master Levels,
select it in the "Custom WAD File" pull-down menu. (If
the WAD is not located in your Doom95 folder, then click
the [Browse] button to navigate to the WAD's location.)
4. Click on the [Advanced...] button in the lower right.
This opens up another window with 3 tabs at the top.
5. Click on the [Demo] tab, and then click on the white
checkbox next to "Play Demo". This activates the demo
list menu bar, below.
6. Select the desired demo file from the pull-down menu,
then click on [OK], which closes this window.
7. Click on the [New Game] button to play the demo.
8. When a demo finishes running, Doom 95 will automatically
quit and exit back to Windows. If you wish to manually
stop a demo at any time while it's running, hit the F10
key, and then press Y.
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TO PLAY DOOM 1 DEMOS OR ULTIMATE DOOM DEMOS FROM DOS
----------------------------------------------------
Quick info (see below for more detailed instructions):
In your Doom directory, at the DOS Command Prompt, type
doom -playdemo DemoName
(no ".LMP") for regular Doom/Ultimate Doom demos; Or type
doom -file WadName.wad -playdemo DemoName
for Doom/Ultimate Doom demos that require an additional WAD
file.
1. Copy the demo file(s) into your Doom directory, if you
haven't already done so. ("Directory" is the DOS term
for "folder".) Note that if you are using Ultimate
Doom, then your directory may be called "doom", or may
be called "doom_se".
2. If the demo was recorded with an additional WAD file
then copy that WAD into your Doom directory as well.
3. Switch into MS-DOS mode if you haven't already. (To do
this from Windows 95/98, look for a "Command Prompt"
icon or "MS-DOS" icon on your desktop and double-click
on it. If this icon isn't present, click on your Start
button, which brings up a list of items to choose from.
Highlight "Programs", which brings up a second list,
then click on "MS-DOS Prompt" or "Command Prompt".)
4. Once in DOS mode, switch into your Doom directory. If
you already know how to do this, skip down to step 5.
Examples of DOS commands:
In DOS, to switch to a different drive (if necessary)
type the drive letter, followed by a colon, and press
Enter. Typing
d:
for example, will switch to your d: drive.
To switch to a different directory, use the CD command.
("CD" is for "C"hange "D"irectory.) To switch to your
current drive's root (main) directory, you would type
cd\
and press Enter. Remember to use a backslash "\" when
using the cd command, not a forward slash.
To switch to a directory called Doom, located off of
your drive's root directory, you could type
cd\doom
and press Enter.
Note that if you have Ultimate Doom, your directory may
be called "doom_se".
Use the complete path name of the directory or folder
that you want to switch to. For example, if your Doom
directory is in a subdirectory called Games, you'd type
cd\games\doom
and press Enter.
To get a list of the files and subdirectories that are
accessible from your current directory, use the "dir"
command. Type
dir/p
and press Enter. The "/p" (with a forward slash) is not
necessary, but including that will "p"ause any long list
of files before it scrolls off the top of the screen.
Also try
dir/w
for a "w"ide list of files.
5. Once in DOS mode, and in your Doom (or Ultimate Doom)
directory, you're ready to enter demo playback commands.
To play back an ordinary Doom/Ultimate Doom demo (one
recorded without using additional WAD files), type
doom -playdemo DemoName
where DemoName is the filename (minus the ".LMP") of the
demo you want to see. For example, if you have a demo
file called COOLDEMO.LMP, type
doom -playdemo cooldemo
and press Enter.
If the demo was recorded using an additional WAD file,
that WAD must be specified in the playback commands. To
do this, type
doom -file WadName.wad -playdemo DemoName
where WadName.wad is the name of the additional WAD
file, and DemoName is the filename (minus the ".LMP") of
the demo you want to see. For example, if you have a
demo called COOLDEMO.LMP, for use with D1MAPS.WAD, type
doom -file d1maps.wad -playdemo cooldemo
and press Enter.
6. When a demo finishes running, Doom will automatically
quit and exit back to DOS. If you wish to manually stop
a demo at any time while it's running, hit the F10 key,
and then press Y.
7. To quit DOS and return to Windows, type
exit
and press Enter. Or hold down the Alt key and tap the
Tab key to switch back to Windows (or other application)
while leaving DOS mode active in the background.
For more information on demo commands in DOS, click here.
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TO PLAY DOOM 2, FINAL DOOM OR MASTER LEVELS DEMOS FROM DOS
----------------------------------------------------------
Quick info (see below for more detailed instructions):
In your Doom2 directory, at the DOS Command Prompt, type
doom2 -playdemo DemoName
(no ".LMP") for regular Doom 2 demos; Or type
doom2 -file WadName.wad -playdemo DemoName
for Doom 2 demos that require an additional WAD file.
1. Copy the demo file(s) into your Doom2 directory (or TNT
or Plutonia directory, as appropriate). ("Directory" is
the DOS term for "folder".)
2. If the demo was recorded with an additional WAD file
(like a Master Levels WAD) then copy that WAD into your
Doom2 directory as well.
3. Switch into MS-DOS mode if you haven't already. (To do
this from Windows 95/98, look for a "Command Prompt"
icon or "MS-DOS" icon on your desktop and double-click
on it. If this icon isn't present, click on your Start
button, which brings up a list of items to choose from.
Highlight "Programs", which brings up a second list,
then click on "MS-DOS Prompt" or "Command Prompt".)
4. Once in DOS mode, switch into the appropriate Doom2, TNT
or Plutonia directory. If you already know how to do
this, skip down to step 5.
Examples of DOS commands:
In DOS, to switch to a different drive (if necessary)
type the drive letter, followed by a colon, and press
Enter. Typing
d:
for example, will switch to your d: drive.
To switch to a different directory, use the CD command.
("CD" is for "C"hange "D"irectory.) To switch to your
current drive's root (main) directory, you would type
cd\
and press Enter. Remember to use a backslash "\" when
using the cd command, not a forward slash.
To switch to a directory called Doom2, located off of
your drive's root directory, you could type
cd\doom2
and press Enter.
Use the complete path name of the directory or folder
that you want to switch to. For example, if your Doom2
directory is in a subdirectory called Games, you'd type
cd\games\doom2
and press Enter.
To get a list of the files and subdirectories that are
accessible from your current directory, use the "dir"
command. Type
dir/p
and press Enter. The "/p" (with a forward slash) is not
necessary, but including that will "p"ause any long list
of files before it scrolls off the top of the screen.
Also try
dir/w
for a "w"ide list of files.
5. Once in DOS mode, and in your Doom2 (or TNT or Plutonia)
directory, you're ready to enter demo playback commands.
To play back an ordinary Doom 2, TNT or Plutonia demo
(one recorded without using additional WAD files), type
doom2 -playdemo DemoName
where DemoName is the filename (minus the ".LMP") of the
demo you want to see. For example, if you have a demo
file called COOLDEMO.LMP, type
doom2 -playdemo cooldemo
and press Enter.
If the demo was recorded using an additional WAD file,
that WAD must be specified in the playback commands. To
do this, type
doom2 -file WadName.wad -playdemo DemoName
where WadName.wad is the name of the additional WAD
file, and DemoName is the filename (minus the ".LMP") of
the demo you want to see. For example, if you have a
demo called COOLDEMO.LMP, for use with D2MAPS.WAD, type
doom2 -file d2maps.wad -playdemo cooldemo
and press Enter.
6. When a demo finishes running, Doom 2 will automatically
quit and exit back to DOS. If you wish to manually stop
a demo at any time while it's running, hit the F10 key,
and then press Y.
7. To quit DOS and return to Windows, type
exit
and press Enter. Or hold down the Alt key and tap the
Tab key to switch back to Windows (or other application)
while leaving DOS mode active in the background.
For more information on demo commands in DOS, click here.
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Back to DoomHelp page
Back to the ClassicDOOM home page