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 the ClassicDOOM home page