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]

FORMAT
boom.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 comment 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 variable-value pair. The first word (sequence of non-whitespace characters) 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 variables 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. Useful 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 protection, 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 graphics the level is likely to need in memory. This makes it much slower to load the level, but reduces disk activity and slowdowns 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 setting.

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=continue 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 mechanics 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 undesirable, 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 preserves 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_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR, GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST, GL_LINEAR_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 component 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 represented 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 joystick 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->SETUP->WEAPONS).

ALSO SEE
prboom(6), PrBoom's documentation (including the Boom and MBF documentation) 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).