DM.EXE -- The DeathManager

What is DM?

DM is an easy-to-use interface that replaces the hassle of typing command-
line parameters to SERSETUP.EXE and IPXSETUP.EXE, the programs used to 
network our games DOOM, DOOM2 and HERETIC. It is also much easier than 
starting network games from the SETUP.EXE program as there are no menus to 
navigate, everything is on one screen.  And the really nice feature of DM 
is that it saves all the information you enter, so the next time you run DM, 
all the options you last used are selected.

Using DM

To use DM, make sure that you're in the directory with DOOM, DOOM2 or 
HERETIC and type DM.  A menu will pop up and you navigate it using the arrow 
keys.  The spacebar or ENTER will change the status of an item.  Some items 
are grouped together, so when you choose them they will deactivate other 
items in the same group.  If you choose 3-player, then 2-player will be 
deactivated since you can't play 2-player and 3-player at the same time!

Some items require input, such as the SKILL item.  The legal range of values 
is listed below:
Item            Legal values    Notes
SKILL           1-5             1 = easiest, 5 = hardest
EPISODE         1-3             1 = shareware, 2-3 = registered
MAP             1-9             DOOM2 map values are 1-32
TIMER           1-99            the number you enter is MINUTES you play the
				level before the game takes you to the 
				intermission screen
TURBO           1-250           This changes your speed in the game
CALL            14-digit        This is the number SERSETUP will call

Some items are FLAGS, which specify whether to turn those options on or off 
in the game:
No Monsters:    If this option is selected, NO MONSTERS will appear in the 
		game. Perfect for DeathMatch!
Respawn         This option will make monsters respawn after you kill them!
WADs            If this is set, the list of external WADs will be used, 
		otherwise, DM just ignores the list, but still keeps 
		it around for later use.

In the "Connect Type" area are 3 options, Modem, IPX Network, and Serial 
Cable.  This specifies how you will be connected playing a network game.  
If you choose Modem or Serial Cable, the "# of Players" will change to 2.  
If you choose Serial Cable, the "Modem/Serial" changes to Already Connected 
for you.

In the "# of Players" area you can choose to play a 2,3 or 4-player game.  
You can only choose the 3 and 4-player options if you have "IPX Network" 
selected.  DM will not allow you to change the number of players to anything 
other than 2 if you are connected by modem or serial cable. 

In the "Game Type" area are 3 options, DeathMatch, Cooperative, and Old 
DeathMatch.  The DeathMatch option is really the DeathMatch 2.0 rules for 
DOOM and DOOM2, where in HERETIC, there are no Old DeathMatch rules.  In 
DOOM and DOOM2, the Old DeathMatch option will leave all the weapons where 
they are when a player picks them up and none of the items on the level 
respawn.

In the "Modem/Serial" area, you specify how you are connected by modem or 
serial cable. If you are using IPX Network, DM will ignore any settings in 
this area.  The "Already Connected" option is what you select if you are 
connected directly by serial cable, otherwise, if you are connected by modem 
you would choose either "Wait for call" so your modem auto-answers or type a 
phone number in the field to the right of Call.  

If you want to build a database of phone numbers that you can easily choose 
from, press the F2 key.  Press the F1 key to create a new phone number
entry. Another input dialog will come up with the Name and Number 
fields ready for you to edit.  Press ENTER on the Name field and type the 
person's name, then press ENTER.  Move the cursor to the Number field and 
press ENTER to edit the number.  When you're finished editing the Name and 
Number info, press the F10 key to save the information.

In the "Select person to call" dialog, pressing the ENTER key will take the 
phone number and put it in the field to the right of Call.  There's no way 
to just delete a Name and Number entry, edit it instead.

In the "Map Warping" area, there are two choices.  If you are playing DOOM 
or HERETIC, choose the first option, DOOM or HERETIC so you can enter the 
Episode and Map values you want to warp to.  If you don't want to warp to a 
level, press ESC while entering a map or episode value.  Thus, if you want 
to get rid of the map warping flag, press ENTER on the option, then press 
ESC to turn it off.

The "COM Port" area is used only if you are connecting by modem or serial 
cable. If you are playing on an IPX Network, DM will ignore the settings in 
this area.

If you like playing PWAD files, you can tell DM which ones you want to use 
by pressing the F3 key.  Press ENTER on the first empty field then type in 
the pathname of the PWAD file.  For example, if you had a subdirectory off 
your DOOM2 directory named WADS and in that directory you had a PWAD named 
CLASSIC.WAD, you would input WADS\CLASSIC.WAD and press ENTER.  To get rid 
of an entry, press the DEL key.

To tell DM to use the PWAD files in the list, select the WADs option.  When 
this option is turned on, DM will pass along the files in the WADfile list
to the SERSETUP or IPXSETUP programs.

Those are all the options that DM will handle for you.  If you require use 
of even more advanced options, you can enter them on the command-line right
after invoking DM.  To record a demo, you could type "DM -record demo" and 
DM will pass the "-record demo" parameters along for you.

To actually start playing your game, press the F10 key to launch SERSETUP 
or IPXSETUP (depending on your Connect Type).  If you want to just launch 
the game without connecting, press the F1 key.  This will directly launch 
DOOM, DOOM2 or HERETIC with all the options you've selected.  Just make 
sure you select Cooperative so you don't start in a strange place in 
single-player mode!

DM saves a configuration file named DM.CFG.  If DM has a problem starting 
up, delete DM.CFG.

When you finish your game and want to play again after changing some options, 
re-run DM after exiting the game.  Now you are in a never-ending loop that 
will take hours to get out of.  Have fun!
