Is Doom On Steam

One of the great things about playing PC games that are a few years old is the fact that you can usually crank the graphics up to the max and still get a silky-smooth framerate. When you couple this to the fact that I'm a sucker for video game package deals on Steam, you can see how I end up playing a lot of older PC games.

1. Is Doom On Steam Mop
2. Is Doom On Steam Launcher
3. Ultimate Doom Game Free

One of my latest purchases was the QUAKECON pack that included a smorgasbord of games from id Software and Bethesda Softworks for pennies on the dollar. I hadn't played Doom 3 since 2005 or 2006, so I figured I'd give it another go. Back in the day (am I really calling 2005 'back in the day'?) my GeForce4 Ti 4600 couldn't really handle the brand-spanking-new 'id Tech 4' engine that Doom 3 used, so I went out and bought a mid-range GeForce 6600 GT that did the trick very nicely. At the time I was rocking a 19″ CRT from Dell, which was an awesome monitor at 1280 x 1024 resolution. I had a great gaming experience at the time, but even with the newer video card I couldn't run the game on 'Ultra' settings without serious drops in frame rate.

Since Steam version of Doom comes with DOSBox it's really annoying to run with it. Like lower res, Steam Overlay isn't working at all, No support for mods or WADS, tons of bugs/crashes. Well today we'll be fixing all of them. The complete megahit game that set the world afire. Plus All-New Episode IV: Thy Flesh Consumed. The demons came and the marines died.

The Problem

Enter 2011, my 24″ 1080p flat panel LCD, and an ATI Radeon™ HD 5870. With this newer hardware, I knew I'd have no problems running Doom 3 on 'Ultra' with fast framerates. Once I downloaded the game via the Steam client, I immediately fired it up and went to the graphics options. To my dismay, the only resolutions available to choose from were non-widescreen. Sure, I could play the game on 'Ultra' at 1280 x 1024 again, but I wanted the full 1080p experience.

The Solution

I browsed multiple forums and blogs about the subject, looking for a fix. The first promising solution based on the information I found was to open the DoomConfig.cfg file (located in the doom 3/base directory) with a text editor, find the lines for seta r_customHeight, seta r_customWidth, seta r_mode, and seta r_aspectratio, then set the height and width values to my monitor's resolution, change seta r_mode to '-1' (this tells the game to use the custom resolution), and change seta r_aspectratio to '1' (this is the 16:9 setting, for 16:10 use '2', and for standard 4:3 use '0').

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. I tried setting the values and then setting DoomConfig.cfg to read-only, thinking that maybe the game was resetting the values, but for some reason the game just wouldn't use the values I set. It may depend on the particular video card, drivers, or installation configuration I'm using, but for whatever reason, it didn't work for me; it might for you.

Then next fix I tried was to create a file called autoexec.cfg in the same doom 3/base directory as DoomConfig.cfg and include the following commands in it:

This did the trick for me! I like this solution in particular because I don't have to make any changes to the original configuration file that Doom 3 uses. If I decide to play the game without any customization to the resolution, I can simply delete the autoexec.cfg file.

Note: I came across multiple forum posts from people saying that this didn't work, then eventually they figured out that they'd done something to break the configuration or typed something incorrectly and when they fixed their mistake it did work. One common issue was that the menu for the game doesn't actually render at a higher resolution, so people were thinking that the new resolution hadn't worked; however, you have to actually play the game to see the changes take effect. If it's not working for you, you've done something wrong.

So, to ensure a fool-proof widescreen experience, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you start with a clean, fresh installation of Doom 3. This means if it's been installed before and you've tried tweaking configuration files or used mods, uninstall the game and any mods, then delete any leftover files from them in the Steam folder and any other folders where they create files.
2. Once the game is installed, start it up and set your desired graphics settings. Keep the anti-aliasing to a maximum of 8x (there is a bug that some people reported when using 16x with custom resolutions). Make sure you click . Exit the game.
3. Open Notepad or your preferred text editor and add the commands from my example above. Be sure to use the native resolution of your monitor for the height and width. If you have a 16:10 monitor, use '2' instead of '1' for the aspect ratio.
4. Save this file as autoexec.cfg in the doom 3/base folder.
5. Whenever you launch the game from now on, this file will be executed to set your resolution to the custom values, all without manually editing the DoomConfig.cfg file (it's always nice to avoid editing original game files).
6. The menu will still appear in a lower resolution. You have to start playing the actual game to view your custom resolution.

The Result

The end result is rather nice, don't you think?

For even more fun, I installed the Last Man Standing Coop mod for the game so I can play the game cooperatively with a friend. The mod even includes a remake of the first episode from the original Doom game, re-envisioned using the more modern id Tech 4 engine.

It's nice to know that with a few tweaks you can still get a great gaming experience out of some of the older games on the market. If you're looking to play other old games on a newer system in widescreen, check widescreengamingforum.com for more tips, patches, and hacks. If you've found any other good ways to improve the Doom 3 gaming experience, let me know in the comments!

If you are experiencing crashes when trying to play DOOM, you should first check to ensure that your machine meets the game's minimum requirements here.
If you meet the game's requirements, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

Update Your Graphics Card Drivers

To ensure you are getting the best performance out of your graphics card, you can download and install latest drivers (based on manufacturer) here:

You may need to uninstall and reinstall your drivers, please see your manufacturer's website for instuctions.

Remove Additional Launch Options

Some Steam launch options may cause the game to crash or have performance issues.

To turn off DOOM launch options:

1. Open Steam and navigate to your Library.
2. Right-click on DOOM and select Properties.
3. Under the General tab, click Set launch options...
4. Delete any options enabled here and click OK.

Verify Integrity of Game Files on Steam

To ensure the game files are installed correctly, you should verify the files in Steam. To do so:

1. Load Steam.
2. From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
3. Select the Local files tab and click Verify integrity of game files...
   
4. Steam will verify the game's files. This process may take several minutes.
5. Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit.

Please Note: One or more files may fail to verify, in most cases this is normal. These are local configuration files and should not be altered in this process.

Set Your Primary GPU and Power Settings

If your machine has multiple GPUs (such as many laptops), you should ensure your video driver is selecting the correct GPU for DOOM by opening either the NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Crimson and ensuring that DOOMx64.exe is making use of your primary GPU.

You can find instructions for your relevant graphics card manufacturer here:

Power saving features will sometimes override high-performance profiles to save battery life. When the computer attempts to save battery life, it will switch to the integrated card because it does not require as many resources to run.

You can resolve this by following the process below:

1. Press the Battery icon in the notification area of your taskbar.
2. Select More power options... and then expand the Show additional plans section.
3. Select High performance and then close the window.
4. Plug in your power cable to ensure that your battery does not run low while playing.

Get the Latest Version of DirectX

You should ensure you have the latest version of DirectX by downloading and installing it here.

Is Doom On Steam Mop

Check Firewalls or Anti-virus

Is Doom On Steam Launcher

You should ensure that your computer's firewall or anti-virus software is not blocking the game by adding DOOMx64.exe to your exception list. By default, the .exe can usually be found here: C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonDOOM.

Here's how to add DOOM as an exception to Windows Defender (if you have it enabled):

1. Navigate to ControlPanel and open WindowsDefender.
2. Click on Tools, then Options.
3. Select Exclude files and folders and click Add.
4. Browse for C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonDOOM (by default) and click OK.
5. Click OK and SaveChanges.

If you are unsure how to set up an exception, you should contact the relevant software's customer support team.

Ultimate Doom Game Free

Change DOOM's In-Game Settings

You can improve performance by making changes to the game's in-game settings. To do so:

1. Open DOOM and navigate to the main menu.
2. Navigate to Settings, then Video.
3. Lower the Resolution.
4. Change the Anti-Aliasing settings.

If you continue to experience game crashes, you can contact Bethesda Customer Support with your DxDiag file for further troubleshooting. Information on creating a DxDiag file and contacting customer support can be found here.

In addition to the above, you submit a crash report to the DOOM Crash Logs forum by locating your log in C:UsersSaved Gamesid SoftwareDOOMbase (by default) and posting it here. You will need a Bethesda.net account in order to post. Note that the DOOM Crash Logs forum is for data collection only and that you might not receive a response for your individual issue.