Doom Press-Release Beta

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                          ***** DOOM *****
                         
                          October 4, 1993


I got this copy of the DOOM pre-Beta release from a friend.                             

I have copied all the paperwork I received so you could read it.

This is a Pre-Beta Release meant for Testing & Media Only.

Two drawbacks:
              1st - No sound, (but game will play)
              2nd - program looks at the system DATE
                    if your computer has a system date after 10/31/93
                    it will not run.  (So da, change it to play)

Hope the below information will help.   

Have Fun & Kick Some ASS!


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                               
                               
                               
                               id Software Inc.
                                Town East Tower
                               18601 LBJ Freeway
                                   Suite 615
                              Mesquite, TX  75150
                               Tel (214) 613-3589
                               Fax (214) 686-9288



October 5, 1993


Enclosed please find the demo version of DOOM that I have been promising since
September 15, 1993.  I hope you enjoy testing/playing it as much as we have enjoed
producing it for you.

Due to security concerns we have attached a password to the EXE and limit the time
frame that this game can be played.  The password for the game is -pressrelease and
should be entered after the command line instruction noted in the enclosed instruction
sheet (I.E. c:>easydoom -pressrelease).  The time frame limits imposed on this game
will prevent you from playing the game once your system date goes beyond Oct. 31, 1993.

You will note that the game gives you the ability to take your own screenshots.  We
have also provided a set of screenshots from some of the levels not included in this
demo.  The screenshots are PCX format graphics located on Disk 2 in an archive
named scnshots.zip.

Please feel free to give me a call if you have questions or comments about the game.

Regards,



Jay Wilbur
CEO

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                                    DOOM
                                  
                         Copyright 1993 id Software

Getting Started

Insert Disk #1 and type INSTALL.  You will be asked which drive to install to.  Type the
drive letter.  Then, you'll be provided with a default directory to install into.  Press
ENTER if this is satisfactory.  If the directory doesn't exit, the INSTALL program can
create it for you by answering "Y" at the alert panel.  After Disk #1 is installed, insert
Disk #2 and press ENTER.  When Disk #2 is finished, insert Disk #1 again and press
ENTER--decompression will commence.  When the prompt appears again, type
DOOM and password.

Note: DOOM takes approximately 20-30 seconds to load.

Your Objective

Get out alive.  Your quest will be aided with the cool, powerful weapons and ammo you
find lying around on the levels.  Just run over it and you'll pick it up.  There's armor,
bonus items, powerups, etc in the game as well.  Have a blast

This early version of DOOM does not include music or sound effects.

Hardware Requirements

DOOM requires 2 megabytes of memory, 6.5 megs of hard drive space, a 486dx or
better machine and VGA

  The final version of the game will work with a 386sx or better.  This prerelease
  version have some floating point traps that will serverly limit performance on a 486sx
  or lesser processor.

If you have more than 2 megs of memory, DOOM will use it.  If you notice any slight
hitches in gameplay, rest assured that DOOM is merely caching in new set of
graphics.  If you have a lot of memory, eventually DOOM won't have to cache anything
after running through a level because everything will have been cached on-the-fly!



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Controls

                         Keyboard Controls
                         -----------------
                   Up Arrow ----> Move Forward
                   Down Arrow --> Move Backward
                   Left Arrow --> Rotate Left
                   Right Arrow -> Rotate Right
                   Right Shift -> More Speed while moving/rotating  
                   Spacebar ----> USE: open doors, flips switches 
                   CONTROL -----> Fire Weapons
                   1-7 ---------> Change weapon (if you have it)
                   TAB ---------> Toggle automap
                   ESC ---------> Enter Chat Mode (for multiplayer mode)
                                  Remove item pickup message from chat
                                  area
                   F10 ---------> Screen Shot
                                   A PCX file of what is on the screen will
                                   be dumped into the current directory

                   
                          Mouse Controls
                          --------------
                    Button One ---> Fire Weapon
                    Button Two ---> Move Forward
                                      Double clicking: USE (see spacebar
                                      above)
                    Button Three -> Strafe

Automap
The automap displays all the areas that you have been to.  You can play DOOM while
in the automap by using all the aforementioned keys.  Note that we refuse to automap
new areas while you're in the automap.  Also, you can be hit while in the automap.
When the automap flashes red, you've been hit.

                         Automap Controls
                         ----------------

                       + --> Zoom in
                       - --> Zoom out
                       M --> Mark a spot for your own reasons
                       ] --> toggle current zoom scale/total map scale
                       F --> toggle follow mode/free-scroll mode

Weapons

Here is the list of available weapons and the key that switches to them:

1. Fist with iron knuckles
2. Pistol
3. Shotgun
4. Chaingun
5. Rocket launcher
6. Pulse gun
7. BFG9000

Switches & Triggers

Switches are those things you'll find on the wall that look like you should be able
to use them.  Knifeswitches, buttons, some of the skull panels, etc. all count as switches.
Press the USE key to activate them.

Triggers are invisible lines that make something happen when you run over them.  A
good example of this can be found on Demo Map 1 (the map you start on).  Walk to the
left, around the left-hand corner where a possessed human is waiting in ambush.  Kill
him, then walk toward the silver platform.  The platform will automatically lower for you
because you activated a trigger.  Trigger do all sorts of things--some good, some bad.
Watch out!

Locked Doors

There are many different kinds of locked doors that require a keycard to open them.
On the status bar, to the right of the Armor info, are 3 squares used for showing you
which cards you have.  There are 3 different colors.  A locked door will ALWAYS have a
colored strip next to it that alerts you that you need to use a keycard of that color
to open it.  If you can't open a door, there's always another way -- switch, trigger,
or something else.

Enemies

Possesed Humans: Humans covered with blood holding rifles.
Demon troops: Brown demons with spikes that shoot red fireballs.
Demon sergeant: Pink-reddish stumpy demon that bites.
Demon skull: Floating skull that shoots you with its glare.
Demon head: Very large float red head that shoots fireballs.
Bruiser: Huge boss demon with horns that shoot green fireballs.

Death

When you get killed (your health goes down to 0%), press the Spacebar to restart that
level.  You take damage by enemies shooting at you, launching fireballs at you, or by
you walking in slime, hot blood or hell slime.

Cheat Keys

Here are the cheat words available in this version.  Note that these WILL be renamed in
the final version.  To type a cheat word, just type it!

tst:Enters GOD mode.  You are invincible
eek:In the automap, will rotate between normal view, entire map, entire map with
    all things. Just type eek over and over to toggle the diffent modes.
amo:Gives you all the keycards, weapons, mega-armor, and tons of ammo.
nc:No Clip. Lets you walk through walls, adjusting your height accordingly.

About this Pre-Beta Release

Ther are many known bugs in DOOM that we, of course, plan on fixing.  A major bug
at this point is not hitting enemies with your gunfire at certain angles.  There are also
many things that are not final, such as the weapons animations.  The BFG9000 will have
a major change and the Pulse gun will look very diffent while firing.  The 3 mapes
included in this version are very nearly final, but they still have bugs.

The skill level that you are playing at when you type DOOM is the medium skill level.
To play on easy or hard skill, go to DOS and type EASYDOOM or HARDDOOM (of course,
with the password).  All 3 levels will be on that skill level.

If you get to the end of a level, there's a switch to flip to exit the level.  If you
flip this switch, you'll go to the intermission screen then dump out to DOS with a error
message, "W_GetNumForName:<string>not found!".  Don't flip the switch just press
ESC to go to the menu and choose another level to play.

The little flashing dots at the bottom of the screen tells you how fast DOOM is running.
One dot means 35 frames per second.  Two dots means 17 frames per second, and 3
dots means 12 frames per second.

                         
                         PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS COPY OF DOOM!