DRD Team

Yes, that has generally been my concern - the hamster-wheel chase of continuously staying in the upper tier of computer specifications.

But, ever since I stopped buying new games, I haven't felt the need for really modern hardware. Nowadays, my time is spent on lower-tech interests, such as GZDooM. Mostly, I'm able to manage with my older equipment. But the Win 10 update really did a number on my ability to run GZDooM.

I upgraded my own machine about three months back (or thereabouts) to add more memory and to put in a better graphics card. I went from 16 to 32GB of RAM and from a GTX1080 to an RTX2060.

For a lot of the stuff that I was doing, my machine was already a bit over spec (as I said) so it didn't make too much difference there, but for programs and uses that my computer found quite demanding, and for games that could make use of the features of the new graphics card there was a noticeable improvement. Cyberpunk2077, for example, runs much better and the graphics card runs much cooler than with the older bits in place.

The machine was a comparatively high spec when I first got it but, as time has moved on, it has slipped to, I guess, a mid-range kind of performance/spec. The upgrades just help breathe a bit more life into it but there was no point in going over the top with upgrades for a machine that, at its heart, is quite a few years old now.

Enjay wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 23:21Then I occasionally do a bit of video editing, graphics work and so on. So, more speed, more memory and a decent graphics card always helps there too.

I got into video editing several years ago, but ran out of steam - mainly because the process is so time-consuming and demanding. I am looking to get back into it (just like I'm planning to get back into so many of my hobbies that I've allowed to fall off by the wayside, heh), for which I agree I'll need robust hardware. And then, of course, I'll probably need to provide a margin for obsolescence, meaning 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB; 2 GB of VRAM instead of 1 GB VRAM, etc., etc. Hence my stingy outlook.

Fair one. I guess it all depends what you want your machine for.

My go-to game is GZDoom (and other Doom ports - e.g. Risen 3D) and quite often my PC has been over-specced for that - though it does mean that I never have performance problems even with the more demanding mods. However, it also means that I can run other things when I choose to. I have just sunk quite a few hours into Cyberpunk 2077, for example. Then I occasionally do a bit of video editing, graphics work and so on. So, more speed, more memory and a decent graphics card always helps there too.

@Enjay: Yes, I have been corresponding with a computer builder/repair guy about assembling a custom rig. At this point, however, I'm questioning the need for sinking hundreds of dollars into an item of hardware I'll be primarily buying for its GZDooM capabilities.

I usually used to build my own machines. These days, however, there are several suppliers who basically allow you to specify a machine component by component and they build it. What's more, they do it for a very similar price to what I would have spent on building the machine myself and they provide a warranty and service support too. So, I just go for that nowadays.

@mattbratt11: Except for my work computer at my desk (on which I won't do any DooM-related stuff) my other computers are dinosaurs. I have been looking into doing piecemeal upgrades to my hardware, but the consensus is to abandon my old hardware and build a custom rig from the ground up. We'll see how that goes.

I knew Rex could make it alive. I'm proud of that. Keep it up, bro.

Excellent.

All is well now. drfrag suggested I switch back my graphics drivers from Win 10 to Win 8.1 I did, and GZDooM runs fine now.

Thanks, Rachael. I'll do what you suggested and report back here.

Meanwhile, I got LZDooM to run in its own folder. I think I was using a different dll file than the one LZDooM requires.

[EDIT: No luck. I tried running GZDooM with the command line parameters you suggested, but GZDooM remains unplayable. Per your suggestion, I have posted about the problem in the ZDooM forums.]

For GZDoom you should be able to start the modern version using the following shortcut: Note that this sets a couple of preferences that you will have to undo once you get access again to a fully accelerated renderer.

In the meantime, please post your issue here so that I and others can help you fix this problem.

After getting these scary messages about MS Windows support for my version of Win 10 Pro coming to an end soon, I decided to update/upgrade the operating system to v20H2 (OS Build 19042.867). In all other ways the update/upgrade works fine. But GZDooM runs like molasses on a cobblestone street. [This is the hot-fix version that drfrag ginned up, as outlined in this ZDooM thread.] I tried to run LZDooM, in the hopes that I'd be able to run DooM in some form. However, I get the dreaded "Execution Could Not Continue" error. I suspect this is being caused because it it looking for a specific library that I needed to replace with a newer version required to run Chocolate DooM.

So, basically, I can only run DooM with Chocolate DooM. Not GZDooM. Not LZDooM. Not ZDooM. At this point, I'm f*cked. And not in a good way.