Running DOOM on a Windows for Workgroups v3.1 network

        Note: much of this is based on work from Ron Kundla
                  (kundla@cis.ohio-state.edu)  and I'm indebted to
              him for taking the time to do the dirty work.

        Note: This worked on older versions of Doom and the early
              commercial version. I have not tested this method on v1.4
              or newer versions, but it will probably work
              
        Note: (yes, again). This is for WFWG 3.1, which comes with all
              the necessary IPX drivers. Users of WFWG v3.11 will need
              to find some drivers not shipped with that version. One
              source is DOOMIP.ZIP, in the Action Game Aids Library 
              (#8) of the GAMERS forum on Compuserve.
        Note: (the last, I promise) To be safe, save PROTOCOL.INI, 
               SYSTEM.INI, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and CONFIG.SYS before starting.
              If something goes wrong, restoring these files should get
              you back to the old system settings.

1. Start up Windows. Bring up the Main folder and double-click on the 
   Control Panel. Double-click on the Network icon. Look at the bottom
   of the window this action generates and you should see several large, 
   grey buttons, one of which is labelled Networks. Double click on it.

2. We now will be adding the Novell IPX network protocol drivers. Note 
   this will result in the drivers being loaded at boot time, not just
   when WFWG is run; this procedure modified Autoexec.bat and Config.sys
   Let it do so - if you desire, later on you can create options within 
   the files to use the drivers or not, but first let's get it working.
   
   The screen should now show two boxes, labelled "Available Network Types"
   and "Other Networks in Use", with Novell Network on the left box.
   (if it's on the right box, it is already installed - albeit maybe not
   correctly). Click once on the Novell line, then click on the ADD button 
   (be sure to have your original disks handy, as you'll probably need to  
   supply one or more as WFWG searches for the drivers). The Novell line 
   should show up on the right box. Click on OK to exit the screen. Two 
   files are installed to your hard drive:  NETX and MSIPX.  

3. WFWG will probably want to reboot, but click on Don't Reboot. Go to File
   on the menu, select RUN and type SYSEDIT. Click on the Autoexec.bat
   window to bring it to the front if it isn't there already and search for
   the line
                  c:\windows\netx.exe

   change it to read

                  rem c:\windows\netx.exe
   
   which will disable that line (netx apparently goes out and checks for a 
   real Novell Netware network and load a shell program, which you obviously 
   don't have). Save the file, exit Sysedit, shut down WFWG like normal 
   (really! Shut it down, don't go into a DOS box) and reboot the computer.
   As it boots, look for comments about BINDING. If you don't get a message
   about incomplete bindings, you're probably all set! If you get errors,
   then things are not going well - the ipx drivers didn't like your net-
   work card or ....something else is wrong <g>.

4. Now, at the DOS prompt (yes, DOS. The drivers are already loaded in 
   memory; there's no need to go into WFWG), start the network with the 
   command

            NET.EXE LOGON <username> <password> /YES

        where <username> and <password> are your userid and <password>,
respectively, and the capital letters are literaly what you type in. If you
don't have a password, then don't enter anything for it. This starts the
network connection on your machine. Go into Doom's Setup and configure the 
game for network play. You'll need to select a socket number greater than 1
(think of a socket as a telephone number). All members (1-4) of a group
must use the same socket number.

Note: on older versions of DOOM, the sockets would not release after being 
used, so subsequent play required choosing a new socket. I haven't tried it, 
but assume that it was fixed in later releases.

Oh, one other comment, one I get from a lot of newbie network doomers. No,
some of the cheat codes just won't work in network play. Any command that
starts with an 'i', for example, since pressing 'i' transmits the successive
text to the 'indigo' (relating to the jacket color of one of the group's 
on-screen persona) player.

Finally, if you have the older broadcast-method version of Doom and are 
playing on a company network, please, please, please, please? Get a newer
version that doesn't use broadcast transmission, so you don't bog down the
network for other people. Let's keep the killing on-screen <g>.


Dave Timoney
Humongous Entertainment
72662,1360