<p>This thing about Acorn DOOM being unstable; the fact is that my DOOM was
perfectly stable *while it was a single-tasking non-desktop product* but it
falls to pieces as a multi-tasking program if a WAD file (contains extra levles/gfx) is loaded which is BAD. I.e. there is a specific WAD file *format* and for some reason about
50-75% of WADs out there just *do not follow* the format.
<p>This has happened because DOS DOOM (like non-Wimp RISC OS DOOM) doesn't mind
a few random memory overwrites here and there, so the WAD authors (who care
not one whit for Acorn compatibility!) get away with bad work.
<p>I have investigated a slew of complaints about individual WAD files and *every single one* was traced to a bad WAD file.
<p>IMHO, when DIY DOOM gets to the multitasking stage it will become "quite unstable" as well...
<p>Note that Acorn DOOM (a misnomer, since it's not published by Acorn!) is
completely stable when used with official WADs or WADs which do conform to
<p>Although it may appear that Eddie is just following the general trend of blaming the PC users/programmers when things go wrong, he is justified in doing so. The bad programming of the Doom WAD files means that they carry out almost random memory overwrites outside of the area which they have been allocated.
<p>Since Acorn Doom is now a multi-tasking program, it would not be acceptable for it to allow these memory overwrites because it could cause a great deal of harm to other programmes running at the same time. It would appear that there's no 'quick fix' solution to the problems of WAD incompatability because the game code would need altering for each 'bad' WAD to work correctly and that would take up an incredible amout of time and be a near-impossible task to complete.
<p>So, the blame, in this case, does lie firmly upon the lazy PC/Mac WAD programmers who didn't follow the WAD specs properly when making their levels.
