DOOM Retro v5.8 is now available to download as either a 32 or 64-bit Windows app. Here’s a list of what’s changed since the last version:

• DOOM Retro is now built using v17.14.16 of Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022.
• DOOM Retro now uses SDL v2.32.10.
• Minor changes have been made to further improve the overall performance and stability of DOOM Retro.
• Several changes have been made to text that is output to the console.
• Support has been added for version 1.23 of John Romero’s SIGIL by autoloading SIGIL_V1_23_REG.wad or SIGIL_V1_23.wad if found.
• The backgrounds of the intermission screens in SIGIL and SIGIL II are now widescreen.
• Additional brightmaps have been added to Legacy Of Rust when the r_brightmaps CVAR is on.
• The player’s path in the automap can now easily be toggled on and off by pressing the P key. This can be rebound to another key using the new +path action with the bind CCMD in the console.
• The length of the player’s path in the automap can now be changed using the new am_pathlength CVAR. This CVAR can be short, medium (the default), long or endless.
• Moving the mouse now pans around the automap when follow mode is off. This feature can be disabled using the new am_mousepanning CVAR, which is on by default and off when vanilla mode is enabled.
• The movement of the player into and out of liquid sectors is now smoother in some instances when the r_liquid_lowerview CVAR is on.
• These changes have been made to the support of MAPINFO lumps:
  • If AUTHOR is specified, the author of the map is now displayed in the console when the map starts, and in the automap. This feature can be disabled in the automap using the new am_author CVAR, which is on by default and off when vanilla mode is enabled.
  • NOJUMP and NOFREELOOK now always work as intended.
  • LABEL is now supported.
  • A bug is fixed whereby music wouldn’t be randomized when the s_randommusic CVAR was on and custom music was specified using MUSIC.
  • A bug is fixed whereby BOSSACTION wouldn’t be parsed in some rare instances.
• The music now updates immediately when changing the s_randommusic CVAR in the console.
• These changes have been made to the alternate widescreen HUD:
  • Changes have been made so that the color, translucency and drop shadow of all elements are now consistent, particularly when the player has an invulnerability power-up or the r_textures CVAR is off.
  • A bug is fixed whereby the wrong keys would flash when trying to open a BOOM-compatible locked door that requires all six keys.
  • The DRHUDWP1 lump can now be replaced in a PWAD to change the silhouette of the player’s pistol.
• Barrels now appear in the background when the menu is open.
• Navigating the menu using the thumbsticks on a controller, and using the mouse when the m_pointer CVAR is on, has improved.
• The framerate is now capped at 60 FPS when the menu is open and the vid_vsync CVAR is on.
• These changes have been made to the crosshair:
  • The default value of the crosshaircolor CVAR has changed from 4 (white) to 112 (green).
  • The crosshair is now slightly more opaque when the r_hud_translucency CVAR is on.
  • The crosshair now becomes brighter when the player is firing their weapon and the r_hud_translucency CVAR is off.
  • The crosshair is now larger and consistent regardless of the value of the r_detail CVAR.
  • Several new crosshair styles are available. As well as the existing cross and dot, the crosshair CVAR can now be set to angle, bigcross, circle, bigcircle, chevron, chevrons or arcs.
  • The crosshair can now be replaced in a PWAD by including DRXHAIR1 to DRXHAIR9 lumps.
  • The crosshair now remains on the screen while the console is open.
• The crosshair in the automap when am_followmode is off is now also slightly larger.
• The number of decorations in the map displayed by the mapstats CCMD is now more accurate.
• A crash no longer occurs when the player has a partial invisibility power-up and the r_textures CVAR is off.
• A bug is fixed whereby the flash of the super shotgun could be misaligned in some rare instances.
• Textures with widths that are not powers of two are now rendered correctly.
• Support has been added for textures between TX_START and TX_END markers in PWADs.
• These changes have been made to the timestamps in the console:
  • They are now more accurate.
  • They can now be disabled using the new con_timestamps CVAR, which is on by default.
  • Their format can now be changed using the new con_timestampformat CVAR, which can be set to standard (the default, and which now displays whether it is AM or PM), or military.
• The color of the console’s edge can now be changed using the new con_edgecolor CVAR, which can be auto (the default), or 0 to 255. Also, the color of DOOM Retro’s logo is now black if the color chosen is too bright.
• The warninglevel CVAR has been renamed con_warninglevel.
• The player’s health now updates when they are resurrected and the negativehealth CVAR is on.
• The health CVAR can now be set to 0% when the negativehealth CVAR is on.
• The maplist CCMD now lists the author for each map.
• Mouse buttons bound to the +rotatemode action now work as intended.
• The times displayed on the intermission screen, when the am_playerstats CVAR is on, and when the timer CCMD is used, now show the number of milliseconds.
• Per-pixel translucency is now removed from sprites that are replaced in a PWAD.

DOOM Retro v5.7.2 is now available to download as either a 32 or 64-bit Windows app. Here’s a list of what’s changed since the last version:

• DOOM Retro is now built using v17.14.10 of Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022.
• A graph is now displayed along with the number of frames per second when the vid_showfps CVAR is on.
• The distance the player travels, displayed in the automap when the am_path CVAR is on, and by the playerstats CCMD, has improved in accuracy.
• A message is now displayed in the console when the player upgrades from an earlier version of DOOM Retro.
• A new releasenotes CCMD has been implemented that opens a list of what’s changed since the last version of DOOM Retro in the default browser.
• A bug is fixed whereby DEHACKED lumps wouldn’t be parsed correctly in some rare instances.
• BRGHTMPS lumps are now always parsed if included in a PWAD.
• Helper dogs spawned using the spawn CCMD in the console are now colored correctly when a custom PLAYPAL lump is used.
• Solid, non-shootable sprites now appear in the background when the menu is open.
• Per-column lighting is now only cast on monsters when the r_percolumnlighting CVAR is on.
• A bug is fixed whereby pressing a mouse button would perform other unbound actions in some rare instances.
• Minor improvements have been made to the support of ID24 line specials.

DOOM Retro v5.7.1 is now available to download as either a 32 or 64-bit Windows app. Here’s a list of what’s changed since the last version:

• DOOM Retro is now built using v17.14.7 of Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022.
• A bug is fixed whereby pressing SPACE to accelerate the intermission screen wouldn’t always work.
• Brightmaps specified using a BRGHTMPS lump in a PWAD now combine with the default brightmaps, rather than replace them.
• Displaying messages in the alternate font when the alternate HUD is displayed can now be toggled off using the new r_althudfont CVAR, which is on by default.
• Minor changes have been made to text that is output to the console.
• Minor improvements have been made to text autocompleted in the console by pressing the TAB key.
• A bug is fixed whereby monsters could telefrag other monsters.
• Automatically switching your weapon when picking up a new one or better ammo can now be toggled off using the new autoswitch CVAR, which is on by default and when vanilla mode is enabled.
• Controls can now be bound to the +fists, +chainsaw, +pistol, +shotgun, +supershotgun, +chaingun, +rocketlauncher, +plasmarifle and +bfg9000 actions using the bind CCMD in the console.
• Improvements have been made to when the mouse wheel is bound to an action other than +nextweapon or +prevweapon.
• A bug is fixed whereby the CREDITS lump wouldn’t be displayed during the title sequence of DOOM II.
• The player can now pick up more than one of the same type of key card or skull key.
• Randomness is no longer applied to the angle of non-shootable things.
• The DRHUDKEY and DRHUDSKU are now positioned better in the alternate widescreen HUD if replaced in a PWAD.
• Performance has improved slightly when the vid_capfps CVAR is 35.

DOOM Retro v5.7 is now available to download as either a 32 or 64-bit Windows app. Here’s a list of what’s changed since the last version:

• DOOM Retro is now built using v17.14.5 of Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022.
• DOOM Retro now uses SDL v2.32.8, SDL_mixer v2.8.1 and SDL_image v2.8.8.
• Several changes have been made to further improve the overall performance and stability of DOOM Retro.
• Minor changes have been made to text that is output to the console.
• Very long player messages now wrap to a second line when the vid_widescreen CVAR is on.
• Minor improvements have been made to the support of Back To Saturn X E1: Get Out Of My Stations and Back To Saturn X E2: Tower In The Fountain Of Sparks.
• John Romero’s SIGIL II will now autoload correctly if named SIGIL2.WAD and placed in the autoload folder.
• Additional PWADs will now autoload alongside SIGIL, SIGIL II and No Rest For The Living by placing them in the relevant autoload subfolder.
• A crash no longer occurs at startup if -autoload or -autoloaddir is used on the command-line.
• The savegames subfolder of Freedoom: Phase 1 has been renamed from freedoom to freedoom1.
• Per-column lighting is now cast on sprites using the new r_percolumnlighting CVAR, which is on by default and off when vanilla mode is enabled.
• A bug is fixed whereby pressing SPACE to accelerate the intermission screen wouldn’t always work.
• Blood splats no longer spawn when lost souls are killed using the kill CCMD.
• These changes have been made to the support of DEHACKED lumps:
  • The MBF-compatible codepointer A_LineEffect now works correctly with non-repeatable line specials.
  • The MBF21-compatible codepointer A_RadiusDamage now always inflicts damage as intended.
  • Weapons that use the MBF21-compatible codepointers A_Weapon­Projectile, A_Weapon­BulletAttack and A_WeaponMeleeAttack now recoil if fired when the weaponrecoil CVAR is on.
  • A bug is fixed whereby things spawned using the MBF21-compatible codepointer A_Spawn­Object couldn’t be made translucent.
  • Retro bits = MOREBLOOD can now be used to spawn blood splats around a thing with a custom sprite at the start of a map when the r_corpses_moreblood CVAR is on.
  • A bug is fixed whereby the last line of DEHACKED lumps wasn’t being parsed.
• These changes have been made to ID24 compatibility:
  • Flats can now be offset and rotated using line specials 2,048 to 2,056.
  • Music can now be changed using line specials 2,057 to 2,068 and 2,087 to 2,098.
  • The player’s inventory can now be reset when exiting a map using line specials 2,069 to 2,074.
  • Colormaps can now be applied to individual sectors using line specials 2,075 to 2,081.
  • These changes have been made to the support for the SKYDEFS lump:
    • Skies can now be scaled using scalex.
    • The inverted screen effect is now always applied to the sky when the player has an invulnerability power-up.
    • Fire skies defined using this lump now aren’t rendered when vanilla mode is enabled.
    • Skies can now be specified using flatmapping. This fixes the sky in the hole the player falls into at the end of MAP20 in DOOM II.
• The IDMUS cheat can now be used in the console when not playing a game.
• Cheats now become redacted when entered in the console before pressing ENTER.
• A crash no longer occurs when using the mapstats CCMD in the console in some rare instances.
• A bug is fixed whereby the console would open when using the mouse pointer to adjust sliders in the options menu.
• The vid_widescreen CVAR no longer resets to off at startup if -warp is used on the command-line.
• A bug is fixed whereby all shootable things, and not just monsters, would be hidden when using the nomonsters CCMD or if -nomonsters was used on the command-line.
• The mouse wheel can now be bound to actions other than +nextweapon and +prevweapon using the wheelup and wheeldown controls with the bind CCMD in the console.
• A bug is fixed whereby the +prevweapon action wouldn’t work if bound to a key.
• These changes have been made to the support for Final DOOM: The Plutonia Experiment and TNT - Evilution:
  • Custom map names now always display correctly when playing a PWAD.
  • PWADs placed in the autoload folder are now always automatically loaded.
• These changes have been made to BOOM compatibility:
  • Brightmaps specified using a BRGHTMPS lump no longer remove the translucency of translucent wall textures.
  • Sky textures specified using an ANIMATED lump now animate.
  • The offsets of scrolling floor and ceiling textures are now remembered in savegames.
  • The correct player message is now always displayed when trying to open a generalized locked door.
  • Improvements have been made to the colors used in the WATERMAP lump.
• A bug is fixed whereby the sky wouldn’t render correctly in some rare instances when the weaponrecoil CVAR was turned on in the console.
• The support for Direct 3D 11 has been removed. The vid_scaleapi CVAR can no longer be set to direct3d9 or direct3d11, but direct3d instead.
• The positioning of tall skies has improved in some instances when the freelook CVAR is off.
• Improvements have been made to fixing the offsets of sprites when the r_fix­sprite­offsets CVAR is on.
• Playing sound effects in full as things are removed from a map can now be disabled using the new s_fullsfx CVAR, which is on by default and off when vanilla mode is enabled.
• The volume of MP3 and Ogg Vorbis music lumps has increased slightly.
• The player’s controller now rumbles when they land after a fall using the new joy_rumble_fall CVAR, which is on by default and off when vanilla mode is enabled.
• The vid_showfps CVAR no longer resets to off at startup.
• A bug is fixed whereby the play CCMD wouldn’t play music lumps in some instances.