Nightdive's Doom port available here on Steam is legit pretty great - not a bad way at all to experience the game for the first time.

...That being said, the endless community-made source ports such as Woof!, DSDA Doom and GZDoom are still the way to go when it comes to advanced customization and limit-removing mods.

Thing is, there is no way to run these other source ports through Steam by default. The simple alternative would be to add them as a "Non-Steam game", but this is not practical due to how loading WADs and PK3 files works. Moreover, you wouldn't be able to track hours played or share screenshots.

You deserve better: in this guide, you`ll learn how to run any source port pretty easy through Steam with a little tinkering. Here's two ways to do it.

ZDoom Launcher 3 is a nifty application that lets you manage any executables and WADs.

As the name suggests, it was originally developed for the ZDoom family of source ports, but it will work just fine with most others (including the official port).

You can use other launchers if you like - Doom Launcher[www.doomworld.com] is arguably even better, while AceCorp Launcher[www.doomworld.com] is a modern ZDL remake.

We're going with ZDL3 for the purposes of this guide, since it is the most straightforward one. You can download it here[github.com]. A heads up though: if you are new to Doom, some of the terminology below may get lost on you. If you want to understand how to setup ZDL, read this[forum.zdoom.org].

I will presume that you have a passing understanding on how ZDL works. If you don't, please refer to the forum I linked you above.



SteamEdit does what it says on the tin: edit Steam files. This can be useful for a variety of reasons, but the relevant one right now is this: it lets you remap the default .exes in any Steam game.

Downloading SteamEdit is only required for Method 2, but goes highly recommended. You can find it here[steamedit.tg-software.com].

Once again, the thing is simple enough to use and I'm gonna assume you can figure it out no problem for the purposes of this guide. If you have any trouble, please refer to the "How to Use" section in the website I just linked you above.

This method, although held up by ducktape, is fine. It is simpler than Method 2, but beware:

• Steam Overlay won't work reliably. It will work just fine with GZDoom, but will not work with most vanilla-accurate sourceports, such as Crispy Doom or Woof!. If you JUST want GZDoom though (which I know is most of you freaks) this is the way to go.
  
  
• Further, you may have to delete the "DOOM.exe" from the "External File" section in ZDL every time you start the game.

If you're okay with that, here's how you do it. If you're not, just skip to Method 2.

1. Run DOOM + DOOM II from a clean install.
   
   
2. Place the ZDL folder inside your DOOM + DOOM II Steam folder. By default, this can be found on "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom".
   
   
3. Right click DOOM + DOOM II on Steam and select its properties, like so:
   
   
   
   
4. Go into the "General" tab - it should be the first one.
   
   
5. Look for the "Launch Options" section at the end and include the line below.
   
   
   "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\ZDL_3-1.1_Win_x86\ZDL" %Command%
   
   This a generic Steam command which essentially tells it to ignore the default game executable and instead refer to the one which you indicate.
   
   Note that the section between " " should be the complete path to your ZDL executable. The example above is just how it looks on my end.
   
   If you're unsure of what your file path is, you can check it by simply right clicking ZDL in Windows and selecting "Properties". Check it out:
   
   
   
   By the end, your "General" tab should be looking something like this:
   
   
   
   
6. That's it! Just launch DOOM + DOOM II through Steam, select whichever option pops up and the Nightdive port will instead be replaced by your handy ZDL application - you may also want to select "Always use this option" on Steam, as to bypass this step for all future launches.
   
   From there, just pick whatever version of DOOM you want to play - including the Nightdive port itself, which should work just fine if you add its exe. in ZDL's "Settings" section. Easy-peasy:
   
   

The method below should work perfectly, since we're gonna mess with the exes. One caveat tho:

• Like anything reliant on SteamEdit, it will be affected by updates to the game. In that case, you will just need to redo steps 3 and 5 below. It's really no big deal - whole thing should take you less than 2 minutes. If that's a no-no for you, just use Method 1.

1. Just like Method 1: run DOOM + DOOM II from a clean install.
   
   
2. Place the ZDL install folder inside your DOOM + DOOM II install folder.
   
   
3. Run SteamEdit. Look for "DOOM + DOOM II" and enable the "Tool" and "Config" icons (the gear one and the notepad one next to it, which sould now be green):
   
   
   
   
4. Click the "Edit Launch" icon. See those options? Those are the ones that are displayed on that lil' window every time you run the game through Steam.
   
   
5. Click the "Add New" button and name it something like "Launch ZDL". On the executable link, type the following:
   
   
   ZDL_3-1.1_Win_x86/ZDL.exe
   
   It should look like this by the end:
   
   
   
   
6. Click "Ok" and the "Save & Refresh" button (see picture in Step 3). Steam will now restart.
   
   
7. Run DOOM + DOOM II as usual. If you've done everything correctly, the launch window should now show the "Launch ZDL" option. Click it everytime you want to run a source port.
   
   You can also make it the default option by clicking "Always use this option" - this can later be reverted in the Steam "Properties" tab.
   
   
   
   
8. Congrats! You'll now be able to run the source port of your liking through Steam, screenshots and all. Go crazy.

Hope this has been useful to you!

If you have any trouble, feel free to comment below - just read the guide carefully to make sure you're not missing some silly detail.

Get on Doomin', rippity rippity etcetera.