Switch to that drive by typing D: and pressing <Enter>. (If "D:" is not your CD-ROM drive, substitute the appropriate letter.)
Type Install and then press <Enter>.
Follow the on-screen prompts to continue the installation process.
After the files have been copied, the SETUP program will run automatically. You will be asked some questions about your computer setup. If you are unsure what to select, consult your sound card or computer manual for assistance, or just accept the defaults by pressing the <Enter> key.
Once installation is complete, you can launch the game like this:
Type CD\Doom2 and then press <Enter>. (If you installed to a different directory, substitute the correct directory name.)
Type Doom2 and press <Enter>.
After a short initialization sequence, the main menu will appear and a demo will begin playing. To actually start playing the game, use the arrow keys to select New Game and then press <Enter>. Now just select the difficulty of your game, and the game will begin.
Diskette version:
Insert diskette #1 into your 3.5" floppy drive.
Switch to that drive by typing A: and pressing <Enter>. (If "A:" is not your 3.5" floppy drive, substitute the appropriate letter.)
"The installer reports a 'Write Error' while the files are decompressing"
This error will occur if there is not enough free space on the hard drive where you selected to install the game. Doom II requires 20 megabytes of free hard drive space. Free up some space on your drive and then try installing the game again.
"The Windows SETUP program runs after installation instead of the Doom II Setup Utility"
Doom II is designed to run its own setup utility automatically when installation is completed. If all of the files were not copied from the diskettes or CD for any reason, your system may run the next file called "Setup" that it finds, which is usually the Windows setup program.
Make sure that you have enough hard drive space for the game to install. Doom II requires at least 20 megabytes of free hard disk space. Once you have enough room, try installing the game again.
"When I try to run the game I get an 'Insufficient Memory' error or the game just won't run."
Doom II requires 4 Megabytes of RAM to operate. If your computer have 4 Megs or more of RAM, but this error comes up anyway, then you'll need to free up memory that's currently being used by other programs.
If you are running the game in Windows 95 or 98, shut down all of your other applications, and then try the game again. If you're running in DOS, the best way to deal with this problem is to perform a clean reboot.
"When launching the game, the program freezes on the line of text that mentions 'I_Startup_Timer'."
Doom II was designed to run in DOS. If you are playing the game in Windows or Windows 95, the game may not operate properly. Exit Windows, and then try running the game from DOS. See the top of this document for detailed instructions on installing and running the game in DOS.
If the problem still occurs in DOS, then you may need to perform a clean boot on your system to remove any programs from memory that may be loading up each time you boot up your machine.
Another program on your system may be using system resources that are required for the game to operate. The best way to temporarily disable other programs is to perform a "Clean" boot. To learn how to perform a "Clean Boot" in DOS, please see our DOS General Troubleshooting FAQ.
Some systems also have settings in their built in operating systems or BIOS that can cause problems with Doom II. Check your computer manual to see if your system has a "Hidden Refresh" or "Hardware Video Shadowing" option. Both of these options should be turned off.
Doom II requires a Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound card to operate. If you have anything but a true Sound Blaster you must be sure that it is set up to emulate a Sound Blaster before continuing. Refer to your sound card or computer manual for instructions.
Set up your sound card in the Doom II setup utility. In order to do this you'll need to know what settings your card is using. Since each sound card may be set to different values, we recommend that you refer to your computer or sound card manual to determine this information before continuing.
From the DOS prompt:
Type C:\Doom2\Setup, then press <Enter>. (If you installed to a different drive/directory, substitute the appropriate drive letter and directory name!)
Using the arrow keys, highlight Select music sound card and press <Enter>.
Choose your sound card from the list provided, then press <Enter>. (If your card is not listed, try selecting "Sound Blaster".)
Choose the port that your card is currently set to and then press <Enter>.
Select Choose Sound FX Card and press <Enter>.
Choose our card from the list, and press <Enter>
Select the correct Port, IRQ, and DMA channel for your card.
Select the number of sound effects that you'd like to hear at once. (More sounds equals slower game performance on low end systems!)
Select Save Parameters and Launch Doom II, then press <Enter>.
"After setting up my card in the SETUP utility, I still get no sound or music in the game."
Make sure that you have entered the correct Port, IRQ and DMA channel for your card. If you can't determine this information for yourself, contact the technical support department for your sound card or computer system.
If you are sure that you entered the correct values in the Setup utility, then try this:
From the DOS prompt, type SET and press <Enter>. A few lines of text should appear on your screen.
Look for one that starts with "SET BLASTER". If this line does not exist or contains incorrect information about your sound card, you'll need to fix it before Doom II can play sounds.
A more detailed description of the SET BLASTER statement and how to edit it is available in our DOS General Troubleshooting FAQ.
"The sound works, but sound effects tend to break up during gameplay or there's a lot of static in the background"
First try disconnecting any printers or other peripherals that may be connected to your computer's parallel ports. These ports usually use IRQ 5 or 7 and may be conflicting with your sound card.
If you still hear static after this and you're using a Sound Blaster 16 or AWE32, then you may need to lower the "mic" and "line" settings in the Sound Blaster Mixer utility. Check your sound card manual for instructions on how to do this.
"My Gravis Ultra Sound card doesn't work with this game"
The default IRQ for a Gravis Ultra Sound is 11. Doom II doesn't handle IRQ's above 7. Change this with your Gravis Ultra Sound setup program.
"I can't get sound in the game with my ATI Stereo FX card no matter what"
You'll need to contact ATI for a hardware BIOS upgrade for your card.
"I can't connect to another computer for a direct modem connection game"
Set up your modem in the Doom II Setup utility. If your modem is not listed, try picking one that matches yours as closely as possible.*
If none of the options work for you, you'll need to manually edit the modem initialization string in the "modem.cfg: file in your Doom II directory. Your modem manual should provide the necessary commands you'll need for a custom init string. Be sure to include commands to turn off data compression, error correction, and flow control. If your modem manual does not provide this information, please contact your modem manufacturer.
*Please note that modems that were designed to run only in Windows 95 such as "Plug and Play" or "Winmodems" will usually not work in DOS not matter what initialization string you use.
"While trying to set up a network game my computer reported an "IPX protocol not detected" error.
Doom II only supports the IPX network transfer protocol. All of the computers in the network must have the IPX protocol installed and working correctly before a network game can be played.
If you aren't sure how to do this, please contact your network administrator.
"The game searches for other players but can't find any"
First check the network port number in the network section of the Doom II setup program. This number must be the same on all of the computers that will be involved in the game.
If the number matches, then your network card may not be set up properly. Check your network settings and connections, or contact your network administrator for assistance.
"The game locks up at "Looking for player…"
This problem usually indicates a problem with your network hardware. Make sure that the network card is working properly before trying again. Often this problem is the result of a conflict between the network card and other hardware in your system.
"All of the other players were found but the game keeps searching for more"
This occurs when you enter a number of players greater than the amount of players actually entering the game. For example, if you only have three players playing but you tell Doom II to expect four players, it will wait forever until the fourth player starts the game. Press <Esc> to exit, and then restart the game with the correct number of players.
"During a network game I received a 'Consistency Failure' message."
A problem has occurred on one of the computers in the game that caused the games to become unsynchronized. When this occurs, all players must quit out of the game and then restart. If this error occurs often, there may be a problem with the network itself.
This problem is more likely to occur when one or more of the computers on the network are much faster or slower than the others.
"When trying to launch a net game I got an error stating "Different Versions of Doom II Cannot Play a Net Game'."
There have been several revisions to Doom II since it's initial release. You cannot play a multiplayer game with someone who is using a different version of the game. To ensure that everyone is using the same version, all players should upgrade to version 1.9.
Press the <F11> key on your keyboard to toggle through 5 stages of brightness. If the highest level is still too dark on your system, you'll need to adjust your monitor's brightness setting while playing.
"The animation seems to be moving in slow motion"
On systems that just barely meet the minimum system requirements, the game may slow down considerably at times. Use the "-" key on your keyboard to reduce the screen size. This will speed up the game. If you accidentally make the screen too small, you can enlarge it again by hitting the "+" key.
"While using a joystick or other controller, my character moves wildly around the game with little or no control"
Doom II requires that you calibrate your joystick each time the game is run. Launch the game again and wait for it to ask you to calibrate. Carefully follow the on-screen instructions. Your controller should now work just fine.
"My joystick or mouse isn't recognized at all by the game"
You must use the Doom II Setup utility to tell the game that you will be using a joystick or mouse. To run the utility from the DOS prompt:
Type C:\Doom2\Setup and then press <Enter>. (If you installed the game to a different drive or directory, be sure to substitute the correct drive letter and directory name!)
Highlight "Select Controller Type" and hit <Enter>.
Choose the option that you need, and then press <Enter> again.
If you want to, customize the buttons on your joystick or mouse using the "Configure Controller" option.
Select "Save and Exit" and press <Enter> to return to the DOS prompt.
If you are using a mouse, make sure that your mouse drivers are loaded properly in DOS before trying to play again. If you are using a joystick or gamepad, be sure to calibrate it carefully each time you play the game.
If your problem wasn't listed in this document, read on:
Make sure that your system meets the minimum system requirements as listed on the box. If your system does not meet or exceed the minimum requirements, it will run poorly, or not at all.
If you are running the game in Windows 3.x, Windows 95, or Windows 98, try running the game in DOS instead. This game was designed for DOS and may act strangely when launched from Windows. See the top of this document for detailed instructions for installing and playing the game in DOS.
