DoomWorks (fork of GBADoom by doomhack)

Originally a port of prBoom to the GBA, then ported to the Numworks calculator.

Works on both simulator AND REAL DEVICE !

vid.mp4

This project uses a python rewrite of GbaWadUtil (by doomhack) from the original GBADoom repo to embed the chosen WAD into the app.

IMPORTANT:

This port is still very much a work in progress / proof of concept !!!

The biggest challenge when porting this was RAM usage, as a Numworks app only has 153 580 bytes of RAM available, which is almost nothing when compared to the original PC recommandations (~4MB) and half of the GBA's specs (~256KB).

The available storage space for a Numworks app was also a major constaint, as on my 25.2.0 Epsilon N0110 device, I could only install an app of about 2.6MB total.

As a result, many WADs either won't fit when installing the app on a regular stock Numworks device, or will take too much memory from the Zone allocator and quit.

RAM / Allocation issues:

Instead of using DOOM's builtin Zone allocator, this project uses the system allocator (malloc / free). The performance cost is negligible.

However, the OS only gives 128KB of memory for the entire app. This means that a lot of maps will not load. I am still working on optimizing ram usage for the future.

WAD size issues:

If your WAD is too big to fit on your device, here are some projects that can help you port your favorite WADs :

• ZenNode : Fast Doom BSP builder
• Wadptr : A Doom WAD file compressor, almost necessary to port WADs to this project. (by fragglet)
• Miniwad : A (very) minimalist Doom IWAD, letting you use Wadptr to its full potential. (also by fragglet)

ZenNode + Wadptr = A tiny WAD that can (probably) fit into your Numworks.

Using ZenNode first then Wadptr saves more space than the other way around.

In case you need even more space, you can use Nwagra (by yaya-cout), a tool letting you use up to 6MB to install apps (for N0110, N0115 and N0120) !

If you just want a small WAD to test out the engine, I recommand Squashware Doom (by fragglet). The full, silent version of this fits perfectly and runs at full-speed.

To do:

• Make a better allocation system (minimize fragmentation)
• Improve the compression of many lumps in WADs so that bigger WADs can fit without lossy texture compression
• Save as much memory as possible

Controls:

• UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT : D-Pad
• A (Use, Sprint, Menu) : OK
• B (Shoot, Back in menus) : Back
• L (Strafe left) : Shift
• R (Strafe right) : Alpha
• Start (Open menu) : EXE
• Select (Automap) : Toolbox

Changing weapon is done with (Shift / Alpha) + OK.

Cheats (from the original GBADoom):

Chainsaw: L, UP, UP, LEFT, L, SELECT, SELECT, UP
God mode: UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT
Ammo & Keys: L, LEFT, R, RIGHT, SELECT,UP, SELECT, UP
Ammo: R, R, SELECT,R, SELECT,UP, UP, LEFT
No Clipping: UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT
Invincibility: A, B, L, R, L, R, SELECT, SELECT
Berserk: B, B, R, UP, A, A, R, B
Invisibility: A, A, SELECT,B, A, SELECT, L, B
Auto-map: L, SELECT,R, B, A, R, L, UP
Lite-Amp Goggles: DOWN,LEFT, R, LEFT, R, L, L, SELECT
Exit Level: LEFT,R, LEFT, L, B, LEFT, RIGHT, A
Enemy Rockets (Goldeneye): A, B, L, R, R, L, B, A
Toggle FPS counter: A, B, L, UP, DOWN, B, LEFT, LEFT

Building and running (current repo workflow):

This repository uses the top-level Makefile to build and run the NumWorks app.
GbaWadUtil (used to embed WADs into the project to save on RAM) is already wired in and is called automatically when embedding a WAD.

Requirements

• make
• A working C/C++ build environment for the NumWorks app toolchain used by numworks_app/
• epsilon.bin (Linux) or epsilon.app (macOS) in the repository root for simulator runs
• npx (for nwlink) if you want to install on a real device

Run on a NumWorks device

Embed the WAD in the app :

make PLATFORM=device run WAD=doom1.wad GBADOOM_ENABLE_STACK_REUSE=1 USE_UNSTABLE_ZONE_HEAP_SIZE=1 USE_EXTERNAL_IWAD=0 COMPRESS_TEXTURES=1 -j4

Notes:

• Embedded WAD source files are generated under source/iwad/ automatically.

Run on simulator

make PLATFORM=simulator build WAD=doom1.wad -j4

Then you can use --nwb gbadoom.nwb when launching the Epsilon simulator.

Clean:

make clean

For anyone reading the code :

WAD format terms used in this repo (non-official terminology)

The terms vanilla and compact are local project terms, not official Doom formats.

• Vanilla WAD: standard Doom map lumps as stored in IWAD / PWAD files (classic vertex / linedef / sidedef / seg layouts, sidedef textures as 8-char names).
• Compact WAD: a WAD processed by GbaWadUtil where map lumps are preconverted for this engine (for example, sidedef textures become texture indices, and map geometry lumps are expanded into runtime-oriented layouts).

Both represent the same map content. Compact format is a preprocessing / packing step for GBADoom and this port.