Questions about source ports and game loading

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Wasn't sure whether to post this in the Computing section or here, but anyway.....

Over the last seven or eight months I've got into playing all sorts of different Doom wads (also Heretic and Hexen) in source ports, and have a query or two:

1. Have played most of these games in PrBoom+ on a Windows 7 laptop. They've run very well with this setup, but very recently I've tried a couple of games in GLBoom+ (which comes as part of the PrBoom folder, and can use its save files), and the colours seem richer and deeper, and the graphics sharper. So I'm wondering whether there's any reason for having PrBoom+ any longer.

2. Have also used ZDoom, which is required for some of the games, and this runs pretty well also in Windows 7 though there's the odd stutter. When I installed GZDoom onto this machine though, Microsoft Security Essentials, which isn't known for being very interventionist (or for doing anything at all, some might say), immediately removed it without explanation. Is this perhaps something to do with OpenGL 3 and its incompatibility with Windows 7, and the same reason stuff like Brutal Doom won't run on it? GZ Doom and Brutal Doom work fine on Windows 8.1, and presumably do likewise in Windows 10.

3. I sometimes use ZDL to load games which have several components, and it seems to be essential where the loading order is crucial, but I've had problems where 'DeHacked' files are concerned. ZDL just doesn't seem able to deal with them and they don't show up in the GUI. Is there a way round this, or an alternative loader to ZDL? I'm aware, by the way, that multiple files can be loaded 'manually' by holding down the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping onto the executable.

I just use ZDOOM (in WinXP), but I have to go into the console and disable a lot of bits, like wall scorching and a few other non-vanilla things. PRBOOM is nice, and very vanilla when it wants to be, but I just like ZDOOM's flavor better, and I like some of the new things, like mouse aiming.

Obviously, source ports to consoles etc. are usually PRBOOM, so I don't really have an option.

I don't know about GL looking richer and sharper. I've tried a few different GL engines, but I feel like DOOM engine stuff is just too low-res. Even Quake I usually play in software mode, or at least gl_nearest video mode.

I remember having some problems with ZDL, but it's been so long since I used it, I can't remember what they were. Last time I looked (which was very long ago), the only alternative I could find was to do it the old fashioned way, by opening a command prompt or making BAT files.

Thanks for those replies!

I've downloaded 'Rocket Launcher' and will be testing it out in the near future.