• Steam, of course, with all the classic DOOM games installed. You can get the complete collection here on Steam - Doom Classic Bundle;
  
  
• 7-Zip, in order to extract stuff - Download It Here[www.7-zip.org]
  
  
• A text editor of your preference. I recommend you install either one of the following or use Windows' default Notepad:
  
  • EditPad - Download It Here[www.editpadlite.com]
    
    
  • Notepad + + - Download It Here[notepad-plus-plus.org]
  
  
• GZDoom, which's the definitive source port if you wanna play DOOM with mods - Download It Here[www.zdoom.org];
  
  
• Doom Launcher by hobomaster22, which's the recommended launcher for this tutorial since it's has much more features than ZDL, allowing us to organize mods with tags, customize our playstyle and many other features - Download It Here[github.com]
  
  
• Any mods of your preference. You can find a lot of them by searching on Google, DuckDuckGo, Youtube and etc.
  I'll be using Spawn: Path to Damnation and a few other mods to do so, like:
  
  
  • Neural Upscaled 2x - Download It Here[www.doomworld.com]
    
    
  • DOOM High-resolution Texture Project - Download It Here[github.com]
    
    
  • JP HUD - Download It Here[github.com] (use the "mod friendly" version to use with the weapon mods of your preference)

• First, extract GZDoom to a new folder somewhere of your preference (in my case it's in my HDD where I install games and have mostly of my personal stuff stored like music, pictures, videos and other things in it).

Optional Step: copy all the IWADs from their respective places (DOOM.WAD, DOOM2.WAD, PLUTONIA.WAD and TNT.WAD) and place them inside the GZDoom folder.
All those files have the .wad extension and they can be found in their respective installation folders where your Steam games are installed.

---

• After this open and extract all the content from the Doom Launcher zip file inside the "base" folder of DOOM 2's installation folder.
  You can easily go there through Steam's launcher by right clicking on DOOM 2's name > Manage > Browse Local Files.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Once everything is set up it's time to go to step #2.

• First of all go back to DOOM 2's installation folder. Once in there, we'll edit two files: "doom2 + mouse.bat" and "doom2.bat".
  Open them both with your text editor of your preference (even Windows Notepad can do it) then let's start editing the contents of those files.
  
  Hint: If you're on a notebook to right click those files press Shift+F10 and choose "Edit" to do so.
  There's also the following tutorial which'll show you the many ways to right click on a notebook without a mouse - How to Right-Click on a Laptop[www.lifewire.com]
  
  Anyway, all you have to do is to copy the command below:
  
  
  .\base\DoomLauncher.exe exit
  
  Then select everything with Ctrl+A inside one of the batch files you just opened and paste the command above over it. Do it for the other .bat executable. It'll appear like this:
  
  
  
  
• Save and close both files. After this open Steam's launcher, right click on DOOM 2's name and select "Properties".
  On "Launch Options" follow the example below, pointing the launcher to Doom Launcher's executable so Steam will run it:
  
  
  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Doom 2\base\DoomLauncher.exe" %Command%
  
  
  
  And yes, the quotation marks are obligatory to use. You can replace the path between them on the example above to point to your respective DOOM 2's folder installation.
  
  
• After all this launch DOOM 2 by choosing the second option ("Launch DOOM II [Original]") and then Doom Launcher will load and run through Steam.
  
  
  Don't celebrate just yet since we have two more steps to go!

• Once open Doom Launcher will ask for a Source Port to operate with, and in this case we'll work with GZDoom.
  We'll click on the "New" option and new window will show up, where you can name and point Doom Launcher to GZDoom's executable through the "Browse" button next to the "Executable" section. Click "Save", and the window will close itself.
  
  
  
  Note: If you're wondering what the other options do here's my attempt to explain them:
  
  - Supported Extensions: Lists which types of files this source port can support. Just leave it as it is since the default options are good enough to run all your mods.
  - Parameters: I honestly don't have any clue of what this does. Maybe it serves to add extra functions to run together with the source port at startup ?
  - Alt Save Directory: Serves to choose an alternative place where you can store the saves of your DOOM games from its respective source port.
  - Additional Files: Exactly what it says on the tin: you can add downloaded and/or installed mods to load together with the source port you're adding to the Launcher, so you won't have to keep adding them manually everytime you want to play a megawad or map.
  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• On the next window you'll have to point Doom Launcher to where your IWADs are. You can go back to DOOM 2's installation folder and select the "DOOM2.WAD' file.
  
  
  
  Optional Step Part 2: Remember when I told you to put all the DOOM IWADs in the GZDOOM folder ? It's time to select them all and add them to the launcher.
  
  
  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• After this the IWAD will be added to the launcher, and once it's over a new window will pop up. Just follow the picture below and don't touch anything else:
  
  
  
  Port: The source port which will be loaded by default. In this case it's gonna be GZDoom.
  
  IWAD: The IWAD which you want to load by default. In this example it's gonna be DOOM2.wad.
  
  Skill: The skill level which'll be loaded by default, ranging from 1 ("I'm too young to die") to 5 ("Nightmare!"). Refer to skill numbers here[doomwiki.org].
  In this example I chose skill level 3 because I'm no decino or pagb666.
  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• So now Doom Launcher is ready to be used. If you want to take a good look around it and see what the options do, this is your chance.
  However I just want to add some more stuff you need to do first before you do so:
  - If you want to add the other IWADs you have all you'll have to do is to click on the three bars on the top above the "Tags" option and then click "Add IWADs". You'll have to repeat this for every IWAD you want to add.
  
  
  
  - To make things more organized, I suggest creating a "Mods" tag from where you can select your mods to run your games. To do so, click on the three bars again and then select the "Manage Tags" option.
  Click on "Add", and a new window will open, where all you need is to follow the picture below and don't touch the other options for now:
  
  
  
  Feel free to pick the color of your choice and/or add it your favorites. You can use my launcher as a reference, where I organize everything by the weapon mods I use and the type of complementary mods used with them, like graphical and monster mods.
  
  
  
  
  Without further ado, it's time to go to the last step!

• First of all go back to the folder where you downloaded your mods. From here, you can do either of these options:
  
  • Click on the three bars and select the "Add Files" option, then navigate to the folder where the mods are in order to select and add them all to the launcher, or;
    
  • Select the mods from the folder where you've downloaded them and drag them to the "Mods" tab.
    The choice is yours.
  
  
  
  Note #1: In case it's a .rar file I suggest extracting its contents somewhere and add the .wad/.pk3 file(s) manually to Doom Launcher.
  
  Note #2: In case you cloned and downloaded a mod from GitHub I suggest changing the extension from .zip to .pk3 in order to make the mod work with Doom Launcher. For example, if you downloaded the master file from Project Brutality's GitHub (projectbrutality-master.zip) change the extension to .pk3 so Doom Launcher won't end up ignoring it).
  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• Once you're done installing the mods it's time to run the game!
  Let's use DOOM 2's IWAD to test it out: choose the "IWADs" tab, right click on the "DOOM II: Hell on Earth" option and choose "Play" from the dropdown menu.
  
  
  
  A new window will open, with a bunch of options:
  
  
  
  Profile: You can go with the default profile (which'll be using in this tutorial) or create a new one specific for the megawad and map packs you're running. You can also do so through the launcher menu by clicking the three bars and choosing the "Add Souce Port" option, creating a variety of profiles for different occasions.
  
  Port: The source port you'll be using to run the following IWAD/Megawad/Map. In this example we'll go with GZDoom which'll allows us to use mods.
  
  IWAD: The IWAD you'll be using to run with the following Megawad/Map. Since we'll be running DOOM 2's IWAD this option is unclickable.
  Do mind that certain wads require a specific IWAD to work along with them, like No End In Sight requiring "DOOM.WAD"(The Ultimate Doom IWAD) to work, Plutonia 2 requiring, of course, "PLUTONIA.WAD"(The Plutonia Experiment IWAD) to work and so on.
  
  Map and Skill: These options, once turned on, will allow you to warp to a specific map of the Megawad/IWAD/Map pack with the chose skill level, making you jump straight into the action. For this tutorial we'll leave it untouched.
  
  Play Demo and Record: These options are mostly for speedrunners, completionists and people like decino who want to record their playthrough and upload to Youtube or somewhere else.
  
  Save Statistics: Saves your progress and shows it whenever you chose a Megawad/Map Pack/IWAD from the Launcher, showing information about your killcount, how many secrets you've found, how many maps you've completed, how many items you've collected, how long you've played it, the last map you visited before exiting the game and the tags associated with it.
  
  Load Latest Save: Does exactly what it says on the tin at the start of the game.
  
  Additional Files / Load Order: Now this is where the fun part is: in this section we'll be adding the mods we want to run with the current IWAD/Megawad/Map Pack.
  To add them click on the page icon and a new window will open, showing all the mods you've installed so far. However if you followed my advice and added them to the "Mods" tab you won't have too much trouble finding them.
  In this example we'll select all of the mods and add them to the list.
  
  
  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• Once you're done selecting all the mods you want to play with click "Ok" and you'll be back to the previous window, which'll appear like this:
  
  
  
  Now here comes a touchy part: mod load order. Everyone has their personal preferences and tastes for such things like this, which may differ from person to person. However for the sake of this tutorial I'll leave you with a template on how to load your mods properly, which I quoted from the "DraugraKs Build For PB3.0 V3.3" mod pack which can be found here in the description of this video.
  
  Hint: the mods load from the top to the bottom of the list, with it giving priority to mods which load last.
  
  

  Originally posted by DraugraK:

  ORGANIZED!
  For the right mod order to make it work into your own build please follow these simple steps below.
  (You don't have to but its recommended)
  
  1. WAD/IWAD (Optional)
  2. Main Core mod (Mods which replace vanilla weapons and player model like Brutal Doom, Project Brutality, Guncaster, Russian Overkill, Highway Acceleroid Booster, Trailblazer, Spawn, Hell Crusher, Doom Fighters, MechDoom, SWWM and etc.)
  3. Weapon add-ons [*Main Core mod add-ons also go here like Guncaster's Addon and Shop mods]
  4. Weapon skins
  5. Misc. add-ons (Enemy spawner, gore mods, randomizers, custom monsters mods, etc.)
  6. Sound and Music mods (Sound Caulking, BEEFBOSS, Now That's What I Call MIDI, Doom Metal Soundtrack, etc.)
  7. HUD (JP HUD, etc.)
  8. HUD add-ons
  9. Texture packs and Liquid Texture Pack (Liquid Texture Pack, DHTP, etc.).
  
  This is inspired by SL Gaming's load order.

  
  

  ---

  
  
  
• Once you're done sorting the mods it's time to finally play the game! Hit that "Ok" button and start ripping and tearing with the mods of your choice! And that's it, we're done!
  If something happens, check out the error and search online for a solution or remove the mod that's being incompatible from the mod order by clicking the "X" icon on the selected mod.
  
  
  
  
  That was a long road but worth it. I've detailed every step the best I could so I hope you found this guide useful for your needs.

The simple answer would be to look up on Google for them or watch videos on Youtube about them, which's how I got started and now I have this huge collection of mods in my HDD:



However I can give you some pointers to where look for them below.


ModDB - You can find a lot of DOOM mods through here, which's from where I downloaded a bunch of them. However it doesn't compare to the number of times I've visited the site below.

ZDoom Forums[forum.zdoom.org] - This is the place where mostly of my Google searches pointed to, and where I got my first mods. Highly recommended, and just as good as ModDB.

Doom World Forums[www.doomworld.com] - I go here mostly to get custom WAD and Megawads, however it has also space for some mods.

GameBanana[gamebanana.com] - It's a pretty good place to look for mods too.

r/DoomMods - Just a hub to inform you of new and upcoming mods, however I have a better source.

ICARUSLIV3S - All hail almighty Icarus!
Thanks to him I was introduced to the world of DOOM modding madness and met so many good stuff like Guncaster, Russian Overkill, Kriegsland II, Project HXRTC and so on. I totally recommend subscribing and following this channel closely if you're a mod freak like I am!

There's also more channels which I recommend you to follow. They're minor but they also showcase mods for DOOM:

• Gaming Room
  
  
• Mutant Mods
  
  
• Hacker_Cracker
  
  
• Rastaman Games
  
  
• Lil' Johnny Red
  
  
• Doomenator
  
  
• Slayer Ungrateful
  
  
• AbsoluteN7
  
  
• DREAM

---

Doom World idgames database[www.doomworld.com] and Doom World - Top 100 WADs of All Time[www.doomworld.com] - Your #1 stop to custom WADs, single maps, Megawads and all sorts of places for you to rip and tear!
If you're using Doom Launcher you can go the the "Id Games" tab, search and download everything you need through its interface which'll then add the maps automatically to the launcher. You can check them out in the "Recent" tab and tag them accordingly.



Doom World Forums[www.doomworld.com] - I go here mostly to get custom WAD and Megawads, however it has also space for mods.

I also recommend following the DOOM Wads Channel to get yourself informed about the latest WADs available for you to play - Doom Wads Youtube Channel

• The DOOM community for keeping the classic games alive with their creations. It's really cool and also surprising to see how much you can give new life to an old game like this through mods and custom WADs, allowing us to travel to all sorts of universes and provide us an almost endless source of content and entertainment. Keep up the good work, folks!
  
  
• Nick Laurent a.k.a. hobomaster22 for Doom Launcher, which's definitely the best launcher out there with some interesting and cool features to offer, and best of all, with regular updates. Can't get more better than that!
  
  
• You, for reading this guide. It's my first one and I've made question to give a good impression to you.