Why doesn't GZDoom save gameply settings (2025)

I must preface that the question is "why" and not "how"

I understand that you can create an autoexec that will force GZD to save gameplay settings. But this must be a deliberate design decision. I'm interested in why because there's quite a few settings under gameplay that would be nice to keep. I'd like to know why the settings file is unique to the user. Makes it slightly less portable for it to work this way

I speculate the logic being that many gameplay options, if you forget they're set, can manifest as "bugs" or other undesirable effects. So it's better to make the user explicitly turn these on when they're wanted, rather than have them be left on accidentally when you might not want them.

An autoexec is definitely the way to go for stuff like this, as it's a lot easier to troubleshoot by disabling the file, than toggling several dozen options back to defaults.

Graf Zahl wrote:The only answer I can give is that this has always been the case with ZDoom and was never changed.

Oh wow, thanks Graf. Wasn't expecting a direct answer from the developer.

One of the issues I have with GZD is that I don't consider it vanilla QOL friendly. It's got a few too many settings, which normally wouldn't be an issue if I liked the default settings. But I don't, so I have to sift through quite a lot of stuff because I can get the game to the way I like it.

Another problem is the jumping; you're not meant to jump in doom or heretic which can break the levels. But you are meant to jump in Hexen. So if you're using GZD to play either of these games for the first time and not know this, you can get stuck or break the game. This is something I wanted to ask you for a while, so I thought might as well do it here, hope you don't mind.

If you want to get as close as possible to Vanilla in GZDoom, look at Vanilla Essence. It collects all the relevant settings in a single place and provides a one-button toggle to switch everything to "Vanilla" mode. Wonderful little mod.

Caligari87 wrote:If you want to get as close as possible to Vanilla in GZDoom, look at Vanilla Essence. It collects all the relevant settings in a single place and provides a one-button toggle to switch everything to "Vanilla" mode. Wonderful little mod.

Hey that might be worth takin a look. My bad what I really meant to say though was vanilla QOL. Quality of Life. I want to be able to aim properly and see what I'm doing. I just don't want to break the games puzzles.

DooMag wrote:Another problem is the jumping; you're not meant to jump in doom or heretic which can break the levels. But you are meant to jump in Hexen. So if you're using GZD to play either of these games for the first time and not know this, you can get stuck or break the game. This is something I wanted to ask you for a while, so I thought might as well do it here, hope you don't mind.

This might help you out with that:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=71474

Rachael wrote:

DooMag wrote:Another problem is the jumping; you're not meant to jump in doom or heretic which can break the levels. But you are meant to jump in Hexen. So if you're using GZD to play either of these games for the first time and not know this, you can get stuck or break the game. This is something I wanted to ask you for a while, so I thought might as well do it here, hope you don't mind.

This might help you out with that:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=71474

Thanks for sharing. Limiting jumping crouching and using true clip is really all I'm after. It was a mistake for me to say vanilla, because I really want to play Doom with all the modern touchups. I just don't want to break the level puzzles. Jumping and crouching can do this. Furthermore, you need to be able to jump in Hexen so the jump mod would need to be smart enough to know that.