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RetroBIOS

dsda-doom

dsda-doom emulates Doom, Heretic, Hexen and Chex Quest. It reads 21 files, none of them required: it starts games without them.

The app keeps its data in this folder:

~/Library/Application Support/dsda-doom/

~/.dsda-doom instead when that folder exists.

Source: prboom2/src/SDL/i_system.c:367-393
About this profile
Detail Value
Type standalone
Classification Game engine
Source https://github.com/dsda-org/dsda-doom
Version 0.29.4
Revision dsda-org/dsda-doom@e443ff7a3e60
Profiled 2026-10-20
Profile YAML, JSON
Cores dsda-doom
Systems Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Chex Quest
Data folder (macOS) ~/Library/Application Support/dsda-doom/
Data folder (Linux) $XDG_DATA_HOME/dsda-doom/
Install this emulator's files

With RetroPie: the installer finds RetroPie and its BIOS folder, then downloads only the files dsda-doom reads there and checks each one.

Open a terminal on the device. Or connect from a computer with SSH, a terminal over the network. Paste the line. Press Enter.

Terminal
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --emulator dsda-doom
Technical notes

Doom source port derived from PrBoom+, by Ryan Krafnick (kraflab). Plays Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Chex Quest, Hacx, REKKR and the Freedoom IWADs from one binary. The profiled tag is v0.29.4. v0.29.3 reads the same files: between the two tags d_main.c, m_misc.c and MUSIC/flplayer.c are unchanged in what they open, and SDL/i_system.c only switches to a bounded snprintf in the path search.

dsda-doom.wad holds the engine's own lumps (the WAD_DATA name, prboom2/CMakeLists.txt:29). M_LoadDefaults requires it through I_RequireFile, which aborts with "Unable to find required file" when the search fails (prboom2/src/m_misc.c:817-818, prboom2/src/SDL/i_system.c:622-629). D_DoomMainSetup then adds it as an autoload source ahead of the IWAD (prboom2/src/d_main.c:2021), and its lumps are tagged LUMP_PRBOOM so a PWAD can override them (prboom2/src/w_wad.c:170-178). The tree ships the inputs, not the file: data/CMakeLists.txt builds it with the dsda_rdatawad tool from the raw palette, lumps, PPM graphics and WAV sounds under data/.

Every file is located by I_FindFileInternal, which tries in order the executable directory, the config directory (the executable directory again on Windows, prboom2/src/SDL/i_system.c:244-247), the working directory, $DOOMWADDIR, the build-time DOOMWADDIR, the build-time path of dsda-doom.wad, the SDL base path and ../share/games/doom under it, $HOME/doom, $HOME, $XDG_DATA_HOME/games/doom, every $XDG_DATA_DIRS entry under games/doom then doom, and last every entry of $DOOMWADPATH. Existence is the only test, and the requested extension is appended only when the name as written is missing (prboom2/src/SDL/i_system.c:471-620).

The IWAD is -iwad when given, else the first name of standard_iwads found on that path (prboom2/src/d_main.c:163-191, 1152-1189). A GAMEINFO lump in a loaded PWAD can name the IWAD instead, and a PWAD with Doom 1 maps switches the search to episode_iwads (prboom2/src/d_main.c:195-209, 1850-1904). Nothing found stops startup with "IdentifyVersion: IWAD not found" (prboom2/src/d_main.c:1906-1910). CheckIWAD reads the lump directory and sets the game mode from the map lumps it counts, so a WAD under any name plays (prboom2/src/d_main.c:933-1043). AddIWAD takes the game from the file name: heretic.wad and heretic1.wad select Heretic, hexen.wad selects Hexen, and the Chex, REKKR, Hacx, TNT, Plutonia, French Doom II and Freedoom missions are keyed on their names too (prboom2/src/d_main.c:1048-1130). No hash of any IWAD is read.

Hexen needs the v1.1 IWAD: a hexen.wad without MAP05 is refused as the shareware release, one without CLUS1MSG as v1.0 (prboom2/src/d_main.c:2046-2057). nerve.wad is a PWAD loaded with -file, and its name alone switches the mission to No Rest for the Living (prboom2/src/d_main.c:899-902).

MIDI music goes through the fluidsynth player by default (prboom2/src/dsda/configuration.c:742-745, prboom2/src/SDL/i_sound.c:1059-1070). It loads snd_soundfont when that setting names one, empty by default, and otherwise the SNDFONT lump, which dsda-doom.wad carries from data/lumps/soundfont/sndfont.lmp (prboom2/src/MUSIC/flplayer.c:275-303, prboom2/src/dsda/configuration.c:750-752, prboom2/data/CMakeLists.txt:59). No soundfont file is read in the default configuration. The OPL player takes its instruments from the GENMIDI lump of the IWAD.

RetroPie installs dsda-doom.wad beside the binary, the first directory searched, and launches "dsda-doom -iwad <file>" with DOOMWADDIR set to its ports/doom directory.

Files

Section titled “Files”

21 files: 0 required, 21 optional. 1 more file comes with the app.

By kind: 22 game data.

22 rows
File Required Hash
doom.wad no -
doom1.wad no -
doomu.wad no -
doom2.wad no -
doom2f.wad no -
plutonia.wad no -
tnt.wad no -
bfgdoom.wad no -
bfgdoom2.wad no -
nerve.wad no -
freedoom1.wad no -
freedoom2.wad no -
freedm.wad no -
heretic.wad no -
heretic1.wad no -
hexen.wad no -
chex.wad no -
chex3v.wad no -
chex3d2.wad no -
hacx.wad no -
rekkrsa.wad no -
dsda-doom.wad with the app MD5 88c577edc680

In this collection: 14 in repo and 7 missing.

Game data

Section titled “Game data”
21 files

doom.wad optional in repo game data

  • Registered and Ultimate Doom share the name and are told apart by the E4 maps.

doom1.wad optional in repo game data

  • Shareware Doom. RetroPie downloads it into its ports/doom directory when it installs dsda-doom.

doomu.wad optional missing game data

doom2.wad optional in repo game data

doom2f.wad optional in repo game data

  • French Doom II. The name selects the French language.

plutonia.wad optional in repo game data

tnt.wad optional in repo game data

bfgdoom.wad optional missing game data

  • BFG Edition of Doom, recognised by its DMENUPIC lump.

bfgdoom2.wad optional missing game data

  • BFG Edition of Doom II, recognised by its DMENUPIC lump.

nerve.wad optional missing game data

  • No Rest for the Living. A PWAD given with -file on top of Doom II.

freedoom1.wad optional in repo game data

  • RetroPie unpacks Freedoom 0.13.0 into its ports/doom directory when it installs dsda-doom.

freedoom2.wad optional in repo game data

  • RetroPie unpacks Freedoom 0.13.0 into its ports/doom directory when it installs dsda-doom.

freedm.wad optional in repo game data

heretic.wad optional in repo game data

  • System: Heretic

heretic1.wad optional in repo game data

  • System: Heretic
  • Shareware Heretic.

hexen.wad optional in repo game data

  • System: Hexen
  • v1.1 only. The shareware and v1.0 IWADs are refused.

chex.wad optional in repo game data

  • System: Chex Quest

chex3v.wad optional missing game data

  • System: Chex Quest

chex3d2.wad optional missing game data

  • System: Chex Quest

hacx.wad optional in repo game data

rekkrsa.wad optional missing game data

  • REKKR: Sunken Land.

Comes with the app

Section titled “Comes with the app”
1 file

dsda-doom.wad comes with the app game data

dsda-doom engine data WAD

  • Existence is the only test. Hashes are those of the file dsda_rdatawad builds from data/ at this tag on Linux, which matches the copy in the v0.29.4 macOS release archive byte for byte. The copy in the Windows archive differs (3674386 bytes). Other versions carry different lumps.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”
.

Maintained by Abdess on GitHub. Report a problem.

Packs from release v2026.10.10, .

MIT for the tooling and metadata. BIOS and firmware files are third-party system software, preserved for personal backup, archival and interoperability.