Add a Base Game WAD
Before you can launch any Game Instance, you’ll need at least one base game WAD available to the system. The base game WAD is the foundation — the “planet” your mission takes place on. Without it, your source port has nothing to run.
What is a base game WAD?
Section titled “What is a base game WAD?”A base game WAD (or IWAD) is the original game data file — doom.wad, doom2.wad, heretic.wad, freedoom1.wad, etc. These are not mods; they are the core game assets that every mod builds upon.
The system stores and manages these in your configured WAD Files Directory.
Adding a WAD
Section titled “Adding a WAD”Navigate to the Install page and switch to the WAD Files tab.
Drag and drop
Section titled “Drag and drop”- Drag a
.wadfile from your file manager directly onto the dashed drop zone. The system will immediately begin scanning.
Browse and select
Section titled “Browse and select”- Click the drop zone to open a native file picker. Navigate to your WAD file and select it.
Review and confirm
Section titled “Review and confirm”Once a WAD file is selected, the system will display:
- Source File — the original filename of the selected WAD
- Stored As — the filename it will be saved as (an MD5 hash-based name to prevent collisions, e.g.
doom2-<hash>.wad) - MD5 — the computed MD5 checksum for integrity verification
Review the details and click Confirm Import to finalize. The file will be copied to your WAD directory and registered in the system.
Post-Import: Configuration
Section titled “Post-Import: Configuration”Once a WAD has been imported, you can configure it in core_settings → WAD Config:
- Name — The display name for the WAD (e.g. “Doom II: Hell on Earth” instead of
doom2.wad) - Icon — A custom icon displayed in the sidebar and dropdowns
- Engine Runtime — Override the source port executable for this specific WAD (e.g. if
heretic.wadneeds a different engine) - Launch Arguments — Additional command-line arguments specific to this WAD
- Additional Parameters — Extra engine parameters (e.g.
-nomonsters -warp 01) - Hide from Interface — Excludes the WAD from base game dropdowns and the sidebar. Useful for support files like
voices.wadthatstrife.wadrequires but shouldn’t appear as a selectable base game.
Auto-detected WADs
Section titled “Auto-detected WADs”The system recognizes the following WADs by default and supplies a pre-configured name and icon:
| File | Recognized As |
|---|---|
doom.wad / doomu.wad | The Ultimate Doom |
doom2.wad / doomii.wad | Doom II: Hell on Earth |
tnt.wad | TNT: Evilution |
plutonia.wad | The Plutonia Experiment |
freedoom1.wad | FreeDoom: Phase 1 |
freedoom2.wad | FreeDoom: Phase 2 |
heretic.wad | Heretic |
hexen.wad | Hexen |
hexdd.wad | Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel |
strife.wad | Strife |
Any unrecognized WAD will use a fallback icon and its filename as the display name, which you can customize in WAD Config.
WAD Directory Watcher
Section titled “WAD Directory Watcher”The system automatically watches your configured WAD Files Directory for changes. When new WADs are added (or removed) outside the application — e.g. copied in via file manager — the system picks up the changes in near real-time and updates the version registry accordingly.
Storage
Section titled “Storage”All base game WAD data is stored in your configured WAD Files Directory (~/.config/uac/wads/ by default). The configuration metadata lives in:
~/.config/uac/doomVersions.jsonThis file can be edited manually, though you should let the system handle it unless you know what you’re doing. Tampering with the registry may result in protocol instability and unscheduled UAC review meetings.