Doom_3

Even though Doom3 supports ALSA output, usually the produced sound is "metallic" and "choppy". The "problem" is that Doom3 needs a very specific sound configuration. This page will guide you through the needed steps to get sound working well with Doom3 and ALSA.

Configuring ALSA

First, put this in /etc/asound.conf (don't worry if you don't have one, just create it)

pcm.d3dmixer {
   type dmix
   ipc_key 1989
   slave {
      pcm  {
         type hw
         card 0 
      }
   	period_size 4500
   	periods 128
   }
   bindings {
      0 0
      1 1 
   } 
}

pcm.doom3pcm { 
   type asym 
   playback.pcm { 
      type softvol 
      slave.pcm { 
         type plug 
         slave.pcm "d3dmixer" 
      } 
      control { 
         name "Doom3 Volume" 
         card 0 
      } 
   } 
   capture.pcm { 
      type plug 
      slave.pcm "dsnoop:0" 
   } 
}

To make ALSA aware of the changes, type /etc/init.d/alsasound restart in a console as root.

Configuring Doom3

To make Doom3 use this config, put (meaning, replace the original values with)

seta s_driver "best"
seta s_alsa_pcm "doom3pcm"

in your Doom3 config file (usually sits in ~/.doom3/base/DoomConfig.cfg)

Now, this may not fix it for you. Pay special attention to the period_size in d3dmixer. If your sound sounds metallic and you are getting "...short write..."s in the console output from doom3, increase the period_size. If your sound pauses from time to time, decrease it. It takes some guesswork to really nail it, but the plus side is that Doom3 will use dmix and will get mixed along with everything else.

Notes