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# PrBoom - RetroBIOS

Type | libretro
Classification | game_engine
Source | https://github.com/libretro/libretro-prboom
Upstream | http://prboom.sourceforge.net/
Version | v2.5.0
Profiled | 2026-03-24
Cores | prboom
Systems | doom

Technical notes

PrBoom is a Doom source port based on MBF (Marine's Best Friend), itself derived from Boom. The libretro port plays Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, FreeDoom, and custom WADs/PWADs.

The core requires prboom.wad, a small engine data WAD containing internal resources: font glyphs, palette, colormaps, sine/tangent tables, gamma tables, menu graphics, and a null sprite (TNT1A0). It is NOT a game WAD. The file is generated at build time by the rdatawad tool from raw PPM graphics and LMP lumps (see Makefile.prboomdata), but ships pre-built in the repository root.

Without prboom.wad the core falls back to hardcoded internal defaults (d_main.c:1073-1074), so the file is technically optional but expected for correct rendering of menus, HUD digits, and extended features.

File search order (libretro.c I_FindFile, line 1742): 1. WAD directory (same folder as the loaded game WAD) 2. system/prboom/ subdirectory 3. system/ directory directly 4. Parent folders of WAD directory (recursive, if enabled)

The core accepts .wad, .iwad, .pwad, and .lmp extensions. Game IWADs it recognizes (d_main.c:133-145): doom2f.wad, doom2.wad, plutonia.wad, tnt.wad, freedoom2.wad, doom.wad, doomu.wad, freedoom1.wad, freedoom.wad, doom1.wad.

The src/ directory contains a second, larger prboom.wad (228743 bytes, md5 23afd6143cb1ffec99a46755f9209ea6) which is the upstream PrBoom original. The root copy (143312 bytes) is the libretro-specific build.

1 files | 0 required, 1 optional | 1 in repo, 0 missing | 1 with HLE fallback

`prboom.wad` -optional, HLE available : PrBoom engine data WAD (fonts, palette, colormaps, tables, menu graphics)

- System: doom
- Size: 140.0 KB
- SHA1: `5f4aed208301449c2e9514edfd325fe9dead76fa`
- MD5: `72ae1b47820fcc93cc0df9c428d0face`
- CRC32: `a5751b99`
- Source: `d_main.c:1069-1078 (PACKAGE .wad load), libretro.c:1742-1784 (I_FindFile search), config.h:46 (PACKAGE=prboom)`
- Platforms: lakka, retroarch, retrodeck, retropie
- Searched in system/prboom/ then system/. Falls back to internal defaults if missing, but menus and HUD may render incorrectly without it.

Generated on 2026-03-25T14:56:43Z