If you own either game already, you’ll get it for free.
Here’s a grey lining I saw on tumblr:
Except this new release doesn’t erase the existing game, and doesn’t prevent people from continuing to make mods however they want.
It’s a new version with new features and content, and they’re even giving it to existing owners for free, but people still find a way to complain.
The original MS-DOS versions are still directly playable too.
It’s a weird take from someone kind of uninformed. The assumption that the company would base the release off of the GPL’d version and not the original source code is odd. Also, the claim that it’s Windows only when it’s cross platform so…?
One of her points that resonated with me was that to get modern levels to work they did have to re-implement Boom features, which were GPL.
Looks like it’s a different engine, actually. So yeah, makes sense that if they needed to reimplement features, it’s new code that wasn’t pulled from Boom, so doesn’t need to be GPL.
Yeah it’s a port to Nightdive’s Kex engine. It wasn’t a literal accusation of a GPL violation, more just being disappointed about seeing open source work being captured into proprietary software.
My main takeaway is that the original Dooms owe much of their cultural relevance to work done by the community for free, under the open source ethos.
And then there’s the creative work done using those tools: thousands of hours worth of megawads, total conversions, one offs, and weird little experiments - that have been responsible for keeping Doom actually relevant.
For decades, nothing new happened with Doom 1, 2, or 64, that wasn’t authored by us, and for free. The retro dooms weren’t exactly abandonware, but for all intents and purposes the franchise has been community run. Yeah you buy the official IWADs from their license holders, but that was the extent of it.
Yes they have the legal right to charge for this work, but like, it’s not the coolest move given all the history.
EDIT oh wait I read on a bit - it’s free? That changes things. Definitely wish it was more open, but at least it’s not a cash grab
It’s a whole new port of the game given away freely to those who had previously paid for the more recent ports.
Yeah, I saw that. See my edit. I’ve had a chance to play it and it is pretty good. Definitely not as good as the previous ports (I spotted some lighting glitches, artefacting, and mobs getting stuck on linedefs; dark rooms also do not look as “textural” as in previous ports – this is just what I spotted lazily playing through the first episode anyway).
But the audio options are fun, and it’s nice to have an excuse to play through the whole series again (actually, I just played through Doom 1 last week and was about halfway through Doom 2, when I got news of this port (thanks to this post!), so that’s why the old ports are so fresh in my mind). Also, the achievements look actually attainable rofl, for those who like to get that 100%.
Yeah you buy the official IWADs from their license holders, but that was the extent of it.
And even this was optional thanks to Freedoom.
Saw a similar complaint on cohost (too long to fit in a screenshot) https://cohost.org/lexyeevee/post/7224213-empty
It’s the same person.
EDIT: Sorry, it was reposted by the same person as the above.
Yeah, I just found it from her page, been following her for a while.
Given the fuckups around definitive editions and the fact that there’s already so many great, free, open source Doom engines and content, this feels like a money grab and a step backwards.
How is a free update now somehow a money grab? This is definitely not a step backwards. They even made a new episode.
You know what, you’re right, I may be too cynical.
The Quake rerelease still offers the classic GLquake
The games cost like $2 on Steam. They probably lost money doing this if anything especially since they gave it away free to people who bought the previous releases.
It’s free and it’s not like Doom is a famously expensive series of games or anything; each entry is 5 quid at most unless it’s 2016 or Eternal.
I own both, but on a set of 3.5" floppies somewhere in my dad’s basement. If they even still work… Doubt I’ll be able to claim my copy somehow.
It’s an upgrade to the DOOM (1993) and DOOM II versions on Steam currently, which usually are only $2-3 each from what I remember.
Seems like it’s available on consoles too.
I was going to say the same thing - will they send me a floppy disk with the upgrade?
That would put me in a bit of a pickle, my last floppy drive went out of business sometime in the mid 2000’s. As soon as bootable USB sticks for recovery became viable, don’t exactly know when. But in my last 2 desktop computers I doubt I used the floppy drive once… Built them in mostly out of nostalgia. Or habit maybe.
They should!
But ONLY if you write them a handwritten letter and mail it to them!
I hope so.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Doom is the best game ever made.
What if I want to keep the original version? Can I still access it? I’m getting sick and tired of my games being replaced with shit I never asked for, even if it is arguably a “better” version.
When you launch, you get a prompt from Steam asking if you want to run this new rerelease or the original MS-DOS versions.
I read that it includes the original versions, which is something I’m also counting on.
It’s already out, checked my Steam library and both this and the original versions are there.
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If I was at home I could…
If you check the folders as well, all the .WADs are there for everything (if you want to use them with a different port/engine). Not sure if it detected which games I already owned, but my version is actually Doom + Doom 2 + Final Doom + Master Levels + Sigil + NRFTL + LOR (new campaign). Plus all the featured mods (from the recent console ports) and a regular user-driven mod browser.
It’s a pretty overwhelming update to the already decent Kex engine port that’s been on consoles for a while. They added a bunch of dvd-extras too like concept art and such. It’s not my favorite way to play but it’s still a pretty great free update!
Yes, you can access it; all the WADs are still there.
I have been having an absolute BLAST with this new version since yesterday. The news of this and the subseauent drop as a free update for the versions I already owned on GoG and on the Switch just made my whole week, where I was bumned by the Helldivers bullshit.
A solid new port by Nightdive, implementing most of the modern mapping techniques, able to run a LOT of custom content that was created over the past 30 years. Plus extra artworks, bonus IDKFA soubdtrack by Andrew Hulshult, addon downloads on all platforms (with user sent ones on the PC), and 16 player multiplayer?
This is now the immediate response to anyone who wants to get into Doom nowadays. No need to fiddle with sourceports or go chase obscure mods, they’re ALL there. If you get more into Doom modding after that, you can go after all those things later. It’s great!
Oooo not all the mods sir. Not all of them…
I ended up playing through the first two episodes of DOOM for the first time in forever because of this release and how good it is. Feeling like tonight is time for episode 3!
I just tried the online multiplayer, jumped into a co-op game with someone else in Doom E1M1 and it slowly started filling with players and got both crowded and chaotic. 16 players running around a map is just insane fun.
I’m getting real Lan party vibes with the multiplayer, truly recommend it! 👏
NICE! I may have to fire up Steam and check this out.
A new episode looks sick! It’s an amazing what they do with a freakin’ 30-year old game! I love seeing stuff like this.
I tried it out for a bit. it’s not bad at all, but there’s a bunch of stuff in there that doesn’t gel with me personally. I had to turn the crosshair off because it was too high on the screen, and the autoaim was causing me to miss shots due to height differences. It’s neat enough and I’m sure it’s a great option for consoles, but I’ll stick to gzdoom myself.
I disabled the crosshair. Autoaim has always been part of Doom though.
It has, but it was aiming at the wrong monsters sometimes? Either that or the auto height aim wasn’t kicking in sometimes. Not the worst thing in the world for sure, easily patchable.
I never noticed auto aim in doom.
Granted it was a long time ago, but I think I would have noticed.
The simplistic explanation here is that Doom’s collision detection is basically all on a 2D plane. If you are firing a chain gun towards a wall, it will hit directly in front of you. If an enemy just happens to be on top of that wall and walks in front of you, the chain gun shots will hit them. It’s most noticed - and most annoying when it doesn’t work when you want it to - with rockets.
Sweet! I haven’t played classic DOOM is quite some time. So this will be fun to check out since it’s already on my GOG.
Maybe I’ll check it out along with Selaco this weekend.
What prompted this - did they find a machine that wouldn’t run it??
(Im joking, not really asking)
They wanted to make it closed source again
It’s a whole new engine not based on the open sourced version so… yeah, they can do that.
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Next up, Pac-Man-as-a-Service
The MCU advertisement tie-ins are really getting out of hand…
Where are you seeing that?
I’m just making fun of the MCU’s recent announcement that Robert Downey Junior is playing Doctor Doom in some upcoming movies and also the inclusion of Doctor Doom among other Marvel characters in Fortnite.
There was one other cool piece of retro Doom news announced today, too: Limited Run Games is working on a re-release of Doom on the SNES. The game is set to release in 2025 — and, naturally, there will only be 666 copies made.
Hahaha, fucking incredible. SNES Doom II might become a real thing before some ultranerd like me can scrounge it together as a punchline.
The fact it has Nightmare and more levels leaves me wondering if they actually modded the “Infinity Engine” version cobbled together for the original jank-ass SNES release, or if they pulled a GBADoom and ported Chocolate Doom over the original floor-less data.
