I haven't played Doom in about 17 years, had no idea there was such an active modding community still!

[naughtygrouseywouse]

Hi everyone, 

 

New to this forum but not to Doom. Started playing it when it first came out. Before this week when I re-downloaded it again, I think I last played it properly in my final year of university, which would have been 2003.

 

I'm amazed at some of the mods and wads I've seen, I had no idea this community would be thriving so much so many years later. In the late 90s I did briefly mess around with level editors etc though I'm no real programmer in any way and didn't really ever make anything of note.

 

I've downloaded Brutal doom, Russian Overkill and a few others, but not unpacked them yet. Am I right in thinking that these mods replace the game engine rather than the levels and maps themselves?

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by naughtygrouseywouse

[Biodegradable]

I only just came back to the game myself after not playing it for 15 years and now I haven't stopped playing since May! Aren't we lucky this community has been thriving for over 20 years with a ridiculous lineage of content we will likely spend the rest of our lives playing and never see it all? Astounding, I know hehe. Hope you have fun here, welcome to Doomworld. :^)

 

13 hours ago, naughtygrouseywouse said:

I've downloaded Brutal doom, Russian Overkill and a few others, but not unpacked them yet. Am I right in thinking that these mods replace the game engine rather than the levels and maps themselves?

 

Oh no, they don't replace the "engine" but change the gameplay mechanics a fair bit, though that often depends on what kind of mods you work with. And the maps within the IWADs remain the same, though can also depend. The best example with Brutal Doom in that regard is how it replaces Doom's stock textures and decorations with its own versions.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Biodegradable

[Doomkid]

Hey man, it’s awesome to see an old veteran return to Doom! I’m just gonna link some resources in case you need any help at all getting back up to speed:

 

https://www.doomworld.com/cacowards/

This is a curated list of some of the best Doom content made over the years.

 

https://www.doomshack.org/tutorials.html
This is a big list of modding tutorials and such if you ever feel like tinkering with Doom wadmaking and such.

[Zulk RS]

Hey welcome to the community.

[CyberDestroyer]

Welcome!

[Hitboi]

Welcome to the community! Nice to see you after 17 Years!

Anyways, Here's a Fact that you should always remember: Mods and Fans give more lifespan to a Game!

Edited September 1, 2020 by HitBoi64

[Gez]

2 hours ago, naughtygrouseywouse said:

I've downloaded Brutal doom, Russian Overkill and a few others, but not unpacked them yet. Am I right in thinking that these mods replace the game engine rather than the levels and maps themselves?

They don't replace the engine, but they do need you to replace the engine, as they won't work with the original (or "vanilla") engine. To be able to change the gameplay that much, they need a source port that allows to customize how the game works to a large extent, in this case GZDoom.

 

And yes they're meant to be used with separate maps, though there are maps made specifically for them, such as Map of Chaos or HontE (which I assume stands for "Hell on not the Earth" but idunno).

 

There's a ton of content that has been made for Doom and Doom II (and, to a lesser extent, for Doom's little brothers Heretic, Hexen, and Strife), probably more than can be played in a lifetime. It can be a bit overwhelming.

[MFG38]

Hello and welcome! c:

[Toilet_Wine_Connoisseur]

 

[OleBumma]

welcome back! this is the right era in time where you can play Doom without going through blue screens, pc crashes and o.s. incopatibility, so nice to have you back! :p

[Endless]

Good to have a veteran back! The Doom community content keeps improving each year as a matter of fact! Don't forget to check out the one true Doomwiki for anything and everything Doom related. Plus, if you like old-school gaming magazines, you might wanna check out the recently-started Doom Master Wadazine   ;)

[Kokoro Hane]

Hello, welcome to the forums! I'm also new here, but not new to DOOM either. Trust me, there's an endless pool of content made for this game. Lots of neat mods, lots of fun wads, the whole bit. This classic refuses to die, and we're all happy for it!

Edited September 1, 2020 by Kokoro Hane

[Final Verdict]

 

You're not alone, I came back at the end of 2019 after a 10 year hiatus. Happy to see one of the old school vets return.

 

Grab a chair and join us at the fire. Welcome back.

[Chip]

I recently entered the community, with the first time I ever played it being about a year ago! It's great to see an old school doomer join the forums! 

 

Also, check out E1M4B and E1M8B by John Romero, the original mapper of DOOM. He created these maps 20 years later, and recently, back in early 2019, he released Si6il, a whole episode of DOOM levels that acts as a final episode after Thy Flesh Consumed from Ultimate DOOM! There are also some great mappers you have to check out! @Jimmy and @Xaser are some of the best! There is so much you can do around here! 

 

You might have used an early version of ZDoom in the past, but you need to check it out now! Some WADs/mods for it look like they were created by AAA studios! 

 

For the best maps, read this essay by Not Jabba here. 

 

Hope to see more of you in the future! 

[Kappes Buur]

For even more good pwads see this ZDoom forum page

https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60112

 

Most of those are pwads meant to be played with GZDOOM and DOOM2.wad as a resource.

 

 

If you need help with launching the pwads, then see

https://zdoom.org/wiki/Installation_and_execution_of_ZDoom

Edited September 2, 2020 by Kappes Buur

[Eurisko]

Welcome! This place is awesome and full of awesome folks. Enjoy!

[MemeMind]

Welcome 
I thought you knew that Doom is Eternal.

Nothing will ever stop it.
 

What caused you to come back?

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/1/2020 at 12:12 PM, Biodegradable said:

I only just came back to the game myself after not playing it for 15 years and now I haven't stopped playing since May! Aren't we lucky this community has been thriving for over 20 years with a ridiculous lineage of content we will likely spend the rest of our lives playing and never see it all? Astounding, I know hehe. Hope you have fun here, welcome to Doomworld. :^)

 

 

Oh no, they don't replace the "engine" but change the gameplay mechanics a fair bit, though that often depends on what kind of mods you work with. And the maps within the IWADs remain the same, though can also depend. The best example with Brutal Doom in that regard is how it replaces Doom's stock textures and decorations with its own versions.

Yeah I'm overwhelmed with the amount of content there is for it, and how amazing the ports and mods look!

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/1/2020 at 12:20 PM, Doomkid said:

Hey man, it’s awesome to see an old veteran return to Doom! I’m just gonna link some resources in case you need any help at all getting back up to speed:

 

https://www.doomworld.com/cacowards/

This is a curated list of some of the best Doom content made over the years.

 

https://www.doomshack.org/tutorials.html
This is a big list of modding tutorials and such if you ever feel like tinkering with Doom wadmaking and such.

Great thanks, have bookmarked!

 

Last time I tried to make maps it was still when I ran Doom/Doom2 off MSDos on a 486 computer, probably around 1997-98 haha.

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/1/2020 at 3:02 PM, Gez said:

They don't replace the engine, but they do need you to replace the engine, as they won't work with the original (or "vanilla") engine. To be able to change the gameplay that much, they need a source port that allows to customize how the game works to a large extent, in this case GZDoom.

 

And yes they're meant to be used with separate maps, though there are maps made specifically for them, such as Map of Chaos or HontE (which I assume stands for "Hell on not the Earth" but idunno).

 

There's a ton of content that has been made for Doom and Doom II (and, to a lesser extent, for Doom's little brothers Heretic, Hexen, and Strife), probably more than can be played in a lifetime. It can be a bit overwhelming.

Yes I've setup GZdoom now and got Brutal Doom/Brutal Friends both working!

 

Indeed, so many thousands of things to look at, downloaded just a select few of the best known ones at the moment. 

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:16 PM, Endless said:

Good to have a veteran back! The Doom community content keeps improving each year as a matter of fact! Don't forget to check out the one true Doomwiki for anything and everything Doom related. Plus, if you like old-school gaming magazines, you might wanna check out the recently-started Doom Master Wadazine   ;)

Have been reading the wiki obesessivly the last few days already!

 

Not heard of the Wadazine, will check it out :)

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/2/2020 at 1:18 AM, LiT_gam3r said:

I recently entered the community, with the first time I ever played it being about a year ago! It's great to see an old school doomer join the forums! 

 

Also, check out E1M4B and E1M8B by John Romero, the original mapper of DOOM. He created these maps 20 years later, and recently, back in early 2019, he released Si6il, a whole episode of DOOM levels that acts as a final episode after Thy Flesh Consumed from Ultimate DOOM! There are also some great mappers you have to check out! @Jimmy and @Xaser are some of the best! There is so much you can do around here! 

 

You might have used an early version of ZDoom in the past, but you need to check it out now! Some WADs/mods for it look like they were created by AAA studios! 

 

For the best maps, read this essay by Not Jabba here. 

 

Hope to see more of you in the future! 

Yes I'd read about the Romero special wads and Sigil before, but will download them soon.

 

Will check out those users and the essay also!

[naughtygrouseywouse]

On 9/2/2020 at 6:41 AM, Kappes Buur said:

For even more good pwads see this ZDoom forum page

https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60112

 

Most of those are pwads meant to be played with GZDOOM and DOOM2.wad as a resource.

 

 

If you need help with launching the pwads, then see

https://zdoom.org/wiki/Installation_and_execution_of_ZDoom

Thanks, got it figured day before yesterday!

[naughtygrouseywouse]

16 hours ago, Theperson said:

Welcome 
I thought you knew that Doom is Eternal.

Nothing will ever stop it.
 

What caused you to come back?

I have no idea but for some reason I started thinking about the Spider Mastermind when I was reading an article on insects as random as it sounds lol I had been meaning to play Doom again for some time but had put it off for years and years.

 

I then stumbled across some videos about the new dooms, I never even really played Doom 3 properly let alone Doom 2016 or Eternal, then I saw how much random new content there was for it, I thought I might as well give it a shot!

 

[Doomkid]

3 hours ago, naughtygrouseywouse said:

Great thanks, have bookmarked!

 

Last time I tried to make maps it was still when I ran Doom/Doom2 off MSDos on a 486 computer, probably around 1997-98 haha.

You've got more oldschool cred than me! I started collecting wads around 1997-1998, but I never made a (proper) map until 2001 :)

[Doom-X-Machina]

Welcome :)

Im kinda newish to the Doom community myself even though I've been playing since 1994. Decided to have a crack at making some maps and get amongst it after all these years. Nice to see another old-schooler ;) You're right, the community is thriving better than it ever has and there is an insane amount of great new content that keeps Doom... Eternal lol

[Shpunk_Scrump]

as a youngster i very much enjoy what the modding community makes 

and even might make my own mod 

unfortunately that's not probable 

[Final Verdict]

37 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

You've got more oldschool cred than me! I started collecting wads around 1997-1998, but I never made a (proper) map until 2001 :)

 

And you have more than me. Same with the wads, started with them around the same time, but I never tried my hand at mapping until the start of this year.

 

I made a 8 level episode with zero knowledge, to make matters worse I was moving house and knew I would have no internet access for 8 weeks. Solution? Download UBD and Slade 3, then delete all installed games so that I have nothing to distract me from this endeavour. Result? Total burnout.

 

Top that off with the fact I hadn't even played Doom since 2009. By the time my net came on I was frothing at the mouth to actually play some Doom wads.

 

I'll try to get back to it at some point in the future, I enjoyed the actual mapping but the technical side of it was a pain with no prior knowledge. I should have left that side of it until I was more adept, or at least had help/internet, and just stuck to making maps. Lesson learned.

 

And so it is that I leave myself a note for the future: Play Doom first, then make maps. Much later attempt to mess around with decorate, pixel/texture editing and custom stuff etc. In that order, not the reverse, and especially not when you have no internet and no knowledge of anything code related. Also, and I can't stress this enough, do NOT uninstall your games before you attempt this task when you know you'll have no internet for 8 weeks.

 

[Xerenogan]

    Welcome! One thing I would recommend is taking a look at a thing called wadsmoosh. It is something that I overlooked for the longest time. It is a script that takes all the iwads that you have and "smooshes" them into a single iwad. This makes it very convenient for loading many different maps and such, as you don't have to relaunch your source port if you picked the wrong iwad. Also it cuts down on .ini bloat just a tiny bit I think, if you care about that sort of thing. (It is zero config, just drop your iwads into the marked directory and run the script.)

    Speaking of, the guy that made wadsmoosh also has a number of other projects worth checking out, including a run tracker and a simple script for always pistol starting maps. His site is at (this address) and he has a neat YouTube channel at  this location.

I hope this is helpful, cheers!