Doom community still alive

[TwilySparky]

Really now, it makes me really happy that the doom community still prospers. Even after 20+ years the community still manages to keep the legacy alive. You've probably heard this many times before but this just amazes me beyond belief that a game so old still prospers.
(I just realized that I posted a thread just like this about 2 months ago, whoopsie!)

[MFG38]

I hear you. It should be no surprise, really, since id developed Doom with the intention of making it easily modifiable from the very beginning, hence the abundance of custom content. But honestly, it is quite a surprise, especially considering how well Doom is feeling in terms of custom content, even after 20 years.

[Doomkid]

There's a really old interview with Romero somewhere out there where he said one of his goals was to make a game that never gets stale (or something along those lines).

I'd say the ID team achieved this goal as closely as humanly possible. It would be nice if more dev teams out there put longevity before profit, in the long term, people will trust your future products to be of a high quality, making this a better lasting business decision. That's my thoughts on the matter, at least.

[princetontiger]

Doom has aged very well. Why? Because you can mod it. You can also install it on nearly every computer ever made.

We were just chatting about this in Zandronum last night. At peak, you can still get about 75 players online on a good night. It's 2014, 21 years after Doom first came out.

Unfortunately, I think the online Doom community will eventually be relegated to organized matches and then eventually disappear in the next 15 years. Zandronum is shrinking, but slowly.

Duke Nukem 3D is a fine example. 4 years ago you could still find 5 or 10 players online. Today, there are zero. I haven't seen an active server with more than 1 or 2 people in a few years now.

[Doomkid]

princetontiger said:

Unfortunately, I think the online Doom community will eventually be relegated to organized matches and then eventually disappear in the next 15 years.

I hope with all my heart that this isn't true, but it's possible. They have been saying that for over 10 years now, "Doom is dying".. I hope we maintain a strong userbase, I really do think it would help the longevity of online matches if the different Doom fourms were more interlinked..

[princetontiger]

Single-player Doom will likely be played forever, just like Pac-man and Space Invaders are played today.

I'm sure someone in the year 2493 will open up doom after it's 500th anniversary. But, I don't they will find a large community to play with.

[Xegethra]

Some games have a knack of lasting for a while, it's like Streets Of Rage, people still play and mod that too. Maybe not to the extent of Doom but the activity is still going

http://www.soronline.net/main.htm

[raymoohawk]

call me a dreamer, but im still hoping that if freedoom gets finished and looks good and we put it on sites like steam or gog (for free of course) it could help trigger a wave of new retro games for the doom engine

[princetontiger]

Most great classic games will be played forever.

However... the question is... how long will people play doom multiplayer online? I think maximum 15 years, but you can already see the decline.

[Blastfrog]

raymoohawk said:

call me a dreamer, but im still hoping that if freedoom gets finished and looks good and we put it on sites like steam or gog (for free of course) it could help trigger a wave of new retro games for the doom engine

Well, Freedoom is looking a lot better than it ever has largely thanks to your spriting efforts. It's getting there, slowly but surely.

As for Steam or GoG, I don't really see why it'd be necessary. It's also worth noting that Freedoom can indeed be sold due to its licensing.

[Koko Ricky]

Great gameplay + ease of modification + solid multiplayer = active community 20 years later. Not very many games hit the nail on all three heads like that. It's very fortunate that Doom's fundamentally 2D structure makes mapping so easy, that a complete novice can make compelling maps in a short interval of time. Not only that, but the engine is flexible enough for near endless variety, particularly when compared to Wolf-style orthogonal layouts. Contrarily, development time for a modern FPS mod is lengthy and is rarely feasible with one person. Doom found a beautifully happy medium and didn't even realize it.

As for the future, drastic technogical paradigm shifts will inevitably replace the coveted mouse/keyboard inputs with something that can be easily adjusted to whatever the norm is by then, such as thought and gesture-based inputs. Call me bonkers, but believe me, just as punch cards were replaced by mouse and keyboard, something more efficient will serve as the next standard. I personally think it will create interesting new ways to play and mod.

[Technician]

Before ZeniMax bought id, I was praying that Carmack would license the original Doom as freeware to ensure it's longevity, still maintaining the franchise name for installments, of course. Now with John gone, ZeniMax would never consider giving away an easy buck to the fans. Only a select few at id shown interest in it's community. Willis sure as hell couldn't give a fuck. Carmack has released betas and ensured their source codes were made open source once third party monetary interests ran dry, I'll always be grateful for that.

[40oz]

Doomkid said:

I hope with all my heart that this isn't true, but it's possible. They have been saying that for over 10 years now, "Doom is dying"..

15 years is a long time from now. Dooms a great game and all but i would imagine most of us would have more valuable things to sink our time into, especially by Dooms 35th birthday. Sorry for the pessimistic view but 5 years ago I was sure id never part ways with this game but I gotta find a serious career and start raising a family eventually.

[uacgalactic]

Hey I'm new here.
Recently got back into dooming after a while and I have to say this game holds up extremely well after 21 years. I had more fun playing a few levels of the community chest4 than I have playing any modern shooter in a long time. The only other games that come close in my opinion are quake 3, Ut99 and UT2004. Prey was ok and Bulletstorm was a fun run and gun arcade style fps too but other than that I'd say the FPS genre is a little dismal these days.

I miss the run n gun fast paced sci-fi / fantasy genre of fps. Also Doom had an ambience and feel that no other game has replicated. Awesome to see that mapping and modding is still active.

[VGA]

You could also try Descent with the Rebirth source port.

[raymoohawk]

i second that, dxx rebirth is awesome!

[uacgalactic]

VGA said:

You could also try Descent with the Rebirth source port.

Yeah i had Descent back in the day. I should give it another go its prob way more fun with mouselook control.

[traversd]

40oz said:

15 years is a long time from now. Dooms a great game and all but i would imagine most of us would have more valuable things to sink our time into, especially by Dooms 35th birthday. Sorry for the pessimistic view but 5 years ago I was sure id never part ways with this game but I gotta find a serious career and start raising a family eventually.

Here's some hope for you 40oz - I think I've made more maps since having a family and getting on the career treadmill.

;0)

Doom is a great hobby/pastime and like all great hobbies you can pick them up and put them down throughout your life (if putting them down is possible!)

Travers

[Toxie Rocks]

Xegethra said:

Some games have a knack of lasting for a while, it's like Streets Of Rage, people still play and mod that too. Maybe not to the extent of Doom but the activity is still going

http://www.soronline.net/main.htm

Huh. I didn't know people were making mods of that. I love Streets of Rage. Maybe I should be making levels with Dr. Zan and Skate rather than Archviles and Cacodemons.

[Doomkid]

traversd said:

Here's some hope for you 40oz - I think I've made more maps since having a family and getting on the career treadmill.

;0)

Doom is a great hobby/pastime and like all great hobbies you can pick them up and put them down throughout your life (if putting them down is possible!)

Travers

I've played some of your maps from 96 / 97 - They're really fun! I agree with this too, I first tip-toed into mapping as a wee child, and have done it intermittently ever since.

[Boingo]

I am still alive.

I just don't post much.

[Stupid Bunny]

Yeah, I disappear for months or years at a time but never truly leave. That's part of the joy of having such a dependably stable community around is that I can kinda get away with doing that. (Though I'm sure I miss lots of cool stuff getting released, but you know...)

[Reisal]

I'll still be tuning into this game when I am 50-55. I've been playing for about 18 years and will continue to do so until my grave.

[Guest Unregistered account]

Well, if "modern" FPSes still haven't looked up in 20XX, and if Doom is forgotten, then we can all reintroduce it. I think it mainly relies on children - show a child Doom, and they'll grow to like it. I should know, that was the approach taken to me. Also, the select few children who play Doom should spread it, although I'm having troublebdoing that.
Of course, the infinitely extendable modding abilities are a strong piece of artillery.

But, I agree with all above: I will be playing 'till I die. That's a long way away, as I'm not even 14 yet, and maybe it's a bad idea to promise myself something so soon. But at least I'll be able to tell if people are still playing Doom 90 years from now.

[Patrol1985]

princetontiger said:

Single-player Doom will likely be played forever, just like Pac-man and Space Invaders are played today.

This sums up the phenomenon nicely. Doom has a ridiculously good gameplay and this allows it to be as popular as many older games (like Pac-man) which are played to this day.

[Xegethra]

Toxie Rocks said:

Huh. I didn't know people were making mods of that. I love Streets of Rage. Maybe I should be making levels with Dr. Zan and Skate rather than Archviles and Cacodemons.

Streets of Rage Remake, both V4 and V5 are of the best fan games for it. And the neat little mods is also pretty cool.

People still make Sonic mods and fan games to this day as well too, that aren't just Sonic Robo Blast either. I know Sonic is still going, but his older games still get loads of attention.

[june gloom]

I didn't really post often until recently because I had another forum I'd been going to for years until they finally chased me out. I needed a place to go, and this is it.

[Hoodie]

Glaice said:

I'll still be tuning into this game when I am 50-55. I've been playing for about 18 years and will continue to do so until my grave.

I will be on my deathbed with doom running at all times next to me.

[capodecima]

Its all dead, everyone sits on IRC or post here stupid posts like myself, pretending he is really cool. Its too much dead that i am now even best doom player in europe. Nuff said.

[VGA]

capodecima said:

Its all dead, everyone sits on IRC or post here stupid posts like myself, pretending he is really cool. Its too much dead that i am now even best doom player in europe. Nuff said.

Most people are playing single player. Some are playing offline multiplayer, too.