Doom Officially a Good Old Game

[dew]

Zenimax has cut a deal with GOG.com, making old Bethesda games available on the nostalgia gaming site. The offer includes id classics Ultimate Doom, Doom 2 bundled with Final Doom and the Master Levels, and Quake with its two mission packs, all DRM-free and BFG edition-free. It's the real deal, folks! Red crosses on medkits! They're currently available at 33% off in a promo bundle. That's US $17.31 or €15.87. Here's a chance to complete your IWAD collection if your computer doesn't run on steam in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, however, it looks like the GOG installer is Windows-only, meaning that our Mac / Linux friends are still out in the cold when it comes to legally acquiring the Doom IWADs.

[dew]

A few more information: The games come in a windows executable installer, so you can't get to the IWADs directly. It's possible they'll add packages for other operating systems at a later date, but that's just a maybe.

Also if you buy any of the Beth games, you'll get Daggerfall and Arena to your library for free. Which is a bit less exciting when you realize Bethesda made them freeware in like 2009.

[clarry]

dew said:

The games come in a windows executable installer, so you can't get to the IWADs directly.

The installer can be unpacked without executing it using innoextract, which enables you to get the IWAD on other operating systems.

http://constexpr.org/innoextract/

[hardcore_gamer]

Meh. What is the advantage of the gog version over the ones on steam? Normally gog is good because of the lack of DRM but with Doom it has always been possible to just take the IWADS and use them with source ports anyway.

[chungy]

The ability to install it without Steam is a huge advantage. Also Linux/Mac users can download it from GOG.com without any hackery with dev consoles or such.

[sgtcrispy]

I used Galaxy to grab them and you can just grab the wads from the directory folders. easy-peasy
But seems to be lacking No Rest for the Living. Alas. oh well

EDIT: yeah the mission pack music is there. Doesn't seem to want to play them though.

[raymoohawk]

does it include no rest for the living?

[Linguica]

raymoohawk said:

does it include no rest for the living?

Since it's not the BFG version, I assume not.

[Quasar]

Please update the news to omit that part about Linux; it is insulting to anybody with a modicum of technological know-how.

[Nems]

THANK FUCK FINALLY

[dew]

Quasar said:

Please update the news to omit that part about Linux; it is insulting to anybody with a modicum of technological know-how.

Don't look at me, the original wording didn't mention Linux at all. I mean, who even uses it, some nerds?

[Gez]

dew said:

Also if you buy any of the Beth games, you'll get Daggerfall and Arena to your library for free. Which is a bit less exciting when you realize Bethesda made them freeware in like 2009.

Well with GOG you get the CD version of Arena, instead of the floppy version that was released as freeware. There's slightly fewer bugs in the CD version, and the cutscenes narrating the story are also slightly less underwhelming.

The bonus content also includes stuff that are missing from the freeware version.

[Linguica]

Quasar said:

Please update the news to omit that part about Linux; it is insulting to anybody with a modicum of technological know-how.

You shouldn't need "a modicum of technological know-how" in order to legally purchase / download a game on Mac / Linux when the game will run perfectly well on those OSes.

E: for instance, to run innoextract on Mac you need to have Homebrew installed, which means you need the XCode utils installed, so we're already past normal tech literacy. Or you can compile it from scratch!

[chungy]

I agree, but instead of "out in the cold", innoextract could be mentioned.

[Blastfrog]

Just get drunk on something that claims not to be an emulator, you'll get your IWADs.

[StoneMason]

Looks like the Final Doom iwads are the id Anthology versions.

[Blastfrog]

Nice that they released this. Not 100% a fan of Steam, but I tolerate it. GoG is preferable IMO.

mason1729 said:

Looks like the Final Doom iwads are the id Anthology versions.

Just do clarify, do you mean the second revision of the id Anthology? The first revision came with the common, original, broken Final Doom IWADs.

If they actually used the second revision, I applaud them for doing so.

[StoneMason]

Sodaholic said:

Just do clarify, do you mean the second revision of the id Anthology? The first revision came with the common, original, broken Final Doom IWADs.

If they actually used the second revision, I applaud them for doing so.

TNT.WAD dates 14/11/96 at 18,654,796 bytes, and PLUTONIA.WAD dates 21/11/96 at 18,240,172 bytes

[Buckshot]

I mean technically speaking... and correct me if im wrong, if you buy any legal collection of doom via disc, gog, steam, etc... you could in theory just grab the iwads from anywhere as so long as they are for the doom releases you bought, and use them on mac/linux, since you actually purchased a eula/license.

is that not how that works?

[Linguica]

Buckshot said:

is that not how that works?

Sadly no. Almost invariably when you buy software, you aren't actually "buying" it, you're buying a license to use it in a very specific, limited way.

I mean, no one really cares in the end, but it's technically not legal.

[fraggle]

Quasar said:

Please update the news to omit that part about Linux; it is insulting to anybody with a modicum of technological know-how.

I disagree. It doesn't hurt to highlight the negatives if the attention encourages GOG to improve things.

I'm actually rather surprised because most of their DOSbox-packaged games are automatically available on all platforms. I have GOG versions of the Wing Commander games, Duke3D and Dungeon Keeper, and they all run on my Mac. It's kind of weird that Doom isn't just available everywhere when clearly they have the infrastructure to do it.

[printz]

Maybe hopefully GOG will update the package to install on all platforms? Or are they under condition from Zenimax to only officially distribute for Windows?

[Linguica]

It would be weird for GOG to be under orders to only support Windows, but... who knows.

[[LeD]Jake Crusher]

So it uses DOSBox, right?

[DoomGater]

dew said:

Don't look at me, the original wording didn't mention Linux at all. I mean, who even uses it, some nerds?

I am using Linux. But I don't think, that I'm a nerd. Thank you.

[GreyGhost]

[LeD]Jake Crusher said:

So it uses DOSBox, right?

It does, and to confuse the issue they've recycled the "Collector's Edition" manuals, which contain detailed instructions for using the Doom95 launcher. :D

[Gez]

dew said:

Unfortunately, however, it looks like the GOG installer is Windows-only, meaning that our Mac / Linux friends are still out in the cold when it comes to legally acquiring the Doom IWADs.

This is no longer true, a Mac installer was just added and I guess the Linux installer will follow shortly.

Nevermind, I'm dumb and didn't understand the downloader link things. It lists categories for stuff (such as Mac OS installers, or language packs) even when no such things are available.

[Marnetmar]

Doom is just a ripoff of Dance Dance Revolution with bad graphics.

[Buckshot]

Linguica said:

Sadly no. Almost invariably when you buy software, you aren't actually "buying" it, you're buying a license to use it in a very specific, limited way.

I mean, no one really cares in the end, but it's technically not legal.

That's a damn shame that software licensing bureaucratics are that stringent.

If I buy a Bluray, CD, dvd, etc... I can play it on a Sony, LG, panasonic, Samsung, whatever else combination of tv and player. I beleive I can also make a personal backup for my own use or if my copy is damaged, download an identical matching copy so long as I have proof of purchase from the original (again, that might be wrong... but that's what I've been led to beleive is correct.)

wonder why it differs so much for software eula's.

[chungy]

Making a personal backup is OK, downloading a copy is not. In the latter case, someone else is distributing it to you (and in peer-to-peer networks, you'll be participating in the distribution as well), which is copyright infringement. This applies equally to books, music, movies, software, games, everything.

Many people don't feel like there's anything wrong with merely downloading an item they otherwise own, but that doesn't make it legal.