Obtaining DOOM and DOOM 2

[PotatoBox]

Hey guys. Newbie member. I wanna introduce myself. I've started collecting PC games not too long ago and I've always wanted a big box copy of these games. How much is DOOM, DOOM shareware and DOOM 2 fetching for nowadays? And where can I buy a copy?

[Voros]

Steam for digital copy.
Amazon for hard copy.

Oh, Shareware Doom is free.

If you are mapper and don't have Doom, you could settle for Freedoom.

[PotatoBox]

Voros said:

Steam for digital copy.
Amazon for hard copy.

Oh, Shareware Doom is free.

If you are mapper and don't have Doom, you could settle for Freedoom.

Sorry, I think worded my opening statemen wrong. I meant that I already own doom digitally but want a big box copy just for collectability factor.

[wheresthebeef]

The Doom Collectors Edition contains Ultimate Doom, Doom 2, and Final Doom; its also a not too shabby cover art.
Otherwise if you are looking for each game individually, you'll just have to look on ebay or amazon; there are so many different boxed copies of Doom and Doom 2, its down to personal taste.

[GreyGhost]

Boxed copies turn up regularly on eBay, with Doom 2 and Ultimate Doom tending to be cheaper and easier to find, depending on condition maybe $20-$40 plus postage. Registered Doom and big box copies of Shareware Doom are harder to come by in good condition and can fetch $100+.

[fraggle]

PotatoBox said:

Sorry, I think worded my opening statemen wrong.

You didn't. Some people just don't read.

In reference to your actual question: it depends on the version. For example you can probably pick up a big box version of Doom II or Ultimate Doom for $20-30. The really collectible one is the mail order Registered Doom, which can be probably $100 or more (depends on the version of the game on the disks).

[Maes]

I wonder if there will ever be a market for original warez copies of Doom -e.g. I still have the 4 floppies containing Doom v1.1 I got from my friendly neighborhood pirate in 1994, with their plastic bag, dot-matrix printed labels, cracktro (not that there was much to crack...) and all.

[VGA]

Naaaah, not really. Well, maybe if they are something novel. Like those console bootleg CDs we were discussing in that other thread. The ones with TCs sold on ebay.

[Doomkid]

Slightly offtopic post incoming, but all the appropriate answers have already been given anyway. I so badly wish I still had my 1.666 shareware and my 1.9 Ultimate box. Been years now since I had them, but I remember the Ultimate box being really damn cool.

I know there's a thread or website or something that has a lot of quality scans of various Doom boxes, does anyone know where that is? Is there a directory of some sort on the web that's purely devoted to high-res Doom scans? If not, I'd be happy to add one to my site. I'd love to have copies of all available box art, primarily the official stuff but the random bootleg scans/photos are always great to have too.

[GreyGhost]

To get you started - there's a bunch of box scans on the Wiki, and a selection of (mostly Japanese) scans I uploaded to my Mediafire account. There's various other boxes I'll be scanning as the mood strikes.

[Doomkid]

Excellent, thankyou GreyGhost!

EDIT: That Black Ultimate Doom box - I'm certain that's the one my father got me when I was a youngster, but I can't seem to find any scans of anything but the front - Wasn't there screenshots and a blurb on the back, or perhaps inside? I'm trying to remember back about 18-19 years so bare with me if I'm totally off, but all I owned prior to that was the 1.666 shareware in a small jewel case, and I vividly remember a large box with screenshots.

Anyone who has that particular box (pictured here - oddly enough, this cover isn't on the Wiki?) care to show me a photo of the back? I remember that shiny text well, I'm sure this has to be the box I'm thinking of.

EDIT2: When Google fails you, fall back on eBay! This box is worth roughly $150 AU now - Yowza!

http://i.imgur.com/7XD4fAq.jpg

[GreyGhost]

You're welcome.

Doomkid said:

Anyone who has that particular box (pictured here - oddly enough, this cover isn't on the Wiki?)

Odder still, what appears on the Wiki as the "U.S. Ultimate Doom cover" is actually a crop of the Ultimate Doom poster, and fairly similar to the Australian Doom boxart.

[PotatoBox]

From my understanding, there are cd rom versions as well as a floppy version of doom 2 and ultimate doom. Are there any price differences between the 2 versions?

[Zed]

PotatoBox said:

From my understanding, there are cd rom versions as well as a floppy version of doom 2 and ultimate doom. Are there any price differences between the 2 versions?

I think floppy versions are more expensive.

[fraggle]

PotatoBox said:

From my understanding, there are cd rom versions as well as a floppy version of doom 2 and ultimate doom. Are there any price differences between the 2 versions?

Generally speaking, the CD-ROM versions are later releases (or re-releases) and because of that they're worth less than the floppy disk versions.

The original mail order registered versions are all on floppy disk. The ORDER.FRM file distributed with the shareware version advertised a CD version but I don't think it was ever actually sold as such (someone correct me if I'm mistaken?). Some of the really early versions of Doom were sold on 5.25" floppy disk but by the time of v1.9 they were only shipping on 3.5" and so these are really rare and worth a lot.

Ultimate Doom and Doom II were both sold on both 3.5" floppy and on CD-ROM. Later re-releases were CD-ROM only.

[GreyGhost]

fraggle said:

The original mail order registered versions are all on floppy disk. The ORDER.FRM file distributed with the shareware version advertised a CD version but I don't think it was ever actually sold as such (someone correct me if I'm mistaken?). Some of the really early versions of Doom were sold on 5.25" floppy disk but by the time of v1.9 they were only shipping on 3.5" and so these are really rare and worth a lot.

Looks like v1.2 was the last mail order release with a 5.25" floppy option, and v1.9 has the only (unconfirmed) CD option. I seem to recall someone posting a picture of what they claimed was a mail order Doom CD, might be able to find it later. Outside of North America - Manacomm in Australia had a 5.25" option for Registered Doom, possibly up to v1.666, and Imagineer in Japan published v1.2 on CD. They also did a 5.25" floppy release but I'm not sure of the version. Then of course, there's my infamous and rare Registered Doom v1.1 bootleg CD from parts unknown.

[PotatoBox]

Should I worry about counterfeit copies of DOOM on ebay?

[Doomkid]

If you have any doubts, it couldn't hurt to run it past here first, but the bootlegs tend to stand out in various ways. If you're getting a boxed copy, I really doubt it will come with a bootleg. Regardless, you'd be able to tell instantly by the build quality, and eBay has pretty good policies holding sellers responsible for this kind of stuff.

[GreyGhost]

PotatoBox said:

Should I worry about counterfeit copies of DOOM on ebay?

Counterfeits are probably less of an issue than sellers trying to pass of Shareware CDs as the full game, or on-selling GOG gift codes for double what they'd paid. It pays to keep your wits about you.

[Maes]

And to think that back in the day, CD versions were generally more expensive than floppies, contrary to what one might think (less materials etc.) because ZOMG IT WAS THE NEW AND ENHANCED "MULTIMEDIA" CD-ROM PLATFORM!!!

[RoyBatty]

There is one exception for CD version being more expensive that early floppy versions and that is the Registered Doom v1.9 (pre Ultimate Doom). It was only sold for a couple of weeks, and is extremely rare. It can go for $300 or more.