ZDoom ceases development

[printz]

As of 7 January 2017, Randi has stepped down from development of the ZDoom source port, and there will be no more releases under this name. Meanwhile, the offshoots GZDoom – the hardware-accelerated version, led by Graf Zahl, who has also massively improved ZDoom throughout the years – and QZDoom – with true-colour software rendering, led by Eruanna and dpJudas – continue to evolve, so any further development should be sought there.

The site zdoom.org, containing among others the forum and the wiki, is going to be maintained by Eruanna. You can read Randi's announcement and the discussions further in a news thread at the ZDoom forums.

[roadworx]

well...it's sad to see this go. zdoom is the source port that really made doom what it is today. and to see it cease development really is sad ):

well, at least we still have gzdoom

[Gothic]

Sorry, but QZDoom just can't replace ZDoom for me, last time I tested it lagged way too much in certain maps, more than GZDoom.

Anyway, best of luck to Randi.

EDIT: Oh shit, I missed the latest GZDoom release. Nevermind.

[Doomkid]

Interesting news. The end of an era!

[Csonicgo]

I feel so empty. Seriously.

This was my first SERIOUS port. I had SMMU, yes, and Legacy, but ZDoom felt "solid". I loved how it played. How fast it was on my Pentium 2 compared to the other Ports! It was just.. good. And it had Action Doom.

I hate to see this. It's like a part of Doom community history is just that now.

*sigh*

I had a bit of a breakdown when I heard the news. Not too proud about that.

[Rachael]

ZDoom means a lot to many of us. But it's important to remember it is not completely dead. It still lives on in some form. While its main Github repository may never be updated, development in GZDoom is still in full swing. The forum and the wiki will continue on, if nothing else to support GZDoom and its child projects, along with the legacy that ZDoom has offered us.

I'm not going to pretend that the news didn't affect me, but to me, it's still very much alive - just its principal developer has now left. I will certainly miss her - she really did make a major impact on all of our lives and in a positive way, at that.

[sheridan]

QZDoom's lack of performance may have something to do with the fact that 32-bit blitting/blending has never been particularly well optimized by any C/C++ compiler. To unlock reasonable speed there you have to get back into inline assembly optimization with the MMX instruction set, which is obscure knowledge to say the least...

Going forward, I've always felt that GZDoom had the right idea by embracing OpenGL for the backend... though even that is in danger of falling out of fashion as OpenGL gets left behind for Vulkan by all the hardware vendors.

Somebody might want to start a Vulkan ZDoom port sometime, if they haven't already...

[Zapzop]

Well, that's really sad. But at least we have GZDoom and QZDoom. And still alive wiki and forum is better than nothing.

[blueinferno776]

This is surreal. Did not ever see this coming.

Really this sucks! :( Zdoom was like a foundation for my whole experience with all its amazing wads like ultimate simplicity, austerity, knee deep in zdoom.

Randi,thank you for everything you gave us! You achieved so much with all the hard work you put into zdoom.

[Gerardo194]

I wanted to post this on ZDoom forums but Strangely I can't log in. Well, I was a little shocked seeing this, it is really sad news because ZDoom was my first port and I thought this was the only one that existed in order to run Doom. As others said, the end of an era and everything has an end but I know it will have a place in our hearts.
Randi, if you are seeing this, I only want to say thank you and good luck in your future, a hug!

[Khorus]

ZDoom has been in my life for 12+ years and has given me more enjoyment and creativity out of a game and its engine than I could hope for.

Cheers, Randi!

[Voros]

I never actually tried ZDoom due to GZDoom, but I say I think ZDoom overall has aged well with the community.

[Sokoro]

Hey! It is not april's fools, it is 8th January..

[alfasketer]

It's sad to see this go. ZDooM was the first source port for me too, and I use it ever since. Thank you Randy for ZDooM, and good luck with what's ahead of you.

[NeedHealth]

I never cared much for zdoom, preferring prBoom+, but it filled a niche and probably inspired many people to use it as a stepping stone (in a positive way !)

[Xaser]

Thanks, printz, for emphasizing that GZDoom/QZDoom are still carrying the torch. The biggest takeaway folks ought to get is that development is still continuing, so there's no delay or cessation of service.

Also possibly worth pointing out: GZDoom still has the original software renderer (set "vid_renderer" to 0 in the console) and QZDoom is an in-development effort to improve it, so non-fans of GL ought not despair.

[Misty]

I just feel sad and weird at the same time. My one side thinks that somewhere is still could be solution - like passing source code for someone else and keep zdoom alive and other side tries understand what`s happened here.

Anyway,I feel it was hard decision for Zdoom maintainer and I never thought it could end today or yesterday(depends on time zone). Some news strikes without any warnings and affects us in some way.

[Graf Zahl]

Gothic said:

Sorry, but QZDoom just can't replace ZDoom for me, last time I tested it lagged way too much in certain maps, more than GZDoom.

Keep in mind that QZDoom is still relatively early with the 32 bit renderer, and that the old 8 bit version still exists, also in GZDoom.

The thing with the software renderer is that it had been suffering from underdevelopment for many, many years, and there's a lot of work needed to get it in a better state again. Consider ourselves fortunate that someone is actually there to take on the task, otherwise things would look far worse.

[snapshot]

ZDoom has given me flexibility in mapping and modding and it's sad to see it go, Well at least GZDoom is still up, Best of luck to Randi.

[Tristan]

Damn, always used ZDoom over GZDoom because the performance was better (and still can, of course). First source port I ever downloaded, back when it was 2.5 or something. This QZDoom looks interesting though, will have to give it a go.

[Kurwa]

This is not exactly a good start to the year.

[NuMetalManiak]

My first source port too, it was the one that got me into playing all the mods and such. Nowadays I use GZDoom all the time but the memories of me first playing ZDoom remain.

[Not Jabba]

Wow, yeah, I have a truly difficult time imagining playing on any other port -- which goes to show just how important Randi's hard work has been for all these years.

2.8.1 seems really stable, so it'll probably be a long time before I have to switch away, but it's good to know there are still options for when that day comes.

[Aggs]

This is a huge bummer. I've used ZDoom for so long, I can't remember when I started. Sad to see it end.

[Graf Zahl]

Not Jabba said:

Wow, yeah, I have a truly difficult time imagining playing on any other port -- which goes to show just how important Randi's hard work has been for all these years.

2.8.1 seems really stable, so it'll probably be a long time before I have to switch away, but it's good to know there are still options for when that day comes.

You can use GZDoom 2.3.1 with the software renderer, too.
It's not that it has gone away completely.

[Ed]

ZDoom has been my port of choice for many, many years. Thank you for all your work, Randi.

[Mordeth]

Had to read this twice. I'd like to thank Randi for her valuable contribution to this community all these years. Quite the legacy you're leaving behind! Best of wishes!

[Doom_Dude]

Wow, never saw this one coming. Thank you Randi, your contribution over the years to the community is greatly appreciated.

[Soundblock]

Ed said:

ZDoom has been my port of choice for many, many years. Thank you for all your work, Randi.

Seconded.

[Kristian Nebula]

I have still version 1.22 text file in my Doom2 directory, dated 1999. Time flies! Thank you for everything Randy! 1.17 must be somewhere on one of my older laptops :)