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  • idgames Maintainer Ty Halderman Passes Away At 69


    Late last April, new files stopped appearing on the idgames archive, leading to mounting concern about maintainer Ty Halderman's well-being. The following month, in late May, a visit by a Doomer in Ty's native New Orleans confirmed that he was alive but hospitalized. That same month, Bill Koch (Bloodshedder) and Eric Baker (The Green Herring) were recruited as interim maintainers to keep the idgames archive running. Today on the forums, a close relative confirmed that Ty Halderman died on July 31, surrounded by his family. We have no reason to believe that this information is fabricated.

    As maintainer of the most important part of the Doom community, Ty Halderman was the reason over 20 years of custom levels and mods remain available today. As part of TeamTNT, he contributed to TNT: Evilution from the Final Doom package among other WADs, and was one of the main programmers of the source port Boom, which set a new standard for custom level design that remains today. Needless to say, Ty Halderman was not called an "essential pillar of the community" for nothing. For all of this and more, he received the Espi Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Cacowards just last year. The work he did for this community is immeasurable, and his loss devastating. We at Doomworld offer our condolences to Ty Halderman's family, and would like to thank him for his efforts in keeping the central archive of the Doom community alive. He will be missed by us all.


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    My condolences to Ty's family with special thanks to the family member who took the time and effort to find the site to let us know of his passing. Ty's commitment to the /idgames archive for nearly 20 years, on its own, was an amazing achievement of persistence. As an archive maintainer myself, I can appreciate his consistently required efforts and patience, especially when dealing directly with the more unsavoury characters over the years (i.e. the ones who upload zip bombs, Terry WADs, etc.) Also, as a massive fan of Eternal Doom, I thank him for his TeamTNT work. Rest in peace, Ty.

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    I dont knew about this guy until today. But after reading some articles, there is no doubt this guy was much important for doom community, his work and enthusiasm for doom were amazing. R.I.P

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    That was unexpected by me. I did not know him personaly, only exchanged one email with him and read few posts, but I loved his work. Map04:Wormhole in TNT iwad is my favorite!
    I downloaded some of his maps from /idgames which I did not play yet. I am going to check them out today.

    May he rest in peace. Goodbye Ty!

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    Rest in Peace...

    This is one of the moments where you actually remember, that we are all mortal, and that the whole community consists of real people, with real lifes that who have to subordinate to larger things of meaning as well.

    Should make you reconsider sometimes if it's worth to argue and troll instead of simply being productive and enjoying Doom

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    Ty's contributions to this community can not be overstated - without a doubt one of the key figures behind keeping it alive, and a completely consistent, professional gentleman. I only interacted with him a few times through the years, but it was always a pleasure. A true boss, and a legend have signed off. Rest in peace, and my condolences to his family and close friends.

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    I hope the relative that searched his name online realises just how well regarded Ty was in this community. There is no better testament to this than the fact there is still so much activity here some 22 years after Doom was released. Indeed, "Eternal Pillar of the Community" would be a wholly fitting custom title for his account here. Rest in peace.

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    It's rather amazing in retrospect how this one man was able to single-handedly keep the archives in order. He was like clockwork -- the only blips in the system were the occasional technical issue, and he kept at it even after his passion for modding had long subsided. That's no small feat for anyone in any profession.

    Godspeed, Ty. May you remain as steadfast in the afterlife.

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    That's depressing news indeed. We all saw how important was his work in recent months and we saw what a driving, constant force was he to this entire community. It's truly shocking to find out that this force is now gone forever. Thanks, Ty.

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    I don't think I would exaggerate by saying we lost one of the community's founding fathers. I didn't know him personally, but I know and am aware of the work he did – as probably everyone does in the community.

    Condolences to the family and rest in peace, Ty, you will be missed.

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    On behalf of the gamers.org crew, I offer our deepest condolences to Ty's family. The sad news we feared to receive since Ty became unable to maintain the idgames archive has arrived, and comes as a blow nonetheless.

    When I had to relinquish idgames maintenance, it was a relief to do so to such a capable community member as Ty. I remain very grateful for how he kept up this often rewarding but sometimes thankless "job", and over the past 18 years it was always a pleasure to support him with archive maintenance and system administration stuff. He impressed with his no-nonsense, independent stance towards all fruits of the DOOM community, his fairness and, above all, his humor.

    My regret is that we were never able to meet in person. My hope is that the many messages of sympathy and support in this forum provide some small measure of consolation to Ty's family.

    His legacy lives on in the idgames archive.

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    Sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and friends. Nothing else to say really, except that his forum title (essential pillar of the community) was truly deserved.

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    I only exchanged emails with him once, but it was an honour to speak even just that once with a legend such as himself. I'll always have that email and it'll always be a reminder of his devotion and passion for Doom and its community.

    Rest in peace.

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