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ZeniMax Media, id Software's parent company, is accusing Oculus of stealing its intellectual property from the time when John Carmack was still an employee at id. These accusations go back to 2014 when Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion, and resulted in the current trial where ZeniMax is seeking damages equal to the price Facebook paid for Oculus; they claim that John Carmack, who became Oculus's CTO after parting with id, used ZeniMax's "copyrighted computer code, trade secret information, and technical know-how" in the development of the Rift. ZeniMax is now further accusing Oculus of "intentional destruction of evidence to cover up their wrongdoing." Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is also to appear on the stand. A Slashdot report based on this Ars Technica article offers a wider summary and historical links.

This has been long overdue. And even though some among us still react to this wad in a "meh" way, I must say I spent quite a few pain rounds in it, had quite a bit of fun playing them, and definitely was not the only one enjoying the ride. So now that it has been over eight months since the SNS guys got luckier with the release date, it is finally time to take on this wad with full TNS force. We'll be playing the first half plus the secret levels this session, definitely do a pain rotation, and probably top it of with total randomization because the maps seemed like they would accommodate it nicely. PS: I think Salty will really enjoy puking a certain monster type during this session :)Skill: Ultra ViolenceIWAD: doom2 or freedoom070PWADs: sprfix13, d2twidMaps: map01-map15, map31-map33Lives: 1Euro session: 19:00 BST @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USADate: 15th May 2014More Details...Get ZDaemon and join in.

After leaving id software for Oculus VR in late 2013 to dedicate more time to development of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, John Carmack faces another change. This time, it is more of hidden, indirect one, and one that he probably did not have that much control over. Even though there may initially be little difference to how things are now, only future will tell what Facebook's plans with Oculus are. John Carmack seems to keep a positive outlook as the following tweets suggest: For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week. I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR I have a deep respect for the technical scale that FB operates at. The cyberspace we want for VR will be at this scale. I suppose I will get a FB account now, so that may lead to some writing a little longer than tweet length... The official blog post also suggests the development will continue and, although the combination of brand new VR technology and Facebook, which gets most of its income from targeted advertising, sends an occasional worrying shiver down my spine, let's hope for the best, as this acquisition might give the project a significant boost.

Once upon a time, memfis, during his search for all kinds of wads to play, stumbled upon one which was called Projet 15. As time went, a few development versions, some of which were played on ZDaemon servers, appeared. Now, a megawad by Datacore, with 5 maps made by Subject119 and GFX provided by FranckFrag, is almost ready to see the light of day under its new name "And The Bloodshed Began". Come this Thursday for the final stress test before the release, both if you wonder what this is all about or if you just want to see the changes since the last version you have played. We should get to twist the wad around with one of our TNS mods too, but not until we are done with a legitimate playthrough and the usual second round of pain with fast monsters dealing double damage.Skill: Ultra ViolenceIWAD: doom2 or freedoomPWADs: attb-tns126, tnsskins1aMaps: map01-map32Lives: 1Euro session: 19:00 GMT @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EST @ DUI - New Jersey, USADate: 2nd January 2014More Details...Get ZDaemon and join in.

Five weeks after beating the first part, it is time to prepare for larger maps, higher monster counts and more fun. Map30 will be included for taking group photos and, yes, we will do the infamous map31 again.Skill: Ultra ViolencePWADs: defiler, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns94Maps: 17-32Lives: 1Euro session: 19:00 BST @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USADate: 30th May 2013More Details...Get ZDaemon and join in.

We have already seen Community Chest I and the public beta of Community Chest 4 in TNS. Now it's time for the second wad of this series which contains a full collection of 32 maps, from 26 authors in total, and bears a release date of 2004. In this session, we will tackle the first half of the wad, so come enjoy fighting through those maps with us. Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: cchest2, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns91 Maps: 01-16, 31 Lives: 1 Euro session: 19:00 BST @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USA Date: 9th May 2013 More Details...Get ZDaemon and join in.

A megawad by EmZee712 / MasterZorc / Shane has been escaping our attention... until now, that is. With our marine count, we might experience a race of doom during the standard rotation, but the pain rotation should slow things down nicely. And even though the project apparently started as a collection of mapping POCs, I think it plays rather nicely. If you haven't played it, come and judge for yourself; if you have played it and liked it, come relive the experience! Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: defiler, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns89 Maps: map01-16, map31 Lives: 1 Euro session: 19:00 BST @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USA Date: 25th April 2013 More Details...

The time has come to fight our way through this nice "little" wad which bears the year it was born, as a result of a Doomworld community project, in its name. We will probably finish the first maps quickly, but near the end, we might start breaking a sweat. The moo welcoming parties have enough rockets in their reserves and are looking forward to giving them away generously - prepare your faces, bottoms and other body parts for reception. It will be quite interesting to see how we will deal with the last two maps with our usual pain settings on. Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: dr2008v2.wad, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns86 Maps: map01-map11 Lives: 1 Euro session: 19:00 BST @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USA Date: 4th April 2013 More Details... Get ZDaemon and join in.

If it was 1998, AnimaZero would have to prepare twice the number of tapes to record the highlights because that's how hilarious this will be :) Some of the maps are a bit tight, especially at start, but I hope that the experienced TNS crowd will show sound judgement. We will include E3M8 in the first playthrough to get a few desperate laughs, but we will probably skip it on subsequent rotations. We might also do random monsters or Krawa's kill 'em all adapted for TNS for the second rotation and keep the traditional pain for late night masochists to avoid too much desperation too early on. Thanks for the tip on both these cool wads go to Nevanos. If you liked the first part and are up to an even bigger Doom 1 challenge, do not miss this one.Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: end2.wad, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns84 Maps: e3m1-e3m9 Lives: 1 Aus session: 19:00 AEST @ NzDoom - Auckland, New Zealand Euro session: 19:00 GMT @ [L@P] - Germany, Europe US session: 19:00 EDT @ DUI - New Jersey, USA Date: 21st March 2013 More Details...Get ZDaemon and join in.

Wandering throught the wad suggestions, I have stumbled upon this gem which, even though the release date reads only 1997, almost feels as if it had been designed for TNS. Plenty of splace, plenty of action, all incredibly put together in this doom.wad-based package. DMFLAGS: 100745252 / 806758400Skill: Ultra ViolencePWADs: end1.wad, miekskins-r3, tskins1e, tns80Maps: e1m1-e2m9Lives: 1More information...Aus session: 19:00 AEST (that's 09:00 GMT)Euro session: 19:00 GMT (that's 14:00 EST)US session: 19:00 EST (that's 00:00 GMT)In other news: The first of the ZDaemon Mini Leagues has started, visit the ZML homepage for more information. Get ZDaemon and join in.

The time has come to finish the Doom The Way id Did experience by going through the second part of the "outtakes" wad The Lost Episodes. Two sets of maps with classic fun and one more set full of boss runs await us, making for a total of three episodes to be conquered in style by our horde of seasoned TNS marines. Pro tip: Bring your radsuits! Skill: Ultra Violence IWAD: doom.wad PWADs: dtwid-le, dtwid-le_v10_zdfix_r2, tskins1e, miekskins-r3, tns74 Maps: e4m1-e4m8, e5m1-e5m9, e5m0, e6m1-e6m9 Lives: 1 More details... The Australasian session starts at 20:00 AEST (that's 10:00 GMT) on NzDoom The Euro session starts at 20:00 GMT (that's 15:00 EST) on [L@P] The US session starts at 20:00 EST (that's 01:00 GMT) on Dwango United In other news: Want to take part in a light-hearted, relaxed, duel mini-league? Check out http://zml.zdaemon.org and see what's hot. Guaranteed fun for any skill level, we promise a chilled out new school setup with some extra surprises in the works. Read the simple rules and register now! Send Evolution a PM and he'll approve you. Join the #zml channel in ZDaemon Launcher Chat for more info. Also check out WNF featuring Deathball mod and ZDS featuring Wrecker mod this week. Get Zdaemon and join in.

This wad nearly brought a tear into my eye, and those who played their shareware copy of Doom on the then awesome x86 or early Pentium computers may also get that feeling. The description on the website reads that it is "a full set of maps that's meant to look, feel, and play like they came from the hands of Romero, Petersen, and Hall", and I must agree with that. So the plan for this Thursday is to dive deep into the familiar feel of episode one and wander through the darkness of episode two till we reach its fifth map. After this nostalgic walkthrough, a classic pain rotation will follow, and, if we are fast, a third rotation with a bit of random madness and Doom 2 in Doom mixture might be at hand. Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: dtwid, dtwidmus, tskins1e, miekskins-r3, tns68 Maps: e1m1-e2m5 Lives: 1 More details... The Euro session starts at 20:00 GMT (that's 15:00 EST) The US session starts at 20:00 EST (that's 01:00 GMT) In other news: Come to ZDS for good old Cyberdemon mini-games in Cyberdreams this Saturday; ZDL continues producing meaty dueling demos, so check out the archive; get ZDaemon and join in!

Load up on guns and bring your friends! We will need them because the monster filled second part of Plutonia 2 awaits us this week. Spacious maps, plentiful cybers for us to kill, thrilling gameplay in captivating environment - Plutonia 2 has it all. Skill: Ultra Violence PWADs: pl2, tskins1e, miekskins-r3, tns67 Maps: 17-30, 32 Lives: 1 More details... The Euro session starts at 20:00 GMT (that's 15:00 EST) The US session starts at 20:00 EST (that's 01:00 GMT) In other news: WNF offers some flag capturing opportunities in "Project: World Second Edition" this Wednesday, and ZDS is all about instagib TDM in DCDwango this Saturday. Get ZDaemon and join in!

This will be a little flashback for those who have been around TNS in its very infancy. Some little birds were tweeting that we didn't really get to enjoy the whole wad as we should have when we first visited, it because we tried to play all those long maps in just one session. This Thursday it's time to load our SSGs, go back, and waltz our way through part I properly. And, hopefully, AnimaZero will be around to make all your funny deaths public this time. DMFLAGS: 100745252 / 806758400 Skill: Ultra Violence IWAD: doom2.wad PWADs: ndcp2, tskins1e, miekskins-r3, tns?? Maps: 1-16, 31 Lives: 1 Players: 20/50 Item Respawn Time: 60 Seconds Player Join Limit: 5 Minutes The Euro session starts at 20:00 GMT (that's 15:00 EST) The US session starts at 20:00 EST (that's 01:00 GMT) In other news, WNF showcases how CTF was back in the old days with some osctfmp1, and Friday's Monster Mash takes you knee deep into a ZDaemon coop classic - coopbuildm, with a twist. If that doesn't strike your matches, then get your heads straightened out with some manly Alien Vendetta deathmatch on Saturday for ZDS, then some ferocious FYBO action on Sunday. In competitive news, the Duelers League is flying, with demos coming in and ready for the clicking. Check 'em out if you know what's good. Just download the latest ZDaemon and join all the fun!