Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The classic game Doom gets its first new level in 21 years

And you can play it on your PC without needing the original.

WHEN IT WAS released back in 1993, the first-person shooter Doom became a hit with PC gamers.

Its speed, visuals and violence won it many fans and its multiplayer modes like deathmatch came at a time where PCs were able to connect over a network (and on the web as it grew in popularity).

The last time new levels were created for it was in 1995 when The Ultimate Doom was released, but fast forward 21 years and one of its creators, John Romero, has released a new level that’s free to play, using only the shareware assets from the original.

Offering it through a Dropbox link, the level can be played without having the original game installed. Romero says the game took several hours over a two week period to build and called it “a warm-up”, alluding to the reboot that’s being developed for PC, Xbox One and PS4.

1993 was a very different time for games. When Doom was released, it was on floppy disk and required 8 MB of RAM to run. The decision to make it shareware was a way to encourage people to pass it on and get more playing it, helping it grow in popularity.

Since then, it remained popular with fans who continue to play it online. Others have designed and created their own levels after the source code was released in 1997.

Albany Gamers / YouTube

Read: WhatsApp won’t be charging users for its app any longer* >

Read: Your iPhone could be showing you the wrong battery percentage >

Close
22 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shane Walsh
    Favourite Shane Walsh
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 3:51 PM

    Oh man I spent hours playing that game when I was younger, hours upon hours of entertainment.

    129
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rasputin
    Favourite Rasputin
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 3:55 PM

    Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil… prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon…Terry Pratchett

    66
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute IrishGravyTrain
    Favourite IrishGravyTrain
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:00 PM

    Absolute Classic.

    65
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andy Cahalan
    Favourite Andy Cahalan
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:44 PM

    No mention that he and Brenda live in Galway now!

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Live Long
    Favourite Live Long
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:53 PM

    Really? wow, now that is interesting, the guys a legend

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andy Cahalan
    Favourite Andy Cahalan
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 6:16 PM

    Yeah, he and Adrian Carmack also own the Heritage Hotel & Golf Club. He’s currently working at putting our games grads to work – since they’re probably going to have to leave the country otherwise!

    12
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Carroll
    Favourite Stephen Carroll
    Report
    Jan 19th 2016, 12:39 PM

    They will indeed eventually! Unless they plan to move to Dublin full time to work on f2p mobile games. All the big companies have headquaters here but it’s call customer care work.

    No incentives for companies to develop here, although Belfast is probably the best place in the country to have a look at

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute TheBull
    Favourite TheBull
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:23 PM

    New Doom coming this year. Looks great.

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andy Cahalan
    Favourite Andy Cahalan
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:44 PM

    The Beta was immense. 10/10 if you like it old school.

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Void bringer
    Favourite Void bringer
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:54 PM

    Can`t wait for Doom 4, Looks totally Killer… God I Love the Shotgun!! https://youtu.be/Oi4eNkIFnRE

    13
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute George Salter
    Favourite George Salter
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 5:44 PM

    That’s D3.. ROE, surely?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Void bringer
    Favourite Void bringer
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 10:48 PM

    I know its D3, thats why I shared it cause its some f**ing GUN :)

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute George Salter
    Favourite George Salter
    Report
    Jan 19th 2016, 9:34 AM

    Ah.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jo Buckley
    Favourite Jo Buckley
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 6:19 PM

    That double-barrel shotgun was fantastic.
    Games now are very complex and require too much time, time that I do not have.
    Doom was simple first person shooter, perfect for fast fun.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute A2 Poster
    Favourite A2 Poster
    Report
    Jan 19th 2016, 10:05 AM

    The sound of the reload of that thing was awesome!

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jukebox Jim
    Favourite Jukebox Jim
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:21 PM

    Brutal Doom is a fantastic mod that breathes new life into this classic. Updated visuals, gore and even a full metal soundtrack available as an add on. Not too difficult to install and highly recommended for any fans out there!

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Steve Wynne-Jones
    Favourite Steve Wynne-Jones
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 7:44 PM

    Classic game.. I still remember the cheat code: IDKFA. Enter that and you were laughing

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony McGovern
    Favourite Anthony McGovern
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 9:25 PM

    Yea I still remember that too. That was for all weapons and keys. IDDQD was god mode. IDSKIP skipped a level and I think IDCLIP did something as well but I can’t remember something to do with the walls.

    Man i loved that game.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Live Long
    Favourite Live Long
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 4:38 PM

    A classic!

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute SCO Electrical
    Favourite SCO Electrical
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 6:08 PM

    There was a release a while ago where you could play Doom, inside Doom. Step aside Inception!!

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Emachine
    Favourite Emachine
    Report
    Jan 18th 2016, 6:00 PM

    I can feel the headache coming on already. Savage game tho.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Wesley Moore
    Favourite Wesley Moore
    Report
    Jan 19th 2016, 10:27 AM

    No mention of the fact that Doom has been ran on likely the largest range of devices available in the world..

    Here’s a quick example I found, but releasing the source code was the best decision ever made.

    http://itrunsdoom.tumblr.com/tagged/it-runs-doom

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds