Share your DOOM memories

[noisyturtle]

DOOM has been a staple in gaming for 25 years now, spawning a franchise that arguably doesn't have a single bad game in the lot. Consistently reinventing itself and in turn shaping the fps genre as a whole with each iteration of the franchise. It does help having technical input from hyper-intelligent super human and future savior of mankind, John Carmack.

What are your memories of DOOM? Anyone who has played games on a PC in the last 25 years has to have at least one.

I was introduced to the game by my older bro who I thought was so cool at the time. He worked in tech and in my mind that meant he worked with video games (even though he clearly didn't, but hey I was like 8 years old.) One day he handed me a floppy of the DOOM Shareware version and I'd never in my life played anything like that before. My exposure to PC games was pretty much limited to Apogee games, Commander Keen, and Jill of the Jungle - DOOM blew all those out of the water in every respect. I must've played Episode 1 at least 200 times in 1994, I don't think I ever even got the full version of the first game until I got DOOM II which came with the first game 'hidden' in the files. Hell I even tried my hand at creating a few (terrible) wads for DOOM II, I thought a closet full of 6 Cyberdemons in a pistol start level was good design at the time )

[nmur]

I was very young at the time when I went to my older cousin's house and saw him play it. I distinctly remember seeing doomguy's progressively blood face on the bottom bar, thinking it was so gory and hardcore - I'd really only been exposed to PGish games in the past. I knew if I told my mum what game he was playing she would definitely had told him to stop showing me, haha.

Later in school, when iPod Linux was a thing, I put DOOM on my nano 1st gen (1.5" screen), and played the whole game through on that thing.

[Maledicted]

I was very young at the time when I went to my older cousin's house and saw him play it. I distinctly remember seeing doomguy's progressively blood face on the bottom bar, thinking it was so gory and hardcore - I'd really only been exposed to PGish games in the past. I knew if I told my mum what game he was playing she would definitely had told him to stop showing me, haha.

Later in school, when iPod Linux was a thing, I put DOOM on my nano 1st gen (1.5" screen), and played the whole game through on that thing.

You played through the entirety of Doom on an iPod Nano? Was this some kind of self-torture? A challenge? Extreme boredom? World-record attempt?

I applaud you.

[absyrd]

My p's were fine with me playing Wolfenstein because of the whole Nazi blasting thing. DOOM wasn't their favorite. Or Leisure Suit Larry.

[bliss]

Jill of the Jungle

Classic!

My first exposure to DOOM was Hell on Earth on the '486... I was not really aware of ^frames/_second at the time and gameplay was a bit choppy, and I got motion sickness - it kinda fit the theme.

Then there was Doom 3, I got a fresh PC with an Athlon 64 and X800Pro ViVo flashed to XT. It was really scary this time, sometimes completely dark levels, with the music / sound fx adding to the atmosphere. And you could have either a flashlight OR a gun, but not both at  the same time - why bother with firearm rail systems in the future on Mars? Of course then the only way to light the scene was muzzle flash

My favorite thing about Doom is the Berserk powerup - where the vision goes all red and you beat everything with your fists. But it's not only a powerup, it can be a way of life

Definition: I make a "Berserk" when I do a large chunk of hard work without pause, for example last day learning for exams etc.

[yuppie]

I was first introduced to DOOM on floppy disks. A family friend owned a computer store back in the early to mid 90's and I'd go over there to tinker.

When DOOM came out it was a big deal. My parent's were pretty hardcore christian and I remember my step-dad saying "this is pretty demonic... Well, if you get good grades you can play it, just don't tell your mom".

[tp4tissue]

I remember doom 3 was the pinnacle of 3D gaming.  Had a 5700gt that barely ran it. moved to 6800gs, eventually to x1900xtx.

[Maledicted]

I remember doom 3 was the pinnacle of 3D gaming.  Had a 5700gt that barely ran it. moved to 6800gs, eventually to x1900xtx.

I was just starting high school or something, and my parents weren't exactly rich, so I barely had a computer at all at that time. There was no way it was going to run Doom 3. That's what I most remember about its release, people at school talking about how their computers were having heart attacks just trying to run it.

[HungerMechanic]

Remember the first time you saw a Pinky? I do.

Level 3, was it? You go into a room with two torches, it's dark although there's mild sparkle or glistening as you move. You heard a bellowing as you approached, wondering what it was...

[HungerMechanic]

Lots of memories from Episode 1. It was so atmospheric..

Particularly E1M8. It's so quiet (on lower difficulties). No monsters anywhere. You go from room to room collecting powerups, which have just been left there...

The map is a giant five-pointed star, if you check. Then, as you approach the Anomaly, the walls lower, and two temples are apparent. Things suddenly become a lot louder.



--

Or how about finding the hidden door in E1M2. There's a switch. What does it do?

Later, you discover an opening in the outside wall. And you can go - outside! See the level you've been in from a different perspective. And what's out there? A strange glowing blue sphere. The first among many ghostly power-ups.

[Findecanor]

I'm sure I must have shared here some years ago when it turned 20, but...

I was in a group of students at school who had privileged access to the computer halls for doing programming and stuff on mostly 386 and 486 PCs. One day, I one of us was playing the press-release version of Doom. It was date-limited so we had to turn back the PC's clocks to play it. Our minds were blown!
When the shareware version had found its way to the halls...  things got out of hand. There were days when both halls were filled with people playing Doom, by themselves or together over the local network — and most the players did not even have permission to be there. It didn't take long before our group's privileges were revoked, sadly.
After having seen Doom, I wanted to make 3D games for a living. I was once kicked out of computer class because I was "playing" Doom, but I was really only trying to figure out how the graphics were done ...

[Sintpinty]

I managed to get doom running on my fire stick, but ugh the 30 fps cap..

I played doom for the first time and managed to beat hangar on easy with one go

2swaggy4game

[Sintpinty]

I was very young at the time when I went to my older cousin's house and saw him play it. I distinctly remember seeing doomguy's progressively blood face on the bottom bar, thinking it was so gory and hardcore - I'd really only been exposed to PGish games in the past. I knew if I told my mum what game he was playing she would definitely had told him to stop showing me, haha.

Later in school, when iPod Linux was a thing, I put DOOM on my nano 1st gen (1.5" screen), and played the whole game through on that thing.

Holy $$$$ what an accomplishment.

[noisyturtle]

My favorite thing about Doom is the Berserk powerup - where the vision goes all red and you beat everything with your fists. But it's not only a powerup, it can be a way of life

Definition: I make a "Berserk" when I do a large chunk of hard work without pause, for example last day learning for exams etc.

Fun thing about the Berserk power up; It actually lasts the entirety of the level after you pick it up, not just when the screen stops being red.

[DALExSNAIL]

DOOM is the only game to ever genuinely scare me.

2nd level of the first game I think, possibly a little later, walk to the end of a hallway, turn around, and one of these ****ers is right in my face:



Screamed '****' so loud my mom dropped a plate haha.

Our PC was in the kitchen, so it definitely wasn't ideal.

[Maledicted]

I managed to get doom running on my fire stick, but ugh the 30 fps cap..

I played doom for the first time and managed to beat hangar on easy with one go

2swaggy4game

I can't tell any difference between 25-30 or so fps and 100+. My monitor is only 60hz I believe, but that should mean I should at least be able to theoretically perceive 60fps. If my frames are above 25 or so, I'm fine. Nothing seems slow until dipping around the 20-ish mark.

[noisyturtle]

I would HIGHLY recommend people getting Crispy DOOM which improves the experience in every way without taking away from the original feel. The same people also made Chocolate DOOM which is the best way to play on modern systems the way it played/looked/sounded in the '90s, but Crispy adds a ton of tweaks and improvements you can really make it look and play to suit you. Add the Brutal DOOM mod on top of Crispy for Crispy Brutal DOOM and the experience is pretty much perfect and the best way to play the original 2 games imo.
https://www.chocolate-doom.org/wiki/index.php/Crispy_Doom
https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/67168-crispy-doom-572-update-mar-13-2020/

[ArchDill]

I played Quake a lot more than DOOM. I do remember the first time I played DOOM 2, we stayed up alllllll niiight. Good times!

[HungerMechanic]

Crispy Doom is a great port for classic Doom, and I say that without reservations.

It preserves the feel of the original Doom, but in glorious 640x480 resolution. [A canonical resolution, since it was available on the Macintosh.]

Play Crispy Doom on a nice 16:10 monitor, and it will give you a 4:3 screen that uses all your vertical space with minimal letterboxing.

Many modern ports don't get the graphics or the feel right. Some of the fancier ports change the way your character moves. And most of them lose the weird original lighting that caused characters and walls to fall into shadow. But Crispy Doom can look just like OG Doom, but in 640x480.

It also gives you options to add features, such as pixel smoothing, transparency, monster pitch shifting, disable infinite character height, and so on, if you want to enhance classic Doom a little.

Another port worth serious consideration (if you are running Windows, or can emulate it) is Doom Retro. It's basically Crispy Doom on steroids. Even more FPS, subtle touches to lighting and blood, transparency, and other features. It basically plays Doom "like you remember it," instead of the way it actually was (which is Chocolate Doom / Crispy Doom).

And if you find Brutal Doom "a bit much," you can now retrofit Crispy Doom and Doom Retro to use "Smoothed Doom" and "Black Ops" mods, which increase monster animation and weapon frames.

[SBJ]

I remember when we got our first pc, 486.
Uncle came by and set up DOOM and we played it 1 on 1. Man those were the days.

[DrivenKeys]

Dad was an engineer who always wanted our 486 to be better than my NES  )  Quite a joke, until Wolfenstein, Doom, Doom II and Hexen introduced us to fps amazeballz. I'll never forget the music, I wish we could share ourselves imitating those killer beats...Nah-nah-da-dah-dah-dada, nah-na-da-daaaaahhh!! Those were the days: braindead cardboard demons, infinite range shotguns...how the hell did that cheesy chipset manage to incite so many long, sweaty nights?

We need a VR version of the OG Doom...I can just hear the gargling bray from those flying meatballs now...

[Maledicted]

And if you find Brutal Doom "a bit much," you can now retrofit Crispy Doom and Doom Retro to use "Smoothed Doom" and "Black Ops" mods, which increase monster animation and weapon frames.

I find Brutal Doom to be a good start. Could always use a little more brutality/gore.

[HungerMechanic]

I would HIGHLY recommend people getting Crispy DOOM which improves the experience in every way without taking away from the original feel. The same people also made Chocolate DOOM which is the best way to play on modern systems the way it played/looked/sounded in the '90s, but Crispy adds a ton of tweaks and improvements you can really make it look and play to suit you. Add the Brutal DOOM mod on top of Crispy for Crispy Brutal DOOM and the experience is pretty much perfect and the best way to play the original 2 games imo.
https://www.chocolate-doom.org/wiki/index.php/Crispy_Doom
https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/67168-crispy-doom-572-update-mar-13-2020/

Can you tell me more about this 'Crispy Brutal DOOM?' I haven't heard of Brutal DOOM being run in Crispy.

[depletedvespene]

Back in university, the day DOOM came out, I downloaded it from the official FTP server (actually, from wuarchive.wustl.edu, but don't tell anyone that) while several other friends and college mates waited. Oh, so many floppies ready and waiting to have a certain zipfile to be copied on!

Then came the ordeal of making it run on your system... I had a specially tweaked CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT pair to optimize the memory available for the game.

Then the game started, and it was amazing! I mean, the camera moved up and down as you walked about! And you could shoot at the barrels! And check out the dynamic lighting! (the maze on E1M2 where you get to the chainsaw was astounding).

After much playing, a couple of friends came to my place with their PCs, so we could play a multiplayer game. There were two options: an IPX network (nope) and connect the computers in daisy-chain with serial cables (not USB cables, serial cables). It was amazingly difficult to set it up and sucessfully start the game(*), but during those lapses where the game actually ran, it was amazingly fun!

BTW: I was quite better at DOOM (and knew the maps rather better) than my two friends, so they ended up teaming against me (and guess who kept winning each round).


On Dec. 10, 1993, after months of waiting, DOOM II was released. This was on a Saturday, and I went early morning to the college lab specifically so I could download the game once it was released (this happened at 17:00-ish... and there's quite a reason for the delay). I came home at night, exhausted. So I... just set up the game and went to bed, as I couldn't do anything anything else.

On Dec. 11, there were elections in my country. So I went as early as possible to vote, voted, then came back and set up and played DOOM II all day long. And on Monday Dec. 12, while everyone was talking about politics, I was more worried about killing that freakin' cyberdemon.

[depletedvespene]

With Wolfenstein 3-D, the guys at ID software had learned their lesson about (what is now called) modding. When DOOM came out, they released and promoted software made specifically to make custom maps and more.

There were a great many custom maps, many tailored for multiplayer (the "LEDGES" series was one of the best). I still have a lot of those PWADs in some of the nooks and crannies of my hard drive.

Later came the "total conversion" kits. I still think the best of them all is the "Aliens TC", which more or less recreated the Aliens movie. When I was first playing through that one, on a Thursday night, in the dark, with my headphones on, there was a strong earthquake (6.2), which I completely missed (and only learned about it the following day, when watching the morning news). THAT is how immersive the TC was.


I have to wonder if the "Crispy DOOM" thing would play nicely with some of those extra complex TCs.

[depletedvespene]

We need a VR version of the OG Doom...I can just hear the gargling bray from those flying meatballs now...

YES, PLEASE. Where do I fund the kickstarter or whichever it is?

[HungerMechanic]

I have to wonder if the "Crispy DOOM" thing would play nicely with some of those extra complex TCs.

Crispy is based off the very vanilla-compatible Chocolate Doom. Anything that can run in vanilla DOOM can run in Crispy. I've run various TCs in it. You may need to use a batch file to line up all the user files properly.

Basically, it's my understanding that Crispy is built for vanilla compatibility (to the point of compatibility with original demo files and recording them), but it also has limit-removing tweaks and BOOM compatibility. So it's only really-advanced BOOM stuff and ZDoom stuff that it can't run.

One of the key goals of its predecessor (or mother port) Chocolate Doom is full TC compatibility for classic Doom WADs.

[noisyturtle]

So having officially played through every main franchise DOOM game this is my ranking from best to worst. Even the worst is still pretty decent.

1. DOOM - clear concise to-the-point level design with (mostly)perfect pacing, no fluff all filler
2. DOOM II - this would win over DOOM 1 w/ its new weapons and monsters, but there are simply too many bull**** troll-design levels. E1M10 is probably my least favorite DOOM level of all time. If you count wads this beats out the original by a wide margin
3. DOOM 2016 - It's very very good, bringing DOOM into modern design. It's just not quite as fun as the originals to me.
4. DOOM 3 - A departure for the franchise, but the engine for the time is amazing and probably my favorite atmosphere of any DOOM game
5. DOOM ETERNAL - It just doesn't feel like DOOM to me, and I ****ing hate the platforming and forced chainsaw use. Haven't beaten it yet though.
6. DOOM 64 - Played for the first time recently. On the highest difficulty it's still way too easy and any game that requires you to find secrets to progress in a level can **** off. It's slow paced with convoluted level design full of backtracking constantly. I do like the music and creature design a lot though.

*not counting things like Final and Resurrection Of Evil since they are continuations of a previous game or made by different teams

[HungerMechanic]

If you liked Doom 1, 2, and WADS first and foremost, you should also try "No Rest for the Living."

It's an official expansion, canonical, and is the best level design I have seen in a continuation episode. And it plays great in both Crispy and Doom Retro.

[Avi_]

November 1997. I and my friend played Doom II co-op over the modem connection. The connection often interrupted, we had to redial to continue (and maybe even restart the game). It was expected, we got used to this. That night something happened and we established a very reliable connection (by the standards of that time). We played all night till 6 am. Connection interrupted on level "The Inmost Dens". My friend disappeared from the game, and I vividly remember running alone in this level. Then I looked out the window. It was first snow.