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''Doom'' WAD is the default format of package files for the
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' and its sequel '' Doom II: Hell on Earth'', that contain sprites, levels, and game data. WAD stands for ''Where's All the Data?'' Immediately after its release in 1993, ''Doom'' attracted a sizeable following of players who created their own mods for WAD files—packages containing new levels or
graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
—and played a vital part in spawning the mod-making culture which is now commonplace for
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
games. Thousands of WADs have been created for ''Doom'', ranging from single custom levels to full original games; most of these can be freely downloaded over the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. Several WADs have also been released
commercially Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
, and for some people the WAD-making
hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing Sport, sports, or pursu ...
became a gateway to a
profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...
al career as a
level designer In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...
. There are two types of WADs: IWADs (internal WADs) and PWADs (patch WADs). IWADs contain the data necessary to load the game, while PWADs contain additional data, such as new character sprites, as necessary for custom levels.


History of WADs


Development of ''Doom''

When developing ''Doom'', id Software was aware that many players had tried to create custom levels and other modifications for their previous game, ''
Wolfenstein 3D ''Wolfenstein 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game '' Castle Wolfe ...
''. However, the procedures involved in creating and loading modifications for that game were cumbersome. John Carmack, lead programmer at id Software, designed the ''Doom'' internals from the ground up to allow players to extend the game. For that reason, game data such as levels,
graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
,
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
, and
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
are stored separately from the
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
, in "WAD" files, allowing for third parties to make new games without making any modifications to the engine.
Tom Hall Tom Hall is an American game designer best known for his work with id Software on titles such as '' Doom'' and ''Commander Keen''. Career Hall attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science. In 1987 ...
is responsible for coming up with the name WAD. The idea of making ''Doom'' easily modifiable was primarily backed by Carmack, a well-known supporter of
copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...
and the
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
ideal of people sharing and building upon each other's work, and by
John Romero John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
, who had hacked games in his youth and wanted to allow other gamers to do the same. However, some, including Jay Wilbur and
Kevin Cloud Kevin Cloud is an American video game artist. He graduated from LSU-Shreveport in 1987 with a degree in political science. Cloud acquired his first full-time job as a computer artist at Softdisk in 1985. He was hired by id Software on March 10, ...
, objected due to legal concerns and the belief that it would not be of any benefit to the company's business.


Utilities and WADs

Immediately after the initial
shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
release of ''Doom'' on December 10, 1993, players began working on various tools to modify the game. On January 26, 1994, Brendon Wyber released the first
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
version of the Doom Editing Utility (DEU) program on the Internet, a program created by ''Doom'' fans which made it possible to create entirely new levels. DEU continued development until May 21 of the same year. It was made possible by Matt Fell's release of the Unofficial ''Doom'' specifications. Shortly thereafter, ''Doom'' players became involved with further enhancing DEU. Raphaël Quinet spearheaded the program development efforts and overall project release, while Steve Bareman lead the documentation effort and creation of the DEU Tutorial. More than 30 other people also helped with the effort and their names appear in the
README In software development, a README file contains information about the other files in a directory or archive of computer software. A form of documentation, it is usually a simple plain text file called README, Read Me, READ.ME, README.TXT, R ...
file included with the program distribution. Yadex, a fork of DEU 5.21 for
Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
systems running the
X Window System The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wit ...
, was later released under the
GNU/GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general us ...
license. Carmack additionally released the
source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
for the utilities used to create the game, but these were programmed in
Objective-C Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. Originally developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love in the early 1980s, it was selected by NeXT for its NeXTS ...
, for
NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
workstations, and were therefore not directly usable the mass userbase of
IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...
. Jeff Bird is credited with creating the first custom WAD for ''Doom'', called ''Origwad'', on March 7, 1994. Soon, countless players were creating custom WADs and sharing them over AOL, the
CompuServe CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the oth ...
forums, and other Internet-based channels. Many of the WADs were made in the style of the base game, others were based on existing
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
,
movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, or original themes. Some of the id Software staff have revealed that they were impressed by some of the WADs. John Carmack later said the following about a ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''-themed modification: Another early modification is ''Aliens TC'', a
total conversion Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes an ...
based on the movie ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
''. Even though WADs modified ''Doom'' by replacing graphics and audio, the amount of customization was somewhat limited; much of the game's behavior, including the timing and strength of weapons and enemies, was hard-coded in the ''Doom''
executable In computing, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction (computer science), instructi ...
file and impossible to alter in WADs. DeHackEd, a ''Doom'' editing program created by Greg Lewis, addressed this by letting users modify parameters inside of the ''Doom'' executable itself, allowing for a greater degree of customization.


Commercial WADs

Around 1994 and 1995, WADs were distributed primarily through
BBS BBS may refer to: Ammunition * BBs, BB gun metal bullets * BBs, airsoft gun plastic pellets Computing and gaming * Bulletin board system, a computer server users dial into via dial-up or telnet; precursor to the Internet * BIOS Boot Specificat ...
s and via CD collections found in computer shops or bundled together with instruction guides for level creation, while in later years
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...
servers became the primary method for obtaining these works. Although the ''Doom'' software license required that no profit be made from custom WADs, and
Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder. Green was a 1st round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drove in 100 runs four times and scored 100 runs four times, hit ...
objected to people selling their WADs for money, some WAD sets and
shovelware Shovelware is a term for individual video games or software bundles known more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the quality of the original soft ...
bundles were nonetheless obtainable for a price at certain outlets. During this time, id Software was working on their next game, '' Quake'', using new technology, but started projects picking up the most talented WAD makers from the ''Doom'' community to create official expansions and to compete with the unauthorized collection CDs. The team produced the 21 '' Master Levels'', which, on December 26, 1995, were released on a CD along with ''Maximum Doom'', a collection of 1,830 WADs that had been downloaded from the Internet. In 1996, ''
Final Doom ''Final Doom'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by TeamTNT, and Dario and Milo Casali, and was released by id Software and distributed by GT Interactive in 1996. It was released for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers, as well as for the ...
'', a package of two 32-level megawads created by
TeamTNT TeamTNT was a distributed group of ''Doom (franchise), Doom'' Level designer, mappers, originally formed as a ''Doom'' mailing list in 1994. The team are known for creating the ''TNT: Evilution'' episode of ''Final Doom'', as well as several free ...
, was released as an official id Software product. Various first-person shooter games released at the time use the ''Doom'' engine under a commercial license from id Software, as such essentially being custom WADs packaged with the ''Doom'' engine, such as ''Hacx: Twitch 'n Kill'' (1997). In addition to the many people who contributed to commercially released WADs, various authors became involved with the development of other games: * Kenneth Scott, who contributed artwork to ''Hacx: Twitch 'n Kill'', later became the art director at id Software and
343 Industries 343 Industries is an American video game developer located in Redmond, Washington, part of Xbox Game Studios. Headed by Pierre Hintze, the studio is responsible for the ''Halo'' series of military science fiction games, originally created and ...
on the post-
Bungie Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones (progr ...
''
Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...
'' games. *
Tim Willits Tim Willits is the former studio director, co-owner, and level designer of id Software, the American video game developer company. As of August 2019, Willits is the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive. He became a Director of 3D Realms ...
, who contributed two levels to ''Master Levels for Doom II'', later became the lead designer at id Software. * Dario Casali, author of a quarter of ''Final Doom'', was hired by
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
to work on ''
Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...
''. * Sverre Kvernmo, designer of five levels in ''Master Levels for Doom II'' and member of TeamTNT, was hired by
Ion Storm Ion Storm, L.P. was an American video game developer founded by video game industry veterans John Romero and Tom Hall, both formerly of id Software. Despite an impressive pedigree and high expectations, the company only produced one commercial ...
for ''
Daikatana ''Daikatana'' is a 2000 first-person shooter game developed by Ion Storm. It was published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Kemco for Nintendo 64. Players control a swordsmaster who travels through various time periods in an effor ...
''. * Iikka Keränen, author of several ''Doom'' WADs and later ''Quake'' mods, was hired by Ion Storm to create levels for '' Anachronox'' and ''Daikatana'', and by
Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Produ ...
to create levels for '' Thief II: The Metal Age''. Keränen was later hired by Valve. * John Anderson (level designer), also known as "Dr. Sleep", author of five levels in ''Master Levels for Doom II'' and E4M7 in ''The Ultimate Doom'', later worked on ''
Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
'', ''
Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'', and ''Daikatana''. * Matthias Worch (level designer) joined
Ritual Entertainment Ritual Entertainment was an American video game developer established in 1996 by Robert Atkins, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Richard 'Levelord' Gray, Michael Hadwin, Harry Miller, and Tom Mustaine. Based in Dallas, Texas, Ritual Entertainment wa ...
to work on ''
SiN In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
''. He later contributed to the ''Unreal'' series.


Source port era

Around 1997, interest in ''Doom'' WADs began to decline, as attention was drawn to newer games with more advanced technology and more customizable design, including id Software's own '' Quake'' and ''
Quake II ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the ''Quake'' series, but not a direct sequel to '' Quake''. The game's storyline is continued in its ...
''. On December 23, 1997, id Software released the source code to the ''Doom'' engine, initially under a restrictive license. On October 3, 1999, it was released again under the terms of the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later. With the source code available, it became possible for programmers to modify any aspect of the game, remove technical limitations and bugs, and add entirely new features. These engine modifications, or ''Doom'' source ports, have since become the target for much of the WAD editing activity, and with the decline of
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
, using a source port became the only feasible way to play ''Doom'' for most people. Several source ports are in active development, and ''Doom'' retains a strong following of WAD creators.


Types of WADs


Levels

The most common type of WAD consists of a single
level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...
, usually retaining the theme of the original game, but possibly including new music and some modified graphics to define a more distinctive setting or mood. Both single-player and deathmatch
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
levels are common. WADs may have a level pack in the form of an ''episode'', replacing nine levels, and sometimes in the form of a ''megawad'', which replaces 15 or more levels in the game (27 in ''Doom'', 32 in ''Doom II'', 36 in ''The Ultimate Doom'').


Total conversions

A WAD that gives the game an overhaul to incorporate an entirely different game setting, character set, and story, instead of simply providing new levels or graphic changes, is called a ''total conversion''. The phrase was coined by Justin Fisher, as part of the title of ''Aliens TC'', or ''Aliens Total Conversion''. Add-ons that provide extensive changes to a similar degree but retain distinctive parts or characteristics of the original games, such as characters or weapons, are often by extension called ''partial conversions''.


List of WADs

The following is a select listing of popular and historically significant WADs.


Megawads

* '' Bloom'' is a ''Doom II'' and ''
Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
'' crossover released by Bloom Team in 2021. It features over 50 new enemy types, a new episode and an original soundtrack. * ''Eternal Doom'' is a 32-level megawad for ''Doom II'' created by Team Eternal and
TeamTNT TeamTNT was a distributed group of ''Doom (franchise), Doom'' Level designer, mappers, originally formed as a ''Doom'' mailing list in 1994. The team are known for creating the ''TNT: Evilution'' episode of ''Final Doom'', as well as several free ...
. It was released non-commercially in several versions, with the final one being released on November 14, 1997. ''Eternal Doom'' received media attention in 2020, when through further modding, it was played through ''
Doom Eternal ''Doom Eternal'' is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The sequel to ''Doom'' (2016), and the sixth main game in the ''Doom'' series, it was released on March 20, 2020, for Windows, PlaySt ...
''. *''Going Down'' is a 32-level megawad for ''Doom II'' released in 2013, and a winner in that year's ''Cacowards.'' It was created by the English freelance animator
Cyriak Harris Cyriak Harris, known mononymously as Cyriak () and his B3ta username Mutated Monty, is an English freelance animator, artist, composer, and author from Brighton. He is known for his surreal and bizarre short web animations with the frequent use ...
. *''Icarus: Alien Vanguard'' is a 32-level megawad for ''Doom II'' created by
TeamTNT TeamTNT was a distributed group of ''Doom (franchise), Doom'' Level designer, mappers, originally formed as a ''Doom'' mailing list in 1994. The team are known for creating the ''TNT: Evilution'' episode of ''Final Doom'', as well as several free ...
and released on March 22, 1996. It was developed as a freeware release after ''TNT: Evilution'' was picked up by id Software to be released as part of ''
Final Doom ''Final Doom'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by TeamTNT, and Dario and Milo Casali, and was released by id Software and distributed by GT Interactive in 1996. It was released for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers, as well as for the ...
''. * ''Memento Mori'' is a 32-level megawad for ''Doom II'' created by two members of The Innocent Crew, Denis and Thomas Möller, along with other authors, including Tom Mustaine and both Dario and Milo Casali. It was initially released on December 10, 1995, and saw an updated release in February 1996. A 32-level sequel megawad, ''Memento Mori II'', was created and released on July 27, 1996. In ''Doomworld's'' Top 100 WADs of All Time, ''Memento Mori'' was voted as the #1 WAD of 1996, and its sequel as #2. * ''Requiem'' is a 32-level megawad for ''Doom II'' created by the same people that worked on the previously released Memento Mori series, in addition to some new mappers that worked specifically on this project. It was released and uploaded on the idgames archive on July 4, 1997. * In 2016,
John Romero John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
released two new maps – ''Phobos Mission Control'' and ''Tech Gone Bad''. After the positive response, he released ''Sigil'', a complete 9-level episode, in May 2019.


Total conversions

* ''Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl'' is a 2008
indie game An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
developed by "Scuba Steve" Browning with the ZDoom
source port A source port is a software project based on the source code of a game engine that allows the game to be played on operating systems or computing platforms with which the game was not originally compatible. Description Source ports are often c ...
. The game features
cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...
graphics reminiscent of a comic book, and is played in the style of a
beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
, with some gunplay present as well. * ''Aliens TC'' is an 11-level
total conversion Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes an ...
based on the movie ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'', created by Justin Fisher and released on November 3, 1994. In 2017, another modder by the name of Kontra_Kommando made a remake of ''Aliens TC.'' *''Ashes 2063'' is a post-apocalypse themed TC created by Vostyok. Inspired by 1980s post-apocalyptic movies, it features new monsters, weapons and an original soundtrack. * ''Batman Doom'' is a 32-level total conversion created by ACE Team Software and released in April 1999. It contains modified game behavior along with new weapons, items, and characters from the world of the
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
. * ''
Chex Quest ''Chex Quest'' is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café, originally intended as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up.Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." '' ...
'' is a 5-level total conversion released in 1996 by
Digital Café Digital Café was a new media company founded in early 1991 by Dean Hyers (creative director) and Mike Koenigs (technical director, foley, web development). It operated for 7 years independently in St. Paul before being acquired in October 1998 as ...
so that ''Doom'' could be approved for younger audiences. This was originally packaged in
Chex Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate s ...
cereal boxes as a
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
, though ''Chex Quest'' was later put up as
freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...
on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
after the promotion ended. ''Chex Quest'' received two sequels, '' Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis'' and ''
Chex Quest 3 ''Chex Quest'' is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café, originally intended as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up.Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." '' ...
'', released in 1997 and 2008, respectively, both of which contained five levels and were released as freeware. * ''Doom 64: Retribution'' is a remake of '' Doom 64'', the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
version of ''Doom'', which differs drastically from its DOS version. ''Doom 64: Retribution'' contains different levels, graphics, and audio based on the Nintendo 64 game. *''
Grezzo 2 ''Grezzo 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Italian game designer Nicola Piro and released in 2012. The game is a total conversion modification of the 1993 video game ''Doom'' and its development began in the early 2000s, with ...
'' is a 2012 total conversion developed by Italian game designer Nicola Piro, notable for plagiarizing other games and ''Doom'' mods, and for its vulgar,
blasphemous Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...
content. * ''Sonic Robo Blast 2'' is a ''Doom'' modification that uses the Doom Legacy source port to completely change the game from a first-person shooter to a third-person platformer based on
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
. * ''Void'' is a single-level modification based on the 2000 game ''
American McGee's Alice ''American McGee's Alice'' is a 2000 third-person action-adventure video game developed by Rogue Entertainment under the direction of designer American McGee and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Games banner. The game was originally re ...
,'' which was itself made by former id Software employee
American McGee American James McGee (born December 13, 1972)Birth record for American James McGee - Dallas, Texas, Birth Index, 1903–1997 - Ancestry.com is an American video game designer. He is best known as the designer of ''American McGee's Alice'', its ...
.


Miscellaneous

* * ''D!Zone'' – Created by
WizardWorks WizardWorks Group, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1980 and, in 1993, WizardWorks opened the CompuWorks and MacSoft divisions. In 1996, WizardWorks was acquired ...
, an expansion pack featuring hundreds of levels for ''Doom'' and ''Doom II'' . ''D!Zone'' was reviewed in 1995 in ''
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Jay gave the pack 1 out of 5 stars, while Dee gave the pack 1½ stars. * ''Origwad'' – Created by Jeff Bird and released on March 7, 1994, it is notable for being the first custom WAD to be released for ''Doom''. ''Origwad'' consists of a single level with two rooms separated by one door, and a total of six enemies, making it very basic compared to later WADs. * ''The Harris levels'' – ''Doom'' and ''Doom II'' levels created by
Eric Harris Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebo ...
, one of the two perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, believed to have surfaced on the Internet in 1996 or 1997, but were taken down by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
after the 1999 massacre. Downloads for the levels Deathmatching in Bricks (BRICKS.WAD), Hockey.wad (HOCKEY.WAD), KILLER (KILLER.WAD), Mortal Kombat Doom (FIGHTME.WAD), Outdoors (outdoors.wad), Station (STATION.WAD), and UAC Labs (UACLABS.WAD) have been found in the years since.
Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebo ...
, a friend of Harris and the other perpetrator of the massacre, was credited by Harris for playtesting Deathmatching in Bricks. The ENDOOM screen for UAC Labs shows the names of other WADs made by Harris, though they have since been
lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
: Assault, Techout, Thrasher, Realdeth, and Realdoom, which is a patch for another WAD. UAC Labs was mentioned in Doomworld's Top 10 Infamous WADs list. *''Lullaby,'' a level created by ''Danlex'' in 2021 which contained surreal visuals. *''National Videogame Museum,'' a recreation of the real life National Videogame Museum by employee Chris Bacarani. The level took over a year to make, and is featured as an exhibit in the physical museum. *''Nuts!'' – Released in 2001, ''Nuts'' is one of the first documented joke WADs. ''Nuts'' consists of a single room, with an invulnerability power up, plasma rifle, BFG, and 10,617 enemy monsters. Its creator, B.P.R.D, created multiple sequels, and a version of ''Nuts'' was made in
Dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...
. * ''The Sky May Be'' – A notable joke WAD, most of the game takes place in an oversized sector, where many textures are replaced with solid colors, and many sounds replaced with audio from Monty Python's Flying Circus. The WAD was mentioned in Doomworld's The Top 10 Infamous WADs list and it is sometimes considered to be one of the worst WADs ever created. * ''UAC Military Nightmare'' – A
Skulltag The present article is a list of known platforms to which ''Doom'' has been confirmed to be ported. ''Doom'' is one of the most widely ported video games. Since the original MS-DOS version, it has been released officially for a number of operatin ...
WAD made by "Terry" in 2008 which was notorious for its use of vulgar scripts,
jump scares A jump scare (often shortened to jumpscare) is a technique often used in horror films and video games, intended to scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a loud, jarring sound. The ...
, strange graphics, absurd difficulty, and otherwise-useless data that existed to either bloat the WAD's file size or tamper with the player's settings. The WAD itself was removed from Doomworld in 2014 due to the aforementioned useless data, but has since been reuploaded with said data removed. This WAD spawned a genre of WADs known as "Terrywads", or "Terry Traps", which contain similar content to ''UAC Military Nightmare''. In 2008, ''UAC Military Nightmare'' received a ''Cacoward'' for Worst WAD, wherein it is described as "the worst wad file the world has ever known." *''Lilith'' – A mod created in 2017 that uses
glitches A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as amo ...
in the
Zdoom The present article is a list of known platforms to which ''Doom'' has been confirmed to be ported. ''Doom'' is one of the most widely ported video games. Since the original MS-DOS version, it has been released officially for a number of operatin ...
sourceport to create graphical and musical distortion, and changes in enemy behavior, resulting in a "glitchcore nightmare." ''Lilith'' was also a winner in the 2017 ''Cacowards.''


Freedoom

Freedoom is a project aiming to create a free replacement (modified
BSD License BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses, imposing minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of covered software. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses, which have share-alike requirements. The original BSD lic ...
) for the set of
graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
,
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
,
sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
s, and levels (and miscellaneous other resources) used by ''Doom''. Since the ''Doom'' engine is
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
, it can be distributed along with the new resources, in effect providing a full game that is free and with full third party WAD. The project distributes three IWAD files: the two single-player campaigns named ''Freedoom: Phase 1'' and ''Freedoom: Phase 2'', and ''FreeDM'', which contains a collection of deathmatch levels. ''Freedoom'' does not require any source port to run, and can run on any limit-removing source port of Doom. A similar project, ''Blasphemer'', aims to create a complete free version of '' Heretic'', but is less fully developed than Freedoom.


Editing

Many
level editor In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...
s are available for ''Doom''. The original Doom Editing Utility (DEU) was ported to a number of
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
s, but lost significance over time; many modern ''Doom'' editors still have their roots in DEU and its editing paradigm, including DETH, DeePsea, Linux Doom Editor, and Yadex and its fork Eureka. Other level editors include WadAuthor, Doom Builder (released in January 2003), and Doom Builder 2 (released in May 2009 as the successor to Doom Builder). Some ''Doom'' level editors, such as Doom Builder and Doom Builder 2, feature a 3D editing mode. As of now, these two have been discontinued, but a newer fork has been released and is regularly updated, known as GZDoom Builder. GZDoom Builder is also discontinued and is now being maintained as Ultimate Doom Builder. Many specialized ''Doom'' editors are used to modify graphics and audio lumps, such asXWE, SLADE, Wintex, and SLumpEd. The DeHackEd executable patching utility modifies monsters, items, and weapon behavior. In ZDoom, users can create new monsters, weapons, and items through a scripting language called DECORATE, made to address many of the shortcomings of DeHackEd, such as not being able to add new objects, and not being able to deviate far from the behavior of the original weapons and monsters.


WAD2 and WAD3

In ''Quake'', WAD files were replaced with PAK files. WAD files still remain in ''Quake'' files, though their use is limited to textures. Since WAD2 and WAD3 use a slightly larger directory structure, they are incompatible with ''Doom''.


References


Bibliography

* Joseph Bell, David Skrede: ''The Doom Construction Kit: Mastering and Modifying Doom'', Waite Group Press (April 1, 1995), * Richard H. "Hank" Leukart, III: ''The Doom Hacker's Guide'', Mis Press (March 1, 1995), * Steve Benner, et al.: ''3D Game Alchemy for Doom, Doom II, Heretic and Hexen'', SAMS Publishing (1996), * Kushner, David: ''Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture'', Random House Publishing Group 2003, ; pages 166–169 * Larsen, Henrik: ''The Unofficial Master Levels for Doom II FAQ'', version 1.02 (retrieved October 4, 2004)


Further reading

* Zak, Robert (December 2018)
"The ultimate guide to modding Doom"
''
TechRadar ''TechRadar'' is an online publication owned by Future and focused on technology. It has editorial teams in the US, UK and Australia and provides news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2007 and expanded to the US in ...
'' *Hamilton, Andi (December 2018)
"The cult of Doom: the thriving mod scene behind id's classic"
''
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
''


External links


Doomworld: The Top 100 WADs Of All Time
(retrieved December 6, 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Doom Wad Doom (franchise) Copyleft media Fan labor