Thank you Doom Community

*Warning Rant incoming*

There are three things that are certain in my life. Death, Taxes and me always coming back to Doom.

Part of me is sad that FPS design went off in a different direction. Limited Weapons, Rechargeable Health, 'Cinematic Vision' complete with endless cut-scenes, Either a completely linear experience where half the time you don't even really need to shoot as your computer AI will do the mopping up for you or a completely open world where you stumble around, maybe fighting a bad guy every once in a while while digging up plants. These are not the traits of the FPS games I grew up with. But can I really blame developers for taking the FPS into a different direction? Doom was evolutionary perfect. The genre had to go in a different direction because it was impossible to improve on the core doom experience in my opinion.

The fast movement, the creative array of creatures that complimented each other perfectly. The satisfying feel of the weapons as you ripped this army of hell to shreds. Weapons with genuine differences in how you use them as well, not just simply one generic machine gun replaced with another generic machine gun. And perhaps most importantly at all, the relative ease it is to mod Doom with different levels, weapons, enemies, graphics and anything else you can think of.

Which brings me to the point of this rant. Thank-you Doom Community. You have provided a crazy amount of enjoyment to me over the years in one way or the other. I fully realize that almost no-one will know who I am. I have hardly been the most visible community member over the years. 4 levels released over a decade ago. A few speed-runs here or there posted on the Doom Speed Demo Archive. I posted a few reviews for #newstuff at some point. But as I fired up Doom for the first time in a year or so and played through a wad I found called 'Doom 2 the Way Id Did.' It really just struct me how lucky I am to have this amazing community surrounding this 20+ year old game that continues to pump out great stuff that is so much more fun to play than today's stuff. So in no particular order, and this is certainly not an exhaustive list I'ld like to thank the following people.

Firstly Thank you ID for making this amazeballs game and having the foresight to making it editable and for releasing the source code to ensure the game remained relevant.

Thank you Paul Davidson for creating HellMaker, a level editor for the mac that was so simple, even I could make levels!

Thank you CodeImp for creating an even easier to use editor in DoomBuilder. It may yet tempt me to get around to releasing another map.

Thank you TeamTNT for not only producing some fantastic levels over the years, but for giving us Boom that really pushed forwards what could be done with the Doom Engine.

Thank you to anyone else who has made a source port over the years. I can only imagine how much work that has been for you guys. While I naturally lean more towards the 'purist' side of things such as what Fraggle and Budko do, I also appreciate the efforts of the people behind such projects such as Eternity, (G)Zdoom, Legacy etc. To see Doom pushed in different directions and to offer some modernization that help keep the game appealing for a larger audience while retaining the core of what makes Doom great. You should all be congratulated!

Thank you to anyone who has written reviews for doom levels over the years or has made suggestions on the forums as to what to play. I have read an awful lot of them and have found many gems that I otherwise would not have had.

Thank you to anyone who has created levels or modified the game in any other way and shared it with the world. Thanks to you all I could play Doom every day for the rest of my life and I'd always have new experiences to enjoy.

Thank you to anyone who has released a demo of them playing a level. I find It's fun to watch how others approach the game. And some of the moves that the speed-runners in particular pull off. You intimidate me with your greatness!

Thank you to DoomWorld and whoever runs and maintains it. It has been an extremely important hub for Doomer's for over 15 years.

Thank you to Ty Halderman for maintaining /idgames ensuring we have an easy one stop shop for all things user created.

And finally Thank you to everyone who still plays this game to this day. It's amazing how strong this game is still going so long after its release.

#endrant

Yes! this community is strong and the game is pure gold (it's music, it's levels, it's engine that have been modified into awesome grounds). You're welcome hehe :-P



But why your post made me a little bit sad anyways?

That wasn't a rant, it was more or less a "thank you note" or a "love letter" about the Doom community and addressing the doom community.

Well, thank you, too.

May Doom last for 20 more years and whatnot.

If you want to contribute to the Doom community -- and no one says you have to -- then there's still lots you can do as someone who only plays maps and doesn't create their own content. People love feedback on their stuff, and many people don't get enough. The community as a whole almost has too much content being made at times, and while this is a good problem to have overall, it means many people don't get the response they want or deserve for their efforts.

Anyhow, that was a nice little letter of appreciation, and I'm sure there will still be lots of Doom content to come.

Crasger said:

That wasn't a rant, it was more or less a "thank you note" or a "love letter" about the Doom community and addressing the doom community.

Well, thank you, too.

May Doom last for 20 more years and whatnot.

We had a thread like this before but, OK.

+1'd.

I've been around here in one form or another since 2001 and it amazes me how much life this game and community has. I love games in all their guises but there is no other game and community that has consistently given me joy for so many years.

Sure, there are some eejits that come and go and, sure, there is a slight clique vibe that permeates here and the ZDoom forums (the only 2 I frequent) but the overall camaraderie and willingness to share is fantastic. Having something new to play and/or talk about on a daily basis is (when you think about it) pretty mind boggling!

So, yeah, I'm with Phil1984. Thank you guys and gals. :)

I have to agree as well. While I like a lot of new games, I keep coming back to Doom and it's absolutely great that this community is always here.

Thank you for bein' a friend
Traveled down that road and back again

This forum is the only one I visit on a daily basis. DOOM is the only game I could play until my deathbed and never get board. This community and all the efforts are mind boggling and fantastic. Long live DOOM!

plums said: If you want to contribute to the Doom community -- and no one says you have to -- then there's still lots you can do as someone who only plays maps and doesn't create their own content. People love feedback on their stuff, and many people don't get enough. The community as a whole almost has too much content being made at times, and while this is a good problem to have overall, it means many people don't get the response they want or deserve for their efforts.

This is true. How many folks have built a map, maybe something decent but that doesn't get any attention, and they never know if anyone so much as tried it? Long ago I used to email authors of maps I liked, but kinda fell out of the habit. :( Maybe we need a "WAD appreciation thread" without that negative blast the reviews often get.