Original Doom from mail order?

[Silikone]

I bet there are some Doom veterans here who ordered Doom back in 1993 or early 1994. I've been wondering whether it came with a big package full of art and gadgets, or if it simply contained a disc (or floppy?) without any special label. I'm also wondering if Id only shipped the initial version, or made new copies to send the latest version directly.

[kmxexii]

I don't remember the box itself. I was maybe eight or nine and the package was hardly my concern. What I remember was it had (I believe) a full color Doom manual and four floppies (or possibly five? one diskette had to start the install? I could be mixing up Sierra procedures with id but I know the disks read "x of 4") of Doom v. 1.666. The disks did have a special label; they all bore the Doom logo in large, red letters.

[GreyGhost]

I'm waiting on a package that includes the boxed mail-order versions of Doom and Heretic, when they arrive I'll let you know what's in them (assuming the previous owner hasn't lost any of the contents).

[digger]

GreyGhost said:

I'm waiting on a package that includes the boxed mail-order versions of Doom and Heretic, when they arrive I'll let you know what's in them (assuming the previous owner hasn't lost any of the contents).

http://i52.tinypic.com/2vry4xv.png

[Silikone]

digger said:

http://i52.tinypic.com/2vry4xv.png

CD eh? Where was this available from?

[GreyGhost]

eBay's a good source if you're patient.

digger said:

http://i52.tinypic.com/2vry4xv.png

Nice - though I'm expecting mine to contain floppies.

[Technician]

I never noticed the similarities in the composition of both pieces of artwork. Coincidence?

[Lila Feuer]

Quite a few things in Heretic are similar to Doom 1. Some of the manual descriptions also reflect this. They basically copied The Enemy writeup from Doom and changed a few words around.

[fraggle]

I was struck by the similarities in the artwork as well. It fits with the overall package: I've remarked in the past that Heretic feels more like a Dungeons and Dragons Doom mod than an original game.

[40oz]

Technician said:

I never noticed the similarities in the composition of both pieces of artwork. Coincidence?

You might also be surprised to know that they both run on the same engine!

[tempun]

40oz said:

You might also be surprised to know that they both run on the same engine!

Yes, and Heretic weapons are quite obviously ripoffs (except Firemace)

[Dusty]

The original full versions contained 3.5" floppies. I have both in my collection and can take pictures tonight if you guys want to see them.

Off the top of my head Doom had 4 floppies, I don't remember about Heretic.

Cheers,

Dusty

[Silikone]

Dusty said:

The original full versions contained 3.5" floppies. I have both in my collection and can take pictures tonight if you guys want to see them.

Off the top of my head Doom had 4 floppies, I don't remember about Heretic.

Cheers,

Dusty

Could you perhaps also list the files in the floppies?

[Dusty]

Silikone said:

Could you perhaps also list the files in the floppies?

Sorry, I don't even have a 3.5" disk drive any more.

[Technician]

Dusty said:

The original full versions contained 3.5" floppies.

How big when hard?

[GreyGhost]

See for yourself :P

Silikone said:

Could you perhaps also list the files in the floppies?

The files on my Doom v1.2 floppies are as follows...

Disk 1
      DEICE.EXE           17KB
      DOOM1_2R.1        1404KB
      DOOM1_2R.DAT         1KB
      INSTALL.BAT          1KB

Disk 2
      DOOM1_2R.2        1424KB

Disk 3
      DOOM1_2R.3        1424KB

Disk 4
      DOOM1_2R.4         679KB

Heretic also came on 4 floppies and used the same file naming convention, the install files on my v1.0 CD (which look like they've been lifted from the floppies) are as follows...

CD-Rom
      DEICE.EXE           17KB
      HREG_V10.1        1406KB
      HREG_V10.2        1424KB
      HREG_V10.3        1424KB
      HREG_V10.4        1411KB
      HREG_V10.DAT         1KB
      INSTALL.BAT          1KB

Hope this helps.

[Clonehunter]

Technician said:

I never noticed the similarities in the composition of both pieces of artwork. Coincidence?

You mean in the style or poses?

Pose wise, yes very similar. Both characters are up high, blasting the guys underneath them.

Style wise? A lot of games had that Art-Style during those years, and they very sorely missed in my opinion.

[Dusty]

Well here it is, not as quickly as I planned to post the pics, but just the same.

The full version of Doom 1 on 3.5".

http://www.v8killer.com/doom01.jpg

http://www.v8killer.com/doom02.jpg

Regards,

Dusty

[GreyGhost]

These arrived yesterday, I decided to wait for some sunshine before taking a few snaps.

Doom 1.1 - with upgrade disk and (not in picture) original invoice.

(1800x1440 - 628k)

Heretic 1.0 - box has seen better days but no matter, I scored a tidier one with the registered CD.

(1800x1440 - 623k)

The parcel also contained Spear of Destiny and Hexen on floppies, the latter looking like it hadn't been played.

[fraggle]

Dusty said:

World's Largest id Software Collection - V8Killer.com for pictures!

So did you get yourself a copy of Doom II French yet?

[Dusty]

GreyGhost said:

These arrived yesterday, I decided to wait for some sunshine before taking a few snaps.

Doom 1.1 - with upgrade disk and (not in picture) original invoice.

Heretic 1.0 - box has seen better days but no matter, I scored a tidier one with the registered CD.

The parcel also contained Spear of Destiny and Hexen on floppies, the latter looking like it hadn't been played.

GREAT haul man! Awesome pics and a fantastic addition to anyone's collection.

Congrats!!

Dusty

[Dusty]

fraggle said:

So did you get yourself a copy of Doom II French yet?

I have several copies of Doom II, some that came from Europe. I honestly haven't looked at the back of all of them. I may or may not have a French Doom II but I'll try to find out soon. I have 2 Doom II boxes sitting out and 3 or 4 more in storage I'll have to dig out.

Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing that!

Dusty

[Technician]

GreyGhost said:

These arrived yesterday, I decided to wait for some sunshine before taking a few snaps.

Doom 1.1 - with upgrade disk and (not in picture) original invoice.


Heretic 1.0 - box has seen better days but no matter, I scored a tidier one with the registered CD.


The parcel also contained Spear of Destiny and Hexen on floppies, the latter looking like it hadn't been played.

I'll give you ten dollars for the lot of them.

[GreyGhost]

Are we talking Gold Eagles?

[hervoheebo]

Dusty said:

http://www.v8killer.com/doom01.jpg

What's with the crazy boxart to the left?

[Regen]

I burned my original floppy's to a cd. made a batch file so they would read consecutively during install. haven't done a physical install with the originals since about 2001 and god only knows if they still read. i made the cd back in 04 so im thinking of re-archiving them to a new cd just in case.

Anyone waiting on original doom floppy's and counting on them still working good luck. (i know its the collecting and nostalgia that counts) ive re-purchased this game on cd twice and even my ultimate doom cd that i bought in 2002 is showing its age.

Tons of wad floppy's, my original work gone due to age.

[GreyGhost]

hervoheebo said:

What's with the crazy boxart to the left?

I've seen a variant of that boxart used as a CD jewel case inlay and assumed it's Shareware Doom. Be kicking myself if I'm wrong.

[Silikone]

Was there really no version 1.0 registered? The release date of 1.0 and 1.1 are six days apart according to multiple sources. Unless it took more than six days for Doom to arrive, what would you get if you ordered Doom on the 10th of December?

[fraggle]

Silikone said:

Was there really no version 1.0 registered? The release date of 1.0 and 1.1 are six days apart according to multiple sources. Unless it took more than six days for Doom to arrive, what would you get if you ordered Doom on the 10th of December?

I think maybe you've answered your own question: the two releases were only six days apart. Do you really think they went through a six day period of shipping copies of one version before switching to another? It's much more likely that there was a short delay before the first copies shipped, by which time 1.1 was released. Bear in mind that that the first shareware release probably also functioned as a sort of "public beta" to shake out any bugs before releasing the registered version.

[Porsche Monty]

The helpme from the original 1.1 registered version actually mentions a 1.0: "NOTE TO THOSE UPGRADING DOOM FROM 1.0 TO 1.1" but it could been a note for people actually switching from the shareware version.

No 1.0 registered as far as official releases go.