Buckshot

It's hard to believe that 30 years ago, I was just a 12-year old kid who was this big computer nerd hiding out in his basement, smashing away at a keyboard and playing DOOM all day.

Actually, heh.. no it isn't. I'm still a giant computer nerd. Still playing DOOM. Thirty years later.

There's something interesting about it though. While I've grown older and gray, well... DOOM never has. It's still a mirror image of that very first time I booted it up in eager anticipation, not knowing the path it would pave in life ahead. It can't age.. it's physically impossible. DOOM will always remain untouched by time. It will forever look and play exactly as it did on December 10th, 1993.

DOOM is more than just a game to many. Almost spiritual in a sense. A portal back into the most exciting era of tech and entertainment of our time. If you trace the steps back and watch how it influenced all of what I know and do today, there would be no denying it was acting as some digital force guiding the way. There are a lot of fans and fellow community members who would proclaim the very same experience and testimonies. This is fact.

To see a community as strong (if not stronger) for a game thirty years after the release, well, that's a feat so very few games can accomplish. A lot of undeniably amazing years of wads, mods and followups in the franchise. Still so many ways to play and to contribute.

In writing this, I think of all the folks that we fragged alongside of that didn't make it to today. The memories and good times shared are also untouchable by time. May they rest in peace and know that they are not forgotten.

What will DOOM and its community be on December 10th, 2053? Or even 2083?

Well... Exactly what it is today.

Happy 30th DOOM! I would say 'here's to another thirty'  but we all know so well by now that DOOM is eternal. And as such, the image attached was the first glimpse into the virtual world that awaited us on that historic day. Etched into our minds permanently and rent-free is that first step into E1M1 - 'Hangar'