Doom turns 22!

Doom turns 22 today! This classic first person shooter was developed by ID Software and released for PCs running MS-DOS on December 10th, 1993. It was distributed by mail order and floppy disc, but the game was so popular it would get installed at Universities and students procrastinated several hours playing it. Ports followed for Mac and consoles. Doom was unique for it’s level of violence. It was once called a “murder simulator” by critics.

It had amazing multiplayer, 4 player deathmatch and co op modes.

Doom's 3D graphics engine was advanced for the time, it was the first to feature multiple floors. Earlier first person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D only had single floors. Even though the engine was rendered in 3D, this was actually just an illusion because the floors weren’t technically on top of each other, they had to be in parallel. It also featured outdoor environments.

I remember when I first played Doom, I think it was around 1994 so I would have been 9 years old. My Dad brought home a computer from work that was used to run a BBS. I remember thinking the graphics on the shotgun looked so realistic. I later got the Doom shareware from a store, I wish I got the mail order boxed version!

In 1995, it was estimated Doom was installed on more computers than Windows 95. When a Windows 95 version of Doom was released in 1996 called Doom95, Bill Gates put himself into the commercial. It was used to sell Windows 95 and push DirectX technology.

Doom had a sequel, Doom II: Hell on Earth, released in 1994. Doom 3 was released in 2004. Doom 4 will be a reboot, just called Doom expected to be released Spring 2016. With Doom 4 around the corner, now is a perfect time to play the original classic! It’s on sale on steam currently for $4.99. I recommend using a source port of Doom called Doomsday. Doomsday makes the graphics better, has mouse support, and cool features not present in the original like jumping. You can also play online using the Doomsday Shell.exe. Happy birthday Doom!