Doom

Doom is a first-person shooting game released by id Software, a video game development company also known for Wolfenstein 3D. Doom was one of the first games to popularize the first-person shooter genre. It used cutting-edge three-dimensional graphics to show a gritty world from the prospective of the game’s protagonist, a space marine attempting to fight demons on Mars.

Doom used its 3D graphics, complex level design, and aggressive enemies to create an engaging experience for players. The first three episodes of Doom were released as shareware that players were actively encouraged to copy for their friends. To access the rest of the game, players were required to purchase it. The full version of Doom quickly sold more than 1 million copies.

In addition to its single-player campaign, Doom contained several multiplayer game modes. These included cooperative play, in which players work together to defeat the game, as well as death match, in which the players attack one another. Players were also encouraged to modify Doom, editing or creating new levels, animations, images, and enemies. These features helped encourage players to continue interacting with the game long after the original story was finished.

Background

John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, John Romero, and Tom Hall were cofounders of id Software. Early in their careers, all four were coworkers at Softdisk, an Apple II company. While working at Softdisk, John Carmack developed a method to create console-style scrolling graphics on a personal computer. He demonstrated this new tool for gaming development to Softdisk, but the company was not interested. Carmack and Hall then created a PC port of the popular Super Mario Bros. 3, offering the game to Nintendo for compensation. Nintendo also turned down the novice game developers.

The ambition of the future id Software did not go unnoticed. Scott Miler contacted the group as a representative of Apogee Software. In 1990, Apogee Software published the group’s first game, Commander Keen. Commander Keen was a side-scrolling platform video game series that followed the adventures of eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze. Blaze defended Earth from extraterrestrials with his ray gun and spaceship. The series was released as shareware over six primary episodes, a lost episode, and a final game. The following year, the game developers united as id Software.

id Software specialized in shareware games. These games were freely distributed and designed to be shared by the players. In many cases, the first episode of the game was free, while subsequent episodes could be ordered via mail order. The company’s first extremely popular game, Wolfenstein 3D, was distributed in this fashion. Wolfenstein 3D was a first-person shooter, meaning that the game showed the player the perspective of the primary character and the main character used guns and other weapons to defeat enemies. In this game, the player takes on the role of a spy during World War II and carries out fantastical missions against the Nazi regime. It was one of the earliest popular first-person shooters and one of the first games to successfully utilize a 3D-graphics engine.

Overview

In 1993, id Software released Doom, its next first-person shooter. The firm continued its experimentation with 3D games, allowing the user to traverse a virtual world from the perspective of the protagonist. Doom’s graphics were cutting-edge for the time and were significantly more realistic than Wolfenstein 3D. They were achieved by layering virtual textures over three-dimensional models.

Doom’s atmosphere was grim, and its graphics helped make that atmosphere feel real for players. The lighting was dark, and the environmental textures were dirty. The monsters were designed to be intimidating instead of comical, which was common at the time.

The levels in Doom were complex and often difficult. Many of the enemies required specific tools to defeat and approached the player in a threatening manner. To defeat them often required multiple attempts, increasing the amount of time that the average player spent on the game.

The first three episodes of Doom were released as shareware. This meant that they were distributed freely among computer users, who were encouraged to copy the game and give it to their friends. Doom quickly became extremely popular, spreading across the world. Future episodes were released on a paid basis, and the full game was later sold as a single edition. Upon its full release, Doom quickly sold more than 1 million copies.

The plot of Doom revolved around a demonic invasion of the planet Mars. In the game, players take control of the protagonist, a highly trained space marine. They collect a wide assortment of futuristic weapons, and then attempt to drive the demons off the red planet.

In addition to the game’s single-player story, it offered cooperative and competitive multiplayer. Players could connect their computers and then play alongside each other against demons. They could also play game modes that pitted the players against one another. Doom also came packaged with the ability to modify and create game levels. Players could build new levels, complete with new graphics, sounds, and enemies and then share those levels with their friends. The ability to mod the base game encouraged players to continue playing Doom long after they completed the game’s single-player story.

Doom was enormously successful, and id Software was quick to turn its popular game into a franchise. In 1994, it released a sequel, Doom II: Hell on Earth. The company then released numerous titles in the Doom series, including Doom 3:Resurrection of Evil (2005), Doom RPG (2005) and Doom: Bloodfall (2016). The series helped popularize the first-person shooter genre and had a major impact on future science fiction and action games.

Bibliography

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“After 20 Years, Doom Co-Creator Joohn Romero Looks Back on the Impact of a Seminal (and Satanic) Game (interview),” VentureBeat, 2013, venturebeat.com/2013/12/11/after-20-years-doom-co-creator-john-romero-looks-back-on-the-impact-of-a-seminal-game-interview/. 16 Aug. 2019.

“Doom,” IMDb, 2019, www.imdb.com/title/tt0286598/plotsummary. 16 Aug. 2019.

“'Doom’ at 20: John Carmack’s Hellspawn Changed Gaming Forever,” The Verge, 2013, www.theverge.com/2013/12/10/5195508/doom-20th-anniversary-retrospective. 16 Aug. 2019.

“id Software, Inc.” Moby Games, www.mobygames.com/company/id-software-inc/history. 16 Aug. 2019.

“Myst & Doom: 25 Years of Influence,” Gemr, 2018, gemr.com/blog/myst-doom-25-years/. 16 Aug. 2019.

“The Game That Kicked Off a Video Game Revolution Turns 25 Today,” Quartz, 2018, qz.com/1490069/doom-the-game-that-kicked-off-a-video-game-revolution-turns-25-today/. 16 Aug. 2019.

“The History of id Software,” Visually, visual.ly/community/infographic/gaming/history-id-“Wolfenstein 3D,” Moby Games, www.mobygames.com/game/wolfenstein-3d‗‗‗. 16 Aug. 2019.