It's a weird take from someone kind of uninformed. The assumption that the company would base the release off of the GPL'd version and not the original source code is odd. Also, the claim that it's Windows only when it's cross platform so....?
My main takeaway is that the original Dooms owe much of their cultural relevance to work done by the community for free, under the open source ethos.
And then there's the creative work done using those tools: thousands of hours worth of megawads, total conversions, one offs, and weird little experiments - that have been responsible for keeping Doom actually relevant.
For decades, nothing new happened with Doom 1, 2, or 64, that wasn't authored by us, and for free. The retro dooms weren't exactly abandonware, but for all intents and purposes the franchise has been community run. Yeah you buy the official IWADs from their license holders, but that was the extent of it.
Yes they have the legal right to charge for this work, but like, it's not the coolest move given all the history.
EDIT oh wait I read on a bit - it's free? That changes things. Definitely wish it was more open, but at least it's not a cash grab
Given the fuckups around definitive editions and the fact that there's already so many great, free, open source Doom engines and content, this feels like a money grab and a step backwards.
The games cost like $2 on Steam. They probably lost money doing this if anything especially since they gave it away free to people who bought the previous releases.
What if I want to keep the original version? Can I still access it? I'm getting sick and tired of my games being replaced with shit I never asked for, even if it is arguably a "better" version.
If you check the folders as well, all the .WADs are there for everything (if you want to use them with a different port/engine). Not sure if it detected which games I already owned, but my version is actually Doom + Doom 2 + Final Doom + Master Levels + Sigil + NRFTL + LOR (new campaign). Plus all the featured mods (from the recent console ports) and a regular user-driven mod browser.
It's a pretty overwhelming update to the already decent Kex engine port that's been on consoles for a while. They added a bunch of dvd-extras too like concept art and such. It's not my favorite way to play but it's still a pretty great free update!
I have been having an absolute BLAST with this new version since yesterday. The news of this and the subseauent drop as a free update for the versions I already owned on GoG and on the Switch just made my whole week, where I was bumned by the Helldivers bullshit.
A solid new port by Nightdive, implementing most of the modern mapping techniques, able to run a LOT of custom content that was created over the past 30 years. Plus extra artworks, bonus IDKFA soubdtrack by Andrew Hulshult, addon downloads on all platforms (with user sent ones on the PC), and 16 player multiplayer?
This is now the immediate response to anyone who wants to get into Doom nowadays. No need to fiddle with sourceports or go chase obscure mods, they're ALL there. If you get more into Doom modding after that, you can go after all those things later. It's great!
I ended up playing through the first two episodes of DOOM for the first time in forever because of this release and how good it is. Feeling like tonight is time for episode 3!
I just tried the online multiplayer, jumped into a co-op game with someone else in Doom E1M1 and it slowly started filling with players and got both crowded and chaotic. 16 players running around a map is just insane fun.
I tried it out for a bit. it's not bad at all, but there's a bunch of stuff in there that doesn't gel with me personally. I had to turn the crosshair off because it was too high on the screen, and the autoaim was causing me to miss shots due to height differences. It's neat enough and I'm sure it's a great option for consoles, but I'll stick to gzdoom myself.
It has, but it was aiming at the wrong monsters sometimes? Either that or the auto height aim wasn't kicking in sometimes. Not the worst thing in the world for sure, easily patchable.
I'm just making fun of the MCU's recent announcement that Robert Downey Junior is playing Doctor Doom in some upcoming movies and also the inclusion of Doctor Doom among other Marvel characters in Fortnite.