THE LEGACY OF DOOM

We always dreamed of Doom sources being released! How many days we spent talking about the features we'd put in it.
In the middle of 1997, we heard a rumour that the sources of Doom would be released. Some months later the miracle happened: In December 1997, id Software made the full source code of Doom public.

MOTIVATIONS BEHIND OUR PROJECT

Think about it: Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem... they're not the same! The gameplay, the ambiance, the design are very different. We like Doom especially. We don't want to create another Doom-clone with the sources.

First, we'll bring a lot of bug-fixes — updates — features that should have been in Doom since the beginning.
Then, we'll try to "refresh" the game's visual aspects so that it looks better on today's machines.
And last but not least, we will extend the engine with enhancements for map and mod creation.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE DOOM LEGACY PROJECT

KEEP THE BEST OF DOOM: Simple and fast. We won't add a thousands options that complicate the game and make the deathmatch slow down.
NO CHANGE TO THE GAMEPLAY: At least there will be an 'original gameplay' mode.
USER FRIENDLY AND AIMED AT THE PLAYERS: We make Legacy for the people who play and enjoy Doom today.
NO CHEATS IN MULTIPLAYER.

REQUIREMENTS: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO RUN LEGACY

IWAD FILE: You'll need a main game data file (aka IWAD file) from a commercial, shareware or free version of either Doom I/II or Heretic.
SYSTEM: Currently Legacy runs on the following systems:
- Linux (and other POSIX-compatible systems that come with SDL)
- Windows
- Mac OS X
HARDWARE: The bare minimum is a basic 486, a standard VGA card and 8MB of memory for full playability. Supports mouse, joystick.

MAIN FEATURES OF DOOM LEGACY

Here's a list of the main features of Legacy, up to the current version:

Video

OPENGL: Doom Legacy features an OpenGL mode, which is quite playable as it is now, although not finished.
VIDEO OPTIONS MENU: Play Doom in high resolutions! You can change video mode at any time from within the game.
TRANSLUCENCY ON SPRITES AND WALLS: Replaces the old 'partial invisibility' effect. A selection of objetcs are now translucent: monster missiles, most weapon shots, torches, fire, bullet puffs...
CHASE-CAM: Also called a 'third-person' view, or 'Tomb Raider' view.
STATUS BAR OVERLAY: See just the vital information like Ammo, Health, Frags, ect. You will feel more involved in the game by playing in fullscreen without the status bar.
SPLIT-SCREEN MODE: Have a deathmatch or a co-op game with a friend on a single computer!
LOOK UP AND DOWN (FREELOOK): Look around using a mouse, joystick, or gamepad with all the usual preferences.

Controls

SETUP CONTROLS MENU: Allows to set the keys/mouse/joystick buttons while in the game. The controls have been greatly enhanced, allowing multiple keys per control (like Quake), attach any action to any key/button and supports extended keys like Win95 keys (now they'll be useful).
CONSOLE: We felt a Console like in Quake, was a really good addition to the game, because it allows to customise much more to your needs, and allows to setup nearly every in-game parameter at any time during the game. The console background displays as either a translucent-green background (lcd-like), or a picture.
AUTOAIM TOGGLE: Choose either the enhanced 'autoaiming', or switch it off, and you're in total control of your gun!
FULL JOYSTICK SUPPORT: We support up to 16 buttons per joystick so you can make use of the 'hat' to free look, for example.

Gameplay

32 PLAYERS: Deathmatch, using a basic client/server model. During a multiplayer game, only the server is allowed to change game parameters.
MULTIPLAYER MENU: Allows to choose your preferred color from 11 available (4 originals + 7 new ones) and enter your name.
SKINS: Choose your appearance for deathmatches, this adds a load of fun to multiplayer games!
TEAMPLAY AND TEAMSKIN MODES: Play by teams identified by colour, or by skin!
DEATHMATCH RANKINGS which shows the player names, their color and their frags, pops up like in Quake's TAB key during deathmatches. Of course you can change your color at any time while playing a net game (your name too)!
DEHACKED PATCHES SUPPORT: Either as separate files or included in a WAD.
BOOM EXTENSIONS: We support all the standard map editing extensions from TeamTNT's Boom.
3 CROSSHAIRS: Greatly helps when using manual aiming and freelook. Choose from 3 crosshairs available like in Quake2: a cross, a triangle and a point.
JUMP: Once you've tried it you'll see that jumping doesn't lessen in any way the gameplay of Doom and only adds some more fun to the game. Can also be disabled if necessary.
WALK OVER AND UNDER THINGS: With the improved collision checks you can now jump over your buddies, walk under the flying cacodemons, and walk on top of things.
ENHANCED DEMOS: Now records the messages, changes of color, name, options like autoaim and so on... a little compression is used which makes the demos about 50% shorter.
MULTIPLE FLOORS: Real 3D floors, making it possible to reproduce levels like Quake's DM1 to DM6.
LIGHT SHADINGS: Shade lights between sectors, adds different kinds of lightning effects.
DOOM SERVERS: Join Doom Legacy servers, join a game which is already started.