User blog:Vorknkx/19 Years of Doom!

On this day, 19 years ago, Doom Shareware 0.99 was revealed to the world... that poor innocent world. Since that day, you'd never look at your computer the same way again, for this game became the father of the contemporary FPS genre :)

Some of my friends ask me why I care about the game's "birthday".

The main reason is because it is the best proof of just how awesome Doom is. Nineteen years later, the game is still fairly popular and played. Many oldschool players (like me) still enjoy the game just like they did back in 1993/1994.

Nineteen years later, fan-made levels, mods, hi-res graphics, music remixes, source ports and all sorts of other goodies are still being developed and released for Doom. The community, still active and vibrant after all these years, has amassed a mountain of creativity that no other game has ever achieved. Some of the projects released over the years are so good that they could easily be new games in their own right.

Some have said that Doom is too simple... well, life has taught me that the best fun and relaxation can be found the simplest things. It's the simplicity that makes Doom so easy to get used to. No drama - just jump into the action and perforate some demon heads. Fight, survive, win - what else could you possibly want?

Some have said Doom has no story... but it does for us. Text intermissions probably aren't as impressive as full-blown cutscenes with Hollywood-style dramatic voiceovers and special effects, but we don't need such things. Doom's story accomplishes something that games with super-elaborate plots can never do - it stimulates the imagination. It helps your mind bring the world of Doom to life until, at some point, it almost feels real.

And let's not forget the community - they are the beating heart of Doom. The community is what turns a lifeless bunch of code and artwork into a living phenomenon.

Looking forward to the 20th anniversary. Hopefully the guys at id Soft will do something about it. Such an event cannot just pass uncelebrated :)