Hacx

HacX is a total conversion for Doom II. It was created by Banjo Software in 1997, and featured an almost entirely new set of graphics and some minor adjustments to the original Doom II code. HacX uses the Doom engine and was made possible when id Software released the Doom II source code. The author of HacX paid id Software $5000 for the rights to market HacX.

HacX itself was generally unsuccessful; by the time it was released, the superior Quake engine that had just come out made the Doom engine pale in comparison. Public interest for Doom and games derived from it was, effectively, dead; even though HacX was a decent TC, it arrived on the market too late to become a success.

It was originally priced at $15. The sprites and other graphics from Hacx have been reused in many other TCs/PCs since, although Banjo Software has forbidden the use of its graphics in other WADs.

Development started on a sequel, but it failed due to a number of problems.

HacX is now being distributed for free on its website. The original site, maintained by Nostromo, may or may not function. Ownership of the site was transferred to Bob Larkin, creator and maintainer of the Doom Wad Station, in March of 2003.

Notable figures
Despite the game's commercial failure, some of its creators have since become successful and relatively well-known professional game developers. Iikka "Fingers" Keränen went on to work at Looking Glass, ION Storm, Ritual Entertainment, Rogue Entertainment, and most recently, Valve Software. Kenneth Scott has since worked at Xatrix Entertainment, Croteam, and is currently Lead Artist at id Software.