Doom (stylized as DOOM) is an American media franchise created by John Carmack, John Romero, Adrian Carmack, Kevin Cloud, and Tom Hall.[1] The series usually focuses on the exploits of an unnamed space marine (often referred to as Doomguy or Doom Slayer) operating under the auspices of the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC), who fights hordes of demons and the undead to save Earth from an apocalyptic invasion.
The original Doom is considered one of the first pioneering first-person shooter games, introducing to IBM-compatible computers features such as 3D graphics, third-dimension spatiality, networked multiplayer gameplay, and support for player-created modifications with the Doom WAD format. Over ten million copies of games in the Doom series have been sold; the series has spawned numerous sequels, novels, comic books, board games, and film adaptations.
The Doom video games consist of first-person shooters in which the player controls an unnamed space marine commonly referred to as Doomguy; in the 2016 series, the protagonist is called the "Doom Slayer" or just "Slayer" in later entries. The player battles the forces of Hell, consisting of demons and the undead. The games are usually set within sprawling bases on Mars or its moons, while some parts occur in Hell. The classic series had only a minimal focus on the narrative, much of which was in the manuals rather than the games.[2] More recent titles, notably the 2016 series, would feature a heavier focus on narrative.[3]
The original game featured eight weapons, designed so that no weapon became obsolete after the acquisition of another. With the player carrying all these weapons at once, the strategy of "gun juggling"—rapidly switching between the weapons depending on circumstance—can be employed.[4] Outside of combat mechanics, Doom levels often feature mazes, colored key cards and hidden areas.[5][6] As the genre was in its infancy in the early 1990s, the player could not jump or look up and down in the classic series due to technical limitations. Some limited platforming was however present, as players could sprint at gaps and let their momentum carry them to a destination.[7] These features were added in newer titles,[8] with the 2016 series in particular featuring a strong focus on platforming.[9]
The development of the original Doom started in 1992, when John Carmack developed a new game engine, the Doom engine, while the rest of the id Software team finished the Wolfenstein 3D prequel, Spear of Destiny. The game launched in an episodic format in 1993, with the first episode available as shareware and two more episodes available by mail order. The first episode was largely designed by John Romero.[10] The title proved extremely popular, with the full version of the game selling one million copies. The term "Doom clone" became the name for new genre now known as first-person shooters for several years.[11]
Doom II: Hell on Earth was released in 1994 in a commercial format. Only minor changes were made at a technical level; the game featured new enemies, a new "Super Shotgun" weapon, and more complex levels.[12] The game was followed by an expansion in 1995, titled Master Levels for Doom II, which added 20 additional levels. A fourth episode was added to the original game by the 1995 re-release.[13]
From 1995 id Software were focused on the development of the new Quake series, which would be developed by the company throughout the late 1990s.[14] Two additional games would be released over the following years, largely created by third-party developers under id's supervision. The first of these was Final Doom, which featured 64 levels based on the Doom II engine, organised into two episodes. TNT: Evilution was developed by the modding group TeamTNT and completed in November 1995, while the second episode The Plutonia Experiment was developed by TNT's Dario and Milo Casali and completed in January 1996.[citation needed]
The troubled development of Quake had resulted in major staffing changes at id by 2000, with a number of key figures from the development of Doom having departed. This included the original designer John Romero, who was fired in 1996.[10] In the interim, the company had hired former Doom modder Tim Willits.[14] By 2000 a new non-Doom game was being designed, but id staff had a "lack of enthusiasm" for the project, and strongly desired to remake the original Doom instead. John Carmack, among others, announced internally that they were working on a Doom game- and would continue to do so unless the company fired them. While Paul Steed was indeed fired, work on the game did continue.[17]
The title was unveiled later that year as Doom 3. The design of the title would be led by Willits.[18] Using the new id Tech 4 engine, numerous technical improvements were made over the classic series, allowing greater realism and interactivity. The game used voice acting and featured a greater focus on narrative than earlier titles. A demo of the game was shown at E3 2002 and was subsequently leaked online, well ahead of the 2004 release date. At the time, it was the first Doom title in seven years, and helped renew interest in the franchise.[19] An expansion, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil was released in 2005. Unlike the base game, the expansion was developed by Nerve Software. A 2012 BFG Edition featured both previous releases along with a new expansion entitled The Lost Mission. A version of Doom 3: BFG Edition called Doom 3: VR Edition was released on March 29, 2021 for the PlayStation 4 VR and PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility. It includes all of the content from Doom 3: BFG Edition (the main campaign, Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission), except for multiplayer.