See this nice recap video, explaining the progress of doom in the 90's and the open sourcing of the code that led to modern spin-offs, with countless available to the public over the decades since.
- Doom 1, 2, and 3's Source Code, available for non-commercial usage starting 1997.
- GZDoom, game engine allowing easy installation of these games on modern hardware, plus exhaustive customization. Countless mods are available, including adding the shield saw from the brand new Dark Ages game released in the last week or so.
- Zandronum, multiplayer-focused fork. "A modern and fun way to play classic Doom online with up to 64 players. It supports many game modes, mods, features, and Doom engine based games." As opposed to the 90's, being able to play online has never been easier!
- Very, very active community of players!
- Lutris Game Manager has native support for Zdoom-based engines, and makes it so much easier to setup the mods discussed below.
- Ashes 2063 total conversion for Doom 2. Listen to the theme song.
- Ashes: Hard Reset Episode 3 from 2024. Such a work of art and love, available at no cost.
The level of polish added to these game engines over 31 years is absolutely astounding! Back in the day, people would use dozens of floppy disks to install one of these games in order to run down corridors, but in 2025 people have added the ability to drive vehicles, barter, explore massive outdoor maps, voice acting, storylines, dialogue, and every imaginable sort of spin-off and theme. The amount of love put into these almost endless mods is really mind blowing!
It really shows the power of allowing community to take over a project and continue it in whatever way they see fit. Cheers!
