What Got You Into Doom?

I was introduced to Doom through Heretic since the shareware was on the disc. I actually played Heretic first. I had Duke 3D, Quake, and Heretic at the same time. It wasn’t until around Doom 3’s release where I got the collection disc that had Doom95 versions of all the classic games that I actually played through the full games on PC. 
 

Somehow I was just wired to still like Doom after decades of playing it. I remember playing Skulltag a lot when it was still around, and that’s what got me interested in the communities, mods, etc. and where I found all the various source ports. There’s been a lot of projects and people that have came and went. Some stuff I remember visually but cannot recall the names of, the person(s) behind them gone, too. I have always had a more involved presence in the Wolfenstein 3D and Duke4 communities but for one reason or another have stuck around Doom’s stuff as well. Most people don’t really know who I am though and I am just sort of here, but I like it that way, even if some I thought were friends at one point long ago. 

These days I mostly just use this forum because it’s fun, and I haven’t had free time to play deathmatch for a while, which as I got older I found I find the most enjoyment out of that mode of play. I try to keep up with all the WADs that come out but I tend to catch up only to be behind yet again, so I have just decided to go with the flow in that case. 

Doom 2016, had no idea this series existed before then

9 hours ago, fruity lerlups said:

i like your profile pic a lot its cool

Best Lea face from CrossCode.

I first played Doom II during the 90s, courtesy of one of my cooler uncles who installed it upon an aunt's computer. I would pick up The Ultimate Doom later in the decade, the game that had both the original Doom and the Thy Flesh Consumed episode (which makes me one of the few old-school Doomers who never played the original three-episode game when it first came out). I first learned about Doom Wads through the RGDOOMED book that I got at Barnes and Noble forever ago, and ftp.cdrom.com was a common internet destination both at school and at home when I was able to get a computer that could run the game.

It's truly amazing how far Doom has come since those heady early days, and what a 30-year-old game series is capable of with modern hardware and software.

I think like many who were playing Wolfenstein 3-D in the 90s, I was all over wanting the next FPS (before First Person Shooter was used, obviously before "Doom clone" was used) by id.

Why did I keep playing it? It's fun, and it has so much replay-ability even without the zillions of .wads I eventually started sampling and then started making on my own.  Well-balanced gun spread that even Quake 2 benefited from copying, and Heretic did well by translating to the fantasy genre, is another good reason..

I still enjoy it in 2024 because with source ports, it *still* is fun.

A childhood friend told me about it and let me borrow the shareware disks. I had previously played Wolfenstein 3D so I was familiar with FPS games already, and Doom blew me away. It had real 3D stuff like stairs and lifts! Also, a rocket launcher which made imps make squishy sounds.

I convinced my parents to mail away a check, and received a box with a stack of 3.5" disks in the mail. Later on I bought Doom 2 and Ultimate Doom from a software store.

A while back I was getting rid of ancient computer stuff such as serial mice, null modem cables, and floppy disks. I do wish I kept my original Doom floppy disks, even if I have no way of reading them anymore. Oh well. I still have my original WarCraft 1/2/3 CDs in a binder somewhere, though.

Be grateful for Steam, kids.

I feel like I've already answered this question before in an identical thread.