CHAPTER [1]: Introduction ------------------------- *1-1*: A word from Hank Leukart =============================== Happy DOOM Birthday! It's not often that someone can ask me, "What were you doing at this very moment, one year ago?" and I would be able to answer. Today, December 10th, 1994, is one of those rare occasions in which I know exactly. Actually, I'm sure if I asked about half the readers of this FAQ, they would be able to give me details about their activities too. Most of us were sitting on Internet (or using every free moment to log on) waiting for DOOM to be released. I remember staying up most of the night, disappointed when it wasn't release by 8am EST. I waited, waited, and waited, until finally everyone located it on "ftp.uwp.edu" all at the same time. Wow! All the die-hard-DOOM-fans-to-be let out a sigh of release as the suspense was lifted. In retrospect, it has been an incredible experience. After 11 revisions and thousands of pieces of E-mail, I'm still alive and sane! DOOM has taken up a large portion of my life (it's so addictive) and now, here I am, one year, later. I hope everyone enjoys this "Anniversary Edition" of the "Official" DOOM FAQ v6.666. It contains DOOM I and DOOM II information, the latest on DOOM ports, and all the coolest add-on utilities. Now, I have a feeling it's going to all start over again with Quake! Watch for the game in late 1995 from id. Although this may or may not be last "Official" DOOM FAQ, it will definitely be awhile until the next revision--this covers just about everything. Above all, "Keep on DOOMing!" -Hank Leukart [1-2]: About the "Official" DOOM FAQ ==================================== Welcome to the post-release v6.666 of the "Official" DOOM FAQ. What does that mean? Post-release is after the game is released, version 6.666 is a standard revision written after 5.8, "Official" means absolutely nothing, DOOM is the name of the game, and FAQs are [F]requently [A]sked [Q]uestions. Here's how revision classification works. If a new version of the FAQ only has a small amount of information changed or added, the version number is increased by 0.1. This is called a "minor revision." If a new version of the FAQ has a substantial amount of new information changed or added, the version number is increased by 0.5. This is called a "standard revision." If a new version of the FAQ has a huge amount of added or changed information, major parts of the FAQ are rearranged, or major parts of the FAQ are rewritten, then the version number is increased by 1.0. This is called a "major revision." You may be wondering why chapter numbers are enclosed in either []'s, ()'s, or **'s. The definition of these is as follows: []: Chapters enclosed in brackets mean that the information contained in the chapter has not been updated in this or the previous FAQ. (): Chapters enclosed in parenthesis mean that the information contained in the chapter has not been updated since the previous FAQ. **: Chapters enclosed in asterisks means that the information contained in the chapter is new or has been updated for the current version of the FAQ you are reading. (1-2-1): About the "Official" DOOM ASCII Logos ============================================== Thanks to Frans P. de Vries (fpdevries@hgl.signaal.nl), an incredible ASCII DOOM logo was added to the beginning of the document in v5.5 of the FAQ. The DOOM II logo was added in v6.666 of the FAQ. Please keep in mind that, as is rest of this document, the logos are copyrighted. This FAQ may not be split into parts and distributed. Therefore, the logo may not be used independently from the "Official" DOOM FAQ in any other documents apart from the "Official" DOOM FAQ, the Unofficial DOOM Specs, and DOOM iNsAnItY. Thank you for respecting U.S. and global copyright laws. [1-3]: Getting the "Official" DOOM FAQ ====================================== I am sorry to announce that my DOOM Mailing List has been canceled, due to numerous problems. Anyone who has had a subscription to the list in the past will no longer receive updates, and no new subscriptions are permitted. There is a new mailing list, however. See Chapter [1-5] for more information. The "Official" DOOM FAQ can still be requested from me, however. My Internet E-mail address is "ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu." Please make the subject of your E-mail "DOOM FAQ Request." The "Official" DOOM FAQ is posted every two weeks (or earlier if a new version is released) on the following Usenet groups. (1) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (2) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce (3) comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc (4) rec.games.computer.doom.announce The "Subject:" line of the post will be "'Official' DOOM FAQ v??.??" where "??.??" is the version number of the FAQ. New releases of the "Official" DOOM FAQ are uploaded to the following Internet FTP sites. (1) ftp.uwp.edu IN /pub/incoming/id IN /pub/msdos/games/id/home-brew/doom (2) infant2.sphs.indiana.edu IN /pub/doom/incoming IN /pub/doom/text (3) wuarchive.wustl.edu IN /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games/doomstuff The file name of the upload will be "doom??.faq" where "??" is the version number of the FAQ. This filename is for FTP sites only. BBS filenames are below. New releases of the "Official" DOOM FAQ are uploaded to Software Creations BBS (and other BBSes) under the file name "dmfaq??.zip" where "??" is the version number of the FAQ. Software Creations BBS: (a) (508)-365-2359 2400 baud (b) (508)-368-7036 9600-14.4k v.32bis (c) (508)-368-4137 14.4-16.8k HST/DS ATTENTION: ALL BBSes, Compuserve, America Online, GEnie, and all other information services. PLEASE conform to the naming standard of the "Official" DOOM FAQ when placing this file on your system. The file name should be "dmfaq??.zip" where the "??" is the version number of the FAQ or "dmfaq??.txt" if the FAQ is a text file instead of PKZIPped.