Classic DOOM Versions, Ports, and Remakes

The purpose of this survey was to determine what I must do to continue being able to play Classic DOOM. I continue to update it piecemeal as the available software evolves and new facts come to light.

Background

The original DOOM game (generally referred to as Vanilla DOOM when discussing later ports) ran under DOS with a screen resolution of 320×200 and a SoundBlaster or similar ISA sound card. None of those preconditions is easily satisfied on a modern PC. DOS compatibility went out the window after Windows 98. Modern video cards and LCD monitors are increasingly reluctant to support the 320×200 video mode or any other mode with non-square pixels. And most of the functionality of the old SoundBlasters is now done in drivers that only work in Windows XP or later.

There are several different strategies to overcome this.

Salvage some old parts and build a retro DOS gaming rig. Can't beat the real thing. Then again, parts of this vintage are growing scarce, and serial mice do kind of suck.
Build a compromise based on Windows 98: old parts, but not that old. This gets mixed results depending on just how DOS-compatible the configuration really is. ISA audio is best, but some PCI sound cards will work if the right drivers are installed. A CRT monitor is more likely to work at 320×200 than an LCD monitor.
Run Vanilla DOOM in an emulated environment on a modern PC. I am yet to see this work well enough to be a convincing substitute for the real thing, but it is sure to improve. I haven't yet tried it with CPU-level virtualization.
Give up and use a source port. Under Linux, the use of TiMidity in lieu of the original SoundBlaster MIDI instruments means that the music can never be the same. Under Windows, the MIDI library might be better, but smooth gameplay is hard to achieve.

Source ports can be broken down into a few broad categories.

Faithful source ports that retain the original DOOM model and rendering engine with at most minor tweaks. These ports can potentially provide higher screen resolutions and work on newer operating systems without breaking compatibility with the original.
DOOM 95 WinDoom NTDoom Chocolate DOOM
Enhanced source ports that try to improve on the original DOOM model and/or rendering engine. These ports can provide drastically improved graphics and other features, but even minor dinking with the DOOM engine usually breaks compatibility in obvious ways.
Edge PrBoom PrBoom-Plus glDoom Doomsday Risen3D DOOM Legacy ZDoomGL ZDoom Eternity DoomGL Vavoom Doom3D GZDoom
Specialized ports that focus on multiplayer, client/server functionality. I did not review these: csDoom Skulltag WDMP ZDaemon.
Complete remakes that don't even use the original WAD files. The only one so far is Classic DOOM 3.

The inconvenient truth is that most source ports that are playable on a modern PC either are incompatible with Vanilla DOOM or have intolerable defects. The exceptions are Chocolate DOOM, which had the specific mission of remaining as close to Vanilla DOOM as possible, and PrBoom / PrBoom-Plus, which come very very close to being compatible with Vanilla DOOM.

→ Next Contents
KB
Home