With all the hype about Doom 3, it's fun to go back to where it came from... Doug Burnside showed me this:

http://www.zdaemon.org

If you ever liked to play the original Doom deathmatch, this is the best port of the code so far. They've rewritten the net code so that it's client-server, and it has the following features that you never got in the original Doom before:

- Gamespy-style server browser, including buddy list.
- Join and leave games in progress
- Custom player names and colors
- Number of players no longer limited to four
- Spectator mode
- Team play and capture-the-flag variants
- Automatic download of custom maps and graphics.

Essentially, all the things we've come to expect from modern online games, but that weren't there in the original Doom.

Now that I've got broadband at home, I've been enjoying this old classic given new life by this version.

You need your original Doom wad files version 1.9, which are...

Doom1.wad (shareware doom)
Doom.wad (full version doom or ultimate doom)
Doom2.wad (doom 2)

...plus the stuff downloaded from zdaemon.org, then you're ready to play, all other custom wads get automatically downloaded as you play them.

The action is a lot faster and more furious than any of the new deathmatch games. Faster than you remember it. And then you get certain maps which were designed for 4 players, but instead there's 16 people in there all shooting at once... it can get crazy at times. In a good way.

I'm "tfabris" on the servers, Doug is "tanstaafl.", look us up sometime.