Editing Doom modding (section)

==History of WADs==
===Development of ''Doom''===
When developing ''Doom'', id Software was aware that many players had tried to create custom [[level (video gaming)|levels]] and other modifications for their previous game, ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'', but the procedures involved in creating and loading modifications for that game were cumbersome.

[[John D. Carmack|John Carmack]], lead programmer at id Software, designed the ''Doom'' internals from the ground up to allow players to extend the game. For that reason, game data such as levels, [[graphics]], [[sound effects]], and [[music]] are stored separately from the [[game engine]], in "WAD" files, allowing for third parties to make new games without making any modifications to the engine. [[Tom Hall]] is responsible for coming up with the name WAD.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Griliopoulos |first=Dan |title=The Making of Doom: id's shooter masterpiece |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/making-doom-ids-shooter-masterpiece |website=PCGamesN|date=8 April 2016}}</ref>

The idea of making ''Doom'' easily modifiable was primarily backed by Carmack, a well-known supporter of [[copyleft]] and the [[Hacker culture|hacker]] ideal of people sharing and building upon each other's work, and by [[John Romero]], who had hacked games in his youth and wanted to allow other gamers to do the same. In contrast, some video game artists, including Jay Wilbur and [[Kevin Cloud]], objected due to legal concerns and the belief that it would not be of any benefit to the company's business.

===Utilities and WADs===
Immediately after the initial [[shareware]] release of ''Doom'' on December 10, 1993, players began working on various tools to modify the game. On January 26, 1994, Brendon Wyber released the first [[public domain]] version of the Doom Editing Utility (DEU) program on the Internet, a program created by ''Doom'' fans which made it possible to create entirely new levels. DEU continued development until May 21. It was made possible by Matt Fell's release of the Unofficial ''Doom'' specifications. Shortly thereafter, ''Doom'' players became involved with further enhancing DEU. Raphaël Quinet spearheaded the program development efforts and overall project release, while Steve Bareman led the documentation effort and creation of the DEU Tutorial. More than 30 other people also helped with the effort and their names appear in the [[README]] file included with the program distribution. Yadex, a fork of DEU 5.21 for [[Unix]] systems running the [[X Window System]], was later released under the [[GNU/GPL]] license.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/yadex/ |title=Yadex's Homepage}}</ref> Carmack released the [[source code]] for the utilities used to create the game, but these were programmed in [[Objective-C]], for [[NeXT]] workstations, and were therefore not directly usable by the mass userbase of [[IBM PC compatible]].

Jeff Bird is credited with creating the first custom WAD for ''Doom'', called ''Origwad'', on March 7, 1994.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hrodey |first=Matt |title=A Brief History of Doom Mapping |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/a-brief-history-of-doom-mapping/ |website=Escapist Magazine |date=11 February 2019}}</ref> Soon, many players were creating custom WADs and sharing them over [[AOL]], the [[CompuServe]] forums, and other Internet-based channels. Many of the WADs were made in the style of the base game, others were based on existing [[television program|TV series]], [[film]]s, or original themes. Some of the id Software staff were impressed by some of the WADs. John Carmack later said the following about a ''[[Star Wars]]''-themed modification:

{{quotation|I still remember the first time I saw the original ''Star Wars'' DOOM mod. Seeing how someone had put the [[Death Star]] into our game felt so amazingly cool. I was so proud of what had been made possible, and I was completely sure that making games that could serve as a canvas for other people to work on was a valid direction.|[[John D. Carmack]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slashdot.org/interviews/99/10/15/1012230.shtml |title=John Carmack Answers |date=15 October 1999 |publisher=[[Slashdot]] |access-date=2007-04-13}}</ref>}}

Another early modification is ''Aliens TC'', a [[total conversion]] based on the film ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]''.

Even though WADs modified ''Doom'' by replacing graphics and audio, the amount of customization was somewhat limited; much of the game's behavior, including the timing and strength of weapons and enemies, was hard-coded in the ''Doom'' [[executable]] file and impossible to alter in WADs. [[DeHackEd]], a ''Doom'' editing program created by Greg Lewis, addressed this by letting users modify parameters inside the ''Doom'' executable itself, allowing for a greater degree of customization.

===Commercial WADs===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:The Doom Hacker's Guide cover.jpg|thumb|"The Doom Hacker's Guide" by Hank Leukart, who also created and maintained the official Doom [[FAQ]]]] -->

Around 1994 and 1995, WADs were distributed primarily through [[Bulletin board system|BBS]]s and via [[CD]] collections found in computer shops or bundled together with instruction guides for level creation, while in later years [[Internet]] [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] servers became the primary method for obtaining these works. Although the ''Doom'' software license required that no profit be made from custom WADs, and [[Shawn Green (game designer)|Shawn Green]] objected to people selling their WADs for money,<ref>{{cite web |author1=Green, Shawn |author2=McGee, American |title=Doom Conference |url=http://rome.ro/lee_killough/articles/doomconf.shtml |publisher=Planet Rome.ro |year=1994 |access-date=May 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415232414/http://www.rome.ro/lee_killough/articles/doomconf.shtml |archive-date=April 15, 2008}}</ref> some WAD sets and [[shovelware]] bundles were nonetheless obtainable for a price at certain outlets.

During this time, id Software was working on their next game, ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'', using new technology, but started projects picking up the most talented WAD makers from the ''Doom'' community to create official expansions and to compete with the unauthorized collection CDs. The team produced the 21 ''[[Master Levels for Doom II|Master Levels]]'', which, on December 26, 1995, were released on a CD along with ''Maximum Doom'', a collection of 1,830 WADs that had been downloaded from the Internet. In 1996, ''[[Final Doom]]'', a package of two 32-level megawads created by [[TeamTNT]], was released as an official id Software product.

Various first-person shooter games released at the time use the ''Doom'' engine under a commercial license from id Software, as such essentially being custom WADs packaged with the ''Doom'' engine, such as ''Hacx: Twitch 'n Kill'' (1997).

In addition to the many people who contributed to commercially released WADs, various authors became involved with the development of other games:
* Kenneth Scott, who contributed artwork to ''Hacx: Twitch 'n Kill'', later became the art director at id Software and [[343 Industries]] on the post-[[Bungie]] ''[[Halo (franchise)|Halo]]'' games.
* [[Tim Willits]], who contributed two levels to ''Master Levels for Doom II'', later became the lead designer at id Software.
* [[Casali brothers|Dario Casali]], author of a quarter of ''Final Doom'', was hired by [[Valve Corporation|Valve]] to work on ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]''.
* Sverre Kvernmo, designer of five levels in ''Master Levels for Doom II'' and member of TeamTNT, was hired by [[Ion Storm]] for ''[[Daikatana]]''.
* [[Iikka Keränen]], author of several ''Doom'' WADs and later ''Quake'' mods, was hired by Ion Storm to create levels for ''[[Anachronox]]'' and ''Daikatana'', and by [[Looking Glass Studios]] to create levels for ''[[Thief II: The Metal Age]]''. Keränen was later hired by Valve.
* John Anderson (level designer), also known as "Dr. Sleep", author of five levels in ''Master Levels for Doom II'' and E4M7 in ''The Ultimate Doom'', later worked on ''[[Blood (video game)|Blood]]'', ''[[Unreal (1998 video game)|Unreal]]'', and ''Daikatana''.
* [[Matthias Worch]] (level designer) joined [[Ritual Entertainment]] to work on ''[[SiN]]''. He later contributed to the ''Unreal'' series.

===Source port era===
{{Main|Doom source ports}}
Around 1997, interest in ''Doom'' WADs began to decline, as attention was drawn to newer games with more advanced technology and more customizable design, including id Software's own ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' and ''[[Quake II]]'', but a dedicated following continued into the new century, with modern ''Doom'' modding becoming more popular than ''Quake'' and ''Quake II'' modding.

On December 23, 1997, id Software released the source code to the [[Doom engine|''Doom'' engine]], initially under a restrictive license. On October 3, 1999, it was released again under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License|GNU GPL-2.0-or-later]]. With the source code available, it became possible for programmers to modify any aspect of the game, remove technical limitations and [[Software bug|bug]]s, and add entirely new features.

These engine modifications, or [[List of Doom source ports|''Doom'' source ports]], have since become the target for much of the WAD editing activity, and with the decline of [[MS-DOS]], using a source port became the only feasible way to play ''Doom'' for most people. Several source ports are in active development, and ''Doom'' retains a strong following of WAD creators.