Editing Doom modding (section)

===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.