The classic PC game Doom was released 20 years ago today. Ahh, I remember many long hours in the campus computer labs blowing the smithereens out of low-resolution monsters, and using the rocket launcher in ambushes against my friends.
So many things about that game were amazing: the 3D textured walls, the fact that you could play against other people over the network, the ability to create your own maps (WAD file, anyone?),… truly, it was a landmark in the world of computer gaming. Kids these days take all of that stuff for granted because pretty much every game since then has incorporated those things.
I remember that Doom became so widespread that the campus IT team would actively search student accounts (on the Novell Netware system, no less!) and delete the doom.exe file. Of course, being the clever guys we were, we’d simply rename the file to something innocuous like unicorns.exe.
Good times. I should install it on my system and fire it up, just for old times’ sake. Happy birthday, old friend.