DOOM | Early Alpha Versions

In this video, you can see the alpha versions of DOOM, a first-person shooter done by id Software in 1993. They're provided by the lead designer John Romero for historic interest. These alpha versions don't have any sounds at all, so don't wonder why I used some of the final music there.

DOOM v0.2:
This is the earliest version of DOOM available in the public. As you might notice, the full title originally was "DOOM: Evil Unleashed". It is a technology demo with a small map to test some features of the rendering engine. As you see, there already are some monsters, but they don't do anything and you can't shot them. You might wonder what "Jules sucks" and "Tom is king" means. They're referred to Adrian "Jules" Carmack and Tom Hall.

DOOM v0.4:
This version already contains some early versions of the final maps. There are 11 maps, you can access 9 of them from the menu. It now has animated floors, light effects, a lot of new artwork, and - most importantly - doors!

DOOM v0.5:
In this version, the monsters now block your way, but they still don't do anything. If you shot them, they simply disappear. The engine was enhanced with moving sectors. The game now contains a lot of maps that made the way to the final version. Additionally, it now has a real game menu, not just pressing keys at the title screen. You might notice that it offers an option to activate a high screen resolution. Don't try it, it's totally messed up. I guess, it never worked, so it was removed from later versions.

DOOM Pre-Beta Press Release:
This is the first version that has been given to the public press. The artwork is already pretty close to the final version and it contains three demo maps to play. However, you shouldn't finish them, otherwise the game will crash. The monsters now act as supposed and you have all the weapons of the final version. You might notice that they still look a bit differently. For example, if you try the BFG 9000, it looks more like an enhanced version of the plasma gun. John Romero stated that they changed that later because it used too many sprites, causing the PC to slow down rapidly. He said, "it looked like Christmas".

This video was originally uploaded by SquarePulse, I hope you like it :)

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• DOOM
• alpha
• beta
• versions
• preview
• pre-release
• development
• first-person
• shooter
• FPS
• id
• Software
• 1993
• 1994
• 1995
• PC
• DOS
• games
• MS-DOS
• DOSBox
• freeware
• shareware
• demo
• version
• abandonware

[RUSRhythmic]

0:40 Wow. This HUD looks eerily similar to the layout of modern shooters. You know, with a bunch of clutter. I'm still glad that the ended up just keeping the "status bar" on the bottom.

[trancelistic]

Awsome video. Thanks for sharing

[TheLiamclink]

why did they have to change the HUD. the first one made it look realistic like you see the inside of the ,ask. like in real life

[killkenny5000]

@xBurnQuack WELL OF COURSE ITS 90s

[xBurnQuack]

It's sad that I can't tell if the beginning is crappy/cheesy editing or just 90's

[ackar18]

UNHOLY BIBLE THAT WOULD BE COOL IN THE GAME

[Vidyadude]

@RUSRhythmic

Actually most modern games have a smaller and less visible hud than the original doom.

[TheBritishBits]

How do you get to E1M10 on V.04? It says in the file type in "Doom E1M10/E1M11" but I don't know where to type it in and it's pissing me off not being able to get any info off the internet...

[TheBritishBits]

How do you get these to run on Vista? I've got V.04 but I can't run it, and I've tried compability mode...

[MetalMilitia2012]

The Shotgun looks far far better than the finished version imo

[iLikeTheUDK]

@CuteFloor where did you get that soundfont? "At Doom's Gate" sounds great with this.

[NotGood1024]

I want a skullchest!