All Articles: Doom (1993)

John Romero recently delayed the release of Sigil, his new “MegaWAD” for 1993’s Doom, a few weeks ago. But the famed developer returned late last night to confirm that the new levels for the groundbreaking first person shooter are now available to download from his official website.

Doom fanatics interested in playing Sigil before anyone else will have to spring for the Soundtrack Pack, which includes the expansion and a digital download of the soundtrack from Buckethead, for €6.66 (a little over $7.00 in US currency). Everyone else will need to wait for Sigil’s free download, which will be available on May 31.

As a “MegaWAD” for Doom, Sigil will add nine new levels to the game that Romero helped co-create with John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack in the early 90s.

Romero left id Software after the completion of Quake in 1996, but he’s been slowly working his way back into the shooter genre in recent years. In 2016, he released a pair of standalone maps for Doom (“Tech Gone Bad” and “Phobos Mission Control”) and he’s also working on an original shooter (with Adrian Carmack) known as Blackroom.

As the co-creator of Doom, John Romero will always have a special connection to the first person shooter masterpiece. In celebration of the game’s 25th anniversary, Romero decided to venture back to one of his earliest triumphs and create a brand new “MegaWAD” for Doom known as Sigil. In Romero’s eyes, this free update would serve as the unofficial fifth episode to the game.

Sigil was originally expected to be available in February, but it’s unfortunately hit a handful of snags along the way. Delays seem to be inevitable with Romero’s projects, but put away your Daikatana jokes, as the developer has admitted (via Twitter) that the most recent problem lies with the production of the limited Beast Box at Limited Run Games:

Sigil has been done for quite a while at this point. There were two production issues at Limited Run — the [pewter statue of John Romero’s head on a spike] and the [soundtrack] disk. The head is now heading through production.

All units are crafted and finished by an individual artist. The second is the disk which is expected in shortly. There was also an issue with that. These are beyond the control of Romero Games, and we desperately wish that we could release it right now. We regret the delay, and have expressed your frustration to Limited Run.

Romero would go on to say that while he isn’t happy with the delay, it’s required because he and Limited Run want to ensure the components in Sigil’s Beast Box are built with the highest quality parts:

We’re sorry. We want Sigil in your hands more than you know. We have to wait until Beast Box players get it before we release the free version. For their part, Limited Run isn’t happy with the delays either, and looks forward to releasing the game.

The Limited Run team has been doing everything it can to resolve the delays and are as frustrated as we are. We all want the game in our hands. The delays are due to making these items higher quality, because we and Limited Run believe you deserve the best possible product. They could have accepted earlier revisions and shipped an inferior product, but we both believe that you deserve better.

A new release date for Sigil wasn’t announced, but it should be available soon.

John Romero is famously known as the co-creator of Doom, and back in 2016 he started dabbling in building a handful of new maps (known as WAD files) for his baby (“Tech Gone Bad” and “Phobos Mission Control“).

Today, in celebration of the landmark game’s 25th anniversary, Romero announced that he’s completed a brand new “MegaWAD” for Doom consisting of nine new single-player levels and an equal number of Deathmatch maps. Romero’s creation will be known as Sigil, and it will serve as the unofficial fifth episode for Doom:

Sigil is a free megawad for the original 1993 Doom created by John Romero. It contains nine single-player and nine deathmatch levels. The free megawad will be released in mid-February 2019 and requires players own the original 1993 registered version of Doom in order to play. Sigil is the spiritual successor to the fourth episode of Doom, and picks up where the original left off.

Sigil will be available as a free download in February, but megafans will be able to obtain one of two special limited editions of the MegaWAD through Limited Run Games.

According to Romero’s official website, the Standard Box will feature artwork by Christopher Lovell and a soundtrack CD from Buckethead. Those bonuses will also be included in the Beast Box, but that hulking package will also include an art print, a Sigil-themed coin, a t-shirt, and a pewter statue of John Romero’s head on a spike.

A trailer for Sigil has been embedded above. Suck it down!

John Romero is at it again. The Doom co-creator recently returned to one of his earliest successes with “Phobos Mission Control,” a brand new WAD for Doom that replaces the “Command Control” map (E1M4). Available to download now through Romero’s Dropbox account, here’s what the developer had to say about the new map:

With the Toxin Refinery in the rear-view, you make your way to Phobos Mission Control where the computers crunching the data from the Phobos Anomaly are located. You need to use them to gain access to the Phobos Lab, but remember hearing that the computers were tied into all areas of the installation and that you never knew when the environment around you would change. You need to keep your eyes alert to all movement – this place is not what it seems…

According to Romero, “Phobos Mission Control” isn’t as hard as his previous new map, “Tech Gone Bad,” and was created as another warm-up for the newly announced Blackroom. However, the developer “paused” Blackroom’s Kickstarter campaign earlier today to create a playable demo of the game for potential backers.

If you want to see “Phobos Mission Control” in action, check out a gameplay wakthrough embedded after the break from YouTube user “Doom Video Vault.” (more…)