FOSSPicks
Doom engine
GZDoom
Another title that's enjoyed remarkable longevity is Doom. Doom is about as far removed from SimCity (see above) as you could imagine (unless you include the giant lizard attack as one of SimCity 5's disaster scenarios), but it created a genre in much the same way. The first-person shooter (FPS) genre that Doom created is perhaps the most popular of all, with the latest release featuring hundreds of people on the same map at the same time, and graphics and physics that are sometimes indiscernible from reality. Yet the immediacy and relative simplicity of the original has kept it popular – popular enough that there are several open source implementations of its famous game engine, which itself was generously released for free in 1997. GZDoom is one of these, and it's actually a port of an older engine, now discontinued, called ZDoom.
The main advantages any of these recent engines will have are that they'll run on modern hardware and often use as much graphics acceleration as you can throw at them. GZDoom includes advanced rendering for both OpenGL and software-only platforms, which means you get advanced features like colored lighting, 3D floors, portals that connect separate areas of a map, and, of course, higher resolutions for both the display and the textures used within the maps. To play the original Doom with any new engine, you will need the original WAD files. As these have never been released under an open source license, you will need to extract them from your own personal copy of Doom. However, WAD files have been created and released under an open source license, with one of the best being "Freedom," a single-player game split into two parts and consisting of more than 60 different levels!
Project Website
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
News
-
The 14" Pinebook Pro Linux Laptop is Shipping
After a considerable delay, the 14" version of the Pinebook Pro laptop is, once again, available for purchase.
-
OpenMandriva Lx ROME Technical Preview Released
OpenMandriva’s rolling release distribution technical preview has been released for testing purposes and adds some of the latest/greatest software into the mix.
-
Linux Mint 21 is Now Available
The latest iteration of Linux Mint, codenamed Vanessa, has been released with a new upgrade tool and other fantastic features.
-
Firefox Adds Long-Anticipated Feature
Firefox 103 has arrived and it now includes a feature users have long awaited…sort of.
-
System76 Refreshes Their Popular Oryx Pro Laptop with a New CPU
The System76 Oryx Pro laptop has been relaunched with a 12th Gen CPU and more powerful graphics options.
-
Elive Has Released a New Beta
The Elive team is proud to announce the latest beta version (3.8.30) of its Enlightenment-centric Linux distribution.
-
Rocky Linux 9 Has Arrived
The latest iteration of Rocky Linux is now available and includes a host of new features and support for new architecture.
-
Slimbook Executive Linux Ultrabook Upgrading Their CPUs
The Spanish-based company, Slimbook, has made available their next generation Slimbook Executive Linux ultrabooks with a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU.
-
Fedora Linux is Coming to the Raspberry Pi 4
Thanks to significant work in the upstream, the upcoming release of Fedora 37 will introduce support for the Raspberry Pi 4.
-
New Linux Ultrabook from TUXEDO Computers
TUXEDO Computers has released a new 15" Ultrabook running Linux.