Download the Betas of Doom1 and Doom2 here! doomshack.org/~doomkid/doombeta.zip Using DosBox, run PLAY.BAT in the D2BETA folder.

i love it that this dude’s channel is authentically edited to feel retro like 2008 style

so... Hagrid son is a doom fan? i love it.

Can’t believe this was all done so well in only 10 months

12:07 funny that you mention those bars being there in doom2 1.666 cause i do remember them when i was much younger playing the old version straight off the disc

Having "Finding the Secrets" instead of "Into Sandy's City" really makes that map feel different! I also love seeing all the different texturing on these maps. Instead of techbase/ star port, it feels more like E2 or E3 style. More like demonic bases rather than human ones for the most part. I love all of this niche development stuff! Keep up the great work, sir! :)

I have seen many videos on Doom 1's early development. But almost never any Doom 2 stuff, very informative video.

22:54 The crushing in the pre-release map requires walking into the crusher as you would to stop it in the release map.

GREAT VIDEO!!! I remember seeing these in my childhood, my dad had illegal bootlegs in 94, but we deleted them once he got the full game. IIRC, there were some VERY INTERESTING exit screens from bootleggers when you'd exit to DOS...

I dare say that the textures from Doom 1 look better with the Doom 2 invironments? It's not perfect but it sure gives a better impression at times.

Glad to see an early version of doom 2 thanks. Decino would love watching this

Funny how the Lost Souls were buggy in this version and when you said "they never fixed these guys" made me think of how they're buggy in Doom Eternal.

2:45 The mancubi used to fire completely different, green projectiles? I wonder if this contributed to the inspiration for the cyber mancubus later down the line? 18:33 "So, people sometimes complain that, I think by Map 08 or Map 09 you-" **gets drowned out by plasma gun** 21:33 And they remain buggy to this day, getting eternally caught on the air in Doom Eternal.

I do love that the Super Shotgun is an oldschool coach gun, and that Adrian fully animated a reload sequence for it and all. There is definitely something cool about a double-barreled pump-action shotgun, however, which there actually exist some of in real life, and not all just as funny one-off builds by bored gunsmiths and tinkerers.

Awesome video, this is the Doom content that I crave. I love this niche/obscure stuff and you did a great job exploring it. It's so interesting to see the original/older texturing, map01 definitely looks cooler with blue room and the outdoor area IMO. Map02 and map03 too tbh.

The mancubi screaming like a baron is hilarious

The Mancubus using the Baron's sight sound over and over is quite amusing. Great video here, I kind of like some of the visuals done with MAP02: Underhalls but I guess they thought it looked too busy. And that scrapped version Dead Simple just shows that no one was immune to making a 1994 WAD during the time (Those kind of WADs of course)!

According to Doom Wiki; "MAP10: Refueling Base is perhaps the oldest map that was nominated for use in DOOM II; it originally appeared in Doom v0.5, an early Alpha version of Doom, released in May 1993."

That old super shotgun reminds me of the Scout's Scattergun from Team Fortress 2! Really like how it's pump-action too.

Great video. It was fascinating to see how they developed both the monsters through the different version as well as the map changes. As a newbie mapmaker I don't feel so insecure now about some rooms being garbage and reworking them or scrapping them completely. Glad they made the earlier levels easier too!

i love seeing the history of doom and how it slowly developed into the game we all love today. i really enjoyed the video!

I actually prefer map 03 as a temple, as well as having Toxin Refinery's midi. This was very cool, awesome work Doomkid!

tbh, i haven’t played doom yet and don’t know much about it, but i still love watching your videos because i can learn more about the game itself, which not only lets me improve my own games with new techniques, but it also shows me how ID’s programmers were geniuses.

Oh hey! I discovered you through your little friendly debunking of the "Doom isn't 3D video" (Also RIP Ronnie) Nice to see Doom II's possible "press release version" if it ever had one like Doom. The asshole Mario 2 difficulty vibes and Temple aesthetic of Gantlet are my favorite parts of this version showcase.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this blast from the past - I'm 50 soon BUT still Love DOOM! ;o)

Very interesting, even the early version looks like solid fun! Thanks for making a video about this one!

I really enjoy videos like this. You did a great job, man.

Love your super in-depth vids. They're laid back, and extremely detailed. Keep it up! :)

Nice video. In map03 you can in fact jump down the well without strafe running, you just have to pick a good line, but it took me years likewise to discover.

it is amazing how quickly game development goes by and how many changes can be made in such a short amount of time

These are really impressive findings! I remember hearing about some beta doom 2 stuff but never to this extent :o

It's amazing how was the game in the beta, and watching your video makes me want to play it. You've just won a subscriber Doomkid

The reason the rev at 5:44 jumps when shooting could be that in the code the Rev actually moves up when shooting to have the rockets spawn higher. Also as seen in preview screenshots the old Rev sprites did have a different dead body sprite

looking into prerelease builds or assets of games always turns out super interesting to me. this and left 4 dead 2 are probably my favorite examples of beta stuff

Damn, thought decino would do something like this, but now I see why he didnt. Very legit vid. Gotcha a new sub.

I can't take mancubi with baron sounds seriously XD Good video

Speaking of the "well". Even though I knew about IDCLIP and had cheated into it pretty early on, I remember using DCK to look at the level, trying to figure out where the switch or teleporter was to get into it. It wasn't until then that I figured out that there was no switch and that you had to somehow run into it. Took me forever to figure out to strafe-run to do it. I miss those days.

Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed watching the beta maps. I like your commentary and gameplay. Cheers mate

I didn't strafe run that well secret on map 2 back in the day (I didn't know that strafe running made you run faster at the time) - I just used that elevated platform that leads you to the teleporter as a run-up and just run straight across those stairs right into the well. Cool to see this early version, thanks for the upload!

Wow I was like « yeah might be interesting » seeing the title and there I am 30 minutes later having the impression it was 5 minutes ago when I first saw ur video pop up. I guess once you start watching, you’re hooked. +1 sub great video man !

Awesome job, thank you!

Lol video looks like filmed in 2010 (which isn't a bad thing). Nevertheless, great video!!

I love these little dives into game development. Delving into the Doom Alphas back in the day made me appreciate Doom so much more, but also understand it better. What went in to it and how it worked. lovely trickle of excitement along the spine.

WOAO BETA MAPS Nice video btw.

Just stumbled on this. Great content. Very informative

I've seen your posts on Doomworld for years but I did not know you make such fantastic videos. Great video. Subbed.

Great video man! Love DOOM, just beat the DLC for Eternal today too!

The rocket sprite being used for the Revenants just looks SO MUCH BETTER for some reason. They really should've just kept it at that honestly. I mean it doesn't make much of a difference now but y'know.

Another great video. I'm Korozive on DooMWorlD forums and a huge fan. :o

the super shotgun is very strange xD awesome video doomkid!

10:56 the way he drinks water in sync with the music LOL

Great trip down memory lane there mate.

thanks for the video doomkid

Fascinating! Thank you

Fascinating. They really improved Dead Simple before release.

Straight to Ultra-Violence. My man.

14:40 I was just about to comment that line and literally laughed my ass out when I heard that

This was very interesting to see

It is sooooo refreshing to see someone making a video about DooM..... THAT ACTUALLY KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT DOOM!!!

Just watched this again, it'd be neat if you showcased the rest of the levels some day, I know some of them are pretty different, the level which became Map 28 would REALLY change. The Revenant making a little hop when launching his rocket is probably based in how Romero has said that he wanted to add a monster like the Revenant because he thought it would be really funny, and that feature of them was either temporary or something he was voted down on.

Awesome video

hell yeah, dude

Great research!

tbh I had no idea Doom 2 prototypes were available online, curious to see how the rest of the maps differ from the final versions. Map 10 especially, since that was a scrapped Doom 1 map ;o

Fun fact: the pebble texture in that beta map01 is still there, just out of bounds. Found out about it when making a silly doom wad called ikea doom

You weren't supposed to strafe run to get to that secret on map 3. You would go up on that narrow bridge to the teleporter that rises up, and use it to build up speed and jump directly into the well - no strafe running required.

Going deep into the beta! Looking back at this more obscure versions of Doom really tingles my curiosity. Nice video, as always. Have you ever thought about making a video about some ''lost levels'' ? I can think of one; Waters of Lethe by Dr. Sleep but sadly was never finished or released. And of course the infamous Eric Harris levels. But would be really nice to know if there are any other ''lost'' WADs out there.

First time to this channel, and if this guy doesn't look like a typical "doom kid" then shave my legs and call me grampa... Great content, bro.

9:10 wait that blue in the beginning of e1m1 is supposed to be a carpet?? I always thought it was some kind of water spill or some shit.

At 5:38 , it looks like the pain elemental's death animation is different. In the final game, you can see the eyes/faces of the last souls he emits upon death, but it looks like they just referenced a regular explosion graphic for this. It seems at this point they weren't considering him spawning lost souls yet.

I had a stroke watching the Super Shotgun reloading in 1.5

True doom history! I still keep my old HP from 1994, fully upgraded to 32MB of RAM, DX4 100Mhz CPU, and two 500MB hard drives. I really enjoy playing games the same way I did when I was a kid.

So with the original SSG i actually think it fits more as a “super shotgun” than just a normal double barrel

Sick posters 🤟

The arachnotrons seems pretty redundant when there is already a chaingun enemy. The beta also seems far less balanced, and more like an early Doom 2 wad with the less thought out enemy placement. Having Arachnotrons, Archviles, Mancubus, and Barons show up on map 2 just out there seems so unspecial. This feels less like an early version of Doom 2 and more like a demo showing off all of the monsters, since by level 2 you've seen most of the new monsters.

As a modder and tinkerer, that big pack of Doom developmental content which Romero released has been just an absolute goldmine. Often when I get an idea to do something, I still hop into those folders and dig through them, to see if there's something in there I can use.

thanks a lot G

Wow this is what Doomkid looks like? Coolio

Some points: 1: IDK why but I feel like the wood room at the start of Entryway is supposed to be one of the big bathrooms you get at sport venures (probably the weird grey things look like rough representations of sinks). 2: I like the more temple-y Gantlet. Makes me think about how texturing was more of a second thought in development and levels just had whatever the designer felt like, in contrast to today where good texturing is integral. 2a: Now that I think about it, you could change the feel of several maps just by changing the textures (Mt. Erebus as a more conventional City, The Inmost Dens with Green Marble instead of Brown Bricks, Bloodfalls sticking to one theme, etc.) 3. I think the reason Revs jump when firing rockets is so they come out at the right vertical placement. They still do this in the final, and they're shorter than their sprite would lead you to believe so they have room to jump.

The way you are recording like your in 2009 feels so nostlaguc

The press version of first doom were amazing, i would liked be final version (but final version isn't bad)

Strange take on some of the texturing and monster placement early on. Demons on MAP01? Chaingunner and Revenant on MAP02? Arachnotron and Arch-vile on MAP03?

I never even thought of looking up Doom 2 pre release stuff until I saw your video. Thanks mate! And thank God they abandoned the variable sound pitch, it's terrible!

Jesus man, the Beta Levels are SO MUCH BETTER. The original almost feels like such a terrible, watered down version of the game. Much more fun that way. Thanks for including the download man, you really made my day.

The caution signs in Map02 look a lot like signs from keen5

Love the channel. Just a suggestion, i'd love a video on the rich history of Doom modding and the early distribution of WADs. Like Aleins TC, how the fuck did Justin Fischer make that? What tools were available? Who made the first custom WAD? How did you even download/distribute them?

Yes.

I know this is a really old video but i had to comment. Ive continually heard that you had to straife run to get into the well secret but back in the day i had the 1.666 version and it took a little time for me to figure it out, but after you raise the bridge to the teleporter out of the area you can just turn around and do normal run down the bridge and get over the gap and down into the well. I always thought that was the intended way seeing as how i never even knew about straife running till at least the early 2000s. Just felt like putting that out there 😀

Yo little help? I'm not keen on this whole wad and SLADE business stuff. How do I fix the Arachnotron to not crash my game with its' missing frames? Thanks.

I love all the unused/beta content in doom 2,Is very cool see It in action.really good n cool video dude Funfact?: I remember for some reason some people in spanish speakers(i dont have idea it same thing in english or others communitys) community remember these strange gray bars in level 02 (the bars you need to press) strange Mandela effect?.Probably It occurs for the people download a recreation from Doom or bootleg Versions from Doom 2 iwad in strange sites Note:so sorry for strange words but i use my broke english

Someone did make a Chaingunner variant of the Arachnotron for ZDoom, I believe you can find it on Realm667 still. Also, the beta version of Dead Simple is so worthless, lol, it's good that they scrapped it and made a new one.

I personally like the old SSG sprite

Doom 2 with ultimate doom's textures looks way better, i love it

That's all very interesting :) But, the part of the screen with your head is way too big, it's interfering with what we're watching :) Thanks for the insight of doom's developpment !

Es interesante ver las alphas y betas

The old SSG reminds me of quakes 2 super shotgun

Ah yes, Doom Jesus

I think they knew about the difficulty that they were putting into the first map. If you'd remember, the first levels in DOOM also ran on a progression. E1M1 was miles easier than E3M8. It didn't hesitate to throw a bunch of cacodemons at you while you haven't even gotten a shotgun. So I'm pretty sure that within that same sense of progression, they thought that DOOM II would be most likely played by the people who have finished DOOM's episodes already. This'll also more or less justify the presence of strong weapons so early on in the game. First map hands you a rocket launcher, the second super shotgun, etc.

John Romero is really cool to his fans. I emailed him through the address given in Sigil to let him know that I love Sigil and I hope he makes more stuff for DOOM, and he emailed me back. I didn't expect him to email me back seeing as how he made some of the best games ever made. That blew my mind. So him talking to that DOOM God guy doesn't surprise me at all. They probably played against eachother.

Nowni know why it's called the super shotguns