Do you remember the Doom RPG? Probably not; a lot of people aren't
even aware that there was a DOOM roleplaying game (much less that it
was an official product of Id software to boot!). That's because it
was only released to mobile platforms... and - since it came out at
the height of the 'dumb phone' era - it has been pretty much
impossible to play unless you happen to have one of those ancient
devices at hand and in working condition.

Which is a shame, because the games - not just the original "Doom
RPG", but its sequel (imaginatively named "Doom II RPG") and
semi-prequel, the Wolfenstein RPG - were actually pretty fun to play.
They utilized the Doom engine, but - due to the limitations of the
hardware of the day - operated more like step-based action-roleplaying
games like "Eye of the Beholder" or "Bards Tale". They weren't
particularly deep or sophisticated, but were entertaining played in
the short periods you'd normally spend on a mobile game.

So why bring them up? Because, thanks to some clever hackery, they can
be played now on the PC* for the first time.** The code is available
here: https://www.doomworld.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=188951

I first encountered the series as a port to the iPhone; both the
WolfRPG and DoomII RPG got a port to that platform (both games are
still available, but won't run on modern iOS hardware or operating
systems, so if you're interested you'll need to find yourself a really
old iphone or ipad). I had so much fun with them I actually went out
and acquired an old java phone just for the privilege of playing the
original (which was less fun, but only because the phone's touchpad
interface was so atrocious).

I'm thrilled to see that the games are being given a second chance,
even if I'm not entirely sure how I'll get the data off that ancient flip-phone.*** But even if I don't myself manage to revive my old copy
of the game, I'm hopeful that this port will soon lead to an official
port of those classic games****; they definitely deserve a revival.





----------------
* Well, assuming you can get your hands on the original game's assets.
** Technically, the games were playable on PC before with the use of a java-phone emulator. However, there is now a native port.
*** or where it even is, for that matter. There's a bit of a clutter
when it comes to old devices like that 'round these parts here ;-)
**** Right now only the original DoomRPG has been ported, but - since
Doom II RPG and Wolfenstein RPG all share the same code-base, it
shouldn't take too much extra effort to get all the games running.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)