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John Romero releases his second new Doom level in 23 years

Romero dubs new level a 'warm-up' for Blackroom

David Craddock

April 26, 2016 2:20 PM

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Back in January, John Romero delighted fans of Doom, id Software's classic from 1993, by releasing a brand new level—his first map for the hellish FPS in over 23 years. Now, as a way to hype and warm up for Blackroom, his new-old-school FPS currently on Kickstarter, Romero took to Twitter to announce another map for id's breakout shooter.

Where his first map replaced E1M8 (episode 1, mission 8) of Doom, this one supplants E1M4: Command Control, originally created by Romero's friend and id Software co-founder Tom Hall.

"With the Toxin Refinery in the rearview, you make your way to Phobos Mission Control where the computers crunching the data from the Phobos Anomaly are located," reads the level's description. "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."

Download the map from Dropbox and drag the .wad file to your Doom folder. To play it, you'll need a source port for Doom such as ZDoom (recommended by Romero himself). Warp directly to the level by starting a new game and typing 'IDCLEV14' without quote marks.

Romero says that fans can think of both of his new maps as proof of concepts for the fast-paced, old-school shooting he and Adrian Carmack have planned for Blackroom, which is aiming for a late-2018 release.

For more on Blackroom, be sure to read our exclusive interview with John Romero.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.