Freedoom

In 1999 id Software released the source code to their classic game Doom (under the GNU General Public License). The game as a whole did not get this treatment, however, which means that while the program code that powers Doom is free, the actual content of Doom - graphics, audio, levels, setting and characters - remains proprietary. The Freedoom project aims to fill this gap and create a complete free and libre first person shooter game.

By itself, Freedoom is just the content of a game and must be paired with a Doom-compatible game engine to be played: the download page lists some recommended programs.

Freedoom is actually three entire games, with two single-player campaigns and one collection of multiplayer deathmatch arenas (FreeDM).

There is a massive decades-long back catalog containing thousands of Doom levels and other mods made by fans of the original game. Freedoom aims to be compatible with these and allows most to be played without the need to use non-free software. The video to the right shows a Doom mod running under Freedoom.

Just as the GNU project was started to develop a free operating system to replace Unix, we aim to provide a free replacement for Doom. If you have artistic skills (visual, musical, or maybe you just like making levels!) then you can help us achieve that aim by contributing to the project!

Freedoom contains hundreds of original textures, sound effects and music tracks that can be reused royalty-free by Doom level authors and other independent game developers.

Freedoom is liberally licensed under the BSD license - all you need is to include that same copyright statement and credit the Freedoom project.

For some examples of projects that have used Freedoom's assets, take a look at the projects page.