DOOM Retro is now compiled using Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop.

DOOM Retro is now distributed with version 1.2.14 of SDL.dll and version 1.2.12 of SDL_mixer.dll.

doomretro.exe now has a new icon.

If no IWAD file is specified using the –IWAD command-line parameter, a standard Windows dialog box entitled “Where’s All the Data?” will now appear where one IWAD, and optionally one or more PWADs, can be selected.

DOOM Retro is now considerably more stable. The game will no longer crash when a Spectre is on the screen in some instances.

Many internal optimizations have been made.

A bug has been fixed that was present in Vanilla DOOM whereby bullets would pass through monsters in some instances.

Much greater mouse sensitivity can now be selected in the options menu.

Minor visual tweaks have been made to the status bar.

The game will no longer switch to widescreen mode in the options menu if the screen slider is moved all the way to the right and no game is being played.

The + and – keys, as well as moving left and right on a gamepad, can no longer be used to toggle messages on and off in the options menu.

When default.cfg is created for the first time, the keyboard control variables will now be saved as their actual character values rather than their scan codes.

Blood splats are now left on the ground wherever blood falls. (They may be disabled by setting bloodsplats to false in default.cfg.)

The fuzz effect of Spectres now looks better while the game is paused or a menu is displayed.

A bug has been fixed whereby the chainsaw could not be selected by the player unless they also had a berserk power-up.

The screen will now be wiped at the same speed in widescreen mode.

If a value is out of range in default.cfg, the default for that value will be used rather than the closest valid value.

The usegamma value is now checked that it is in range when the game starts.

When the player stands where there is a change in height (either on the floor or ceiling), that edge is now drawn more accurately.

When in a confined area, Pain Elementals no longer try to spawn Lost Souls in the wrong places only for them to explode straight away.

When Lost Souls are killed, they now explode on the spot, rather than their explosion sometimes drifting upwards.

When Pain Elementals are killed, their explosion is now centered better.

A bug has been fixed whereby messages weren't always being cleared before taking a screenshot.

The state of flickering lights, active switches and moving platforms are now saved in savegames. This means that savegames from previous versions of DOOM Retro will no longer work.

When a monster is killed, there is a better chance of its corpse being mirrored horizontally if the corpse of the last monster to be killed wasn't mirrored.

When more than one monster is killed at exactly the same time, there is now a chance that they will fall randomly out of sync.

Settings are now saved to default.cfg the moment they change, rather than when quitting the game, so if the game crashes or exits with an error, those settings will be restored.

The player’s weapon now isn’t as distorted at reduced screen sizes.

A bug has been fixed whereby the muzzle of the super shotgun was translucent in some instances.

33% alpha translucency rather additive translucency is now used for the SoulSphere, MegaSphere, Invincibility and Partial Invisibility power-ups.

The + and – keys can no longer be used while the help screen is displayed.

In those levels that require one or more monsters to be killed for a sector to move to complete the level, if the –NOMONSTERS command-line parameter is specified, those sectors will now automatically move.

Replicating what happens in Heretic and Hexen, the remaining monsters in the level will turn on each other once the player has been killed. The player will face their killer when they die, but unlike those games, their view won’t continue to follow their killer around.

A bug has been fixed whereby DOOM’s episode menu would be displayed when pressing the ESC key on DOOM II’s skill level menu.

The IDCHOPPERS cheat will now be cancelled (by removing the invulnerability power-up and the chainsaw) when the player switches to or picks up a weapon other than the chainsaw.

Many monsters are now positioned and animate better in DOOM II’s cast sequence.

Monsters now can’t be rotated in the cast sequence until they are actually on the screen.

Z-coordinates are now taken into account when telefragging.

Arch-viles no longer resurrect monsters such that they become stuck in other monsters, or under doors.

A bug has been fixed whereby the game may crash when an Arch-vile resurrects a monster after a savegame has been loaded.

The boss in MAP30: Icon Of Sin at the end of DOOM II: Hell On Earth will now still make its alert sound when the level starts if –NOMONSTERS is specified on the command-line.

A “rotate mode” is now available in the automap. Toggled on and off using the R key, it will dynamically orientate the level such that the player is always pointing towards the top of the screen. Rotate mode is off by default, and whether it is on or off is remembered between games.

Only one instance of doomretro.exe can be run at a time.

The player arrow in the automap will now be translucent while the player has a partial invisibility power-up.

In DOOM II (BFG Edition), since TITLEPIC isn’t present in the IWAD, the otherwise unused DMENUPIC is now used instead of INTERPIC.

It’s been only six short weeks since the debut release of DOOM Retro, and yet already I’m glad to announce a new version! DOOM Retro v1.1 contains several bugfixes and enhancements, (many of which were suggested by members of the DOOM community on the Doomworld forums), as well as a few new surprises. You may download it here, and see what has changed in the release notes here.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for supporting me in creating a DOOM source port that is new and fresh, and perhaps heading in a different direction to all else that is currently out there. Please keep your feedback coming, either by commenting this post, participating on the forums, or on Twitter. And if you would consider sparing a few dollars to assist with the development of DOOM Retro, I would be forever grateful! You can donate through PayPal by clicking on that button to the right.

The source code is no longer distributed with DOOM Retro itself, and has instead been made separately available in a GitHub repository. Please visit this site to follow the latest daily developments, and report any issues that you may encounter.

The correct and complete version information is now displayed when right-clicking on doomretro.exe and selecting “Properties”.

The –FILE command-line parameter may no longer be used with DOOM Shareware’s WAD file, DOOM1.WAD.

If a default.cfg file is present in the game folder, it will now be used in preference to the default.cfg saved in AppData\Local\DOOM RETRO for the current Windows user.

While still maintaining backwards compatibility, the values that may be specified in the default.cfg file are now much more readable, and easier to edit manually. Click here for an example.

Gamepad controls can now be customized by editing the default.cfg file.

A bug has been fixed whereby the game wouldn’t be rendered correctly for displays with an aspect ratio less than 4:3 (that is, displays that aren’t widescreen).

In fullscreen mode on a widescreen display, increasing the screen size with the + key to the maximum will now show a widescreen mode without the status bar, and without any of the horizontal stretching prevalent in many other source ports. DOOM Retro will revert to the standard 4:3 aspect ratio when on the title, intermission, finale and help screens.

A bug has been fixed whereby parts of MAP01: Entryway and MAP02: Underhalls in DOOM II: Hell On Earth would become corrupted when using older versions of DOOM2.WAD. Two barrels and a Shotgun Guy were missing from MAP02 as well. (Credit goes to Jon Krazov for his assistance.)

For a majority of translucent or partially translucent objects, their translucency is now calculated using additive blending rather than alpha blending, resulting in them appearing considerably brighter.

The blue lights in tall and short techno floor lamps (MT_MISC29 and MT_MISC30) are now translucent.

The red and green lights in all switches, as well as the exit signs and many computer terminals that appear in most levels are now consistently bright regardless of the surrounding light levels, and the distance from the player (that is, they are “fullbright”).

Some minor cosmetic changes have been made to the status bar.

The corpses of Cyberdemons are no longer flipped horizontally at random.

When the player ends a level by flicking a switch, that switch will now turn on before the screen is wiped.

If the player has both the invulnerability and the light amplification visor power-ups, and the invulnerability power-up runs out first, the screen will now flash correctly between the inverted grayscale palette and the “fullbright” palette.

If the player has both a chainsaw and a berserk power-up, pressing the 1 key will now directly switch to either the chainsaw or the fist, depending on which weapon was selected last, rather than always switching to the chainsaw. This selection is also remembered when saving a game.

If the SHIFT key is held down when the CAPSLOCK key is on (or vice-versa), the player will walk instead of run, as originally intended.

Monsters can no longer pass through tall level decorations.

A bug has been fixed whereby it took approximately twice as many rockets to kill the boss in MAP30: Icon Of Sin at the end of DOOM II: Hell On Earth.

Like what can be done at the end of DOOM 64, each monster can now be rotated using the ← and → cursor keys during the cast sequence in DOOM II.

The Lost Soul in the cast sequence in DOOM II is now partially translucent.

The explosions when the Lost Soul and the Pain Elemental die in the cast sequence in DOOM II are now translucent.

A bug has been fixed whereby the cast sequence in DOOM II could not be advanced by pressing the CTRL key.

The help screen has been updated to include the new controls for the keyboard, mouse and gamepad, and fixing several inconsistencies. (Credit goes to Robin “FrightNight” Reisinger for his assistance.)

The text on the help screen now has drop shadows.

The help screen’s background is now a low resolution snapshot of the game screen with a dark blue tint.

The controls for selecting the plasma rifle and BFG 9000 are no longer present on the help screen in DOOM Shareware.

When using a PWAD, screenshot filenames will now be of the format ExMy.bmp or MAPxx.bmp rather than incorrectly use the name of the map this map replaces in the main IWAD.

When a screenshot is taken using the PRINTSCREEN key, any messages are now cleared from the top of the screen first.

A bug has been fixed whereby if a game is saved while a platform is moving, it could potentially cause the game to crash when that savegame is loaded.

When using the IDCLEVxy cheat, keycards and skull keys are no longer removed from the status bar before the screen is wiped.

The correct message is now displayed when entering the IDKFA cheat.