Idgames archive

The idgames archive (or /idgames archive) is the largest online archive of levels, modifications, tools and other material for Doom engine games. The archive was founded in by Barry Bloom, and is currently hosted on the FTP site of gamers.org, where it has been housed since. To alleviate bandwidth usage and ensure that data will not be lost, the archive is mirrored on various alternative FTP sites around the world which are recommended for downloads.

The /idgames archive is one of three sister FTP archives for game add-ons, also including a Quake engine archive (/idgames2) and an Unreal archive (/unreal). Of the three, only the idgames archive accepts new uploads, while the other two are closed.

Content management
The archive accepts submissions freely but includes several restrictions and requirements on what may be uploaded, either due to copyright reasons or to keep a certain standard in the quality of the files collected, which are described in a document in the main directory of the FTP entitled README.INCOMING. Uploaded files that are rejected for any reason are listed on another file named REJECTS that notes the reasons the file was not accepted. Uploads are packaged in the ZIP format and require an accompanying text file based on the standard Doom file template, UPLTEMPL.TXT, which must be uploaded separately, as well as in the ZIP file.

The archive has a demos section (/lmps), but it has been closed for years, which has given rise to alternative demo recording archives, notably the competn FTP, which hosts the files for the DSDA and Compet-n.

For easy browsing of the archive, the Doomworld website provides a database of the archive with searching, user commenting and ratings, and download links to official mirrors.

History
The archive was preceded by an informal set of disjoint archives on various university FTP servers, including wuarchive.wustl.edu and ftp.uwp.edu, beginning in December 1993 with the release of Doom. The need to have a centralized and moderated location where all files could be uploaded and then mirrored from led Barry Bloom to create an authoritative archive at ocf.unt.edu in March 1994. However, administrators eventually disapproved of the use of resources, forcing a move of the primary archive to a new server at infant2.sphs.indiana.edu, at Indiana University, administered primarily by Jim Pitts beginning in May 1994.

The server at infant2 gathered a strong set of mirrors, and persisted until November 1994 when Jim Pitts lost administrative access to the server. ftp.orst.edu was promoted as a temporary primary site, but users were not able to successfully upload files to that server. It was picked up a month later by, also known by its domain name of cdrom.com, which was already a mirror. It was originally administered by a team consisting of Joost Schuur, Jeff Makaiwi, and Frans P. de Vries. In October 2001, cdrom.com was purchased by a new parent company and announced that it would no longer host such archives. The archive was moved to its present location at gamers.org at that time, with the primary download server hosted at 3darchives.in-span.net, until its discontinuation in January 2005.

Modern maintainers
Frans P. de Vries became the primary maintainer soon after the transfer from infant2, and remained in that role until 1997, when he passed it on to Ty Halderman. Halderman held the role without interruption until April 2015, when illness prevented him from continuing his duties, at which point Bill Koch (Bloodshedder) and Eric Baker (The Green Herring) were named interim maintainers. After Halderman's death in July 2015, Koch and Baker were retained as the new maintainers.

Reviews
Despite the age of the Doom games, numerous WAD files are still submitted to the archive each week. These are reviewed in The /newstuff Chronicles regularly on Doomworld. This is named after the /newstuff directory, where the latest submissions to the archive can be found. Several community reviewers post reviews of the latest levels, typically including screen shots.