Action Doom

From DoomWiki.org

Action Doom
Title screen
Author Stephen Browning et al.
Ports ZDoom, GZDoom
IWAD Doom II
Year 2004
Link Original version
Rampage Edition
Cacoward.png This mod received one of the 2004 Cacowards on Doomworld!

Action Doom is a total conversion that attempts to simulate 2D sidescroller shoot 'em up gameplay in Doom's first person perspective. The project was spearheaded by Stephen Browning (Scuba Steve) with additional help from Mike Watson (Cyb), Julian Aubourg, and Kara Rader (Nanami). The author of Action Doom dedicated a significant portion of time to creating blogged "advertisements" and held contests for various events to give away prizes that related to Action Doom.

Action Doom is heavily influenced by 90s shoot 'em up games, such as the Contra and Metal Slug series of games, both visually and in terms of the gameplay mechanics presented. It also has many references and callbacks to other games from the 90s as well as other Doom mods, with an often humorous style with ample Easter eggs to be found.

A prequel, Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl was released in 2008. A remastered version of the original mod for GZDoom, dubbed Action Doom: Rampage Edition, was released in 2022, by Scuba Steve and Kaelan Evans (kevansevans).

Content[edit]

Gameplay changes[edit]

Unlike most Doom mods, Action Doom presents a number of significant departures from the original formula. The player's starting arsenal is limited to a knife and a pistol with infinite ammo, and the player can find and hold two additional weapons at any given time. Once the player expends the ammo of an additional weapon, the weapon is discarded so that the player could find a different weapon to use in its slot. Additionally, Action Doom does not feature a traditional health bar, instead having enemy attacks deal the same amount of damage with every attack type. To help deal with this, and also to reinforce the mod's influences, every enemy attack is either melee or projectile-based, with no hitscan to be found. The amount of attacks a player can withstand depends on the custom skill level chosen:

Practice
Five health points
Easy
Four health points
Normal
Three health points
Contra
Two health points

Custom enemies[edit]

Contra rebel
Resembles the shotgun guy from Doom and shoots a single pellet. Has 1 hit point.
Chaingunner
Resembles the Doom enemy of the same name. Shoots three pellets in bursts until you get out of his line of sight. Has 6 hit points.
Ninja
A human enemy in a pitch black suit with night vision goggles. Functions similarly to the Contra rebel with 1 hit point.
Rocket ninja
Looks identical to the ninja, but shoots rockets, and also has a melee attack. Has three hit points and drops a rocket when killed.
Imp
Similar to the Doom monster, but bleeds green and does not throw fireballs. The imp will try to get close, and when it does, it will explode into gibs and damage the player. The gibs can be killed separately if attacked. Has 2 hit points.
Severed imp head
When spotted, these imp heads sprout tentacles and chase the player to bite them. Has 1 hit point.
Demon
Functions entirely similar to the Doom monster. Has 6 hit points.
Alien
A red alien who runs up to the player to attack with tentacles. Has 6 hit points.
Alien turret
A pink creature with a head that looks upside-down, a large mouth with sharp teeth, and two yellow eyes, functioning as a turret and appearing alongside the final boss. Shoots fast, green fireballs. Has 9 hit points. When killed, the alien turret erupts into a green fountain.
Baby slug
A small, green blob in the shape of a slug. Moves away from you when seen and dies by any means, whether it is by stepping on it or by shooting it. Has 5 hit points.
Box slug
Disguised as a beige crate, when awoken it is revealed to be a large, yellow slug. Moves slowly and shoots two fast, green fireballs. Has 45 hit points.
Turret
A stationary metal turret that shoots large bullets at the player. Has 12 hit points.
Small squid tentacle
A gray tentacle that does not move, but will lash at players who are close. Has 15 hit points.
Big squid tentacle
A larger squid tentacle which is rounder at the end. In addition to having a lash attack, can shoot ink at the player. Has 20 hit points.
Baron of Hell
Functions entirely similar to the Doom monster. Has 21 hit points.
Tank
The tank first shows up as a major obstacle in the first level, but two more reappear in the second level. The tank itself will shoot fast rockets at the player, and you need to destroy the main gun of the tank to put it out of commission. The main gun has 42 hit points.
Core boss
The main boss of the first level after the tank is a green core, which shoots three energy bolts in a spread. You are supposed to shoot at the green core, which in turn hits an invisible thing. This boss has 180 hit points.
Mother of all imps
A large, pink alien head that is the final boss and is accompanied by alien turrets and imp pods. Shoots a series of three large, green projectiles. Has 300 hit points and explodes into a large fountain of green blood when destroyed. The base will soon detonate after destroying the mother of all imps, and you will then have to escape and jump into a helicopter, only for the mother of all imps to return again to attack on your chopper. The damaged head has 666 hit points, but actually cannot be killed. You need to instead destroy the two hands, both of which have 18 hit points, to make the mother of all imps fall into the sea before it starts continuously shooting green projectiles into your chopper. Doing this will win you the game.
Goomba
A goomba from the NES game Super Mario Bros., nine of which appear in a secret section in the first level. Can damage you upon contact and has 1 hit point.
Venture snake
A snake from the arcade game Venture, three of which appear in a secret section in the final level. Can damage you upon contact and has 1 hit point.
Alien imposter
The true final boss, only available on the hardest skill level, the alien imposter looks like a humanoid of rotting flesh, which hangs from the ceiling using two flesh tendons and has the head of a dead Doom marine. The alien imposter has severed limbs except for its left arm, which it uses as a melee attack if it gets close. The alien imposter is meant to be unkillable by conventional means, as it has 99999999 hit points. You are supposed to shoot out the front window of the ship in order to send the alien imposter out to space.

Custom weapons[edit]

Action knife
One of two starting weapons, this melee knife can be used for a quick slash.
Action pistol
One of two starting weapons, the pistol fires a single pellet and has a moderate fire rate and infinite ammo.
Action rifle
A rifle with a small scope. The action rifle is a slot 3 weapon that starts out with 99 ammo and shoots in bursts of three bullets.
Action rocket launcher
A gray rocket launcher. The action rocket launcher is a slot 5 weapon that starts out with 20 rockets and can burn human enemies when they are hit. The rockets can do approximately 6 hit points of damage but do not have splash damage.
Action flame thrower
A green flame thrower. The action flamethrower is a slot 4 weapon that starts out with 120 fuel cells and fires in bursts of four (you cannot hold down the fire button with this weapon). The flames can burn human enemies when they are hit.
Action spread cannon
A green, multi-barreled gun. The action spread cannon is a slot 6 weapon that starts out with 30 spread gun ammo, and firing once uses up one unit of ammo to fire a spread of projectiles, three directly in front and two more projectiles tailing on both sides. The projectile spreads can be useful for groups of enemies, or can be used at close range to defeat stronger foes faster.
Action shotgun
A shotgun resembling Doom's shotgun. The action shotgun is a slot 7 weapon that starts out with 30 shells and shoots a single, strong blast that has short range, capable of doing multiple hit points of damage but with a slow rate of fire.
Mancubus arm cannon
A secret weapon found on the second level. This is a slot 4 weapon with 99 fuel cells. When fired once, it fires three mancubus fireballs, the first goes slightly to the left, the second in the middle, and the third slightly to the right.
BFG prototype
A BFG with green tubes on its top found on the final level. This is a slot 1 weapon with an infinite ammo pool and because it is a prototype, it is not a safe weapon to use, as it damages the user once it finally fires and the range is extremely short and not ideal. It is capable of instantly killing monsters who are close.

Custom items[edit]

Action rifle magazine
A small clip that refills ammo for the action rifle.
Rocket ammo
A gray rocket that refills ammo for the action rocket launcher.
Fuel cell
A red fuel rod that refills ammo for the action rocket launcher. An unused version exists that refills ammo for the mancubus arm cannon.
Spread gun ammo
Three multi-colored bullets that refill ammo for the action spread cannon.
Box of shotgun shells
Looks identical to the Doom item of the same name and refills ammo for the action shotgun.
Cash
Several wads of cash that can be collected.
Action beer
A six-pack of action beer. Only one exists in the final level and the true final level.
Cacoward
A coveted Cacoward that makes a tune when collected. Try to find the hidden Cacoward in the third level.
Space marine helmet
A small helmet which only appears in the final ship level as a collectable.
Coin
A coin from the hidden Super Mario Bros. section on the first level.
Flag
The flag at the end of the Super Mario Bros. section. Jump to its tip to get 5000 points.
Red level scientist's hand
A severed hand which replaces the red keycard.
Mission objectives dossier
A document showing the mission objectives which can be retrieved from the first level before parachuting from the chopper.
Clipboard
A writing showing some information pertaining to the second and third levels. There are two different types of clipboards, one that is clean and the other has lots of blood on it.

Custom objects[edit]

Crate
Unlike in Doom, crates function as items and can be destroyed with three shots. Three variants exist: red, beige, and gray. The red crate, when destroyed, reveals an action rifle.
Imp tech pod
A glass tube with an imp in stasis. Can be destroyed with three shots, releasing the imp inside. Most of these tech pods exist in the second level.
Imp pod
A pink, alien pod with an imp in stasis. Similar to the tech pod, but alien in nature, you can destroy the pod with three shots, releasing the imp inside. Most of these pods exist in the third level.

Levels[edit]

Soundtrack[edit]

Each level has a set of tracks associated with it. The list below shows only track numbers. Full information about each track is displayed in the Tracklist subsection.

  • MAP01: 1, 3, 6, 11, 21
  • MAP02: 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 20
  • MAP03: 5, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22
  • MAP04: 8
  • MAP05: 7, 8, 18
  • Title screen: "Action on a Street" by dez

Tracklist[edit]

  1. "Main Theme" by Takushi Hiyamuta (Hiya!), from Metal Slug
  2. unknown track (D_IMPOSS)
  3. "Ground Theme" by Koji Kondo, from Super Mario Bros.
  4. MIDI rendition of "Silence" by Hirokazu Tanaka, from Super Metroid
  5. "Serpent room theme" from Venture
  6. "The Street" by Julian Aubourg
  7. "Action Doom" by Julian Aubourg
  8. "Ending" by Julian Aubourg
  9. "Funky Chase" by Julian Aubourg
  10. "Slasher" by Julian Aubourg
  11. "Da Boss" by Julian Aubourg
  12. "Tykrod" by $volkraq
  13. "Super Mario 3 - World 6 Ice Remix" by Robert Smith
  14. unknown track (FINALBOS)
  15. unknown track (CHOPPA1)
  16. MIDI rendition of "VS. Marukara" by Minako Hamano and Akira Fujiwara, from Metroid Fusion (sequenced by Tsu Ryu)
  17. "cunfuzion" by rufferto
  18. MIDI rendition of "Environmental Sound (Silence 2)" by Minako Hamano and Akira Fujiwara, from Metroid Fusion (sequenced by David)
  19. "Bloodlust" by tARANTULa
  20. "necroscope" by Martin Wall (Mantronix)
  21. "Mission Complete - REAL" by Richard B
  22. MIDI rendition of "San Francisco Highway" by Nobuo Uematsu, from Rad Racer (sequenced by Tony Thai)

Development[edit]

Screenshot of the boat chase.

Action Doom began life in 2001 as a simple weapons mod that fired projectiles instead of bullets, and went by the name Metal Slug Doom. Not until the summer of 2003 would anything become of the project or would it evolve any levels.

The purpose of Action Doom was to not only create a modification for Doom, but to invent and market an imaginary product with the intent of simulating the environment surrounding the golden era of gaming of the early 90s. Coupled with the hopes of invigorating the stagnant Doom community, the author tried to generate as much hype and interest while showing almost no preliminary screenshots or information, leaving those items up to the community's imagination.

Action Doom featured several first and never before seen Doom tricks using the ZDoom engine. In the second level, the player is confronted with three separate paths to take. One path led on a high speed boat chase which allowed the player to manually control the boat and navigate a river dodging rocks. The third level featured what was to later become the first of a series of ACS mini games: Andrew Stine (Linguica) was responsible for the Doom Racer arcade machine, which was a parody of Rad Racer.

In terms of length, Action Doom has four levels, with an optional fifth level if played on the "Contra" setting. The WAD's gameplay and shelf life are expanded by the inclusion of five separate paths to take each with their own unique theme; however, none of them have any impact on the ending. Action Doom also features six new songs all created by Julian Aubourg.

In the end, Action Doom was an interesting experiment in WAD making. It had little to no impact on what was expected from projects, its biggest accomplishment was pulling the player away from the confines of just a third party video game addon, but to actually interact with the player outside of an impersonal Internet community.

Promotional offerings[edit]

The physical box made for Action Doom

From late October 2003 until its release on July 3, 2004 the author ran a series of advertisements on his blog on Doomworld. All the ads are chronicled here on the Action Doom webpage. In addition to countless silly "ads", the author also went as far as to make three t-shirts which had the Action Doom logo, and even more extreme lengths to create a DVD case with a fully assembled instruction manual, high gloss cover and printed CD. The 10 boxes were given out in various contests the author held through Doomworld's forums.

The first contest encouraged people to submit their own advertisement and say how much they loved Action Doom. James McChesney (DooM Anomaly) was the winner of the t-shirt, and the results of that can be found here.

The second contest was a High score contest with three places.

A third unofficial contest was held on the website. The first two people to complete a fake pre-order form received a box. Owen Lloyd (Sarge Baldy) and again, James McChesney (DooM Anomaly) were the two recipients of boxes.

The remaining 6 boxes were awarded to members who contributed to or others.

External links[edit]

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