Wad Archive
From DoomWiki.org
Wad Archive is a website specializing, as the name implies, in archiving WAD files, that was created and maintained by WadArchive. It launched in 2013 – although it did not receive wider community attention until June 2014[1] – and is probably the largest archive in the Doom community, describing over 93,600 files (of which over 87,200 downloadable) that amount to 1.05 TB.
Features[edit]
- Files are categorized by:
- WAD categories: commercial, beta, general;
- WAD types: PWAD, IWAD, WAD2/WAD3, PK3/PK7/PKE, ZWAD;
- Games: (Ultimate) Doom, Doom II, Final Doom (TNT/Plutonia Experiment), Heretic, Hexen, Strife;
- Modes: single-player, cooperative, deathmatch;
- Engines or source ports;
- idgames archive hierarchy.
- WADs are accompanied by their browsable text file, if available.
- WADs are illustrated by their title screen if available, or by another screenshot, and can also be accompanied by intermission, help and credit screens, ENDOOM and PLAYPAL screens, and more.
- Maps in level WADs are illustrated by a screenshot of their starting point, generated by a script in a virtual machine.[2][3]
- Maps are accompanied by their automap image, the number of deathmatch starts and coop starts/voodoo dolls, technical data like thing/linedef/sidedef/vertex counts,[4] and par times.
- Altogether the archive is decorated by more than 360,500 screenshots.
- The original site also provided an API, an RSS feed, and an account system for user comments.
- A category for discs (archived 🏛) existed until 2017.
Closure and return[edit]
On August 4, 2022, WadArchive announced that their site was no longer updated and would be closed at an unspecified later time.[5] Its entire contents had already been preserved at the Internet Archive on July 10, and eventually disappeared from the site around October 12.[6]
smeghammer started a project to make this archive accessible, resulting in a Python wrapper[7] in November 2022, and a dedicated website in July 2023.[8] Independently, maxime420 also developed an archive browser in 2023, which was announced in February 2024.[9]
On December 3, 2024, it was noticed[10] that the full incarnation of Wad Archive had returned that November.[11] Whereas the original site usually offered multiple sources to download files from, like Wad Archive, Doomshack and idgames archive, the relaunched site offers only archive.org and (if available) idgames archive downloads, with screenshots also being served by archive.org.
External links[edit]
- Wad Archive
- Wad Archive archive on Internet Archive
- Wad Archive interface by smeghammer
- Wad Archive browser by maxine420/uwx
References[edit]
- ↑ Reisal (13 June 2014). WAD Archive. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ WadArchive (5 May 2020). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ WadArchive (31 March 2021). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ WadArchive (3 May 2020). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ WadArchive (4 August 2022). Closing Wad Archive. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ Doomlover77 (12 October 2022). Well I used the wad archive yesterday.. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ smeghammer (4 November 2022). Python wrapper for wad archive data dump - fully works with compressed archive. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ smeghammer (20 July 2023). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ maxime420 (23 February 2024). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ DoomVile (3 December 2024). Wad Archive Is Back!. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ WadArchive (4 December 2024). Doomworld forums post. Doomworld forums. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
