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ZDaemon is a modified Doom source port based on ZDoom for both Windows and *NIX (server only at this time), purposely-built for playing multiplayer games of Doom over the internet. It used to be open source, but the source has been closed due to cheating incidents and security issues. The current client version is 1.08.01 (December 31, 2005), and the current server version is 1.08.02 (April 6, 2006). The difference in version numbers, normally kept balanced, is due to a recent server patch that fixes a critical security vulnerability.
ZLauncher
ZLauncher is a specialized launcher made specifically for ZDaemon. It provides an official list of currently available servers for people to play on. It also features a buddy list, GETWAD (automatic wad downloading), a quick link to ZSL (the server launcher) from the menu, a WAD file setup utility, demo recording, playback utilities, a built in chat lobby (based on IRC), and embedded forum access. It is maintained by team member Kilgore.
ZSL
ZSL, or ZDaemon Server Launcher is a program for invoking the ZDaemon server program with a specific configuration instead of having to edit the server configuration files by hand and start zserv manually. It is maintained by team member Doom2pro.
Other Utilities
GETWAD
This is a modular utility created by team member Kilgore that looks on many major file repositories for map files, which it then downloads and extracts to a users specified map directory automatically.
ZRC
This is a modular IRC client created by team member Kilgore that is simply that - an IRC client. However, when used in tandem with ZLauncher, it automatically joins a specialized IRC server. Since everyone who uses ZLauncher is logged in to this chat server, you can chat with everyone who is logged in to ZDaemon and has ZLauncher open.
Criticism
Source code controversy
In ZDaemon 1.07, the development team stopped releasing the source code to ZDaemon due to numerous attacks and cheating incidents. The development team claims that since ZDaemon came from a mixed number of conflicting licenses, and thus was only subject to one of them: The Doom Public License. This licenses technically allows for the source to be closed, and the development team felt, much to their benefit, this to be an appropriate license to abide by.
This action caused a number of people to leave the community until the ZDaemon source is released again. The move has been criticised as a form of security through obscurity, making development of some cheats more difficult but not addressing the causes. The move also makes development of alternate ZDaemon clients and servers impossible and is uncommon in the Doom community where most source ports have their source code publicly available. Though, it should be taken note of that ZDaemon's main competitor, Skulltag is also closed source.
The developers have agreed that anyone wanting to develop a new feature or bugfix can do so using the older ZDaemon 1.06 codebase and submit it to the core development team for inclusion.
The ZDaemon community
The ZDaemon community itself, while not part of the ZDaemon program in a strict sense, plays a huge role in the experience of playing ZDaemon online. It features multiple methods of discussion and game collaboration.
The community's discussion and gaming services include:
The ZDaemon Forums
ZDaemon Chat / #zdplayers on ZDirc
#zdaemon on irc.freenode.net (defunct)
ZDaemon Tournaments
ZDReview
Clan activity
ZDaemon features a highly active clan scene. However, there are several major clans of note within ZDaemon.
Dwango United (DUI)
Created by former users of the DWANGO online gaming service of the mid 1990s, it boasts a large number of active participants.
http://www.dwangounited.org
Oldschoolers (OS)
A clan made up of more oldschool players, originated by three members: KNorton, Urhash, and fyrestorm. They are almost immediately recognizable by their ^OS tag, and are the original clan that came up with the "on top!" phrase commonly used in the ZDaemon lexicon. http://clanos.slipgate.org
UniDoom (UD)
One of the oldest existing clans that remain constantly active. Among other things, they are responsible for the creation of the very popular UDM deathmatch series. Their active and inactive roster encompasses more than 30 players, mappers and coders, however disputes between the clan and the ZDaemon developers and community have resulted in the exodus of a good portion of them from the community.
http://www.unidoom.org
Bad Taste (BT)
Founded by ATG (Sleepless) and 206, it's current roster mostly consists of staff members and a few mappers. They are hard to spot at times, since they sometimes play sans clan tag.
http://bt.keystone.gr
Limp Gimps (LG)
A tightly knitted English clan (with the exception of one Dutch member) founded by enVision (Rat Arsed), the roster only contains 5 members of which 3 are staff. Also good at mapping.
http://limpgimps.getsomewhere.net
A more extensive list of clans can be found at the ZDaemon Home Page.
The ZDaemon Team
Raider
Project Leader
Doom2pro
Development
Danni
''Development
Kilgore
Development and Support
Lyfe
Development and Launcher Admin
Old Staffers
These people are no longer involved with ZDaemon and many of them are now actually banned. This section exists purely for historical reasons.
NightFang
Founder and Developer of ZDaemon
Retired.
Slayer
Website hoster, master server hoster and doom2.org administrator
Retired.
KNorton
Founder of #zdaemon
The IRC channel #zdaemon on freenode was originally unrelated to ZDaemon itself, instead being simply a chat room by and for players of the game. A conflict of ideology lead to KNorton's departure when the channel was officially adopted.
Ralphis
Community moderator
One of the original ZDaemon team members, Ralphis was responsible for naming ZDaemon itself. The ZDaemon team has claimed that Ralphis was removed for being too oppressive to the community.
deathz0r
Beta tester and Forum Moderator
Some level of confusion surrounds the cause of deathz0r's ban, although his condemnation was ruled certain as a result of his support of a DDOS attack against the ZDaemon master server in late 2005.
Russell
Channel operator and Forum Moderator
Supporter of the Anti-ZDaemon Alliance.
List of games that ZDaemon is compatible with
Some games listed are not fully supported by the ZDaemon engine because it is based on the old ZDoom base code, version 1.23. In particular, Heretic is known to display a number of bugs (the most severe of which is a bug in monster support that makes it impossible to join a server once a monster has been killed; introduced in 1.08) and many HeXen effects are not properly supported, making gameplay impossible under most circumstances. This is expected to change with the release of newer versions and updates as the ZDaemon development team improves support for those on a case by case basis.
Game adaptations
The voices used for announcements of most CTF/Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch games were taken from Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament. They were compiled together by the creator of the WADs zvox.wad and zvox2.wad, and are subject to change with time. There is also some custom soundpacks which are made and maintained by individual authors and are subject to change anytime according to the author.
Engine Used for port
External links
- http://www.zdaemon.org
- http://www.zdoom.org
"ZDaemon"