<![CDATA[Zandronum]]> https://zandronum.com/forum 2025-07-16T15:23:17+00:00 Smartfeed Extension for phpBB 3.1 <![CDATA[account deletion request]]> 2025-07-08T01:45:11+00:00 2025-07-08T01:45:11+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119118#p119118 <![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-08T11:18:29+00:00 2025-07-08T11:18:29+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119119#p119119
And we're not going to delete it.]]>

And we're not going to delete it.]]>
<![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-08T20:49:18+00:00 2025-07-08T20:49:18+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119121#p119121 <![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-08T22:06:47+00:00 2025-07-08T22:06:47+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119122#p119122 <![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-11T16:21:46+00:00 2025-07-11T16:21:46+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119131#p119131
The Toxic Avenger wrote:
Tue Jul 08, 2025 10:06 pm
What Nax did with Decay's account is a mistake that we will not be repeating.
Nax being an admin is a mistake you should not be repeating, but having seen that decent admins are hard to come by for Doom in general, this might be wishful thinking.]]>
The Toxic Avenger wrote:
Tue Jul 08, 2025 10:06 pm
What Nax did with Decay's account is a mistake that we will not be repeating.
Nax being an admin is a mistake you should not be repeating, but having seen that decent admins are hard to come by for Doom in general, this might be wishful thinking.]]>
<![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-11T21:22:27+00:00 2025-07-11T21:22:27+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119137#p119137
Cut it out. Both you and Rust.]]>

Cut it out. Both you and Rust.]]>
<![CDATA[Re: account deletion request :: Reply]]> 2025-07-13T04:38:53+00:00 2025-07-13T04:38:53+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11403&p=119140#p119140 <![CDATA[Re: On the topic of newer mapping/modding standards... :: Reply]]> 2025-06-17T08:43:06+00:00 2025-06-17T08:43:06+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11372&p=119099#p119099
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:03 pm
Have I stumbled into some alternate reality? Zandronum is a Doom source port and always has been. It's not a general-purpose commercial game engine as this thread has suddenly decided it is, and therefore it doesn't function or get marketed as such because we were never developing it under that pretense! If you'd like it to be, that's one thing - but it's not that, and it never has been! That's why.
This engine has been more than just a Doom source port for a long time. It is disappointing you can't see it as more than that.
GZDoom has been a great example of how providing the ability to publish games makes for a thriving community because people have more reason to develop something. I think we should stop assuming that we can't do more with this engine or that we are not willing to do more, because there are plenty of people who would like more from this engine and are simply unable to because nobody is willing to consider a change. There have been people that made mods and TCs with this engine that overhauls everything to the point where it's not clear if you're even using the same engine.
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:03 pm
Catastrophe wrote:
Tue Jun 03, 2025 6:18 am
Sgt. Mark IV, the creator of Brutal Doom, is literally building his own indie shooter and has publicly said he wanted to ship it with Zandronum pre-packaged, but legally can’t. He spells it out here. This is someone with the clout, the audience, and the will to support the engine and even he has to walk away.
There's apparently someone! But their "will to support the engine" stopped dead at actually having to support the engine. Oh well.
What do you exactly expect from somebody who uses the engine? Am I supposed to contribute to the code or throw money at something to support the engine? You have somebody with 54.3k wishlists willing to support Zandronum despite the fact that it probably hurt their game more than it benefits them, but this does not seem to give you any sort of indication that perhaps we should consider this. Are we still blinded by past controversies?
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 9:10 am
All this feels equivalent to commissioning an artist and offering to pay them in exposure. OK, Zandronum is more popular, now what? We still have a handful of developers with a small amount of free time to invest in the project
This expose you are against is the literal thing Zandronum needs. Look at GZDoom with its continued development which gives people reason to use it and post about it. There are people like Nash actively posting news about the engine and about the things that can be done. People like TheMisterCat who post content of their mods or proof of concepts, showing how much GZDoom is capable of doing. We have a dead Youtube channel and a Mastodon/Bluesky account which occasionally posts announcements. Things like this should snowball with more players leading to more contribution and more of a presence.
It's like we're actively trying to prevent this to see how long people hold onto this engine.
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 9:10 am
someone still has to pay for the infrastructure that deals with that increased popularity, etc.
So how do I donate? Zandronum has absolutely no way of receiving donations. TSPG also has optional donations with benefits and it has never occurred to anybody to do this for Zandronum.

I really urge there to be a proper conversation about this between developers and Torr and to consider changing how this engine approaches its development. I wonder if Torr is even aware of the status of the engine considering he really isn't involved much anymore with the community. Requests have fallen on deaf ears far too many times and it's only a matter of time before GZDoom finishes its c/s and we will have this conversation again. Right now the engine is practicelly destroying itself as long as there is such a steep development requirement and no social media presence.

EDIT:
Sean wrote:
Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:09 pm
My first suggestion is that dev meetings become more public in some way. Clearly people have a desire to write novellas about the problems, so they may as well do it in front of the people who can actually take on board these thoughts, and maybe it'll even result in suggestions being made that lead to decisions, or even actually material contributions.
I think this would be a good idea. Obviously I am very much able to already do this considering I can join the existing meetings, but there are plenty of people who would want to voice their opinion but are not able to since Torr is not available at all. Is there a reason why we can't use Discord and possibly provide a separate channel for a select group?]]>
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:03 pm
Have I stumbled into some alternate reality? Zandronum is a Doom source port and always has been. It's not a general-purpose commercial game engine as this thread has suddenly decided it is, and therefore it doesn't function or get marketed as such because we were never developing it under that pretense! If you'd like it to be, that's one thing - but it's not that, and it never has been! That's why.
This engine has been more than just a Doom source port for a long time. It is disappointing you can't see it as more than that.
GZDoom has been a great example of how providing the ability to publish games makes for a thriving community because people have more reason to develop something. I think we should stop assuming that we can't do more with this engine or that we are not willing to do more, because there are plenty of people who would like more from this engine and are simply unable to because nobody is willing to consider a change. There have been people that made mods and TCs with this engine that overhauls everything to the point where it's not clear if you're even using the same engine.
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:03 pm
Catastrophe wrote:
Tue Jun 03, 2025 6:18 am
Sgt. Mark IV, the creator of Brutal Doom, is literally building his own indie shooter and has publicly said he wanted to ship it with Zandronum pre-packaged, but legally can’t. He spells it out here. This is someone with the clout, the audience, and the will to support the engine and even he has to walk away.
There's apparently someone! But their "will to support the engine" stopped dead at actually having to support the engine. Oh well.
What do you exactly expect from somebody who uses the engine? Am I supposed to contribute to the code or throw money at something to support the engine? You have somebody with 54.3k wishlists willing to support Zandronum despite the fact that it probably hurt their game more than it benefits them, but this does not seem to give you any sort of indication that perhaps we should consider this. Are we still blinded by past controversies?
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 9:10 am
All this feels equivalent to commissioning an artist and offering to pay them in exposure. OK, Zandronum is more popular, now what? We still have a handful of developers with a small amount of free time to invest in the project
This expose you are against is the literal thing Zandronum needs. Look at GZDoom with its continued development which gives people reason to use it and post about it. There are people like Nash actively posting news about the engine and about the things that can be done. People like TheMisterCat who post content of their mods or proof of concepts, showing how much GZDoom is capable of doing. We have a dead Youtube channel and a Mastodon/Bluesky account which occasionally posts announcements. Things like this should snowball with more players leading to more contribution and more of a presence.
It's like we're actively trying to prevent this to see how long people hold onto this engine.
Sean wrote:
Wed Jun 04, 2025 9:10 am
someone still has to pay for the infrastructure that deals with that increased popularity, etc.
So how do I donate? Zandronum has absolutely no way of receiving donations. TSPG also has optional donations with benefits and it has never occurred to anybody to do this for Zandronum.

I really urge there to be a proper conversation about this between developers and Torr and to consider changing how this engine approaches its development. I wonder if Torr is even aware of the status of the engine considering he really isn't involved much anymore with the community. Requests have fallen on deaf ears far too many times and it's only a matter of time before GZDoom finishes its c/s and we will have this conversation again. Right now the engine is practicelly destroying itself as long as there is such a steep development requirement and no social media presence.

EDIT:
Sean wrote:
Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:09 pm
My first suggestion is that dev meetings become more public in some way. Clearly people have a desire to write novellas about the problems, so they may as well do it in front of the people who can actually take on board these thoughts, and maybe it'll even result in suggestions being made that lead to decisions, or even actually material contributions.
I think this would be a good idea. Obviously I am very much able to already do this considering I can join the existing meetings, but there are plenty of people who would want to voice their opinion but are not able to since Torr is not available at all. Is there a reason why we can't use Discord and possibly provide a separate channel for a select group?]]>
<![CDATA[Re: On the topic of newer mapping/modding standards... :: Reply]]> 2025-06-17T13:47:57+00:00 2025-06-17T13:47:57+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11372&p=119102#p119102

I just wanted to comment on something you pointed out
Fused wrote:So how do I donate? Zandronum has absolutely no way of receiving donations. TSPG also has optional donations with benefits and it has never occurred to anybody to do this for Zandronum.
From what I recall, that was done to avoid allowing people to fall under the assumption that donating to Zandronum would lead to faster development time. I tend to slightly agree with this argument because I've seen random people in the Zan discord asking if they could help development by giving money. However, one other consequence of having open donations is that staff/admin moneybag positions become trivialized and, with the right factors, downright unnecessary. I don't know what TSPG's donations look like and I'm not going to prod it out of them either, because even if it's minimal, that minimal amount helps. It's a shame we'll never really know because too much time has passed with this regulation in place and many people who would have been a contributor have disappeared in the last decade. All as designed.

I don't really have any more to add to this discussion because it has ran its course. Non-interaction speaks louder than bad interaction. I'll just leave this topic with this:
Distant Voices wrote:one shouldn't be saying "i invested x amount into zan" because unless that money is supposed to grow, it's not an investment, it's an expense
]]>


I just wanted to comment on something you pointed out
Fused wrote:So how do I donate? Zandronum has absolutely no way of receiving donations. TSPG also has optional donations with benefits and it has never occurred to anybody to do this for Zandronum.
From what I recall, that was done to avoid allowing people to fall under the assumption that donating to Zandronum would lead to faster development time. I tend to slightly agree with this argument because I've seen random people in the Zan discord asking if they could help development by giving money. However, one other consequence of having open donations is that staff/admin moneybag positions become trivialized and, with the right factors, downright unnecessary. I don't know what TSPG's donations look like and I'm not going to prod it out of them either, because even if it's minimal, that minimal amount helps. It's a shame we'll never really know because too much time has passed with this regulation in place and many people who would have been a contributor have disappeared in the last decade. All as designed.

I don't really have any more to add to this discussion because it has ran its course. Non-interaction speaks louder than bad interaction. I'll just leave this topic with this:
Distant Voices wrote:one shouldn't be saying "i invested x amount into zan" because unless that money is supposed to grow, it's not an investment, it's an expense
]]>
<![CDATA[Where is Zandronum Going? (Follow-up to the Mapping Standards Thread)]]> 2025-06-17T10:17:54+00:00 2025-06-23T05:14:28+00:00 https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11395&p=119100#p119100 On the topic of newer mapping/modding standards” thread. That discussion covered a lot of ground: licensing, visibility, modding barriers, lack of infrastructure, and the engine’s long-term viability. If you missed it, I highly recommend reading it. A lot of people, not just the usual names, showed up with strong perspectives and serious concerns.

And then… nothing.

Weeks of input, multiple pages of thoughtful posts, and we got zero dev or staff response. Not even a “we’re reading this” or “we’ll get back to you.” Just total silence. And in the two weeks that followed? The only visible “development” was an attempt to update the site logo, which crashed the forums. That’s not a joke. That actually happened. No rollback, no communication, just the entire forums completely broken until someone quietly patched it. That would be funny if it weren’t so bleak. A rainbow logo broke the forums and it stayed that way, while the team couldn’t spare a single message to acknowledge a thread full of people raising serious concerns about the port’s future. If that doesn’t scream neglect, I don’t know what does.

Meanwhile, we’ve got people pointing out that Sgt. Mark IV, whether you like him or not, has a game with potentially over 50,000 wishlists on Steam. He has a proven track record, a massive following, and wanted to ship Zandronum with his game. But because of the licensing mess, he couldn’t. That’s a huge missed opportunity. One that could’ve brought attention, contributors, and momentum to Zandronum, without anyone even having to lift a finger. All it had to do was not be a legal minefield. So not only is there no modernization, no vision, no roadmap, we’re also failing to maintain the most basic level of trust or stability.

That became painfully obvious when a few users made heated (yes, inflammatory) posts, and instead of being moved to the Trash like this forum has always done for transparency, they were quietly deleted. No archive, no context, no explanation. Just gone. That’s not how you handle moderation in a project that’s supposed to be open and community-driven. If you want people to speak up, you have to make it safe to do so. Even if someone crosses a line, there should be process, not a silent purge. When posts vanish without trace, it doesn’t “clean things up.” It creates fear. It erodes trust. And when people no longer feel safe contributing, they stop showing up at all.

This isn’t drama. It’s about basic communication and leadership, and right now, neither is happening.

People gave their time to write feedback, propose solutions, and show that they still care about this port. What did we get in return? Silence. A forum-crashing logo. Deleted posts. That’s the message being sent from the top. Zandronum has survived this long thanks to a few people doing their best, and that deserves praise. But at some point, “keeping the lights on” becomes indistinguishable from just letting it rot. And right now, we’re losing even the last active projects that kept Zandronum relevant. Mods like Death and Decay are moving to GZDoom, not because of features, but because there's no confidence left in this port’s direction. Ivan, one of the most dedicated contributors this ports had, is ready to walk away. That should upset anyone who still thinks this engine has a future. This isn’t just about losing future potential, we’re actively bleeding out the last remaining reasons to care. And at this point, it’s hard not to feel like something deeper is wrong.

I’m not saying there’s active sabotage going on… but if someone were trying to sabotage the project, what exactly would they be doing differently? They’d ignore the biggest thread of the year. Avoid every serious question raised. Push a tone-deaf site update that breaks everything. Refuse to fix the licensing issues driving creators away. Quietly delete posts to bury symptoms instead of facing problems.

That’s what this looks like.

And I say that not to start drama, but because perception matters. When everything looks like it’s being mismanaged, and the people in charge say nothing, people will start assuming the worst. Whether or not it’s true doesn’t matter. The result is the same: creators leave, players check out, and what’s left is a skeleton with no direction. That’s the fire we’re sitting in. And until someone at the top acknowledges it, people are going to keep assuming the worst, because right now, that’s all we’re being shown.]]>
On the topic of newer mapping/modding standards” thread. That discussion covered a lot of ground: licensing, visibility, modding barriers, lack of infrastructure, and the engine’s long-term viability. If you missed it, I highly recommend reading it. A lot of people, not just the usual names, showed up with strong perspectives and serious concerns.

And then… nothing.

Weeks of input, multiple pages of thoughtful posts, and we got zero dev or staff response. Not even a “we’re reading this” or “we’ll get back to you.” Just total silence. And in the two weeks that followed? The only visible “development” was an attempt to update the site logo, which crashed the forums. That’s not a joke. That actually happened. No rollback, no communication, just the entire forums completely broken until someone quietly patched it. That would be funny if it weren’t so bleak. A rainbow logo broke the forums and it stayed that way, while the team couldn’t spare a single message to acknowledge a thread full of people raising serious concerns about the port’s future. If that doesn’t scream neglect, I don’t know what does.

Meanwhile, we’ve got people pointing out that Sgt. Mark IV, whether you like him or not, has a game with potentially over 50,000 wishlists on Steam. He has a proven track record, a massive following, and wanted to ship Zandronum with his game. But because of the licensing mess, he couldn’t. That’s a huge missed opportunity. One that could’ve brought attention, contributors, and momentum to Zandronum, without anyone even having to lift a finger. All it had to do was not be a legal minefield. So not only is there no modernization, no vision, no roadmap, we’re also failing to maintain the most basic level of trust or stability.

That became painfully obvious when a few users made heated (yes, inflammatory) posts, and instead of being moved to the Trash like this forum has always done for transparency, they were quietly deleted. No archive, no context, no explanation. Just gone. That’s not how you handle moderation in a project that’s supposed to be open and community-driven. If you want people to speak up, you have to make it safe to do so. Even if someone crosses a line, there should be process, not a silent purge. When posts vanish without trace, it doesn’t “clean things up.” It creates fear. It erodes trust. And when people no longer feel safe contributing, they stop showing up at all.

This isn’t drama. It’s about basic communication and leadership, and right now, neither is happening.

People gave their time to write feedback, propose solutions, and show that they still care about this port. What did we get in return? Silence. A forum-crashing logo. Deleted posts. That’s the message being sent from the top. Zandronum has survived this long thanks to a few people doing their best, and that deserves praise. But at some point, “keeping the lights on” becomes indistinguishable from just letting it rot. And right now, we’re losing even the last active projects that kept Zandronum relevant. Mods like Death and Decay are moving to GZDoom, not because of features, but because there's no confidence left in this port’s direction. Ivan, one of the most dedicated contributors this ports had, is ready to walk away. That should upset anyone who still thinks this engine has a future. This isn’t just about losing future potential, we’re actively bleeding out the last remaining reasons to care. And at this point, it’s hard not to feel like something deeper is wrong.

I’m not saying there’s active sabotage going on… but if someone were trying to sabotage the project, what exactly would they be doing differently? They’d ignore the biggest thread of the year. Avoid every serious question raised. Push a tone-deaf site update that breaks everything. Refuse to fix the licensing issues driving creators away. Quietly delete posts to bury symptoms instead of facing problems.

That’s what this looks like.

And I say that not to start drama, but because perception matters. When everything looks like it’s being mismanaged, and the people in charge say nothing, people will start assuming the worst. Whether or not it’s true doesn’t matter. The result is the same: creators leave, players check out, and what’s left is a skeleton with no direction. That’s the fire we’re sitting in. And until someone at the top acknowledges it, people are going to keep assuming the worst, because right now, that’s all we’re being shown.]]>