Introduction
For many years I've been part of the Doom community, both as a player and a modder. I also had the opportunity to contribute ideas and concepts to Hobomaster's excellent Doom Launcher back when it was being developed. Over the years, I started thinking about what a Doom launcher designed today could look like. As a professional media designer specializing in UI and UX design, I had a very clear vision, a launcher with the usability and polish of tools like Steam or GOG Galaxy, built with Doom in mind and with features that makes sense for newcomers but also for me as an experienced player. There was just one problem. I'm not a programmer. So instead of letting that stop me, I decided to use modern AI as a development tool. Every feature starts with my own concept and design AI helps translate those ideas into code, which I then test, and refine. I'm fully transparent about that, because I think it's important. This project isn't about replacing the original Doom Launcher. It's about building my vision of a modern Doom front-end, one that feels intuitive and pleasant to use.
Description
Doom Launcher 667 is a modern, open-source and portable library launcher for Doom-engine games and mods on Windows. It combines a responsive WinUI 3 interface with native game launching, IWAD and source-port setup, /idgames integration, collections, achievements, screenshots and portable package transfer. The application available here is the new Doom Launcher 667, introduced with version 0.8.0. It is a complete modern redevelopment and runs independently of the classic Doom Launcher executable. The original Doom Launcher by hobomaster22 remains its inspiration and the source of the migration compatibility work.
Screenshots
Main Features
Re-Implemented from the Original Doom Launcher
- portable SQLite library management;
- IWAD and source-port definitions with per-mod selection and launch options;
- /idgames discovery, download and metadata enrichment;
- favorites, recently played mods, playtime and user-defined collections;
- automatic metadata and map detection from supported mod archives;
- TITLEPIC extraction, artwork management and screenshot import;
- configurable map and skill selection for explicit advanced launches.
- a responsive WinUI 3 experience with Home, Library, Collections, Discover, Latest and Achievements views;
- grid and table layouts, sortable/selectable columns, adjustable tile sizes and normal, compact or ultra-compact row and accordion densities;
- a showcase-style Home view with featured, unplayed, recent, favorite and IWAD-specific recommendations;
- collection artwork, collection browsing and optional collection filters in the main library;
- completion state, richer statistics and achievement notifications;
- capability-aware source-port definitions for screenshot and statistics adapters, plus executable version detection;
- IWAD recognition by hash and portable folder reconciliation;
- XML-based user themes including various choosable custom themes, automatic text-contrast protection and English, German, French and Spanish localization;
- configurable grayscale or color placeholder artwork loaded from the portable data folders;
- selective import and export of individual mods, groups or complete collections, including archives, artwork, screenshots and metadata;
- guided first setup, database-health tools and an opt-in diagnostic mode;
- tested overlay-update contract for backwards-compatible portable upgrades.
- migration from hobomaster22’s original Doom Launcher at startup, alternatively scanning for mods, iwads and sourceports in their responsive directories with automatic integration
Doom Launcher 667 is centered on a native Windows App SDK / WinUI 3 client. The portable DoomLauncher667.exe entry point starts the self-contained client without a console window; the classic DoomLauncher is not required. The runtime keeps mutable data beside the application so an installation can be moved or backed up as one folder
- Data/Mods stores managed mod archives;
- Data/GameWads stores portable IWAD archives and files;
- Data/Sourceports stores portable source-port installations;
- Data/Screenshots, Data/TitlePics and Data/CollectionArtworks store visual library data;
- Data/Themes contains the editable XML theme definitions;
- Data/UserState contains portable UI preferences;
- DoomLauncher.sqlite contains the library database.
Download
Download the latest Windows x64 beta ZIP from the GitHub Releases page. Extract the complete archive into a writable folder and launch DoomLauncher667.exe. The download is self-contained; a separate .NET installation is not required. On first start, a guided setup can scan portable IWAD, source-port and mod folders or migrate an existing classic Doom Launcher installation.
- To migrate, extract Doom Launcher 667 and use the integrated function at the first launch of the software, it will guide you through the process.
- To update, close Doom Launcher 667 and extract the newer package over the existing installation. Release packages do not contain a personal database. Your database, mods, screenshots, artwork, settings and custom themes are preserved, and compatible schema migrations run automatically.
The launcher is not yet finished but the first beta release is ready for you to play around.I'd genuinely love your feedback on GitHub Issues. If you've got ideas, workflow suggestions or bug reports, I'd be happy to hear them. Thanks for reading. Tormentor667.