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What is it?
ZDoom Wars 2 is a sequel to my cult hit classic, ZDoom Wars, from the Skulltag days. It is a competitive multiplayer FPS/RTS hybrid for Ultimate ZDoom. In it, you take on the role of a Commander leading one of six factions (Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Strife, Chex Quest, and Virus) from a first-person perspective, giving out basic commands and building an army.
The goal is to kill all enemy Commanders. However, you aren’t armed! Instead, you wield Summoners. Summoners fire projectiles that create units which then engage the enemy. In this way, you assemble armies of many dozens or sometimes hundreds of units that clash in flashy battles and epic sieges. There are spectacular Faction Abilities, customizable army-smashing Heroes, and many other fancy bits and bobbins.
You gain resources by taking Capture Points (each giving a Favor trickle), which allow you to build Generators (Which give you a mana trickle). Faction Abilities are accessed and triggered by the inventory controls. You must bind a button to open the Tech Menu, as well as to give Flank orders, Defend orders, and to cancel given orders. That's right, you can boss your dudes around!
The demo currently contains Tier 1. That's 2-3 units, 1 defensive structure, 1 faction ability, and the upgrades for the Tier 1 monsters for each Faction. It also has 2 classic ZDoom Wars maps, Valley and Battlefield 94', in slots ZDWars1 and ZDWars2. In ZDW1 terms Valley is a 4 player map, while Battlefield 94' is a 2 player map. The game supports a maximum of 6 players. HUD is still a placeholder from a previous project, so feel free to ignore most of it. Rough edges expected.
The demo page also has the manual, which goes in depth on the game. Join the Discord, and you can find tutorials on the official YouTube.
NOTE: You will need to bind 4 keys: The Tech Menu, and 3 for giving Orders (Flank, Defend, and Clear).
Redneckerz wrote: Sat Aug 08, 2026 4:30 am
Would this absolutely require Doom 2 or could this be a semi-standalone game when using FreeDoom?
I always thought ZDoom Wars could do great as a commercial title.
Well I mean it’s got a whole set of assets from multiple games so you know. My brother and I once tried to make a commercial version of the idea, but neither of us could do art well enough and had some problems going on in our lives. Honestly this is gonna be funner than that ever was now ZScript exists. And now, mind you, he has passed away. Anyway, yeah, I guess you could run it with FreeDoom? Would be mismatched stuff, from where I’ve modified existing content (I use the Icon of Sin as a singular sprite, for example, an alternate Mancubus sprite set for when they’re upgraded, same for Revenants, etc. etc.).
Trust the Ettin: This the biggest update to the demo ever! ALL SIX FACTIONS’ TIER 1s are now playable! That’s 17 units, 6 Def. Structures, and 6 Faction Abilities, as well as the ability to go up to Tier 2. At this time, that means improving the commander’s stats, and unlocking upgrades to your Tier 1 monsters. In the future, of course, Tiering up will grant you access to new monsters, abilities, and defensive structures.
Reminder that the one map available so far is in slot ZDWARS1, Korzodin’s Valley (2-4 players). I’ve got an opening to renovate another old unused map if anyone has interest in doing so! It’ll be a lot of work but damn it’ll be cool.
NOTE: You will need to bind 4 keys:
-Tech Menu
-Flank Order
-Defend Order
-Clear Order
A quick demo of the game's Orders (coded by Kevansevans): Flank (Move to a specific point, then resume normal behavior), Defend (Move to a specific point, then stay near that point until told otherwise), and then Clearing a previously given order.
Redneckerz wrote: Sat Aug 08, 2026 4:30 am
Would this absolutely require Doom 2 or could this be a semi-standalone game when using FreeDoom?
I always thought ZDoom Wars could do great as a commercial title.
Well I mean it’s got a whole set of assets from multiple games so you know. My brother and I once tried to make a commercial version of the idea, but neither of us could do art well enough and had some problems going on in our lives. Honestly this is gonna be funner than that ever was now ZScript exists. And now, mind you, he has passed away. Anyway, yeah, I guess you could run it with FreeDoom? Would be mismatched stuff, from where I’ve modified existing content (I use the Icon of Sin as a singular sprite, for example, an alternate Mancubus sprite set for when they’re upgraded, same for Revenants, etc. etc.).
Thanks for this! I vividly remember ZDWars as a real classic back in the day and i am glad you and the team is still here iterating on what is a great idea
Redneckerz wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 3:15 pm
Thanks for this! I vividly remember ZDWars as a real classic back in the day and i am glad you and the team is still here iterating on what is a great idea
Yeah, dev started about a year and a half ago. I just need testers at this point, because I don't want to introduce too much content without testing it. Best way to balance something this big is a bit at a time. The Discord can be used for setting up games. Played the first game just an hour ago on the latest demo, and it was super fun! A lot more RTS'y as far as your metagame, but still fast and vicious in practice!
OKAY, need some input here. I intend to create ZDoom Wars 2 Directs for major updates, but I don’t know WHEN to do them.
Indicate on this form when you’d like a Direct to be in a normal week. It should be your local time. You do not need an account, you can leave a handle:
On the ZDoom Wars 2 YouTube channel, I have just uploaded audio tutorials. There will be a visual element and more in the future, but for now the tutorials were badly needed. Two 3 minute Basic Tutorials, Two 3 minute Advanced Tutorials, and a 1 minute tutorial per faction.
Alright folks, first balance patch to address some obvious issues. A few things were unsurprisingly outright broken (balance wise). Getting data in a hot environment helped a LOT. Time for a dev log, which I’ll try and do every patch (albeit not usually as long).
The central loop works well: decisive, but more nuanced than ZDW1. Upgrades are impactful and really shouldn’t be neglected, defensive structures REALLY shape the battlefield. It’s tense and chaotic but you can still make out what’s happening clearly. I really think it’s good and learnable.
Territory control was vital, but I’ve still encountered decisive field battles. You really do need to bring an army with you: Trying to spawn it a bit at a time at your opponent won’t work well unless you’re Heretic.
Resource flow works well. Even with only Tier 1 stuff you can spend yourself to the limit. Armies get pretty big! I’m hoping this will scale up well enough. Heroes are MASSIVELY expensive, especially since you have to get Talents for them. We’ll see.
The Orders are a huge success. Getting the morons around obstructions is now easy, as well as getting them to spread out, flank, or capture a point. They allow you to march out, claim territory by leaving dudes behind to cap, and move on.
Combat is as snappy as I was hoping for: you can gauge the situation reasonably well as far as when you should fall back. It’s tempting to try and stick it out but, if you’ve appropriately garrisoned territory you’ve taken, you should consider licking your wounds and rebuilding.
Anyway, it’s an exciting start and I really think this update will be a good experience.
Only having Tier 1 does bring some limitations: Hexen especially, as they only have 2 units. At Tier 2 you get a lot of vital stuff, so depending on testing it might not be terribly long for that to come around.
Two big consistencies that needed fixing was that Tier 1 Unit upgrades were so cheap it’s not even funny, and that Defensive structures were massively dominant.
Got a crash bug related to the Imp’s projectile attack. It’s rare, but it happens. Otherwise the bugs were mainly cosmetic.
NOTE: I’m going to do a ZDoom Wars 2 Direct to announce the content coming with Tier 2 when that time arrives.
If you haven’t already, please indicate on the following form when you’d like it to be scheduled in a normal week, so I can figure out when the audience will be able to watch! You do not need an account, you can just leave a handle or whatever:
Bug Fixes:
-Monsters spawned by other actors did not take on the correct player color (in this case, Flemoids spawned by Spores were default in color).
-Doom's F1 help screen had a typo.
-Imps are causing a rare crash. Something about their projectile. I made a small change to see if that was the cause. Please report with the error text if you encounter this crash. It ONLY seems to affect Imps.
-Added +NEVERTARGET to the Shield Drone Orbiters just in case.
-Heretic's messaging about buying Ability charges displayed for all players.
Graphical:
-Order Markers are now twice the size so it's easier to see them in battle.
-Observers now have a ghostly appearance.
Text:
-Tier Up messages are now in the appropriate Faction colors.
Maps:
ZDWars1:
-Removed extra start positions. Should only have 4 player starts, one to each major fortification, as this is a 2-4 player map. Hopefully this means people won't spawn next to each other.
Other:
-When victorious, you now become invulnerable so you won't die in your moment of glory.
-Added a new game start tip.
Balance:
All:
-Halved player regen rate. It was just too slow to bounce back from a rough fight. Strife's Industrial Might health regen and Heretic's Tiering up health regen have been altered to account for this change.
-All Defensive Structures now have a build limit specific to each type of structure. You can press USE to get rid of an existing structure, freeing up a slot to build elsewhere.
Doom:
-Upgraded Zombiemen attack rate is now 4 tics slower, to slightly reduce their DPS gain when upgraded.
-Zombieman upgrade cost raised from 30/10 to 45/18.
-Imp melee damage raised from 3 to 4 (it was supposed to be 4!).
-Imp speed increased from 3 to 4.
-Nightmare Imps now attack 2 tics faster than before.
-Imp Upgrade cost raised from 21/7 to 42/14.
-Lost Soul Upgrade cost raised from 21/14 to 42/14.
-Fireball Launcher damage lowered from 5 to 4.
-Fireball Launcher refire rate slowed by 3 tics.
-Fireball launcher health lowered from 100 to 75.
-Fireball Launcher cost raised from 20/8 to 32/12.
Heretic:
-Ghostly Aura 3-pack cost reduced from 45/15 to 30/12.
-Golem Speed increased from 5 to 6.
-Golem Upgrade cost increased from 30/20 to 45/25.
-Gargoyle Upgrade cost increased from 20/10 to 35/15.
-Fire Gargoyle Upgrade cost increased from 30/10 to 40/20.
-Fire Gargoyle and Gargoyle speed increased from 4 to 5.
-Fire Gargoyle and Gargoyle health increased from 6 to 8.
-Fire Gargoyles no longer stop shooting and close for melee like other skirmishers. This keeps them in the air a teeny bit longer.
-Gas Pod explosion radius and trigger range raised from 84 to 96.
Hexen:
-Ice Launcher health lowered from 125 to 100.
-Ice Launcher damage lowered from 5 to 4.
-Ice Launcher cost raised from 20/8 to 31/12.
-Afrit health lowered from 14 to 12.
Strife:
-Checkpoint Turret health lowered from 36 to 24.
-Checkpoint cost increased from 25/10 to 40/20.
-Rebel Upgrade Cost increased from 30/20 to 45/30.
-Acolyte Upgrade Cost increased from 40/30 to 50/35.
Chex Quest:
-Common Flemoid speed increased from 3 to 4.
-Cyclops speed increased from 4 to 5.
-Cyclops Upgrade cost increased from 30/10 to 40/20.
-Flem Meteor price raised from 15/6 to 20/8.
-Bipedal Flemoid Upgrade cost increased from 20/10 to 40/18.
Virus:
-Drone Upgrade cost increased from 30/10 to 40/20.
-Spore cost increased from 4/3 to 5/3.
-Prism shot damage decreased from 3 to 2 (They fire 2 projectiles).
-Shield Drone Base health reduced from 75 to 50.
-Tripled the delay between Shield Drone Bases granting shields.
-Reduced Shield Drone Base range from 256 to 200.
-Shield Drone Base cost increased from 25/10 to 35/15.
Grymmette wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 9:36 am
You've awoken me from my ancient slumber with a working ZDW2 demo.
I'm up for offering my support again, material or otherwise, if you'll have it. Still mostly good for playtesting and mapping, though.
Oh my god, hi! It’s been 8,000 years! Hey, I always need playtesting AND I definitely need mapping assistance! Usually I hang out in the ZDW2 Discord but wherever you can reach me!
Grymmette wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2026 3:37 pm
I could join the Discord. The original link expired, though. If you don't want to create a new one and update with that, feel free to PM one to me.
Edit: Ah I missed the other link in the middle of the thread. Nevermind, then, though you might want to still update the link in the first post, too.
Son of a ... no idea why I had an expired link, there, thanks!
