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EXCITING 2024 UPDATE!


THATCHER'S TECHBASE: ARCADE EDITION is now available to play in Bethesda's new DOOM + DOOM II release for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 4/5!

To play the game:
  1. Purchase and install DOOM + DOOM II on your device of choice
  2. Go to the “Mods” section within DOOM or DOOM II
  3. Use the “Browse” feature to find THATCHER'S TECHBASE: ARCADE EDITION
Don't want to play the game this way? Check out the instructions below:

ALREADY KNOW HOW TO PLAY DOOM WADs?


THATCHERCADE.wad is a Boom-compatible pwad for DOOM II, and you can download it here (v2.1).

Tested on PRBoom*, DSDA-Doom, ZDoom and GZDoom.

(PRBoom players please note - this wad is best enjoyed with PrBoom+ 2.6.1, as I've used a UMAPINFO lump to add some extra flavour to the game.)



EVERYONE ELSE - BEFORE YOU BEGIN!


THATCHER'S TECHBASE is a game mod that uses the classic video game DOOM 2 (1994) as a base. As such, a copy of the file 'DOOM2.wad' is required in order to play.

Legally, I am not allowed to give you that file. I don't want to get sued - Bethesda has access to Robert Trump's $66.6 million legal team, and 3D: Doom Daddy Digital does not!

If you own a copy of Doom 2 for MS-DOS, Windows, Mac OS, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, Tapwave Zodiac, N-Gage, Android, iOS, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, then you legally have a license for the file 'doom2.wad' - but you'll need to find a copy of it yourself. Consider it part of the gameplay experience!

If you cannot find DOOM2.wad anywhere in the archives of the internet, then you can always buy DOOM 2 again on Steam, GOG.com or the Microsoft Store - these versions of the game contain the file you'll need. Got Microsoft Game Pass? You could 'borrow' the file from its installation directory! Is that legal? I'm not sure!

THATCHERCADE.wad, the other file you'll need, is completely free to download! You can get it by clicking on the link or icon on this page.

Once you have acquired a copy of DOOM2.wad and a copy of THATCHERCADE.wad, think carefully about what operating system you use and proceed to the appropriate next step...

  1. WINDOWS
  2. MAC
  3. LINUX
  4. ANDROID
  5. NINTENDO 3DS
  6. NINTENDO WII
  7. EVERYTHING ELSE


WINDOWS 95, 98, NT, ME, XP, Vista, 7 and 10


AN OLD-SCHOOL EXPERIENCE?


Want to play THATCHER'S TECHBASE like it's 1994, and have it run on almost any computer¹? Happy to play with a keyboard and mouse?

I recommend downloading this. Once you've downloaded THATCHERCADE.ZIP, extract it to a folder and open it up. Then add DOOM2.wad and THATCHER.wad to the folder...







And double-click on THATCHER.bat in the same folder to run the game! Easy!





❗❗❗ Stuck on the splash screen? Try hitting the ESC key!





Now you're all good to go! Enjoy THATCHER'S TECHBASE, and have fun!

¹ (pregnancy tests, smart watches and graphics calculators not included)



NEW-AGE ACTION! (FOR WINDOWS XP USERS AND ABOVE)


Lucky enough to own a computer or laptop that can run Windows XP (or above) and want a more user-friendly port of DOOM? You can grab GZDoom or ZDoom, a source port that supports the latest mods and wads and lets you use your very own gamepad!

Once you've downloaded G/ZDoom, extract the folder and add your DOOM2.wad and THATCHERCADE.wad files to the directory, just as above, and then double-click THATCHERCADE.wad (or drag it onto gzdoom.exe) to play! Have fun!

BEWARE! By default, GZDoom enables features like texture filtering, fully-3D aiming and a scaled HUD - things that weren't a part of the original DOOM experience. If you wanna play like that, it's no problem! But do be aware that you may need to some tinkering with your new GZDoom installation to make it nice and crispy.

Mac OS, OS X


If you'd like to play THATCHER' TECHBASE on OS X, download GZDoom!

(For people on really old versions of OS X, you can still play the game using ZDoom - it's available on the same webpage!)

Once you've downloaded and installed G/ZDoom, you'll probably get a message that looks like this:



To fix this, open up your Library -> Application Support folder in OS X:



Open up the gzdoom folder* inside Application Support, and then drag your DOOM2.WAD file into the folder:



Almost there! Now that you're ready to go, just locate THATCHERCADE.wad and double-click it to run THATCHER'S TECHBASE!



Have fun!

* Can't find a 'GZDoom' folder in Application Support? If you create it yourself and put DOOM2.WAD in there, GZDoom should be able to find it.



LINUX


Seriously?

If you'd like to play THATCHER'S TECHBASE on Linux, you can install PRBoom for Linux and UNIX Systems, GZDoom for Ubuntu, or compile it directly from the source code.

PRBoom

To run THATCHER'S TECHBASE with PRBoom, use the following command:

prboom -iwad DOOM2.wad -file THATCHERCADE.wad

GZDoom

For GZDoom, the OS X instructions should apply... but I don't really know! If you are using Linux, you probably know about computers than I do and do not need my help!



ANDROID DEVICES


The easiest way to play THATCHER'S TECHBASE on an Android phone or tablet is by getting Delta Touch from the Google Play Store. It's £/$2.49, but well worth the investment. You'll be supporting a great app, a great developer, and will gain the ability to play countless Doom mods and wads from the past 28 years.

Once installed on your device, all you need to do is grab your copy of the Doom2.wad and stick it in the "OpenTouch/Delta" folder on your device's storage. Your copy of THATCHERCADE.wad goes in the "OpenTouch/Delta/Mods" folder.

Once you've done that, open Delta Touch on your Android device and click on "DOOM2.WAD". Press the keyboard icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen, choose the list icon, and select THATCHERCADE.wad - from now on, clicking on Doom2.wad will launch THATCHER'S TECHBASE!



NINTENDO 3DS


Seriously?!

Yes! That's right! Thanks to the magic of PRBoom-3DS, it's possible to play THATCHER'S TECHBASE on the Nintendo 3DS! Amazing! If you've got a Homebrew-enabled 3DS, all you need to do is download prboom-3ds and stick THATCHERCADE.wad in the installation folder on your Nintendo 3DS's SD card! Boot up PRBoom-3DS, choose THATCHERCADE.wad, and you're good to go!

You'll need doom2.wad, too, of course.



Nintendo Wii


Seriously?!

Yes! That's right! Thanks to the magic of WiiDoom, it's possible to play THATCHER'S TECHBASE on the Nintendo Wii! Amazing! If you've got a Homebrew-enabled Wii, all you need to do is download WiiDoom and stick THATCHERCADE.wad in the installation folder on your Wii's SD card! Boot up WiiDoom, choose THATCHERCADE.wad, and you're good to go!

You'll need doom2.wad, too, of course.



EVERYTHING ELSE

One of the coolest things about Doom is that it can run on anything.

THATCHER'S TECHBASE can't run on anything.

I did a pretty crappy job of making it - but it can run on a lot of things. As a Boom-compatible Doom WAD, Thatcher's Techbase should be runnable on any console that has Boom-compatible source port, such as the Wii U, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable or PlayStation Vita. Just stick "(device) prboom port" into Google and you may be pleasantly surprised!

Please let me know if you get the game running on anything interesting, or are having issues getting it working. I'm happy to help.