Heretic

The Serpent Riders have made the kings of Parthoris their puppets and their undead legions are swarming the land. Only you, the Elf Corvus have the power to - you know what? The story probably isn't one bit more important than it is in DOOM, the masterpiece that this month's game is based on. Heretic was the breakthrough success for Raven Software, though, the company that would later become known for games like Jedi Knight II. But Heretic is remembered fondly by many fans, as well. Rightfully so? Or did it just ride the wave of DOOM clones, even using the DOOM engine in this case?

Let's find out!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") on this episode we have DGC members DRS (returning from the Karateka episode) and Wouter ("jefklak"), who's on the show for the first time.

https://www.dosgameclub.com/podcast/2025/03/ep100.mp3

[ download mp3 ] (101 mins, 115 MB)

Many thanks to DGC member Richard ("Pix") who helped produce the show, to DGC member Bernd ("console") who edited this episode, and to Bjorn ("TigerQuoll") for providing the game audio & music. Thanks to all who help us make this show possible, we can't do it without you!

RELEVANT LINKS:

* Heretic Hack Editor

* Deep dive into DoomEd on NextStep on YouTube, as used to create Heretic's levels

* Interview with Raven Software level designer Michael Raymond-Judy

* Original Heretic webpage on ravensoftware.com (archived)

* Official id Software history mentions Heretic (archived)

* Heretic retrospective on YouTube, by Seanzen Gaming

* id Software was previously discussed on DGC in episodes: 001 (Doom), 009 (Commander Keen), 067 (Quake) and 093 (Wolfenstein 3D)