Buy Zugnaex

About This Game

The Name

Zona Pugna Exitium, or Zugnaex for short, is Latin for the Battle Zone of Doom. Also known as Doom Battle Zone. It's the classic DOOM® game with a different multiplayer experience. Players battle across zones in DOOM®.

The Story

In ancient times, a powerful demon, known only by the forbidden name Zugnaex, was imprisoned by forgotten gods to prevent the destruction of reality itself. The prison, an interdimensional cage bound by immortal blood, is impenetrable, indestructible... and smells really bad. However, the gods did not realize there is one way the demon can escape. If any mortal speaks its name perfectly, every single little tiny syllable, the demon will tear through dimensions, bypass its eternal prison, and return to annihilate humankind. It’s game over and humanity is out of quarters. But Zugnaex has never faced a foe like you. Only you and your friends can defeat the demon Zugnaex and save humanity.

It’s global warfare on an epic scale to save the human race. Will you join us?

The Battles

The online service hosts many battle variations. We are constantly working on new ones and making improvements to the ones that are available now. Here are some that you can experience:

A Demon a Day - work together with your friends to defeat demons. Each kill counts for all active players but be careful as friendly fire is enabled. Help each other to get the highest score and become a demon slaying legend.

That Guy - complete different mission objectives with your friends but there's a twist. The demons are powerful and the marines may succumb to their will. Who is your ally and who is your enemy? Play to find out.

Pennies from hell - demons drop pennies and you collect them. It's a PvP party where the best players will wallow in the riches offered by the denizen of hell.

Ready or Knot - it's time to play hide & seek but old school FPS style. It's PvP where all players are against "it." If "it" survives the other players explode just like in the movie.

And many more including speed running, co-op adventures and the ultimate confrontation with Zugnaex itself.

The Source Code

Some of it was written by me. Most of it was written by you. You can use all of it to make something amazing yourself! Use the included source code to build your own battles.

zugzug.zip - This is the source code for zugnaex (the client) and zugsrv (the server). See the README file for instructions on how to build. (License: GPLv2)

zugbat.zip - This is the source code for an example battle, "Kneed Time." Try to finish a random UV E1 map in par. See the README file for instructions on how to setup and run the battle. (License: MIT)

Important! Please read before you purchase

You are purchasing an unofficial DOOM® client. It's a modification of the 1993 DOOM® source code with a supporting online service that provides a unique multiplayer experience. You also get the source code for an extensible framework that lets you create multiplayer multiserver battles. This game comes with no playable content. To play or battle, you must own DOOM® and DOOM II®. Alternatively, for single player only, you can download free compatible WADs (game data files) online like Freedoom(1) and DOOM® Shareware(1).

(1) - These are independent projects (see below for details).

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Generative AI is not used at runtime for any purpose. We released this mod in the summer of 2022 with 2 battle modes. We started using generative AI for development in late 2023. It was used to create 2 key art images (a logo/icon and a title screen). We are planning to replace these images. It was used to create some promotional text for the product. We'll never do that again. It was used as reference to help solve complex technical questions while developing the software. The AI tools used were ChatGPT, Google Search, and Bing Image Creator. Anything AI generated was refactored, reviewed and redone by a human being (me).

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content