This is news that came as surprising as the many deaths in 2016: Randi Heit stops the development of the ZDoom sourceport. I was actually very shocked when reading this. Personally, for me the ZDoom sourceport was always the most advanced one and also the one that kept me modding for Doom. I can still remember the good old Phorums times when I first posted feature requests and asking for support when ZDoom was at 1.22 in the year 2000... that's around 17 years now. Anyway, as shocking as this is, there are also good news to tell - and with good news come also benefits. But one thing after another.

I want to thank Randi Heit on his fantastic work in the past two decades. He has done an amazing job and even though it got calmer lately around him and others were doing the dirty work, he is the reason why many of us still stick to this old game and still continue mapping and modding, as he always listened to the community demands. Thanks for all your dedictaion Randi, don't get a stranger!

Now onto the other side of the medal that we should not miss: Eruanna, dpjudas and Graf Zahl - with both of them we have important and amazing pillars in the community, that ensure to keep the legacy alive. QZDoom and GZDoom are engines that already go hand in hand for shorter or longer times now and with both of them we have someone who keep the forums, the compatibility and the future going. Beyond, Graf Zahl can now decide many things that wouldn't have been possible as long as compatibility to ZDoom had to be granted.

All in all, this is not the most happy day in the history of Doom - but promises are being made: it's not the worst either. I am looking forward to 2017!