Question 1

Is Freedoom free and legal?

Accepted Answer

Yes, 100%. All graphics, sound effects, music, and levels in Freedoom were created from scratch by volunteer contributors and released under the permissive BSD 3-Clause license. No proprietary Doom assets are used.

Question 2

What engine does PlayBound use for Freedoom?

Accepted Answer

PlayBound bundles GZDoom, the most advanced and widely supported modern Doom source port. It includes hardware acceleration (OpenGL / Vulkan), true mouselook, dynamic lighting, high resolution support, and controller integration.

Question 3

What is the difference between Phase 1, Phase 2, and FreeDM?

Accepted Answer

Phase 1 contains four 9-level episodes with distinct bosses (similar in structure to The Ultimate Doom). Phase 2 is a single sprawling 32-level campaign with continuous weapon progression (similar to Doom II). FreeDM is a dedicated 32-level multiplayer deathmatch set.

Question 4

Can I play custom community WADs with this install?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Because Freedoom acts as a full replacement IWAD and GZDoom is the host engine, you can drag and drop custom PWADs or mods onto gzdoom.exe to play community maps.

Question 5

Does Freedoom support gamepads and controllers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GZDoom features native plug-and-play support for Xbox, PlayStation, and generic PC controllers with customizable deadzones and sensitivity in the options menu.

Question 6

Does Freedoom have multiplayer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Freedoom supports up to 64 players. You can have PlayBound start a dedicated server for your group and host a game on your own PC. PlayBound Connect handles the setup: start a party with your friends, pick how you want to play, and everyone launches into the same game from the PlayBound launcher, with the dedicated server started for you if you choose one. There is no subscription and no paid multiplayer tier.

Official

Installation & Setup