SLADE3 review
A free, open-source toolkit for extracting, editing, converting, and repacking classic game assets.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
SLADE3 is a desktop editor for Doom-engine games and source ports, aimed at modders, archivists, and developers working with classic game resources. It can create, open, save, import, export, and reorder archive entries across formats including WAD, PK3/ZIP, Quake PAK, Build GRP, Blood RFF, Descent HOG, and other documented game archives. Its supported asset types include archives, maps, graphics, fonts, textures, audio, models, and text, with batch extraction and archive repacking included.
The main strength is how many archive and conversion tasks sit in one application. SLADE3 can open embedded archives with unlimited documented recursion, filter entries by category, name, and wildcards, and convert supported graphics to PNG, DoomGfx, DoomFlat, and other formats. It also extracts subimages from image collections, edits Doom and ZDoom composite textures, and provides format coverage spanning Doom, Quake, Build, Shadowcaster, CyClones, Amulets & Armor, and related games. Console commands and Lua scripting add automation for archive and entry operations.
For map-focused work, SLADE3 edits Doom, Hexen, Doom 64, and UDMF maps, while its audio tools play supported MIDI and tracker-style formats. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS and is distributed under the GPL-2.0 license. Model formats such as DMD, MD2, MD3, VOX, and KVX are supported for format identification rather than full viewing or export, so dedicated model tooling may be preferable for those tasks. Choose SLADE3 for Doom and classic archive workflows that need extraction, conversion, editing, scripting, and repacking in one free application; choose an alternative when modern asset pipelines or full model editing are the priority.
SLADE3 pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports WAD, PK3/ZIP, Quake, Build, and other classic formats
- Combines archive, graphics, texture, map, audio, and scripting tools
- Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux as free open-source software
- Where it doesn't
- Model formats are identified but not fully viewed or exported
- The feature set is centered on classic game resource workflows
- Map editing is focused on Doom, Hexen, Doom 64, and UDMF
SLADE3 fact sheet, pricing and score →
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