DOOM III Released

[Nick Bischoff]

Doom 3 is now out. I cant seem to find a demo anywhere, so Im assuming that there won't be one.

Has anybody played it yet?

[dreeze]

The demo will be out some time after the retail release.

[Screwball]

Bought it. Playing it.

Some things I have noticed:

* Interface is very slick, you use a "PDA" to keep track of mission objectives as well as addding to the story via recorded voice logs and e-mails you find on others PDA's. There are also a number of UAC "marketing" style video's that remind me a lot of Starship Troopers.

* The initial part of the game was walking into the new, slick base. You see loads of different security measures and bits and pieces. It has a lot of the original Doom 1 / 2 techno base feel to it.

* This game is creepy. And dark. After the provibial hits the fan you will find yourself walking through a lot of dark area's. The flashlight gets used a lot, which btw looks great, but as you cannot use any weapons while you have the flash light out it can make some fights rather annoying.

* The sound MAKES this game. A lot of the time there is very little sound, until you get close to a monster, then you'll hear the moaning of the zombies or grunts from the imps. They have also put a fair few triggers in for things like pipes bursting as you walk past, grates falling off etc that still scares the bejesus out of me. Also, when stuff first starts going wrong you end up walking back, in the dark, with very few monsters listening to the screams and panic of other marines over the radio, very creepy. Also, you sometimes hear a deep, creepy devil style laugh and the lights will go off or other freaky stuff happens.

* Visually the game is great, although it does get a little dark in a lot of places, but the flashlight can help you out there. The monsters and the other characters within the game look great.

Summing Up:

Pros:

* Visually Stunning
* Excellent Interface
* Sound Recordings and E-Mails add to the storyline
* Extermely Creepy
* Sounds are excellent and add to the atmosphere

Cons:

* A little too dark in many places, making it hard to fight monsters
* Not being able to use your weapons while holding a flashlight, while semi-realistic, sucks.
* The shotgun doesn't sound and feel like the shotgun from Doom 1/2
* Only four players in multiplayer and No co-op play !!

My Game Screenshots (http://members.optusnet.com.au/gprince79/Doom3)

[BrainBlock]

Bathroom - I found a toilet in the initial base that contains feces.

I need to buy a whole new system to enjoy the game though. I bet it will take about 1k for me to do it justice! Just for D3!

[Bluecat]

My copy should be arriving on Friday.

Bought it. Playing it.


Cons:

* A little too dark in many places, making it hard to fight monsters
* Not being able to use your weapons while holding a flashlight, while semi-realistic, sucks.

I was doing a little surfing tonight, and someone has already come up with a mod that attaches a flashlight to the pistol. It won't be long before there's a flashlight for every gun.

[disaffected]

got it last night and after playing with it for a few hours yesterday and today I found the game a little weak in the gameplay department.
the game's basically a one note performance: walk, hear noise, see monster, hide, kill monster repeat. :cool:

The sound is basically hit and miss, some sounds are great, but others, especially some of the gun sounds, sounds muffled.

not saying the game sucks, but I'll probably never play it again once I beat it.

[EpicBoy]

Does it come with a level editor of any kind? I'd like to try making levels for it...

[dreeze]

The editor is built into the engine (same .exe)

[Cogin]

Btw. PK4 files are in fact zip files, you can see lots of things there. For example they use Ogg for sound effects.

[grimreaper]

Got it two days ago.

Very, very slick graphics + interface.

id's CEO (I forgot the name) had posted somewhere not to expect gameplay. Doom3 was simply designed to scare the sh!t out of you. I can confirm it does :D

I wouldnt worry about the multiplayer bits though - just give it a couple of weeks and there will be mods out. I've heard that the 4-player limit has already been removed.

Verdict: Doom3 is an excellent tech demo. I prefer MaxPayne2. Wonder what HL2 will be like...

Anyway, I gotta go. Got a world to save :)

grimreaper

[Yuriy O]

Played yesterday. Damn. I got FX 5600 with 256Mb on P4 3G with 800 FSB and 512MB memory on 400Mhz. When I put the game into 1280x1024 it was SLOW. I had graphics quality High but not the top high. I switched into 800x600 and tuned on Vsync. It was running better, but anyway in some spots, especially with shadows it was lagging.

Whenever those monsters that through a fireball get in your way games lags and it's very hard to escape a fireball hit.

Game is too damn dark. Too damn dark. As was said above the flash light does not really come handy when you have to switch to weapon all the time.

So, tell me guys. Is that something wrong with my system or the game is just so pumped up with visuals that my machine wont pull well?

[EpicBoy]

Best mod ever.

http://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/

[Yuriy O]

Best mod ever.

http://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/


That's definately what we need!

[Bluecat]

Whenever those monsters that through a fireball get in your way games lags and it's very hard to escape a fireball hit.

Game is too damn dark. Too damn dark. As was said above the flash light does not really come handy when you have to switch to weapon all the time.

So, tell me guys. Is that something wrong with my system or the game is just so pumped up with visuals that my machine wont pull well?

I've got a 2.8GHz machine with a Nvidia FX 5200 (I think, it's been a while since I checked) and 512MB RAM. I ran Doom 3 initially with medium settings (800x600) and I found the same as you, slow response time. Couldn't dodge or shoot the imps effectively.

I changed the settings to 640x480 and the game ran much much better. Still a little bit of lag at times, but nothing to worry about.

The thing that impressed me though, was how good the game looked at 640x480. It was still gorgeous, better than anything I've seen to date at that rez. It almost makes me want to get a better PC to see it at its best!

As for the flashlight/dark issues. I'm torn on this one. D3, for all it's beauty, is an ordinary shooter. What makes it a good game, is the sense of suspense and fear that they instill, and the darkness is a big part of that. There was one moment that gave me a big enough shock that I had to go to the loo shortly afterwards. Having said that, I think reducing the darkness, or adding a ducted flashlight will reduce the tension. With that D3 becomes a little ordinary.

[Cartman]

Good article on the Doom culture and John Carmack
http://slate.msn.com/id/2104869/

[dreeze]

Along the same line, Masters of Doom is quite a good read.

[Yuriy O]

Best mod ever.

http://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/


I dont seem to get it to work. I copied file and run doom3. Flashlight is still separate. I started a new game and it doesnt duck tape. Or does it only work with a :machinegun:? which I dont seem to have

[Phil Newton]

I dont seem to get it to work. I copied file and run doom3. Flashlight is still separate. I started a new game and it doesnt duck tape. Or does it only work with a :machinegun:? which I dont seem to have

Only works with machine gun and shotgun, according to the site.

Haven't got a PC that could even try to run Doom 3 (it can't run Quake), so I'll have to wait a little while to play it.

[Sunshine]

:mad: I am totally jelous of any of you that can run D3 :mad:

I added it up that I need at least 500$ MINIMUM to play this
Plus 50$ for the game!!

Oh well, Maybe next year :)

[Nick Bischoff]

This game is really unbelievable. Ive been playing for 2 days now. It looks fantastic, runs like a dream. If you want to get it to run nicely, check out the planetdoom forums for optimisation tips. There are a few simple ones that will speed it up 30%+.

I have to disagree about the flash light, i think it adds to the game. Ive been scared half to death a few times while in some dark areas.

Assign your flash light to your right mouse button, click once for flash, click again to get back to your previous weapon.

[disaffected]

Btw. PK4 files are in fact zip files, you can see lots of things there. For example they use Ogg for sound effects.

for the life of me I can't figure why they would sample all the sounds in 22050hz and then compress it to ogg, why not leave it at 44100hz?

[Linusson]

for the life of me I can't figure why they would sample all the sounds in 22050hz and then compress it to ogg, why not leave it at 44100hz?
Maybe because they will only take half the size in memory after they've been decompressed?

[disaffected]

Maybe because they will only take half the size in memory after they've been decompressed?

For a HUGE high budget title like Doom3 to use 22050 hz audio to save memory is like high budget movie maker using video tape to film movies to save money.

[EpicBoy]

Maybe because it sounds good enough. Ignoring audiophiles, if the shotgun sounds like a shotgun, you're done.

[Chaster]

For a HUGE high budget title like Doom3 to use 22050 hz audio to save memory is like high budget movie maker using video tape to film movies to save money.

I think what he meant was "save memory on the user's computer" (as opposed to the developer's computer). Very few people can tell the difference in quality between 22k and 44k sampling for game Sound FX (music is a different case altogether). Given the number of sound FX in the game, it was probably a worthwhile thing for them to use 22k (making the game run better on those systems which are "borderline"..)

Just my theory...

Chaster

[tentons]

Good article on the Doom culture and John Carmack
http://slate.msn.com/id/2104869/

I was a little surprised by the naivety in this article.

...[Carmack]'s a master of capturing the what's-around-the-corner scariness of a good horror movie. In Doom 3, he takes the inherent claustrophobia of cramped, military-industrial settings and amps it up with ultrarealistic visuals and insanely creepy sound effects.

Is it just me, or did they entirely ignore the level designers and artists who deserve credit for the game design? Oh, wait, the author did mention the other 25 people:

Of course, he didn't make the whole thing himself. Doom 3, like any modern mega-game, required a team of over 25 designers...

But it sounds as if they're just unskilled laborers following Carmack's every crack of the whip after he's done designing everything in the game, right down to sound effects. That's not how it works. According to interviews I've seen/read, he was often shocked by the cool stuff the artists and level designers were creating. He obviously doesn't claim credit, but these silly fanboy people jump to conclusions based on their own uninformed assumptions.

I'm pretty sure he's not credited as Lead Designer in the game. (I don't know, haven't played yet.) Clearly, he deserves his fame, and I'm sure he did have a huge influence on the game, but I'd rather be fair to the other 25+ people who worked their asses off and helped make the game what it is.

And then this:

Will Wright, creator of Sim City and The Sims, pioneered the concept of simulation-as-game and perfected a visual style—isometric viewpoint, teensy pop-art characters—so cool-looking that ads and music videos are now plundering it.

How much of the art in The Sims did he himself create? Not much, if any, I expect. Again, he deserves plenty of praise, but there's a whole "rest of the team" that's getting ignored.

I'm nit picking, maybe, but it rubs me the wrong way to see credit go to the wrong people. It also spreads misinformation about game development in general. These guys are both geniuses, but they're supported by very large, fantastic teams who also deserve recognition.

<End of morning rant.> :)

Edit: Just wanted to say that I applaud the article's intent: to raise awareness of game developers, but it defeats it's own purpose by only raising awareness of certain developers above others (who are now the "neglected" who need more awareness).

[Pyabo]

Finally went to install Doom 3 last night and check it out for myself... So I open up the box... Here's Disc Two... and Disc Three... No Disc One! WTF?!?
:mad: