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Doom 3 Xbox Previewed, PC Version No-Show At E3

Thanks to IGN Xbox for its hands on preview of the E3 demo for the Xbox version of Doom 3, Vicarious Visions' conversion of id's long-awaited FPS title. They comment: "The atmosphere is dark, the pacing of the demo somewhat slow, and every aspect more fitting of a survival horror game than a run and gun shooter", but praise the results: "That's not a bad thing at all, in fact, it makes for a more intriguing title... The hard part for fans is going to be looking past expectations of what a DOOM game should be and embracing what DOOM 3 is." Elsewhere, GameSpot has a preview confirming that the PC version will not be shown at E3, since id "is locked in 'completion phase' at the company's Mesquite, Texas, offices", and both previews also reference the previously revealed, not yet playable Xbox-exclusive co-operative mode.

69 comments

  1. exclusive features are stupid by whiteSanjuro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    i don't like the notion of a specific platform getting an exclusive feature of the game, especially something as fundamental as co-op. the original doom co-op was awesome, i don't know why they have to screw the pc users...again. *cough*HALO*cough*

    1. Re:exclusive features are stupid by dpilot · · Score: 1

      In 5 years when Quake Reality is introduced, maybe the Doom3 engine will be GPL'ed and someone can add co-op back into the PC version.

      By then the X-Prize will have been won, Armadillo will have at least duplicated the feat, and the private space club will be working on X-Prize-2: Orbit.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    2. Re:exclusive features are stupid by TibbonZero · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Screw PC users? Try being a Mac user for a day, and then talk about Halo.... or NWN

      --
      Tibbon
      tibbon.com
    3. Re:exclusive features are stupid by whiteSanjuro · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      last time i checked, apple and xbox have about the same market shares in their respective worldwide markets...what is it now, like 1%?

    4. Re:exclusive features are stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You checked wrong.

    5. Re:exclusive features are stupid by canolecaptain · · Score: 1
      I won't be buying this game because of this exclusive feature lockout. For that matter, I bought Halo for the PC, found out that it didn't allow co-op, and took it back.

      Several of us in my office enjoy playing games together, and co-op is our most favorite mode. Unfortunately, games makers, now including Id, are missing a great market. Working together through a great storyline is tons of fun - more so than the standard DM / CTF / etc modes.

      The reality is that Id was probably paid a boatload of cash for that exclusive mode, and they figured they would make more money that way than the number of users willing to shell out for co-op on the PC. They were probably right, even though I don't like it. ;-)

  2. Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by hattmoward · · Score: 0, Troll

    I just can't handle playing without my keyboard and mouse! Sure, you can plug 'em into the XBox, but who wants to pay MS for an old PC painted black anyway? ;)

    I hope Doom 3 has some good gameplay and isn't just a pixelfest -- Everyone trying to make the prettiest game is really getting old.

    1. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by fireduck · · Score: 3, Insightful

      FPS games can work with console controllers. although more a puzzle game than true FPS, metroid prime had a very nice responsive control scheme. (far easier to use than the godfather of console FPS games, Goldeneye.) Given that Doom 3 is being pushed as a horror survival game, I imagine they won't be throwing thousands of zombies simultaneously at you, so the twitchy reflexes needed for most PC games simply won't be an issue in this game. That said, I'm sticking with the PC version (partly because I don't own an Xbox and partly because any mods that come out aren't going to be on the xbox)

    2. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by Pxtl · · Score: 1

      Particularly if they keep Doom's aiming style - remember Doom up/down autoaim? There was a little left/right auto too.

      What I know they won't be keeping, unfortunately, was Doom's incredible raw speed. The original Doom was fast (well, when running) - faster than Quake 1 even. The catch was it was also slippery as heck, so you had to walk if you didn't want to fall off of things.

      The other thing Doom had that I know we won't be seeing are those rooms of 50 imps. I guess Serious Sam remains as the only *true* successor to the original Doom.

    3. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 1

      Doom had up/down auto-aim, because there was no up or down. Remember Doom was described as 2.5D. While the engine made things look like they were higher or lower, there was no real under/over. So as long as there wasn't a wall in the way, a shot toward a creature would hit it.

    4. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by Pxtl · · Score: 2, Informative

      This was not true with slow moving projectiles, actually. This happened most often in DM, where you would be shooting your plasmagun at a player on a different elevation from you - you could not lead your target, because the shots would fire level by default, and only aim up when facing the target. Of course, if you were facing the target, you were not leading them if you were facing them, so you couldn't shoot them with the plasma.

    5. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by *weasel · · Score: 1

      Thousands of zombies aren't even an option.
      With the specs that have been demonstrated, they'll be lucky to get a half dozen animated meshes onscreen at once - PC or XBox.

      The removal of Co-op, i'm guessing, is because the PC requires alot more compliance testing, and that takes time and money. On the console, there's only one hardware config - and that leaves you some breathing room to get fancy (when the publisher is aiming for a near-simultaneous launch).

      That and XBox Live is broad-band only, meaning complaints about coop that boil down to latency/coherency issues are sidestepped.

      I'd be surprised if there weren't a hack available for PC co-op shortly after release.

      Myself, I'll have the xbox version or nothing. I already own an xbox, and I can't quite justify $400+ to update my rig just to play 1 game with a keyboard+mouse.

      I suppose, that'd be 2 games, if we count the ever-delayed half-life 2. But that conveniently (for me) is also aiming to have an xbox release.

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    6. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      You'll miss out on a LOT of the graphical wow though. I mean, the Doom3 Xbox screenshots look, well, like crap compared to the PC version. PC Gamers are going to be enjoying a real rennisance in good games these days: you'd do well to upgrade for things like Far Cry and Half-life2. They'll be tens times more playable and enjoyable on a PC (with all sorts of custom content and mods to extend the value of the purchase) And really, you don't need a super high end rig to play them. In fact, as long as you have a decent CPU (over 1.5Ghz or so) and a decent amount of memory, all you really need is one sweet graphics card (200$ for a 9800Pro) and you'll be getting performance and graphics the Xbox can't even begin to touch.

    7. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by *weasel · · Score: 1

      Well, I'm a bit of an old-school gamer. Graphics really aren't that important to me. Bad animation, bad lighting and bad physics bother me more than low resolution. I'd rather have interactivity than curved surfaces. The best part is: I can rent Doom3 for the xbox and decide for myself.

      I understand that I don't need a super high-end rig - but I've got a 1ghz celly, and a geforce3 as stands. Getting a new processor requires a new motherboard - which requires a new power supply and new memory. (my current PSU isn't capable of juicing the newer gfx cards, with the newer processors, and a couple IDE devices. The case is due my current )

      So we're talking $200 for the videocard, $200 for a 'good enough' mobo/proc, at least $200 for a decent amount of memory, and we'll ignore the PSU entirely because $600 for even -3- games is out of the question.

      Sure, I'll miss out on doom3's custom content - at first. But, by the time custom content comes out that's done well, the required cost for the upgrade will be cheaper. And there's nothing stopping me from picking up Doom3 in one-years time and playing through it all.

      I don't doubt the PC versions will look better and have more options. I don't doubt that a game like Far Cry will never be ported to the xbox. I'm just not going to pay $600 to run a few games. Not when every day the required hardware to run those games gets cheaper and cheaper.

      Eventually I will upgrade. But the justification isn't there for me right now, and Doom3, half-life2, and far cry don't change that.

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    8. Re:Don't make me play with those XBox controllers. by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      I guess if you have the patience to wait on these games, it's a good thing: save tons of money by staying well behind the cutting edge (plus, you'll be playing the best versions, the least bugged, in tip top performance). But I guess I just feel bad about the _first_ experience with something like Doom3 being on a blurry mess of Xbox. But it's your gameplan and cash, so I'm just being a pain. :)

      And I can't see how the Xbox is ever going to handle something like HL2's level of interactivity and complexity all that well.

  3. Exclusive? by bluephone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Anymore exclusive doesn't eman what it used to. Nowadays exclusivity lasts only for a limited time. Does anyone knowif the co-op feature will ever come to the PC, aside froma community released mod? Stalking through the bases in Doom with a buddy, trying nt to kill him when stumbling upon a horde of imps.

    --
    jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    1. Re:Exclusive? by bluephone · · Score: 1

      Er, lemme try that again, "...stumbling upon a horde of imps was half the fun."

      --
      jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    2. Re:Exclusive? by irokitt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Id games did tend to get a wealth of updates and official mods in the past, but even Carmack might tremble at the idea of spending so much time on writing co-op into PC. A game like DOOM 3 takes a lot of work, and the time that could go into writing co-op in could also be spent on Id's next project.

      The exciting thing about the article is that it hints that the PC version is in "final lockdown." If that means the same thing in the gaming industry as it does in the enterprise software agency, Id is in the final stages of coding: making all the pieces fit together. Means we might finally see the game here in about 3-4 months (but, then again, maybe not).

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    3. Re:Exclusive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Limited time, kinda like Halo's "CoOp" is exclusive for a limited time.

      Guess what. PC users got screwed by Bill and John. Go rent the xbox version, I'm sure the PC version stinks for shit anyways.

      Might as well stick with Half-life 2 now.

    4. Re:Exclusive? by bluephone · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, you're right. I forgot Carmack's explanation about doing a GOOD co-op play into the game would complicate the scripting of events and stuff. You risk trapping some players here while the other is over ther etripping a trap, etc. Thanks.

      --
      jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    5. Re:Exclusive? by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      Heh: Valve is already helping a third party mod team develop co-op for HL2 as a free mod.

    6. Re:Exclusive? by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      Bah. There are good workarounds to all such things. I mean, Half-life has co-op with scripted events, and so will HL2 (have co-op, albiet from a third party with Valve's support).

  4. I just hope... by Weirdofreak · · Score: 2, Interesting

    there are certain areas where "demonic influence" takes over. Hell literally forces its presence in the area, shaking the walls (and camera) and tossing items about in true poltergeist fashion.

    Sounds a bit like Eternal Darkness. I just hope they don't use any more insanity effects, especially not the BSOD one. Too many people will be so used to seeing it that they'll just restart the machine automatically. Not good after three hours of unsaved playing.

    1. Re:I just hope... by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      Well a BSOD would be hilarious if used on a non-Windows OS...

      Imagine playing the game on Linux and getting a "game effect" BSOD.

    2. Re:I just hope... by tycage · · Score: 1

      Not good after three hours of unsaved playing.

      Sounds like someone needs to be introduced to Mr. Quick Save. :)

  5. Oh boy... by Alkaiser · · Score: 0, Troll

    Another year where Doom 3 is unplayable...wonder if Half-Life 2 will follow suit. Maybe they'll show that really excellent Team Fortress 2 again. Wanna bet Doom 3 gets a best of show award from someone again?

    --
    Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
    1. Re:Oh boy... by junkgrep · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Er: the Xbox vesion of Doom3 will have a playable floor demo according to that article.

      As for HL2, we don't know what they'll have yet. HL2 will be shown in two different places (ATI and Valve each have it at their booths), but no word on whether it'll be playable or not, just that there will be new content. If I were them, I'd go for a small playable area: they can get tons of postitive feedback without having to give too much more of the game away. But it might just be more movies (likely that is what it will be at ATI's booth at least)

  6. No PC version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    No PC version of Doom3? This is just another sign of how game producers are abandoning the PC platform for the Macintosh.

    1. Re: No PC version by Weirdofreak · · Score: 1

      Like the PC version
      The PC and Xbox versions
      the PC version under development at id
      Xbox version will ship after the PC version
      the PC version will ship when it's done
      id will not show the PC version at E3
      there will still be multiplayer for both Xbox and PC
      it's not certain if the PC will support more players
      The PC version will ship with a level editor
      having seen both the Xbox and PC versions in action


      No PC version? Scandal!

    2. Re:No PC version by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      Please try to read: no co-op in the PC version does not equal no PC version. In fact, the PC version comes out first.

  7. Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by jcenters · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's see, Doom with 3D rendering, dark, horrific atmosphere, and a slower pace? Yeah, we've seen it, it was called Doom 64. I thought it was a decent game, but many didn't like it because it was so different.

    I love ID as a company, but I don't think the new Doom deserves all the empty hype and massive system upgrades.

    Besides, what made ID, Doom and Quake popular in the first place was mindless, bloody, fast paced carnage. That's what ID needs to focus on, IMHO.

    --

    vi ~/.emacs

    1. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by AzraelKans · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I played the demo in the Quakecon last year, sorry but theres not much I cant tell you to change your opinion about it, you just have to wait until you have your hands on it and the buch of mods that will follow suit when is released.(or the ones you will make if thats your thing)
      IMO I had the chance to taste it and I can tell you this much, Doom 3 is to doom What the new ninja Gaiden is to the nes ninja gaiden. Simply the best horror game Ive played.

      --
      Go ahead MOD my day!
      More opinions here
    2. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by MMaestro · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Besides, what made ID, Doom and Quake popular in the first place was mindless, bloody, fast paced carnage. That's what ID needs to focus on, IMHO.

      There were two games that came out from another developer which featured this kind of content. They were Serious Sam and Serious Sam : The Second Encounter. Both of which initially retailed for $20 USD. Fans loved it. Reviewers praised it. But money didn't come.

      Its not easy releasing any game with a back history these days. If Half-Life 2 somehow manages to suck somehow, Valve will have to liquidate to avoid all the bitching. If Halo 2 sucks, everyone will cry 'well thats what you get for selling out to Microsoft, etc...' The list just goes on and on. Deux Ex 2, Final Fantasy after 7 (or 6 depending on how hardcore are you), Warcraft III, Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun, etc...

    3. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really shitty and the only thing related is the name?

    4. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by KewlPC · · Score: 1

      I don't remember what Doom you played, but the Doom that I played was dark and full of atmosphere and suspense. It didn't turn into an all-out actionfest until the last half of the game.

      The same with Quake. In fact, looking at my Quake box, most of the praise seems to be going towards the game's atmosphere and scariness. You remember how dark the game was, right? You remember Trent Reznor's creepy soundtrack, right? You remember monsters jumping out at you from the shadows, right?

      It's unfortunate, but id Software seems to be in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation. If they focus on making the game scary and atmospheric (which would necessitate a slower pace and fewer enemies), people bitch that it's not very Doom-like, but if they focus on mindless action then people bitch that they should focus on things besides that.

      Case-in-point: Penny Arcade. After Doom 3's first E3 showing: "The new Doom 3 engine looks great. I can't wait until somebody makes a good game with it." Then a while later (days?): "Doom 3 won't be room after room of zombies? How un-Doom-like."

    5. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by cubicledrone · · Score: 1

      They were Serious Sam and Serious Sam : The Second Encounter. Both of which initially retailed for $20 USD. Fans loved it. Reviewers praised it. But money didn't come.

      Huh? What does that mean? It didn't sell?

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    6. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by Night+Goat · · Score: 1

      What do you mean money didn't come? I know a bunch of people who bought the game.

      Also, since when do opinionated Internet gamers cause game companies to go bankrupt? I can see if they don't recoup their expenses, but it'll take more than complaining to get that to happen.

    7. Re:Doom 3 Is Old Hat Anyway... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh come on, you either havent played it or are looking for excuses to whine about something, Ninja Gaiden may be a lot of things (extremely hard, pretty commercial, too different from the original) but definetily not "shitty" besides lets get back to topic.

  8. Ouch. by AzraelKans · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hollenshead said that the Xbox version will ship after the PC version, and the PC version will ship when it's done.

    Translation: Our xbox version (which is relatively simple) is kind of ready but theirs (which is very complex considering the range of cards it has to work on and internet/modding features) is not, so we wont release any version until they are both ready, the cows come home or armaggedon is here.

    There goes another E3 and no Doom 3 yet.

    And for sanity's sake someone should ban the term "when it's done" in an interview, gamers are traumatized with Duke Nukem Forever.

    --
    Go ahead MOD my day!
    More opinions here
  9. well I don't know about you.. by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but the original DOOM was more of a survival horror than just pure run and shoot.

    sure, it got into a run and shoot after you played it through couple of times or in a deathmatch, but the first time it was pretty horrorish, lights going out, monsters breathing and stuff like that.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:well I don't know about you.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't play doom, I played doom2 (I loved wolf3d before that), and I'll never forget the room full of columnds and a cyberdemon in the way... hide hide hide!

    2. Re:well I don't know about you.. by Deagol · · Score: 2, Interesting
      True.

      Even more so was the Aliens Total Conversion mod for Doom (or was it Doom II?). That, my friends, has been the only game ever to literally have me jumping out of my seat as I played it (at midnight, with the lights out, and headphones on).

      Granted, my gaming has asymptotically been aproaching nill ever since that time as I grew older (that game is, what, 10 years old now?), but man, I've never found a more thoroughly immersive gaming experience as Aliens TC.

      BTW... anyone know where I can score a full copy of Doom and Aliens TC online? I've heard that Doom was released to the public domain (or at least the core engine) and that Aliens TC was pushed waaay underground by the studio (Fox?) that owns the Alien franchise. Will that stuff even run under Linux? This post has my nostalgia running high. :)

      The Terminator II mod for Doom II was kinda fun, but it got kinda old after you were left with nothing more than fifty T-1000's coming after you. No real plot or goal, unlike the ATC mod.

    3. Re:well I don't know about you.. by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The source for Doom/Doom2 engine was GPL'd years ago. You still have to pay for a copy of the game in order to legally play their levels.

      The Aliens TC was s*tcanned by the studio almost immediately after it came out. Bummer. The guys who created that created a work of art IMHO. I saw an early beta and was blown away by the textures alone.

      I'd love to be able to point you to a copy but I never got to download the thing. I was on vacation the week it came out, and it was gone by the time I got back.

      wbs.

      --
      Huh?
    4. Re:well I don't know about you.. by C_To · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are several open source versions of Doom you can use, I believe Boom was the one closest to the original EXE (But I may be wrong).

      Legacy Doom has some good, but not perfect, compatibility with older wads. And theres of course the jDoom/Doomsday Engine, which has made the original Doom a great experience.

      Aliens TC can be get here.

  10. Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by superultra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    DOOM 3 . . is not a sequel to DOOM II. Instead, it's a retelling of the original. "What if DOOM were made today, with today's technology and with everything learned about gaming in the past decade?"

    I'm not sure why everyone's spoiling their pants over this one. Ok, I do. Gamers go wacky over screenshots and pixels. But we're not only living in a post-DirectX9 world here, we're living in a post Half Life, post Halo, post Call to Duty, post Deus Ex etc FPS world. What I mean is that we're living in a gaming world where games tell stories. Sure, they're not always great (Far Cry comes immediately to mind). But sometimes they are (Deus Ex 1, or the FPS-esque Max Payne). Doom, redone in today's gaming environment, would not only be pretty but not be Doom anymore because it would actually have a legitimate story. As far as I can tell, there is none in Doom III (zombies on a space station sums it up). This isn't surprising, as Carmack has often evangelized that games are as much about story as pornography is.

    Doom III is a tech demo to sell the engine off to more competant storytellers. There's a whole other audience besides gamers that no one has really mentioned, and that's the developing community. Doom III is as much about licensing the new engine out, if not more so, than making a fun game to play.

    To the PC fanboys who have been whining about the Xbox version, you need to realize that you're not the only one Carmack is making this game for. It's not just developers for the PC, which are becoming rarer and rarer. It's developers for consoles, which are quickly becoming much more numerous. I would venture to say that Microsoft probably did not pay much, if anything at all, to get Doom III on the XBox. It's doubtful they could replicate a reasonable facsimile on the PS2, and (sadly) why bother on the GC? Rather, if iD and Vicarious can port the D3 engine over to the Xbox, it opens far more doors in this market than the PC version does. So why the exclusive co-op? Because I think that although iD might be afraid to say it out loud for fear of alienating their PC fanboys, there is more money to be had both on the consumer and especially on the developer side with the consoles (represented by the xbox in this case).



    *Of course, it could be duly noted that Doom III may be instrumental in turning the tables in the cycle and perhaps making the PC more prominent than it has been with this generation of consoles. That, though, is only temporary (a year at best) if the next generation of consoles starts to come out 2005.

    1. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by arhar · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Some games need a story, some don't. Doom III is definitely in the latter category - who needs the story when you can gleefully waste time killing thousands of demons with the chainsaw?

      When I want to play a game with a great story, I turn to Planescape: Torment, or The Dig, or Day of the Tentacle, etc...

      By the way, last year I attended a meeting with Carmack at Stony Brook University, and he said pretty much the above: Doom doesn't need no stinking story. He also said PC games are usually much more story-based than consoles, which (usually) are all about action, and he's still surprised that he's doing PC, and not console, game development.

      But you do bring up one very interesting point. Can Doom 3 (or Halflife 2, for that matter) engine serve as a base for some story-based game? Morrowind on Doom 3 engine, anybody?

    2. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by Nikkos · · Score: 1

      If you've paid attention to the teasers, trailers, and demo movies you might have figured out the storyline for yourself. Or, if you'd played the original, you might have found something similar to the following text in the readme file...

      You're a marine, one of Earth's toughest, hardened in combat and trained for action. Three years ago you assaulted a superior officer for ordering his soldiers to fire upon civilians. He and his body cast were shipped to Pearl Harbor, while you were transferred to Mars, home of the Union Aerospace Corporation. The UAC is a multi-planetary conglomerate with radioactive waste facilities on Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos. With no action for fifty million miles, your day consisted of suckin' dust and watchin' restricted flicks in the rec room.

      For the last four years the military, UAC's biggest supplier, has used the remote facilities on Phobos and Deimos to conduct various secret projects, including research on inter-dimensional space travel. So far they have been able to open gateways between Phobos and Deimos, throwing a few gadgets into one and watching them come out the other. Recently however, the Gateways have grown dangerously unstable. Military "volunteers" entering them have either disappeared or been stricken with a strange form of insanity-babbling vulgarities, bludgeoning anything that breathes, and finally suffering and untimely death of full body explosion. Matching heads with torsos to send home to the folks became a full-time job. Latest military reports state that the research is suffering a small set-back, but everything is under control.

      A few hours ago, Mars received a garbled message from Phobos. "We require immediate military support. Something fraggin' evil is coming out of the Gateways! Computer systems have gone berserk!" The rest was incoherent. Soon Afterwards, Deimos simply vanished from the sky. Since then, attempts to establish contact with either moon have been unsuccessful. You and your buddies, the only combat troop for fifty million miles were sent up pronto to Phobos. You were ordered to secure the perimeter of the base while the rest of the team went inside. For several hours, your radio picked up the sounds of combat: guns firing, men yelling orders, screams, bones cracking, then finally, silence. Seems your buddies are dead. It's Up To You Things aren't looking too good.

      You'll never navigate off the planet on your own. Plus, all the heavy weapons have been taken by the assault team leaving you with only a pistol. If only you could get your hands around a plasma rifle or even a shotgun you could take a few down on your way out. Whatever killed your buddies deserves a couple of pellets in the forehead. Securing your helmet, you exit the landing pod. Hopefully you can find more substantial fire power somewhere within the station. As you walk through the main entrance of the base, you hear animal like growls echoing throughout the distant corridors. They know your here. There's no turning back now.


      So, what if Doom is upgraded after a few years? Well, along with better graphics, sound, and gameplay, you also have the ability to tell this story in-game, rather than just put it in the readme. All in all a much more immersive experience, and quite a bit more than "Zombies on a Space Station.." --Nikkos

    3. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by junkgrep · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oh, I think you're underestimating id: everything they've said while developing Doom3 shows that they understand your point about story and are trying to do better this time. At least give them a chance to try and make amends before declaring in full cliche form that Doom3 an engine demo. They were as wowed by Half-life as the rest of us in how important building story events into the game can be.

      And if you've played the alpha, then you'll know that they really have tried to work in ongoing events, scripted cutscenes and dynamic (though still scripted) custom in game animations, into the game. The way you move seamlessly from computer controlled in engine cutscenes to player controlled action is a great way to give the adventure some life and story.

    4. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Morrowind on Doom 3 engine? I doubt the D3 engine can do outdoors, but the characters could surely use it (many of my friends refused to play it because of the really bad looking characters).

    5. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by arhar · · Score: 1

      Why do you doubt it? Half-life 2 sure can do it, and I don't think iD would want to stay too far behind ..

    6. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by MMaestro · · Score: 1

      Well Doom 2 has a slightly better storyline, though it was nothing special. I don't have the exact text available, but basicly it revolved around returning to Earth, freeing the human last survivors, sending them up into space, with you going down to Hell and killing the 'commander.' Course this was still Doom 1 technology we're talking about so you never saw these human survivors, the spaceship/space shuttle/space dingie, or a sign saying 'Welcome to Hell.'

    7. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by evil-osm · · Score: 1

      there is more money to be had both on the consumer and especially on the developer side with the consoles

      Not true at all. An excellent example is Nintendo based consoles. Not only do you have to pay for an proprietary development environment, but you also have to pay for: Licenses, Production, Certification, that little sticker that sais "Nintendo", and a whack load of other stuff that you don't have with PC games. Oh and if you think that you can use the third party based development tools to develop and publish your game (unless ok'd by the console owner). The tools for developing GBA games are a good example. Well Nintendo's lawyers will be all over you like a fat kid on pancakes.

      PC Games, you buy a system, with your prefered development software, you pick your own producer, you also pick your own promotions with it (say you want to bundle your game with something else). Good luck pulling half of that off with a console based product. Console is "here is what you are going to pay and here is what you are going to get back", PC is "I can pick what I want and how I want to do it" (within reason, and with some limitations).

      PC gaming development is more open to the general public, vs, console is more geared to the big guys.

      Don't get me wrong, console gaming has alot of pluses that PC gaming doesn't (static hardware, known configurations), where as supporting the ten billion combinations on the PC can be a huge nightmare. However what if your game has a bug? PC you can patch it, console you have to recall the game if its bad enough (and there are games out there like that), and that costs big bucks, so generally you don't do that and noone buys your game and your screwed

      --


      E.

      Never rub another man's rhubarb - The Joker
    8. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by AltaMannen · · Score: 1

      Even if there is less money to spend per copy you may very well sell so many more copies on consoles than PC that the profit for the console production is much higher than the profit for the PC production. Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 will make big profits, but I doubt a lot of PC titles earn much more than break-even with production and marketing costs.

    9. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      Doom3 as a technology really isn't built for outdoors. The shadows are very intensive, meaning that large viewdistances with lots of objects are going to be hell. They can kludge it, as with the Martian city in the alpha, but IMHO, it looks nothing like HL2s gorgeous and complex city vistas or Far Cry's luscious island.

    10. Re:Doom III = Tech Demo Redux, and Why Xbox by danila · · Score: 1

      If id is making a sellable engine with Doom3, it looks like they are going to fail. Doom3 is not even adequate to existing hi-end 3D hardware. It seems that both nVidia 6800 and ATi X800 would happily run Doom3 in 2048x1536 on max settings. Well, may be only in 1600x1200, I don't know. There isn't much in Doom3 in terms of technology any longer. Lighting and shadows are still good, but nothing to salivate about. Physics is barely passable, bump-mapping is ok, but much more is already possible today, they have no water or outdoor environments. I would expect Valve's Source be much more popular choice among developers. Or Stalker developers, if they try selling their engine.

      --
      Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
  11. Id isn't reponsible for this by The+Analog+Kid · · Score: 1

    They aren't doing the X-BOX port another company is.

  12. I didn't like Doom 64 by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1, Informative
    I didn't like Doom 64. Even on the max brightness and contrast settings in the cartridge's setup, everything was extremely low-contrast "very dark brown/gray on black" with a few flashes of dark orange or dark green here and there. And this was in the lit areas. When you went into a darker area, it was black on black. The television's brightness and contrast controls did not help either, but a game's designers have "Failed it" if you even have to consider adjusting those controls on the set.

    I got tired of resisting the urge to shine a flashlight at the black screen to see what was going on, and gave up on it.

    "Doom and Quake popular in the first place was mindless, bloody, fast paced carnage"

    Firing black bullets in a black room at black monsters is such fun! I've not seen any other game for any other system (including Doom and Quake for other platforms) which blew it on darkness/contrast like this one did.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  13. "when it's done" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And for sanity's sake someone should ban the term "when it's done" in an interview, gamers are traumatized with Duke Nukem Forever.

    Hmmm, you must not be familiar with the trauma of waiting six months for a patch to make a game that you've already paid for playable. That, my friend, sucks far more and that's a fact.

    I think Id saying "when it's done" is just fine. It's them being arrogant and realistic at the same time. Good for them.

    Don't blame companies like Id and Valve for being in control of their own destiny.

    1. Re:"when it's done" by irokitt · · Score: 1

      You point is excellent.

      *cough* Halo PC *cough*

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
  14. Exclusitivity & Modding in a PC/Console World by BRock97 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Curious about the following circumstance:
    • Company X makes a PC game.
    • Company Y is on tap to port said game to a console.
    • Company Y then touts exclusive features and content for only that console.
    • Company X then releases the tools to mod the software.
    • Modder W comes along and writes the sofware to fully recreate the exclusive content of Company Y (minus the intellectual property like graphics and such, of course).
    Wouldn't this mean, even though it comes from the user supported modding community, that the console version doesn't have exclusive content anymore?

    In the case of Doom3, I would think that this would lead to some enterprising person writing the code and getting a good start before the Xbox version hits the streets.
    --

    Bryan R.
    The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
  15. Survival horror? by Pluvius · · Score: 1

    The atmosphere is dark, the pacing of the demo somewhat slow, and every aspect more fitting of a survival horror game than a run and gun shooter

    Well, I guess that just confirms that I'll be playing HL2 first.

    Rob

  16. Upgraded storyline? by superultra · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you've paid attention to the teasers, trailers, and demo movies . . .

    You're right, I haven't orgasmed over every little screenshot that's come out. I watched a trailer a few months ago, and I don't remember seeing much about a storyline, just swinging lights, nice mirrors, and bumpmapped zombies. On a space station.

    you might have found something similar to the following text in the readme file

    So, if the storyline is upgraded for Doom III does that mean we'll have to look in an XML file to read it?

    1. Re:Upgraded storyline? by Nikkos · · Score: 1

      "You're right, I haven't orgasmed over every little screenshot that's come out. I watched a trailer a few months ago, and I don't remember seeing much about a storyline, just swinging lights, nice mirrors, and bumpmapped zombies. On a space station.

      Apparently you didn't watch the trailer. Go to Doom3.com and try again. I haven't tried the leaked alpha, and besides the screenshots on the website and what's been said here on Slashdot, I haven't seen much either. Somehow I was able to figure it out though...

      Maybe ID should upgrade the storyline, instead of zombies in a research outpost on Mars, we should run around zapping cynical fools who spout their mouths off without even trying to back their opinions up. (In a space station, of course) --Nikkos

    2. Re:Upgraded storyline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need to sign your posts "Nikkos," jackhole, we know who fuckin' wrote it. Put that shit in your sig where it belongs so I don't have to fuckin' see it. Shitbird.

  17. Re:Exclusitivity & Modding in a PC/Console Wor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Modder W comes along and writes the sofware to fully recreate the exclusive content of Company Y (minus the intellectual property like graphics and such, of course).

    I somehow doubt it'll be like how things are with Valve's products, where every bit of content from every Half-Life-related game and mod can be reused by modders.

    Want Opposing Force monsters in Half-Life? If you're willing to code the AI, fine - copy the model and sound files across to your mod's folder and you're done. Even though Opposing Force is/was a commercial product sold separately, Valve are fine with it. Even the Playstation 2 port of Half-Life is fair game - you can, for instance, copy the enhanced model files off the DVD and legitimately use them and distribute them in your own PC Half-Life mods.

    Id software used to be the leading mod-friendly company, but Valve overtook them a while ago. It'll be interesting what things will be like with the next games (and related products) from these companies - can id retake what they pretty much single-handedly started with the original Wolfenstein 3D and Doom? Or will Valve reign supreme?

    I'm looking forward to the mods, anyway. :-)

  18. Oh no. . . Oh no no no. . . by M3wThr33 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Last year at E3, there were 6 stations set up running DX:IW. Four were Xboxes, two were PCs. Right there I knew something was going to be wrong.

    If id isn't showing the PC version off at E3, it means the Xbox version is looking more presentable. I'm scared, Dave. It's ruining lives.

    After I was disappointed by DX:IW, I'm scared to see the Xbox dethroning the PC version at E3, regardless of the reasons used.

    1. Re:Oh no. . . Oh no no no. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its funny, considering they had the Multiplayer Demo of Doom3 available at QuakeCon...

    2. Re:Oh no. . . Oh no no no. . . by junkgrep · · Score: 1

      The reason they aren't showing the PC version is that the PC version is basically done/being finished. They are in the final stretch right now: no time to show it off.

      And what happened with DX:IW is that the devs made the Xbox and PC versions simultaneously and basically identical, crippling the very design of the game with Xbox insanity. id instead is focusing solely on the PC, like they always have. An entirely different developer is then taking their stuff, and changing it so that it works on the Xbox: not just porting it, but redoing it so it'll work. So the bad situation that existed with DX:IW doesn't exist here. Rest easy.