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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.

25 of 69 comments (clear)

  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 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
  2. 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)

  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 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.
    2. 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 ]
  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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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...

  7. 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
  8. 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 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.

    2. 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?
    3. 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.

  9. 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 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.

  10. "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.

  11. 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.....
  12. 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?

  13. 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.

  14. 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)

  15. 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.