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Doom 3 Reaches Gold Master, Due August 5th

Rogerpq3 writes "Yes, this is the official word that [long-awaited PC FPS] DOOM 3 has been code released and has been approved for manufacturing! According to the .plan file of id CEO Todd Hollenshead: 'We literally just hung up with Activision and have confirmed that our latest release candidate has been mutually approved and is finally GOLD. So, the next question is release dates. Retailers in the States will be allowed to pick up games starting at 12:01 AM on August 3rd. The official street date is actually August 5th in the U.S.A., but some of your favorite stores will probably have it early for those of you who have to have it first. Check with your local retailer for that information... [Internationally] the UK will probably get it first, on or about August 6th. Everywhere else will probably be Friday, August 13th (cue Twilight Zone Theme) or close to that date, with just a few exceptions (e.g. Russia and Poland)'."

35 of 753 comments (clear)

  1. Ah... I can't... oh no... by TWooster · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn, there goes the $50 I lost on the bet that Duke Nukem would come out first. :(

    1. Re:Ah... I can't... oh no... by LookSharp · · Score: 5, Informative

      Exactly! The Radeon 9600SE cards or GeForceFX 5200 cards that run about $50 are more than sufficient to run DOOM3 at medium quality, according to previous remarks by developers and the review posted here.

    2. Re:Ah... I can't... oh no... by ischorr · · Score: 5, Informative

      1996: Duke Nukem 3D 1.0 came out using modified Doom II engine

      No, Duke3d used a engine developed completely independent of Id, called "BUILD". It was much closer in capabilities to the Quake engine than to the Doom II engine, though many (most?) people considered it inferior to the Quake engine.

      See Planet Duke for details.

    3. Re:Ah... I can't... oh no... by Idealius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, that's a bit misguided.

      It really is more related to the Doom engine in design because Quake was "real 3D" where as the Doom/Build engines were basically hacks which is why they ran so much faster.

      For instance, it was really a challenge for the developer of the Build engine to have support of a room directly above another room.

      Build/Doom engines are raycasters. That's why when you looked up or down (or 3rd-person mode) in the Build/Doom engines walls looked skewed.

      The Quake engine was actual 3D and never had this problem.

      But, I will say that Duke 3D and Quake came out about the same time and were direct competitors.

  2. Hey boss... by DaHat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just to let you know... Starting August 5th... I will not be coming into work for a week or two because of... personal reasons. If it is an emergency and you need me to come in... do not expect me to be showered, well fed or able to adapt to bright lights.

    Sincerely,
    Your groveling employee.

    1. Re:Hey boss... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Tell your boss you are fighting personal Demons

  3. Oh sweet honey yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's all falling into place.

    Doom 3.
    Soon Half-life 2.
    The second coming of Jesus.

    And then - Duke Nukem Forever will at last be mine!

    1. Re:Oh sweet honey yes by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

      The second coming of Jesus.

      I haven't heard about that one. Who is publishing it? Does anyone have any screenshots?

    2. Re:Oh sweet honey yes by cgenman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, and what are the hardware requirements?

      Not much... A couple of boards, some nails...

  4. Awesome! by th1ckasabr1ck · · Score: 5, Informative
    There's also a review in the new PC Gamer, and from what they write the game is everything we expected and then some. Here are a few exerpts:

    "...we're here to tell you that Doom 3 is not only done, it's absolutely mind-blowing."

    "You are basically subjecting yourself to a 20 hour cardiac episode."

    "...you will never experience a dull moment. Or even a less than mesmerizing one."

    "Doom 3 is a masterpiece of art form - staying true to the frantic legacy of the Doom series, while ambitiously reaching new heights and bashing down the doors of the next generation of PC shooter. The bar is raised."

    I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

    1. Re:Awesome! by milamber.net · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here's some more info on the review:

      And the cover of the issue.

    2. Re:Awesome! by SilentChris · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just an FYI.. I used to write for a variety of gaming rags. PC Gamer is known (hell, famous) for reviewing beta software as "official". Considering the game just went gold, I can't imagine they have anything better than a release candidate.

      A lot can change between RC and gold. Stability, performance. Things can actually get worse. I would take their reviews with a heavy dose of Sodium Chloride.

    3. Re:Awesome! by nacturation · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would take their reviews with a heavy dose of Sodium Chloride.

      I wish I could make them write their reviews with a heavy dose of Sodium Pentothal.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  5. Editor included? by Rayonic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I seem to have missed the part about the level editor. Are they including it in the box, or will they release it later?

    The bar has been raised with regards to packaged content editors, after all. Heck, the Morrowind editing tools would let you re-create the entire game!

  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. Hey stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look, if you want to combat piracy, release it on the same date world-wide. This one-week-later crap will only result in lots of illegal copies in "late" countries.

  8. osx version? by asv108 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is there any word on a port to OSX?

    1. Re:osx version? by dancingmad · · Score: 5, Funny

      God bless the moderator who modded this funny.

      --
      "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
  9. Will we see a spike in Intel today, given this PR? by Willie_the_Wimp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would seriously like to see any statistics on the amount of PC hardware that is sold due to the arrival of games like Doom 3 / Half Life 2 / etc. Personally, I have been waiting for the last 2 years to upgrade, specifically for this game. My system has been okay for everything else I need to do, so it just didn't make sense to go out and build a system, knowing full well that I will be behind the tech curve when this games comes out.

    I know some will think I am an idiot, but I am an unapologetic id fan. I have played most other FPS games out there, and id just seems to get the "feel" of FPS down to a science. The instant snap is perfect.

    I just wish they had included cooperative mode, like in the original Doom. Some of my best gaming experiences were all night coop Doom on nightmare mode. Good times.

    Todd

  10. Requirements by th1ckasabr1ck · · Score: 5, Informative
    System Requirements - Recommended by PC Gamer:

    2GHz CPU 512 MB Ram Radeon 9800 5-Channel Audio

    Supported Graphics Cards: Ge-Force 4 MX Ge-Force 3 Ge-Force 4 Titanium Ge-Force FX (and higher) ATI 8500, 9000 (and higher)

  11. Re:The end of the universe is nigh.... by koreth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd hardly call time spent attempting to produce children wasted.

  12. Too bad... by Rayonic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like you'll miss the office-wide lan party.

    Nope, you can't take it back. I've already scheduled your vacation into the system.

    - Your Boss

  13. Simple Google Search by ZeroGee · · Score: 5, Informative
    Google for "Doom 3 minimum hardware specs", and you'll see on the first response:
    From September's PC Gamer issue, they have the system requirements as:

    PC Gamer recommends:
    2Ghz CPU
    512 MB ram
    Radeon 9800
    5-channel audio

    Lowest supported GPU is a Geforce 4 MX (worse than Geforce 3)
    Supported cards:
    GF 4 MX
    GF 3
    GF 4
    GF FX (and higher)
    ATI 8500s, 9000s and higher
    The graphics card is what's going to kill me...
  14. Call Work.... by xojins · · Score: 5, Funny

    hmm, lets figure this out... 1) Brand new gaming rig $1200 2) 2 Weeks of vacation time $3000 3) Using up all my vacation time starting Aug 3 and not being able to take time off to help my wife with our son who is expected in Sept and then getting a call from her divorce lawyer, PRICELESS wow...id games took so much of my life and now they are gonna take my marriage. btw, thanks for the free shipping!

  15. Re:Hardware Requirements? by hoferbr · · Score: 5, Informative
    from nvnews
    Yeah, I was lucky enough to receive my copy today, so I'll share it with you guys.

    1. 6800 is a tad faster than X800 cards. Both run it in full glory

    2. The game has four render paths: NV10, NV20, R200, and ARB2. All paths look awesome, even down to a g4mx, but the ARB2 path is the full package, and is used for the R300+ and Geforce FX+ cards. It does all it's fancy **** in one pass.

    3. PCI Express enhances NOTHING.

    4. The difference between a 128mb and 256mb card is that the former uses compressed textures whereas the latter only compresses diffuse and specualr maps. In another words, no big deal. However, a 500mb card is needed to run the game in Ultra Quality mode.

    5. 512MB is the ideal system total memory. 384 is required, 1GB is nice, but the difference is negligible.

    6. Nothing special is included for a 64-bit OS.

    7. A 1.5 Ghz processor is the least recommended, but a 2Ghz and above will help since...

    8...The sound engine is entirely CPU dependant. Therefore a crappy soundcard works flawlessly. Not to worry, the enfine only uses a small percentage of cycles, much less than if the engine relied on a soundcard.

    9. The only reccommendation regarding faster framerates is to disable to advanced special effects option. In other words, upgrade if you have problems.

    10. They tie it up by providing three levels of Doom lovin' PC's

    Low-End:
    1.5GhzP4 or equivalent
    512MB Ram
    Geforce4 Ti 4800 or Radeon 9500

    Mid-Range:
    2.4GhzP4 or equivalent
    1GB RAM
    Geforce5950 or Radeon 9800 Pro/XT

    High_End: Aka Hardware that doesn't exist, but best guess anyway
    3.4GhzP4 or AMD equivalent
    2GB RAM
    GeForce 6800 Ultra or Radeon X800 XT PE.

    In conclusion, the game will run well on a variety of hardware, and Rob Duffy, the lead programmer, says that the game looks real good no matter what, and that it will continue to look better as hardware improves. Like all previous id engines, we'll be playing games based on D3 for another five years down the road.

    Enjoy everybody!
  16. Re:In other news... by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well,

    In the earlier game, Doom 2, the subtitle was Hell On Earth. Being on Earth and thus susceptible to its changing climate one could assume that it is feasible for Hell to freeze over. As for teaching pigs to fly I dunno, BFG maybe?

    But then again, it is Hell - an evil place where sanity and rationality are unknown - so maybe there you are taught to fly and there are frozen pigs running around.

    Or maybe I'm just talking bullshit.

    --
    Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
  17. Re:In other news... by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Hell has frozen over and pigs have learned to fly"

    So what's it like not being a virgin anymore?

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  18. Re:Minimum Specs by KevinKnSC · · Score: 5, Funny

    You realize that you just inspired about two dozen Sourceforge projects, right?

  19. Re:Minimum Specs by Alzheimers · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dark Room
    You are in dark room. There are a couple barrels in one corner. A quickly fading light fixture above provides what little illumination there is.
    There is a slobbering demon here.

    >Shoot Demon with handgun.

    The demon turns to face you, mildly annoyed by your pathetic attempts at exorcism.

    >Equip Rocketlauncher

    You heft the Rocklauncher to your shoulder. Something on the right side of your body makes a bone-cracking sound.

    >Fire Rocketlauncher

    Your random display of violence has caused the destruction of a pile of barrels in the corner. The resulting explosion has engulfed the demon, and the failing light fixture above.

    It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

  20. Re:Minimum Specs by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does anyone know what the minimum specs are ?

    New box.

    KFG

  21. Re:Minimum Specs by betelgeuse-4 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

    We need a nostalgic mod point.

  22. Actually.... by LordPixie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since this is Slashdot, he's probably been busy trying to build a child in the basement.


    --LordPixie

  23. Re:Great! by djh101010 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get a Diamond video card and call it an anniversary present! Warning: Only do this ONCE.

    ...per wife...

  24. Re:Half-Life 2 == Vapourware? by Talon33 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Umm, that's rediculous. People have played HL2. To even think that it is Vaporware is simply ignorant. Yes, it has a very delayed launch, I personally spoke with some of the lead designers at valve last may at E3. I also attented the sneak peak conference which showed off Half Life 2. let's just say they've spent a lot of their time on that physics engine, which was absolutely amazing. I won't be the only one who will spend entirely too much time playing with the gravity gun.

    What this really boils down to is that Valve has all the money in the world. Just like ID. They can take their sweet time making games. They don't have to meet deadlines, because they get to set them. They are concerned with making the best game they can and getting it to us when it's finished. I will take that ANYDAY over a rushed to market product that is riddled with bugs and the ending chopped and nice features left off for "expansion packs". If you'll notice well funded companies that actually finish their games rarely need "expansion packs" every 6 months, which is the industries new way of making you pay for a beta test, and then pay again for the finished product.

    Thank god Blizzard is taking this same stance with WoW. I'm in Beta, they don't have all the classes even finished yet, there's no way they are releasing in August, and they won't. Every blizzard game has been delayed, and everyone complains, yet how many copies did Diablo 2 sell? Yeaaah ...

  25. DOOM3 will ruin the modern world economy for weeks by IronChefMorimoto · · Score: 5, Funny

    I predict that the release of this game will have so many computer geeks, nerds, gamers, etc. (I'm in all those categories) out of the office for most of August that the following will happen:

    1. backups will be left undone; servers worldwide will fail and not come back up; electronic commerce as we know it will halt
    2. viruses will run rampant; OS patches and virus definitions will remain uninstalled
    3. traffic management systems will be left unattended; millions will die in horrible car accidents
    4. Apple will go out of business; its approx. 4% market share will dwindle as Mac users realize that an OS X native version of DOOM3 isn't being released
    5. skeletons will be spotted via the International Space Station cameras around mid-September; mission control specialists will have ignored their pleas for a replacement crew/supply ship for 6+ weeks
    6. Al Qaeda will blow up 7 buildings, resulting in the deaths of the elderly, women, and children; teenage and 20-40-something males will mysteriously escape the carnage by sheer absenteeism (gamer chicks will also escape -- we're not all men)
    7. first semester classes around the world will be canceled; not enough students will show to class to occupy faculty members' time
    8. divorce will skyrocket to millions/day within the first week of DOOM3's release

    IronChefMorimoto