Doom 3 Gets Reviews, Piracy Questions, Exultation

Yeti Von Baseball writes "Now that Doom 3 has officially shipped to stores, Computer Gaming World just posted its Doom 3 review - they also posted about 100 or so new screens." Elsewhere, GameSpy has an in-progress weblog and first-look impressions on the "claustrophobic corridors" of the game, Telefragged posted one of the first reviews, praising "a grand slam of action, story, atmosphere, and pure terror", the BBC reports on how "potential sales could be hit by the extent of online piracy of the game", and Time Magazine has a feature on Doom 3 and id.

Comments

I just got it.

[sharkb8]

Multiplayer sucks. bad.

Re:I just got it.

[MournsForHumans]

Yeah, the single player game is great. I'm decently far in (I have the BFG) and I'd have to say that the atmosphere and tension are excellent. I'll be moving slowly through an environment, wondering where the next group of enemies will pop up, and then something will happen and I'll find myself in an intense fight. The beginning of the game has a lot of smaller encounters -- don't worry, the difficulty and intensity continues to escalate throughout the game. While the game itself tends to be fairly linear, I think it's understandable in that it's more of a methodical, horror type game that makes use of scripted effects and sequences to heighten the tension and terror. At the point I'm at I feel constantly nervous with a sense of foreboding; while I've been scared I haven't jumped out of my chair (unlike my girlfriend, who had to stop playing)

I have played 4 player DM with my friends and I have to say that it's a blast. I've always preferred smaller DM (I don't see the point in spawning, killing a guy who happens to be next to you, then dying quickly), and the well designed DM maps are very fun to play on. I've had a good mix between surprises and insane firefights (wait until you try berserk mode!)

Regarding how well it runs: I have an Athlon XP 1600+ with 512 MB of RAM and a Geforce FX 5700 Ultra. I can play in 1024x768 at medium quality with high effects and only experience some occasional stuttering. One of my friends has a similar computer with a Geforce4 MX and he says that 800x600 at medium runs very smooth.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this game and would say that it definately lives up to the hype. Make sure your monitor brightness is set to a decent level -- at first I had mine way too dark, and the game wasn't nearly as enjoyable. You should be able to see your environment without a flashlight. Also be sure to set your system to surround sound in Control Panel->Sounds and Audio->Volume Tab->Advanced, as the game doesn't support EAX and its autodetection or whatever.

Odd Ratings

[cephyn]

I'm curious to see what it gets. I noticed on Gamerankings.com that all the earliest magazine reviews gave it a 9.4 -- the site members were giving it about an 8.6. It did strike me as odd that the first 3 reviews were exactly the same rating...but I guess that's not impossible.

I bought my copy today

[FuzzzyLogik]

And it's good :) doesn't run so hot on my setup though..
amd athlon xp 2400+
512mb ddr 400
7200rpm hard drive
nvidia geforce 4 ti 4400 (128mb)

it doesn't detect my surround sound setup (sb live! with klipsch pro media 4.1's)
it runs at medium detail @ 640x480 and gets pretty choppy in places...
my only complaint so far is that it's so dark that even the flashlight doesn't even really let you see much (i'm trying not to turn my brightness up but it seems i may have to so i don't keep running into guard rails and such)...
overall though.. i think the intro was a bit long.. i wanna kill stuff.. and kill it i shall... after the 15-20 minute introduction :-/ great for the story.. bad for my trigger finger

Re:I bought my copy today

[gedanken]

Doom3 does not use creative's app to determine if you are capable of using surround sound. Be sure to look in the windows audio settings found in the control panel and be sure that that is set to the speaker setup that you have.

Re:I bought my copy today

[UnknowingFool]

HardOCP had a hardware guide for Doom3.According to your specs, it should run fine but you have to run it at low settings and low resolution unless you have a top of the line card like an ATI Radeon 9800 or a NVidia FX5900 Ultra.

Re:I bought my copy today

[bogie]

Same here although I have a somewhat lesser system

XP1900, GF 4 4200 64MB(this hurts), 512MB(could use 768 or a Gig for Doom 3)

Anyway on your rig that seems to be par for the course although I've seen some people say that 800x600 at medium is playable with that spec. You honestly probably won't see that big a hit playing a notch higher resolution wise. On my system once I'm in a room its not too bad but running through doorways causes a huge bit a chop and when any big action scene starts it chops a little as well. After playing with this setup for so long its really is surprising that I'm playing at 640x480 low. I think the last time I played a fps at such a low resolution was like 5 years ago. :)

One thing you can try is setting setting image_cacheMegs "32" to "96" or higher in the file DoomConfig.cfg. Some people are reporting that is helping smooth things out. YMMV

btw anyone who says this game sucks or isn't scary hasn't played at night in a dark room with headphones on. Awesome sound effects.

Re:So what's next for id software..?

[FuzzzyLogik]

they said they're doing something totally new... quake 4 is being done by someone else, and the wolfenstein series is being done by someone else.. so they're doing something totally new this time around and they should be starting on it soon.

Experiences thus far:

[bravehamster]

I've got 4 computers at my disposal of various capabilities, and this is how Doom3 has run on them:

XP 2600
Ati Rad 9800 Pro
2 x WD Raptor striped raid
1GB PC3200 Corsair

Can run smooth on High settings at 800x600, AA disabled. Game looks fantastic

------

XP 2000
Geforce FX 5200
80GB 2mb buffer maxtor
512MB PC2700 Generic

Barely runs at 640x480. Framerates are in the 10-20 range. Would not recommend purchasing if you have similar specs. Upgrading the CPU or video card would have the largest impact.

------------

P4 2.4Ghz B
ATI Radeon 9500
512MB PC2100
2 x 80GB Maxtor Striped RAID

Runs smooth on Medium settings at 640x480, or Low at 800x600. Definitely playable.

-----------

Haven't tried the 4th yet, but I don't hold much hope. It's an XP 1600 w/ GF4 Ti4200.

Get rid of all ambient light

[Nailer]

my only complaint so far is that it's so dark that even the flashlight doesn't even really let you see much (i'm trying not to turn my brightness up but it seems i may have to so i don't keep running into guard rails and such)...

People used to say the same thing about Quake 1. However, if you got rid of all ambient light and played, you could see everything you were supposed to and without the washed out-ness that comes from upping your gamma too far.

Tweak Settings

[Jorell_Kovin]

For those of you finding the game too dark try these settings:

1)In game bring down the console (ctrl alt ~)
2)r_gamma 1.3 - The default is 1, try a range from 1.2-1.4, some have said to go as high as 1.8 but that is way too bright and takes away from the atmosphere imho.
3)r_brightness 1.5 - Again the default is 1, try a range up 1.8 to what looks best for you.
4) Turn off AA, turn on vsync on.

To boost performance try this!

In your DOOM 3 directory, find "DoomConfig.cfg" (x:\Program Files\Doom 3\base). Open DoomConfig.cfg in Notepad.
Find the line:
seta image_cacheMegs "XX"
Where XX is try increasing this value in according to how much ram you have. I have 1 GB of ram, and set it to 256, HUGE boost in framerate, game runs a lot smoother now. Try these values: 32, 96, 128, 256.

Re:Tweak Settings

[BEI01]

Another thing I have noticed, is that on some systems, particle dynamic lights (like the imp fireballs) are turned off. By default, when the imps launched a fireball in a room, you could just see the fireball...e.g...the whole room didn't light up orange. I have no idea why, as this is a HUGE part of the game, and changing between the three quality settings doesn't alter the fact these are off. This of course will make it very hard to fight in the dark, without the imps lighting up the room when they attack. There was no performance hit on my comp when I turned it on at the console:

set g_projectilelights 1

ALso, muzzleflare dynamic lights were also by default off for some reason. Again, this really helps illuminate the situation when fighting in the dark. Turn it on with:

g_muzzleflash 1

at the console. ( ctrl - alt - ~ )

Once I turned both of these on, the game experience was much better.

Hope this helps.

Whuzzaahh!!

[cOdEgUru]

Waited, shuffled my feet today morning, hoping my wife wouldnt notice, waiting till 9:30 to leave home so that I could pick up the game at 10:00 from the nearest store.

Store opened at 10:00, saw a bunch of people waiting for it to open, thought they all would be in line for the game. Felt like an old geek after realizing I was the only one to pick the game up. Felt real old waiting at the counter to pay for it.

Read reviews/previews/salivate over old screenshots all day. Didnt feel a bit guilty at getting paid for nothing.

Reached home, ignored wife completely, popped CD's in, installed, breathless now.

Fired it up on my not so humble box, encountering game freezes during cut screens/ loading textures etc.

Trying to pick up my jaw from the floor ever since.

Game rocks..its dark, deliciously creepy, I have a weak heart and I dont think I will play at night (also slightly considerate towards neighbours).

After two hours of getting creeped out, eaten alive, ass kicked, munched on. pulled down the ever so trusty in-game commandline, typed in the words:

spawn monster_boss_cyberdemon

Holy mother of God! Is that...omg!!...

Re:Will the monsters fight?

[RichM]

The new game, with its insane system requirements, will only have a handful of monsters at a time (about three, if I understood the Telefragged review correctly).

I've played the game for around ten hours now and I can tell you that you'll see in excess of twenty "monsters" on screen occasionally.

Re:Will the monsters fight?

[RatBastard]

Actually, it works like this:
Species that shoot bullets can injure, and get into fighst with, any monster in the game.

Species that use missile attacks can only injure, and therefore get in fights with, members of other species.

That is to say that a Grunt can get into a fight with any other monster, including another grunt. While an Imp can only get into fights with any monster that is NOT an Imp.

There are four exceptions to this:

1. If a monster hits another with it's physical attack it will start a fight, regardless of species. This rarely happens with monsters of the same species, but I've seen it happen.
2. Barons of Hell and Hell Knights are imune to each other's missiles.
3. Monsters that use special attacks, like the Archvile, can injure and get intii fights with other members of their own species.
4. Pain Elementals can injure each other, but because their weapons are Lost Souls, the injured monster gets into a fight with the lost soul, not the Pain Elemnetal. Yeah, I'm a DOOM geek.

Re:piracy

[swillden]

Copying bits that are arranged in a deliberate order against the stated wishes of the material's creator is theft. So is "borrowing" it.

Incorrect. Those actions are copyright infringement, not theft. Theft involves taking something from its owner, with the intent to deprive them of it. When you make infringing copies you are taking something, but not depriving anyone else of it.

If it's worth owning, wait for it and pay for it.

Agreed. Just don't apply labels that don't fit. "Theft" has legal and moral meanings that don't apply to copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is a crime, and although it doesn't deprive anyone of anything, it does violate an important social contract, so what it is is enough, without calling it something else.

If you don't "wanna pay for it", and the creator hasn't told you it's free for the taking, you have no right to possess a copy of it.

More precisely, we as a society have decided that to give up that right, mostly, for a time, in order to promote the publication of more works. We as individuals should understand and honor this choice, because it's a good one. Again, though, don't make the mistake of assuming that the author of a work has some natural right to control the work. The only natural right the author has is to decide whether or not to create it, and whether or not to publish it. Everything after that is a legal fiction (for a good reason).

Doom ]I[ too dark: a solution

[Jack Zombie]

my only complaint so far is that it's so dark that even the flashlight doesn't even really let you see much

I had the same problem, tried setting brightness to max in options, but the game was still much too dark to enjoy. Here is the real solution:
The game has 0-2 gamma levels, level 1 is standard. Open the Console (CTRL+ALT+~) and type in r_gamma 1.5. Now the game is bright enough to play!

Re:freakin great

[mog007]

"best single player FPS"?

I didn't get to vote for it... RECOUNT!

I think D3 is better than Half-Life in everyway. The only thing about Half-Life that was admirable was the possibility of a second ending.

My own little review

[Killswitch1968]

I've clocked in about 10 h of play so far, all on single player, so that's what I'll focus on.

The game has a half-life story: Bunch of monsters spawning because of wacko-scientific experiments. Whatever. The guns are all standard, pistol, shotgun, machine gun, grenade, rocket launcher, and of course BFG and plasma rifle; also nothing new.
Gameplay largely involves walking around identical looking factory/metal corridors. The lighting is always always dark. This is particularly frustrating since our hero is incapable of wielding both a flashlight and a weapon. Yes, that's right. The flashlight is technically a weapon, and you can't hold 2 weapons at the same time. That means you often find yourself shooting in the dark hoping you hit stuff. Highly annoying.
There is very little to figure out, all the maps are linear with no more than one-way to go. The 'secrets' in the game usually involve either looking behind a shelf for some ammo, or entering a code you found for some safe.
Because the engine is so taxing, there are very few monsters at any given time. Usually 2, at most 5. There are few open areas.

If you haven't gotten the idea, it's basically a very pretty, but utterly dull shoot 'em up. There is no secondary fire, and the weapons are unimaginative. The storyline is virtually nonexistant. After 10 levels, I still know next to nothing, except ****SPOILER*** there is some 'evil' scientist running around, and there's my marine captain trying to help us contact Earth. *** END SPOILER***.

Finding new monsters is undoubtable the 'coolest' thing, since they are so well made. But that is about the only thing that makes me come crawling back. I'd wait a bit before you consider picking this up.

Cheats and Console Commands

[Davak]

The cheats and consoelc commands have changed some since the alpha version. One of our users posted a pretty good list here:

Doom 3 Console Commands and cheats

If you figure out any more, please let me know.

I didn't really get that old doom feeling until I turned on noclip and walked through a few walls anyway. :)

Re:And you are correct sir.

[OwP_Fabricated]

Oh yeah, you go to hell alright. Also, parts of the base are being taken over by hell.

But don't let me throw you, you spend a LOT of time running through similar looking futuristic tunnels with crappy light fixtures that go out if you look at them crosseyed.

Radeon problems

[WormholeFiend]

I haven't seen much complaints in here so far, but it seems like a lot of people with Radeons (me included) complain about intermittent graphic lockups and freezes...

I started having those problems after the first few objectives, starting in Alpha Labs.

After trying all the obvious solutions (updating drivers for various hardware, trying the different sound settings in dxdiag, etc.), I found that turning AGP completely off makes the game stop freezing.

Hope this helps any of you, because I was just about to throw the Doom3 CDs out the window when I found the solution.

Re:Quake3 engine open-source? When?

[John Carmack]

By the end of the year. There are still a lot of higher priority things, but it is coming soon.

Hopefully punkbuster will keep the source release from having any negative impact on the player community.

John Carmack

Re:Goddam thing wont run without a no-cd crack

[togofspookware]

If you can't get a NoCD crack, Nero + Daemon Tools do the job nicely. That's how I got mine to work without having the CD in there all the time.

Re:Doom 3 Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

According to Todd whatever-his-name-is (someone from id), linux binaries will be available for download "shortly after retail release".

There's no linux installer on the CD, and will not be a boxed linux version of the game.

I know some people that are buying this and constantly looking at the doom3 site for any sign of linux binaries. Personally, I'm not buying the game until I have the linux binaries in my possession.

Get it cheaper here..

[MattRog]

To those whining that $55USD is too much... try doing a little leg work before bitching.

Microcenter has a coupon to purchase it until 8/8/04 for $46.87.

Circuit City has it online for $44.99 with free shipping.

Best Buy will price match (in store purchase only) for the difference plus 10%.

What does this mean? You can easily pick up Doom 3 for less than $46USD. Quit your whining and start playing!