Doom 3 Demo Available

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Posted by michael on Sunday September 19, 2004 @05:49AM from the fuligin-fun dept.

sanderb writes "The Doom 3 demo is out (on Windows). It does not seem to be linked on the Doom 3 site yet, but is available from e.g. 3D Gamers (includes torrent). Time to see what my FX5200 can do..." Other readers point to Fileaholic.Com and Shacknews.com.

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You mean by OverlordQ · 2004-09-19 05:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

they're just *now* getting a demo out? Doesn't that usually come *before* the game is released?

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Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
1. Re:You mean by Jonny_eh · 2004-09-19 05:56 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They always said that the game would get released 'When it is done'. 'It' wasn't the demo, 'it' was the full game. The demo is a nice thing to have but if they waited till the demo was done, the game would only see a release now.
  Now, only if they hired an extra person to work concurrently on the demo so it could've been ready in August...
2. Re:You mean by sinergy · 2004-09-19 05:56 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Creating a demo before the final product just pushes back the final product's release date.
  
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3. Re:You mean by bheading · 2004-09-19 06:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  No, the strategy was to get people to buy the game first, as it isn't actually all that good.
  
  When you've got stuff like FarCry doing all kinds of mindblowing things with the visuals and the gameplay, and compare that with how far Doom3 has come given how long it has supposedly been in development, Doom3 is a huge let-down. I suspect ID were well aware of this, so they delayed the demo by a month and kicked a huge marketing machine into place behind the game to shift as many copies as humanly possible, banking on the fans of the previous versions (ie folks like me) to snap it up straight away.
4. Re:You mean by C0rinthian · 2004-09-19 07:31 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Not being able to use the flashlight with guns is INTENTIONAL. Wishing desperately that you could use both is the intended effect. You are not supposed to be comfortable. Honestly, if you could use both at the same time, you'd never turn the flashlight off!
  
  As for multiplayer, I have 2 points. First: DOOM3 is primarily a SINGLE PLAYER game. They added multiplayer as an extra. If you bought it for multiplayer, you're stupid. Second point: Check out the maps. They're small, dark, and close quarters. (much like the single player game) 4 players is a good limit for the maps that shipped with the game. I know that limit is not hard coded, and player made stuff has already upped that player limit.
Re:Uh...the game is out by Syzar · 2004-09-19 05:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

To test how well game works on your comp, that is without pirating it.
Short review of the game by Reducer2001 · 2004-09-19 05:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

Bought it, played it, didn't like it. It tries to be too much like Doom2, but doesn't make it....at all.
I played Doom 1 & 2 for many hours when they came out, both solo, co-op and deathmatch. I played Doom 3 through once and had no desire to play it again.
Once you realized that when you picked up that 'too good to be true' item, you'd be blitzed by ten monsters suddenly spawning, it got old REAL quick. And yes, it does look pretty. But so did Matrix Revolutions.

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When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
1. Re:Short review of the game by EpsCylonB · 2004-09-19 06:14 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I was dissapointed as well, fanboys will tell you that you have no right to criticise as this is "the original Doom updated, you knew exactly what you were going to get".
  
  That just isn't true, there was more variation between the different levels in the original game than in Doom 3. The dark corridors do their job, this is an incredibly scary game, but gameplay wise it becomes boring and repetitive very quickly.
  
  Graphically it is astounding and no doubt some great games will be made with the engine. But ID is now just a tech house if the lack of gameplay innovation in Doom 3 is anything to go by. We have all laughed at Romero's failings since leaving ID but they need more really creative people like him.
  
  Doom3 isn't a awful game, just not a trailblazer like Doom and Quake were.
2. Re:Short review of the game by Osmosis_Garett · 2004-09-19 06:15 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  So in other words, you had preconceptions about this game which weren't met and therefor you set it aside. Personally, I found the element of surprise to be the main attraction. This is a horror game, along the lines of the original Resident Evil games and the like. Doom and Doom2 were full on FPS games with no 'terror moments', but Doom3 is full of them. The spawning monsters are anything but surprising; the teleportation process takes a second or 2 and by then you should be in a good vantage point to mow them down with whatever weapon you choose. The real fear comes from the creatures that are already there, lurking in shadows and not making BAMPH noises when they attack.
  Try playing it when you're in the mood, and with a bit of effort put into getting absorbed in the game such as a darkened room, headphones, etc. Also, try not to make broad generalizations such as saying "when you pick up that 'too good to be true' item you get blitzed by 10 monsters". This game is anything but a one trick pony and if that is all you saw I really wonder if you spent any time at all examining the game. Doom3 is rich with backstory, interwoven into the game System Shock2 style with logfiles and email communications, not to mention the videos explaining the whole purpose of the lab installation.
  
  Its too bad you couldn't look at the game carefully enough to notice these things. Doom3 is a work of art.
3. Re:Short review of the game by EpsCylonB · 2004-09-19 06:37 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Both Doom and Quake 1 had fantastic level design that really broke new ground. ID also are responsible for basically creating the online multiplayer FPS genre (usually credited to Quake 2, it was present earlier but Q2 was the breakthrough).
  
  But creatively they haven't done anything interesting since Quake 1.
4. Re:Short review of the game by Plugh · 2004-09-19 07:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That just isn't true, there was more variation between the different levels in the original game than in Doom 3.
  Agreed 100%. At this point, I'm counting on people making their own levels to save this game. Ahh, if only I had the kind of time I used to have in High School and College.
  Contrast Doom 3 levels with the level designs in Quake 2. I'll never forget the alien scientists doing Mengele-style operations on the Marines, while they cried out "Make it Stop!"... now THAT was FUCKING SCARY.
  The dark corridors do their job, this is an incredibly scary game
  Sorry, I disagree. Yes, even after setting the Brightness control to a pretty high value, I am still left asking: why the fuck did I shell out the cash for a Radeon9800 Pro, just to see a fucking 90% BLACK SCREEN?
  
  --
  Part of the Second American Revolution!
This isn't gonna increase sales by goneutt · 2004-09-19 05:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you put out a preview that lets people discover their computer doesn't have the power to keep up they deffinatly don't buy the box.(I know, thats what those software nutrition labels are for, but they can get vague.)
Those that buy the software, install and discover their computer needs $300+ worth of upgrades are stuck with the software due to the no open returns policies. Thus hype sells more games if you don't put out a preview.

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Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
demo after release by Paralizer · 2004-09-19 06:01 · Score: 3, Insightful

I suspect they are doing this so that those who are/were skeptical about the performance of the game on their machines will have a chance to test it out before purchasing the full version.
Linux? by isNaN · 2004-09-19 06:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

But where are the linux binaries? Aren't ID supposed to be the big linux supporters?

When they release them I will probably buy the game just for supporting them back but are they comming anytime soon??

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Demo later than release -- seems normal to me by IronChefMorimoto · 2004-09-19 06:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

Releasing the demo nowadays AFTER the release seems, to me, like a great way to find out if you want to buy the game, without the majority of bugs that might plague a BETA-quality demo.

In my mind, a game software manufacturer will release a demo POST-release to entice those who haven't decided yet to purchase the game. Someone who downloads, say, the Doom3 demo, can decide if the software will work on his/her machine without some of the pre-release bugs that might plague the product. ATI vs. Nvidia compatibility immediately comes to mind.

On the other hand, if you're releasing something that's entirely new (in terms of a game/concept), then you could potentially risk lack of interest by releasing the demo AFTER the game itself. A new product can benefit greatly from a demo, I think, and in this regard, it would be wise to release it with some bugs.

In the case of Doom3, I must admit, though, that making people wait another month or two for a demo for a game that took 4-5 years to develop is a little dumb. Reviewers and gamers alike have been mediocre about the game -- for it being more of a technology demo (the Carmack engine -- hehehehe) than a good game with a good story. This sort of reviews, I think, would make a buyer think twice about getting the game at initial release prices.

If the demo had been out beforehand, perhaps potential buyers would not have pre-conceived notions of what to expect of the game overall because they would only play a small portion of it in the demo. The graphics would ooh and ahh and really get the idea of buying such a terrific looking game in the minds of potential buyers. It would be a buyer's remorse thing (after iD has pocketed the sale) if the buyer then decided that, "Yeah, the graphics rock, but it was kind of bland and the story was OK."

I am one who read the Doom3 reviews, waited until a friend bought a copy and got tired of trying to finish the bland story, and played it for him. I enjoyed the experience, but given my expectations after reading reviews, I am still glad my friend shelled out the $55 for the game. He has the discs back now, and I will most likely wait until the game drops to $30 or something to buy it. There are other things to play right now.

My two cents.

IronChefMorimoto
Re:Pretty Crappy Demo by wed128 · 2004-09-19 08:09 · Score: 4, Insightful

this kind of annoys me. The fact that people refer to BitTorrent as their means for software/music/movie piracy, when in fact Suprnova and other sites are at fault. You people are tarnishing the name of an otherwise brilliant protocall.

sorry for the rant, but my college just firewalled off the use of BT because of piracy, rendering the entire protocall useless for legit purposes. 1 million times better than FTP, and yet i have to wait for linux ISO downloads...tsktsk
Defect rate by tepples · 2004-09-19 13:34 · Score: 3, Insightful

I tried to take the game back but of course, they refused because I opened it.

Exchange it, and exchange the copy they give you. Repeat until the store finally runs out of copies and gives you a $50 gift card. Retailers watch products' return rates; an abnormally high rate of exchanges for a given title will raise suspicion of a real defect in the title.