Everything in your above post is wrong, and I assume somehow skewed by your distaste for action-based 3D FPS's. Ultima Underworld, while a fantastic game in it's own right, is hardly an action game. Doom was innovative in so many ways I hardly have the time to cover it all.
Short list of Doom's innovations:
Graphical: Full screen, seamless 3D graphics at a good framerate on a mediocre-for-the-time PC. Ran well on a 386DX-40 or a 486SX-25. Had a completely revolutionary realtime lighting engine, with dynamic lighting effects and light diminishing. Handled an enormous number of sprites and textures compared to other 3D games of the time. Was the only game, other than Underworld, to have texturing on the ceiling and floor, variable height ceilings and floors, walls that were not all at 90 degree angles, and was the only game to do this FULL SCREEN.
Audio: The first game to really use realistic digital audio and stereo effects effectively, in my opinion. Atmospheric noise and volume diminishing were used brilliantly.
Atmosphere: The audio effects combined with the lighting engine actually made Doom scary. Doom was the first game that any large number of players would have actually described as "Scary", with the possible exception of the robot voices in Berzerk.
Multiplayer: Yes, there were network games before, but Doom truly invented the "Death Match", and man was been waiting since the dawn of time to realistically, artificially kill each other in some sort of cyberspace. Quake and the Internet really made it happen, but Doom certainly was the stepping stone. Perhaps truly the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Mods: You'd have to have brain damage to overlook Doom's greatest contribution, which has sent a shockwave through the gaming community that has changed everything forever. Doom was dissected and reconstructed a million times over by it's fans. Now this is expected of all FPS's, as well as most computer games. Even console games are getting level and character editors these days!
Are you crazy man? It's DOOM we're talkin' bout here? It's up there with Pac-man, Street Fighter II and Tony Hawk! It doesn't matter if you don't like those games, they are the greatest of the great, and any true gamer would poop on you for not showing proper respect. I need my medication.
Chris Barger
Chief Editor of
www.gigapowergaming.com
Slashdot Mirror
Everything in your above post is wrong, and I assume somehow skewed by your distaste for action-based 3D FPS's. Ultima Underworld, while a fantastic game in it's own right, is hardly an action game. Doom was innovative in so many ways I hardly have the time to cover it all.
Short list of Doom's innovations:
Graphical: Full screen, seamless 3D graphics at a good framerate on a mediocre-for-the-time PC. Ran well on a 386DX-40 or a 486SX-25. Had a completely revolutionary realtime lighting engine, with dynamic lighting effects and light diminishing. Handled an enormous number of sprites and textures compared to other 3D games of the time. Was the only game, other than Underworld, to have texturing on the ceiling and floor, variable height ceilings and floors, walls that were not all at 90 degree angles, and was the only game to do this FULL SCREEN.
Audio: The first game to really use realistic digital audio and stereo effects effectively, in my opinion. Atmospheric noise and volume diminishing were used brilliantly.
Atmosphere: The audio effects combined with the lighting engine actually made Doom scary. Doom was the first game that any large number of players would have actually described as "Scary", with the possible exception of the robot voices in Berzerk.
Multiplayer: Yes, there were network games before, but Doom truly invented the "Death Match", and man was been waiting since the dawn of time to realistically, artificially kill each other in some sort of cyberspace. Quake and the Internet really made it happen, but Doom certainly was the stepping stone. Perhaps truly the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Mods: You'd have to have brain damage to overlook Doom's greatest contribution, which has sent a shockwave through the gaming community that has changed everything forever. Doom was dissected and reconstructed a million times over by it's fans. Now this is expected of all FPS's, as well as most computer games. Even console games are getting level and character editors these days!
Are you crazy man? It's DOOM we're talkin' bout here? It's up there with Pac-man, Street Fighter II and Tony Hawk! It doesn't matter if you don't like those games, they are the greatest of the great, and any true gamer would poop on you for not showing proper respect. I need my medication.
Chris Barger
Chief Editor of
www.gigapowergaming.com