It's time to take you guys back.
It's the early 90's, game consoles are still the Kings of Gaming, and computers are just finding their ways into the homes of Mr. Average American.
PC games exist, but they have yet to reach a fever pitch yet.
Then, in 1992, a game called Wolfenstein 3D is released by a company called id Software. This isn't their first game, or first popular game either, as they also made the Commander Keen games as well. However, id made their name with Wolfenstein 3D.
It was one of the first First Person Shooter games to become very popular, and it set many standards for the series that most FPS games use to this date. Such as a disembodied hand holding a gun/weapon, huge labyrinth like levels with a single exit, and hordes of enemies standing in your way that your bullets can't wait to rip to shreds. However, they would soon refine the genre, as well as how games are distributed, with the release of the next game series in 1993, Doom.
I remember being very young when playing Doom, and the first time I played it was in a computer store at one of the demonstration computers. As such, I didn't get to play much, but what I did play was fun and satisfying. I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a game where the story hardly matters and you just go around shooting the fuck out of demons? That's essentially all Doom is at its core, and that's one of it's aspects that makes it great.
The graphics for the time were pretty good. The 2.5D effects looked much better than they did in Wolfenstein, and everything was dark, futuristic, and eventually demonic. The atmosphere was definitely something else, and with the likes of Mortal Kombat which was released a year earlier, was very controversial.
It is important to note that Doom popularized a type of software known as Shareware. Shareware is a type of Game Demo, but instead of giving you one level to play around in to get a feel for the game, you were generally given an entire episode, roughly an equivalent of 25~33% of the actual game. If you so chose you could pay a price to register the game and get the rest of the levels, but otherwise Shareware was generally completely free. This was an essential step in the evolution of Digital Distribution, which is on the rise today.
Also, Doom began the tradition of FPS Deathmatches with your friends. You could play over a modem, or a TCP/IP connection. This increased the longevity of the game 10 fold, and made the game banned in many offices, as all the multiplayer matches would clog the systems.
But that was then...what about today? Why would we play this classic now?
Well, I can tell you that some people will frown upon this game. It has aged to a certain degree. For example, as it was such an early FPS, you can't even look up or down. If there's an enemy on the Y-Axis, the game will automatically move the bullets up or down.
Also, the graphics are a little stale by today's standards. The monsters are all 2-dimensional sprites drawn from different angles, and that sometimes makes it tough to gauge how far away certain enemies are.
Regardless of these two points however, this game is still ridiculously fun. While modern FPS games look better and control a little more realistically, Doom gives you the feeling of just being a Bad Ass Motherfucker Marine. You run fast, you have big guns that only @&)%#*$ need to aim up and down, and you do all of this to AWESOME music.
It's SO satisfying to just run around a level, blasting all the enemies to nothing but a bloody pulp, something that modern FPSs don't have enough of. Too much story in some of them. I'd rather just shoot things sometimes! No objectives, no flags, just enemies and an exit. That's what Doom's all about.
If you have an Xbox 360, then this is on the Xbox Live Arcade, with the Multiplayer functionality as well. It should be a DEFINITE download. It's a classic, and helped get FPS games to the popularity level that they are at today.
It is indeed a little dated, but the aspects that are dated are easy to overlook. No matter what, you'll have fun with this game.
This classic? We Fuckin' Love it!
(NOTE/joke: I don't normally use this type of language in all my blogs. I use it in this one because I'm talking about fucking Doom. Anyone who doesn't like this game, doesn't have testicles. At least, that's my opinion.)
I love me some doom
At the time it was so fresh, the graphics so awesome, and the fun was unadulterated.
Brings back good memories.
Count me out....
...I am total PC gaming fanatic, especially the Golden Era of say, 1985 to 1995 or thereabouts. And I love FPS games - Counter-Strike is one of my very favorite and enjoyed games, ever.
But I never liked Doom. The novelty of it wore off within a weekend for me, and then it became tedious. It was a one-trick pony with a shiny coat of paint, at least as far as I was concerned. And I'm not entirely sold on the lasting impact it ended up having on the gaming industry.
But I recognize it was a monster hit, and beloved by thousands upon thousands... so I guess I'm just one of the few that Doom doesn't appeal to.
Doom is my #1 favorite game of all time!
I give you props for admitting Doom isn't your thing, but how was it tedious? I don't know why you're "not sold" on the impact it had. It popularized FPS games, the PC, online gaming and modding. Those seem to be huge staples in gaming today.
EDIT: Holy shit, I'm Digg #666! Doom FTW!
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The Retro Game Zone
The Modding..
I thought it was Quake that started the whole modding thing.
Quake was big in the modding
Quake was big in the modding community (still to this day, too) but Doom had everybody creating WAD files which were different level maps and TC (total conversions) like Batman Doom.
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The Retro Game Zone
BATMAN DOOM?
i actually just checked that out...
really cool..
thanks for the info chase
Hell yeah!
I first played Doom in my high school drafting/architecture class. The sheer testicular fortitude of this game can be summed up with 3 letters:
B.F.G.
FYI
Just so you know, Doom wasn't 2.5D. That is a term to describe 2D side scrolling type games with 3D polygonal graphics. I think the term you wanted was "pseudo 3D" which refers to the illusion of 3D that Doom and other early FPS games used. It's not a technical term, but it is a more accurate description of Doom's cad like rendering.
I'm only pointing this out because it was a small error in an otherwise excellent article so fixing it would make it even more excellent.
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I'm an old school gamer, but I'm still hip. Wait, when referring to oneself as, "Hip", does it reverse its meaning?
doom is godly
i NEVER tire of doom.
this and ff6 are my favorite games of all time. something about its atmosphere or way it feels as you fly through corridors blasting aimlessly.
*sigh*, doom3 was a bit of a fail for me sadly. i love iD though and i do have HIGH hopes for doom 4.
you get a BIG FUCKING GOLD STAR, serge.exe!!!!
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I Love Doom
And that's why I had to get your article up there and let everyone else feel the awesome as well. A great explanation of a game that I'm still playing to this day.
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Doom was the shiznit. But
Doom was the shiznit. But what was really awesome about Doom was all the fan-made maps, wads and total conversions, Added an entirely new replay value to the game, and it as far as I can recall, revolutionized modding.
I haven't ever played any of
I haven't ever played any of the custom wads. Every time I download one and try to run the game it comes up with some random error. Fucking Windows XP.
- Not The FBI
And you know...... DOOM 4 IS
And you know...... DOOM 4 IS COMMING!!!!!
Yes, yes, hell
Yes, yes, hell yes!
DTT.org - videos, articles, music, and a forum
Doube Barrel Goodness
I remember when my dad first surprised me with that shareware box labeled Doom (hey, we were poor). Seeing that Marine blowing the shit out of demons was awesome, but noticing that one demon staring at me made me want to pop that disk in, and blow his head off immediately. I love Doom so much, that two years back, I went out and bought the Doom Collectors Set (If you don't have it, pick it up). Speaking of Wolfenstein 3D, did anyone ever played the Street Fighter mod version?
Love Doom
I absolutely love Doom! I remember on our first family PC, we had Doom and I'd play that non-stop. It was odd since we didn't have speakers for it back then.
Many years later, I bought the PlayStation version and it's quite nice.
Eh, I really think the only
Eh, I really think the only way to play it is on the PC.
But then again I'm Old school =P
Doom
Doom is so sweet. I remember playing on my first computer with the sound really low so I wouldnt get in trouble :p
just now
this game has been at the top of the fps list for years, and no matter how the great the graphics look year to year on the next gen consoles, they still pale next to DOOM. even the title reflects that: any game that goes up against it is DOOMED. castle wolfenstein is right below DOOM, but i love them both
I concur...
Although I think the game has aged a bit. I think a simple HD remix of the game, like what was done for Duke Nukem, would help it a bit.
Does the XBox live arcade version revamp the graphics a little?
I remember playing this game
I remember playing this game for the first time in fourth grade. It scared the living hell out of me, but I couldn't stop playing it it's such a great game. There were alot of ports of this game to consoles like the SNES and the Sega CD but the PC version is the only way to go.
Older Games
The good thing is there are many "hi-res" packs coming out that allows you to actually play the old games (Doom, Duke Nukem 3D et. al) on newer PCs using good, hi resolution graphics. All of these packs are free and available for download (zdoom, Duke Nukem Hi-res) etc..etc.. The old games ROCK!
JIff
www.anonymize.us.tc
Doom is still played today.
Doom was a great game and the Doom 2 scene is still living today.
People duel each other using the zdaemon program which enables mouse control and various other upgrades.
All you need is the original wad files of the games and zdaemon client. ;)
500 DIGGS! WOO!
500 DIGGS! WOO!
GREAT job Serge! Keep up
GREAT job Serge! Keep up the awesome work. Points for you!
Not just That
I first saw this article on Diggs front Page. Awesome dude.
Even better than DOOM
Is DOOM Legacy.
Among other things it has the controls fixed, you now have to aim with your mouse, like a normal FPS and it's awesome... just as you said, you can play DOOM and have fun shooting everyone to a blood stain in the floor in glorious 2.5D beautiful glory, with good FPS controls. I have lots of fun with DOOM Legacy, and it has a multiplayer split screen feature too, it's pretty cool stuff.
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- Illustrator on training -
Please check out my gallery
www.lordterrato.deviantart.com
=taking comissions=
all the pc gfx mods...
you know, i've tried zdoom, legacy, doom revolution(or the hell ever it was called) and as awesome as being able to look up and down and jump in doom and what have you, i still play doom plain old vanilla style.
i own doom on like 8 different consoles. i love how easy it is to play me some doom. if its not on my psp, ds, cell phone, ipod, then its on my PC or my 360.
honestly, i can't say that any game, even doom's spiritual successors, really capture the essence of the classic doom.
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Doomsday
google Doomsday its a new engine that uses the origional wad files. fully 3d enemys mouselook all kinds of options the doom version i play runs like any other fps on pc i run with wasd and shoot with my mouse
you do have to download soem things extra for the 3d models and high res textures but it worth it
Ahhhhhhh...Doom
those days I remember that game I always played with my brother(we´re still playing it)I was too young and every single time I saw the Cyberdemon I just freak out but the most thing I remember were the cheats ID CLIP FTW!!!!!!!!
true story
I LOVE this game, does that mean i've got huge testicles?
i can't even begin to count the hour days and weeks i spent playing this game. i remember once this game killed my motherboard. i was play e1m3 and the screen started flickering it persisted for about 5 to 10 minutes until the screen went completly blank...
turn out a peice of my mother board had exploded and burst into a small flame. the flickering was being cause by the burning. this game was so awesome it couldn't be contained on my 386 motherboard.
so i got it replaced with a 486 and it never happened again.
So many g1 points!
So many g1 points! struggling under huge amount! great post, Serge!
-AMNF
DooM
I want to see some photo printers screenshots with your best scores so everyone can really learn from each other... experience is best away to becoming the best.
Great article/blog entry.
Great article/blog entry. Doom is indeed all you said it was, and more to come people.
While I loved it, I recently realized I never actually completed the game when it first came out, so I went searching and found my old floppys.
But if you do not have them, and want to play today, you may want to check out the Doomsday Engine, which lets you play Doom (and 2 & Ultimate) easily on computers today, and updates many aspects (you can look up & down, jump, etc), while keeping the classic look (2d enemies, though you can smooth their rough edges out).
Id, Origin & Sierra ruled my life back in the day.
~Welcome to Professor Windlenot’s Museum of the Strange and Unusual.~
Wow DrGero =p
"~Welcome to Professor Windlenot’s Museum of the Strange and Unusual.~"
A quote from a game that is on my list of reviews coming this month. I'm very happy to know that other people played it too. "Care to refresh your memory?"
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How amusing... is that all you can muster?
http://darkdiamond.weebly.com/index.html
g1 points: 1010 - g1 rank: 145/6696
Cool, looking forward to it.
Cool, looking forward to it. It's one of my favorite games.
~Welcome to Professor Windlenot’s Museum of the Strange and Unusual.~
Oh yeah!
I remember playing Doom too! It gave me nightmares! Kick ass nightmares, I might add! No sequel can beat the original!
Make games, not war.
As a little kid I owned a
As a little kid I owned a port of the game on the GBA. I loved that game even back when I didn't know shit about games.
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My name's peter and I am a rad guy. 1234 g1 points.
Multiply your radness by four by checking out my blog
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