id Software Semi-Denies Doom 4 Screens

[Andy Chalk]

id Software Semi-Denies Doom 4 Screens

It's not exactly a denial, but id Software says the alleged Doom 4 screens that leaked earlier this week "have nothing to do with what you're gonna see" in the game.

A pile of screenshots purportedly from id's upcoming Doom 4 leaked out earlier this week, showing off various ruined, burning and, most interesting of all, Earthbound environments. Taken at face value, Doom 4 looked rather like Doom 2: Hell on Earth [http://www.amazon.com/Doom-II-CD-ROM/dp/B000S5DOTQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330712230&sr=8-3], which qualifies as both a subtitle and an apt description of the unpleasantness plaguing our fair planet. But accompanying the screens was the rather distressing claim that Doom 4, for reasons unknown, had been canceled.

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Bethesda was quick to shoot down that rumor, telling Twitter [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/28/bethesda-doom-4-isn-t-cancelled/]. "When we officially show things you'll see awesome."

"Fans will be happy," he added.

It sounds more like the "not representative of final quality" statements that often accompany early screens and videos than it does the flat-out "not ours" one would expect from a true denial of responsibility, but that's fine by me. After the contrived dark corridors and monster closest of Doom 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Doom-3-Pc/dp/B00006C2HA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330712491&sr=8-1], takin' it to the streets sounds like a lot of fun.


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[Waaghpowa]

"Fans will be happy"

I'll be happy if they can release the game and not have another driver debacle like what happened with RAGE. As long as they do that, there's very little that will disappoint me.

 

[Weaver]

Hopefully texture pop-in isn't the scariest thing in the game.

 

[evilneko]

"Fans will be happy," he added.

After Doom 3, I am skeptical.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, I can't say I hated Doom 3, because for what it's worth, it wasn't that bad, but I just can't regard it as a memorable experience either, it's mods on the other hand, make owning the game entirely worthwile (freaking Thief with modern graphics!!!).

Also, yeah, after seeing those screenshots, I entirely hope those are not representative of the final product, I kinda get a feeling of "been there, done that". Speaking of Doom 3, I hope they keep their promise of not making too many dark areas again.

 

[teh_Canape]

the thing with those screens, for me, is that they look like a really awesome environment, but also looks like they're very linear, being just pretty looking corridors =P
also they kinda have a Serious Sam 3 vibe going on

 

[Drop_D-Bombshell]

Surprisingly those fake screens are pretty awesome, if that was in Doom 4 it would be an amazing game (But then again it still will even if it didn't look like that)

 

[Chemical Alia]

They're obviously screenshots taken in the editor at whatever stage those levels were in at the time. Not long ago there were a lot of layoffs over there, I wouldn't be surprised if someone just grabbed a bunch of screenshots of areas they worked on at some point and they somehow made their way online.

 

[Vigormortis]

Rage taught me two things about id.

First, that they've come a long way both technically speaking and in the quality of their writing. At least, compared to their earlier works.

And second, that they've still got a hell of a long way to go, in terms of their writing and over-all game-design, before they qualify as a 'great' developer again.

I certainly hope they learned some lessons from Doom 3 and Rage. I honestly doubt they have, but who knows. Maybe Doom 4 will be a great game that melds the best of both modern game design and old-school game-play.

I suppose we'll just have to tune back in...
<spoiler=... at eleven><youtube=N16G0Bx2auA>

You deserve a cookie. Maybe two.

the thing with those screens, for me, is that they look like a really awesome environment, but also looks like they're very linear, being just pretty looking corridors =P
also they kinda have a Serious Sam 3 vibe going on

I still don't understand why 'linear' is the equivalent of a four-letter-word now-a-days. Linear doesn't mean 'bad' nor does it mean there's no possibility of exploration. It simply means the players destined path, as part of the narrative, is guided. It just means that you are playing through a story, to experience it from your own eyes, instead of being given an empty world to make up your own story.

Both styles of game-design are valid. So I still don't see why anyone would consider either 'bad'.

 

[teh_Canape]

I still don't understand why 'linear' is the equivalent of a four-letter-word now-a-days. Linear doesn't mean 'bad' nor does it mean there's no possibility of exploration. It simply means the players destined path, as part of the narrative, is guided. It just means that you are playing through a story, to experience it from your own eyes, instead of being given an empty world to make up your own story.

Both styles of game-design are valid. So I still don't see why anyone would consider either 'bad'.

I didn't mean it in an actual negative way, but if you remember their original Doom games, the levels were more of a sandbox style rather than corridor styled stages

I think linearity is not bad as long as it's done right
for example, compare MW to MW3
MW3 felt a lot more restricting than MW in my opinion

 

[Vigormortis]

I still don't understand why 'linear' is the equivalent of a four-letter-word now-a-days. Linear doesn't mean 'bad' nor does it mean there's no possibility of exploration. It simply means the players destined path, as part of the narrative, is guided. It just means that you are playing through a story, to experience it from your own eyes, instead of being given an empty world to make up your own story.

Both styles of game-design are valid. So I still don't see why anyone would consider either 'bad'.

I didn't mean it in an actual negative way, but if you remember their original Doom games, the levels were more of a sandbox style rather than corridor styled stages

I think linearity is not bad as long as it's done right
for example, compare MW to MW3
MW3 felt a lot more restricting than MW in my opinion

Okay. Fair enough. My mistake.

More often than not when someone, especially on this forum, says something looks "very linear" it's often with a negative connotation.

And I know what you mean. Some of the stages in Doom 1 and Doom 2 were very large and sprawling. Still, most were comprised of linear hallways. (and monster closets. LOTS of monster closets.) A lot of the ones that appeared to be open were only deceptively so. They were often corridor maps with a lot of backtracking.

Regardless, I agree with you. Linear's only bad if executed poorly. By bad level design, lack of variety, or a weak narrative.

That said, in the sense of creating a narrative driven game with realistic environments like are on display in those screen-caps, I'm not entirely sure a 'sand-box' style of level design would work. Not in the classical sense. It could, in theory, but I've yet to see it executed.

But who knows. Maybe id found a way. Maybe they'll be the dev we've all been looking for to combine the best of both the new and old-school. (trying not to roll my eyes here, haha)

 

[vrbtny]

I suppose we'll just have to tune back in...
<spoiler=... at eleven><youtube=N16G0Bx2auA>

....Dude! I think you just owned this thread!!.... actually, scratch that, you just owned this entire gorram website..... actually, scratch that, you just owned The Entire Internet!!!!!

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

A part of me wishes that these are screens from a game long since cancelled. I mean, seriously, those graphics look seven years old.

 

[Zer_]

"Fans will be happy"

I'll be happy if they can release the game and not have another driver debacle like what happened with RAGE. As long as they do that, there's very little that will disappoint me.

I doubt that will happen again. Besides the driver debacle was honestly not id's fault. Blame the GPU manufacturers for neglecting to update OpenGL to the latest standards. During QA id had working builds of the drivers, and they had already made the necessary arrangements with the GPU manufacturers prior to the game's release.

nVidia had their beta drivers out by that point, which had improved support for RAGE's OpenGL. AMD was a bit behind. The initial hotfix driver release for AMD came later the same evening if I'm not mistaken. After installing the hotfix I had absolutely no issues with RAGE performance, or texture pop-ins.

Carmack was right to choose OpenGL for RAGE. DirectX 9 is a mess to work with. OpenGL was much more intuitive, and it was an API that Carmack was very used to (he contributed to the OpenGL API, after all). After looking at DX10 and DX11, Carmack came to the conclusion that DirectX 10's complete overhaul of the DX API made it much more efficient and intuitive.

id Tech 5 is an OpenGL game, but that doesn't mean it won't be ported over or recoded to work with the DirectX 11 API.

 

[Formica Archonis]

"When we officially show things you'll see awesome."

As the difference between Doom 1&2 and 3 made me realize, I'd much rather see ugly and play awesome.

I still play Doom 2 every now and then, and know where my copy of the complete collection is, freshly rebought in the run-up for Doom 3. Doom 3? Don't even know where the disk box is. Possibly another province.

 

[Skarvig]

I suppose we'll just have to tune back in...
<spoiler=... at eleven><youtube=N16G0Bx2auA>

....Dude! I think you just owned this thread!!.... actually, scratch that, you just owned this entire gorram website..... actually, scratch that, you just owned The Entire Internet!!!!!

Wow, you're easy to please.

 

[dobahci]

Sometimes hearing ID software is making a new game is a bit like hearing that your favorite band from the 70s or 80s is coming out with a new album, and your first reaction is, "Wait, they're still around?"

Doom 1 and 2 were landmark games for their time, but that time was ages ago. It seemed like with Doom 3 they were desperately trying to avoid just remaking Doom, so they went in a totally different direction and ended up throwing away the only thing Doom ever really had going for it in the first place.

Namely, that was the fun factor of you carrying an entire arsenal vs. all the legions of hell. Doom 3 was more like you carrying a flashlight vs. some relatively generic looking monster hiding behind a wall panel. The final boss fight might as well have been a point and click adventure game. Use cube on cyberdemon. Repeat. Repeat.

Who knows, though, maybe Doom 4 will be amazing. I won't judge it by these screenshots, because these screenshots aren't exactly oozing originality.

 

[ThePS1Fan]

I kinda liked Doom 3, it might have strayed away from the original format a little to much but I like it based on it's own merits. I've been looking forward too Doom 4 for a while now and really at this point I hope they don't spend too much time making the game look good and not be as fun as it should be like RAGE.