Advice for a console noob?

[Memfis]

I've never touched any of the console ports, only seen some videos here and there. Which ones should I try first and how should I approach them? Do I need to prepare for somewhat underwhelming visuals and awkward controls to avoid disappointment? Will I be able to perform tricky strafejumps and surf through imps comfortably? What are the most interesting things for me to discover about these ports?

[hardcore_gamer]

11 minutes ago, Memfis said:

Do I need to prepare for somewhat underwhelming visuals and awkward controls to avoid disappointment?

 

YES! THIS SO MUCH!

 

Frankly, all the console ports suck. Even the PSX version which is considered the best console port has sloppy framerate and low res textures. And the lack of any kind of saving (the game uses a password system) almost completely kills it for me.

 

Doom 64 is the best console Doom though it's not really a port. And even it suffers from lack of mid-game saving which while not as bad as not having any saving at all, is still pretty bad.

 

If I want to play PSX Doom I just play the PC fan port of it.

Edited October 8, 2018 by hardcore_gamer

[Tristan]

Naturally I'm going to recommend PSX Doom, what it loses in detail and even layout (particularly on the Doom 1 maps) is made up for by its unique atmosphere, really gives you a different view of the game. I think for that reason alone it's the most interesting of the ports as it's the one that was more than just a conversion of the game, it's like a reimagining. (By extension you have Saturn Doom, which afaik is just a shit version of the PSX port). I guess controls will take some getting used to but if you're looking to pick up the real thing then I'd just say change the fire button to X. No idea why it used triangle as default. Manoeuvering is of course more difficult, but it's slightly compensated by monsters being a bit slower than before (notably the revenant which barely survived the conversion). The only true pain in the ass when it comes to movement though is the last run of Tricks and Traps, where you have to redo the map because there's no save feature except for passwords that give you your items back at the start of the map. Watch out for the Doom 2 monsters, Pain Elementals used to scare me on Command Control :)))

[leodoom85]

Want no archviles, slow revenants, scarce amount of bosses and easier maps except Tricks and Traps? PSX Doom is for you.

[amackert]

I'll second PSX DOOM. It runs well and plays decently. I ran through it a couple of weeks back and it was fun to see DOOM II enemies placed in Ultimate DOOM maps. Also, while the original DOOM maps are based on the Jaguar/32X versions, the DOOM II maps are surprisingly faithful to the originals.

 

The rest of the versions you might want to try for novelty purposes, or if you're just a huge fan of seeing the differences. I still enjoy the other versions, but it's not like I'm trying to speedrun DOOM or anything like that.

[Doomkid]

It’s not as fun as re-learning how to walk like you have to in every other port, but if you want a basically-accurate home console version of Doom, the 360 one fits that bill. I heard the PS3 version was ass gravy but can’t confirm. I assume if there are versions on PS4 and X1 that they’re just as good but again I haven’t checked first hand.

 

Or, you could grow some BALLS and be a REAL MAN! Conquer SNES Doom, arguably the most unplayable (yet not worst, unbelievably) port to a home console of the lot.

[bonnie]

2 hours ago, Doomkid said:

the 360 one fits that bill

ya beat me to it :(

It's practically of cheating to mention it since it wildly outshines every other console port for fairly obvious reasons (except for the ps3 version which has more iwads, though I hadn't heard that it was worse overall before). It's only genuine flaws are the lack of cheats and lack of widescreen support, though that somewhat makes sense as it's basically chocolate doom with a higher resolution.

 

It's so good in fact, that it was really disappointing to find out that no source port has support for anything even close the controls of the 360 version. It controls about as perfectly as Doom possibly can on a controller, with Doom 2 even including a highly effective quick-select for weapons on the dpad. If you're boring, I would strongly recommend the 360 version.

[leodoom85]

6 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Or, you could grow some BALLS and be a REAL MAN! Conquer SNES Doom, arguably the most unplayable (yet not worst, unbelievably) port to a home console of the lot.

I conquered that port long ago.

[Immorpher]

Doom 64 is by far my favorite of the console doom games. The controls aren't as great as using modern "twin sticks" but I never had major issues with it (I think I put strafe on the shoulder buttons and it was ok). And since this version is not a straight port, it's nice to see some unique twists on the engine and atmosphere.

As far as a straight port goes, the Doom 3 BFG Edition has Doom 1 and 2 port for the 360 you can play in local split-screen co-op, and uses a modern control scheme. PS3 version probably has the same features.

[amackert]

20 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Or, you could grow some BALLS and be a REAL MAN! Conquer SNES Doom, arguably the most unplayable (yet not worst, unbelievably) port to a home console of the lot.

 

Nah, if you really want to grow a pair, complete the 3DO version on Nightmare with the full-screen cheat!

[Gerardo194]

@Memfis I think you have to give a try to SNES Doom, it was my first Doom and I love it. I suggest you to play it in Nightmare difficulty.

[Deleted_Account]

I highly recommend PSX Doom/Final Doom, and Doom 64! They're my favorites.

[VGA]

I think Doom 64 is best played on the PC instead nowadays :D

 

 

[Job]

On 10/9/2018 at 10:42 PM, Gerardo194 said:

@Memfis I think you have to give a try to SNES Doom, it was my first Doom and I love it. I suggest you to play it in Nightmare difficulty.

I love SNES Doom. For a kid who only had a sporadic allowance in the 90s,it was a very accessible way to get my Doom fix. A used cartridge and strategy guide cost me only $20 and I already had the console for awhile. You have to remember, decent computers were fairly expensive and harder to come by then (we had a Tandy or an Amiga FFS). 

 

Anyway the music was good considering and many, if not all, of the PC levels survived the port untouched. The enemies had no rotational frames and reduced attack and walk frames, increasing the challenge a good deal. Further adding to the mystique was a lack of cheat codes unless you owned a Game Genie. 

[TakenStew22]

The Xbox Live Arcade port of Doom 1 and 2 is imo the best console ports for classic Doom. It has 100% vanilla gameplay, support for online and split-screen multiplayer (deathmatch and coop), adds a new episode for Doom 2, and is dirt cheap. These ports are also what got me into the Doom series. I believe I played them when I was about 12 or 13 years old. Very underrated.

 

You don't have to worry about controls. It plays fine.

Edited October 14, 2018 by TakenStew22

[VGA]

Is it true that the classic Doom games have not been released on PS4 after all these years? For fuck's sake I want to play coop with a friend of mine...

[TakenStew22]

3 hours ago, VGA said:

Is it true that the classic Doom games have not been released on PS4 after all these years?

Yep. It's sad. :'(

[hardcore_gamer]

10 hours ago, TakenStew22 said:

These ports are also what got me into the Doom series.

 

THat's interesting. I heard of young people that got into the doom community because they became exposed to the doom franchise via some of the newer games but never anybody who just played the originals and then found them fun enough to enter the doom community.

[TakenStew22]

1 hour ago, hardcore_gamer said:

 

THat's interesting. I heard of young people that got into the doom community because they became exposed to the doom franchise via some of the newer games but never anybody who just played the originals and then found them fun enough to enter the doom community.

You'd be surprised. Even when I was a kid I was obsessed with classic games.

[hardcore_gamer]

4 minutes ago, TakenStew22 said:

You'd be surprised. Even when I was a kid I was obsessed with classic games.

 

Did you also play Quake?

[TakenStew22]

5 minutes ago, hardcore_gamer said:

 

Did you also play Quake?

Not when I was exactly a "kid". I first played it on Steam about 2 years ago sadly. I still haven't finished Quake 2 lol.

 

I honestly wish I was born in the 80's or 90's. Must have been an amazing time.

Edited October 14, 2018 by TakenStew22

[hardcore_gamer]

1 hour ago, TakenStew22 said:

Not when I was exactly a "kid". I first played it on Steam about 2 years ago sadly. I still haven't finished Quake 2 lol.

 

I honestly wish I was born in the 80's or 90's. Must have been an amazing time.

 

Eh, there were upsides and downsides.

 

Upside of 90's/early 2000's:

 

-Actually proper expansion packs and finished games. Not this DLC crap we have now.

-Get to experience many classics at their peak time

-LAN with friends, rather than just soulless online play with strangers

-No DRM and consoles that were actually consoles rather than shitty dumbed down PCs

-PC gaming was actually worth a damn

 

Downside of 90's/early 2000's:

 

-Dial up modems fucking sucked and made it very hard to play multiplayer or download mods compared to today

-Lots of games had mediocre graphics even by the standards of the time

-Fewer games to buy because there wasn't such a thing as steam sales back then

-If you lost the game disc, you lost the game. Simple as that

-No indies

-Console games often could not compare to the PC because of hardware limitations. Bad if you did not own a powerful PC.

 

Edited October 14, 2018 by hardcore_gamer

[gaspe]

Doom 64, at least if you can stand its unique aesthetics, it seems that not everyone likes it. I don't know if you played Doom 64 for D2, because if not you have some new interesting levels to check out but in any case the original with its custom music and graphics manages to pull out a captivating atmosphere. Then for what I know of your tastes maybe you'll find the gameplay a bit too slow but many tricks could look interesting to you.

 

On 10/9/2018 at 12:52 AM, Eris Falling said:

Naturally I'm going to recommend PSX Doom, what it loses in detail and even layout (particularly on the Doom 1 maps) is made up for by its unique atmosphere, really gives you a different view of the game. I think for that reason alone it's the most interesting of the ports as it's the one that was more than just a conversion of the game, it's like a reimagining.

I only saw some videos of it. The sounds feel out of place to me (I associate them with Doom64) and with that colored lighting here and there it gave me the impression of being like a cheap zdoom mod. But are all the levels shorter than the original? If it's a rather quick play to finish it maybe this time I will finally try it.

[TakenStew22]

Doom 64 isn't a port.

[amackert]

2 hours ago, gaspe said:

I only saw some videos of it. The sounds feel out of place to me (I associate them with Doom64) and with that colored lighting here and there it gave me the impression of being like a cheap zdoom mod. But are all the levels shorter than the original? If it's a rather quick play to finish it maybe this time I will finally try it.

 

The first three episodes of the Ultimate DOOM side are based on the Jaguar version, so yes, those maps are shorter. The Episode 4 maps are closer to the PC originals, as is all of the DOOM II side of the campaign (major enemy placement differences aside).

 

To put it into perspective, it'll take about three and a half to four hours to get through each side of the campaign at the very least (played normally, not blitzing through it like a speedrunner). That's not counting for being unfamiliar with the differences in this specific level set or dying (no mid-level checkpoints or quick saves).

Edited October 14, 2018 by amackert

[KVELLER]

On 10/14/2018 at 3:08 PM, hardcore_gamer said:

consoles that were actually consoles rather than shitty dumbed down PCs

 

What do you mean by that, exactly? At least nowadays their hardware is worth a damn. The gap in technology between PCs and consoles in the 90's was ridiculous.

 

On 10/14/2018 at 3:08 PM, hardcore_gamer said:

No DRM

 

Even if it wasn't as common, you'd still find games asking you to check page 52 in your manual and write what's the name of the monster found there.

Edited November 6, 2018 by KVELLER

[scalliano]

Playstation Doom, Playstation Final Doom and Doom 64, or what I like to call "the Midway trilogy".

 

PSX Doom predates analogue controls, but TBH they're no less intuitive than olskool DOS Doom with keyboard only. The framerate might be tough to stick nowadays, but it only really tanks in a few key areas. Having just finished playing through it again myself recently on real hardware, I'd say it's still totally worth it for the atmosphere alone. Also no Archies. Anyone who tells you that is a bad thing is objectively incorrect :P

 

Doom 64 cranks the atmosphere of the PSX games up to twelve and a half. Also, the addition of analogue controls is a massive boon - D-pad for movement, stick for turning and you're all set. For my money, the ambient score isn't quite up to the standard of the PSX games, but it still gets the point across. Also, pick up Quake II 64 while you're at it, it's (almost) and entirely new campaign.

 

The other console ports are mainly just curios at this point, and the DF Retro vid is out there for your perusal, but the Midway trilogy actually brings some interesting stuff to the table.

[Dark Pulse]

SNES Doom is actually how I played Doom for my first few years. I grew up pretty poor (I didn't even have a PC until 2002), and I remember a guy was selling it at a Flea Market (in 1995) for $30. I had $27. He agreed to the sale, and so my ten year-old self got his first real good taste of blood and guts.

 

That said, I'd also definitely not recommend it as an actual way to PLAY the game. Although yes, its music is actually quite good, and it's one of the few ports aside from the modern Mid-2000s or later perfect ports that have some of the levels cut from other ports, and they're also quite close to the PC versions, as well.

 

The best console port (thus, not counting Doom 64) that's not a perfect port (i.e; 360/PS3 and later) would still be PlayStation Doom. It's definitely different, but it's got a hell of a lot of levels, plenty of original content (Playing Ultra-Violence on that when I was used to SNES Ultra-Violence was quite relevatory when I ran into a Chaingunner on E1M1), really excellent atmosphere thanks to Aubrey Hodges' soundtrack and the colored sectors, and so on.

 

That's not to say it's perfect, however. The main problems are twofold:

1. No analog stick support, since this predates the DualShock (and even the forgotten pre-DualShock Analog Controller). Final Doom does support the PlayStation Mouse though. (And maybe Team GEC will be able to enable mouse support for the non-Final Doom mapsets in their hack, but that's another story entirely.)
2. Framerate can be quite clunky; most maps are in the 20s, some dip down to the single digits in spots. This is especially true for Ultra-Violence difficulty, and doubly so on the PlayStation port of Final Doom.

Fortunately, most emulators have a fix for this by overclocking the emulated CPU (RetroArch allows for this at least, as does Xebra), so if you don't mind that it won't be totally console-authentic framerate, you can always enable that and have a pretty consistent 30 FPS experience. (In fact, I'd probably recommend you do this in general unless you really want it to be authentic - or play it on actual hardware.)

 

That said, of the contemporary ports of when Doom was relatively new, it's easily the best one. (Also worth mentioning, the PS1 actually got a damn good port of Quake II, as well! So good I wrote pretty much the only complete FAQ for it on GameFAQs almost 15 years ago.)

 

Doom 64 is still totally worth playing, mind you - it's just you can think of it as a fancy Megawad compared to the original games (and it's from the same guys who did the PS1 version, right down to the same SFX, mappers, and musician, so if you like PS1 Doom, you should like that too). It's easily the most complex console version of the game, and until advanced engines like ZDoom/Eternity/etc. came out, could easily have been argued as one of the most advanced versions of the game, period.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Dark Pulse

[Blind Joe Death]

On 10/9/2018 at 9:04 AM, bonnie said:

It's so good in fact, that it was really disappointing to find out that no source port has support for anything even close the controls of the 360 version. It controls about as perfectly as Doom possibly can on a controller, with Doom 2 even including a highly effective quick-select for weapons on the dpad. If you're boring, I would strongly recommend the 360 version. 

That d-pad quick select is what dreams are made of.

[Phoby]

I personally find the PC ports are always the best. The biggest problem I have with them is normally the controls with changing weapons and whatnot. Getting the aim sensitivity right also sucks. As long as you're not playing it on a 20th century console, it probably won't look any worse than vanilla Doom.