If original PC Doom had been the quality of one of its ports, would it still hold its esteem in history?

[Kute]

If original Doom had looked and played exactly like say, the 32x version - would we still be here on this forum?

 

What about if Carmack passed away the day before they begin coding it or something like that, so Doom ends up playing exactly like the 3D0 port? Would the game make an impact at that point? 93 or whenever it was, looking like Doom, but playing like the 3DO port?

 

What about the SNES one? Still revolutionary and iconic? 

[DavidN]

It would probably have been thought of as an ambitious engine that was ahead of its time, but left the real fame to whatever built on it and made it more playable - it would be the Wolf3D to whatever other game superseded it. The SNES version is a legitimate technical marvel, even as potato-like as its appearance is.

 

But it would also depend a lot on whether you’re including the editing possibilities in this hypothetical “3DO PC version” - that’s really why we’re here :)

[Doomkid]

If the PC version had shipped almost identical to the 32x version, I can tell you I still would have enjoyed it. 3DO might be a bit too shitty just in terms of performance. It still would have turned heads, but it would probably lessen it’s impact. If modding was still as (relatively) easy as it’s always been that would help, but again the appeal would have a damper on it. Duke3D probably would have been a lot more popular than it was, because it would then hold the title for first “actually smooth” 3D FPS.. (I’m assuming all doom engine games would either inherit the flaws of the original or more likely not exist at all in this bizarro world)

Edited January 30, 2021 by Doomkid

[Nevander]

The core concept of the game was what mattered. Short answer: yes. We would have no other versions to compare it to.

[M_W]

I would assume not everyone had a PC capable of getting the best performance out of Doom in the first place so I'd say it probably would have made an impact.

[Maes]

Well, if you had a 386 or lowly 486 it pretty much played like the 3DO port, so...