Doom Beta announced with pre-order of new Wolfenstein

[Tristan]

Screenshots are supposedly fake

Matthew Hooper said:

Those images have nothing to do with what you're gonna see in Doom 4. When we officially show things, you'll see awesome

I remember first seeing them, and really liking them. I was kind annoyed when I found out they weren't real.

[Maes]

Well...legend has it that none has actually confirmed them to be fake. And "having nothing to do" is an expression that can be interpreted in many, many ways.

OTOH, some of these screenshots (or simply concept art?) seem to portray a demonic invasion (Lost Souls?), none has even come forward and proven that they are from some other specific game (or portfolio), and they appear to be too much work to be a one time hoax by some Joe Random (then again there were pretty elaborate fake Doom 3 screenshots and monsters....). That being said, there are countless of games nowadays with a generic "post apocalyptic warfare" theme and realistic-ky graphics, so they could very well be from another game (or a mod).

[DoomUK]

I could swear blind that those had something to do with Doom (4), and Hooper was just double-bluffing us. The 'Hell on Earth' vibe is just too conspicuous.

[Shaviro]

They were real, just outdated as they were from an early version of the game. That seems to be the general consensus.

[Magnetick]

Wasn't that version scrapped?

[Marnetmar]

Desperate marketing.

[Touchdown]

Yeah. That makes absolutely no sense that Bethesda is marketing / teasing its products. Makes. Absolutely. No. Sense. <rolleyes>

[Koko Ricky]

Shaviro said:

They were real, just outdated as they were from an early version of the game. That seems to be the general consensus.

That's what I figure. It looks very idtech5, too. I was actually kind of impressed, I just felt they environments were kind of generic, though promising. It certainly has a thing or two in common with Doom 2's city aesthetics. The human characters looked stupid, though. Big, bulky equipment and old school camo. Gimme a break, this is the future! I don't accept the whole "retro future" thing unless there's a damn good reason, or the work is say, 20 or 30 years old. Anyhow, I'm just glad there's something called "Doom beta" now.

[Shaviro]

Yeah I actually liked the locations too - or at least they grew on me - and the style looked like it could contain some semi-colorful imaginative monsters without breaking. I too hated the soldiers there. In fact, the whole idea of another "resistance" complete with a stupid camp (They had christmas lights there.....in the middle of an alien/demonic invasion) made me want to throw up.

[dg93]

It's about f***ing time we saw some kind of Doom 4 beta. Lets hope it doesn't suck...

[DooM_RO]

And now we're in the dark again....FUCK!!

[Touchdown]

Yeah but now there's a light at the end of the tunnel. DOOM is no longer some nebulous, illusory project that no one at id/Beth wants to mention by name or acknowledge its existance. It's not out of the question it might be released in 2015. Maybe not but at least it's a possibility now.

[DooM_RO]

Do you guys realize that on the 3rd of August Doom 3 turns 10 this year? FUCKING 10! A postmortem would be neat.

I also have a feeling we'll hear something about Doom 4 this year at Quakecon, considering the beta announcement. They probably don't want to steal any of the Wolfenstein hype.

[Shaviro]

DooM_RO said:

I also have a feeling we'll hear something about Doom 4 this year at Quakecon

Never heard that one before ;)

[DooM_RO]

I've been saying the same thing for 3 years now...it's not even funny anymore. I just wanna see the damn game already so I can stop making all these scenarios in my head.

[Touchdown]

It'll be merely two months between Wolfs release and QuakeCon. I'm not sure they'd want to immediately refocus the attention on DOOM. Especially that Wolf comes from a new studio, they'll probably want to let them take the spotlight for a while.

That's, of course, considering the most positive scenario that DOOM is closer than we think. If they intend to release it later (2016+), they'll most certainly not reveal it this year.

It's really hard to guess. The beta may start later this year... Or in 2015. I don't think it'll be any further. It wouldn't make much sense to hype the beta if it's still 2+ years away.

[Maes]

GoatLord said:

I don't accept the whole "retro future" thing unless there's a damn good reason

Economic recession/stagnation/war? That can cause the daily lives for the majority of the population to be much less than glamorous. This doesn't rule out that somewhere, somehow, some parts of the population live in a sheltered hi-tech utopia, perhaps even that they start colonizing other worlds while the Earth becomes a relative ghetto.

[DooM_RO]

Maes said:

Economic recession/stagnation/war? That can cause the daily lives for the majority of the population to be much less than glamorous. This doesn't rule out that somewhere, somehow, some parts of the population live in a sheltered hi-tech utopia, perhaps even that they start colonizing other worlds while the Earth becomes a relative ghetto.

The nazis already have a moonbase and a billboard indicates that Mars is next...maybe there will be a tie-in with Doom? Would be an amazing twist if we get to fight the nazis AND the demons of hell at the end of the game.

[Megamur]

Quasar said:

"DOOM" beta because that's what the game's going to be called - "DOOM". No number, no subtitle, nothing. Talk about milking the franchise. This is the sequel naming lack-of-ideas disease the game industry has as of late caught from Hollywood.

Well, did you consider that maybe they haven't actually settled on/registered a name yet? I severely doubt the next James Bond movie is going to be called Bond 24 as IMDb is currently reporting. It could just be a placeholder.

[DooM_RO]

Now that the beta has been announced, people are already loudly posting copy-paste comments all over the internet about how and why it will suck. It boils my blood...

[Quasar]

Megamur said:

Well, did you consider that maybe they haven't actually settled on/registered a name yet? I severely doubt the next James Bond movie is going to be called Bond 24 as IMDb is currently reporting. It could just be a placeholder.

I'm just not optimistic >_>

[DooM_RO]

Id has just posted a new job announcement for a Senior Networking Programmer. This basically confirms that Doom 4 will have Multiplayer.

[Touchdown]

id had a MP team for DOOM ever since the very beginning.

[Megamur]

DooM_RO said:

Now that the beta has been announced, people are already loudly posting copy-paste comments all over the internet about how and why it will suck. It boils my blood...

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree. A project doesn't cause these many arguments within the studio, complete overhauls and departures of major team members without being a gigantic bomb in the making. I'd love to be surprised, but it stinks of a Duke Forever situation.

[doom_is_great]

I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this. Makes me fear that Doom will mostly be multiplayer focused rather than singleplayer focused like it should be.

[Marnetmar]

Uh, any single player game that has deathmatch or coop is going to have a Senior Networking Programmer.

[DooM_RO]

doom_is_great said:

I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this. Makes me fear that Doom will mostly be multiplayer focused rather than singleplayer focused like it should be.

Doom was the first LAN/Online Multiplayer game so a great multiplayer component is essential.

[dg93]

doom_is_great said:

I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this. Makes me fear that Doom will mostly be multiplayer focused rather than singleplayer focused like it should be.

Considering how mediocre Doom 3's SP was, I'm sure ID Software would at least "attempt" to improve on Doom 4's SP gameplay.

[Avoozl]

I don't consider Doom 3 mediocre at least compared to newer games now with their mediocre and overused gameplay mechanics such as regen-health and two weapon limit.

[dg93]

Avoozl said:

I don't consider Doom 3 mediocre at least compared to newer games now with their mediocre and overused gameplay mechanics such as regen-health and two weapon limit.

I hate the two-weapon limit nonsense. I don't know why most game developers favor that concept over having a big arsenal of weaponry.