BOSS FIGHT! Ode to Id.

[Obsidian]

Linky.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/projects/2003219/photo-original.jpg?v=1440987094&w=1024&h=768&fit=crop&auto=format&q=92&s=fc732132a9bc753bc21a330ec2cbfeb3

It's a shame the Icon didn't make an appearance, but who cares? ART!

[HavoX]

What, no Serpent Riders? BOOOOO

[AD_79]

HavoX said:

What, no Serpent Riders? BOOOOO

Well those games weren't developed by id so...

Anyways, this is good stuff.

[VGA]

Obsidian said:

It's a shame the Icon didn't make an appearance

It's a goddamn wall, dude.

[Obsidian]

VGA said:

It's a goddamn wall, dude.

IT'S THE BEST WALL YOU'LL EVER SEE YOU INGRATE


Ahem.

[Havoc Crow]

Ah yes, Shub-Niggurath, the boss whose complex and challenging tactics include Sitting There, Being Immobile, and Pretty Much Being Scenery. Who wasn't biting their nails nervously, their pulse pounding, as the boss threateningly Just Kinda Stood There at them?

I think the Cyberdemon would make for a more iconic boss than the Spiderdemon.

[ReFracture]

The Wolf 3-D one is good but I'd rather the Cyber Demon for Doom and the Makron from Quake II. At least the Makron could actually kill you. If you sucked.

[Noiser]

Wow, this is really, really cool! And the Spider Mistermind IS the final boss (from the first Doom at least), whether you like it or not. =P
About the Quake boss, I never fought the Shub-Niggurath, but at least I liked how it looks. Really strange and nasty!

[Capellan]

VGA said:

It's a goddamn wall, dude.

I like to imagine that the IoS was a response to complaints about the lack of destructible architecture in Doom.

Pedantic player: "Sure it's a good game but it makes no sense that I have a rocket launcher and a hundred rockets but I can't blast through a wall."
ID: "You're so keen to shoot a goddamn wall, have a goddamn wall to shoot!"


:)

[purist]

There's no way the missus would let me put those on the wall but they are really awesome

[Obsidian]

purist said:

There's no way the missus would let me put those on the wall but they are really awesome

Come onnn, let her put it in Dylan's room! Preferably on the ceiling above his bed. :P

[40oz]

The art is more impressive as you go back in time in the chronology of the games. I've never played Commander Keen but if that game has a boss fight, I'd imagine some art work of that would be a really cool sight.

[purist]

Obsidian said:

Come onnn, let her put it in Dylan's room! Preferably on the ceiling above his bed. :P

Haha, this thought had already crossed my mind but the price + UK shipping would make it hard to justiy.

[IMX]

For those curious, you can find a bigger version of that pic (probably the largest one) on his flickr profile.

[Ichor]

The first two are good (though the cyberdemon is more of a challenge, even today), but Shub Niggurath? That's no boss. It's a telefrag target. Chthon would have been far better to use. It's more imposing and still fits in with "The Monster" theme of the last poster, it actually does something and can actually kill you.

[Captain Ventris]

iD sure does love them some cargo pants.

[VGA]

Captain Ventris said:

iD sure does love them some cargo pants.

You can't SR50 in jeans, dude.

[Captain Ventris]

VGA said:

You can't SR50 in jeans, dude.

I want a shirt with Doomguy on the front that says this on the back.

[Mithran Denizen]

Ichor said:

The first two are good (though the cyberdemon is more of a challenge, even today), but Shub Niggurath? That's no boss. It's a telefrag target. Chthon would have been far better to use. It's more imposing and still fits in with "The Monster" theme of the last poster, it actually does something and can actually kill you.

According to the artist, the idea behind this project is to represent the final battle of each game in a nostalgic light (even if the in-game execution falls short of the imagined ideal), so the choices seem fitting to me.

The Kickstarter page says:
For all that effort and tenacity, you were rewarded with a final showdown.

However, the pixelated sprites and clunky 3D models of the 90's could never truly capture the experiences that were happening in our minds. This art project attempts to visualize those final encounters in all their magnificence so that we can once again quake at the player's impending doom.

[Chezza]

I found the Quake Boss an odd one. The way to defeat it is pretty crazy on paper but implemented in the game back then was a bit confusing and plain imo.

Considering how they made a giant animated fire ball throwing Demon as the first Boss you would of thought they could of made the equivalent of our fantasied Icon of Sin (for Quake though).

[jute]

Shub Niggurath looks awesome even if the gameplay mechanics fell short.

[Pencil of Doom]

Obsidian said:

Linky.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/projects/2003219/photo-original.jpg?v=1440987094&w=1024&h=768&fit=crop&auto=format&q=92

Oh poor Blazkowicz, Hitler's taller than you!
The Marine rushing to the giant Spider and the Ranger having a dilema to solve.
Good art.

[scalliano]

Am I in the minority when I say that, on the whole, id's finales tend to be a bit naff?

[Obsidian]

scalliano said:

Am I in the minority when I say that, on the whole, id's finales tend to be a bit naff?

Nope. It pains me to admit it, but for the most part they really didn't have the right idea when it came to doing finales: Doom has you hiding behind walls and taking potshots, Doom II has you complete timing puzzles and Quake has you...err, running in a circle, none of which are really essential to their respective games. The Hitler one's pretty sweet though.

[VGA]

Wolfenstein and Quake lack in the gameplay department IMO. For Doom 2 they screwed up big time in MAP30. Waste of programming time with those functions to make the bossbrain work, they could have invested that time into a new weapon or alternate attacks.

The original Doom had boss battles with previously unseen monsters so that's something. But the maps where the boss battles take place feel like placeholders.

Come at me.

[<inactive>Player Lin]

Chezza said:

I found the Quake Boss an odd one. The way to defeat it is pretty crazy on paper but implemented in the game back then was a bit confusing and plain imo.

That's how I know about "Telefraging"...:p

The idea to beat Shub Niggurath wasn't bad actually...but it just sucks ass when actually play that BOSS fight... :(

[printz]

Wolf3D's real final boss is just a fat general in normal uniform, not Hitler…

[yakfak]

(I posted something here about having to use your imagination to enjoy stuff in games but I actually haven't thought through my own opinions on this topic yet so I deleted it again)

Good drawings

[Captain Ventris]

yakfak said:

I actually haven't thought through my own opinions on this topic yet so I deleted it again

That was a refreshingly mature thing to see on ye olde Internet. Bravo!

[NickDaring]

Hey everybody, I'm the artist of the Kickstarter and just wanted thank everybody for the kind words! I'm a long time lurker on the boards but felt I should finally chime in.

I went through all the same mental questions that have come up in this thread. Cyberdemon is definitely a more iconic Doom Boss but in setting up the rules for the project, I decided I wanted to go with the original Final Boss from each original game.

I grew up in the Dallas area and eventually ended up interning at an animation studio under Greg Punchatz, the guy who made the original Spiderdemon puppet! He has some cool Doom stories and going with the Spiderdemon for the poster felt like a great love letter to his work.

That said I do have sketches for a DOOM boss trilogy poster set (Mastermind, Icon of Sin, and Cyberdemon) that I want do at a later date if this project did well enough. Looks like this project is going to be a success, so keep an eye out!

I was honestly a little worried that the project wouldn't find an audience. These games were crazy important to me growing up but you just don't see a ton of nostalgia or merchandise growing around them like other old games. I was a little worried that there was a reason for it! SOOOO happy to be proven wrong.