Engine

[geekmarine]

Here are my suggestions on what the Doom 3 engine should be. First of all, it should definitely have major new features like better graphics. Also, it should not be so complex that you need a Pentium 800 with a 64 meg graphics card to play at a descent framerate. Many people(myself included) who play Doom don't have top-of-the-line computers, and Doomers are going to be the main audience. As far as how advanced, maybe somewhere along the lines of Quake I. There should be new monsters and weapons, of course, and the levels should be true 3D. If it is graphics intensive, it should at least allow the user to turn the graphics down in order to play on as slow a computer as possible. I think it would also be interesting to see a new game not using state-of-the-art technology and instead focus on gameplay.

[Tawney]

There's no way in hell Doomers are going to be the main audience in this upcoming sequel. Past Doomers who have gone to other games? Possibly, but the DooM community is too small to be considered a main audience.

Also, by the time the new sequel is made, a 800mHz will probably be considered a slow computer. Whatever the requirements are, I'm sure iD will be sure that the AVERAGE user uses. I honestly don't believe in this "Give the support to the slow computer people" because it most likely wouldnt be worth taking the effort for such a small amount of people.

[Hellbent]

I think id should, and will, use the latest game technology to create an awesome environment and awesome gameplay. They know how important gameplay is (I hope) and how important a role it played in DOOM. So many people have complained that all the FPS after DOOM lacked the fast paced slugathon of DOOM - I agree - id should reincorporate this - although it might be ackward with a state of the art engine.

[Wildman]

According to John's plan file the game will be built on all new technology. That means it is probably going to take most of us getting new video cards at the very least. Right now the main CPU target for games is a 300+ PII. This game will probably be at least two+ years making since the tech hasn't even been created yet. I have been reading John's plan files and he is wanting to get to the high end stuff in graphics which means he is probably looking at technolody slated to appear in a couple of years.

In two years the CPU speed will be close to (or above) 1000 Mhz. So, I think it is a safe bet that if you are like me and have a PII 300 with a Banshee card, you'll have to upgrade both CPU and video. Hell, I can barely run Daikatana on my system, so I know I won't be able to run any newer games out there.

Now for a personal rant. Yes, you'll have to upgrade and its a bunch of crap. I can run Unreal quite well on my machine and that engine has everything anyone could want in a game engine. Good graphics and effects; a built-in scripting language and editor; advanced AI. And it even runs in software mode. Now you are telling me that you can't create a game that has the good looks and flexibity of the Unreal engine engine without getting a desktop super-computer?

I understand the personal need for wanting to get your hands on the new tech and work with it. But is has gone beyond the point of being reasonable. It seems like every new game that comes out require new video cards, more memory, more hard drive space. For what? Better game play? No. Just so you can have a curved surface where before you had a simulated curved surface (and you can't really tell the difference when you are in the middle of a fire fight).

Frankly, a new Doom doesn't excite me. It will look good and it will probably play like Half-Life. It won't be add-on friendly and will require C++ in order do anything with it as all the new games. Most of the fun for me is tinkering with the game once I have played it. Tinkering with these new games is too much like work and not enough fun. Sure, I am judging before the fact, but I think the example of history is pretty plain. Maybe John and company will surprise me. We'll see.

I also think this is going to affect the Doom community severly. One thing I love about the community is the family feel it has that no other community has. Everyone else is trying to make a buck off the games (Gamespy anyone?).

The source port work will probably fade to nothing. Projects will fade. It is hard enough now to finish them. I hope Randy keeps up his work, but I don't blame him if he decides to move on. I would love to see Doomscript though. Doomworld will turn into a PlanetDoom and us old standbys will fade to the background. As is with the Unreal and Quake+ communities, it will be a boys-only club.

As for me, I'll stick with ZDoom. I have only begun to taps its richness. As you'll soon see, it is now possible to create movies in ZDoom with the new camera system. And it is easy to use. Can't say that about the new games. The only thing ZDoom is lacking for me is the ability to create true 3D structures. Other than that, I consider it the true successor to the original Doom.

[myk]

I pretty much agree with what you say, Rick. And in addition to editability DOOM offers replayability. You can play the levels over and over again (they are made for that - except maybe the bigger and more complex ones), while newer games are made to be completed and discarded. I even think designers need or want this, as they sell their games on par with ever-changing (improving) technology. They want you to throw your game away after a few years. I mean, I could well play DOOM forever without trying new games; it's good enough for that (I actually play it far more than any other game). As long as at least two people play DOOM I'll continue my work on DOOM maps. Anyway, I doubt id's new DOOM can replace the original in terms of replay and editing friendliness (I even think it would be comercially, technologically, and economically impossible). John Carmack wants to make a new engine, and the game could possibly be great (we'll see), and that is good. But it's another game, it's the new DOOM, not the old one. If John Romero still plays DOOM, we can do so too (...I wonder what Carmack plays).

[Lord FlatHead]

John Carmack has been programming revolutionary 3D engines for a decade now -- it's pretty unrealistic to presume he'll write an engine that'll run on a P166 with no 3D card. Already today one can buy a 1Ghz PC with a Voodoo5 card - who knows what technology will be common in a year or two. I think id should concentrate on making truly great games with cutting-edge technology -- and that's exactly what they've been doing since Wolf3D.