PC Doom sound effects VS PSX Doom sound effects

[Joshua Schäferhund]

I pretty much prefer most of the PC sounds except for the Plasma Rifle and a few others like gibbing, item pickup, and moving platforms. The Plasma Rifle's firing sound is obnoxious on the PC (and is kind of unoriginal too, seeing as how it's just an edited version of the pistol/chaingun sound), PSX's is much better and sounds like an actual plasma gun.

BaronOfStuff said:

Actually, it is:
PC DSPOSIT2
PSX DSDMACT
Clearly the same source used here.

I'm pretty sure one of the PC Imp's death groans and the PSX Demon pain groan are based on the same source, that of course being a stock camel groan.

[Torturephile]

I enjoy both, although I pick PC sounds. The PSX ones fit Doom 64 much better due to its darker nature than the cartoony classic games.

[Joshua Schäferhund]

>cartoony

[Orchid87]

I think they are on par but I've grown with PC Doom so I am more attached to those classic sounds.

[Jon]

Patch93 said:

The Plasma Rifle's firing sound is obnoxious on the PC (and is kind of unoriginal too, seeing as how it's just an edited version of the pistol/chaingun sound)

Huh? Even if it is (is it?) It's unrecognisable.

PSX's is much better and sounds like an actual plasma gun.

Pah, it sounds nothing like my plasma gun (I use it to clear the leaves)

[vinnie245]

I think the PSX sounds are vastly superior to the PC sounds, just so much meatier and more powerful in general (Shotgun and Plasma Gun especially)
I also love the Baron and Cyberdemon alert sounds, they give you a sence of dread that the PC sounds just fail to capture.

[Pencil of Doom]

Well then, here goes, PC Doom Sfx vs PSX Doom's Sfx, the PSX Doom weapons sfx sound very powerful, in particular the Shotgun, the Plasma gun and the BFG, so PSX Doom wins in the weapons.

Monsters, PSX has some really menacing and hellish sounds, in particular the Demon, Hell Knight, Baron of Hell, Cyberdemon, Arachnotron, Revenant and Pain Elemental, PC has better sounds for the zombified humans, imp, cacodemon, lost soul, so it's a draw, both versions have good sounds for each monster.

Doors, switches and stuff like that, both PSX and PC have good sounds, but i'll side with the PSX ones, i like them more, so PSX wins.

Items, powerups, PSX ver. is just basicly improved higher quality sounds, however i prefer PC, so PC wins.

And lastly, player sounds and gibbing, PSX ver. has you hear an agonizing death sound when you die, whereas PC sounds weak, makes me feel like that did hurt a little, whereas in PSX, ouch that hurt, gibbing, same above, improved high quality, however i'll side with PC.

Now, let's see:
PC - 3
PSX - 3

It's a draw, so i can conclude that both versions have great sound effects, each with thier pros and cons.

[plums]

Question for people that prefer the PSX sounds or think they're as good as the PC sounds even: are there any of you who haven't played much or any of the console ports, and just like the sounds anyhow? PSX Doom doesn't interest me at all, and likewise I think the PSX sounds are pretty inferior to the PC ones.

The plasma gun sound in particular sounds weird to me, the echo doesn't really fit perceptually with how the projectile travels I think. The PC plasma gun sound is indeed a bit too loud, so I substitute it with a quieter version -- other than that I think it's great.

[june gloom]

I was first exposed to them via Doom 64, but I do enjoy the sound set in certain circumstances.

[Jaxxoon R]

plums said:

Question for people that prefer the PSX sounds or think they're as good as the PC sounds even: are there any of you who haven't played much or any of the console ports, and just like the sounds anyhow?

Me.

[Tracer]

I like how the PSX sounds all have added reverb. That alone makes me prefer the PSX sounds.

[Torturephile]

Patch93 said:

Hectic said:

I enjoy both, although I pick PC sounds. The PSX ones fit Doom 64 much better due to its darker nature than the cartoony classic games.

>cartoony

https://media.giphy.com/media/dC9DTdqPmRnlS/giphy.gif

Not sure how's that funny.

[jazzmaster9]

plums said:

Question for people that prefer the PSX sounds or think they're as good as the PC sounds even: are there any of you who haven't played much or any of the console ports, and just like the sounds anyhow? PSX Doom doesn't interest me at all, and likewise I think the PSX sounds are pretty inferior to the PC ones.

though Doom 64 was the first Doom game i've played. I never really played it that as much as I did the PC version. But I for one think both are of equal quality.

[RightField]

For me the PC sounds fit the game better and their cripsyness is a vital part of the package. The PSX sound effects sounds are all pitched lower for the sake of sounding more "scary". They fit much better for a game like Doom 64, whereas in classic doom i feel they're out of place.

[Joshua Schäferhund]

Hectic said:

Patch93 said:

>cartoony

https://media.giphy.com/media/dC9DTdqPmRnlS/giphy.gif

Not sure how's that funny.

I don't understand how you find the PC Doom games "cartoony", but okay. I mean sure, the PSX versions were darker because of the lighting, music and SFX, but that's not to say anything in the PC versions were light-hearted.

[The Civ]

PC Speaker SFX have always offered the best in immersive, realistic, and engaging sound design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRqticdr6UE

[Jaxxoon R]

On the contrary, the ragtag piano madness soundscape is far superior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMhVGo1bfk

[Torturephile]

Patch93 said:

I don't understand how you find the PC Doom games "cartoony", but okay. I mean sure, the PSX versions were darker because of the lighting, music and SFX, but that's not to say anything in the PC versions were light-hearted.

I don't think I'm the only one, I've seen a few people here mentioning the game is a bit cartoonish years ago. But now that you make me think about it, I don't know why I find it that way, even if the first time I played the game, I thought it looked amazing and even realistic at times (silly long story). Maybe the bright colors in certain maps and some monster sounds.

[Danfun64]

There's an online mp3/wav to midi converter. I'd like to see all the sound effects converts to midi using that website.

[Koko Ricky]

Doom has a realistic edge due to the heavy incorporation of photographic elements, but the proportions of the enemies and their general appearance is undeniably cartoony, in a claymation kind of way.

[RightField]

You have to judge it in the context of the era it was from. You had films like Total Recall around then which had the same cartoony look but in those days were state of the art. When I was a kid and Doom was released, it was pretty scary.

Also there is a huge difference between the designs for the monsters for Doom and Doom 2. The Doom 2 monsters look far more scary and whereas some look dated, others, like the Arch-Vile looks just as relevant today. Now if you look at the monster design for Doom 64, it looks far more cartoony.

[Jaxxoon R]

I don't see what you mean.

[Avoozl]

Doom 64 monster designs are much more darker than the original monster designs.

[Fuzzball]

Also a point worth noticing- depending on which you played "first" or the most of back in the day is going to sway your opinion quite a bit.

Another gaming example would be Sonic CD's Jap/E soundtrack over the US one. Those who grew up with either usually sway towards either depending on what they know.

[Shanoa]

Jaxxoon R said:

http://i.imgur.com/eBxhwO9.png
I don't see what you mean.

It does make me wonder how revenant/archvile/spider mastermind would look in Doom 64.

[Koko Ricky]

Doom's designs literally are cartoony due to the nature of pixel art. You've got limited space to work with. You end up abstracting most of the elements, or embellishing things in order to imply something. Heads up end up being gigantic as a result. Look at the Doom Guy, for instance. The sprite is such that the head takes up maybe 1/5 of his body, whereas for a real human being, it's about 1/7. DoomGuy's mug looks cartoony, too. That's why attempts at a photorealistic version of the face look weird; it's because the limited pixel space distorts proportions.

Doom 64's designs are generally more "mature," in the sense that they have a more overtly gothic, horror appearance, but they're kinda cartoony too, especially the "bull" demon, the baron and the cacodemon (although I really like their look). It's really hard to imagine sprites from that era not looking cartoony on some level.

[Shadow Hog]

Plus all the zombies (and Imps to a degree) sound like camels in the PC version, which is pretty silly/cartoony in its own right.

I don't think that's a bad thing, though. Just part of the charm. I'd sooner take the vaguely-cartoony Doom over super-serious Doom, anyway.

[plums]

Danfun64 said:

There's an online mp3/wav to midi converter. I'd like to see all the sound effects converts to midi using that website.

Vanilla Doom supports MIDI for sound effects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLHH5Bj5AM

[Danfun64]

That's why I brought that up. I think it would be amusing if someone converted the sound effects to midi using that online tool and put the newly created midis into a wad.

[june gloom]

GoatLord said:

Doom's designs literally are cartoony due to the nature of pixel art. You've got limited space to work with. You end up abstracting most of the elements, or embellishing things in order to imply something. Heads up end up being gigantic as a result. Look at the Doom Guy, for instance. The sprite is such that the head takes up maybe 1/5 of his body, whereas for a real human being, it's about 1/7. DoomGuy's mug looks cartoony, too. That's why attempts at a photorealistic version of the face look weird; it's because the limited pixel space distorts proportions.

Doom 64's designs are generally more "mature," in the sense that they have a more overtly gothic, horror appearance, but they're kinda cartoony too, especially the "bull" demon, the baron and the cacodemon (although I really like their look). It's really hard to imagine sprites from that era not looking cartoony on some level.

I think a lot of it also had to do with Adrian Carmack's art style. There's a clear resemblance between his Doom spritework and his Wolfenstein 3D spritework -- humanoid enemies all have the same kind of blocky heads.