Doom 4 Singleplayer doors closed?

[Tuaam]

Whenever I reach a certain point in the level, the pathways I have accessed / seen are closed down. Example in places like the Lazarus Lab and the Titans Realm.

Any way to get back to those?

[MrGlide]

you'll have to be more specific, as for lazerus I dont think so, there are many levels you can gauss hop back to where you were though. No, no real official ways though sadly.

[Deatheye]

when I started playing this game, I was like "woah nice you can completely backtrack the levels like in the classics so I can look for secrets and stuff whenever I want!" but later in the game it wasn't possible anymore and that made me quite angry

[ChickenOrBeef]

Yeah, the first half of the game generally allows you to backtrack anywhere, but the second half has more "point of not returns" for whatever reason. One of the few flaws of the game.

[TheWizard]

In one of the hell levels I purposely waited after I took out some enemies so I could properly hear a Slayer's testament without metal and explosions drowning out the voice. I ended up getting locked out of that section. I resulted in purposely restarting the level. I thought that was kind of lame.

[NodEliteX5]

^ wow, yet everyone else told me that "linearity wasn't a bad thing" or "you don't respect the developers" for stating that the game had some levels where you couldn't go back all the way, which I found pretty stupid that we couldn't.

[Linguica]

Well it's one thing if a level has a big pit you need to jump down, but it's another thing if there's just a door that closes behind you and will never open again. If you have a point of no return in a game, it's good manners to telegraph it to the player, specifically so they can choose to backtrack for stuff before continuing.

[TAPETRVE]

^ This.

[antares031]

Thinking about this issue, I've realized that every favorite levels for me from Doom 4 have a backtracking feature, such as Foundry and Argent Facility. I guess the authors of those awesome levels had a faith in classic non-linear backtrackable level design, and they totally nailed it. I wonder why the other level designers didn't have that intention. Don't get me wrong, some linear levels have their own merits. But to me, it was really frustrating if I missed that tiny little secret from the room behind the permanently-locked door.

[Tetzlaff]

Yeah, there is absolutely no reason to create an unexpected point of no return. And you can always allow the player to re-enter a room later, after clearing the area. For example through another one-way passage, like an air duct.

In the Doom demo I wanted to take a second look at the stone sarcophagus in the starting room, but even there you can't re-enter that stretch of rooms after you entered the first arena room.

[Tracer]

Linguica said:

Well it's one thing if a level has a big pit you need to jump down, but it's another thing if there's just a door that closes behind you and will never open again. If you have a point of no return in a game, it's good manners to telegraph it to the player, specifically so they can choose to backtrack for stuff before continuing.

I don't see how something like that can be implemented without ruining the immersion.

The cliff fall is a good example...but other than that, I don't see how explicitely relaying a message to the player can be tastefully done.

[Koko Ricky]

I took a major shortcut to get into the Lazurus Labs, not realizing I had skipped a bunch of shit I couldn't go back and check out. There was no indication I wouldn't be able to backtrack.

[Tetzlaff]

TraceOfSpades said:

The cliff fall is a good example...but other than that, I don't see how explicitely relaying a message to the player can be tastefully done.

Point of no return that is clearly communicated to the player:

- Jump down from a ledge
- Jump down through a hole in the floor
- Climb over a railing to jump down from a bridge or gallery
- Some sort of automated on-rails vehicle or machinery transporting you from A to B
- Teleporter (this can be visually distinguished into one-way and two-way teleporters)

Obscure point of no return (bad):

- A normal looking door that gets locked forever after you traversed it

[Tracer]

No I get that. My issue is that in life, sometimes shit happens...so why not in games? Also, I don't see how they can tastefully give you a warning that a door won't open back up.

Just an opinion, of course.

[snapshot]

In the first level it is possible to go back all the way to the first arena, but you can't jump back to start point (unless you cheat lol) .

[royaldj]

GoatLord once told me that games which do not allow the player to backtrack are whores.

[snapshot]

Speaking of Singleplayer ...

[NodEliteX5]

Linguica said:

Well it's one thing if a level has a big pit you need to jump down, but it's another thing if there's just a door that closes behind you and will never open again. If you have a point of no return in a game, it's good manners to telegraph it to the player, specifically so they can choose to backtrack for stuff before continuing.

I agree.

[Quasar]

If it had to be a door, the doors could have been consistently marked throughout the game as ones that will not reopen once they close. How to do that tastefully? Some kind of red light on them for example, or a warning sign nearby about there being no regress. Then the game could equally tastefully warn you about these amongst its random tips too.

[Deatheye]

DMGUYDZ64 said:

Speaking of Singleplayer ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okVnob_smZ0

hahahaha that's awesome :D