Captain Keen

@Skullzrawk9 Fun map. GREAT Avatar. 👒

I would love to see this too. I really like the vibe of the OG Doom and Quake (and Hexen!) and 2016 Doom and would love to see anything like that again. I’d also love to see a non-retro shooter do levels like the 90s games, where it’s not arena based and you have a map filled with monsters who can in-fight and you can run away from and use them against each other. A mix of modern and retro. Although it’s 8 years old now and was mostly arena based, Doom 2016 did that mix of retro and modern styles so well. Haven’t seen anything quiiiittteee like it since.

I guess it’s hard to tell from an early trailer, but the overall art design and movement and snippets of combat we see very much appear to be like Eternal. Looks like just a natural evolution of Eternal to fit the new setting, but you can even see some stagger like moves reminiscent to how they work in Eternal and the gameplay design of the environments looks very similar. Hell looks like Eternal’s Hell, the general use of color and fog and environmental details is very similar to Eternal and TAG levels. Feels like this will just be a continuation of that design philosophy, kinda like The Ancient Gods 3 but set in the dark ages. But also hard to know for sure without extended gameplay snippets. Even the Eternal trailers, looking back, don’t 100% look like Eternal!

Looks like more Eternal. It is cool to see some of the classic enemies but “medieval” non-cyber versions. The last 10 seconds are the best, mech warfare and flying around look fun! But it also looks like the Eternal playbook is here to stay, for better or for worse.

Well, it’s official now. Looks like more Eternal, though the last 10 seconds or so show some new stuff! Looks fun enough, though a little bit like extended DLC for Eternal. Still probably a day 1 play for me!

This is a good point. Each DLC leaned more and more heavily into that style of play. Even in the original game, it became more about fighting in a certain specific way in the second half compared to the first half which was more freeform. I think there was a guy on YouTube called Clockner who made these fascinating cinematic videos of Doom 2016 that showed just how much versatility there is in 2016’s combat. He was asked if he would do Eternal videos and said he wasn’t a fan of the gameplay loops in that one because they were too restrictive. But of course some people prefer that kind of combat, especially since there’s still clever ways around things (instagibbing Marauders for example). I do think it’s also a good point above that this site caters to fans of the original Dooms, and 2016 is the closest to those, so it makes sense you have a lot of 2016 fans here. I certainly fall into that category. 2016 actually got me back into Doom, and I played a lot of newer WADs after that and was surprised how much the mapping trends had changed and improved. And Eternal really is almost like a new style of FPS. If you look at all the id games throughout the years there’s really a looootttt of variety. That’s why it’ll be interesting to see where this next Doom (or Quake 1?) goes, since Eternal double and tripled down on its new identity with the DLC. Do they keep going down that path, move away from it, or create something entirely new?

Yes, exactly, you get it! Can’t speak for others, but my opinion as I stated is my preferred next Doom game would be a mix of 2016 and Eternal, and/or something completely brand new (like a big focus on melee combat maybe?) Eternal absolutely made some improvements too and hit some peak highs. In my opinion. Doom 2016 is 10/10 Eternal is like 7/10 for me and the Ancient Gods is 6.5/10 or something. Also, we don’t know anything about this new game yet, so everything will be speculative until then. It makes sense that people would talk about the previous games while anticipating the next one, right? What they liked and didn’t like and hope to see next. The design of Eternal and reaction to it will obviously have an effect on the design of the next game. I can only assume that the actual designers for the next Doom game had these exact conversations themselves before working on it.

I liked Doom Eternal and played through it twice, plus the DLC. However, for the most part, I much prefer Doom 2016. In fact, I think Doom 2016 is the best shooter of that decade, just as the OG Doom was the best shooter of the 90s. I preferred the art direction of 2016, and the more open gameplay. I find it endlessly replayable on both console and PC. Although Eternal added some good new aspects to the gameplay, it became too much about only have certain ways to fight certain enemies, and lost of some of the “fun” of 2016 even as it leaned into a lighter and more arcade-y tone. The lore became a lot less interesting, too, though for Doom gameplay is and always will be king. Anyway, I say that because I hope this new Doom is not taking the Eternal elements even further, but rather finds a middle ground between 2016 and Eternal. I’d also love if it’s actually a new IP (doubtful) or a Quake 1 reboot (possible) that focuses on melee combat a little more. Doom 2016 holds up 8 years later and I’d love to get more of *that*, with some of the improvements from Eternal.

Wait— what if “Doom: The Dark Ages” is actually just the codename for a Quake 1 reboot?

Mixed feelings on another Doom (was really hoping for a new IP or Quake 1) but looking forward to the reveal! Hopefully it finds a nice balance between 2016 and Eternal. Or is something we haven’t seen before.

When do you think we'll hear about id's next game? I've been kinda out of the loop, has the rumor mill suggested what is next?

Yes, in fact there's been a bit of a resurgence in Doom 1 wads the past few years! 2022 ADO, Silence, Stickney, UDINO, Solar Struggle, Nostal Doom, 95 Never Dies, and so on. And of course both SIGIL episodes.

Played through the "shareware" first 8 maps. Great stuff. What a great idea for a wad, too! And of course I always love seeing Doom 1 textures in a Doom 2 wad. One teeny minor typo: on the fake BUY ME screen, details is misspelled as "destails"

That's too bad. Was playing through this again recently, as I've been on a Doom 1 kick, and it's still a lot of fun. I'd suggest you reconsider. Just throw it up as is and say it is what it is no more changes, you get what you pay for!

This was great. Really terrific. Love these sorts of WADs. Thank you for sharing!