Comments on: Coelacanth: Lessons from Doom

By: Gamedesign.cz » Adam Saltsman – Stinné stránky iterace

Gamedesign.cz » Adam Saltsman – Stinné stránky iterace — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:00:11 +0000

[...] LeBreton napsal fantastickou recenzi o hře DooM, často považovanou za otce FPS žánru, v níž zkoumá, co se změnilo a co zůstalo [...]

By: Dave Taylor

Thu, 06 May 2010 16:02:17 +0000

Fantastic article, and I agree wholeheartedly with its conclusions. You’re seeing things in perspective that I don’t think we really saw in the thick of it.

The gameplay was surprisingly Robotronesque, now that you mention it, but while it was in development, I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning this. It certainly didn’t occur to me, and I wrote the automap and added the cheat codes.

While it was in development, we were dreaming about how cool it would be to have an actual bridge you could go both over and under. The irony is that this would dramatically increase the difficulty in developing the game, as we would soon learn in Quake.

By: Su B

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:54:41 +0000

I personally believe that popular(not necessarily always good) games of diverse generes are being created & that’s why there is no single king like Doom anymore.
You are overestimating the simplicity & abstract style of Doom. Games only become abstract & simple when thay become outdated. Popularity depends on gameplay. Personally I like(fear) the abstract style of Doom, but Doom is more about bloodbath than art. Doom was realistic in its time & HL graphics would have been considered alien at the time Doom 1 was released. I am sure that after the release of Black Mesa HL fans will start to appreciate the simplicity of original HL. The almost empty & featureless BM undergrounds in the original creates an emptiness in stomach that can’t be recreated in photorealistic BMS.
Also, modern modders are ready for more powerful tools. The Source engine modding community may not be anywhere near the huge Doom Modding community but still it produces standard mods such as MINERVA, R&D, Dear Esther & BMS itself. Not all of them are shooters. Also, the community is ready for a more modern engine.
You have got one more idea wrong about modern FPS & that is HALO Mania. Maybe that is true for the majority of popular games but you are forgetting Counter-Strike:Condition Zero, ArmA II etc not so popular tactical games that do not have health packs & unlimited saves. Instead they have almost realistic injury & dynamic enemy positioning. Also please consider the fact that Counter-Strike is actually a mod of GoldSource engine.
Every popular genere has its unique style: secrets, wayfinding & overcoming barriers, puzzles, stealth etc. Those who don’t like shooting move towards Football, chess etc & we need to respect personal choice. I don’t believe Doom was the end of an era. It was the beginning & the magic of Doom may never be recreated because of us having diverse choices but it is useless to lament for that. Golden games are there for those who are interested, as challenging tactical games are taking place of our old favourite vanilla Doom.

By: me too

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:02:14 +0000

“Also, who’s going to buy a 2.5d game like Doom anymore?”

You’ve missed those releases:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/d/doomxboxlivearcade/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doom-classic/id336347946?mt=8

Nuff said.

By: DaBomb

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:40:13 +0000

Re: 41 -

Not gonna put down Marathon, but did you read the article? The reason why Doom still lasts is BECAUSE it doesn’t have all the complicated things that Marathon has.

- Doom doesn’t have an oxygen meter, which is good IMO.

- Doom doesn’t have save points, and I never play games that do (Come on, don’t try passing off Save Points as a GOOD thing).

- Doom is quite easily moddable, you know.

As for one thing that Doom has that Marathon doesn’t have: Pure action and tactical based game play. Sure, the tactics aren’t very advanced. But they are, as with everything else in Doom: Simple and fun. And damn thrilling.

Marathon is a great game. But it’s sort off a different game than Doom. And if you read the article, you’ll see why Marathon isn’t remembered today, whereas Doom is.

As for Pathway into Darkness… Nobody ever claimed Doom was first. Some might claim that Wolfenstein 3D was, however. And there were tank sims before that.

By: The Artolater » Friday Links

The Artolater » Friday Links — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:04:49 +0000

[...] Via Ferrett, lessons from Doom, about the old PC [...]

By: djsunkid

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:17:42 +0000

I love analysis of games like this. Reminds me of Action Button Dot Net’s sprawling monumental epic of a review of super mario bros 3. http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=426

By: Latheos

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:20:22 +0000

Actually, Marathon wasn't Bungie's first FPS. It's just the one most people mention when this topic pops up. Pathways into Darkness hols that spot. And, for those folks who still claim that Doom was first ... Pathways also came out in 1993. And as far as my game experiences go, was also superior to Doom. It had an engaging storyline, much more challenging combat (you start with a knife and a .45 but no bullets), and a very complex puzzle system. It's still one of my favourite games 17 years later, despite the fact that, since it's never been released on the PC, I haven't played it for close to a decade, as I no longer own a Mac. Yes, I liked Doom. And its sequels. But Bungie's Pathways into Darkness and Marathon trilogy will always be much better games in my opinion.

By: » Revisiting Doom Karl Reinsch’s Blog

» Revisiting Doom Karl Reinsch’s Blog — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:06:24 +0000

[...] neat article by J.P. LeBreton looking back at the design and play style of the original Doom. As J.P. says: Doom feels more like [...]

By: Lycanthrope

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:37:32 +0000

Those are some great points. Dodging and maneuvering can often feel stiff and impractical in modern games.

And as far as Doom 3 goes. It wasnt bad. It felt very different from the previous games but it wasnt really a bad game. Sure, it was too dark at times and the jump scares got predictable, but it was still pretty fun for me.

Personally, i like using the mouse when playing Doom. It feels natural for me to use a mouse for an fps.