Argh i'm doomed!!!

[Leet Eriksson]

Heya guys, anyone got doom 3 yet? I have to say, this game is pretty scary, but its so fun at the same time

The story is pretty well done, though the plot is your run of the mill sci-fi "we developed a teleportation system!!! OH NOES!! demons are comin through it and you must kill em all" (well you get the picture) but the story still retains a strong reprsentation, and is enjoyable in the long run.

Gameplay is great, and the AI is awesome, though sometimes the AI just charges straight at you, but heck most of the time they are pretty intelligent, using cover and the dark to their advantage, suffice to say its a pretty pleasant experience.

The Sound is awesome, for both the enviroments and the weapons, the voice is well done, and there are alot of interacting to do early on wich is pretty fun in itself.

As for multiplayer, its not that good, my system ran well on 4/4 servers, but anything above that like 8/8 or 12/12 and your game kinda lags and messes up, since it seems like more of an afterthought, and the levels are done by an external development team i'm not surprised its crap, hopefully the mod community or patches will fix that.

The graphics does not need any explaining, but i suggest you have some pretty high end computer, and at least a gig or 2 of ram with a decent gfx card to enjoy it.

Anyways if you have anything to say about the game this is the perfect place, so talk whatever you want about Doom 3, don't forget the spoiler tags if you want to talk about the story

[Gregoshi]

I'm surprised it took this long for a Doom 3 thread to start. I picked it up on Wednesday, mostly because my daughter was interested in it. I haven't tried it yet but will get around to it. It does look good. And scary. I heard a couple of screams coming from the den while my daughter (age 17) was playing, so I'm guessing she's enjoying the scares.

BTW, I'm running on a P4 2.53mHz with 512mb of RAM and a 128mb Radeon 9700 and it is running pretty well - just a hickup every now and then which I'm sure I can smooth out with some tweaking. When I let the game determine the "best" graphics settings for my system, it sets it up as "medium" (2nd lowest of 4 levels). From multiple reviews I've read, the game looks fantastic at all graphics settings.

[thrashaholic]

I'm going to get it on Friday 13th (that's an omen if ever I saw one) when it comes out in the UK. I've been looking forward to it for ages. In the meanwhile I've found a forum that claims to know how to boost the performance of the game, allowing people to play at higher settings....

link

I'm going to use this when I get Doom, I just hope it works.

[The Tuffen]

can't wait for it to come out. I've got it on Pre-order and just got an e-mail saying that they are picking and packing it for me and it should be here soon :)

[Gregoshi]

Thanks for that link thrashaholic! I'll give that a try.

[Nelson]

I got DOOM3 last week. It is very impressive graphically. My Athlon 2000XP with a GForce 4200 runs best at 800x600 with medium settings. I have never seen any game look so good at 800x600. At 1024x768 my rig struggles. Even at 800x600 it gets choppy with several flaming heads flying about.

As for game play, you had better enjoy murky corridors as there is no long range sniping across the Martian landscape in this FPS. This game is all the about ambiance and mood that springs from creepy, dark, claustrophobia.

The most important weapon? The flashlight! Doom3 has the best flashlight simulation ever. Good thing too, ‘cause you need it. You know that distortion that you see in a flashlight beam caused by the bulb assembly? Doom has it. And it is actually a weapon. You can swing it like a club. Not a smart idea but swing it you will when you fail to change to another weapon quickly enough. For you see, despite this being the 22nd century, you don’t have lamps on the guns or the helmet. You must use the flashlight a lot and CAN NOT use it when a weapon is ready. This means a lot of firing into the dark, switching to the light, and back again to a gun. I made the flashlight/last weapon toggle my right mouse button but however you do it this is a skill you must master.

Surround sound is important and adds to the immersion. I find the gunfire rather muted however. The reports in other shooters have more punch. My brother and sons agree on this too. When I cut loose I want the room to rattle.

I haven’t played online and likely won’t. I already have other good shooters for online play. I expect this type of game to support co-op play against the AI. The original Doom had it but this iteration inexplicably does not. That’s a pity.

[Dramicus]

My Intel 3.2 gig with a gforce 5700fx and 1 gig of ram runs the game flawlessly on very high (or high, the setting right under max) at 1024x768. I havent tried it on ultra high but I guess i might be able to get it working well at that setting as well.

The game is absolutely gorgeous and I enjoy playing late at night with the lights off while wearing my $200 Bose headphones... Now, the game doesnt scare me all that much, but I do find that ive been expending more ammunition than I normally would in other games...

The sound is great but what really freaks me out is the whispering that you hear every once in a while... and since the game is so dark you always have the impression that something is watching you... and after it leaps out from the shadows, your suspicions are confermed...

One thing that really freaked me out was at one point where I was proceeding through an area and just off the path was a small dark, cramped hallway which was pitch black. As I passed by that hallway, a rather loud whisper invaded my headset... "Over here..." It wasnt a normal whisper either, it was the kind that you hear in movies just before something kills one of the characters....

About the weapon sounds, I think their fine and that they actually add to the mood of the game because they give the sense that although your armed to the teeth, you dont get any comfort from the fact.

Multiplayer, lets face it, is a joke... Nothing more needs to be said on the mater.... ~:p

now im off to play some more doom...

edit: just tried the tweak... now im enjoying Doom on Ultra Quality.... hehehe this is the best looking game in history....

[thrashaholic]

Thanks for that link thrashaholic! I'll give that a try.

No problem Gregoshi . Could you let me know if it works for you, or if all the stuff I've seen is merely conjecture in order to fool the masses into hurting their game.

[lonewolf371]

For you guys who are Radeon users, make sure you don't update your Catalyst too much (pass 4.2 I believe) otherwise you might start meeting the vanguard of the massive hiccup invasion force. It is a very good game, but very confined, scares the crap out of me with all the freaky voices. Oh yea and by the way...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If you follow the "over here" voice, you find a plasma rifle...

[Dramicus]

lol, thats good to know, I didnt go there however... ~:p

[Gregoshi]

The tips in the link didn't help thrashaholic. I still get stuttering when doors open and right when monster appear (not a good thing).

I searched around and found this Doom 3 tweak guide: http://www.tweakguides.com/Doom3_1.html

At the same site I found found this ATI tweak guide: http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html

(BTW, this site has tweak guides for WinXP, BIOS setting and a dozen popular cpu/graphics intensive games)

There are quite a few things to mess with in these guides and I didn't do 95% of them as they are very detailed. However, based upon recommendations, I did download the Catalyst 4.9 beta drivers and DirectX 9c. The 4.9 beta drivers were released by ATI as they apparently address some of the issues with Doom 3. Alas, I still didn't notice any improvement in the stuttering. I've got quite a few more things to investigate yet before I give up and live with it.

The only other "easy" thing to try is the up my RAM from 512 to 1gig as many have reported that that has helped them out too. Funny how a year ago when I ordered my PC, 512mb of RAM seemed like more than you would ever need. I'd rather not spend the money on RAM if I can fix my problems via software settings.

Unfortunately, the stuttering destroys the immersion effect you get from the spectacular audio and video of the game, so I'd really like to fix it.

[lonewolf371]

You guys might also be able to find some guides on tweaking, performance, upgrading, etc. at www.lostcircuits.com. In particular it has a good BIOS guide, IMO better than the one suggested at tweakguides.com

[Efrem Da King]

Now first of all I will say one thing. I HATE BEING SCARED. I also dislike basic run of the mill corridor crawlers. So please tak that into account for my review of Doom 3.


I wasn't expecting much but I got a lot. I bought the game to test my comp and for mods.


WOOOOO FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN.
I don't like sp tooo scary for me but MP ROX. WHO WILL TURN ON THE LIGHT!!

WEll you use a flashlight?
Or maybe chuck grenades around?
Or maybe even just wait with a shotgun for someone else to make the first move. Or hell just leave the room and kill peopel normally. INcredible fun.

[Spino]

Doom 3 is GREAT! Unfortunately, the more I play the more the fright factor wears off, probably because the game is only about killing monsters and nothing else.

Now if Doom3 had the depth and story of System Shock 2 it would be perfect.

I cannot wait to see the kinds of games that will be made using the Doom 3 engine, it's fantastic.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Hello, guys!!!

Some helpfulll tips in this thread.

I haven't played DOOM III yet, but it sounds promissing in regard to graphics and sound. Too bad about the linearity of the story and the lack of interactivity (physics engine). But that is no surprise. id wasn't ever known for their stories, but for their cutting edge graphics.

For story driven FPS and great interactivity, Half-life 2, Deus EX 2 and STALKER should fill the bill...

Talking about cutting edge graphics you might want to check this out:

http://www.unrealtechnology.com/flas...ogy/ue30.shtml

Enjoy...

[solypsist]

Im going to start again probably this weekend.
Since the screen is so dark, I have to play it with the lights off (of course) and in order to hear the ambient sounds, with the volume at a louder setting than usual (of course). This does not make for a pretty scene when the stuff jumps out.
I've read of people playing for 11-20 hours straight, but unfortunately since I can only handle 15 minutes intervals, this game may last me a while...

[Spino]

FYI to everyone here, you can brighten things up a bit in the game without it looking washed out or being an obvious cheat. Personally I think Doom 3 is unnaturally dark, there are too many areas where the game goes from modest lighting to pitch blackness even though there is a light source a short distance away.

Open the console up by hitting the 'Ctrl', 'Alt' & '~' keys. Be sure to switch to your fists or flashlight before doing this otherwise you'll discharge a round. Type in 'r_gamma 1.x', 'x' being a number, preferably between 1 and 4 (anything higher and the colors begin to look 'washed out'). The game's gamma is by default set to '1'. I changed it to '1.2' and things look more realistic. When you save a game after doing this the game remembers your new gamma setting. At 1.2 the game is still extremely dark but the lighting seems more natural now, especially on surfaces.

[Leet Eriksson]

i'm pretty far in the game, although things do get predictable i still think they scare the hell out of me, especially when new monsters come into play without an introductory (ie wraiths) first time i met them was when they teleported directly behind me, i so freaked out i almost smashed the keyboard ~:p oh and the god damn imps jump really fast its impossible to dodge or avoid it.

[lonewolf371]

Their ranged attack is easy to dodge, just run back and forth sideways.

[Leet Eriksson]

the projectile is very easy to dodge, but their jump is almost impossible to dodge, i get cuaght almost 100% of the time.

[thrashaholic]

I bought Doom this morning, but my computer can't take it, it keeps locking up; I'm so disapointed . But I've got college starting again in September which'll be a good excuse to persuade my parents to get me a new computer

[Ser Clegane]

I got the game yesterday and had quite a lot of fun yesterday evening - the graphics are indeed very impressive and the atmosphere is very dense (only the darkness and the flashlight/weapon switching was sometimes annoying - although it also added to the suspense in some situation).

My wife thinks I am thug after she watched me frantically shooting zombies into pieces ... but well ... at least I am a happy thug

[frogbeastegg]

Is there a demo yet? I'm not the least bit interested in the game but mildly curious about the engine, since a lot of games will be using it.

[Leet Eriksson]

The engines main feature is the lighting, its incredible, and very realistic, i did not know if they will use the engine for other games, since Carmack said after Doom 3 they will pursue an upgradable engine (just like the Unreal Engines) so they can license it for other game producers. Demo is in the works i hear, but i don't really know much, they said they will make a demo after the games release, and they are working on it right now, but no release date announced.

[The Tuffen]

Got doom on fri, and is absolutly amazing. The lighting is the best i've ever seen in a computer game and the whole flashlight/weapon switching makes you more nervous with frantic swithching in dark areas.

The monsters are quite tough with even the imps giving me proplems coz there so agile.

[Leet Eriksson]

Get used to imps, they are the most common of all monsters...

I will put up this strategy just incase anyone needs it to deal with imps, taking care of them first will minimise damage greatly i think, but anyways here it is:

Best way i found out so far to avoid its leap or jump attack is to backup or walk backwards, since the leep is based on a fixed distance, strafing won't work or rather i failed most of the time trying to strafe the jump. 1 shotgun shell close up can kill it(chainsaw works too), aimed at the head though, most usually 2 shells in the torso, sometimes they spawn at a distance, most encounters when fighting at a distance happen when there is some sort of barrier or gap that doesn't allow you to get close up, the pistol ain't bad at taking 1 imp out since its accurate, but if your fighting several at a distance use a machinegun.

One important and useful thing i found out, and its especially useful when fighting those surprise attacks in doom 3 is to bind the flashlight to the right mouse button, as someone suggested above, since i'm pretty easy to freak out, i get frustrated finding that F key ~:p right now i have a much easier time killing monsters and less frustration, oh and also cuase less damage to the keyboard ~:p

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

I got it!!! I have to agree: DOOM III is great. I was expecting the graphics to be awesome, but not the gameplay. I also wasn't expecting the cinematic interaction of the first half an hour. Good surprise. Great ambience and, I have to agree, nervous use of the flashlight. However, although I was pleasently surprised by PDA and interactive screens as a way to get pointers and tell the tale, I find the remaining interactivity with other objects lacking. The gameplay is, although scary, monotonous. Too bad. All in all, a great game with gorgeous graphics and great care, although very linear and not very innovative in gameplay.

[The_Emperor]

I got it.

I have to admit it is very good, and quite scary.

The Imps are very tough and fast but I am slowly getting the hang of them. But more than this tis the zombies that annoy me. After having a bunch of them jump up from what I presumed to be dead bodies, I now make a point of shooting every body in the head once with the pistol... Thats normally good enough to find out if they are a zombie or not!

The whispering was freaky, when I arrived in the darkened living-room with a pentangle in the middle it (looking for the PDA for Alpha Labs) it really freaked me out hearing the voice and the lights going out yet again.

It is good, even if the gameplay does get rather samey (but then you always get that with an FPS)

[King Edward]

Just a note re everyone saying about the linier gameplay, i think it was ment to be this way, its just old school DOOM on a modern 3D graphics engine. mindless blasting of hellspawn, Its what made DOOM Great!!! if it had complex storie lines and millions of options and controls it woulden't be DOOM Anymore.

[The_Emperor]

I think the main problem is the way the enemies come at you in fairly limited numbers one, two or three at a time... It rapidly gets boring blasting two or three monsters away one after the other time after time.

Sadly though compared to the old 2D bitmap games (like the Original Doom games) there is one thing that modern 3D games lack... Quantity of enemies!

In the old Dooms you could get charged by like 20 enemies at once, or even more! (especially with the final Boss in Doom 2 where enemies keep on respawning around you) Nothing quite as exciting as killing multiple enemies!

Sadly this is the tradeoff with everything going into Graphics and eye candy, you can only handle so many enemies now. A shame really.