Game Debate #66: Doom

[Estil | 1,264]

2 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Why vote when you can just post barely relevant Youtube videos.

That too is a matter of opinion.  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,518]

48 minutes ago, Estil said:

That too is a matter of opinion.  

There are poll options for those that haven't played the games btw

[Estil | 1,264]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

There are poll options for those that haven't played the games btw

There, are you happy?  

[Tulpa | 3,491]

3 hours ago, Estil said:

That too is a matter of opinion.  

I will admit that the videos you posted in this thread were at least about the topic at hand and not pick one random word as an excuse to post a tired pop culture reference, so kudos for that.

[Gloves | 11,773]

I finished the first episode - Knee-Deep in the Dead. Took an hour and a half-ish.

Moving on to The Shores of Hell.

Liking it so far.

[Californication | 1,477]

39 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I finished the first episode - Knee-Deep in the Dead. Took an hour and a half-ish.

Moving on to The Shores of Hell.

Liking it so far.

What do you think of the difficulty? I had an avid gamer say it's too easy unless you go for the secrets, but it's been so long I don't remember.

[Gloves | 11,773]

5 minutes ago, Californication said:

What do you think of the difficulty? I had an avid gamer say it's too easy unless you go for the secrets, but it's been so long I don't remember.

I'm playing on default settings. It's not very difficult, but I don't honestly have difficulty with most games. I don't imagine that even the hardest difficulty would pose too much challenge based on the gameplay thus far.

I've not gone too far out of my way to find the secrets, so I'm not sure what about those might make it much more challenging, aside from maybe if they just enemy-bomb you when you pick something up. They seem to like doing that sometimes, just drop like 10 dudes on you. They're all easily avoidable though so it's not like even a ton of dudes would be very challenging unless they squished you into a corner and you literally couldn't move.

Maybe I'll try a level on Nightmare to see if it's actually any tougher.

[Gloves | 11,773]

@Californication - Ok I can see how it ramps up:

 

Yeah the default setting compared to this is quite tame. Incredibly so by comparison. I appreciate the warning they put up about it being unfair lol. They've increased the number of shots by enemies significantly as well as the speed at which they move.

I'll not be playing on Nightmare obviously, but I might bump it up from the default for the rest of the episodes. 

[Californication | 1,477]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

@Californication - Ok I can see how it ramps up:

 

Yeah the default setting compared to this is quite tame. Incredibly so by comparison. I appreciate the warning they put up about it being unfair lol. They've increased the number of shots by enemies significantly as well as the speed at which they move.

I'll not be playing on Nightmare obviously, but I might bump it up from the default for the rest of the episodes. 

Ya, bump it up, I think you'll be okay.  Was surprised the guy found it easy - not sure if it matters, but he was playing the Switch port though.

 

[Tanooki | 4,932]

19 hours ago, Gloves said:

I'm playing on default settings. It's not very difficult, but I don't honestly have difficulty with most games. I don't imagine that even the hardest difficulty would pose too much challenge based on the gameplay thus far.

I've not gone too far out of my way to find the secrets, so I'm not sure what about those might make it much more challenging, aside from maybe if they just enemy-bomb you when you pick something up. They seem to like doing that sometimes, just drop like 10 dudes on you. They're all easily avoidable though so it's not like even a ton of dudes would be very challenging unless they squished you into a corner and you literally couldn't move.

Maybe I'll try a level on Nightmare to see if it's actually any tougher.

Oooh you would be wrong there.  Imagine the difficulty by type magnifies by a factor, but the highest one, not just only does that, but also all kills resurrect shortly after, so it's a constant stream of abuse while trying to get to the exit.

[Gloves | 11,773]

2 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Oooh you would be wrong there.  Imagine the difficulty by type magnifies by a factor, but the highest one, not just only does that, but also all kills resurrect shortly after, so it's a constant stream of abuse while trying to get to the exit.

Yeah I fiddled with it a bit. Happy to see it's actually a decent spike in difficulty. Really rewards actually KNOWING the game. Me like.

[Sumez | 2,939]

On 9/10/2021 at 11:21 PM, DefaultGen said:

Or type iddqd idkfa idclip and blast through all the levels because playing it like an 8 year old in the 90s is the truuuuue Doom experience.

Seriously though, I did that as a kid in the 90s, and later on I'd kick myself for doing that, because it's obviously robbing you of everything that makes the game fun. Some times cheats look a bit too alluring >_> 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

On 9/10/2021 at 5:06 PM, TDIRunner said:

Correct.  Released after Doom II.  The 4th episode falls in between Doom and Doom II.  If you really are a first timer, you will probably be fine just playing through the original 3 episodes, but the extra one is there if you want to play it.  

What is this? There's a fourth episode? Is it included with Doom on Switch? What's GOG? This is my first time hearing of an additional episode, I don't understand what I'm reading here.

[Webhead123 | 675]

Doom (1993) is easily one of the greatest games ever made. I still remember the very first time I saw it being played (a lovely day in the late spring of 1994). My younger brother's friend's dad was playing E1M5: Phobos Lab in the central stairwell chamber. It both terrified and amazed me. I made it my life's mission to play it thereafter.

I still play it regularly to this day. Most of the time, I prefer playing it (and Doom II) on the Chocolate Doom source port to get as close to the original experience as possible on a modern machine but I will also play it on GZDoom when I'm feeling like getting more modern with it.

Doom (2016) is also ball-blastingly awesome. It is actually the entire reason I built my current gaming PC. Doom (2016) came out. My old PC was a paperweight. I needed to play Doom (2016). So, I built a PC with the express purpose of playing it at ultra specs. Do not regret the decision one bit. It has ushered in a new renaissance of PC gaming.

Also, Doom Eternal is the shit and makes Doom (2016) now feel like a baby's toy.

[Webhead123 | 675]

9 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

What is this? There's a fourth episode? Is it included with Doom on Switch? What's GOG? This is my first time hearing of an additional episode, I don't understand what I'm reading here.

If you play a version called "Ultimate Doom" (I believe most currently available versions use this release, even if they just call it "Doom" now), it includes a 4th Episode called Thy Flesh Consumed. It is nice to have additional content for the original game and it is worth playing...but, as a word of warning from a Doom fan, Episode 4 is not really up to the same level of quality as the first 3 episodes. The episode is more difficult in general but not always in a good way. They use lots of cheap tricks to artificially punish the player. Several of the levels are also just kind of sequence puzzles or mazes, where you have to retread the same parts of the stage over and over again until you figure out how to trigger the right sequence to reach the exit.

It's still classic Doom and is thus still fun...it's just not up to snuff with Episodes 1-3.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Webhead123

[Gloves | 11,773]

6 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

What is this? There's a fourth episode? Is it included with Doom on Switch? What's GOG? This is my first time hearing of an additional episode, I don't understand what I'm reading here.

GOG (previously "Good Old Games") is a DRM-free service for buying games. Think Steam but you can download the games' install files and there's no DRM whatsoever; share the files with family and friends without fear of reprimand, nor of the need to be online on some service just to play, well, Doom. It's primarily a place for older PC games, but they do new releases as well. I use it as my go-to for purchasing games wherever possible because I am firmly anti-DRM.

Webhead described the 4th episode so I'll skip that.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

15 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

What is this? There's a fourth episode? Is it included with Doom on Switch? What's GOG? This is my first time hearing of an additional episode, I don't understand what I'm reading here.

The original release of Doom included the following episodes.

• Knee-Deep in the Dead
• The Shores of Hell
• Inferno

An expansion for Doom was released after Doom II called Ultimate Doom which included the original 3 episodes plus:

• Thy Flesh Consumed

 

There is also another unofficial episode called Sigil which was created by John Romero and released fairly recently.  

[guitarzombie | 924]

@TDIRunnerid say its official because it was also included as free DLC for the Unity ports.  But thats just me.  I think Sigil is fanfreakingtastic.  

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

4 minutes ago, guitarzombie said:

@TDIRunnerid say its official because it was also included as free DLC for the Unity ports.  But thats just me.  I think Sigil is fanfreakingtastic.  

My understanding is that it hasn't been called official, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter much to me.  There are so many custom made levels for Doom (just like SMB), but since these were made by John Romero, they are certainly notable.  Considering the recent conversation was about first time players, it's probably worth mentioning that Sigil isn't meant for first timers (obviously).  

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

22 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

If you play a version called "Ultimate Doom" (I believe most currently available versions use this release, even if they just call it "Doom" now), it includes a 4th Episode called Thy Flesh Consumed. It is nice to have additional content for the original game and it is worth playing...but, as a word of warning from a Doom fan, Episode 4 is not really up to the same level of quality as the first 3 episodes. The episode is more difficult in general but not always in a good way. They use lots of cheap tricks to artificially punish the player. Several of the levels are also just kind of sequence puzzles or mazes, where you have to retread the same parts of the stage over and over again until you figure out how to trigger the right sequence to reach the exit.

It's still classic Doom and is thus still fun...it's just not up to snuff with Episodes 1-3.

Do you know if the Switch download version has this? I can't check myself until later.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

2 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Do you know if the Switch download version has this? I can't check myself until later.

I can't answer for the Switch version, but I can confirm that Doom Classic Complete for the PS3 included it and that was released much earlier.  

[Sumez | 2,939]

Pretty sure every single release of Doom distributed since 1995 has included Thy Flesh Consumed. It's impressive that anyone could have missed it.  

[Webhead123 | 675]

5 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Do you know if the Switch download version has this? I can't check myself until later.

Yes. If you have classic Doom on the Switch, it includes Episode 4. 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

11 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Pretty sure every single release of Doom distributed since 1995 has included Thy Flesh Consumed. It's impressive that anyone could have missed it.  

I played through all episodes on Switch but my memory wasn't good enough to realise there was an extra episode included. I just played what was there.

[guitarzombie | 924]

Its def there, its one of my fav episodes from Doom.