The New DOOM Thread (2016)

[Darth Roxor]

some of the weapons were secrets only

This is precisely one of the cooler things in SS3 and I loved that they put it in.

 

[Edward The Mediocre]

My survival horror instincts kicked in because of the secret bullshit, I rarely used any of them which totally pissed me off when the helicopter crash made me lose my weapons and ammo.

 

[Sodafish]

Stop saying SS3. I keep thinking System Shock 3 when I see it and then get depressed.

 

[Edward The Mediocre]

Why the fuck would you get hopeful for system shock 3 in this day and age? I mean it would be understandable if you had those feelings back in 2000-2005 before everyone's hopes were dashed with shitty games.

 

[CreamyBlood]

When I was working in the IBM Call Centre back in the nineties on late night shifts doing level 2/3 support calls our operating system was OS/2. Great operating system, ran shit Win3.1 crap, DOS and OS/2 apps. It was miles ahead of what eventuatally became the great barf known as Windows NT.

Anyways, I secretely installed Doom on all of the call centre machines in DOS mode, somehow networked it all together using the existing lan and we played the shit out of it all night, every night. In coop but usually deathmatch. And when a call came in, we'd just yell out "your turn" and one dick would have to help a customer while the rest of us went on blasting each other to hell.

It was a lot of fun although Doom wasn't really made for MP as I recall. It was one of the first to have it though, a tech novelty and still worked. Before that I remember playing it in coop with my brother, linking both computers together with a null modem cable.

Anyways, I played the Doom 4 open beta MP the other weekend and it really seemed like a failed attempt at trying to be Quake 3 (a game that I've probably put a few thousand hours into). For the SP, the arena bullshit disheartens me but I'm going to buy this eventually. Maybe the summer sale.

I just want to play a fun shooter again. I liked Doom 3 and Prey and even Quake 4 at the time for what they were. Not realizing that they were transitioning into console crap and forever dissapearing into stagnatation.

Oh well. Sound's like this game might be close to that mediocre level. Can beggars be choosers?

As to SS. I think I played the first one in single player mode. The second (I get confused with the names too) was co-op, again in an office on a lan with a buddy. I think we almost completed it one night, so many beer but he bailed.

SS3 played online with a bunch of CDS'ers. Had a great time. Can't remember if it took us one or two weekends to get to the end. Was a great ride though. I doubt I'll play any of them again but had a blast with all of them. Worth the money and time especially if you have at least one teammate. Go Croats!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Why the fuck would you get hopeful for system shock 3 in this day and age? I mean it would be understandable if you had those feelings back in 2000-2005 before everyone's hopes were dashed with shitty games.

This isn't a question of hope, it's a question of basic communication, making yourself understandable to others.

Games in the System Shock series have been referred to as "SS1" or "SS2" for some time even before Serious Sam was a thing. Afterwards people realized the confusion and started saying "SS" for the System Shock games and "SSam" for the Serious Sam games, though the Serious Sam forums and fanbase obviously went for the "SS" abbreviation.

It's the same thing with Lands of Lore and League of Legends. Lands of Lore has been referred to as LOL/LoL for 15+ years before League of Legends was even an idea.

Your post, quite frankly, makes you look rather ignorant, to the point that I see a reason to ask you if you're even aware that System Shock 3 is in development.

CreamyBlood

 

[CreamyBlood]

I am guilty of referring to Serious Sam as SS. But I think in the context of this thread there shouldn't be too much confusion. In fact, normally I'd spell out the name first, Serious Sam, then shorthand it to SS later in the paragraph but didn't do so this time. I could edit it but I just don't give a fuck. LOL does screw me up though, I always think of Lands...


LOL! woofles!!

 

[Doktor Best]

Fucking abbreviations are not needed anyways, like its so much of a hazzle to type out Serious Sam. Worst of all are those guys using abbreviations on game nobody knows a flying fuck about and spam their posts with them like were in some spy movie.

 

[Sodafish]

...System Shock 3 is in development.

Yeah and it will almost certainly be a disappointment, hence the depression.

 

[Edward The Mediocre]

This isn't a question of hope, it's a question of basic communication, making yourself understandable to others.

Games in the System Shock series have been referred to as "SS1" or "SS2" for some time even before Serious Sam was a thing. Afterwards people realized the confusion and started saying "SS" for the System Shock games and "SSam" for the Serious Sam games, though the Serious Sam forums and fanbase obviously went for the "SS" abbreviation.

It's the same thing with Lands of Lore and League of Legends. Lands of Lore has been referred to as LOL/LoL for 15+ years before League of Legends was even an idea.

Your post, quite frankly, makes you look rather ignorant, to the point that I see a reason to ask you if you're even aware that System Shock 3 is in development.

I'll fully admit ignorance here, the majority of the time I have seen either of two system shock games mentioned it was never abbreviated, probably the fact there's so few of people these days who remember that series even then only played system shock 2 might be the reason. I have much more discussion about Serious Sam than system shock as well. And I am aware of system shock 3 is development, however I still stand by my statement, especially after wasteland 2 and pillars of eternity. Also need I remind you about epic mickey?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

You can remind me about whatever you want, it's all irrelevant to my point.

As an afterthought, I am remembering that some people have referred to the System Shock games as "SShock", though Doktor Best nails it when he points out that abbreviations are mostly irrelevant in internet forums. This isn't IRC or some form of Messenger.

 

[DosBuster]

Leaked Screenshot from Id Software's Next Title: Doom RPG 3!!!1 the game we've all been waiting for

 

[Caim]

Please let the response be that thing biting Doom Guy's head off for an instant kill.

 

[UserNamer]

cacodaemon diplomacy

 

[skacky]

Don't pet the Cacodemon

 

[Daedalos]

Gibi creck pl0x

 

[Sodafish]

It uses Denuvo so don't hold your breath.

 

[Great Deceiver]

 

[dunno lah]

Always nice to see a not-so-good Nightmare playthrough. I absolutely just forgot about the right half of the screen.

 

[Doktor Best]

Well the difference is Mark IV probably played through Doom like a thousand times and knows his stuff there, it would be better to compare his Doom run to speedrun footage of Doom 4.

I pretty much agree with his short review in the description.

I can play through Doom1 on nightmare mode pretty easily but the new doom kinda kicked my ass i must admit. Those lightning balls from the soldiers in the beginning (not the imps) oneshot you for example. Its not as important to find ammo and healthpacks because you regain by melee finishers, but monsters do deal more damage than in the previous games.

 

[shihonage]

As much as I hate D44M, this is a retarded video comparing mouse-aim Doom with controller-aim D44M.

 

[Increasing]

Saying how that video is intentionally misleading would be a major understatement.

Leaked Screenshot from Id Software's Next Title: Doom RPG 3!!!1 the game we've all been waiting for

For those who are interested, this screenshot comes from cool user map created by some Syrian doomer
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/18/best-doom-snapmap/
Mappers are already creating some impressive stuff with SnapMap.

 

[sexbad?]

Saying how that video is intentionally misleading would be a major understatement.

Leaked Screenshot from Id Software's Next Title: Doom RPG 3!!!1 the game we've all been waiting for

For those who are interested, this screenshot comes from cool user map created by some Syrian doomer
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/18/best-doom-snapmap/
Mappers are already creating some impressive stuff with SnapMap.

like custom rooms?

 

[Zewp]

Saying how that video is intentionally misleading would be a major understatement.
For those who are interested, this screenshot comes from cool user map created by some Syrian doomer
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/18/best-doom-snapmap/
Mappers are already creating some impressive stuff with SnapMap.

RPS also did an article on how infuriating the limitations on SnapMaps are, so if the shills are criticizing it then you know it's bad.

I don't see SnapMap lasting if they don't lift many of the restrictions and release more modules. Everyone's maps look the same because the modules are so limited. The 12 demon limit isa clusterfuck of note. It's a nightmare because you have to do lots of extra work to ensure it doesn't break anything. You pretty much have to script your rooms so that demons who aren't killed by the player die on their own and this only works for demons you place by hand. Spawner objects require you to lock the player in a room until he kills all the demons.

The limits are not only retarded, they're downright insulting. I also love how we'll never see the 4-player cap removed, even though you can use SnapMap to make Deathmatch and CTF gamemodes, because then nobody would buy Bethesda's MP map DLC and would instead make proper maps that don't rely on loadouts and other shit.

 

[abija]

RPS article was a perfect example of shilling from our friendly sjw journalists ("brilliant and accessible" in title, careful use of positive words for negative meaning like "Placement of rooms and monsters is ridiculously quick and easy, but setting the logic of how they spawn, behave, where ammo comes from and what makes a level end is far more involved.")

Also, not sure if anyone linked it but should probably not be passed over: the reactions for that polygon video triggered the sjw on guard from RPS (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/18/editorial-an-end-to-git-gud-you-dont-need-to-be-good-at-games/)

Spoiler

A really unpleasant gaming trend is getting louder and louder of late, where it’s considered of vital importance to observe when other people are “bad” at games. And of course insinuating that one is “good” at them at the same time. Such an attitude reveals an extraordinarily narrow-minded view of gaming, and indeed of humanity. It’s really time for it to stop.


There are a few running jokes about me on RPS, from being a bad healer to being far too attractive and clever. In their number is that I’m “bad at games”. And I happily take it, because I’ve deliberately opened the door to it. Over the two decades of my doing this, I’ve deliberately been open about how I don’t enjoy it when games have large difficulty spikes, when I’ve not been able to get far into a tricky game, orarguedthat it should always be possible to skip ahead in games. I’ve said it because it’s true, or at least it’s what I think, and few others are willing to. There’s a bravado, a need to appear to be the best in the world, which obviously most critics out there are not. Everyone’s just not willing to admit it.

And no surprise when there’s such hostility out there now. A few days ago Polygonuploaded a half hour videoof one of their writers playing Doom, and yes, without doubt, the player during the recording isn’t performing particularly well at the game. Clearly playing on a console, he or she spends more time shooting at walls and the floor than the enemies, and appears to be ill at ease with the controls. It’s weird that Polygon uploaded it. But what you cannot tell from the video is whether the person playing ishaving fun. They could have been having a great time.

However, that is not how the video has been received. Loud voices have declared it as proof that Polygon as a site is incapable of providing expert opinion on games, despite there being no suggestion that the player in the video is the person reviewing the game. Whether the player was enjoying themselves, whether they were forced to upload the video of their first half hour getting used to the controls because bosses wanted footage while the clicks were high, whether they were used to mouse/keyboard controls and struggle with a gamepad for shooters (I know I do), whether they were drunk or high… nothing else is considered. Instead any potential expertise is called into question and they are laughed at. And I think this is really sad.

And this is as nothing compared to the roaring tedium that’s surrounded the release of Dark Souls 3, Stellaris, and any number of other games that are notably difficult to play. Unless one is the best at the game, one cannot claim to have opinions. Which is such a warped way of thinking. (I recently wrote abouthow I found Stellaris impenetrable, and received some rather strange responses. I’ve not played Dark Souls 3, because I detest boss fights at the best of times. I’m not personally affected by either, but I’ve read so much nastiness directed all over the place.) Because a person can have a splendid time with a game while being terrible, mediocre, quite good, or brilliant at it. Because games aren’t exams. And treating them like they are is ugly and stupid.



This attitude has had a very peculiar side effect on games journalism, too. It’s ever more the case that anyone reviewing a game daren’t admit to struggling with it, or finding it too hard in places, or admitting they had to give up at a certain point, because they will be on the receiving end of absolutely ridiculous abuse. I know this because I refuse to be bullied into being dishonest when writing about my own experiences of games (which are, of course, reflective of a large proportion of players), and as such receive a lot of said abuse. But few are joining in any more. Reviewers make ridiculous claims about completion times of games, fearing that if they say it took them eight hours, and everyone else says six, then they’ll look “bad” at it. Rather than, I don’t know, took more time to play it. There’s an idea. Or, and this would be just fine, weren’t as skilled at it as another reviewer so took longer to finish it.

Despite taking a couple more hours than someone more skilled, that person can still have an expert opinion on the game. Because the notion that they’d need to be top of the high score table before writing anything is… it’s really fucking stupid! Good grief, why is this even a thing that needs saying? Never mind that they’re going to have had a limited time to play the game and write about it, and not the weeks or months post release to become an expert. But for fear of cruel backlashes and public humiliation, us hacks are more likely to pretend we didn’t have problems, and as a result write a dishonest or far less helpful article about it. Screw that.



Irecently reviewedHomefront: The Revolution. I know for a fact that I wasn’t as “good” at the game as another journalist I know. I chatted to him the night before it came out, after I’d written my review, and he mentioned how long he’d played it for. I realised I’d been playing for far longer than him and hadn’t got as far. And I had the thought, the worry, “Oh no, what if…” And caught myself. Because I’d written 2,500 words of considered, competent criticism of an intricate game, about which I had conflicting feelings. It turns out that his perhaps being “better” at it (or indeed playing it less thoroughly, missing side quests, etc) had no impact on my ability to write a damned good review of the game. Go figure.

Somehow as a gaming collective we’ve allowed notions from the likes of eSports to infiltrate our expectations of how ordinary people play games. They play them normally, not as world champions. In fact, if a games critic is to be of any use to the largest proportion of readers, they need to be in a position to have a normal experience of a game. They cannot be inept, someone cannot usefullyreviewa game if they don’t understand the rules, or aren’t able to play it. However, they can certainly write aboutthat. Reading about those experiences is revealing and valuable and informative. Not that they’d likely want to in the hostile and cruel atmosphere into which such things are received.

In this mess people have lost sight of what a review is for. It’s not a world-leading gaming expert explaining how they’re best at it – it’s a regular gamer who is hopefully an expert writer, eloquently describing their experience of the game. The farther a person drifts from this criteria, the less useful the criticism becomes to the largest number of readers. And in turn, the presentation of such high expectations, such high demands to be considered acceptable, puts off those reading, regular players of games, makes them feel unwelcome. It has a huge impact.



The loudest voices are almost always from the smallest minorities of gamers, and when someone writes about – or videos themselves – being less “good” at a game, it is these loud voices that respond. Furiously and often cruelly, mocking and chastising, and ultimately dismissing, because they might have a better aim, or a greater affinity for a particular genre. However, as is very often horribly demonstrated by those doing the mocking and dismissing, what theyaren’tbetter at is informative and entertaining writing. Which might rather be the key.

I’ve made the decision to ignore dull people shouting insults at me for having normal experiences of games, I’ve committed to putting up with it. (I know some could respond arguing I’m only saying this because I’m “bad at games”. I’m not. I’ve decided I’m officially “quite good” at games.) But that shouldn’t need to be the case. No one should be struggling to enjoy the entertainment of playing games in this wretched endemic culture of “GIT GUD!!1″ I know that I play games to be entertained, challenged, surprised, changed, soothed, and agitated. I do not play them to be the world’s best, and it’s preposterous to expect that of critics, YouTubers, friends, anyone, and wildly illogical to desire it.

Shaming people for being less “good” at a game is gross. Requiring those writing commentary/recording footage of the experience of playing a game to be better than you at it is infantile and irrational. Games are not a competition, unless they’re a competitive game. So go have fun, and enjoy everyone else having fun.