Topic: Doom 3 BFG Edition

[Xessive]

BFG Edition should have been a free gift for anyone who already bought Doom 3, or at least give them a huge discount like 75% off or something.

[MysterD]

IGN's -> 7.6 (out of 10).

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GiantBomb -> 3 stars (out of 5) for Doom 3: BFG Edition - reviewed by Brad Shoemaker.

The Lost Mission is not the reason to own the BFG Edition. In addition to the ubiquitous monster closets and red-flash teleporter spawns, the two previous games featured just enough custom-designed action moments and unique enemy entrances to keep things entertaining. Hell, Doom 3 was pretty much the first game to have enemies tearing their way through level geometry in the first place. The Lost Mission has none of that. Its levels feel boxier, more generic, one room of enemy spawns after another stitched together in a fairly uninteresting way. There's a shred of boilerplate story with a few minutes of new voiceover and one character who appears briefly, but none of it is engaging. It's also well on the short side, as it took me only around three hours on the hardest difficulty to get through--though, as repetitive as even I found the enemy encounters toward the end, maybe that's a blessing.

The flashlight also bafflingly doesn't cast any shadows off the environment, enemies, or anything else, which may sound like an obscure technical thing but was also instrumental in establishing the visual mood of Doom 3. These changes don't destroy the tension--I still let out a couple of involuntary yelps here and there when a maggot snuck up behind me--but why there's not at least a menu option for classic flashlight mode, I have no idea. There are hardly options for anything, even basic functionality like subtitles, and on the PC, where you expect a healthy set of graphics options but will find none, that's especially damning.

I had planned to end this review with a recommendation that, if you don't need 3D or Rift support, you just stick with the regular Doom 3, which is highly moddable and which any modern PC will run perfectly fine. But the original game is no longer available for sale on Steam outside of the hundred-dollar id collection, meaning the BFG Edition is the best you're going to do right now if you want to buy a new copy of a shooter that, for better or worse, ranks among the most hyped video game releases of all time.

[Pugnate]

I honestly have no idea why we are talking about this game so much.

[MysterD]

I honestly have no idea why we are talking about this game so much.

Yeah, you do!
It's from the legendary Doom series & legendary Id Software.
Need we say much more than that?
[shrug]

[Xessive]

Yes, it is legend-ary.

"ary" (pronounced airy) in colloquial Arabic means "my dick." So, yeah id are trying really hard to milk it since they can't come up with anything else. How long did it take them to come up with RAGE? And they still fumbled that one!

[W7RE]

Yes, it is legend-ary.

"ary" (pronounced airy) in colloquial Arabic means "my dick." So, yeah id are trying really hard to milk it since they can't come up with anything else. How long did it take them to come up with RAGE? And they still fumbled that one!

I live just outside a town called Mount Airy. I don't think I'll ever NOT think of it as Dick Mountain now.

[Xessive]

I live just outside a town called Mount Airy. I don't think I'll ever NOT think of it as Dick Mountain now.

Hahaha awesome! Even "Mount My Dick"

I'd like to apologize/be content for ruining/enhancing that landmark for you.

[Cobra951]

Haha!  My first apartment was in Mount My Dick Forest then.

[MysterD]

LMFAO @ the last 4 posts  

EDIT:
GiantBomb -> Id Software is "looking into" possibly getting Doom 3 (original) back up on Steam.

Unfortunately, the ability to purchase the original DOOM 3 was removed from Steam and other services with the launch of DOOM 3: BFG Edition. You can technically still purchase the original DOOM 3, but that requires ponying up $100 for the complete id Software collection on the service.

It's not something that will change in the next few minutes, but id Software told me it’s working on a fix.

“We do realize that there are fans that would like to purchase the original version of the game, and we’re looking into options for them,” said the company in a statement. “When there’s new info to share, we’ll let everyone know.”

If you already own the original DOOM 3, you can still access that in your Steam library.

One of the primary reasons you’d want the original DOOM 3 is because it’s moddable, whereas DOOM 3: BFG Edition is not. That will be an option when the DOOM 3: BFG Edition source code is released “in the near future.”

[MysterD]

Github -> Doom 3: BFG Edition (PC) - GPL Source Code Released.
BethBlog -> New Title Update released for Doom 3: BFG Ed.

[W7RE]

I'm gonna randomly bump this super old thread just to say that the regular, non BFG edition of Doom is is available on Steam again, and so is the Resurrection of Evil addon. They can be bought separately, or as a bundle together: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/425/

[MysterD]

I'm gonna randomly bump this super old thread just to say that the regular, non BFG edition of Doom is is available on Steam again, and so is the Resurrection of Evil addon. They can be bought separately, or as a bundle together: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/425/

Would be nice to get a killer sale or a killer Id Humble Bundle with say a lot of the old Doom + Quakes for Steam...or hell, GOG if they so desire.

Sure, I have all or most of this stuff already from Retail on discs and all - but would be nice to stick it right onto Steam or GOG. I don't always want to deal w/ multiple disc installs, any CD protection (if it's still there and still not patched-out), or any other nonsense.

One good thing about owning Doom 3 BFG is it comes w/ Doom 1+2 - so yeah, you can play those as is and/or use those WADS for Source Ports, if need be.

I'm glad Doom 3 Non-BFG versions of the base-game + RoE are back up. It really annoys me when companies decide to de-list OLD versions of their games and no longer sell them on Steam, just like what Deep Silver is planning to do with original versions of Dead Island + Riptide, once the Definitive Editions come out.

[W7RE]

At some point I picked up all the Doom and Quake games on Steam. Probably during one of the Bethesda sales. The only things I'm missing are the original Doom 3+RoE, and the new Doom (I got it on Xbox). Oh and Quake 4, because it's not on Steam.

[MysterD]

At some point I picked up all the Doom and Quake games on Steam. Probably during one of the Bethesda sales. The only things I'm missing are the original Doom 3+RoE, and the new Doom (I got it on Xbox). Oh and Quake 4, because it's not on Steam.

Actually, Q4 is on Steam. Did you miss it?

QUAKE IV is over here on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/2210/

Cheapest Q4 Steam-version has been is $5. Keep your eyes peeled, in case it hits again:
ITAD (IsThereAnyDeal.com) page for Q4's history on pricing.

Also, Bundle Stars has had in the past a Quake Pack (which has everything from Q1 to Q4) on sale for $10 before:
https://isthereanydeal.com/specials/#/search:%23%3A2768;/scroll:%23gamelist

[W7RE]

I'm not sure how I missed that. I even have it on my wishlist, hahaha.

[MysterD]

@W7RE
LOL at that.
Hey, nobody's perfect. I have like around 900 games on Steam wishlisted, so I don't always remember what I have for wish-listed games!

[MysterD]

GameInformer -> "Opinion: Doom 3 Is a Bloody, Forgotten Gem."

[W7RE]

They basically say the issue with Doom 3 is that it's a Doom game in name, and I agree. It's a good game, and pushed tech for it's time, it's just not close enough to what the other Doom games were. I highly recommend watching "In Defense of Doom 3" by Noah Caldwell-Gervais. (and all his other videos too)

[Xessive]

I only had one main problem with Doom 3: despite all the technological advancement it never occurred to anyone in its universe to provide any form of illumination to the security forces beyond supplying them with an 80's era massive flashlight. Even then, none of them, NONE, thought to duct-tape this flashlight to anything (helmet, shoulder, gun, etc.).

The obvious reason is that Id decided to implement a flimsy gampley mechanic to enhance the fear factor. Instead of adding to my experience it just forced me to increase my screen brightness, until someone made a mod that turns the flashlight into a shoulder lamp and can be activated while wielding any weapon.

Other than that, it's an awesome game.

[W7RE]

Back when Doom 3 came out people thought the flashlight limitation was a performance thing, but id insisted that it was a gameplay decision. Then when BFG edition came out, suddenly they lightened the whole game up, gave an "anytime" flashlight, and I'm pretty sure I even remember someone from id (maybe Carmack) confessing that the original flashlight stemmed from performance issues with the flashlight and shadows. Changing the mechanic for the new release is in my opinion evidence that it wasn't a purely gameplay driven thing. Add to that the fact that they changed the flashlight to not cast shadows for the BFG edition. They also removed the muzzle flashes, which lit up the environment when you shot your guns. (Though they didn't cast shadows, at least for enemies. Maybe environmental shadows.)

[Xessive]

Was the BFG Edition done in IdTech 5?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[W7RE]

Was the BFG Edition done in IdTech 5?

Yes, or at least partially: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Tim-Willits-Doom-3-BFG-Edition-FPS-PC-Gaming,17415.html

"It’s not just Doom 3 – that’s what we’re keen to make sure everybody knows," Willits said. "We’re doing more with Doom 3 BFG than just re-releasing the original. We’ve actually put a heck of a lot of Rage tech into the Doom 3 engine to kind of modernize the game."

As an example, the team tossed in the Rage input control and checkpoints. They also updated the lighting so it's brighter throughout the game, changed the annoying flashlight, tweaked the ammo, and even implemented the Rage network layer to make it run faster at low latency. There's also 3D support, and multi-display support for the PC platform.

[Quemaqua]

I have never understood the complaints about the flashlight in either direction. I played original Doom 3 vanilla, I played through BFG, those games play almost identically. Maybe you lose some tension in BFG because it makes the game easier than it already was (let's face it, the enemy AI in Doom 3 is fucking terrible), but my experience with both those versions is pretty well the exact same thing.

[Cobra951]

It just seemed like a silly limitation.  Any decked-out marine is going to be able to shine a light into the darkness, with or without a ready weapon.  I know we've discussed it before.  I modded the duct-tape mod back when, to produce different-sized and different-colored light spots, depending on the weapon held.  Pistol had a smallish red spot, IIRC.

Edit:  No results here for previous conversations, and after looking up the game's initial release date, I can see why.  We weren't here yet.  Makes sense too.  My last upgrade to PC-gaming standards was in 2005.  Doom 3 may have been one of the last big games I played on PC.

Edit 2:  Took me a while to find, but here is the invisionfree thread I was vaguely remembering.  If anyone wants to see all the Doom 3 topics from 12 (!) years ago, go to the last page of the gaming forum there (April 2004) and work your way back to July (Page 98 for me).

Edit 3:  And here.  It's a shame none of my links work anymore.  Damn Warner Cable for taking away the user storage, and me for relying on a dodgy ftp server at home.  I can't find any of those images, and the modded mod--which I remember worked great--now is probably gone forever.

One more good thread.

[Xessive]

Ah the memories I miss those old message boards.

[Quemaqua]

Man, trip down memory lane. Thanks Cobra. Except for the part where you reminded me of what an idiot I was a decade ago. haha ... I do hope I've done some growing.

We really have been together a long time, haven't we?

I distinctly remember that conversation about sound there, and your comments on stereo depth, Cobra. I'd never thought about stereo sound methods of that nature at that point, where it's such an obvious thing to me now. Devil Daggers is a great example, a game that requires good use of audio cues to pinpoint enemy positions, and I've never played it with surround sound. In fact, I really didn't use those surround headphones I had all that much and eventually just went back to good 'ol stereo. And I never have any inclination to do otherwise these days.

My thoughts on Doom 3 remain similar. The gameplay really hasn't aged well at all (I just went through BFG like a week before the new one came out), but the tension and atmosphere are still great, and I still really like the more self-serious take on Doom. It's not what I wanted from a new game, so I'm glad the new one went back to the well, but I enjoyed the Doom 3 experience for what it was. At the time, it truly did set a new level of immersion. I may have told the story in one of those threads, but it was the first game I ever had a true panic attack in during a setup where imps warp in after you pick something up. It's totally obvious, and I saw it coming even then, but I was so bought in to the environment and atmosphere that I literally panicked and started flailing at the controls trying to get to a safer position. Despite its age, the game still looks good and one can appreciate the parts that do hold up better.

Still was never bothered by the flashlight thing, and BFG felt a bit like it was missing something without it, especially given that the core shooting doesn't hold up so well now. I agree that it was always conceptually silly, but I thought it was an interesting and fun design choice.

But yeah, the game doesn't play much differently either way. I used a mod that improved the enemy AI a bit and made the game a bit harder, but the gunplay still felt pretty weak. Yet I had a great time going through it again even despite that.

[Cobra951]

Looking at what I wrote on surround sound, I don't think I can blame you for not knowing what I was on about.  Although I mentioned phase cancellation early on, I didn't really get into any details about how manipulating the phase of a sound played on properly phased stereo speakers (they push air at the same time on mono content, pull it at the same time) leads to the brain interpreting its location, including in front or behind.

I also noticed with some dismay that I was sharper back then.  I could form sentences to express myself more quickly and confidently than I can now.  I was cognizant of more details at any given time.  I'm going to take the blame for most of that.  I think it's more letting myself go (intellectually) than aging, not that I'm sure.  I used to exercise my mind a lot when I was working in software development.  Now, it sort of just loafs along.

As W7RE says further up (in this current thread), it turns out alternating flashlight and shooting was a decision influenced more by performance limitations than gameplay design.  Now, of course, it no longer matters, and it's a question of preference.  Hardware has gotten immensely more powerful.