- Mod of the Week: Doom Reborn, for Doom 3 - 21 September 2014
There are a number of ongoing efforts to mod older games into newer engines. Black Mesa, for instance, rebuilt much of the original Half-Life in the Source Engine, and the modders behind Skywind are painstakingly crafting Morrowind in Skyrim's Creation Engine. With Doom Reborn, modders have been working diligently to recreate Doom and Doom II in Doom 3's idTech4 engine. They recently released a pre-beta version, so I thought it was a good time to see how the first FPS I ever played looked with a facelift. Memmories... like a goon-filled poison piiiiit... Doom II represented a number of firsts for me. It was the first FPS game I ever played (I played Doom II before I played the original Doom). It was the first game I needed to create a boot disk for, just so I could run it on whatever toaster I was using as a PC back then. It was the first multiplayer game I ever played, and I recall an…
- The Dark Mod gets standalone release; Thief inspired FPS now playable without Doom 3 - 9 October 2013
The Dark Mod is an excellent Thief-inspired stealth FPS mod from 2009, and so, to an extent, it seems almost inconceivable that any fans of the series won't yet have played it. Of course, that's slightly mitigated by the fact that it was a Thief-inspired stealth FPS mod for Doom 3. It's entirely conceivable that any fans of the series wouldn't have bought that. Running? Gunning? Far too rambunctious. For those shadow-clinging sneaks, there's good news, as version 2.0 of The Dark Mod has been released, turning it into a standalone game. "We have spent a tremendous amount of time and energy replacing all the sounds, textures, particle effects, and models that we had been using," explain mod creators Broken Glass Studios. "Hopefully this will open up a whole new audience of people who didn’t want to have to purchase a different game in order to try The Dark Mod." Alongside going standalone…
- id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead leaves the company, will “pursue other personal interests” - 27 June 2013
President Todd Hollenshead has left id Software, according to Bethesda. Hollenshead was well-known as part of the id team since 1996, where he worked alongside John Carmack, and as the long-haired MC of Quakecon in Dallas. Speaking to IGN, Bethesda’s Pete Hines said, “After many years with the studio, Todd Hollenshead decided to leave id Software to pursue other personal interests. While Todd was not part of the development teams, he was an integral part of id Software’s success as the business head of the studio and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.” Id recently started over on Doom 4, a hotly anticipated sequel that has been stuck in development for years. We can only assume that it saw our wishlist and said “scrap everything! We’re just doing what this article says.”
- Bethesda tweets cryptic Vine video, says “guess again” to Fallout 4 rumors - 16 April 2013
It starts with a dizzying shot of barbed wire. Then we see a glimpse of an LP—The Moonbeam Trio, directed by George Shackley. A quick Googling reveals that the Library of Congress has recordings. Then we see sheet music from Bach’s Air on the G String, and it's back to barbed wire. It's a four second Vine video tweeted by Bethesda Softworks. What it means is for us to futilely wave speculation at, but we're suckers for a puzzle, so why don't we try? Air on the G String comes from Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, and gets its name from the violin and piano arrangement by August Wilhelmj, a German child prodigy. You can actually hear Wilhelmj—or a violinist suspected to be him—play a different song via the medium of wax recording. Air on the G String is Wilhelmj's claim to fame, and one of Bach's most famous works. If it all sounds very Fallout-ey, Bethesda Softworks VP of PR and…
- Id starts fresh on Doom 4 development - 4 April 2013
Doom 4 will eventually emerge from development hell, but exactly when is still uncertain. Bethesda Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Pete Hines tells Kotaku that id's Doom 4 team has started over on a "new version" of the game after being unhappy with the initial quality of the game. "An earlier version of Doom 4 didn't exhibit the quality and excitement that id and Bethesda intend to deliver and that Doom fans worldwide expect,” Hines explains. “As a result, id refocused its efforts on a new version of Doom 4 that promises to meet the very high expectations everyone has for this game and this franchise. When we’re ready to talk about the Doom 4 id is making, we will let folks know.” A couple years ago, rumors swirled of an "indefinite" delay to Doom 4 over the tepid response to Rage's release, though Hines called the reports "bollocks" during that time. Hopefully id has…
- The best graphics mods of 2012 - 21 December 2012
Running a website called Dead End Thrills (about pictures of grafix), I spend a lot of time playing with visual mods. When PCG asked me to list my favourites from 2012, I agreed thinking I could do it in the style of the prize round from Bullseye. "You'll be up all night 'cause it don't look like shite." "Act well-heeled with this depth-of-field." But that wouldn't work overseas, they said, and stopped being funny after two examples. Here's a straightforward top ten, then, in no particular order. SweetFX Battlefield 3 screenshot by Jim Snook (jim2point0) No sooner had Nvidia's Timothy Lottes introduced FXAA (a 'fast approximate' antialiasing solution effective, unusually, upon deferred rendering and shader aliasing) than 'some dude' (their username - bet it's a lady) weaponised it into a DLL injector for most DirectX games. Copy it into the same folder as the game's binary and it hooks…
- Doom 3: BFG Edition source code released - 27 November 2012
As it does so very kindly like to do, id Software has released another dollop of engine source code. This latest is somewhat less exciting than many, simply offering the updated Doom 3 source from the BFG Edition but hey, now the folks at home can make the best and shiniest Doom 3 games yet. As with id's other recent source releases, it's up on GitHub for your coding conveniences. Or you can download the full pack from Shacknews . Of course, just because the engine source has been released, it doesn't mean BFG Edition is free--all the game data and assets are still protected. Id has also dropped a new patch for the BFG Edition on PC, bringing fixes and a whole heap of new menu options to play with.
- Doom 3 back on Steam, upside-down spider-things overjoyed - 12 November 2012
In the beginning, there was Doom 3. And it was not particularly well-received, on account of that gun/flashlight blunder. Then, after a long time, Doom 3 came back again as the BFG Edition, just in time to see its older version yanked from the face of Steam. Now, at last, this epic tale comes to its thrilling conclusion, because Bethesda have seen sense and put original game back on sale. Hooray! Doom 3 can now be yours for £5.99, or £7.99 if you want the Resurrection of Evil expansion thrown in too. There are around 92 reasons why you might want the original game rather than the BFG do-over, and they're all listed on the game's Moddb page. Of particular note is The Dark Mod, the ambitious total conversion that transforms Doom 3 into Thief.
- Original Doom 3 yanked from digital stores, only BFG Edition remains - 23 October 2012
Doom 3: BFG Edition leapt from the shadows last week and brought along a new 7-level segment, improved visuals, and the unfathomable technological leap of attaching a flashlight to your weapons. Yet, replacing it in the shadows is the original version of id's jumpy FPS which quietly exited Steam, Green Man Gaming, and other digital shops, an otherwise inconsequential swap blemished by BFG Edition's lack of support for previously published mods due to its updated engine tech. Eurogamer reports that the $100 Super id Software Pack was the sole alternative for purchasing Doom 3 post-BFG, but that also apparently disappeared sometime this week. GameFly, however, is still offering Steam codes for the original. A few gamers expressed concern over becoming locked out of Doom 3's extensive mod collection, but a Bethesda rep told Eurogamer the studio is "looking into" solutions in the short term.
- Get your stealth fix with The Dark Mod, the Thief total conversion for Doom 3 - 22 October 2012
If Dishonored has put you in a stealthy mood, you might want to check out The Dark Mod, the ambitious total conversion that takes the sneaky spirit of the Thief games and splatters it all over Doom 3. As RPS note, the mod - which doesn't so much remake the original Thiefs (Thieves?) as use their mechanics to tell new fan stories - has just been updated to version 1.08. Among many other things, the update notes boast of richer audio, AI improvements, and an updated training mission. The Dark Mod team are slowly working on making the game standalone, but until they replace all of the Doom 3 assets, you're going to need that installed in order to play. (The recently released BFG Edition won't work, by the way.) It doesn't require that much effort to get The Dark Mod working and, once installed, you'll have access to a whole library of Thief fan missions, some of which compare favourably wi…
- Doom 3 BFG trailer features new missions and retro action - 18 October 2012
Doom 3 BFG edition is out this week, which makes it the perfect week for a Doom 3 BFG launch trailer. The repackaged, updated version of Doom 3 comes with 3D vision support and a new seven-level segment called The Lost Mission. The Resurrection of Evil expansion pack is included, along with Doom and Doom 2. The whole package is available at a budget £20 / €30 price point. it sounds like Doom 3 has been significantly polished up with "improved rendering and lighting," more sensibly placed checkpoints and, countering one of the biggest points of contention, an armour-mounted flashlight. That should stop you from having to constantly choose between being able to see and being able to defend yourself. You can absorb some of that information in visual form with bonus demons in the launch trailer below.
- Doom 3 shines flashlight on The Lost Mission (And doesn’t even need to put down its gun!) - 3 August 2012
Remember Doom 3? Of course you do. Remember it fondly? Ah. For the side of the internet nodding instead of choking on bile, Bethesda is releasing the BFG Edition that remasters the experience (though on the face of it, primarily for console owners rather than upgrading the already superior PC version), gives your futuristic marine some armour-mounted lighting to bring him up to date with 19th century coal-miners and, most importantly, adds a brand new chapter called The Lost Mission. Here's a brand new trailer from QuakeCon that shows off a few new corners of Hell, that new flashlight, chainsaws, plasma death, and the most indecisive jump scare of all time. Along with the Lost Mission, the BFG Edition also comes with both original Doom games, the Doom 3 expansion Resurrection of Evil, and another chance to see Dr. Malcolm be promoted from humble Research Director of the world's darkest…
- Oculus Rift – the VR headset Carmack showed at E3 – Kickstarted into dev kit production - 1 August 2012
The Oculus Rift -- a virtual reality headset which began as a garage project by VR-enthusiast Palmer Luckey -- is one step closer to being in your home and on your head. Oculus created a $250,000 Kickstarter campaign to acquire capital for the production of developer kits, and it's already achieved a balance of $445,844 with 30 days to go. That's momentum. It helps when you have Gabe Newell "strongly encouraging" everyone to support the project, John Carmack calling it "the best VR demo probably the world has ever seen," and Cliff Bleszinski proclaiming himself "a believer." The Rift's powerful and influential backers are forward-thinking people (Gabe Newell is an especially accomplished predictor), which is a hint that head-mounted displays are on for real this time -- the cyberspace dreaming of the '80s and '90s is going practical. The Rift is lauded for its low-latency head tracking…
- John Carmack is making a virtual reality headset, $500 kits available soon, video interview inside - 6 June 2012
John Carmack has been building a virtual reality headset in his spare time. He's showing it to people behind closed doors at this year's E3, tucked away inside the Bethesda booth, and described it as "probably the best VR demo the world has ever seen." Our video hero, David Boddington, was the 30th person in the world to use it. Check below for a 20 minute video with Carmack on virtual reality, why he decided to tackle headsets, the latency of the human mind, and the first footage of one his handmade prototypes. Carmack's such an intelligent guy that a single question sends him off on a four-minute-long monologue with a dozen long words I don't understand. To help make it easier, we've split the 20 minute video in to three chunks, with some impressions at the end of what it's like to use. Part one shows the first glimpse of the duct-tape-and-belt prototype, covers the latency of the hum…
- Doom 3 BFG Edition will feature entire Doom series, seven new Doom 3 levels - 30 May 2012
id Software is Dooming us like we've never been Doomed before. Publisher Bethesda Softworks has announced the Doom 3 BFG Edition, which will feature the series' entire catalog, including Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3, and Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, as well as an added "Lost Mission" with seven new levels. The release date and pricing are TBA, but it's coming sometime this year. Check out the trailer inside. In addition to new content, id has spent the past year addressing complaints about Doom 3's darkness and difficulty (enter the new "armor-mounted flashlight"), tweaking its lighting and rendering, and adding 3D monitor and 5.1 surround sound support. Many of the modifications are bigger news for the console versions, as we've already been blessed with smooth framerates and the famous Duct Tape Mod. "Doom 3 was enthusiastically embraced by gamers worldwide at its release," said id Software'…
- Doom 3 remastered with BFG Edition for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 - 30 May 2012
Why, it seems like only yesterday that we were all jazzed about the launch of Doom 3, but at almost eight years old (eight!) it's now being remastered for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The BFG Edition of Doom 3 includes its expansion pack Resurrection of Evil, a new seven-level mission, the first two Doom games, and changes including... an armour-mounted flashlight! Doom 3, RoE and the new 'Lost Mission' boast "improved rendering and lighting," a check-point save system, and support for 3D displays, head-mounted displays and 5.1 surround sound. Yes, head-mounted displays, a pet passion of id Software's rendermancer John Carmack. "DOOM 3 was enthusiastically embraced by gamers worldwide at its release," Carmack said in today's announcement. "Today, the full experience has been enhanced and extended to be better than ever, and is delivered across all the platforms with a silky smooth fr…
- Doom 3 source code now free to all - 23 November 2011
The Doom 3 source code has been released and is available now on Github. According to John Carmack's Twitter feed, the source code was delayed when lawyers had a bit of a wobble over some patent problems. With the addition of a few lines of code and the tweaking of a few more, the release was good to go. Releasing source code is a bit of a risky move, and takes time and money to do, so it's heartening to see id dishing out the data for free. Indie devs and code enthusiasts, go forth and conquer!
- Doom 3 engine goes open-source - 23 November 2011
id Software last night released the engine source code for Doom 3 under a GPL3 license, letting all and sundry get their hands dirty and bend it to their will. You can download the code here at Shacknews . Let the coding commence! So what can we expect to see this code used for? When previous id engines were open-sourced, the first new releases were typically simple patches fixing long-standing bugs and niggles, but once the base source is up to scratch, the exciting work begins. Graphics overhauls are always popular, cramming years of new rendering techniques into aging engines. Mods can become standalone games--though this is trickier for those relying heavily on Doom 3's assets, as those still cannot be legally redistributed. In the long run, we'll likely also see the source used to make brand new games. You may very well be wondering how id overcame the legal hurdle caused by 'Carma…
- Doom 3 open-sourcing held up while Carmack writes new code - 17 November 2011
Before it could release an open-source version of the Doom 3 engine code to all, id Software had to run it by the lawyers. But, their fierce eyes have spotted a slight problem. Chief id technomancer John Carmack is now writing new code to dodge legal issues surrounding the rendering technique, "Carmack's Reverse," which gave Doom 3 its lovely shadows. Twitter yesterday. Carmack has been saying for a while, most recently at at QuakeCon , that id would open-source the engine following the release of Rage , and pending legal approval. "Carmack's Reverse" is a stencil shadowing technique invented independently by several people, including Carmack, but ultimately patented by Creative Labs. While id struck a deal to use it in Doom 3 without paying Creative, evidently the lawyers would err towards a safer, less potentially litigious solution. Carmack mentioned back in 2004 that, if a deal hadn…
- Doom 3 source code to be made free to all - 1 November 2011
Attention indie devs and modders! John Carmack has tweeted to say that id are releasing the full source Doom 3 source code to anyone who fancies downloading it and having a poke. The news, spotted on RPS, puts id Tech 4 in the hands of game makers looking for some free tech to play with. “Doom 3 source is packaged and tested, we are waiting on final lawyer clearance for release,” Tweeted Carmack. No news on how long exactly that will take. To all the budding devs who will be downloading the new code, please, for the love of our eyes, use more lights than id did in Doom 3.
