Doom3 Patches -- Is it Better Now?

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Redstar
Green Marine

Posts: 45
Registered: 08-10

Hey everyone. I briefly posted on this forum nearly a year ago, but have just now started to get into Doom again. I'm really enjoying the classic Doom games via the Collector's Edition, though I'm considering playing Doom 3 again.

While I enjoyed the game for what it was, many issues prevented me from feeling the need to explore it much after a single playthrough. I'm just wondering if there have been any significant patches that have addressed any of the major problems with the game. I'd love to give it a shot, but if it's still the same old game that launched I'm not entirely sure.

Anyone know?

Last edited by Redstar on 09-04-11 at 02:32

09-02-11 23:11 #

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Mithran Denizen
Senior Member

Posts: 1093
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The answer possibly depends on which issues dissuaded you from replaying the game in the first place, and how far you're willing to stretch your definition of 'patches'.

As far as I know, the official patches don't really change the basic gameplay very much, they're mainly bugfixes, stability tweaks, and stuff like that. I know they eventually removed the CD check in one of the last patches, which makes it much more convenient for playing on a laptop when travelling.

There are a fair number of mods which aim to change the gameplay and appearance in more significant ways though, so that might be up your alley. I play Doom 3 mostly unmodded, myself, so I can't recommend anything in that regard, but I'm sure others can.

You could try checking these two sites, for starters, anyway:

http://doom3.filefront.com/
http://www.moddb.com/games/doom-iii/mods

Last edited by Mithran Denizen on 09-02-11 at 23:29

09-02-11 23:24 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

Posts: 45
Registered: 08-10

Mithran Denizen said:As far as I know, the official patches don't really change the basic gameplay very much, they're mainly bugfixes, stability tweaks, and stuff like that.

I suppose my main area of concern is the lighting. Even with all the settings changed I could barely see anything, which is more often than not more frustrating than scary or atmospheric.

Mithran Denizen said:I know they eventually removed the CD check in one of the last patches, which makes it much more convenient for playing on a laptop when travelling.

That's definitely a positive update, though I still need to find my CD to implement that patch. I haven't played the game in years.

Mithran Denizen said:There are a fair number of mods which aim to change the gameplay and appearance in more significant ways though, so that might be up your alley. I play Doom 3 mostly unmodded, myself, so I can't recommend anything in that regard, but I'm sure others can.

I've done some research into the mods, but have yet to turn anything other than the "duct tape mod" that would interest me. I'll be sure to keep looking, though.

09-02-11 23:55 #

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Redeemer812
Junior Member

Posts: 126
Registered: 04-10

I'm not big into mods at all, but there are a few I always use when I play Doom3. First, the Nitro Gore mod removes the retarded gibbing animation which plays when you blast a zombie with a shotgun, and second, the Trent Reznor sound effects mod, which really makes the game sound much better (I particularly like the new machinegun/pistol/commando sounds).

I tried the duct-tape mod but never used it much, I'm not fond of mods that radically alter the gameplay.

09-03-11 00:20 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

Posts: 45
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Redeemer812 said:I'm not big into mods at all, but there are a few I always use when I play Doom3.

I tried the duct-tape mod but never used it much, I'm not fond of mods that radically alter the gameplay.

I don't want to radically alter the gameplay either; I'm looking more for aesthetic changes than anything else.

I like the sound of the first mod you listed, so I'll give that one a shot. However, I'm not too sure about the second, but I'll see how it compares.

Last edited by Redstar on 09-03-11 at 00:37

09-03-11 00:27 #

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Redeemer812
Junior Member

Posts: 126
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Trent Reznor recorded the original sound effects for Doom 3 but none of his sounds made it into the game for legal reasons. This mod just puts some of Trent's sound effects back in. As I said, they sound much, much better than the sounds that ended up in the retail version of Doom 3.

09-03-11 03:46 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

Posts: 45
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Redeemer812 said:Trent Reznor recorded the original sound effects for Doom 3 but none of his sounds made it into the game for legal reasons. This mod just puts some of Trent's sound effects back in. As I said, they sound much, much better than the sounds that ended up in the retail version of Doom 3.

Is there a source for that information? Sounds like an interesting story.

09-03-11 08:25 #

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Redeemer812
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_3#Production

Take a look at the second paragraph. This has been brought up in numerous other places too, like John Carmack's last Q&A at Quake Con.

09-03-11 14:50 #

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Xeros612
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Redstar said:

I suppose my main area of concern is the lighting. Even with all the settings changed I could barely see anything, which is more often than not more frustrating than scary or atmospheric.

It's a Mars military/research base under attack by the forces of hell, with everything there being destroyed or screwed up in some way, including the power and lighting systems. How is it not atmospheric? Even with big guns like the chaingun the weapon swap time between weapon and flashlight is very fast as well so I can't see where this is an actual issue.

09-03-11 17:09 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

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Xeros612 said:It's a Mars military/research base under attack by the forces of hell, with everything there being destroyed or screwed up in some way, including the power and lighting systems. How is it not atmospheric? Even with big guns like the chaingun the weapon swap time between weapon and flashlight is very fast as well so I can't see where this is an actual issue.

Do I need to argue this? Classic Doom rarely resorted to darkness as a means to scare you. All it took was the right kind of music playing while a giant monster comes at you. I think I would personally be more scared if I could see where I'm going. I want to focus on the game, not stumbling around wondering if I've missed something, even with a flashlight on.

Last edited by Redstar on 09-03-11 at 22:39

09-03-11 17:38 #

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kristus
Megablast!

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Redeemer812 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_3#Production

Take a look at the second paragraph. This has been brought up in numerous other places too, like John Carmack's last Q&A at Quake Con.

Yeah, basically what he said was. We ended up having to pay for a bunch of sounds that we couldn't use in the game anyway.

09-03-11 17:45 #

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Redeemer812
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Completely agree with Redstar there. Darkness is neither scary nor fun.

09-03-11 23:04 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

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Redeemer812 said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_3#Production

Take a look at the second paragraph. This has been brought up in numerous other places too, like John Carmack's last Q&A at Quake Con.

Thanks. I read the provided source. Interesting perspective from Reznor. However, I watched Carmack's full hour and a half Q & A and didn't hear anything on that. Know where I can find it?

These original sounds are definitely an improvement. I'm thinking my second experience will be much better.

09-04-11 00:54 #

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Redeemer812
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Redstar said:
However, I watched Carmack's full hour and a half Q & A and didn't hear anything on that. Know where I can find it?

It's in there. You probably just watched his keynote speech and missed his Q&A section, which is a different video entirely. Anyway, somewhere in there a fan asked John what exactly went on between Nine Inch Nails (Trent's band) and id Software, and why none of the original sound effects went into Doom 3. He didn't really know the details but listed legal problems, among other things.

09-04-11 02:23 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

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Redeemer812 said:It's in there. You probably just watched his keynote speech and missed his Q&A section, which is a different video entirely. Anyway, somewhere in there a fan asked John what exactly went on between Nine Inch Nails (Trent's band) and id Software, and why none of the original sound effects went into Doom 3. He didn't really know the details but listed legal problems, among other things.

No, I was listening to the Q&A section, though I just skipped over it. You're right; it's very brief and vague. It is interesting that they have discussed re-using that material for Doom 4, though that probably won't happen.

09-04-11 02:47 #

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Mogul
Senior Member

Posts: 1716
Registered: 01-01

One of id's earliest explanations, from either Tim Willits or Todd H, was something along the lines of, "A rock star's time is valued in rock star dollars, and we just don't feel comfortable allocating that much funding to get sound effects." That isn't incompatible with "bad management" that was more recently cited.

At the end of the day, if you play the game with a good sound system, you will quickly learn why the game was award-winning in its audio department. I had the old DOOM 3 alpha when it first came out, my freshman year of college, and I was a little surprised to find all of that work replaced in the finished game, but I have come to love the sounds in the game.

09-29-11 17:52 #

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Xeros612
Forum Regular

Posts: 979
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I assume by "good sound system" you mean "Creative EAX compatible", in which case I heartily agree. Although the game ran like ass on my laptop (as in freezing for a split second every time I took damage with FRAPs running), I preferred playing Doom 3 there over my desktop just because EAX is amazing.

09-29-11 18:31 #

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Face23785
Junior Member

Posts: 181
Registered: 04-11

Anybody played the PefectedDoom3 mod? I love the visual edits but the gameplay changes drive me nuts. Everything is ridiculously hard to kill unless u score headshots. I don't suppose anyone knows how to extract just the visual improvements?

10-11-11 00:21 #

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Redstar
Green Marine

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Face23785 said:Anybody played the PefectedDoom3 mod? I love the visual edits but the gameplay changes drive me nuts. Everything is ridiculously hard to kill unless u score headshots. I don't suppose anyone knows how to extract just the visual improvements?

On PerfectedDoom3's filefront page you can find a list under Thanks To: of all the other mods used within it. I'm sure you can just apply those mods individually to get the visual results you want.

Last edited by Redstar on 10-11-11 at 02:39

10-11-11 02:05 #

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Redeemer812
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Alternatively, you could just rip whatever you don't want right out of the mod's pk4 files. You can open those up in 7zip or WinRAR. I think WinZip can handle them fine as well, but I'm not sure.

10-11-11 19:43 #

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Use3D
Forum Legend

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Redstar said:

I think I would personally be more scared if I could see where I'm going. I want to focus on the game, not stumbling around wondering if I've missed some athing, even with a flashlight on.

I agree, I found the game much creepier with the duct tape mod, which is the only modification I use. The oppressive darkness from my first playthrough still lingers in my memory though.

10-12-11 00:14 #

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Doomworld Forums > Newfangled Doom > Doom 3 General > Doom3 Patches -- Is it Better Now?

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