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hardcore_gamer

The pros and cons of Playstation Doom/Final Doom.

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Now that I have finally gotten ePSXe to work properly I have been able to play my (legally obtained by the way) copies of PSX Doom and Final Doom without having to rely on that stupid password system anymore. I have already finished PSX Doom but not PSX Final Doom (I am currently plowing through the Master levels section). As I play through them, my mind is filled with both good and bad thoughts.

Basically, what do you consider to be the pros and cons of the playstation ports of Doom and Final Doom?

While I was watching a youtube video of PSX Final Doom (I got stuck in a level and needed to know where to go next) I found this guy who reviews different Doom ports and reviewed both PSX Doom and Final Doom in the same video, seeing as this is relevant I figured I should probably post it.



EDIT: He says Final Doom and Doom were put together by the same people which is wrong, but he has already corrected that in the comments I think.

I pretty much agree with most of the stuff he says except for the stuff he said about the music.

Basically what I think:

Pros:

-Great new lighting.

-The various minor changes makes the game play different from the PC version, in a good way.

-Playing the game with a controller is a nice change of pace.

-The dark scary music makes the game far more scary then the PC version.

-The fact that levels were cut out means that you don't have to play some of the boring ones from the PC versions.

Cons:

-The framerate is way worse then it is on the PC, and in Final Doom it can get downright terrible at times.

-The textures look worse.

-Some enemies are missing.

-Some levels are missing in PSX Doom, and most are missing in PSX Final Doom.

-You can't save the game at all. You need to use that stupid password system (unless you play on a emulator).

-Imputing cheats is a chore.

-The PSX version of Final Doom doesn't actually have that many Final Doom levels at all, it only has like 6-7 Plutonia levels and about 12 TNT levels, the rest are levels from the Master Levels. And most of the master levels included in the PSX release are very mediocre.


Anyways, what are your thoughts on the playstation ports? In my opinion they are the only console port worth playing (I don't count modern "ports" like the Xbox 360 release or copies that are included as bonuses for other games like with the Doom 3 collectors edition) and can be lots of fun even in spite of the flaws.

Discuss.

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hardcore_gamer said:

Anyways, what are your thoughts on the playstation ports? In my opinion they are the only console port worth playing (I don't count modern "ports" like the Xbox 360 release or copies that are included as bonuses for other games like with the Doom 3 collectors edition

I prefer Doom 64, but I'm not sure whether that would be considered a 'port' by your definition or not, either, since it can be seen as an entirely new game.

The fact that PSX Doom used colored lighting is cool, but the way it's plastered all over the original maps seems kind of garish, so I actually felt like it detracted from the atmosphere slightly. I liked the music, though. Regardless, I could never be bothered to actually finish the game on the PSX, it just couldn't hold my interest.

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I like the abience of doom PSX, however, I like it with N64 version. The ambience does not work for the original dooms for me, it doesn't match the fast pace and action heavy gameplay.

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Mithran Denizen said:

The fact that PSX Doom used colored lighting is cool, but the way it's plastered all over the original maps seems kind of garish, so I actually felt like it detracted from the atmosphere slightly.


I felt this way too, I thought it was distracting in general. Though I liked it when it was used in a subtle way, like Doom2 Map01, the yellowish tint of the start room and the weird greenish/blue of the adjacent corridor for instance.

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Is it just me, or do the levels look bigger rather than smaller?

This guy says a lot of bullshit. "As you walk from area to area, the lighting actually changes!" Not sure what he even means by that - if he means that sprites will become brighter and darker, well that already happens in PC doom. If he means that the textures get brighter when you get close to them...again, already in PC doom. If he means that they introduced colored lighting...he should have said that.

Also, some of his major complaints were that there's no gamma correction and that the cheats aren't convenient to enter? Give me a break.

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I got Final Doom on PSX when it came out. It did nothing but confuse the shit out of me. The double-project package of Final Doom didn't process to me as a kid and it seemed like I would start on a different level every time.

Anyway, I can't stand playing Doom with a controller. I really can't stand playing any FPS with a controller. A game like Doom falls incredibly clunky with the PSX.

The only thing I was fond of was that they polished up Final Doom's bare concept so well for the PlayStation that it was actually pretty creepy and disturbing. The storyline inside the manual was, in the best way, eyebrow raising. And the new ambience they added was creepy as motherfuck. Fantastic.

Regardless, the annoyingly difficult and foreign controls and the password shit settles the score, really.

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The music was probably the best part of the PSX Doom, but the controller was clunky and the D-pad hurt my thumbs after extended play. Also the SSG looked terrible.

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The only reason why I'd play Doom on a console is for splitscreen multiplayer. Inexplicably, neither of these games has this feature. (Yet somehow the PS1 port of Quake 2 manages it quite well.)

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magicsofa said:

Also, some of his major complaints were that there's no gamma correction and that the cheats aren't convenient to enter? Give me a break.


Both of those are very valid complaints. The fact that there is no gamma correction means that some areas are just too dark, and I don't mean dark in a good way but just so dark that you literally can't see shit. I would have liked it had there been some way to change the brightness. As for the cheats, are you telling me that you never ever use god mode, the level select cheat, or the all guns&ammo cheat? Cheats could have been handled better.

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Bucket said:

The only reason why I'd play Doom on a console is for splitscreen multiplayer. Inexplicably, neither of these games has this feature. (Yet somehow the PS1 port of Quake 2 manages it quite well.)

Oh, I remember how pissed off I was when I couldn't find a Multiplayer option that made sense.

"O ya we forgot, u need two playstashuns."

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Split screen with PSX Doom probably would have ran at too slow a framerate to be much fun. I think it's easy to forget that having lots of geometry with non-mipmapped textures is more draining than true 3-D space with mipmapping. But I wouldn't really know, just speculating.

Anyway, I have played PSX Final Doom for something like 13 years and still enjoy it. The colored lighting and different music/sound add so much to the game. The only thing that can match it is Doom 64.

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Playstation Doom is good. Playstation Final Doom not so much.

I played PSX Doom for the first time just a few years ago out of curiosity. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.

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I have never actually played the Doom port. I'm only familiar with the Final Doom one. I have no incentive to look into it it now, though.

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Dark X said:

I have never actually played the Doom port. I'm only familiar with the Final Doom one. I have no incentive to look into it it now, though.


There is a very well made PSX Doom TC for Doom 2 that is almost identical to the actual real thing. I suggest you check it out.

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The only con I've ever had in PSX DooM was the Framerate, leaving much to be desired.

However, I cured this by downloading the official (not the crappy attempt that that one guy tried, this is the real deal) TC of PSX Ultimate DooM/DooM 2 and I must say everything is just as nice as the solid PSX, he even polished up a few things; making the sprites as clean and finished as they were in the PC version, slightly crisper sounds (though this may be because I have high-quality speakers compared to my TV, but hey), and the colored lighting seems to reap you in better when a foot or so from the moniter than it would if you were looking at it seven feet away at your TV screen.

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magicsofa said:

This guy says a lot of bullshit. "As you walk from area to area, the lighting actually changes!"


Maybe he's comparing to the SNES and 32x versions of Doom which he reviewed in other videos. Though he has also reviewed the Saturn version.

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I was never too big of a fan of the PSX Doom TC. Don't get me wrong, it did a good job of bringing PSX Doom to the PC, but for me it just doesn't feel the same as the original. Plus, why haven't we seen a PSX Final Doom TC yet?

I think Williams/Midway did an excellent job with PSX Doom/Final Doom. The lighting is good for the most part, but it does seem out of place and overused in some levels (E1M9 comes to mind). The ambient music (composed by Aubrey Hodges) is probably some of my favorite video game music ever. It really changes the mood of some levels, most notably Geryon from The Master Levels. Also, one of the biggest things I like that wasn't retained in the TC was the echoing of sound effects off the walls in certain areas of the game, which really added an extra dimension of atmosphere to the game.

However, PSX Doom/Final Doom were both released when the PSX was in it's infancy, so chances are the developers weren't able make Multiplayer work on one system without killing the framerate. I do think it is a bit ridiculous having to have 2 Playstations, 2 TVS and 2 copies of the game, plus a PSX link cable in order to do multiplayer though. I tend to remember other early PSX games, like Wipeout, Destruction Derby and Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown needing to do the same thing as well in order to play multiplayer.

If you really liked PSX Doom/Final Doom, I highly suggest you check out Doom 64 as well as Quake on the N64, considering both were ported by the same people responsible for PSX Doom/Final Doom.

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hardcore_gamer said:

Pros:
...
-The fact that levels were cut out means that you don't have to play some of the boring ones from the PC versions.

Cons:
...
-Some levels are missing in PSX Doom, and most are missing in PSX Final Doom.
...
-The PSX version of Final Doom doesn't actually have that many Final Doom levels at all, it only has like 6-7 Plutonia levels and about 12 TNT levels, the rest are levels from the Master Levels. And most of the master levels included in the PSX release are very mediocre.


Isn't that a bit contradictory?

Anyway, I've never found inputting the cheats to be a chore; at all. Try inputting the cheats slower. Just take your time. Most often people try to input a code quick. I just press each button at a constant, slow pace and it is activated.

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Mattfrie1 said:

why haven't we seen a PSX Final Doom TC yet?


Because Final Doom for the PSX isn't very good.

For one thing almost half of the game isn't actually Final Doom, but levels picked from The Master Levels which are nowhere near as good. And the framerate is even worse then it was in the original PSX Doom, and the framerate in the original PSX Doom was never all that fantastic in the first place.

The original PSX Doom is fairly awesome, but PSX Final Doom is merely OK at best and highly mediocre at worst.

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Mattfrie1 said:

I was never too big of a fan of the PSX Doom TC. Don't get me wrong, it did a good job of bringing PSX Doom to the PC, but for me it just doesn't feel the same as the original. Plus, why haven't we seen a PSX Final Doom TC yet?

I think Williams/Midway did an excellent job with PSX Doom/Final Doom. The lighting is good for the most part, but it does seem out of place and overused in some levels (E1M9 comes to mind). The ambient music (composed by Aubrey Hodges) is probably some of my favorite video game music ever. It really changes the mood of some levels, most notably Geryon from The Master Levels. Also, one of the biggest things I like that wasn't retained in the TC was the echoing of sound effects off the walls in certain areas of the game, which really added an extra dimension of atmosphere to the game.

However, PSX Doom/Final Doom were both released when the PSX was in it's infancy, so chances are the developers weren't able make Multiplayer work on one system without killing the framerate. I do think it is a bit ridiculous having to have 2 Playstations, 2 TVS and 2 copies of the game, plus a PSX link cable in order to do multiplayer though. I tend to remember other early PSX games, like Wipeout, Destruction Derby and Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown needing to do the same thing as well in order to play multiplayer.

If you really liked PSX Doom/Final Doom, I highly suggest you check out Doom 64 as well as Quake on the N64, considering both were ported by the same people responsible for PSX Doom/Final Doom.


The actual reason there hasn't been a PSX Final Doom TC yet is because the game uses a different compression method for its maps, meaning that Kaiser's conversion tools won't recognize them. They would have to be recreated from scratch.

For the record, PSX Doom had the smoothest controls of any FPS at the time, given that both it and Final were released before the advent of analogue thumbsticks. And I've never had any issue inputting cheats on the PSX. Granted the password system was a pain in the arse, especially given that memory cards were already in widespread use, but the fact that they were there meant you could exploit them: SSG in Ultimate Doom, anyone? Probably the reason that the N64 versions of id's shooters retained both methods.

Also, the reverb has been implemented in the latest version of the TC.

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hardcore_gamer said:

And the framerate is even worse then it was in the original PSX Doom, and the framerate in the original PSX Doom was never all that fantastic in the first place.


The framerate argument is irrelevant as far as a TC is concerned; though.

scalliano said:

The actual reason there hasn't been a PSX Final Doom TC yet is because the game uses a different compression method for its maps, meaning that Kaiser's conversion tools won't recognize them. They would have to be recreated from scratch.


Now that's interesting trivia.

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The music in PSX Doom/Final Doom is the best. I cannot play Doom without that music in the background.

That is all.

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God dammit, I'm going to grab PSX Doom now. I've had PSX Final Doom for so long, and I have fond memories of borrowing my friend's copy of PSX Doom when he accidentally left it at my house. I really want it now. Guess it's time for e-bay.

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A slower frame rate, less texture variation and simplified architecture would be the primary cons. Lesser ones being the sometimes haphazard usage of colored lighting and those damn dark areas early on in the Doom 1 levels. I love the new sound direction as well as the music. When I got a copy of Doom for the PlayStation I wasn't quite expecting it to have all those features, but it quickly grew onto me that Doom can be a lot more than just bright "happy" graphics and "upbeat" music.

Doom 64 however, just took it to the tenth power.

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Final Doom PSX had better use of colored lighting. I guess since it came out a year later, they had gotten a lot better at it. The reviewer in the video was talking about the Final Doom levels being boring and poorly designed, but I love 'em.

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PSX Doom is a low quality B version of the original, but has a very unique charme - I've played through it many times on the PSX and after that via ePsx.... and will do so again.

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