Pondering what people want for DOOM 4 (weapons, monsters, gameplay, modernizing)

That they would call the six barreled weapon minigun. Chainguns only have one barrel and use a chain like in a bicycle....

The water of Half Life 2 and many outdoor areas. Half Life 2 beated Doom 3 in so many ways... IDsoftware really should look to the water and the environment of Half Life 2, then they will win with Doom 4:



Also: they should stay with the old Doom weapons or the weapons of Quake 2, but the weapons of Quake 4 were really awful! AND: a really great thing is that IDsoftware don't want to bring up something like steam :-(!

EDIT: ...

Jimi said:

That they would call the six barreled weapon minigun.

I hate that name. Why not call it Gatling gun instead? Patent concerns?

printz said:

I hate that name. Why not call it Gatling gun instead? Patent concerns?

Or perhaps the Ratatatat Gun (tm)?

Quasar said:

We'll probably be lucky if there's anything "DOOM" about Doom 4 past the title screen.

I hear that.

Just dump the Doom 3 weapons and go with Doom 2 weapons.

Badass music in levels would be cool in DOOM 4, for me, the music is an important part of DOOM, it creates that cool atmosphere in levels.

TheUltimateDoomer said:

Badass music in levels would be cool in DOOM 4, for me, the music is an important part of DOOM, it creates that cool atmosphere in levels.

++!

If that's so, then they'll most likely put heavy metal like in Quake 2, PoP Warrior Within or Daikatana. I hate that kind of lack of originality, it sucks. Try to think of something else than "violent heavy metal" when designing games considered "violent" by some.

Like gangsta rap or happy hardcore.

So what about this idea...

You're one man, everyone else is dead or a zombie, you get weapons and you go through different levels killing bigger and bigger bosses.

geo said:

So what about this idea...

You're one man, everyone else is dead or a zombie, you get weapons and you go through different levels killing bigger and bigger bosses.

The bigger and bigger part sounds like Diablo or any RPG, which is a no-no in a shooter. In Doom all monsters are at level.

Doom4: The Quest for 8 sided Die

printz said:

The bigger and bigger part sounds like Diablo or any RPG, which is a no-no in a shooter. In Doom all monsters are at level.

That's probably what he meant.

That's just what DOOM and DOOM II did. Like someone else said earlier, drop you off at the beginning of the game with no or a minimal story, some basic weapons, and GO.

DOOM 3 just had much useless fluff story around it that added nothing to the game. The video disks and user emails did not provide any useful tips or clues. I'm a big believer in making everything relevant to reaching the end of the game, keeping drapery and wall photos to a minimum.

I strongly disagree, the PDA emails and the discs added a lot to the game. And of course they also provided some gameplay relevant clues (door codes for example). I liked that they let the player decide how much he wanted to bother with the story, you could read the mails and listen to the voice logs, or just ignore most of it, it´s your decision. A much better way then forcing you through lengthy cutscenes all the way like so many other FPSs. The few cutscenes that are included in Doom3 are short and to the point, so that they don´t really interrupt the gameplay either.

At first I thought the PDAs were stupid, because I had to listen to them or scan the emails for door/cabinet codes, but then later they became a thing to make fun of.

Though I think it would have been more actionful game if the PDAs or codes found from notes(probably they'd be pickup items then) worked just like the Keys in Doom 1, 2. So if you found the code to cabinet 666, then you just press use on the cabinet 666 open switch and it will open!

How many of those... uh something strange is going on emails can you read? If its the same thing over and over then skip it.

At least with Morrowind / Oblivion, there were worlds that the books told you about their history or other random things. I'd like to hear about everything before Doom happened. Then it will make you sad when you realize they're all dead.

Tetzlaff said:
relevant clues (door codes for example).

Ah, I forgot about those. Those are pretty useful.

geo said:
How many of those... uh something strange is going on emails can you read?

There is definitely something strange going on here. I, uh... keep hearing things. Weird things. DOOM things. :-P

audiodef said:

Or perhaps the Ratatatat Gun (tm)?

But then there would never be the chaingun cha-cha :P

On a serious note, open burning cityscape, high tech decaying industrial areas.

Problem I had with Doom 3 was corridors, and then more corridors, and then corridors with sky in them, followed by more corridors. Non linear gameplay is a plus, as it adds for more replay value in a game (and I'm the sort that likes to explore absolutely everything).

Personally, run and gun gameplay, with hordes of monsters, after all wasn't Doom 2 about managing unruly crowds? (MAP07, MAP08, MAP09, MAP10, MAP13, MAP16, MAP18). I just found that the original games mixed monsters well, while Doom 3 had limited encounters which felt static more than anything (anyone read the Bioshock 2 designers blog?)

One last thing, I heard something about a 30fps cap :(

I would also like more open spaces in DOOM 4. I think the enclosed spaces in DOOM 3 were to make the player's presence on Mars more realistic (you can't breathe the Martian atmosphere), but then again this is a game that really has no basis in reality. DOOM I and II didn't bother with adherence to real life and that only added to the fun.

geo said:

I'd like to hear about everything before Doom happened. Then it will make you sad when you realize they're all dead.

But it was quite often like that in Doom3...? You learn a lot about the life in Mars City before the demon invasion happened. The facility manager who is angry about his workers because they can´t memorize a doorcode, so he eventually simply sets it to "1234". Or how "Lost Soul girl" lived.

Tetzlaff said:

But it was quite often like that in Doom3...? You learn a lot about the life in Mars City before the demon invasion happened. The facility manager who is angry about his workers because they can´t memorize a doorcode, so he eventually simply sets it to "1234". Or how "Lost Soul girl" lived.

You sometimes get more detail than you want, in the form of porn solicitations from Martian Buddy.

I'd want Doom 3 exactly as it is but with these changes... I love the atmosphere and how badass the characters and the story are.

This is what should be changed for Doom 4.

Weapons do more damage. I hate how the guns are little pea shooters. This would make multiplayer more fun as well. Running around with the machine gun and having to put an entire clip into a guy is really frustrating. I'd like it if I can use the pistol and kill a zombie with one headshot. Basically make the damage more like modern games.

Make you fight waaay more enemies at a time. I guess when Doom 3 first came out the hardware couln't support so many guys at once. I think this is why they have those annoying teleport battles. Kill one guy, another guy teleports in. Repeat five times... It'd be cooler if the monsters took less shots to kill but you fought many at once. In Doom 1 and 2 it's so much more fun to whip out the chaingun and mow down hordes of Zombies than in Doom 3 to whip out the chaingun and pump half a clip into a single imp. Also I can imagine walking into a room and having like 10 zombies walking at you instead of just 1 would be pretty exciting or whatever...

Also use less predictable scare tactics. Instead of having monsters pop out at you, have the player know they are there and be afraid of how many of them there are. I remember playing Plutonia and there are many levels where I can hear large groups of revenants. Hearing all those guys running around made me be more scared than having a single guy popping out of a closet that I can kill with one blast from the shotgun.

Maybe if they made the AI a little better too that'd be great. There are many times where the monsters are kinda just walking at you, then there's a chair in the way and they do this weird walking around the chair motion. Sometimes they get stuck and act just like Doom 1 enemies. Quake 4 never seemed to have this problem. It'd be cool if the monsters worked together against you and snuck up on you from behind. It'd make you feel more threatened.

More interesting secret areas. I'm tired of always finding armor shards. Most boring thing ever. I think Knee Deep in the Dead has some of the best secret areas. When you find them you're like WOWOWOW cool. Especially map 3 right before finding the secret level, and the soul sphere. Just wondering how the hell you get to it.

potnop said:

Weapons do more damage. I hate how the guns are little pea shooters. This would make multiplayer more fun as well. Running around with the machine gun and having to put an entire clip into a guy is really frustrating. I'd like it if I can use the pistol and kill a zombie with one headshot. Basically make the damage more like modern games.

This. In the original Doom you could kill a demon with a single shot from the super shotgun (at close range on medium/easy difficulty). They appeared in groups and you could usually kill most of them before they got to you. In Doom 3, demons are huge and just at you right from around corners, so you just have to blindly waste all of your ammo if you want to live- no skill involved in hitting something that's never more than 2 feet away from you.

What I would like in Doom 4 is, perhaps more monsters, but unmodiied monsters, but just let the weapons be a little bit stronger. ALso, more ammo laying around. I have been caught in several battles where eventually I'm forced to a pistol (Of course, my computer had lag, and so I was missing always.). I remeber one encounter which had me gasping for air was when an IMp backed me into a corner, I had one shell, which didn't kill the imp, and so I had to use the pistol, and escaped with just 1 hitpoint. ANd also of weapons, the sound effects should be better. The machine gun sounded like a muffled can repeaditly being banged on a pipe. The gun sounds were just weak compared to all the other Sound effects.

I also want big epic large-scale battles with tons of demons and other demonic critters, their bodies piling up around you (they don't vanish, just lay there in a bloody mound) like the original doom poster. Also gibs and spilling guts when you shoot enemies, and yeah make the weapons more powerful, but keep it simple no gimmicky weapons

more demonic references, less sci-fi ones. more freaky ritualistic stuff like heads on sticks, people hanging from ceiling, human flesh stretched across wires, etc... just gut-wrenching crap like that. The more gory the better. pools of blood, dead enemies you can drag around and make blood trails (maybe that detracts certain enemies from crossing - or some kinda gameplay element there) the ability to cut up dead enemies and use their body parts for puzzles/weapons/rituals/etc... who knows? Maybe the brains of some enemies are good sort of drug and you need to dig it out of their skulls first?

level-design wise, I want more open areas, demonic castles/dungeons, blood/skin covered caves. If it's "hell on earth" then at least give the demons some time to start building/infecting their own surroundings so it's not just all "earth" but also alot of "hell"

As far as story goes, the idea that you are alone in the world is fine. If you were coming back to earth or wherever from a trip and found it completely took-over with demons, fine. If you have to travel to hell to fight them, fine. I guess I don't really like too much sci-fi stuff in there though, especially bad voice acting by actors from syfy channel - please no! A good story is good, but if it's not great then scrap it and give more reason to play the game - like, oh i dunno, make it fun!?

it'd also be fun to have a pet rabbit who you love dearly, and the demons stole it and you want it back... maybe that's the story line... would be funny anyways

I've been considering an epic back story to Doom 4 (not that it will make any difference, but it's fun for me to think about).

You can be damn sure that the UAC Mars division would send its data back to Earth HQ. I was thinking that the UAC would attempt to duplicate the teleportation technology on Earth. Perhaps in some lab (Area 51? Somewhere in the desert), they manage to create the tech again. Maybe even re-connect to Mars, idk.

And some Hellspawn notice, of course. I have a very definite mental picture of a trio of Revenants storming off of a teleport pad, destroying all humans in sight.

And a huge Hell invasion army comes in. Nukes are dropped, they're ineffective, and all of North America (and possibly beyond) fall under the armies of Hell. A post-apocalyptic, Hellspawn-infested wasteland would be awesome to play around in. It would be better than Doom 2's first half, that's for sure.

Abyssalstudios1 said:

I've been considering an epic back story to Doom 4 (not that it will make any difference, but it's fun for me to think about).

You can be damn sure that the UAC Mars division would send its data back to Earth HQ. I was thinking that the UAC would attempt to duplicate the teleportation technology on Earth. Perhaps in some lab (Area 51? Somewhere in the desert), they manage to create the tech again. Maybe even re-connect to Mars, idk.

And some Hellspawn notice, of course. I have a very definite mental picture of a trio of Revenants storming off of a teleport pad, destroying all humans in sight.

Well, to me it sounds like Plutonia Experiment's back story.

printz said:

Well, to me it sounds like Plutonia Experiment's back story.

Heh. Well, as the man once said, "Creativity is the art of forgetting your inspiration", or something to that effect.

But IIRC, Plutonia was all about creating defense tech in case of a future invasion. My idea is more along the lines of the UAC trying to duplicate the teleportation tech they found on Mars.