Magazine scans of early Doom64 development

I've finally found some pretty rare scans of Doom64 in early prototype stage and felt like sharing them here. One page also has an interview with the Midway developers and another showing some early prototype stuff and screenshots from an early E3 demo.

http://doom64ex.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/rare-doom64-magazine-scans/

Apparently it seems like they started out with using the Bulldog Demon as the first enemy/character to prototype with. There's definitely some differences between that and one in the final product.

Another screenshot shows what appears to be the lightning gun (Quake ripoff?). I assume this later evolved into the Laser weapon. (I swear I have this issue somewhere...)

The one in the Gamepro August 96 issue is obviously Staging Area but it's neat to see that map in it's early stage. There's some areas that's recognizable too despite of the limited texture assets that was available (as seen in the screenshots).

Thank you for bringing back the good old days with those Gamepro scans. ;)

One of the screenshots claims BUMP MAPPING was used. I don't think the N64 had the hardware capability to produce such an effect.

GoatLord said:

One of the screenshots claims BUMP MAPPING was used. I don't think the N64 had the hardware capability to produce such an effect.

Bump mapping on the models used to render the sprites, I'm sure.

GoatLord said:

One of the screenshots claims BUMP MAPPING was used. I don't think the N64 had the hardware capability to produce such an effect.

It simply wasn't the kind of bumpmapping you're used to, that is, it only was one direction. Bump mapping today is achieved with multitextures, while these textures you see in those shots were possibly combined into one texture by the CPU.

I like the shot of the map with an aztec like pyramid and it's a shame that it wasn't included, I also like that style of the weapon sprite in one of the shots which isn't in the completed game.

Very nice!

An interesting find. Thanks for sharing. (Love the pic of the "mascot".)

Has anyone spotted the screenshot with the crazy looking unused weapon?

GoatLord said:

Has anyone spotted the screenshot with the crazy looking unused weapon?

My guess it's suppose to be a Lightning gun similar to Quake and was suppose to replace the chainsaw. I guess id didn't like it and requested to switch back to the chainsaw. Figured Midway liked the 'lightning' effect so much that they used that for the Laser weapon instead. The name of the sprite used for the laser projectile is 'BOLT'. Makes you wonder...

that pinky model looks so cool.

Nice find.

Kaiser said:

The name of the sprite used for the laser projectile is 'BOLT'. Makes you wonder...

They could've meant bolt as in a blaster bolt like in Star Wars.

If it was supposed to be a chainsaw replacement, it could have been a really cool melee taser weapon.

Loving the look of those maps from the first 2 screen shots. Wonder if those still exist somewhere.

It's exciting to see what could have been, though also a bit disappointing that it was ultimately scrapped for whatever reason. Adding an Egyptian theme to the cavernous/demonic/cathedral/dungeon themes would have been great.

I remember reading this article back in the day. I was vehemently opposed to Doom64 since I knew the original artwork could never be 'improved', and I still feel that way, but I like the game.

Awesome, maybe I should try playing Doom64 one day.

It's funny how that game came out at the completely fucking wrong time. Many Doomers felt alienated by the new aesthetics while progressive gamers wanted something more advanced, having been exposed to Goldeneye, Turok, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake 1 and 2...I remember hearing/reading about plans for a sequel, called The Absolution or something, which was never developed. Damn shame.