Doom:Seven Sons or how I imagined Doom 4 would be like.

This is an idea I have for a Doom game. Ever since Doom 4 was announced I've been pondering various idea's on my own Doom game for some time. Granted, I am aware that their already is another tread for posting your own idea's, but I had to make my own thread since my idea's are just too big to post here.

I've included a download for a text file containing my own vision of Doom 4(and incase your wondering no. Doom 4 is not going to be like anything I've thought up. I'm not the one developing the game). Basically they are concepts of gameplay mechanics, weapons, and enemies to make the game feel like the original Doom while having a completely new feel aswell. Most importantly is the focus on depth and technique, which made the old Doom games so good to begin with. Depth is the emotional feeling the game gives players while technique how the game is set up to regulate the nature in which players fight enemies. Because of the focus on the old school gameplay of the original Doom the game has a very energetic and offbeat tone to itself. While there is alot of disturbing imagery like in the original Doom the game focuses entirely on action instead of the horror focus from Doom 3. The idea is too big to post in one thread, but posted the download link for the idea below.


Basic principles of the game are as followed:

3 factors make technique in a first person shooter. The 1st are the weapons along with their stats and abilities. The 2nd are the enemies along with their stats and abilities. And finally the 3rd is the level design to suit the abilities for the weapons and enemies. All 3 must function together to create as much technique as possible. Regulating the order in which players kill each monster per encounter is also important for technique(For example:in Doom 2 the player had to kill the Pain Elemental 1st during each enounter that lack cover).

The meat of my ideas are A:a variety of abilities to dodge enemy attacks, B:A balanced set of weapons with their own unique abilities for different situations, and C:A variety of unique enemies, each requiring different takedown tactics.




Gameplay mechanics:
Players are given a variety of special abilties to assist them in avoiding enemy attacks thanks to the H.A.R.D. Gear suit that the player wears throughout the game.

It's is essencial for players to use these abilities to avoid getting hit, as enemies will constantly throw wave upon wave of various particles that must be dodge, ducked under, and jumped over depending on how the enemy attack. In other words enemies have a variety of abilities that can cover the entire combat field. Enemies in Doom:Seven Sons attack at a faster rate than they do in the originals to balance out the doding ablities the player has.

The techniques that players will use depends on A:The enemies position as being attacked from multiple sides highly effects technique, B:the types of enemies your up against since the combination of enemies highly effects the tactics players use(enemy combinations was everything in Doom 2), C:the position of the player, and finally D:the weapons and ammo players have.

These features highly effect the combat tactics and techniques players use throughout the game as they dodge stream through stream of enemy particles. They are as followed:

Exhaust dodge:Pressing the dodge button before moving into a stream of enemy fire will cause the player to slide under enemy fire, dodging quickly unless the attack is aimed too low.

Double jump:Allows the player to jump in midair. This is useful for jumping over enemy attacks.

Magnetic Wall Kick:Allows the player to jump off walls for extra height(higher than double jump). Can be used to avoid attacks depending on where each shot is fired.

Exhaust run:Allows the player to run at massive speed of up to 60 miles an hour. Players can allow use their weapons while using this.

Note:Don't let the exhaust punch fool you. You'll still be using firearms as your main method of attack.

Exhaust punch/kick:pressing the melee buttom while jumping, Exhaust running, or falling, before colliding with an enemy will cause the player to do an Exhaust punch(or kick if the player is in the air). Exhaust punches(and kicks) are powerful melee attacks that cause a fair amount of damage to enemies. The damage done depends on the speed that the player is traveling before colliding with the enemy. Enemies can also be knocked down from these attacks(depending on the enemy and the speed the player is traveling). Players can also preform an Exhaust Punch counter attack by dodging an enemy and then punching them.

Targeted landing:While in the air players can aim towards the ground or a wall and land in that spot provided that it isn't too high or far.

Magnetic wall ski(only in special levels):Dr.Elizabeth McNeil installs a Magnetic wall ski that allows players to grap onto walls or ceilings and ski accross them in certain levels. Sometimes this is used in first person rail levels.

Exhaust fly(only in special levels):Dr.Elizabeth McNeil installs a special battery for the exhaust boosters allowing the player to fly in the air, which is used in first person rail levels.

Bullet Spong(only in special levels):Dr.Elizabeth McNeil installs a special Bullet Spong emitter that create an orb for the player to fire into. The player can fire a large amount of bullet into into this orb and release the shots fired only an enemy all at once. This is used in a few levels against enemies that require the player to take cover often such as the Archviles.




Weapon types:
These are the weapons used throughout the game. Weapons are place into 5 catigories. Long range, high caliber, full auto, explosive, and special. Players can only carry one weapon per catigory as doing so balances out the gameplay by making players switch weapons constantly(like in the original Doom) and prevents players from relaying on certian types of weapons untill they run out of ammo.
Ammo for each weapon is balanced out so that each player recieve the bare minimum needed to fight enemies(adjusting the placement of ammo greatly affects the combat method players use), forcing the player to drop weapons for new ones(ammo placement is essencial for balancement in first person shooters).

I tried to make the weapons as balanced out as possible, though weapons that are unbalanced can be balanced with proper ammo placement(in the original Doom each ammo type came in two different sizes. Small and large), enemy placement, and level design. The balancement of weapons is also dictated by the enemies, the enemies abilities, the level design, ammo placement, and enemy placement. The more layers have to switch weapons out for different situations the better.

An example of this in another first person shooter:In Bungies Marathon series the Fusion pistol would cause Pfhor Hunters to explode causing players to switch to the Fusion pistol whenever Hunters are encountered. Another example would be the Revenants from Doom 2 which could be taken out in 2 hits with a rocket launcher. Because the rocket launcher fires quicker than the double barrel shotgun this was the better method of taking them out.


Here are five examples of some of the weapon idea's that i've included:
Stormhammer 93 anti-tank rifle:
Ammo:50 caliber BMG
Magazine size:6
Damage:High
Accuracy:High
Strengths:The damage this gun does is high and it can not only pierce through armored enemies such as the Hell Knight or Heavy Weapons Dude Zombie, but also any enemy in general. It's also doesn't have as much accuracy reduction when not zoomed in as some of the other sniper weapons(your still going to have to zoom in at medium range if you want to hit anything). Unlike other long range weapons, this gun knocks some enemies down.
Weaknesses:This gun has a large problem with regard to recoil as firing it knocks the reticle off balence facing players to readjust their aim. The worst of it all is that unlike other long range weapons, it lacks a sniper scope which presents a problem when up against enemies at long range.


Manvictor .45 pistol:
Note:I know that in real life a 45 caliber pistol would not be enough to knock someone down, but please bear with me.
Ammo:45 caliber
Magazine size:8
Damage:Moderately high
Accuracy:Moderate
Strengths:This is one of the high caliber weapons that i've thought of which can knock enemies down and leave them vulnerable to further shots. The damage this semi-auto pistol does is rather high as it can kill a Lost Soul in one hit. It's accuracy in in close range is also decent.
Weaknesses:While it's accuracy is quite decent there seems to be a rather large recoil to it. Firing it also knocks your retical off a bit. This means that while the gun fires as fasts as you pull the trigger you can't rapidly hammer the fire button unless you in point blank range.


Plasma AK-47
Ammo:Energy cells
Magazine size:30
Damage:Moderately high
Accuracy:High
Strengths:The accuracy of this weapon is perfect as it has no recoil at all. It always hits where you point it. Zoomed in or otherwise. It's damage is also rather high aswell.
Weaknesses:Althrough it's accurate, it's shots vaporize at 50 feet making this a no go for sniping. It's shots are also slower than other weapons allowing some enemies such as the Imps or the Gaki Demons to dodge it's attacks at times. Because of this it's best used for slow moving enemies, though players can time their shoots to hit fast moving enemies.



Bullshitter 6k
Ammo:40mm grenade shells
Magazine size:6
Damage:High
Accuracy:High, but with low range
Strengths:The grenades this fires come with a sensory that activates when it nears a target, causing the grenade to disperse into small cluster explosives. This causes it's damage to be very high against both lone enemies and groups.
Weaknesses:The range for this weapon, despite being accurate is low since it's ment for close range combat. Ammuntion is also rare compaired to other weapons.



Screen Incinerator
Ammo:Proton cells:
Magazine size:100, but it goes through ammo rather quick.
Damage:High
Accuracy:High
Strengths:The area this weapon hits is affected by an orb shaped energy ball that causes great damage to those inside it. The damage this weapon does is high.
Weaknesses:Because this weapon works by firing a laser beam that sticks to the where it hits and doesn't let go even when the player moves, the weapon will deactivate if the player looks away from the laser(prevents players from killing stationary enemies too easily) To change where the laser is hitting the player must let go of the fire button and fire again. On top of that, while the blast radius is deadly, fast enemies such as Archviles can escape it rather quickly. Ammo is also limited forcing player to resort to saving this weapons for large groups of enemies.






Enemies:
The abilities and stats of enemies highly effect the gameplay and techniques players will use. Depending on their speed, attack delay, damage(damage motivates players. The cyberdemon is an example of this), speed of particles, Artifical Intelligance, and abilities. Each enemy will require their own takedown tactics.

Unlike other first person shooters a large aspect of the game is based on using dodge moves to avoid attacks. This is done either by dodging under or jumping over. Many enemies can also time their shots when the player is facing them to hit the player while he is moving. However when they do this the shot that is made will be slower to balance things out.

There are 6 main catigories of enemy attacks. Chest based attacks which must by either dodged or ducked under. Ground based attacks that must be either dodged or jumped over. Wall attacks that can only be avoided by dodging or wall kicking(wall kicking grants extra height). Heat seeking attacks which must either by ducked under or wall kicked over. Wave based attacks that move either up and down, left and right, or diagonally(dodging those requires timing). And hitscan attacks which can not be dodged. In addition to chest and ground based attacks some enemies have attacks that can't be jumped over or dodged under and simply must be manuvered around.

Like in Halo the A.I. for the enemies will be adjusted to position themselves for the best attack patterns possible. This way enemies will try to create a variety of waves of particles for the player to dodge, forcing the player to adjust their manuvering techniques endlessly. Many enemies have a limited ability to dodge attacks, but their ability to do so varies. Some enemies are capible of evading the players crosshair to the best of their ability(like in Resident Evil 4 and Rage), some can only dodge particle attacks, and others can't dodge attacks at all.

The A.I. for the enemies aswell as the speed and rate in which they attack is affected by how many enemies there are. The smaller number of enemies there are, the faster the enemy will attack(depending on the difficulty). This allows for a variety of situations throughout the game.

One thing I haven't thought of is what to do about enemies off screen and how they attack you. One solution is to include an indicator that shows incoming attacks from enemies off screen, but I think a better one would be to limit the attacks of enemies off screen to single shots rather than allowing them to use multiple particles at a time.

I tried to balance the enemies as best I could. Even when an enemy is unbalanced, it can still be balanced out by either attacking in groups or being placed in a location that suits it's combat abilities. Enemies are further balanced out by resistances and damage bonuses from the players weapons. When the player points a weapon at an enemy, the game will display the enemy's name, health bar, and resistances to show the player what weapons they should use on each enemy. This further encourages the player to switchout weapons more often.

Keep in mind that some of the enemies are based on demonology(demon mythology) as the plot of the game is highly connected to the various mythologies of hell itself, so you'll find some of their appearances rather weird. Of course the game won't referance religion at all so don't worry.

Here are 5 examples of some of the enemy idea's that i've created:

Pinky Bull Demon:
Appearance:The Pinky Demon from Doom 64 with a shield.
Headshot bonus:None, but they take triple the amount of damage when shot in the mouth.
Resistances/Weaknesses:Weak against high caliber weapons.
Dodge ablity:None
Takedown tactics:
These creatures attack much like their sprite based counterparts(Doom 1, 2, and 64) by rushing at the player and clawing/biting them, except that they use a shield they carry(I have to balance them out with the other enemies as they were too easy in the originals) in their right hand to block shots and only reveal themselves at close range. The shield ranges from a metal table, a large metal plate, a riot shield, and a medieval shield. Although the player can force the Pinky to remove the shield by shooting it's right arm, it's best to get up close causing the demon to reveal it's face and then opening fire. It's best to use high caliber weapons like one of the two shotguns or the 45 caliber pistol.
Bull Demons take extra damage when shot in the mouth, and as a result there's multiple death animations of the Pinky Bull Demon grabbing it's mouth and choking on the bullet.
The shield that they carry can be pierced with a few weapons such as the Anti-tank rifle, but not much.
Attacks:
Bite/Slash
When in close range the Pinky will remove it's shield before biting and slashing the player.
Charge:
The Pinky will grab both sides of it's shield and charge at the player at a faster than nearly all enemies in the game ramming the player with it's shield, knocking it's crosshair off and making the player vulnerable to a secondary attack. This attack can be thwarted with a high caliber weapon such as a shotgun.


Gaki Demon aka Preta Demon:
Appearance:Looks like a dark-white skinny creature with a skull-like head, glowing eyes, and a body that emits white blurry gas(their head looks like the Vulgar from Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil). Their hands appear to be bladed claws.
Head Shot Bonus:Triple damage
Resistances/Weaknesses:Weak against high caliber weapons, but strong against full auto weapons.
Dodge ability:Able to dodge the player's crosshair and particles.
Takedown tactics:
Gaki Demons attack by using ninja like abilities to attack the player from behind. Jumping ontop of objects, wall kicking, and silent running. Those are some of the many methods they use to attack the player from behind. The two disadvantages that they have is that they tend to approach the player no matter what as long as the player isn't looking.
This means that the player can expose them by luring them into an open area. However it's also important to use your ears to detect them nearby.
Because of their ability, it's best to use either a shotgun, or a full auto weapon do to the job as they tend to seek cover when spotted by the player.
Attacks:
Slash:
The Gaki Demons have a variety of slash attacks, many of which can be dodged under, but in the end they're all the same doing similar damage.


Hell Knight:
Appearance:Looks like the Hell Knight from Doom 3 except with armor over his torso, arms, and head(the only part of his head that isn't covered is the lower half).
Headshot bonus:2.5 damage
Resistances/Weaknesses:Weak against full auto weapons and long range weapons.
Dodge ability:None
Takedown tactics:
Hell Knights wear armor over half their body, making this creature a challenge for those who don't have armor piercing weapons. However the lower part of their face is vulnerable meaning that players can use long range weapons to aim for their face. Since they aren't very fast they can be easy targets.
Attacks:
Plasma Combo:
The Hell Knight throws a 3 shot combo of plasma bolts at the player , either aimed at the players legs(must be jumped over) or at the players chest(must be dodged under).
Plasma Bolt:
At long range the Hell Knight will throw a long range plasma bolt that travels at high speed.
Plasma Wave:
The Hell Knight will slam it's fist to the ground creating a wave of plasma that must be avoided by stepping aside. This attack can't be dodged under or jumped over.


Archdemon:
Appearance:A beefed up taller version of the Baron of Hell with armor over his torso, and arms.
Headshot bonus:2.5 damage
Resistances/Weaknesses:Weak against full auto weapons and long range weapons.
Dodge ability:Able to dodge particles at long distance.
Takedown tactics:
A mixture of the Hell Knights armor and the Baron of Hells firepower, the Archdemon has three methods of attack. They will either us their agility to attack the player from behind, charge at the player relaying on their armor to protect them, or attack at a distance. This is what separates the Archdemon from other enemies. Their A.I. makes them unpredictable.
Because of their armor it's important to use accurate weapons on these creatures.
Attacks:
Plasma shockwave:
The Archdemon will slam it's fist to the ground creating a wave of plasma that must be avoided by stepping aside. This attack can't be dodged under or jumped over.
Laser beam:
At long distance the Archdemon will fire a long range laser out of his palm.
Charge:
The Archdemon will charge at the player full speed and try to ram him.
Jumping smash:
The Archdemon will jump a great distance and try to smash the ground. This attack has a small shockwave effect that can be jumped over.
Trace shot:
The Archdemon will fire a high damage plasma bolt with a trace line on it. If the player moves within the trace line the plasma bolt will rebound back at the player with limited heat seeking abilities forcing the player to turn around to direct his focus at the plasma bolt, leaving him vulnerable to a charge attack by the Archdemon.




Mancubus:
Appearance:
The Mancubus from Doom 2.
Headshot bonus:2.5 extra damage
Resistances/Weaknesses:Weak against explosives and high caliber weapons, but strong against full auto weapons.
Dodge ability:None
Takedown tactics:
The Mancubus has many attacks in this game making him one of the more complex enemies out there. He uses his Flame thrower cannons to spray out fire attempting to hit the player with it. His Flame cross attack has him aim one flame thrower at the ground which can be jumped over and the other dodged under in which he tries to wave both flamethrowers at the player. His Flame hug attack causes him to aim both flamethrowers at either the ground(can be jumped over) or the air(can be dodged over) and attempt to hit the player by making a hugging motion while firing them. His Flame wall attack causes him to position one flame throw above the other, fire them and then turn. The Flame wall attack can only be jumped over with a wall kick so it's best just to get out of the way. Finally we have his fire ball snipe which he uses at long range in which he fires two fireballs in the exact same manner as he did in the original games.
Because of the Mancubus's body fat anything, but headshots are ineffective against the Mancubus as only explosives can harm his stomach. Because of this it's best to either use a shotgun at close range or a long range weapon at a distance both aiming at it's head. Shooting a Mancubus with enough explosives does however create a unique death scene in which the Mancubus's stomach explodes causing it to hold it's guts in.
Attacks:
Flame cross:
His Flame cross attack has him aim one flame thrower at the ground which can be jumped over and the other dodged under in which he tries to wave both flamethrowers at the player.
Flame hug:
His Flame hug attack causes him to aim both flamethrowers at either the ground(can be jumped over) or the air(can be dodged over) and attempt to hit the player by making a hugging motion while firing them.
Flame wall:
His Flame wall attack causes him to position one flame throw above the other, fire them and then turn. The Flame wall attack can only be jumped over with a wall kick so it's best just to get out of the way.
Fire ball snipe:
Finally we have his fire ball snipe which he uses at long range in which he fires two fireballs in the exact same manner as he did in the original games.




Plot:
Keep in mind that since i'm trying to make the game closer to it's roots the story won't take itself very seriously(the original Doom wasn't known for being serious). There's quite a few stabs at humor. Keep in mind that while demons and zombies are your main enemies throughout the game, the 10% of the game takes place before hell takes over and merges with earth.

I would like point out that the plot involved the demons successfully merging time and space of hell with earth. Both places merge as one. Hell would be divided into various countries, based on different forms of demonology, religious views of what hell is like without referancing religion altogether(I thought that would allow us to create areas based on actual places in hell. Sounds smarter in my opinion. You remember how effective the mythological referances in the game Dantes Inferno worked). One based on Christian demonology while another being based on Satanic demonology. As a result the player finds himself traveling the world visiting various versions of hell and as a result the apperance of hell would variety to make the game more epic(one version of hell consists of floating islands of rock while another consists of cities flooded with liquid nitrogen). And no, like I said the game won't mention god or religion itself(it wouldn't be Doom if it did. Any needed referance to religion would have to be as brief as possible, otherwise it would come off as out of place). In addition referances to demonalogy there also exists many referances to other Doom games such as Doom 3, Doom 2, and Final Doom.

However while this would make the game more epic, should anyone be interested in making a freeware game out of my idea they'd likely ask me to rewrite the story(which i'll do if need be). The reason why is that the story is written in a way in which the main character has to talk. ID software is known for having silent protagonists, however those kinds of protagonists only work in games were there are no cutscenes save for the opening, ending, or first person cut scenes(Half Life, Bioshock 1 and 2, Rage, and original Doom being examples), otherwise they come off as weak shells of a man. One reason why the main character in Doom 1, 2, Final Doom, and Doom 64 never talked was due to technological limitations back then(few games had voice acting at that time).

If I must rewrite the story, i'd at least like to make the game self aware by having the characters mentioning that Doomguy is suffering from Laryngitis. As for the personality Doomguy would have would be based on the expressions he makes. He could even try to talk, when someone asks him a question he tries to answer, but can't. However, if given the permission I could however make a talking character charismatic. Whether or not I do is up to you.

As i've said the idea is far too big to fit on this thread. I just wanted to explain some of the idea's i've given you.

Download for the idea can be found here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/zzv1fpfivzaspyh/Doom-Seven+Sons.rtf

If anyone is interested in making a game out of this let me know. I'm sure I can expand this idea even further. Perhaps it could start as a gameplay mod before expanding into a total conversion.

k

Didn't you make this exact same thread like two years ago

TL;DR

Marnetmar said:

Didn't you make this exact same thread like two years ago

Sorry about doing so, it's just that I looked over that thread I made about this in the Doom 3 section and thought that it would be better suited in the Doom 4 section more than anything considering that it represented how I imagined Doom 4 would turn out to be. I really wish I could delete the post that I made in the Doom 3 forum since it really looked out of place.

Doominator2 said:

TL;DR

I understand what you mean. This really is a long list of idea's that I have, so it's going to be hard to find the motivation to read all of it.
That's why I included the idea in document form for download. The download contains the list of weapons, enemies, characters, and story. It'll take awhile for people to read, but that's because of the amount of time that I put into this idea. I really wish I knew how to code so I could work on this game, but I never learned how(not sure where to start).

What a story Merc!

The best way I find to learn how to do things is to make stupid things that make you laugh, that way through the horrible mistakes you make you can get an understanding of the skill while still associating it with fun times.

And then slowly make more and more complex stupid things with an increasing level of hidden passion and unironic enjoyability for others, until you reach your magnum opus of stupid.

Then make a small nice thing, and repeat the previous process replacing stupid with nice until you become the big boss.

Obambirthday taught me how to use polyobjects, dicking around with Sonic dissassemblies taught me very basic Assembly and computer programming in general etc.

Jaxxoon R said:

The best way I find to learn how to do things is to make stupid things that make you laugh, that way through the horrible mistakes you make you can get an understanding of the skill while still associating it with fun times.

And then slowly make more and more complex stupid things with an increasing level of hidden passion and unironic enjoyability for others, until you reach your magnum opus of stupid.

Then make a small nice thing, and repeat the previous process replacing stupid with nice until you become the big boss.

Obambirthday taught me how to use polyobjects, dicking around with Sonic dissassemblies taught me very basic Assembly and computer programming in general etc.

If you going to criticise my work, all I ask is that you be constructive. I don't mind you giving me advice on how to improve my work, but try to keep the comments clean without starting a flame war. That's all I ask.

Son, what are you talking about?

All I said was that in my personal experience I learn through messing around and having fun, that is why dumb thingies like Obambirthday exist.

Unless you are trying to claim to be the creator of "The Obamanation", as Scuba Steve called it, in which case you are dreadfully mistaken. XD

Your work's fine, I'm just giving a suggestion on how you could go about learning and practicing programming, since you expressed a desire to do so apparently.

Jaxxoon R said:

Son, what are you talking about?

All I said was that in my personal experience I learn through messing around and having fun, that is why dumb thingies like Obambirthday exist.

Unless you are trying the claim to be the creator of The Obamanation, in which case you are dreadfully mistaken. XD

Your work's fine, I'm just giving a suggestion on how you could about learning and practicing programming, since you expressed a desire to do so apparently.

Sorry about the misunderstanding. I thought you were trolling. My mistake.