if DOOM were base/tech/city/space only

This is purely theoretical and an attempt to envision the result.

1 - loss of its main impact factor ;
Doom had a huge impact because of the controversy revolving around violence and demonic depictions. No hell could have meant no demons.

2 - Reduced impact factor ;
If they would have made Nazi enemies in space it might as well have been Wolfenstein 3D 2. Which means it might have had an impact but greatly reduced as Nazi enemies where not new for ID software games.

3 - Engine problems ;
The environments could have become monotone in nature if it where all tech corridors, space station corridors, and rectangular blocks resembling buildings in a city with the original limitations.

4 - good engine bad tech demo game ;
This could have meant doom was to become a bad tech demo on a good engine, missing the general gamer public but possibly gaining more interest with other developers.

A - it might have ended up like the game HACX.

B - To have had the same impact as the doom which DoomWorld celebrates it might have needed more simulated fake violence, more blood, bigger gun power, and several thrills. This concludes this vision of another doom in an what-if situation.

PRIMEVAL said:

What if Doom was one of us?

Even if DOOM didn't have hell in it, I think it would still be a pretty solid game.

Piper Maru said:

Even if DOOM didn't have hell in it, I think it would still be a pretty solid game.

Doom would definitely still be remembered for its impact on gaming history simply because of what it managed to do. It managed to fake 3D in a way that actually feels 3D with fully textured environments, animated textures, 8-directional enemies, a lighting system, and of course a system of heights.

At one point, Doom was going to be a licensed Aliens game, so this almost did happen.

Side note: ID were also considered making it an Evil Dead game. Of course, the influences of both franchises are quite evident in the finished game (the Giger-esque skin textures, the chainsaw, the SSG, etc), alongside those of Dungeons & Dragons.

Hell would maybe be Mars instead if they had stayed with the alien idea.

I'd <3 doom's crazy marble castles.

FireFish said:

No hell could have meant no demons.

Possibly, but then there's always the simple idea of putting demons in anyway and sticking to the portal idea...even if we don't see the portal or Hell...the fact we see the demons could have backed up the claim enough.

But I like that they made the Hell maps too, I wish there would have been more Hell enemies in them but hey, we have what we have and it is still fun.

I agree with FireFish. I don't think I'd keep enjoying Doom wads for so long time if they didn't feature Hellish elements. Monsters from Hell and Hellish environments themselves in contrast with hi-tech human technology in contrast with old-fashioned stuff like a wooden shotgun or chainsaw or ugly metallic plates. The combination is somewhat surreal, but plausible-enough to make the game not feel entirely "arcade-y". Possibilities of what to do with these themes in custom maps are very wide. The Hell theme is the least generic of the themes Doom combines together, and thankfully, all enemies are Hellish (even zombies are visibly controlled by Hellish forces), which alone increases the appeal of Doom maps, as opposed to games where you shoot boring humans or boring blobs of slime.

I like the tech bases and realistic environments and I have always been less keen on the hellish levels. That being said, I thought that removing the hell element from the Doom movie was a very bad move, undermined the whole thing and made it not really Doom at all.

So, I guess that even though it's not my favourite aspect of it, hell is integral to Doom from my perspective.

it would have been a prequel to quake 2

Hell added an extra dimension (pun intended) and creativity into the game. Without it, the game would be just another space marines vs aliens shooter. Hell is the creative element, and hell textures are the ones you can really be inventive with. Without it, the game would be bland.

I could make the counterpoint that simply putting a bunch of ROCKRED and CRACKLE on non-orthogonal walls doesn't inherently make a level more creative than if you'd used TEKGREN =P

actually it seems to me that the City levels are the hardest to make in a way that encourages anyone to play them... the number of people who turn their nose up at Hellcore, Bloody Steel, Hellbound, A.L.T. and other fantastic if controversial megawads simply because of the urban settings is actually astounding, and does no credit whatsoever to the effort of their authors. personally I can never see too many moody city levels, and never too few hell levels based around platforms full of Hell Knights and what have you

The problem people have with these wads you've mentioned isn't the urban settings. It's the gameplay which they find tedious and unimaginatve. I guess in a way the theme contributes to the boringness of the gameplay since it's quite tricky to make a modern style fast-paced layout that would still look like a city, but it's not like that's impossible to do.

that's a fair point, but what sea change made roaming monsters becoming boring and tedious? I've always admired levels with more natural monster placement...

I think the main problem with gameplay of city maps is not in monster placement itself, it's in the usage of space that de-effectivizes challenge, pace of progression, and general comfort. Urban theme encourages mappers to either make a very extensive layout with too much space to move, or make vertical distances greater than horizontal distances between parts of the playable area. The first option leads to maps where you can easily outmaneuver most dangers (monsters/projectiles/whatever), where you spend too much time running long distances, and where you might easily get lost if the map is elaborate (which they tend to be). The second option leads to maps where you must wait for lifts to surmount great vertical distances (you want to fight, not wait), where players without freelook get annoying problems with aiming to monsters above them, and where navigation might get confusing a lot, too. Neither of these traits helps to make good gameplay, at least most of the time, I guess.

In fairness, removing the hell episodes wouldn't mean having to get rid of the demons. It would simply mean fighting them on the outside rather than going into the heat of it.

Dragonsbrethren said:

if DOOM were crate only

Oh my god.

Yes.