if doom 64 had multi player?

[jeroa]

how do you think things would have turned out for doom and the doom community in an alternate timeline where doom 64 was released with multipayer back in '97?

[Edward850]

Absolutely nothing. PC Doom already had/has modem multiplayer, and Doom64 couldn't offer anything competitive to that given that it would be restricted in both the level set that it came with and the complete lack of any sort of online play given the N64 lacked an integrated modem or NIC. Look no further than both PSX Doom and GBA Doom which did have multiplayer, and they aren't exactly noteworthy of the fact.

[seed]

2 hours ago, Edward850 said:

Absolutely nothing.

 

This. Besides, yea, other console Doom games had MP and that changed... basically nothing.

 

Also, around the time D64 came out there was, apparently, some sort of notion that the big days of Doom were over anyway, so even if D64 had multiplayer things wouldn't have changed at all. Doom's decline in popularity was one other reason why its planned sequel, Absolution, was canned.

[Graf Zahl]

Multiplayer or not would indeed not have made any difference.

 

What's really interesting to consider is, what would have happened if id had released a PC version of Doom64 once the first hardware accelerated 3D cards came out?

 

[Dark Pulse]

Not much would have changed, because 3D - true 3D - was the real hotness at the time. It would've still been quickly overshadowed by Goldeneye and that would have been that.

[Graf Zahl]

Don't be so sure there. It would have had an impact for sure, had it been an official Doom game using hardware accelerated drawing before the source release.

 

[seed]

4 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

What's really interesting to consider is, what would have happened if id had released a PC version of Doom64 once the first hardware accelerated 3D cards came out?

 

Accompanied by a source release as well, chances are D64 would have had a small, but active community making stuff for it nowadays.

[Dark Pulse]

5 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

Don't be so sure there. It would have had an impact for sure, had it been an official Doom game using hardware accelerated drawing before the source release.

Among the Doom community, sure. I'm talking about the public at large.

[Doomkid]

There were loads of reviews chastising Doom64 for it's lack of any sort of multiplayer when it first released. I don't think it would have had any notable impact on the community or modding scene honestly, but it undeniably would have sold better if it had some sort of splitscreen support, which the n64 was famous for. After all, the majority of popular releases had 2-4 player support, including Goldeneye which was pretty universally seen as far more graphically advanced at the time. To the layman, there was no excuse for a game so graphically inferior to also have no multiplayer whatsoever. That lack of 3D models and splitscreen multiplayer was a one-two punch against D64, which sucks because it's a really good continuation of the single player Classic Doom experience.

 

Even as a Doom fan and an impressionable kid I thought Doom64 seemed like shit, so I have first hand memories of being wholly unimpressed at first sight. Obviously I changed my tune as time went on but yeah, the odds were just stacked against it.

[Gregory Stephens]

The Nintendo 64 besides space limitations was more capable than the PlayStation and proven with Duke Nukem 64 it probably could've had it but like people have said, people were moving on from 2.5D shooters and were moving on to hardware accelerated 3D shooters like Quake and GoldenEye and Turok and such.

[Cursed Lemon]

16 hours ago, Lynnie said:

The Nintendo 64 besides space limitations was more capable than the PlayStation and proven with Duke Nukem 64 it probably could've had it but like people have said, people were moving on from 2.5D shooters and were moving on to hardware accelerated 3D shooters like Quake and GoldenEye and Turok and such.

 

Gotta echo this. Duke Nukem 64 was an absolute blast to play and so was Goldeneye despite its gimpy controls. Doom 64 could've absolutely benefited from both having a multiplayer and marketing it properly.