Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
HeadshotTAS

New Doom 64 Discovery In Research Lab After 24 Years!

Recommended Posts

I need to preface this post by saying that the discovery in question isn't the most groundbreaking, glitchy or even significant discovery in this game's history. With that being said, this seemingly obvious thing has never been documented in the entire time that this game has been released, and the way it was made known to me has a very nice story attached to it which teaches us that even someone who is playing for the very first time can teach those of us that have been playing this game for years.
 

Here is how the story goes: It's a lazy monday morning, and I decide to go on Twitch to see if anyone is playing Doom 64. Indeed there was, so I decide to join the stream and enter the chat with fellow Doom 64 fanatic @Immorpher. For a while, everything was normal until the streamer made it to MAP07, Research Lab. The streamer in question made it to the blue key and proceeded to fall off the platform, only to notice a second later that the soulsphere secret was lowered. However, since he already was off the platform, it was made inaccessible to him. It was still possible to collect the soulsphere with one of two methods, but neither of these were ideal. The first method is to jump across, which in the 2020 release is mainly done using a rocket jump to gain some extra speed. Immorpher initially suggested this method to the streamer, but he failed to execute it since it's a precise setup, so that was off the table. The second method is to take advantage of a little-known trigger that can be used through the wall inside the secret area containing the rockets and berserk. The downside of this method is that where exactly this trigger is can't be communicated easily, especially not to someone just playing the game for the first time. So it seemed like getting the soulsphere was out of the question. However, a few minutes later, we saw something out of the ordinary: he teleported to the room, only to find that the bridge was raised. How was this possible? The only known way of raising the bridge again was not used at all. It was a mystery.
 

Unfortunately, the streamer's internet happened to cut off for a bit during this level, so at first I wasn't confident that I was able to understand what happened. At the time, I wasn't paying full attention to the gameplay, so I wasn't able to connect any dots when this happened. Later that day, however, I decided to look back at the footage that Twitch did manage to save, and I ended up finding a lead: the switch that raises the bridge had already been used, and the streamer appeared to have used it again. With a new idea to test, I decided to replicate it for myself. So I played the level as normal, got to the blue key, intentionally did not get the soulsphere, backtracked to the switch, and lo and behold: the switch was indeed usable for a second time, and yes, it was in fact this switch which was responsible for raising the bridge! With further testing, I was able to find that not only was the switch made usable again when the blue key is picked up, but it was actually disabled if you then got the soulsphere. So yes, the level was designed deliberately so that if you missed the soulsphere, you would be able to get it again by backtracking to the switch and pressing it. Additionally, the aforementioned hidden trigger that is usable within the secret was also disabled when the soulsphere is grabbed, clearly demonstrating a connection between this trigger and the switch. What I had initially dismissed as some kind of leftover from the game's development was actually an intended part of the game design that hadn't been acknowledged for over two decades.
 

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of you reading this were actually aware of this from your first playthrough of this game, because it's exactly the sort of thing that would only happen to someone who is playing the game for the first time. With how easy it can be to get lost in the game's levels, it's easy to imagine going back to that room at some point, pressing that switch again and proceeding to the soulsphere without a second thought. But for an experienced player, why would you fall off the platform to begin with unless you were doing a speedrun and wanted to save some extra time? You would already know to just wait for the soulsphere, and wouldn't think of finding an alternative method of getting there that involves raising the bridge. Even myself, after spending hundreds of hours researching this game, I only ever managed to find a hidden sector outside the game's intended play area before being made aware of the developer-intended way of achieving the exact same result. So don't ever assume that you know everything about any particular subject, because every so often, you'll be surprised by what you don't know!


Here is the video demonstrating this discovery: https://youtu.be/lB1PV_cLiLQ

Share this post


Link to post

I was one of those people who discovered this my first time. I didn't get across the bridge in time so I went back to flip the switch again. Because of the camera in the room I assumed that the switch could be used again and hit it without even paying much attention to the fact the texture was still "flipped." I check the camera and saw the bridge was up again.

 

It's genuinely a surprise to me that people didn't know about this because it's just second nature to me that the bridge can be raised again.

 

Something I did recently learn after all this time is that the spectres that spawn in that black pit in Alpha Quadrant are blocked from going between the pillars, so they can't block the player from crossing the pillars. In hindsight that's 100% necessary due to infinite thing height, but until hearing about it that's not something I had ever actually thought about.

Share this post


Link to post

I always assumed that soul sphere was a one-shot deal. The first time I played the level, I backed off the platform expecting there to be an enemy rather than a soul sphere, and it made sense to me that the punishment for panicking like that would be to miss out on the soul sphere. Very interesting to see that the developers actually put in a way to get back to the soul sphere, because they sure made it seem like you couldn't!

Share this post


Link to post

After all these years! All of those soulspheres left behind. @sector666 closely guarding the secret haha. This will be useful when I play on those ultra hard difficulties, so I can use the soulsphere at the end of the level instead of having to grab it at the blue key.

Share this post


Link to post

Fascinating! I wonder if this feature is present in Doom 64: Retribution as well.

 

EDIT: Nope. Instead, the bridge remains raised until the Soulsphere is taken. Good thinking, @Nevander!

Edited by Rudolph

Share this post


Link to post
On 5/5/2021 at 9:23 PM, Rudolph said:

Fascinating! I wonder if this feature is present in Doom 64: Retribution as well.

 

EDIT: Nope. Instead, the bridge remains raised until the Soulsphere is taken. Good thinking

I myself had no idea about this bridge being able to be raised again so I had kept it raised until the player takes the sphere.

 

However in light of this discovery I will probably fix it in Retribution so the switch can be re-used to re-raise the bridge. I will try to find a way to make it more obvious that the switch can be used again.

Share this post


Link to post
12 hours ago, Nevander said:

I myself had no idea about this bridge being able to be raised again so I had kept it raised until the player takes the sphere.

 

However in light of this discovery I will probably fix it in Retribution so the switch can be re-used to re-raise the bridge. I will try to find a way to make it more obvious that the switch can be used again.

Honestly, I much prefer your solution of keeping the bridge raised until the Soulsphere is taken.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×