Doom 3 or Doom 3: BFG Edition?

[sophsoph316]

I have both versions of Doom 3 and was wondering which version would be better considering I've never played Doom 3.

[Azuris]

Doom 3, but throw in some HD Textures :)

It looks amazing.

Even without, the Lightning is just so much better.

 

Also some minor Sound Changes are strangly awkward, like thr Woman talking right at the Beginning.

 

The Factor you can only use Flash Light or a Gun makes it much more intense.

 

Played through both a few Months ago Side by Side.

 

If you just want to rush through, play the BFG.

Just to pew pew through can also be funny.

 

 

[Lippeth]

BFG has a few things going against it for me but ultimately they're both equally playable. Below are only a few of the most obvious differences, comparisons and opinions I can think of. Take them with a grain of salt because it's just my point of view.

• BFG Edition changes a few sounds, and generally has a more balanced sound mix than the original, but if any sound had more than five variations (most do), all but the first five are removed from the game.
• There are a few memorable set pieces and monster encounters from the original that are completely removed. Not replaced, not improved, but removed.
• BFG Edition doesn't allow you to skip cutscenes, and pauses the entire game to save, which is absolutely obnoxious.
• 120 fps is nice, but depending on your monitor you'll have constant screen tearing unless you use another program to force it into borderless window mode. It could just be my hardware, so your mileage may vary.
• Some take issue with the darkness of the original and claim BFG is brighter and therefore better, though all it seems to do is raise the light scale which completely blows out the lightest parts, and leaves the darkness as dark as ever. If you do play the BFG Edition, setting r_lightscale to 2 restores the original lighting. If you want BFG's lightscale while playing the original, set it to 3.
• The FOV is zoomed in 10 degrees by default, but the same value has about a 20 degree difference. I did a side by side comparison, and in order to match the BFG Edition's fov at 90, I had to set the original's to 71, and to match the original's 90, I set the BFG Edition's to 110.
  Spoiler

  (make sure your browser page is not zoomed in to see the intended effect)

  

  

   

• The flashlight differences are trivial because I use it so little in both versions that it really doesn't matter, though it may be the most contentious difference. While it's nice to have one less weapon to cycle through in the BFG Edition, the armor mounted flashlight does this jitter motion when going up stairs, or a weird bob when crouching, which looks pretty terrible.
• The BFG Edition omits the gunflash effect on weapons for some reason, so combined with the armor mounted flashlight, it functions identically to the duct tape mod for the original game.
• There are way more mods and great maps for the original, and the original is easier to mod and tweak in general.
• The amount of surplus ammo in the original is absurdly high, borderline comical. And for some reason The BFG Edition doubles this amount.
• Rather than finding source images or alternatives for the really low res textures, they focused on making the character models look...different. To get the most out of the textures in the original game, add the following to your autoexec or change them in the config file:
  Spoiler

  seta image_usePrecompressedTextures "0"
  seta image_useNormalCompression "0"
  seta image_useCompression "0"

  seta image_anisotropy "16"

   

  seta r_multiSamples "16"

There are two mods for the BFG Edition that absolutely make it worth playing: Cst-Doom3BFG, which mainly just fixes bugs and restores things from the original while adding an astronomical amount of qol features, and RBDoom3 which opens up modding capabilities to the less technically savvy and adds ambient lighting which is pretty nice, though the lighting does blow out certain computer screens so you can't read them. Still a very ambitious mod that's worth experiencing.

 

I see a lot of comments about the original being more horror focused and the BFG Edition being more action focused, but really it's the exact same game at its core so I can't fully relate to that sentiment; BFG Edition feels more like a halfway interesting mod that ended up breaking more things than it tried to improve, but for all the gripes I have with it, when I'm in the middle of playing either version I don't feel any difference in genre or tone. Sure the BFG Edition cuts content and has worse looking character models, but that doesn't change how the game feels overall. They may be referring to the flashlight differences or increased light scale, or even movement speed and the ammo increase, but I mean even reserved mods are usually more drastic than that, and it's still Doom 3.

 

In the end, it comes down to personal preference or at least a curious interest, and while there's something special about the original to me that the BFG Edition undermines, I will say that The BFG Edition does some of the more obvious stuff out of the box which makes it seem like an easier option at first glance, and is fine if messing with a config file bothers you (though BFG Edition may still require a bit of faffing). The original does almost require a little bit of setup with an autoexec.cfg or the regular config file depending on your preferences, but even out of the box it's still by far the definitive version.

 

TL;DR

Just play both because you have them both lololol thanks for letting me rant.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Lippeth

[CoolerDoomeR]

I suggest Doom 3 not BFG Edition, because it runs more smoother on an old pc.

[Loud Silence]

Obviously original Doom 3, but with Dhewm3 port.

https://dhewm3.org/

BFG Edition ruins game badly.

[7Mahonin]

I prefer the original release. Yes, the game is dark and you will have to decide when to use a flashlight to see and when you use your gun. It would've made more sense for some of the guns to have weapon-mounted flashlights than for a marine to switch between a gun and a light, but that's what adds some suspense to this game anyways. The chest mounted system makes the game much easier, almost cheaply easier, and again... why would they arm space marines with a chest light that only works a few seconds? Besides, the BFG Edition appears to alter the lighting to some degree, making the need for the flashlight far less than it was for the original release.

 

So in short I would suggest the original if you want to play Doom 3 the way those of us who were alive at the time had played it, which will result in an experience that has some tense moments due to the lighting and flashlight feature, or play the BFG edition if you want something a little easier to see and not have to switch guns to see, which will make the combat feel somewhat quicker.

[Ringo64]

I prefer standard D3 for its mod support. Playing it on the Oculus Quest is fun as hell

[Mabuse]

On 7/8/2022 at 4:28 AM, sophsoph316 said:

I have both versions of Doom 3 and was wondering which version would be better considering I've never played Doom 3.

 

Doom 3.

 

simply because there are much more MODS for it.

its really unfortuanate the bfg edition is kinda useless in that regard

 

 

my Setup is:

 

for better looks:

-------------------

- HD Textures

- Phorzo particles for sikkmod (simply plug&play with other mods)

- parallax

 

gameplay:

--------------

- perfected doom 3 (tweaked)

- ultraviolence (tweaked)

 

- these both merged together

 

- ultra violence just the ability to spawn more than 1 monster for each spawn, the spawn-table also got completely adjusted, to the point that each monster has its own buddies to spawn to fit in well and add more to the gameplay

so there are at least twice as much enemies now  (no matter the map).

 

- perfected got tweaked even further (some sounds needed dire adjustment (shotgun sound is severe pain in the ass for example) more aggressive and faster reactin/firing security, player auto fire pistols, machinegun higher fire rates and more tweaks, carry more ammo, and much more tweaks, etc)

 

- makes up for a half-spooky, half action gameplay - leaning into the action department, but quick save is really needed

so due to the chance that death is always imminent the horror is guaranteed

maybe i share my mod pack as soon i get rid of some bugs

 

- also i want to add some RPG-MOD-Element adjusted that HEALTH and ARMOR will increase over time

(maybe also mixed with ability to carry more ammo), so you get more dureable over time, and there is feel for progress

 

- all weaons fit a purpose (except pistol, although it is much more powerful, but as long you have something better you will use better ones as long you have the ammo. and if not you are probably fucked anyway. but pistol is good for early gameplay)

 

however, doom 3 with mod support is a hidden gem, that really will made me look again

 

with some polish is is simply 2022 gameplay. survial-action mixture in a spooky environment

not that arena shooting power fantasy with "flame belching enemies for armor with double dash"-gameplay that reminds me of super mario

that is contrary to what i want to expierience.

 

the main point why doom 3 is the next logical step from doom 2 is because no matter how much you tweak it (hd textures, gzdoom, etc), 2d sprites cannot keep up with the graphical expierience

 

i think that doom 2016 and eternal can also be modded to fit better a gameplay with an alternate universe where you are not the "doom slayer" who jumps around like mario, but simply an enganged man (who can carry an unrealistic amount of ammo and weaponry for the sake of gameplay ;)) who really shits his pants while strugling with his enemies (but has the chance to beat them due to gameplay purposes and the advanced UAC weaponry).

 

i like to be mobile, so mediocre-fast movement is ok and much needed (we dont want to waste out time, and also not get artificially challenged by running around like a gimp or dying from falling 2 meters), but not for double jumps and that sort of things, thats nothing i can identify myself with.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Mabuse

[NaliSeed]

BFG Edition is awful, its only redeeming feature is the shoulder-mounted flashlight; even the Lost Mission campaign wasn't that great. You're definitely better off with the 2004 game coupled with the DooM 3 Essential HD Pack mod, it looks phenomenal, exactly what the BFG Edition should've been in the first place, but wasn't. 👎

[BonciuADV]

You've lost me at "Lost Mission wasn't that great". Slap some r_lightScale 2 and play the best Hell level in Doom history. Even if the Exis Labs are unused assets and also reused assets from the Delta Labs, they play way better without the absurd numbers of Commandos. Also except the fact that it's a little easier than the other 2 campaigns Lost Mission on Nightmare is the best run and gun experience in Doom 3.

[NaliSeed]

4 hours ago, BonciuADV said:

You've lost me at "Lost Mission wasn't that great". Slap some r_lightScale 2 and play the best Hell level in Doom history. Even if the Exis Labs are unused assets and also reused assets from the Delta Labs, they play way better without the absurd numbers of Commandos. Also except the fact that it's a little easier than the other 2 campaigns Lost Mission on Nightmare is the best run and gun experience in Doom 3.

Well, it was nowhere near as good as RoE, I can tell you that 😌

[AdrianFreeman]

Now both versions are collected under Doom 3 on Steam. If you have one version, other version also appears on your library.

[Lippeth]

7 minutes ago, AdrianFreeman said:

Now both versions are collected under Doom 3 on Steam. If you have one version, other version also appears on your library.

Huh, after over a decade of owning the original on Steam with over 100 hours of play time I'm suddenly prompted to agree to a EULA before I'm able to play when launching from Steam. Looking through the local files there's no trace of BFG so I wonder if it installs after launching the game. Either way, the original still runs just fine when using the local exe so I'll probably stick with that and dhewm3 for a while until I'm ready to see what this is all about. I did already buy the 2019 version of the BFG Edition from the actual Bethesda launcher, and oh boy wasn't that a great investment.

[Edward850]

7 hours ago, Lippeth said:

Looking through the local files there's no trace of BFG so I wonder if it installs after launching the game.

It's a separate library entry.

[Lippeth]

1 hour ago, Edward850 said:

It's a separate library entry.

Ah, I see. The EULA prompt when launching the original Doom 3 had me assume it was going to be similar to how Doom 2 and Quake does it, with a rerelease folder or something similar, but I guess this is a different thing entirely and because I have all the id games grouped together I didn't see the BFG Edition at first. I wondered why there wasn't a news update on Doom 3's library page until I found the info I was looking for on Doom 2's page, which make sense because of its update, but was confusing nonetheless. I also just noticed that it's the 2012 version which makes me wonder what happened to the 2019 version. Not that I'm complaining that the 2019 version disappeared but I did buy it directly from Bethesda at one point out of curiosity. I'm also grateful that the original Doom 3 folder is left alone.

[RetroWolf92]

Vanilla all the way.

 

BFG Edition is a nice touch-up if you only have a console, but it's ultimately redundant for PC because:

 

1) There are HD Packs for Doom 3 that look better

2) The copies of Doom and Doom 2 packaged with it are edited (which I am strongly against)

3) Plenty of mods, including cooperative (I'd recommend OpenCoop)

[QuaketallicA]

Depends on what kind of a Doomer you are, really.

 

If you're a purist wanting the true experience as intended originally, then of course Doom 3 original is the way to go.

If you want the best graphics, there are mods out there like Sikk Mod which add a lot of modern graphical features, and nowadays Neural Network a.i. algorithm-upscaled textures exist. With these two combined, you can get near PS4-looking graphics out of Doom 3. It's very impressive. (Ditto for Quake 4.) On a similar note if you have 3D audio, you can use EAX with Doom 3 (but if not it's not worth the trouble imo trying to emulate it. Never quite sounds right for me.)

 

If you really don't like horror genre all that much and would prefer a generally brighter environment with easier to see enemies, and much higher ammo count, than BFG edition offers the version you're looking for (although Duct tape mods have been around for a long time appeasing that crowd.) Personally I feel this is the wrong way to play the game because the game world feels so much more menacing and overpowering in the dark, and having to switch between using guns and a flashlight adds to that terror of the dark. But some people don't care for horror, and if you're one of them, then BFG will be more up your alley and you can play Doom 3 more like the classic Doom games (though I'd argue those also had a fair dose of darkness/shadows and horror too, people forget.) I also never felt like vanilla Doom 3 was ever lacking in ammo, especially if you pay attention to audio logs and have a keen eye for secrets.

 

My vote is for original Doom 3 vanilla for a first playthrough. Even the original graphics alone were quite impressive for 2004.

[Eurisko]

I actually prefer the BFG edition. I always found the gun/flashlight alternating a pain in the ass which is probably why I couldn't get on with Outlast.

 

 

[TheSlipgateStudios]

OG Doom 3 or get bust.

[Ozcar]

Doom 3 bfg edition ruin atmosphere and graphics of doom 3, Also it ruined balance ammo of guns. Imo recommended to get og doom 3.

[Arl]

OG Doom3, with Dhewm3 for better performance and stability.

 

And any mod that you may find interesting going around, which are many.

[mollusk]

Doom 3 is honestly best for if you want to experience it in the way it first came out, but my only gripe is how I could use only a gun or only a flashlight. With BFG edition, you get updated graphics and shit, as well as getting to use a flashlight with your gun. I also have a gripe about that because the flashlight runs out of juice after a small amount of time of using it. Now, this game is fairly dark because of the horror route the developers took for this game, so for someone like me who can't see much nor well in dark atmospheres, it kinda just delays my gameplay. I'd honestly just recommend you try out both to see which kind of playstyle fits you. Happy hunting!

[Edward850]

This thread has rather outlived it's purpose now that both versions are given to you from the same purchase.

[Gez]

The original intent was to ask which one to play, not which one to buy:

On vendredi 8 juillet 2022 at 4:28 AM, sophsoph316 said:

I have both versions of Doom 3 and was wondering which version would be better considering I've never played Doom 3.

 

[Edward850]

Huh, fair enough. Just play both I guess.

[Kes Gaming YT]

Something no one else has pointed out: The BFG edition comes with Steam achievements, whereas the regular version does not.

That's enough to get me to play it, but probably not enough motivation for most people, lol.

I thought it worth mentioning though.

[BonciuADV]

20 hours ago, Kes Gaming YT said:

Something no one else has pointed out: The BFG edition comes with Steam achievements, whereas the regular version does not.

That's enough to get me to play it, but probably not enough motivation for most people, lol.

I thought it worth mentioning though.

Too bad you can't 100% the achievements because nobody is playing multiplayer. Unless?

[jupiter_ex]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:04 PM, Kes Gaming YT said:

Something no one else has pointed out: The BFG edition comes with Steam achievements, whereas the regular version does not.

 

Didn't Doom 3 have achievements though? What were the "Back up your files" computer screens for then? I heard backing up every single one gave you an achievement in the original Doom 3 (I didn't have the Steam version)

 

About the poll: I used to be a BFG edition apologist, but now than I'm replaying vanilla D3 since it showed up in my library bundled with BFG ed I can totally remember how the original is better. My vote goes for the original releases (Doom 3 and Resurrection of Elvis)

[Quasar]

BFG is acceptable for experiencing the original campaign or The Lost Mission, but do not use its version of Resurrection of Evil - it is butchered compared to the original, with nerfed difficulty, removed special effects and gameplay sequences, and missing minigames. Some (but not all) of the unnecessary or bad changes can be reverted with CstDoom3-BFG if you're for some reason stuck with that version of the game's data but can use a source port.

[Gez]

1 hour ago, jupiter_ex said:

Didn't Doom 3 have achievements though? What were the "Back up your files" computer screens for then? I heard backing up every single one gave you an achievement in the original Doom 3 (I didn't have the Steam version)

No, only BFG has achievements. The whole "achievement" concept came from the Xbox 360, in 2005:

Everyone remembers the immortal Ecksbawks Kid

 

Achievements would arrive on the PC a few years later, in 2007, with Steam offering its own implementation while Microsoft ported the Xbox Live gamerscore to the ill-fated Games for Windows Live system. Sony would follow suit a bit later in 2008, but coming up with the term Trophy, original word do not steal.

 

Anyway, Doom 3 was released in 2004, so shortly before all that nonsense began; while Doom 3 BFG Edition happened in 2012, after everyone had jumped on the bandwagon.