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Janizdreg

Perfecting the art of promoting Doom on Steam (and elsewhere)

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Steam recently added a recommendation feature which allows you to describe your favorite games to others in a few words. And since Steam is nowadays the probably most important distribution channel for classic Doom, I decided that I want to do my part in promoting our beloved classic to Doom virgins using the service.

So, what I want to achieve with this thread is to basically create a short but informative and entertaining description of the game, which hopefully turns out to be mesmerizing and convincing enough to lure new people to play the game (or even get retired fans to play the game again).

Here's my initial draft for the recommendation:

I wrote:
Doom is the Citizen Kane of the FPS genre.

Gameplay-wise it features a unique blend of using high maneuverability as your main asset against massive armies of demons, while exploring non-linear and non-scripted levels with plenty of secrets to discover.

To top it off, you get an unforgettable cast of hellish monsters, a legendary soundtrack, great multiplayer and possibly the biggest amount of free user-made add-ons for any game ever.

Overall, this game offers you more bang for a buck than any other action game does. I recommend running it via a modern source port though, the DOS executable included with the Steam release is archaic and definitely not recommended if you want to experience Doom at its best. So get ZDoom or another modern port and go kick some demon butt right now!


Now feel free to suggest any improvements to the draft or write a short & sweet recommendation of your own. I'd love it if we can produce something awesome that can be effectively utilized in promoting Doom on Steam, as well as all across the various social networks and on the internet at large.

As a side note, if you have a Doom-related image/screenshot that truly captures the essence of the game and looks awesome, post it here. Such an image could very well complement this type of recommendation.

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Better just stay simple, like the game. I don't think it's a good idea to "smudge" a bunch of blablablabla about source ports in thier faces. Maybe just a link to Doomworld, so people can find out as much as they need to about Doom, it's scource ports, and wads for themselves. And then they find something they like. What Janizdreg wrote is pretty sufficient for introducing a game. Like, not much more than what you'd see on the back of video game packaging.

Good idea though doing this. Though I doubt that many people out there really like old games. There arent many of my friends who I introduced Doom to and didn't laugh thier asses off.

It's worth a shot though. Doom still has a bunch to offer.

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Doom is t3h h4x 4nd t3h p4wn, j00 fux0r, and 1f you d0n't pl4y it John Romero is gonna make you his bitch, you fucking pussy!!!

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Bishop said:

Better just stay simple, like the game. I don't think it's a good idea to "smudge" a bunch of blablablabla about source ports in thier faces.

I'd agree that a dissertation on the role and niche of each source port in a small advertising blurb would reek of tl;dr.

An advantage of ZDoom for the Steam crowd is that it can find the IWADs within the Steam directory, so all they need to do is extract the zip and double-click on the exe, it'll list their IWADs and there they go. No need to copy files or run a setup. (Also, the support for Heretic, Hexen and Hexen Deathkings, all of which can be bought on Steam as well, is a bonus.) Skulltag may be an even better choice for the complete newbies, since it has an installer (some people like that, as weird as it seems to me) and the startup screen gives them a choice between OpenGL and software.

Chocolate Doom has the same built-in Steam locator functionality, though the lack of in-game reconfiguration (as in vanilla!) may be a turn-off. Eternity with that code would be an excellent choice since it has a built-in menu for the Master Levels, which makes it very user-friendly. Many times, people have been confused that a level "didn't work" because they saw Entryway when they started a new game (and they're trying a pwad that replaces MAP25)...

The IWAD selector in Eternity is also clearer than ZDoom's for the newbie: it makes it obvious that you choose a main game to load, not any old file. Plenty of beginners have been confused by ZDoom's IWAD selection box, wondering why PWADs did not appear on it.

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Hey Ron, can we say "f***k" in the blurb? As in

F***k ZDoom, f***k Citizen Kane, f***k Steam

? Less like TL;DR, more like the tagline to a holiday-season blockbuster coming soon to a theater near you. :P Except that it might not be PC, but then neither was DOOM in 1993.
edit: added link

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I'm all for promoting Doom but Steam users are the last people I would want to have the Doom community infested with. They're probably by far the most difficult to convince too. (at least in my experience)

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40oz said:

I'm all for promoting Doom but Steam users are the last people I would want to have the Doom community infested with. They're probably by far the most difficult to convince too. (at least in my experience)

This. Altough I love Steam, the community behind it is pretty painful.

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Never_Again said:

Hey Ron, can we say "f***k" in the blurb? As in
? Less like TL;DR, more like the tagline to a holiday-season blockbuster coming soon to a theater near you. :P Except that it might not be PC, but then neither was DOOM in 1993.
edit: added link

Your mother probably doesn't read this forum. It's ok to say fuck. Assuming that is what you meant of course. (Fuuck?)

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The source says fuck in 6 files, in fact, including the one NA is quoting.

Janizdreg, bane of all French anime and cathedral WAD makers, your recommendation is pretty poor, as it's not ample enough and it's partly negative. It might attract some people who played it in the past, but most will see it as a niche thing, especially with that talk about executables. You're crippling part of its attraction, as a sheer retro game, instead of simply selling all its main assets, like modding, retro gaming and competitive play.

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Maybe we should just kidnap a few random CS/Halo/CoD fanboys, lock them up in a room forcing them to play Doom for a week straight on a 486, and then they will all be like "Doom, Doom, Doom, Doom ....", and when you pop them in front of a source port they will be all like "OMGWTFIJUSTSHATMYPANTSDESUKAWAAAAIIIII <3 <3 <3" ;-)

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I converted my boyfriend, two steam friends (TF2 players) and my cousin to Doom from stupid 3d shooters. All you have to do is force them to death match for a few hours or play through E1 it seems.

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Or reading the Doom Comic?

After all, what other game allows you to be a Man and a Half, deeply feel respect for that there Shotgun, and become radioactive because the Humanity can't build a future for its children?

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Bishop said:

There arent many of my friends who I introduced Doom to and didn't laugh thier asses off.


Lol, try having a whole library filled with kids laughin' their asses off when me and a few friends deathmatched at school once. lol

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Maes said:

Or reading the Doom Comic?

After all, what other game allows you to be a Man and a Half, deeply feel respect for that there Shotgun, and become radioactive because the Humanity can't build a future for its children?


Every time you reference the Doom comic I love you a little more

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Ragnor said:

Every time you reference the Doom comic I love you a little more


Aha, now we're COOKING WITH PLASMA. You're in the BIG LEAGUES, baby!

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Well, when I started doing a DM with a mate at school, (I didn't know he liked DOOM but something more awesome happened, read on!)my whole class was like: is that the classic doom? So I was like: Yeah of course. And everyone went like: AWESOME! or COOL! WHERE CAN I BUY IT!? :P
I know ALOT of people who like Doom. They don't map or anything but when I throw something at them they try it and give good critics ;D

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Janizdreg said:

I decided that I want to do my part in promoting our beloved classic to Doom virgins using the service.


I probably won't ever understand why anyone would find this necessary.

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Blasphemy I say, we're supposed to be cranky, grumpy dinosaurs who hate would-be newcomers. Those slobbering simpletons, talking about Doom as if it were any common game. Lies and slander, all of it.

but really: someone should approach id/Gabe and request Chocolate Doom or some other port to be freely available on Steam and automatically installed on Doom.

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you know ... I knew that Doom would be say "ressurected" because it is so basic yet advanced that it can evolve for all eternity.

but yes, this isnt any game you see in stores nowadays. this is alive and active in its own content, by us ofc. and it isnt hard to build a map or insert a mod, you just have to strain your brains for sec and google shit up and there you go.
there's no pro programmer "bullshit" to hew through (exept decorate but that's kids play).

I love these news, people will look at the origin of FPS
and understand

WOO Baby, IM BURNING OUT OF CONTROL

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Well in that case they would do well by making their own bundled port, disregarding valve time of course. Having only the raw data and doom2.exe supplied with the games is ridiculous. Being playable right away would vastly improve the oobe for newcomers.

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