Doom 3: Phobos

[snapshot]

ArchangelOfHell said:

spawn random demon encounters non stop with coop support

http://doom3coop.com/downloads.php
All of it's servers are "empty" .

[ArchangelOfHell]

From what I understand that is normal coop. There are no added demons or monster variations from the original, if anything a few extras imps respawn randomly possibly.
I'm talking about dozens of demon/zombie waves to keep you on edge throughout the campaign, on top of everything else.


For example the UAC Admin stage early on is mostly imps and some z secs, I've added extra zombie types to show how it chould have been.

[Arl]

I wonder, would people be able to make maps or any other kind of add-on based in this mod as Classic Doom 3 intended at the time?

[Koko Ricky]

As always, I'm impressed by how well the engine has aged.

[snapshot]

ArchangelOfHell said:

I'm talking about dozens of demon/zombie waves to keep you on edge throughout the campaign, on top of everything else.

Yes it does, It adds more demons and weapons, Basically more types of the existing demons and new weapons like Flamethrower ... etc, However it doesn't add them in default game levels, Only it's own levels .

[geX]

Arl said:

I wonder, would people be able to make maps or any other kind of add-on based in this mod as Classic Doom 3 intended at the time?

Good question! We haven't done anything yet (and highly unlikely we will) to prevent anyone to do what they want with the code/assits etc. once the mod is out. So if somebody wanted to make a map with a 100 Arachnotrons they could do so (just an example).

We don't have any idea if we have broken anything preventing you from playing or enjoying the two original campaigns though. Since that has not been our focus.

It will be open for use the same way any assets in Doom 3 is. Any credits would be appreciated obviously :)

[Caffeine Freak]

geX said:

We don't have any idea if we have broken anything preventing you from playing or enjoying the two original campaigns though. Since that has not been our focus.

Oh, we definitely have. We've entirely removed certain entity classes from the original games that we aren't re-using in our mod, simply to save memory. There's plenty of the original maps that you couldn't load up in our mod for that reason alone.

Although, there has been some small talk of maybe releasing a 'patched' version post-release with all the original entity classes and such intact, so that people can play the original campaigns with our modifications. I don't know whether any of the changes we've made would break something in the original games, but that's obviously something that would require a layer of extra work and testing, so I'm not sure it'll happen.

[Arl]

geX said:

Good question! We haven't done anything yet (and highly unlikely we will) to prevent anyone to do what they want with the code/assits etc. once the mod is out. So if somebody wanted to make a map with a 100 Arachnotrons they could do so (just an example).

We don't have any idea if we have broken anything preventing you from playing or enjoying the two original campaigns though. Since that has not been our focus.

It will be open for use the same way any assets in Doom 3 is. Any credits would be appreciated obviously :)

Oh, that's great!

Just to be clear: I was talking about making content based on Phobos, not using Phobos' content to make regular maps/mods with extra goodies.

That being said, if you (the team) are also considering making your stuff compatible with the original campaign that's very neat too.

[DooM_RO]

How's work on the mod going? When can we see more? Is there a chance of it coming out this year?

[geX]

It's going steadily forward. We don't have any PR planned for the time being. And no release this year either, I'm afraid. We want this to be done as much as you guys :)

All I can say is that we have begun finalizing the game, and there's light at the end of the tunnel.

[Dime]

Any updates on d3 phobos?

[Caffeine Freak]

Relatively soon, I think.

[⇛Marnetmar⇛]

What exactly does Phase 3 entail?

[geX]

Phase 3 is about implementing story elements, music and the final tweaks. Like balancing, the right hints for puzzles etc.

[DooM_RO]

Soooo...can we expect an update this year? The last one was in 2014.

 

Any chance the mod will come out this year?

[MFG38]

1 hour ago, DooM_RO said:

Any chance the mod will come out this year?

I'm afraid probably not. But I could be wrong, and in all honesty, I kind of hope I am.

[⇛Marnetmar⇛]

On 4/18/2017 at 2:52 AM, geX said:

Phase 3 is about implementing story elements, music and the final tweaks. Like balancing, the right hints for puzzles etc.

How do you keep track of everything that happens in the storyline so everything is consistent? Phobos is pretty story driven from what I've read.

[geX]

That's a really great question!

 

It's split up among several documents on google drive. We have most design documents on there, so that we can collaborate wherever and whenever.

 

First we have a document from the developers point of view where we ask any questions you can think of regarding the story. Anything from plot holes and general motivation etc. Super usefull document. You tend to forget things, and you can look anything up here.

 

Then we have a document with questions for the main characters. This is a pretty standard writers trick. These are just an array of random questions that help you define characters, so writing them and figuring out their motivations is easier.

 

Finally we have a game screenplay. Its pretty much like a movie screenplay in layout and style. It explains briefly from the player's point of view only, what he does and sees in each map. Most importantly it's here we have the dialogue written down. And when these dialogue encounters happen. Who says what etc. This document does not explain puzzles or standard action going on in the maps.

 

The game screenplay is written based on the two previous documents. Before writing the others we had a pretty basic story layed out that are ages old in some document somewhere. A lot of stuff never changed and the maps were developed from this. So writing the game screenplay you also look at how the maps are played.

 

I don't think we will be making any more dev blogs, but hopefully we can make some other update at some point this year.

Edited April 21, 2017 by geX

[Deleted_Account]

Will Phobos have scares and chills like Doom 3?

[geX]

We're not doing jumps scares etc like in Doom 3. But you will be feeling tense etc. We're moving towards a more action oriented game than a scary one.

[Koko Ricky]

Given that your team is composed of people from various locations, all of whom have jobs and lives and aren't getting paid for this, and likely won't get much attention due to the obscure nature of Doom 3 modding...god-fucking-bless ya'lls asses for putting so much dedication into this. I think it'll do us all well to remain patient and so far that has been the case.

[⇛Marnetmar⇛]

8 hours ago, geX said:

We're not doing jumps scares etc like in Doom 3. But you will be feeling tense etc. We're moving towards a more action oriented game than a scary one.

Have you had to adjust monster AI/behavior to accommodate for this?

[geX]

Thanks for the kind words GoatLord. Much appreciated!

 

I for one keep working on it, because it's still fun. And I still feel like I'm learning. Each phase of the project has opened up a new set off skills you need to master and learn about.

 

We have adjusted a buttload of things to the enemy AI. We've sped up the animations so they react/attack faster, we've sped up and randomized teleportation times, health, attack points etc. etc.

 

Caffeine Freak can for sure go into further detail on what we've done.

[⇛Marnetmar⇛]

3 minutes ago, geX said:

Thanks for the kind words GoatLord. Much appreciated!

 

I for one keep working on it, because it's still fun. And I still feel like I'm learning. Each phase of the project has opened up a new set off skills you need to master and learn about.

 

We have adjusted a buttload of things to the enemy AI. We've sped up the animations so they react/attack faster, we've sped up and randomized teleportation times, health, attack points etc. etc.

 

Caffeine Freak can for sure go into further detail on what we've done.

I'm looking forward to what he has to say! What would you say is the most difficult skill you've had to learn?

[geX]

At first it was the transition from doom to doom 3 mapping. Each has its own set of tricks etc. to make it look and play great. But it was mostly the moving over to a completely 3d environment that was hard. It took a few years to master.

 

But overall I think the hardest is to keep track of it all (like story, art design, puzzles, to do's etc.), and make everything consistent. I personally am a bit OCD when it comes to consistency across maps and working on bringing everything together so everything is part of the same universe and world you're creating. But it pays off in the end.

 

And not surprisingly (given the many years we have worked on this) having to "settle" or compromise (often for the better) is very hard. You want to make the best thing ever, and at first we had a stupidly long list of features we wanted. But in the end you just need to pick the ones that drives the vision and story you want to get across, with the resources you have, and not so much what would be nice or super cool to have.

 

The hard skills are "easy" to learn, you just have to keep at it. Though I still haven't learned how to use a 3D modeling suite yet (those are extremely bloated and incomprehensive to me). Soft skills are the hardest. Sure you can also learn these by doing and keeping at it, but sometimes you're at a certain place where you can't hone a certain soft skill any more and just have to admit that to yourself. But it also helps to know your shortcomings, so you can ask your team mates for help to a more specific degree.

[Caffeine Freak]

On 4/25/2017 at 0:17 PM, Marnetstapler said:

I'm looking forward to what he has to say! What would you say is the most difficult skill you've had to learn?

 

I would say the monster changes can be boiled down to three basic categories: 1) AI changes (affecting monster behavior) 2) stat/value changes (changing things like hit points, damage values, or animation framerates) and 3) cosmetic changes (anything having to do with physical appearance.) Some enemies have only minor tweaks in one category, others have extensive changes in two or even all three.

 

Take the Wraith, for instance. Initially, we didn't even plan on using him because he was generally so easy to deal with in Doom 3. I took him and gutted everything out of his AI script file that slowed him down. He no longer stops when he disappears and reappears, and the disappearing process itself has been sped up as well. I also changed all his animation framerates from 24 to 36. In his current state, he's the fastest monster in the game, and he can hack you to pieces very quickly if he closes on you.

 

The Revenant is another example. In addition to cosmetic changes, I powered up his rockets so they cause more damage and also knock you around a bit. I modified his AI so that he doesn't stop to shoot anymore, he simply keeps walking and firing as he closes in on you.

 

I also created a good variety of alternate Z-sec soldier skins to go with a stronger set of Z-secs that you'll encounter along with the originals. 

 

Anyway, I won't spoil everything. Those are just a few examples. :)

[DooM_RO]

How much would you say this is done?

 

50%? 75%? 80%?

 

How close are you to Phase 3?

[geX]

Hard to say really. Sorry!

 

We already started on Phase 3 :)

 

 

[Arl]

What's the future of Team Future after Phobos?

 

The guys from Classic Doom 3 (Flaming Sheep) not only quieted Doom 3 some time after releasing the mod but got dissolved I think.

[Caffeine Freak]

49 minutes ago, Arl said:

What's the future of Team Future after Phobos?

 

 

My guess is that after the mod is completely finished and released, we'll more or less go our separate ways. I'm sure we'll still keep in touch somewhat. I live in the US and am currently trying to forge a career path in the game industry. Since geX and Shaviro live in Denmark, it's not like we can just swing by each other's houses, so unless there's some other project they ask me to be a part of, there probably won't be any more from the three of us as a team. Granted, I'd be more than happy to work with them again, but nothing thus far is planned on that horizon.