Doom 4 scrapped version

[36appl0912]

I am curious. knowing id restarted doom 4 and scrapped it's original incarnation, I wonder what it was like. I read on Kotaku that it was very much like COD. Apparently it also had a scripted driving turret sequence to. Does anyone else have interest in someone discovering it someday and seeing just how bad it was and what the monsters, weapons, and locations were like. How would this be possible. I know it's unlikely it even exists still, and I would not want this version to be released, but I am just interested in seeing maybe some early test footage or screenshots. post your suspicions.

[mrthejoshmon]

Scrapped versions and betas have always interested me.

I would definitely love to be able to see the scrapped version but only in comparison to the soon to be released Doom (So I can tell what changed, how vastly it differs from the finished product and so forth).

I wonder if it will pull a Half-Life 2 on us and have the Beta/scrapped version leaked before Doom 4 even comes out (The Half-Life 2 beta was interesting to say the least when compared to the final product).

[Xegethra]

Yeah I'm kinda into beta versions of games too...although less so in recent years as most new games don't change a whole lot through development...at least not when I look up beta stuff for them.

But still, it might be fun to look up beta Doom 4 stuff. Although I've not really kept track of the game.

[Blastfrog]

If id hasn't already deleted all of the content of the previous production cycle (wasteful and unlikely, I'm sure there's salvageable stuff like generic textures), they undoubtedly will keep a tight lid on their previous embarrassment. I think those old city screenshots are all we're ever gonna see of it. Just some level geometry with no gameplay contents like monsters or weapons visible. I'd imagine they've got a crack legal team (overzealous and vicious Zenimax) with some extremely strict NDAs. IIRC, those city shots and the tale of internal strife were completely anonymous, likely because of the consequences if id/Zenimax even had a clue which guy it could've been.

mrthejoshmon said:

The Half-Life 2 beta was interesting to say the least when compared to the final product.

I guess so, but only if you're talking about the E3 or other far earlier materials. There were a lot of leftover resources from a radically different design plan, and that's what's incredibly interesting. The old City 17 looking more like a rendition of Oceana (with a big-brother lookalike Breen too), the scrapped levels, the far darker atmosphere, radically different weapons, etc. But, those were just the leftovers. If you ignore all of that and just look at the current (at the time) assets that were planned to be used, it was just an incredibly unfinished, unpolished version of what was seen in the final game with only few notable differences. Interesting, but I view it as akin to the press release beta of Doom, whereas those leftovers were more like the alphas loosely following Tom's design.


I think a beta of Deus Ex 1 would be interesting to see. Of course, they never bothered to actually develop the cut content because they scaled down and heavily rewrote their design before stuff like the Texas missions were started on, but it would be interesting to see the existing levels before they were altered to fit the new plot. Again, a lot like the Doom alphas. Many of the same maps, just with different textures and other contents written to fit another storyline before plan changes.

[FreddBoy]

It would be nice to see what kind of direction that they were going with before it was scrapped. I remember playing an early version of Resident Evil 2, and that was very different from the finished article. Some areas were completely re-designed and encounters that were meant to be earlier were then pushed back to the mid game time frame.

But a turret-on-a-rail sequence? In DOOM?
Bleh.

[Tylerisepic1]

I think they should leave Doom alone and, if actually make a new Doom, revert to old gameplay and don't sell it for 60 dollars.

[geo]

While I think it would be fun to play, Doom with vehicles just doesn't seem to be fun. Doom with forced turret missions doesn't seem fun. Half Life had turrets, just not forced turrets.

Someone claiming to be a former ID employee said ID never completed levels, but they were just scraps of levels and nothing was ever finished.

I'm not sure how an old school game will ever warrant $60.

[DooM_RO]

Vehicles in shooters could learn a lot from 2D platformers, from which early FPS games derive in the first place. In a previous post I mentioned how I thought Yoshi is one of the best "vehicles" in gaming. He is optional, provides new ways to explore the level, has a simple but very fun attack. He's far superior to vehicle sections these days.

[geo]

DooM_RO said:

Vehicles in shooters could learn a lot from 2D platformers, from which early FPS games derive in the first place. In a previous post I mentioned how I thought Yoshi is one of the best "vehicles" in gaming. He is optional, provides new ways to explore the level, has a simple but very fun attack. He's far superior to vehicle sections these days.

So what you're saying is the beheaded pet bunny could be turned into a mutant giant bunny made rideable and his ears that grab foes and eat them. Then he poops out ammo and health! You don't so much drive him around as he's just an addition. If you take X number of bullets he dies while you stay alive. When you jump, he gives you a mega jump boost and you can dismount in midhair. I hope you see what I did thair.

Maybe Doom could benefit from Mario style powerups and suits. A scuba suit to allow the marine longer breath. A grenade only berserk mode. A flight suit. The ability to turn into a statue for a few seconds for stealth and protection.

[DooM_RO]

Mario-like is more appropriate. I am not saying that they should copy the mechanics verbatim, merely study the Yoshi helps you interact with the environment and apply similar principles. For instance, a mech that has a very slight flight module that helps reach inaccesible secrets and has a powerful gun with limited ammo. The interesting part would be that he isn't forced on you, he would merely provide an extra way of exploring the level, which is a lot more interesting than the glorified on-rails sections modern vehicles provide. There could even be Descent-like vehicles or hidden switches that turn off gravity.

[Koko Ricky]

Doom 4 ought to have some cool future tech. Not just guns that shoot cool looking green or blue stuff and make a funny noise. The trick to implementing such ideas is to make them as optional as possible, so that they player can focus on run-and-gun as much as they prefer.