SNES Doom

[rabidrage]

As my console playthrough continues, I have now completed SNES Doom and would like to share further insight. I know I go into other topics from time to time, but it should be noted that my purpose is not only to describe the console versions of the game, but also to discuss the evolution of the engine and other features over time, and to inspire modders.

Now here's a fun question you can mull over for me. I've been playing through the console versions in release order, and I'm about to jump from SNES to Playstation. When I get to the GBA for Doom I and II, should I get a device to play it on the TV (for the sake of comparing them fairly, in the same medium) or should I just play them on the GBA screen? I'd kinda like to throw them up on the TV even if they're gonna look crappy blown up like that.

Let me know!

Article 10: http://www.talesntangents.com/journey-to-the-future-of-doom-part-10.html

[chungy]

No Rest for the Living is available as part of Doom 3: BFG Edition. Ripping apart Xbox/PS3 files isn't really necessary for playing it :P

As for the article itself, most of the time I was just waiting for a really detailed review of SNES Doom. Strengths and weaknesses type things. The quote about Jaguar development is strangely misplaced here...

[RocknRoll420]

play GBA doom on the GBA. don't use the original GBA though that thing is terrible. experiencing the game in the medium it was designed for seems like the best way to go. plus i played a lot of GBA doom in the past on my SP so i'd like to read your thoughts on the experience.

[rabidrage]

Thanks for the input, RocknRoll420. Chungy, it's necessary to look at the other nine articles in the series in order to understand what I'm doing. The quote about JagDoom is a bit out of context for the article, but not for the series.

[Quasar]

chungy said:

No Rest for the Living is available as part of Doom 3: BFG Edition. Ripping apart Xbox/PS3 files isn't really necessary for playing it :P

As for the article itself, most of the time I was just waiting for a really detailed review of SNES Doom. Strengths and weaknesses type things. The quote about Jaguar development is strangely misplaced here...

Up til the release of BFG Ed, that was the only way to play it on anything other than the 360 :P That's how EE got support for it long before its PC release ;) To be courteous to Nerve I did not announce said support til long after the 360 release, though, just in case it might encourage people to pirate the episode instead of buying it legit, which certainly was not my intent. To be frank the whole thing made be a bit nervous ;)

[Doominator2]

chungy said:

No Rest for the Living is available as part of Doom 3: BFG Edition. Ripping apart Xbox/PS3 files isn't really necessary for playing it :P

But what makes No Rest for the Living so speacial rather than playing one of the thousands of other WADs?

[Da Werecat]

Well, it's an official expansion, whether you like it or not.

[VGA]

Vivisection is one of my favourite maps, that final boss fight was also memorable! All in all, it's a fun and quick little episode.

[Avoozl]

Da Werecat said:

Well, it's an official expansion, whether you like it or not.

And people don't want to consider Thy Flesh Consumed official when at least it was made by an original ID member unlike NRFTL.

[Xegethra]

And Final Doom wasn't by id either was it?

Either way, if it gets licence to be official...it's official, no matter who made it.

[VGA]

Avoozl said:

And people don't want to consider Thy Flesh Consumed official

Wtf??

[Yuki Senmatsu]

I've been planning on making a TC out of the SNES port. However, I have too much work to get done.

Plus, I STILL need to learn how to make use of SBARINFO. Seen its scripting, looks confusing and complicated :/

[Du Mhan Yhu]

Omegalore said:

I've been planning on making a TC out of the SNES port. However, I have too much work to get done.

Plus, I STILL need to learn how to make use of SBARINFO. Seen its scripting, looks confusing and complicated :/

Wasn't there one made a couple years ago?

[Yuki Senmatsu]

Du Mhan Yhu said:

Wasn't there one made a couple years ago?

It was? I didn't know that.
Hmm, that will be scraped then.

[Lenswot]

What would be the point of that? Just to bring the experience of blank floors, non-rotating monsters and missing levels to a greater audience?

[Xegethra]

It would be quite nice though, it would run a lot faster than the original.

[Lenswot]

Does the experience improve on the dos version in some way? I tried it and it just seemed broken and incomplete.

[Blastfrog]

Du Mhan Yhu said:

Wasn't there one made a couple years ago?

There was but it's very messy and could only do so much (especially since it uses Dehacked and not Decorate). To do a proper TC, the assets should actually be ripped since it uses its own slightly different palette and many scaled assets. There are differences in the maps themselves too, though I only know of two.

It's such a clunky feeling version. The gameplay logic (and thus framerate) appears to run at 15hz just like the Jaguar/3DO/GBA version. There are no view bobbing effects (including landing from a long fall), only weapon bobbing. Actors have cylindrical collision while their behavior and timing is screwed up, and the animations play far too quickly. Gravity seems to be a fixed speed, rather than accelerating.

Many wall textures have been replaced with roughly similar ones, bringing the texture variety back down to about what it was in the Jaguar version, with a different selection than it to be aesthetically closer to the PC game. Hell, even closer than id's own attempt that can be seen in the early 32X Doom prototype.

I do often wonder about reverse engineering SNES Doom. I'd like to study the ROM to learn how to accurately reproduce its different behavior, perhaps work that into a fork of Chocolate Doom. Hell, maybe one could even play Strife or something with the SNES Doom-like renderer. Maybe have support for soundfonts via some kind of bundled softsynth, and have it resample existing digital sounds to what it would have been resampled to in SNES Doom.

Ah, I'm too busy with other stuff to bother.

[Lenswot]

I still do not see what the point is. You just want to do it for the sake of doing it?

[Xegethra]

Well, it would be attempting to make a better version of it....currently the SNES version is slow and choppy and generally sickly feeling.

Making a PC port would be nice because it would be SNES...without the bad SNES bits. It just creates another variety of skin for Doom for the PC users is all. It won't hurt anybody, so doing it isn't gonna do anything bad.

It's entertaining to see what can come of it, that's enough point for some.

[betabox]

Lenswot said:

I still do not see what the point is. You just want to do it for the sake of doing it?

What's your issue with this? If someone wants to bring the SNES Doom experience to PC, that's up to them. It's clear from your first post in this thread that you don't like this version; that's fine. No need to reiterate it over and over like we need your approval. There are some people who didn't think the SNES version is that bad, in case you didn't know.

[Stupid Bunny]

It's kind of a similar effect to the one on the Doom 95 optimization thread. Whether it's preference or just nostalgia, it's something that will have its small audience. You won't believe the trouble I've gone to to play crappy games from my youth.

[SYS]

Avoozl said:

And people don't want to consider Thy Flesh Consumed official when at least it was made by an original ID member unlike NRFTL.

lolwut

[Koko Ricky]

Man, the love y'all have for SNES Doom is pure nostalgia. I admire it from a technical stance, but between the castrated visuals, missing maps and sluggish framerate, it's difficult to imagine the experience being anything other then a pain.

[betabox]

GoatLord said:

Man, the love y'all have for SNES Doom is pure nostalgia...

No, not really. Like you, I find it technically impressive, but I can genuinely play through it with enjoyment that doesn't stem from nostalgia. It's one of the later versions of Doom I've played, even after the PSX ones. Why I think it works for me is that, putting aside the weak visuals, it manages to remain consistent in all its chunkiness to the extent that I can play it painlessly. Plus, IMO, all its gameplay quirks are neat and really balance out the mechanics that were altered from the PC version. It's very much taking a different approach to the Dooming experience.

[ShaneAmp]

The snes doom mod was never really meant to be a TC, it was meant to be played with other wads designed for Doom 1. A separate wad with edited maps was made to help with the feel though. I started work on a doom 2 compatible version, got fairly far along, though I never put it out. The idea to use decorate was there for sure, but my lack of knowledge and help and the dehacked version was good enough.. if anyone is wanting to attempt a tc, feel free to message me for the resources, and any questions, I learned a lot about the snes version in the process!

[Avoozl]

The major problem with SNES Doom would have to be the lack of directional sprites and the fact enemies are programmed to always see you along with it.

[ShaneAmp]

There something I like about the forward facing sprites, almost creepier!

[Lenswot]

I agree with that, but think It suits singular boss encounters better than frequent skirmishes. I should -NOT- need to be afraid of dumb old imps.

edit: it was never my intent to have anyone think I was afraid of those stupid imps.

[Doomplayer6666]

The snes port music was so great, would be cool if semeone port it!