Console ports on the actual hardware

[lazygecko]

I've never compared the console versions side by side before. It's interesting. What's especially interesting is how the SNES version's level design and textures are much closer to the original than even the 32-bit ports. I thought they trimmed down the texture pool drastically for memory reasons, but I also have a hard time believing that the SNES can actually keep up memory-wise even with the extra chip in there.

Did id just create stripped down levels indiscriminately with the lowest common denominator in mind which were handed out to the majority of the ports except the SNES version? Seems to me like a lot of the other ports for the more powerful systems got short-changed there.

[Linguica]

id started out in 1994 making the Jaguar version themselves, and in the process they cut down / retextured many of the levels. Then the 32X, 3DO, etc versions were all built using the Jaguar port as a starting point, so they retained the same changes.

SNES Doom, on the other hand, was designed without id's permission - id had a bad experience working with Nintendo for the SNES Wolf3D port and had no interest in going through that process again. A company reverse engineered SNES Doom from scratch using the PC game as a base, with an entirely new engine, and then came to id Software and said, "we've basically made the whole game for you, why not let us publish it?" and id said "sure, why not." Consequently SNES Doom doesn't share the same console changes as the other Jaguar-derived ones.

[Dragonsbrethren]

I never got them fully documented, but you can actually see id's progress cutting down the levels in the 32X prototypes:

https://tcrf.net/Proto:Doom_%2832X%29

There are later prototypes where they add the E2 and E3 levels that I never got around to writing up articles for.

[VGA]

GeckoYamori said:

I've never compared the console versions side by side before. It's interesting. What's especially interesting is how the SNES version's level design and textures are much closer to the original than even the 32-bit ports. I thought they trimmed down the texture pool drastically for memory reasons, but I also have a hard time believing that the SNES can actually keep up memory-wise even with the extra chip in there.

Did id just create stripped down levels indiscriminately with the lowest common denominator in mind which were handed out to the majority of the ports except the SNES version? Seems to me like a lot of the other ports for the more powerful systems got short-changed there.

The levels are reasonable but the "port" is a reimplementation with worse physics, no floor and ceiling textures, very low resolution and not fullscreen in the TV, front side of monsters only, no spectre demon, invisible dropped items and so on ...
http://classicdoom.com/doomcomp.htm#08

So it's cool that it came out but I wouldn't call it a triumph.

[Shadow Hog]

VGA said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ1rIcB0v7c

Saturn port, highlights are usage of Doom 2 enemies in Ep1 (you need to check out e1m1!!!) dodgy sprite clipping, low framerate, bland texture replacements, slowest enemy projectiles ever, quicker player guns, ambient music. Oh and some rather poor attempt at transparency with dithering.

Supposedly the Japanese version is better, in framerate if nothing else - although, to be honest, I've never confirmed if that's actually the case. I own the Japanese version and can confirm it's still sluggish as hell, but I don't own the US version so I have no point of reference there.

[VGA]

Shadow Hog said:

Supposedly the Japanese version is better, in framerate if nothing else - although, to be honest, I've never confirmed if that's actually the case. I own the Japanese version and can confirm it's still sluggish as hell, but I don't own the US version so I have no point of reference there.

You have this video as evidence.

[VGA]

tl;dw: The Doom port included in the Doom 3 expansion for the Xbox has Ult.Doom, Doom 2 and ... the Master Levels!

Also you can accidentally enable cheats on this, jesus :D

[RUSH]

I didn't watch these all the way through but I did enjoy watching the beginning of each to get an idea for the differences between each version. I like the laid back commentary as well. They aren't afraid to bash the crap versions. Their comments on each were interesting, even if sometimes factually wrong. Overall I like this channel. Good stuff.

[VGA]

Some ports on the weaker consoles are super brutal. Shitty controls make straferunning difficult, low resolution and very dark visuals with a limited viewport ... you can't see anything, holy crap :D

The 32x is the most brutal experience I think.

[RUSH]

Yeah, the music on the 32X version sounds like absolute shit. Just a bunch of weird humming noises that barely resemble the original tracks. Plus the graphics and frame rate were basically unplayable. Instant headache.

Surprisingly the Jaguar version looked really good. Seemed to play smooth and was fairly PC accurate. If only it had music. The lack of music REALLY sucks. I think it could have been on par with (or better than) the PSX version if it had music. The Jaguar is such an obscure system. You wouldn't expect it to have such a strong version of Doom. Made the SNES version look lame by comparison.

Xbox Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is still the best console port though. Has all the features of the BFG Edition of Doom but without stupid pitch change sound effects. It also retains the original red cross icons on the medikits. Uncensored Wolfenstein levels. And the BFG edition stupidly nerfed the nightmare difficulty setting. I'm not sure if the original Xbox version does. I doubt it though. It seems to be the closest console port. Plus bonus console exclusive levels. They are crap levels mind you, but still.

[VGA]

I think the XBLA version is the best. It has high resolution, multiplayer and a new episode, NRFTL, which is very cool. Also the port runs well and is super faithful.

[VGA]

They moved on to playing the Xbox Live version on an Xbox One, taking advantage of the backwards compatibility.

With splitscreen! What is better than coop doom couch play? :D

[Koko Ricky]

Sometimes I really wish we could get a PS1 port that was better equipped to take advantage of the hardware. Being ultimately derived from the Jaguar port, it's clearly not optimized. I know we have the PC version that was developed recently, but you know what I mean. Also, is there any reason the Jaguar version didn't have music, because being a CD-based system, it's difficult to imagine there wasn't enough room for a soundtrack...

[Danfun64]

From Doomwiki:

The Jaguar version is the only console port that does not feature any music during gameplay. This is because Jaguar's mathematics co-processor DSP chip also handles playing music. As Doom uses the DSP for most of the collision detection and other things, the DSP does not have enough free cycles to process music while running the other game functions. The port does, however, have music for the title and intermission screens. Possibly due to lack of music in the maps, the intermission screens feature renditions of selected tracks from the PC version soundtrack instead of a dedicated intermission track.

edit: Also, what are you talking about when you say "I know we have the PC version that was developed recently, but you know what I mean"? Is somebody doing a homebrew port of pc doom to playstation that I know nothing about?

[Blastfrog]

GoatLord said:

Sometimes I really wish we could get a PS1 port that was better equipped to take advantage of the hardware.

You mean the version we got? The cuts made were precisely because the hardware couldn't handle the PC game, and they compensated by enhancing it in areas that the PSX had an advantage over PC, such as hardware rendering and sample-based music instead of General MIDI.

GoatLord said:

is there any reason the Jaguar version didn't have music, because being a CD-based system

The Jaguar had a CD add-on, but the base system was cartridge based.

[Varis Alpha]

the Jaguar CD was also IIRC notoriously prone to being faulty and just plain refusing to work at all.

[Deadrawkstar]

this may be a bit off topic, however if i find a boxed copy of the ps1 port of doom, is 20$ a good deal? i passed it up at a pawn shop a week back, and part of me is sort of regretting it. Just wanted to get a consensus ...

[VGA]

Deadrawkstar said:

this may be a bit off topic, however if i find a boxed copy of the ps1 port of doom, is 20$ a good deal? i passed it up at a pawn shop a week back, and part of me is sort of regretting it. Just wanted to get a consensus ...

Depends on the condition of the box, contents and the CD itself. But generally, it's a *very* good deal.

[ReFracture]

I'm pretty sure I paid more than that for mine.