How to promote classic Doom?

[Arctangent]

24 minutes ago, stru said:

I'm still stuck in the '90s and have little grasp on how the cultural landscape has changed since then.

well okay then

[UglyStru]

10 minutes ago, Arctangent said:

well okay then

I heard that same thought process from three people between late 2015 and early 2016. I doubt much has changed since then.

[Arctangent]

I mean, if you're talking to people who also come from the same era, then no duh.

[40oz]

Lets ignore the unasked question of whether its a good idea or not.

 

if I had all the time in the world id record hours of gameplay, mapping, and my commentary and conversations with other doomers, edit them into short 3-6 minute highlights reels and upload them to YouTube. There would be videos of deathmatch, speedruns, mapping, ogling at impressive architecture, brutal deaths, near deaths, epic wins, etc.

 

Without speaking directly to the viewer, talk about how much I love this game, why other games don't compare, with interjecting moments of exuberant excitement that inevitably come with playing the game normally. I think a series of short videos in the flavor of "I'm having so much fun just playing this one game and this is why" would goad people into wanting to try it.

[DoctorGenesis]

All I see in this thread is people acting like Doom isn't a very well known game (at least now a days), if this was true, why would there be so many users on Doomworld? Why would there be a lot of Doom YouTube channels? Doom isn't some obscure opensource game like Sauerbraten. It doesn't 'need' more players as it has a strong player base.

If you really want newbies to play Doom have them play the vanilla I WADs in GZDOOM. I had one friend who played Doom 4 but wanted to play the old Dooms and I recommended he check out GZDOOM (he's a more modern gamer, he plays Payday 2, so I didn't think he would like Prboom+) and he liked it and plays it a lot and checks out many of gameplay mods and so on.

 

 

 

TL;DR : Don't make people play Call of Duty gun mods or someshit.

[Guest DILDOMASTER666]

Quote

How to promote classic Doom?

Ask people to give it a try if it seems like a game they would enjoy and if they don't like it then they don't like it

 

I don't understand why this is a thread

[kb1]

On 11/6/2017 at 0:21 PM, Memfis said:

Let's say I want to convert some people to Doom. What are my options? Should I start streaming and try to become popular? Make topics on random gaming forums? Create a dedicated blog? What if I want to target a specific region, for example Uruguay, which probably has, like, no doomers at all? Are adults who are nostalgic about the game my only hope?

Promote a contest, with some sort of prize.

[Nevander]

13 hours ago, stru said:

You can't. It's too edgy for the normies. Even though retro gaming is the wave now, it's not a platformer so people don't care. They just associate Doom with school shootings and gothic metal kids they went to high school with that always played hackysack in the cafeteria. 

Couldn't have said it better myself. People don't understand classic games anymore and what they represent.

[Chezza]

1. Become a I.T. school teacher.

2. Have the class play Doom for an "educational" purpose

3. Have a graded assignment based on mapping for Doom

4. Create a new generation of John Romero lovers

[Nevander]

The DoomBuilder website says they used Doom and the editor to show students in China how to build levels. I'd love to have been in those classes. I doubt they still do it in 2017 though since everything has to be serious now.

[Agentbromsnor]

In my experience, Brutal Doom is not the best way to promote classic Doom. Most people who play it are too used to its modern mechanics to go back to Doom's old school approach of the FPS genre. Things like no mouse look, no big special effects, a fairly limited sound-palette, are all things that would rub a modern player the wrong way.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Brutal Doom didn't add mouse look to the game. Most of those can be fixed with a source port.

[joepallai]

Selling points of Doom:  No cut-scenes

                                    No hand holding or tutorials

                                    Engaging exploratory levels (either commercial or user-made)

                                    Engaging combat

                                    Endlessly expandable

                                    Cartoony violence

                                    Low price and minimal hardware needs

                                    Stupidly fun escapism

                                   

[GarrettChan]

15 hours ago, Nevander said:

The DoomBuilder website says they used Doom and the editor to show students in China how to build levels. I'd love to have been in those classes. I doubt they still do it in 2017 though since everything has to be serious now.

Why I didn't get this class!

[Arctangent]

12 minutes ago, joepallai said:

 

If I was to try to sell Doom to a new audience, I wouldn't start with two points that are blatantly the kind of stuff a stereotypical elitist retro gamer would say.

 

( also the minimal hardware requirements only go for the base engine, modern engines don't necessarily aim for low requirements )

[Nine Inch Heels]

3 minutes ago, GarrettChan said:

Why I didn't get this class!

If you'd like to talk about mapping, there are quite a few discord channels out there. Let me know if you would like an invite. ;-)

[GarrettChan]

10 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

If you'd like to talk about mapping, there are quite a few discord channels out there. Let me know if you would like an invite. ;-)

Well, I'll definitely get into this in the future, and I know who I gonna call ;P  Mostly, I'm not in the correct mood of doing so.

[dugan]

On 2017-11-06 at 3:59 PM, Glaice said:

Perhaps things like Minor Sprite Fix, Smooth Doom combined

I see that you meant either, and not both, but I do want to point out that these two projects are not compatible with each other.

Edited November 11, 2017 by dugan

[Doomkid]

When you meet someone who likes videogames / when discussion about gaming comes up, mention Doom and ask others if they've played it. If you have a social media platform of some sort, share the occasional interesting Doom related video, be it strictly gameplay or a more trivia-oriented Doom video. Beyond that, there's really not much else you should do - those who see it as appealing will inevitably give it a try and those who don't like what they see will go elsewhere, and that's exactly how it should be.

 

In the case of people who are interested in Doom but don't know where to start, I'd recommend showing them GZDoom with either Doom1 or Doom2. If they like that then sure, send them some wads and mods, but starting off with a heavily edited version of the game has always struck me as kind of weird and people are actually often turned away from a thing when it presents them with too much choice from square one. If this person is more of a multiplayer type, share one of the more popular multiplayer vids like the QuakeCon tournament or something. A few people I've shown Doom to over the years had no interest in the single player but were really drawn to the still-unmatched high speed of Doom DM.

 

(The purist in me wants to say give them Chocolate Doom for the One True Experience™ but the realist in me says the lack of freelook and high resolutions will turn 80% of people away at the door)

Edited November 10, 2017 by Doomkid

[dll]

One of the main goals for the stand-alone map I'm putting together is that people new to Doom (maybe they're into the indie & retro style games that are all the hype lately), are able to have a good experience. One that feels modern in its design sensibilities, but true to (at least my concept of) what Doom is. For me that's very much about survival, hectic combat, rewarding exploration, and the joy of interacting with a memorable cast of enemies.

 

If you're interested, take a look at this video I put together and turn the sound on for insight into how I've decided to scaffold the brief introductory area to introduce the core concepts (and give unskilled players the opportunity to die, retry, do better - rapidly).

 

 

[Benjogami]

On 11/7/2017 at 6:25 PM, kb1 said:

Promote a contest, with some sort of prize.

True. It seemed like there was some new blood after Vinesauce Joel's mapping contest. But you need to already have a large audience of people who are likely to appreciate Doom for this to work, I think. Joel happens to have that sort of audience.

[MTF Sergeant]

Download Doom. Then download some 57 or more mods for it. Then pray to god that it's gonna work.

[GuyMcBrofist]

Get them stoned out of their mind, to the point where they're unsure of anything anymore, and then show it to them.

[Lila Feuer]

Say at its base it's a game with a solid engine with solid mechanics and a well aged aesthetic that, thanks to modern source ports (especially GZDoom) has turned it into a modding playground. Fun to jump into, rewarding to master, surprisingly addictive, many ways to experience things, and if one's willing to learn and wishes to put their spin on it, creativity is virtually unlimited, and the community is huge and helpful.

[PinkBall]

endlessly bug your peers about it like I do. i dont think its working very well

[Lila Feuer]

I'm fortunate enough to know three other people who play Doom, one of them being my S/O.

[seed]

Well, it very much depends on who you target I suppose. Your best bet would be the now adults who played the game back in the day or when they were younger by showing them interesting gameplay footage of the games, various mods, and so on, I doubt they'd be interested in blogs or anything else.

 

It really looks like people nowadays are all-in for graphics, less into the actual gameplay, and not much for anything else. I have a couple of colleagues who actively play Doom 2016 but none of them are interested in playing the original because "it's dated and the 2016 reboot is an overall better choice". People who are into old/old school games these days have become almost a rarity. And you should never try to force anyone to play it either, it will likely not go well.

[ETTiNGRiNDER]

15 minutes ago, Agent6 said:

People who are into old/old school games these days have become almost a rarity.

On the one hand, I wouldn't entirely say that; there's quite a bit of oldschool revivalism if you know where to look, even for DOS/Windows 9x stuff despite that not being as popular as the NES or the like.

On the other hand, I do feel sometimes like this is the case as far as Doom is concerned.  A lot more people seem interested in the modernized stuff than in "Doom as vintage game", even here on Doomworld that's traditionally been seen as some sort of purist stronghold in the world of Doom.

[CARRiON]

On 11/7/2017 at 0:09 PM, DILDOMASTER666 said:

Ask people to give it a try if it seems like a game they would enjoy and if they don't like it then they don't like it

 

I don't understand why this is a thread

Yeah, never push a game onto people who probably otherwise don't care. It's probably best to casually mention it when it's relevant, like if you're talking about retro games, PC gaming, or FPS games. Something along those lines, it'll make it flow better and not feel forced, and if they show interest that's your invitation to talk about it and try to sell them on it. I play a mixture of old and new and I think I talk about video games with people who are not my partner almost never anyways.

 

16 hours ago, Agent6 said:

It really looks like people nowadays are all-in for graphics, less into the actual gameplay, and not much for anything else.

I think this statement is patently false nowadays, or is otherwise no different than it was even back in the mid to late 90's (People went bonkers for 3D Acceleration cards and bilinear filtering and flashy effects and reflective surfaces and colored lighting on EVERYTHING.) Some of the highest regarded games in recent years have been both beautiful or good looking and highly engaging gameplay wise. Nier, Nioh, GTA 5, DOOM '16, Wolfenstein TNO, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dark Souls, Counter-Strike (after all these years), PUBG, Witcher 3, XCOM 2, Cuphead, Resident Evil 7, Dead Cells, I could go on and on.

[seed]

39 minutes ago, CARRiON said:

I think this statement is patently false nowadays, or is otherwise no different than it was even back in the mid to late 90's (People went bonkers for 3D Acceleration cards and bilinear filtering and flashy effects and reflective surfaces and colored lighting on EVERYTHING.) Some of the highest regarded games in recent years have been both beautiful or good looking and highly engaging gameplay wise. Nier, Nioh, GTA 5, DOOM '16, Wolfenstein TNO, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dark Souls, Counter-Strike (after all these years), PUBG, Witcher 3, XCOM 2, Cuphead, Resident Evil 7, Dead Cells, I could go on and on.

Good point and good counter-examples, but still, those times were quite different from today when full 3D games were something totally new. I do think people nowadays do tend to care more about the graphics than the rest (unless they aren't the focus), and are not as open to older, "dated" stuff either. Yet this may very well just be how I see it and not the actual reality.