Has Doom aged well?

I'm asking this because someone stated that doom 1&2 are terrible games because your character can run backwards, and no one plays games like that anymore. The comment was deleted, but what did the person mean by this?

Does running backwards destroy realism or hinder doom's game play in some way? Thanks for reading, have a good day. =]

In a literal sense, no one can maintain 50+ MPH speeds by running for, well, at all. Likewise, you can't run backwards just as fast.

The person who made that comment is either being ridiculously sarcastic or is just another fanboy nitwit.

This is probably the weirdest reason I've even seen to diss an old game.

I'd say that Doom has aged fantastically well and that its lack of realism is what makes it fun.

It's aging better than its fans.

BloodyAcid said:

The person who made that comment is either being ridiculously sarcastic or is just another fanboy nitwit.

People are entitled to not like Doom, no matter how absurd their reasons might seem to us fanboy nitwits those of us who enjoy it.

Personally I think Doom is one of the greatest video games ever wrought, and it's lack of realism is a non-issue. And I'm glad I can come to Doomworld and converse with people who think similarly. But I can't treat my opinion as if it's some final word on what's good and what isn't, or ascribe sarcasm or fanboyism to anyone's opinion that differs from mine.

Is one of the greatest? I would say it is the greatest!

Astral-Doomer said:

Does running backwards destroy realism or hinder doom's game play in some way?

Once you have learned the truth behind Doomguy's speed, it won't.

I assume it has because well, we're still here and active.

joepallai said:

I'd say that Doom has aged fantastically well and that its lack of realism is what makes it fun.

Just gonna say "This" ^

Gez said:

This is probably the weirdest reason I've even seen to diss an old game.

This.

Has Doom aged well? Let's look at the evidence.

You can have hundreds of enemies attacking you at once in Doom. In modern games, the limit seems to be around 3-5 human-sized opponents. In God of War, you just get the same 3 baddies attacking you over again.

There are only 7 weapons in Doom, each very different to the others. In Modern Warfare 3, there are many more weapons with subtle differences, but there are likely to be only one or two guns that people actually prefer to use - like in Doom. There seem to be the same guns in all CoD-style games today.

Editing Doom maps is relatively simple, but deceptively difficult, thanks to Doom Builder 2. There's no way in hell I'd want to use an editor for Doom 3 or similar games, I bet you need a degree in CAD and a super-computer. Unfortunately new versions of DB2 are forever crippled for those who don't have a specific capability on their computers, but I suppose it's inevitable that its creator was either going to abandon the project or go one step too far at some point.

Deathmatch in modern games, while presumably called something different, is as popular now as it has been since Doom.

All the weapons and items are available to Doom Deathmatch players, meaning obsessive nuts do not have a materiel advantage over newbies. The only variables are the difficulty levels and the actual level being played. The playing field is equalled and only skill will count.

No offices ever ground to a halt because of Modern Warfare online deathmatches.

I'm willing to bet nobody who worked on any modern shooter ever ran round their office with long hair, making weird noises and having a laser gun battle with their colleagues.

Every time you play Doom, it's different, even though the levels and monsters remain the same.

Who gives a fuck about upgrading the super shotgun or BFG?

Who needs regenerating health? I play the game to kill monsters, not crouch in a corner for thirty seconds of every battle. Just find a megasphere and get back out there.

You don't mysteriously slow down after running in a straight line for 5 seconds, unless this is Doom 3 and therefore an utter shitefest. A trained, super-hard killing machine who can run for miles carrying guns, backpacks and supplies, suddenly can't run through the middle of city carrying only a gun when there's a tank shooting at him?

Doom trashes realism HARD. Now let's ask Minecraft players how important realism is, because that hasn't been successful at all.

I cannot grasp how realism and fun are connected. It's like asking if the color blue is fun.

Captain Ventris said:

It's like asking if the color blue is fun.

It's not. It's all sad and serious; angsty and nerdy. If you want fun, look at warm colors like orange, yellow, and red.

Why does he think that running backwards isn't realistic?
Humans can run backwards , but they're afraid to hit something .
And you control doomguy so it isn't scary because you(IRL) can't get
hurt of this .

Gez said:

It's not. It's all sad and serious; angsty and nerdy. If you want fun, look at warm colors like orange, yellow, and red.

Mega Man and Sonic say "hi". :P

Although I'm more a fan of green, myself. Which is conveniently the Doom guy's color! (In SP, at least.)

Well shit I better stay off of all blue teams in team games then.

Video games don't age well or poorly. They don't age at all. They can't.

If a game feels different when someone replays it years later, the player has aged, not the game.

MajorRawne said:

No offices ever ground to a halt because of Modern Warfare online deathmatches.

Ignoring that the original Doom was Network only (Kali and the like aside), it is my understanding that this did happen back in the day; I recall reading about it in, I think it was the Unofficial Doom FAQ, about offices banning Doom because MP games brought their networks to a halt.

Guys, I just learned that demons aren't real. Doom has demons, so is Doom no longer fun/realistic (synonymous, obviously)? Has our 'fun' been an illusion all long?! What does it all mean?! //sssssssssss

As much as I like circle-jerking poetic about how great Doom is, the argument OP is quoting:
1) is demonstrably wrong
2) realism can suck a fat one

Vermil said:

Ignoring that the original Doom was Network only (Kali and the like aside), it is my understanding that this did happen back in the day; I recall reading about it in, I think it was the Unofficial Doom FAQ, about offices banning Doom because MP games brought their networks to a halt.

That was his point. Doom basically hit global productivity for a year or so, whereas MW and the like never managed to slow down offices or anything. Of course, one could say that this was a product of the time - you'd only have gotten a network and 4 computers in an office back in those days, whereas as MW and the like encourage one to go online from the comfort of your own home with plenty of broadband connectivity for (most of) the people who have the game and a system to run it on.


IMO, Doom has aged pretty well. Unlike the early 3D games, the graphics don't look stupidly ugly now. Maybe a bit low-res, but the wonders of 2D sprites is that, if they were well-done back then, they won't look any worse to do. A lot of the earlier 3D games looked ugly back then and only look worse now. It runs smoothly with minimal effort on modern hardware thanks to the package on Steam (doesn't speed right up like One Must Fall 2097 does when run in DOS Box without limiting the cycles, for example) and where things have been changed or added, they have mostly been done by an online hobbyist community that genuinely care, rather than the cold hand of capitalism.

In basically every way one can look at the relatively simple FPS from 1993, it has aged well. Anybody who says running backwards is a flaw is an idiot as you can jog backwards in most modern FPS games too (just not sprint) :P

schwerpunk said:

What does it all mean?!

That we ARE the Demons?

Phobus said:

That was his point. Doom basically hit global productivity for a year or so, whereas MW and the like never managed to slow down offices or anything. Of course, one could say that this was a product of the time -

-- and of an inefficient netcode that was rather quickly rewritten entirely.
http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Broadcast_packet_meltdown

Maes said:

That we ARE the Demons?

And then we were a zombie.

Eris Falling said:

And then we were a zombie.

Just the one?

Shadow Hog said:

Just the one?

We are THE zombie.

The real answer: Doom doesn't age. Playing it never gets old.

Xaser said:

The real answer: Doom doesn't age. Playing it never gets old.

Spot on answer. In response to that "lack of realism" comment: a game is supposed to be about game play who gives a crap if it's unrealistic or the graphics don't emulate that of real life.

It is the new Chess

It is either that it still falls into some sort of window of "worthwhile to do" or it is a testament to the game itself but it seems to be one of the first games to get ported to anything deemed remotely capable of running it (and even things not capable too I guess).

It would have to be up there as one of the most ported games correct? I mean chess/card games etc, but typically they are recreated as opposed to ported.

EDIT: Google points to Tetris, Pong as well which is true too. also I guess those games are recreated mainly because there isn't any source to port or like chess existed prior to computing etc.

I'm sorry, anyone that says a game, any game, hasn't aged well simply because you can run backwards in it doesn't deserve to have their reason dignified with a refutation.

traversd said:

It is the new Chess

But chess is a terrible game because the pieces can move backward as fast as they move forward. Except the pawns. The pawns are the only good part of chess.

That's why everybody is playing English Draughts instead of Chess.