Ask Me Anything with id Software

The Doom team is preparing for a Reddit AMA on the DOOM SubReddit tomorrow, 10/21 at 2PM ET, with Marty Stratton, Hugo Martin, and Kevin Cloud. If you have any questions or are curious about anything DOOM related, here's a chance to get answers! Details on the DOOM SubReddit.

Bah, Tim Willits isn't there? Always wanted to tell him what a twat he is.

Xtife said:

Bah, Tim Willits isn't there? Always wanted to tell him what a twat he is.

That's not a question

Erm ... Anyways the event is over, Here are answers for some frequently asked questions :

1 - What was the deciding factor behind creating Snap Map instead of just allowing users to create their own mods and wads?

martyatid said:

Thanks for playing the games and the question. I could write a really long explanation here so I hope the brevity is not taken as dismissive, but there are two major factors - the biggest factor is that the technology that allows us to look great at 100+ FPS makes creating levels, creating art and bringing it all together at run-time makes exposing that to players very difficult. Our levels are very large because "bake" our textures/lighting to a certain extent. That takes a huge computer farm on our side that mod makers just don't have access to. And even if they did, they would need to be able to distribute a multiple-GB file just to share a map (upload and download). The development tools have also become quite complex. I know there are people out there that could be effective with them, but it's a far more limited group. With SnapMap our goals were to allow more people the opportunity and generally make possible the idea of creating new content for the game - making it cross platform and easy to distribute. There are several people from the studio that have contributed content. I have something in progress, but haven't published it yet.

2 - Are there currently any plans to implement anti-cheat functionally to multiplayer?

martyatid said:

It is a tricky topic - we didn't really feel solid with the anti-cheat options we were considering. Since launch we've continued to ban players who we’ve identified to be cheating. We don’t have immediate plans to add a third-party anti-cheat system at this point but will continue to monitor and consider.

3 - Are bots still being planned to release for Multiplayer?

martyatid said:

We do still have a group of people working on bot support for a couple of modes, but I can’t guarantee exactly when those will be available. They aren’t in the update this week, but they are still something that we want to deliver and hope to be able to do it soon.

4 - is Split Screen offline-play possible for snapmap and multiplayer?

martyatid said:

Split-screen isn't part of DOOM - it's a big tech task and we chose to focus on speed and visual quality.

5 - do you guys have any plans for more single player content?

martyatid said:

We currently don’t have any plans to create additional campaign content directly, but we have done extensive work to allow campaign style content to be created and played through the SnapMap UGC tool. We are creating a number of SP experiences that will be featured maps on the front page of SnapMap over the next couple of months and have changed the SnapMap menus to allow for easier accessibility of the best user content, including SP experiences. We hope players take a look at SnapMap for more fun content.

We currently don’t have any plans to create additional campaign content directly

This sounds like some very carefully parsed language. They don't have any plans to create "campaign" content, but a DLC campaign would be, well, a different campaign.

I was able to ask a question as well yesterday. Here's what I asked and what I got:

enderkevin13 said:

What was the inspiration for the modifications in DOOM 2016? What was the inspiration for most of the weapon designs (including multiplayer weapons)?

Hugoatid said:

Hmm...I like most of the weapons but the Shotgun is not QUITE there (it could use better range) and the Plasma Rifle, which was really powerful in the original has a very weak primary fire (it also sounds weak). I only ever used it for the stun upgrade.
Oh, and the chainsaw is really kind of OP. Too much fuel and it gives too much ammo.

Linguica said:

This sounds like some very carefully parsed language. They don't have any plans to create "campaign" content, but a DLC campaign would be, well, a different campaign.

I'm curious if that statement still leaves room for a new game to be released (but quite simply Doom with a new campaign and updates). Sadly they seem to be working heavily on improving the current content, which is great news except that could mean literally no plans for another installment in quite some time.

However knowing how successful large game companies operate I'm certain they have already planned future game development long before Doom's release. New single player is inevitable, I'm sure of it.

Bloodshedder said:

That's not a question

"Mr Willits, are you aware of just how much of a twat you are?"

Chezza said:

I'm curious if that statement still leaves room for a new game to be released (but quite simply Doom with a new campaign and updates). Sadly they seem to be working heavily on improving the current content, which is great news except that could mean literally no plans for another installment in quite some time.

However knowing how successful large game companies operate I'm certain they have already planned future game development long before Doom's release. New single player is inevitable, I'm sure of it.

I really doubt there won't be a sequel in the next two years. They spent a fortune rebooting a franchise! Now they have a solid foundation and they have no reason to make more. Doom 3's situation was different not only because it was divisive but also because they wanted to make something new and megatextures took a lot of their time and effort.

Damn I had to miss this!

Any who I am thankful for snapmap because it eliminates long compile times and the like that would be the norm for such a modern engine in, say, Radiant or ID Studio type setups.

I'm thankful for the fact that they still continue to support their game well after the primary profit venture that was the initial release, truly showing that DOOM was a labor of love and that Snapmap now gives you way more freedom to design while not being constrained by long compile times and large gigabyte uploads!

Gez said:

"Mr Willits, are you aware of just how much of a twat you are?"

Still not a question 'bout Doom .

DMGUYDZ64 said:

Still not a question 'bout Doom .

Don't move the goal posts.

DooM_RO said:

I really doubt there won't be a sequel in the next two years. They spent a fortune rebooting a franchise! Now they have a solid foundation and they have no reason to make more. Doom 3's situation was different not only because it was divisive but also because they wanted to make something new and megatextures took a lot of their time and effort.

Idtech4 (doom 3's engine) supported megatextures after a few updates, but mega textures were not used in Doom 3.

I beleive the only official ID tech 4 game to use megatextures was the later Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Even then. It was in a very early concept retrofitted into idtech4

Xtife said:

Bah, Tim Willits isn't there? Always wanted to tell him what a twat he is.

Wtf? Why would you even want to say that..?

MrDeAD1313 said:

Wtf? Why would you even want to say that..?

• He was once booed off stage at a gaming convention for saying that all PC gamers are thieves.
  
• He hates the console versions of Doom just because they don't have E4M9: Fear in them.
  
• He made the artists use E4M9: Fear as the background for Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 and Demon Destruction, because it is the most superior map ever made for the game.
  
• His grin exudes a distasteful amount of ego.
  
• He almost made Call of Doom, and probably still thinks it was a better idea than what we got this year.
  
• He almost ran id Software out of business mismanaging Doom 4.
  

Quasar said:

He was once booed off stage at a gaming convention for saying that all PC gamers are thieves.

That's retarded of him to say. These parts are made by the companies and sold for a reason.

Quasar said:

He hates the console versions of Doom just because they don't have E4M9: Fear in them.

That is a pretty annoying thing imo, but the games were still good otherwise. They do have them in the BFG edition however, which is something he should've looked into.

Quasar said:

He made the artists use E4M9: Fear as the background for Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 and Demon Destruction, because it is the most superior map ever made for the game.

1. I didn't know they had a arcade game easter egg in D4.
2. While I agree with him on that sorta, they should've used a different map for Demon Destruction. Kinda lazy to repeat the same background.

Quasar said:

His grin exudes a distasteful amount of ego.

Not sure how to respond to this.

Quasar said:

He almost made Call of Doom, and probably still thinks it was a better idea than what we got this year.

"Yeah, let's have Treyarch/Infinity Ward sue us!"

Quasar said:

He almost ran id Software out of business mismanaging Doom 4.

He did? Holy shit.

Tim Willits said this in 2013 about the restart of Doom 4:

It wasn’t one thing, it wasn’t like the art was bad, or the programming was bad. Every game has a soul. Every game has a spirit… and [Doom 4] did not have the spirit, it did not have the soul, it didn’t have a personality. It had a bit of schizophrenia, a little bit of an identity crisis. It didn’t have the passion and soul of what an id game is.

Source
http://www.slashgear.com/unreleased-footage-of-cancelled-doom-4-shows-why-they-restarted-19384240/

Quasar said:

• He was once booed off stage at a gaming convention for saying that all PC gamers are thieves.
  
• He hates the console versions of Doom just because they don't have E4M9: Fear in them.
  
• He made the artists use E4M9: Fear as the background for Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 and Demon Destruction, because it is the most superior map ever made for the game.
  
• His grin exudes a distasteful amount of ego.
  
• He almost made Call of Doom, and probably still thinks it was a better idea than what we got this year.
  
• He almost ran id Software out of business mismanaging Doom 4.
  

Oh.

If I had the money I'd bet a lot of it that Tim Willits is a pirate, himself. :P But mostly because hypocrisy is so rampant among those who project such a holier-than-thou image of themselves.

Sure - he wouldn't need to do it with the money he has - but as selfish as he sounds it always incurs the mindset of why spend it if you don't have to?

But I don't know. He could just be an angry individual.

Quasar said:

• He was once booed off stage at a gaming convention for saying that all PC gamers are thieves.
  

Sorry for being late to the party, but can I have a link? I'm interested in what the horse's mouth had to say but I can't find anything on it.

Quasar said:

• He hates the console versions of Doom just because they don't have E4M9: Fear in them.
  
• He made the artists use E4M9: Fear as the background for Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 and Demon Destruction, because it is the most superior map ever made for the game.
  

Those reasons look purely spiteful of you. You really hate E4M9?

printz said:

Those reasons look purely spiteful of you. You really hate E4M9?

No but it's not exactly the best level in the IWAD to begin with, and it wasn't even part of the original game given it's from Ultimate Doom, so, hating some version of DOOM because it's not in there is patently absurd.