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Written by Dustin Murphy
As the DOOM panel begins we get to see Executive Producer Marty Stratton take stage where he sports his DOOM short in order to tell us more regarding the game. AS part of this panel begins he brings out Art Director, Hugo Martin, two gentlemen I’ve both had luck to meet. As the panel begins they bring out Robert Duffy, one of the well known men behind the current generation of DOOM titles. As a final guest they bring out Brad Rabblet of id Software. As the show gets underway we are greeted with a small interview regarding the game.
As many of you know DOOM was released as a reveal at QuakeCon 2014, but this year, is the first time that the multiplayer has been released to the public, and to the team? It’s a feeling that is awesome, a feel that is amazing. As a thank you from the DOOM team, Marty Stratton discusses their experiences making the game, but also the fact a ton of people are enjoying making the game and being apart of the legacy that was crafted 20 years ago. As the legacy grows, we get thank yous, and an acknowledgement for our feedback. Something that the crowd here overly enjoys. As Hugo discusses the feel, we are finding out about his having been pleased with how much we’ve gotten to enjoy the game, and with Duffy, we learn that our feedback, enjoyment, and excitement of the game is something that he enjoys and finds himself pleased with the reaction from fans here at QuakeCon, but also fans of the game online. As Brad Bramlett begins to discuss, he also displays his happiness with the excitement, feedback, and the sheer geniuine enjoyment us journalists and gamers get to enjoy. As the panel begins with host Gary Steiner, we see them discuss what fans wanted feedback on.
As the camera shifts to Brad we learn that they are pleased to hear fans enjoy that the sheer enjoyment and feedback from the fans have been undoubtedly enjoyable. Especially after he had been down at the DOOM booth this entire weekend. Speaking up, Marty discusses how excited the team is to hear the enjoyment as fans are helping with the enjoyment of the game. Especially how they’ve been helping fans enjoy the game as fans play, even giving pro tips regarding use of the weapons such as the Gauss Rifle, the Rocket Launcher, and even the other variety of guns that are in the playable pre-alpha that has been promoted here this weekend. As his discussion ends, Duffy begins to talk about how the fans have been reacting, especially as the player skill level increases we also learn that QuakeCon has helped bolster the game. As Bethesda has helped with the Shout Casters, Marty thanks them for their help, but also how they have done the game. As the camera changes, Brad begins to talk about how this game has been highly influenced with how the online goes, and with the help of others, we learn that QuakeCon has truly helped with Hugo, and the others have helped with the game.
While the conversation, we hear that Hugo discusses how they enjoy how the matches have been well balanced out, and how well the skill level changes to a higher bit as fans begin to enjoy the game. He also talks that the first match from the championship was ended at 61-60 as a final match. One kid having gone 37/8 k/d from Hugo Martin.
As the multiplayer ends, we get to once more watch the E3 trailer where we see the marine putting on his helmet, rolling a body off the floor. Below you can take a gander at the trailer that was revealed. It makes us once more remember just why we need next March to roll out on computers. As the game begins to grow more violent and shows the true DOOM look as the trailer unwinds. To be honest? Nothing can beat the justification of seeing this trailer once more as the Cyber Demon takes look and the BFG is once more fired off. As the trailer comes to an end, the crowd has once more gone wild as we see the team react to the fans enjoying the game.
With DOOM having helped lay the foundation for the shooter genre, we see Marty Stratton react to the preservation of the legcy. As a bit part of it, he states that the development of it, and being a part of the legacy is honoring. One of the things he is proud of, is how the game has worked out, from the start. Especially having started out at the highest level as they work to capture the highest levels of it. As they capture the essence of DOOM, they knew they wanted to have multiplayer, which goes without saying that the DOOM games need the multiplayer and snap map as part of its legacy, which is something the fans deserve and need out of a DOOM game. They truly aren’t really leaving anything out of the game. We learn that Duffy has been with the studio for 17 years and his feelings towards DOOM. He wanted to help bring the game that lived up to the legacy that lived up to the original DOOM games that the fans deserve, need, and he looks at it in a truly terrifying process, one that requires fans to go head on at full speed ahead, something games like Call of Duty aren’t doing. This means that the game is being focused in on at 60hz, which is by now; default. With the Snap Map this requires a consistence experience to the players as they play go. With Brad and Hugo being with the studio between 3-10 years, we learn that Hugo wants to help preserve the original, to provide something that keeps with the direction of the titles that we know. With the current game, they are attempting to preserve originality, but add onto what the cinematic experience can be like when working on this new one. This means pushing the personality to the overall game aesthetics compared to before. With Brad having been a part of it, he reminds us of the fans who used to sneak off in order to play the game, but with multiplayer, he discusses the key pillars of what the game needed, one being fast, movement as defense, big guns, and the expectation needs to be when it comes to the DOOM title, and multiplayer one more provides that.
With DOOM having been in development for a while, we learn that Marty discusses that the game began to feel right during the Spring of 2013 when they had done some work with the animation team in order to work with badass guns, demons, and fast movement; all being core of the game. The animation team had put an animatic together on how the animation kills work, and what they will be like, which truly is amazing at this point. This feature has made the cut into the multiplayer so-far, which is amazing in the long run. With programmers and animators working together, they began to work on it and focus on it in order to help provide a true DOOM experience. Even mentioning how the guns in RAGE were phenomenal. With this being fun and addictive, they began to build in a movement map in order to test these few components such as the glory kills, double jumpment, and even the grappling to climb. He said even in this, he has still played this for the past two years, and continues to do so as these parts of the game have made it into the final product. For Hugo it has much been the same as they discuss and polish the project in order to work as hard as they do, including adding new animations, new feels to sound, guns, or even hit reactions in order to keep the legacy alive. He even states that some things can feel worse or better for the game, but it is definitely feeling like DOOM once more.
Duffy has discussed he was much like Marty when it truly felt like DOOM, which was used based upon the player speed of Rage as they began to blast through the DOOMs test levels. He states that Hugo’s work helping bring the world to traditional DOOM touches, he states that how the game began to fall together all at once while Brad discusses that he was a bit later to the game. That he was also one that came aboard with the animatics as well as the prototyping, he also helped feel that the pinata drops helped make the game feel proper while working on it. That the combat pushed forward, he became a believer of the project the way it is. Marty states that the best part of developments is when the new building barriers towards DOOM builds, the game began to feel just like it should while working on how the development cycle works with a developmental rush. He brings up how DOOM at QuakeCon last year the positive response really helped them focus on their efforts as fans screamed and cheered at the game, which is what helped with the games production. This includes the chainsaw which received a good fan reception as the game is in development.
With managing all the developmental cycles, Marty states that the whole preservation of the projects is amazing, and has been exciting at this point. This includes things falling off, getting attention, or cut due to expenses as they establish a core identity that helped with the games current cycle. They also had forged some partnerships with over teams such as CircuitFinity to help with the multiplayer in order to help with the multiplayer, they also worked with a local Dallas developer called Escalation that has been helping with the Snap Map in order to contribute to it in development, but also ideas to improve upon it. It’s these things he said though, that can help weigh down development, but they have truly helped bring forth the overall experience. This means helping bring forth such a title as he mentions it to the Twitch stream. He discusses this is truly important when working on development.
As Marty’s discussion comes to an end, we get to see the lights dim and once more see the video of the gameplay happen. As the screen dims we get to see the player enter the scene of Hell, first lighting up Demon’s with his shotgun before switching to the chainsaw in order to light up an imp while a demon lights him up. This includes taking on a Mancubus, Hellknight and a Revenant with a chainsaw while nearly dead. As he switches weapons we quickly see invisible Pinky’s appear and a Revenant take off and die from a shot from the super shotgun. This truly shows us once more what DOOM truly is and helps demonstrates that push forward in combat that allows it to once more feel like a sense of constant motion and skill like the classics did.
Marty begins to discuss the use of skill, he states that DOOM’s movement is important, and if movement isn’t there? Death is sure to happen, which means DOOM is all about consistent movement and will require players to focus on it, and this places it as a core pillar of the game and stems out constantly, which means stopping is not an option when grabbing main resources of the game such as ammo, health pickups or even smashing a demon’s head open. The conversation switches to Hugo whom discusses movement is about swimming through the space such as glory kills, fighting demons, and even getting into position in order to skip around the map in order to avoid demons. This means that maps aren’t going to be set into place in order to stay alive and strategies, instead it’s abut moving on the go. As the conversation changes, we learn from Hugo that combat is not about picking targets, instead it’s about constantly fighting multiple demon’s at once in a “drive by” fashion to ensure damage having been properly done to the demon’s to preserve liveliness. He discusses how he does it by hiding in a cave or somewhere possible for just a moment to begin regeneration before finding the little guy and picking him off. In turn, Duffy begins to discuss how DOOM sets itself apart from the others apart, which means speed, a lack of crouching, which means you are a slower and more stationary target, which is not recommended. He discusses that this is a removed function that is not important in the game as players will flow through combat such as “swimming through the space”. He even states that he could see how the general crowd plays the games where they would back up, crouch, and other players would lay into them. He states that in DOOM when you feel like you must fall back, that you must push forward in order to keep into combat.
Marty states that the entire experience is great as it is felt like it has style, and provides an experience fans want. Brad states that he gets to experience a lot less in single player than the others while he works ont he multiplayer. The game, according to Marty, is challenging, one that will push fans to learn how to play this style of game. This includes listening to Hugo talk about the gameplay, and even how much Hugo plays the game, which is thousands of hours already. Marty also states he is truly glad we have been able to play the multiplayer, while Hugo also states that the more you play, the more aggressive you need to play while they show off one of their favorite moments, which is a Mancubus getting glory killed with its own heart being shoved down its throat before it detonates in half. Ever had too much queso? That’s how this demon feels as we celebrate QuakeCon around 2am. We actually learned that one of the team members got to make all sorts of sounds including burps into the game for monster creatures. Ths includes a can of coke and money well spent.
We learn that the idea for finishing moves came from an animatic that the animation team, as stated before, Marty states they are constantly asked about it, and the DOOM they know about. He states that when they do something and change directions, it’s easy to say they scraped some stuff, but that’s not the state now, but they are using a collection from the past as well so that some stuff could be tweaked and fine tuned into the current state of the game. This includes working with the tech and even reapplying it into the current stage of the game, which means a peg in a square hole for example, which means once it’s tuned fine? It’ll be just how it needs to be. We also learn that speed was a key component that was a seamless movement in the glory kill, which is stated between when the glory kill is timed from execution to death, to when players once more obtain control of the character in order to keep constantly in motion.
With the game being contextual sensitive, players will do certain ones when aimed at certain parts, according to Hugo Martin, which we ourselves have experienced in the multiplayer component. We also learn that some of these will never get old as players will feel skillful when executing these movements at the end of the day, which always feels good. Hugo states that DOOM needs to feel like a state of the art and brutal killing machine. Marty also states that the game is all about micro-decisions, and also quick reactions in order to take out enemies from any direction as needed in order to take on enemies from afar or around the corner, which causes the game to be a microsecond based decision making. Hugo Martin also states that the game is entire about pushing forward in constant combat for fans to ensure that they are always in combat. He also states that when in a hectic battlefield, glory kills feel awesome.
We learn the teams favorite weapons such as Marty states that is truly hard since single player is really hard due to the amount of weapons that are possible to use, which makes the weapon wheel one of his favorites due to versatility of swapping between the weapons. He also states that his favorite is the heavy machine gun, and haven’t even discussed the weapon mods just yet, which is a huge and intricate part of the single player, which are all upgradable. He states that his favorite is the machine guns micro missile mod is one of his favorites. We states he ALWAYS has a super shotgun. We learn that Brads favorite is the micro-missile as well, but super shotgun is his thanks to the gib factor. We learn that Duffy’s favorite is the static cannon that is there as his. Duffy states the super shotgun is his favorite even as mods change the game completely over time, while Hugo’s is also the static since it’s a movement based gun for PvP, while switching to the Repeater. He also states that he loves the Super Shotgun for single player since he loves the triple shot factor the gun has.
Discussing the multiplayer, we learn that DOOM’s core of multiplayer is core across the entire game, which is the fast movement, but also the weapons. They all are taking part as an overall core element of the game, but also the fan reactions regarding the fan reactions of the game. With multiplayer elements being at the focus, we also learn that Hugo believes he is the best at multiplayer, which is quite funny. Overall, we learn that there are four guys that stand above everyone, and at 5pm? We get to see a dev battle between the team. Once again Marty lets us know that the Alpha and the Beta for those at home will be available for those who pre-ordered Wolfenstein quite a while ago will get a group for an Alpha randomly drawn soon such as email notifications, and even console notifications based upon what you’ve been selected on. Exactly when is this coming? Soon, very soon from what we’ve seen, but with id Software? We learn that these tests won’t be extremely close to the games launch.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.