Doom has been re-(re-re-re-re-re-etc) released!

[67311c3ac8c52JDoran]

Probably everyone who would be interested in this already knows, but Doom 1 and 2 (the original, 1993 and 1994 games) have been re-released, a couple of days back. It's written/ported by NightDive Studios, uses the Kex Engine for the games, and is one complete package (as opposed to selling Doom 1 and Doom 2 separately). Oh, and it has the incredibly imaginative name 'DOOM + DOOM II'.

The package includes [copied and pasted from the Steam page at:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/2280/DOOM__DOOM_II/}

- DOOM,

- DOOM II,

- TNT: Evilution,

- The Plutonia Experiment,

- Master Levels for DOOM II,

- No Rest for the Living,

- Sigil (doesn't (yet?) include Sigil 2,

-Legacy of Rust (a new episode created in collaboration by id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames),

-A new Deathmatch map pack featuring 26 maps

Altogether, there are a total of 187 mission maps and 43 deathmatch maps in DOOM + DOOM II.



New Enhancements:

Online, cross-platform deathmatch and co-op for up to 16 players²

Community-published mod support with an in-game mod browser²'³

Choose between the original midi DOOM and DOOM II soundtracks or the modern IDKFA versions by Andrew Hulshult (including brand-
new DOOM II recordings)

Improved performance with multithreaded rendering supporting up to 4K resolution⁴

Now on the KEX engine

BOOM source compatibility makes it possible for hundreds of community-created mods from the past 25 years to be published in-game

Accessibility options, such as a modern font to improve legibility, high contrast mode, text-to-speech, speech-to-text multiplayer chat and more

Translated into 8 new languages: Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese




Existing Enhancements:

Upgraded visuals

Modern controller support

Weapon carousel for faster weapon switching

Improved mouse and keyboard controls

Local split-screen deathmatch and co-op for up to 4 players

Featured community mods²'³, including REKKR, Revolution!, Syringe, Double Impact, Arrival, and more! Expect an ever-expanding list of single player mods to be added by the community modders.

60 FPS and native 16:9 support – up to 1080p

Restored original in-game music using original hardware

Quick Save/Load support

DeHacked mod support


Offhand, I can't see anything there, other than the new 'Legacy of Rust' episode, that can't be gotten from a free source port (such as  GDZoom), but Doom is still massively popular, so I assume this package will sell well enough.


I won't be buying it , though, as I've already bought both Doom games for the PC, the N64 game Doom 64 (which probably doesn't count, as it's a whole new set of levels, not a port of Doom 1 or 1), the original XBox (well, they came free with Doom 3), the Playstation 3, and the Playstation 4 (I bought the PS4 version because it hosts some mods, which is almost unique on a console).

If they do port Brutal Doom (and Project Brutality) to the PS4 version (if this package does come to the consoles), then I probably would buy it, though.

[67311c3ac8e2cvoodoo47]

ok

[67311c3ac8fc4Nameless Voice]

You forgot to mention that anyone who already owns Doom (at least on Steam, not sure about other platforms) gets this for free.

[67311c3ac94f7sarge945]

I find it deliciously ironic that Doom, the game famously known to run on literally everything, is now only officially supported on the PC on Windows (and even then, only Windows 10/11).

Despite some of the cool enhancements, why would I play this version over any community source port which will no doubt have better mod support, work on everything, and won't come with a compromised iwad?

For those who don't know, the last 3 re-releases of Doom (the XBLA version, the one from Doom 3 BFG edition, and the Unity Rerelease) have all contained a version of Doom 2 that replaces the health graphics with green ones (no doubt for Red Cross reasons), removes the images of Hitler from the Wolfenstein levels, and changes a few other things as well, for no good reason. The actual changes aren't game-breaking, but I find it very upsetting that they are essentially rewriting history by changing the original experience like this without mentioning it anywhere or making the originals readily available, since the original releases of Doom 2 have been delisted from both GOG and Steam to make way for this new (and in my opinion inferior) version.

(EDIT: Upon further investigation, the GOG version does contain the original DOS versions of Doom 1 and 2 as well as the new versions, but the Steam version does not. I still stand by my criticism, as the original versions are only mentioned in passing and it's very conceivable that people wouldn't even know they are different. They will simply load them in dosbox, see the crappy resolution, and quit immediately.)

I can't wait for someone to make a pk3 of the new levels and remix soundtrack so that I can play them in an actually good source port.

You forgot to mention that anyone who already owns Doom (at least on Steam, not sure about other platforms) gets this for free.

My GOG version got "upgraded" too, so it seems to be on most platforms.

[67311c3ac967aTheHEX]

which source port and server browser should i be using to connect to online games? i used to play skulltag and get into deathmatch and coop games of alien vendetta i havent played it in like idk 20 years or something

[67311c3ac97d9voodoo47]

a subset of people who are looking forward to playing SS2EE not because of the enhancements, but because of KEX seems to exist, so I'm guessing if you are a KEX superfan then this is the Doom version for you?

personally I'm fine with gzDoom for the next two decades or so and then it probably won't matter.

[67311c3ac98dcsarge945]

Wait, there are KEX superfans? Why? The engine isn't particularly great.

[67311c3ac99cevoodoo47]

"can't wait to play this under KEX" is not uncommon on discord.

[67311c3ac9ab7sarge945]

Thanks for reminding me why I don't bother using Discord most of the time.

[67311c3ac9b93voodoo47]

my pleasure.

[67311c3ac9d41Join2]

Nightdive are parasitic at this point. Half their work is more destructive than good.  Destructive to decades-old modding communities and the incredible advancements achieved. Greedy Kick can kick rocks!

[67311c3ac9fafsarge945]

I never understood the love for NightDive in the first place. It seems like most of the people that really like NightDive are people who don't really understand how good community source ports work. ALL of the best versions of old games are community ports.

I appreciate NightDive for releasing the SS1 source, but honestly, by making SS1EE they have severely disincntivised the community from making a good quality community port (Shockolate is far from complete as a result and looks abandoned), and yet will let their own version rot and die from neglect to the point of being borderline unplayable.

I don't like NightDives business model. I feel like they are doing the whole "community port" thing, but worse. Shock portable was obviously inferior to SS1EE in many ways, but it was ours. Now we have a broken, locked-down, proprietary mess as the main source port for the game, and because it's the "official" endorsed modern port, the legacy of System Shock has been irreparably damaged as a result. When players play it for the first time (on account of SS1 on Dosbox being rather user-unfriendly and no other good quality, modern, finished source port being available), they will often have a bad experience because of how neglected SS1EE is in it's current state, and will then conclude that the game must have always been like this because this is the definitive version.

Obviously I don't expect NightDive to make good quality ports for free. I just kind of wish they would go away and let the communities for various games do what they do best, without making "official" updated versions. Especially if those official updated versions are either broken or inferior to existing community work.

This also applies to SS2EE as well.

[67311c3aca57eJDoran]

Despite some of the cool enhancements, why would I play this version over any community source port which will no doubt have better mod support, work on everything, and won't come with a compromised iwad?

That's a common question, from what I've seen in discussions about the new package. The fan community has done so much to enrich the Doom experience over the past three decades, that Nightdive Studios would have had to have gone a very long way to make the new package stand out. They didn't, so it doesn't.

Imagine if NDS had gotten some really talented artists/modellers to create genuine, polygonal 3D models of the Doom characters, and done a really good job of it, keeping the same general look and atmosphere of the original games, but in fully detailed 3D! For some reason, every 3D model pack for Doom that I've seen so far has been a real disappointment, it's the one area that (to me) the Doom community has never managed to tackle properly. And if NDS had given us this package but with really good 3D models of the enemies, then wow, this package would really have been worthy of the fan communities time and attention.

I can't wait for someone to make a pk3 of the new levels and remix soundtrack so that I can play them in an actually good source port.

You can play Legacy of Rust (the new episode) in GZDoom already, it's demonstrated here:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=o3h2vfDWE6E&lc=Ugw8YcTAE_EcyVxPXYl4AaABAg.A7-KzYUdggxA70MUe8zqg4

though I doubt anyone on this forum needs a guide to get a mod running on Doom! I would imagine that the other wads contained in the package, all older than Legacy of Rust, would also run on GZDoom too.
[/quote]

[67311c3aca6edvoodoo47]

there is (again) a subset of people who are unwilling to leave the GOG/steam/whatever sandbox. so a game is either available there in a one-click-and-play format, or it doesn't exist.

[67311c3acaadeJDoran]

I never understood the love for NightDive in the first place. It seems like most of the people that really like NightDive are people who don't really understand how good community source ports work. ALL of the best versions of old games are community ports.

At the moment, I'd be happy if NDS actually bothered to fix the bugs in their games. Their attitude towards bugs (presumably closing their eyes and singing "La la la, I can't see you) is appalling. Have they even said that they will fix the bugs in System Shock: Enhanced Edition, System Shock (remake), Blood: Fresh Supply, etc?

[67311c3acb1c6sarge945]

Imagine if NDS had gotten some really talented artists/modellers to create genuine, polygonal 3D models of the Doom characters, and done a really good job of it, keeping the same general look and atmosphere of the original games, but in fully detailed 3D! For some reason, every 3D model pack for Doom that I've seen so far has been a real disappointment, it's the one area that (to me) the Doom community has never managed to tackle properly. And if NDS had given us this package but with really good 3D models of the enemies, then wow, this package would really have been worthy of the fan communities time and attention.

Look up the Voxel Doom mod.

though I doubt anyone on this forum needs a guide to get a mod running on Doom! I would imagine that the other wads contained in the package, all older than Legacy of Rust, would also run on GZDoom too.

The biggest travesty of this package is that the IWAD used for Doom 2 is censored. To be fair to Night Dive, this censored version of the IWAD has been the standard one Bethesda has been using since Doom 3: BFG Edition, so they probably just asked Bethesda for the required IWADs and received these ones. But it's still upsetting to see that, with the original versions delisted from Steam, the only way to play an authentic copy of Doom that has the same art assets as the original version is to download the dos version from GOG and extract Doom2.wad from there.