11 years ago this month
11 years ago this month
DOOM 64 shipped.
So, did you play it? What'd you think?
I just got into emulating this (found a nice setup for Project 64 that allows you to use mouse + key) before I plunk down for a real copy sometime. It's nice, really nice, in my view. The barrel trick in the first level is a stroke of genius (of the evil sort), and the level design seems better than that of DOOM 1 (and I like it a bit more than DOOM II's sometimes sprawling and unfocused maps). Lots of atmosphere!
The only downside? Finding out what "The terraformer" was after all these years.
So, did you play it? What'd you think?
I just got into emulating this (found a nice setup for Project 64 that allows you to use mouse + key) before I plunk down for a real copy sometime. It's nice, really nice, in my view. The barrel trick in the first level is a stroke of genius (of the evil sort), and the level design seems better than that of DOOM 1 (and I like it a bit more than DOOM II's sometimes sprawling and unfocused maps). Lots of atmosphere!
The only downside? Finding out what "The terraformer" was after all these years.
I thought it was pretty much the best Doom game. The levels designs and stuff were really good.
<BEOWOOF> my lifes like battle garegga every time i kill man life becomes harder and the only solution to making things easier is killing ymself.
<SCRUNBABBY> my lifes like gwangs
<SCRUNBABBY> cause .. theres lots of wangs
<SCRUNBABBY> my lifes like gwangs
<SCRUNBABBY> cause .. theres lots of wangs
Love it to bits. It didn't get nearly the love it should have when it was released.
Feedback will set you free.
captpain wrote:Basically, the reason people don't like Bakraid is because they are fat and dumb
This game has a really great soundtrack.
Feedback will set you free.
captpain wrote:Basically, the reason people don't like Bakraid is because they are fat and dumb
-
dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Yeah, Goldeneye deathmatches ruled the day (and kicked my butt), so I never got to play this iteration of Doom. How does it compare with other ports?Neon wrote:Me and my chums were all playing 4player Goldeneye instead
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
It doesn't really compare to the others directly because it's not a port at all. Everything in it is new; it's as if the team behind DOOM went back a few years later, glanced at the DOOM Bible, and decided to scrap what DOOM was and make it again.
I haven't gotten to the Hell levels yet, but from what I've seen the maps are pretty plain but with some fiendishly well-designed secrets. The lighting on the maps and the scripting put it significantly above the regular DOOM 1 map; levels feel "scarier" (I guess; DOOM 1 was only tense at points) although you'll probably need to crank the brightness all the way up. Maps are pretty small, which makes it feel more like DOOM 1 than DOOM II.
The ambient soundtrack doesn't really lend itself to remixes, but helps establish that "omg DOOM your ass is on MARS OMG" theme.
Controls are decent (I guess what you'd expect) on an N64 controller, although I switched over to mouse + keyboard for Project 64 via a plugin. Oddly no mouse sensitivity setting seemed best; it's always a bit shaky for me. All the functions from DOOM - including a hold-to-run button - are available. The automap has a pretty good implementation as you can rotate it, zoom in and out, pan across, all without any slowdown. I found I had to press Use to pan the map which can cause some amusing things to happen in the game world, however. You can also get an awesome Features menu which gives up the cheetz.
Enemies are all redrawn. I think the new Cacodemon looks silly, and the two types of former human (pistol private and shotgun sergeant) look too similar. It's still recognizably DOOM; it's pretty cool how everything definitely feels like PC DOOM but also obviously isn't.
You can sometimes take advantage of the auto-aim (i.e. firing over ledges when an imp's fireballs hit the lip, or firing through a crack in the first set of gates in Engineering, the third stage or so).
The weapons are pretty awesome. The regular pump shotgun is great for taking out former humans, but pales against anything bigger in comparison with the Super Shotgun which does way more than double damage at close range - but doesn't land enough pellets on something a ways away to be effective. The new chaingun looks awesome and there's a little gout of blue flame whenever you fire it.
There are some new things in the game - demon artifacts (won't spoil what that's all about), and a new weapon (alien laser/unmaker) related to them.
Okay, what sucks about the game?
-Only four difficulty levels, with nothing like Nightmare mode
-You can restart a level at any time but you're back to the pistol. There's no PC DOOM style save/load. Makes the game pretty tough! I think you lose your demon artifacts if you do this, which can cause headaches.
-As a result of that you basically must use passwords to keep your progress going. On the plus side, if you get a password for Level 1, you can start the game with the Features menu, and you don't need a controller pak to carry this data around. The game's about as flexible with saving as could be expected, really.
tl;dr - like DOOM but everything's different so you'll never feel bored or that it's the same.
Man, Midway put out some of the better N64 games.
I haven't gotten to the Hell levels yet, but from what I've seen the maps are pretty plain but with some fiendishly well-designed secrets. The lighting on the maps and the scripting put it significantly above the regular DOOM 1 map; levels feel "scarier" (I guess; DOOM 1 was only tense at points) although you'll probably need to crank the brightness all the way up. Maps are pretty small, which makes it feel more like DOOM 1 than DOOM II.
The ambient soundtrack doesn't really lend itself to remixes, but helps establish that "omg DOOM your ass is on MARS OMG" theme.
Controls are decent (I guess what you'd expect) on an N64 controller, although I switched over to mouse + keyboard for Project 64 via a plugin. Oddly no mouse sensitivity setting seemed best; it's always a bit shaky for me. All the functions from DOOM - including a hold-to-run button - are available. The automap has a pretty good implementation as you can rotate it, zoom in and out, pan across, all without any slowdown. I found I had to press Use to pan the map which can cause some amusing things to happen in the game world, however. You can also get an awesome Features menu which gives up the cheetz.
Enemies are all redrawn. I think the new Cacodemon looks silly, and the two types of former human (pistol private and shotgun sergeant) look too similar. It's still recognizably DOOM; it's pretty cool how everything definitely feels like PC DOOM but also obviously isn't.
You can sometimes take advantage of the auto-aim (i.e. firing over ledges when an imp's fireballs hit the lip, or firing through a crack in the first set of gates in Engineering, the third stage or so).
The weapons are pretty awesome. The regular pump shotgun is great for taking out former humans, but pales against anything bigger in comparison with the Super Shotgun which does way more than double damage at close range - but doesn't land enough pellets on something a ways away to be effective. The new chaingun looks awesome and there's a little gout of blue flame whenever you fire it.
There are some new things in the game - demon artifacts (won't spoil what that's all about), and a new weapon (alien laser/unmaker) related to them.
Okay, what sucks about the game?
-Only four difficulty levels, with nothing like Nightmare mode
-You can restart a level at any time but you're back to the pistol. There's no PC DOOM style save/load. Makes the game pretty tough! I think you lose your demon artifacts if you do this, which can cause headaches.
-As a result of that you basically must use passwords to keep your progress going. On the plus side, if you get a password for Level 1, you can start the game with the Features menu, and you don't need a controller pak to carry this data around. The game's about as flexible with saving as could be expected, really.
tl;dr - like DOOM but everything's different so you'll never feel bored or that it's the same.
Man, Midway put out some of the better N64 games.
Yeah, they dropped that so they could hit their April release date. They really should've left it in.
There are at least two zDOOM compatible ports of the game - one is a complete conversion of the game (but obviously with fewer colors, barf) while the other is a mix of all sorts of levels from various console DOOM games (including GBA and SNES, rofl) which has multiplayer compatibility and is decently fun (although unfortunately pretty short on coop).
There are at least two zDOOM compatible ports of the game - one is a complete conversion of the game (but obviously with fewer colors, barf) while the other is a mix of all sorts of levels from various console DOOM games (including GBA and SNES, rofl) which has multiplayer compatibility and is decently fun (although unfortunately pretty short on coop).
This is one of my favourite FPS games of all time. I don't like comparing it to the other Doom games, they are all great...
What I like most about Doom 64 is probably the atmosphere. Sure you can't play it if your room's not darkened or it's nighttime, but no other videogame has ever scared me THIS much. The Soundtrack's also very awesome and of course fitting. I can't describe how much I love this game!
The Add-On for the PC-version is also very nice btw!
What I like most about Doom 64 is probably the atmosphere. Sure you can't play it if your room's not darkened or it's nighttime, but no other videogame has ever scared me THIS much. The Soundtrack's also very awesome and of course fitting. I can't describe how much I love this game!

The Add-On for the PC-version is also very nice btw!
-
Mortificator
- Posts: 2858
- Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:13 am
- Location: A star occupied by the Bydo Empire
Absolution was a game that was never released. Are the levels on the interweb or something?Mortificator wrote:The Absolution. I've only tried the very beginning, but it's a good conversion. Their site seems to be down right now, though.
Feedback will set you free.
captpain wrote:Basically, the reason people don't like Bakraid is because they are fat and dumb
http://www.doomwadstation.com/doom64/index.html
You need to the Doom II WAD file to be able to play. It's basically a total conversion, with some adjustments here and there. It has the music from the N64 game, the monsters, and for the most part, the levels. Just grab the main WAD file, and high speed version of the music, and frag the fuck off
You need to the Doom II WAD file to be able to play. It's basically a total conversion, with some adjustments here and there. It has the music from the N64 game, the monsters, and for the most part, the levels. Just grab the main WAD file, and high speed version of the music, and frag the fuck off

Last edited by The Coop on Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.