Doom 3 out today

[Ragone]

wee!

[pjstp20]

Yeah, I'm gonna run to the stores when they open and try to snag a copy. Lot's of places (CompUSA, Best Buy, Wal-Mart) are saying it will be released on 8/4. Don't know what thats about, hopefully thats for internet orders.

[Alf]

woot

[Router Help]

Got my copy last night. The game runs suprisingly well on some older hardware.

AMD 2200+
1 GB RAM
128 MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200

It is very playable at 800x600 and it looks great. Very scary when playing with all the lights off. My apartment neighbors must be wondering what was going on last night. :D

[Ksyrup]

"Doom 3," the long-awaited next installment in the seminal action series, officially becomes available at midnight Tuesday, raising the bar for what to expect from future video games."

OK, does this mean last night, or tonight? That might explain the August 4 date.
<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude--><SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--var clickExpire = "-1";//--></SCRIPT>

[Router Help]

According to Best Buy, it should be in most stores today: http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat38800050042&type=category

According to ID it doesn't officially come out intil the 5th, but they also say stores may have it earlier. http://www.idsoftware.com/

[Bonegavel]

Can't wait to pick this up.

router help, where did you get your copy? Pre-order?

[Bonegavel]

dola,

just called local EBX and they are getting it in around 2pm EST here, but the guy said that the local best buy had it now. I know what i'm doing for lunch.

[Router Help]

I had a friend who works at gamestop get me a copy. He said they would be selling them today, but that he thought all his copies would be taken by pre-orders.

[sachmo71]

So, did they ruin it?

[Router Help]

So far I think it is great. After a little while you'll recognize patterns as to when monsters will jump out at you, and sometimes it can be a little annoying trying to hunt down a PDA that has a PIN number stored in it, but these are minor complaints. I haven't played that much yet, but so far I'd say they did a good job.

I'm very impressed at how great it looks and how smooth it plays. I've been reading for a couple years now how demanding this game would be on hardware, but it seems to scale very well.

[hukarez]

Folks still play at 800x600? I'd imagine 1024 would be the standard by now. :confused:

[Router Help]

Folks still play at 800x600? I'd imagine 1024 would be the standard by now. :confused:

I can play at 1024 if nothing is going on. As soon as I open a door and a monster jumps out everything gets choppy.

[hukarez]

Hm. I might just be able to run this. Of course, I'll probably wait until next week or so to pick this up - if it's still in stock and what not.

[Calis]

It runs fine for me at Medium detail at 1024x768 although it gets choppy if there's numerous bad guys on the screen at once. I'm just running a 1.4 Ghz with a Radeon 9700...so it definitely runs on older hardware.

It looks fantastic, beautiful game.

It's not like the old Doom's though at all really, which has been known for quite a while. Not a run and gun game.

It's nothing special gameplay-wise. I'm not a fan of FPS's in generals, and this isn't a game that's going to change my mind.

I'm a little miffed that we have a colony on Mars but can't manage to have some night vision goggles lying around, or make a gun with a flashlight on it....ughh, seems like a rather cheap way to add tension.

[Ksyrup]

I have to admit, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to piracy. Looking for a review of Doom 3, I found the following. I mean, not only do they have a site, but they review pirated software!



Doom 3 leaked over p2p networks

ISO can't believe it


By Tamlin Magee ([email protected]): Monday 02 August 2004, 10:50

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://netcomm.spinbox.net/?DC=TheInquirerMPU&JS=Y&TARGET=_blank"></SCRIPT>http://netcomm.spinbox.net/DA/114/1x1_default_pixel.gif <NOSCRIPT>http://netcomm.spinbox.net/?SIT=TheInquirerMPU (http://<a href=)</NOSCRIPT>
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED first-person eye candy blast-'em-up Doom 3 has already been released by piracy groups over the internet.

According to an ISO-piracy news site, theisonews.com, the game is available for download over various p2p networks, and gives details on how to install the cracked game. A contact of ours has informed us that a couple of DirectConnect – which is a filesharing program with a rather elitist following – hubs are sharing the game for download.

A reviewer at theisonews.com reckons the game more than lives up to the hype, rating it a 10 out of 10 on pretty much all counts. Could the review (http://theisonews.com/firstlook.php3?firstlookid=2188#) be a hoax? Possibly, but he's supplied screenshots to back himself up.

I doubt retailers will have to worry too hard about losing out on Doom 3 sales – everyone's going crazy for this one, rabid fans desperately trying to get their pasty hands on a copy. The pirated release arrived just before the official copy is set to go on sale.

Update: The reviewer on ISOnews has made some nasty claims about the game, and is quoted on the forums as saying: "Guys, I officially disown this firstlook. I've never done that before, but I do admit when I'm wrong, and I am wrong this time. The first couple hours were much more than fun the last 5, and I'm bored to tears now. All the shadow effects in the world can't make up for what is essentially 1991 "run into room, kill spawned monsters, find key, open door" gameplay." He goes on to say that he'd have his review deleted if he could.

[rkmsuf]

doomed?

[hukarez]

Now out of extreme curiousity - are there any multiplayer components with this?

EDIT: I tried out the official website...but didn't find any kind of substance whatsoever. Not to mention, the flash site thing is a bit annoying for me here at work, where bandwidth is compromised with a few programs we're uploading.

[Router Help]

There is deathmatch that is desinged for small groups of around 4 players although I think servers can add more if they want.

No Co-op :(

[Bonegavel]

Just picked up my copy at my local Best Buy. $58!!!

Regardless of what you think of single player game that comes with it, you will need a copy to play all the mods that are sure to come soon that will make you forget about the single player component.

[rkmsuf]

58 bucks is cooky talk.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Man. There were few things better than the "Army of Darkness" mod for Doom and Doom II. Those were the days. Coming home after class, turning up "Rage Against the Machine" or, perhaps, the "Demon Knight Soundtrack," blasting away at all sorts accompanied by "Army of Darnkess" sounds bites.

Good times... Good times...

[sabotai]

I remember listening to Skinny Puppy and Leatherstrip as I played Doom and Doom II. To this day I can't listen to Retrospective without seeing Doom II in my mind. :)

[RainRaven]

would it be playable on a 1.6 GHZ, 768 MB RAM and GE Force 4600. Besides the higher price tag I would hate to buy it and find out it's unplayable on my machine.

[Franklinnoble]

58 bucks? Forget it.

[Raiders Army]

If id were really trying to recapture the frenzy they had with Doom, they they should offer a demo level. Does anyone know of any demo coming out?

[Router Help]

would it be playable on a 1.6 GHZ, 768 MB RAM and GE Force 4600. Besides the higher price tag I would hate to buy it and find out it's unplayable on my machine.

According to this page at HardOCP you should be able to run the game with no problem: http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQ0LDU=

[Router Help]

If id were really trying to recapture the frenzy they had with Doom, they they should offer a demo level. Does anyone know of any demo coming out?

id did say that they were working on a demo.

[Franklinnoble]

If the god-mode cheat code doesn't work, I'm not interested.

[skrath]

God mode cheat works. Bring up the console with ctrl-alt-~, and type in 'god'. Not too hard.

Also, if it's TOO dark, try jacking up the gamma a bit with 'r_gamma 1.3' (or whatever you like). Works a little better. There's loads of tweaks out there, and with the new 4.9b Catalyst drivers for ATI, I can run it very well.

[Bonegavel]

as for "can i run it on my system" --- it supposedly auto detects your rig and runs the game appropriately (meaning, it will turn off as many features as it takes to get an acceptable frame rate).

As for id games, ever since quake II (dec 9th, 1997 IIRC) I've purchased id games on day 1. Id is the only company for which I do this, with the only exception being Half Life 2 if/when it ever comes out.

[Ksyrup]

None of the stores even got this in yesterday here. Today or tomorrow is what they're telling people.

[pjstp20]

None of the stores even got this in yesterday here. Today or tomorrow is what they're telling people.
I learned that the hard way. Rather than pick up a phone and call, I decided to go to CompUSA, Best Buy and both EB's only to be told later today. Then later that day I decided to do the same thing only to be told tomorrow.

Today I called, and CompUSA and Best Buy are still waiting but EB has it in. I can't believe I finally got my mitts on it.

[pjstp20]

as for "can i run it on my system" --- it supposedly auto detects your rig and runs the game appropriately (meaning, it will turn off as many features as it takes to get an acceptable frame rate).

As for id games, ever since quake II (dec 9th, 1997 IIRC) I've purchased id games on day 1. Id is the only company for which I do this, with the only exception being Half Life 2 if/when it ever comes out.
I heard that this function erorrs on the side of being way too conservative. i.e) medium settings for the top video cards

[Bonegavel]

I heard that this function erorrs on the side of being way too conservative. i.e) medium settings for the top video cardsIt is easy enough to go in and change any settings you want. I don't blame them for being conservative because most dopes have 65 things running in the background and are loaded with spyware so the more conservative settings will be good for them. Running the game by default at the edge of a system's capabilities isn't practical for the average joe.

[hukarez]

God mode cheat works. Bring up the console with ctrl-alt-~, and type in 'god'. Not too hard.

Also, if it's TOO dark, try jacking up the gamma a bit with 'r_gamma 1.3' (or whatever you like). Works a little better. There's loads of tweaks out there, and with the new 4.9b Catalyst drivers for ATI, I can run it very well.Eh? 4.9b Catalyst drivers? I thought 4.7 was the only ones out. In any case, I'm running Omega 4.7 right now...not too shabby for me, at least. Running the game with AA off, everything else on...I don't seem to mind it much.

pjstpl - you're right about the conservative detection bit. I went ahead and followed some Tweak guide I found out there, and set my specs to 1024x768, high detail. It's smooth most of the time.

[Ksyrup]

I just picked mine up from CompUSA. Best Buy still hadn't gotten it and had no clue when they would get it, as they expected to already have it.

[Calis]

Eh? 4.9b Catalyst drivers? I thought 4.7 was the only ones out. In any case, I'm running Omega 4.7 right now...not too shabby for me, at least. Running the game with AA off, everything else on...I don't seem to mind it much.

pjstpl - you're right about the conservative detection bit. I went ahead and followed some Tweak guide I found out there, and set my specs to 1024x768, high detail. It's smooth most of the time.


ATI released a beta of the 4.9's to boost Doom 3 performance.

Haven't tried 'em yet, but getting ready to install...haven't heard anything bad about them yet, they seem to help.

[hukarez]

ATI released a beta of the 4.9's to boost Doom 3 performance.

Haven't tried 'em yet, but getting ready to install...haven't heard anything bad about them yet, they seem to help.
Got a link to the page? Can't seem to find it anywhere on ATI's website - just the official 4.7s and what not.

[pjstp20]

Try rage3d.com. They have everything for ATI cards there.

[Dutch]

I'm kind of surprised they pushed the price up. The only people to buy for that much are the die-hard fans and fanatical FPS people. The price will drop in about 2 months. I can wait. I'm sure I'll impulse buy it one day in November while cruising around Best Buy with nothing to do.

[Calis]

Got a link to the page? Can't seem to find it anywhere on ATI's website - just the official 4.7s and what not.

4.9 Betas (http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4547.html)

[pjstp20]

I'm kind of surprised they pushed the price up. The only people to buy for that much are the die-hard fans and fanatical FPS people. The price will drop in about 2 months. I can wait. I'm sure I'll impulse buy it one day in November while cruising around Best Buy with nothing to do.
It's 5 dollars more than most new releases.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I wa sin Best Buy today and though about buying it but decided against the purchase because of the 55.00 $ price.

[Bonegavel]

Started the game last night and I must say it is worth the money, but of course YMMV.

You must be in possesion of decent equipment to fully appreciate it for one reason: Real Time Lighting. The way they have it so that lights go out and you must choose between using your flashlight or a weapon adds immensely to the experience. It is also recommended that you seal your room off so no light can enter and you use/invest in a good set of headphones with the sound cranked up.

The ambient sounds are awesome. You hear skittering footsteps all around you and the rooms are claustrophobic enough to add to the feel. Shit pops out at you from every direction and, needless to say, the Doom 3 Engine is second to none. The cut scenes are done in-game with no need for cgi work. Stunning.

I see now why Carmack waited to redo the Doom series and waited for technology to catch up. You can only get this experience with tech availble now. Walking into a room, having the lights suddenly cut out, hearing dragging footsteps off to your left, and then switching on your narrow beam flashlight only to catch partial glimpses of a pack of hell-zombies is worth the price of admission.

[Ksyrup]

I agree. The game "experience" is worth more than the game itself. I love how the voices of conversations you can overhear change in yourears as you move. Turn left, you'll hear them in your right ear, and vice versa.

Messing around last night for about an hour or so, I was only able to get up to the point of finding the missing scientist. I'm looking forward to getting back into it, as the game appears to really pick up from that point.

[Bonegavel]

Some opinions I've seen on it are ragging that it is the old "find key card" "unlock door" blah blah. Yeah it is, but the atmosphere is incredible. I spend half my time whipping around to investigate a noise.

Also, this is the first FPS game that I've ever truly taken my time. Other games (even half life) I was just blasting through without much care. Doom3 has me cautiously entering rooms. Checking each corner. Taking a deep breath before clicking an unlock door pad. I have even taken the time to read each PDA email and listen to each audio clip. It all adds to the experience.

Like I said, the ultimate way to play it is late night, room sealed off, no t.v. or distractions, headphones cranked up.

Wait until you get to the martianbuddy part. Good stuff.

[Ksyrup]

Doom3 has me cautiously entering rooms. Checking each corner. Taking a deep breath before clicking an unlock door pad. I have even taken the time to read each PDA email and listen to each audio clip. It all adds to the experience.
Same here. I'm finding the F5 button to be the most useful feature. Especially when contrasted with GTA Vice City, where you have to go to one specific place to save your game. That gets old quickly. I don't have hours and hours to throw away on wasted game play.

[pjstp20]

Good review Bonegavel, my thoughts exactly.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Hmmm....tthose reviews might have me running to best buys today to get it but I am worried about my comp not being good enough to fully enjoy the game.
I have a p4 1.8 ghz 512 mb sdram and a g force fx card .

[Bee]

The video card seems to be key from the reading I've done. What GeForce card do you have?

[Bonegavel]

Hmmm....tthose reviews might have me running to best buys today to get it but I am worried about my comp not being good enough to fully enjoy the game.
I have a p4 1.8 ghz 512 mb sdram and a g force fx card .
I'm sure you'll be able to run it. But, it won't be so pretty. I have a P4 2.533, 512 MB RAM and a Radeon 9700 Pro and i'm running it at 800x600 and I can see some stutter. I think the doom 3 setting was called Medium Detail (though it still looked pretty damn good) and it was taxing the system and my PC isn't too shabby.

You'll probably have to run it in 640x480 mode to get a decent frame rate.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

The video card seems to be key from the reading I've done. What GeForce card do you have?

Me well I have a 64 mb Gforce 4 5200 fx graphics card.

[Bee]

Me well I have a 64 mb Gforce 4 5200 fx graphics card.

I've read of folks with lesser cards running it at 800X600 in medium detail with decent performance at gonegold.com. You'll probably get some stuttering with lots of monsters on the screen though. I'd guess you'll be able to tweak it enough to make it playable.

[Ragone]

I think i'm gonna wait till some place puts it on sale for 30 bucks or so.. which should be in a week or two :P

[Raiders Army]

Got it tonight. Very scary. I got it because I wanted to see if it was true what everyone was saying...you have to play it to believe it.

Also, got it for $49.99 plus tax at Wal-Mart.

[sabotai]

I got it as well. It hasn't really scared me. Some really cool things and all. I'm the type of person that needs to have suspense build-up before I can get scared. This is pretty much action packed.

Ok, I will admit...I got chills down my spine a few times. Like when I heard the whispering the first time. And when I went down this lift and "things" were crawling down the wall after me.

VERY cool game so far. Graphics are great, and the sound is even better.

[MizzouRah]

Ok, it's time for a new video card. I'm thinking of my first ATI card, maybe a 9600XT?


Todd

[sabotai]

I got a Radeon 9800 Pro from NewEgg recently for $200. The game runs smooth on my system (AMD 1800+, 768 RAM) at Medium Quality (a few spots of choppiness).

[MizzouRah]

I got a Radeon 9800 Pro from NewEgg recently for $200. The game runs smooth on my system (AMD 1800+, 768 RAM) at Medium Quality (a few spots of choppiness).
I'll have to check out NewEgg. I think Best Buy has it for $249.99.


Thanks,

Todd

[sabotai]

Ok...the game finally scared me. Now that was the most scared I've ever been while playing a video game. Got chills all over and just kind of curled up into a fetal position. It wasn't anything big either. In fact, I've redid the little part about ten times. Each time, same effect. I have to stop playing for tonight. That girl's whispering voice is echoing in my head...

[The_herd]

Ok, it's time for a new video card. I'm thinking of my first ATI card, maybe a 9600XT?


Todd

I have the 256MB version of the 9600XT and it runs Far Cry beautifully. I picked it up around Christmas time for around $190, so its not too expensive. I highly recommend the 9600XT 256 if you don't want to break the bank on a $300-$400 card.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Ok...the game finally scared me. Now that was the most scared I've ever been while playing a video game. Got chills all over and just kind of curled up into a fetal position. It wasn't anything big either. In fact, I've redid the little part about ten times. Each time, same effect. I have to stop playing for tonight. That girl's whispering voice is echoing in my head...

I finally gave in and bought this game at Wal Mart and let me tell you this game is freaky~! The first time I heard the whispers I just nearly freaked out.
Currently talked to this guy icowering in the air vents.

[MizzouRah]

I have the 256MB version of the 9600XT and it runs Far Cry beautifully. I picked it up around Christmas time for around $190, so its not too expensive. I highly recommend the 9600XT 256 if you don't want to break the bank on a $300-$400 card.
Thanks, that's the card I've been looking for. In fact, I was on my way to Best Buy tonight and turned back and came home. I figured $200 for card, $50 for game and $65 for an extra 512MB of memory. I'll wait for awhile.

I need to see if this game is coming to the Xbox.


Todd

[MizzouRah]

dola,

I see it's coming out on October 1st for the Xbox! Joy!!!

Just saved me some $$$$


Todd

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Me well I have a 64 mb Gforce 4 5200 fx graphics card.


So far after about 4 hours of playing I have noticed no real slow down. Graphics are pretty good and am happy that my 2 yo comp can handle Doom 3.

Also I have noticed that the suspense in the game seem more in the line of the resident evil series (which shows tonight on sci-fi). Oh well still a good FPS though. Oh and I tried Deathmatch mode and got my ass beat....A little too fast for me too much like Quake Arena but still fun. I guess most of the folks there are Quake experts or something.

[Ragone]

hxxp://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/

great little mod for doom3.. straps a flashlight to your pistol-machinegun..

i'd love to play some fofc based deathmatch sometime :)

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

hxxp://ducttape.glenmurphy.com/

great little mod for doom3.. straps a flashlight to your pistol-machinegun..

i'd love to play some fofc based deathmatch sometime :)

Id hit it ....I mean Im in!

[Tex Schramm]

when is the xbox version coming out?

[MizzouRah]

dola,

I see it's coming out on October 1st for the Xbox! Joy!!!

Just saved me some $$$$


Todd

NM

[Bonegavel]

It has to be restated: you must play this game after dark, in a closed room, no lights and speakers cranked up or headphones. I played a little bit during the day while my daughter was in the room watching Disney and the effect was NOT the same.