I swear I saw these guys at the FleetCenter last week.
(Microsoft Pinball Arcade and FreeSpace are about as high-tech as the games get around here)
Posted on 08/02/2004 6:48:50 AM PDT by Skooz
Sometime in 1993 I noticed a dramatic decline in my personal productivity. Also affected were my sleeping habits and personal hygiene. Same thing happened in 1996. It may or may not be a coincidence that 1993 was the year id Software released a video game called Doom, and 1996 was the year they put out Quake. Maybe there's a connection, maybe not. But I have a feeling it's going to happen all over again in about three weeks when id releases Doom 3.
If you've read this far, you probably already know what Doom 3 is — the next big game from id — and who id Software are — the spiritual and technological fathers of the modern video game as we know and love it. From the title you'd think Doom 3 was a sequel to the earlier Doom games, but you'd be wrong: It's actually a wholesale reimagining and retelling of the original Doom scenario. You're a Marine posted to a fancy-pants research facility on Mars. You show up, something goes really, phenomenally wrong, and suddenly you're squaring off against a crapload of demons.
The similarities to the original Doom end there. Doom 3 runs on all-new technology, and let's not mince words: there has never been a game that looks this good. I'm not sure what does it — the highly detailed textures, the fancy colored light and shadow-play, the all-new physics models, the "normal mapping" (whatever that is) — but id has created a virtual environment that's more compelling and immersive and realistic than really seems possible. Get up close to one of the demons and look at his skin: it gleams with a dull, matte, scaly sheen that's disturbingly lifelike. Warning: staring at demon skin up close may result in you being gutted like a fish.
Doom 3 is scary: A couple of times — embarrassing but true — I physically jerked my head back from the screen. But there's other good stuff in there, too: The id team has paid a lot more attention to storytelling and voice-acting in Doom 3 than they have in past games. This isn't just a run-and-gun scenario; there's actual plot points and stuff. There's a more cinematic sensibility at work too — watch for some nice virtual camerawork in the cut scenes. And of course, the creature design has that signature sick flair that one expects from id's artists, who almost certainly were badly mistreated as children.
More than this I can't say. id is keeping Doom 3 tightly under wraps until its release the week of August 2. But sit tight and you won't be disappointed. As for me, I've been to Hell and I survived, and I'll be going back just as soon as I possibly can. Hold my calls.
I'm going to have to wait and see how my system performs with it. I've got an Athlon 1.33 Ghz with 1GB RAM, NVIDIA 5500 video card w/256MB. Running Linux, so it should run a little better than in Windows.
Interest.
I swear I saw these guys at the FleetCenter last week.
(Microsoft Pinball Arcade and FreeSpace are about as high-tech as the games get around here)
Heck, I just BUILT myself a new box. Top-end Soyo MB, huge case, DVD Burner, 200GB HD, Athlon XP 3000+ and 1 GB of DRAM.
Cost me under a thousand bucks WITH shipping: hour to put together, 3 hours to load and update Windows. Even at the cheapest place I know to order computers ( www.ibuypower.com), I STILL saved over 200 bucks, and got a superior system to what I could have bought from them. . .
Me, too. Actually, it's a Compaq, but that's the same as HP anymore. Athlon 3000+, and I put a 256MB 5200 NVidia card in it -- I suppose it'd run Doom 3, but probably not with all the cool bells & whistles turned on.
I believe I recognize some of my old friends. They look a lot scarier this time around.
I had a guy calling himself "Elect John Kerry" this weekend. They made him change his name when I raised a stink. hehehe
Anyone want to set a time like 9pm cst one day this week?
I get the feeling I know where Bacon will be in 14 hours.
Damn I really "need" a video card!or three.As it sits I have three systems, all running, I never throw anything away.I have an old multi booter AMD K6 233 W/128 megs of ram running Dos 6.2/7.1/Win98,A Pentium 3 500mz W/256 meg and A P4 2gz W/500 meg.
Crap, my system won't support it. :-(
I heard about some Best Buy stores opening at midnight tonight for Doom3 but according to their web site, none of them are in the Houston area. I'll have to wait till after work tomorrow to reach FPS nirvana.
I just noticed, however, that my system here at work will support it! ;-)
Well you need to fix that! I upgraded my cpu to an XP 3200+ last week just for this game.
Have you seen the trailers for Halo2? One of them has a bunch of in game footage. You can find it here: http://www.fileplanet.com/files/120000/123690.shtml
That sounds like a plan!
Except for the fact that I never learned how to operate FPS games
without the frosty adult beverage of my choice near to hand.
Where did you have that done and how much did it cost and how long did it take?
Sure. You guys pick a day and I should be able to make it at 9 central.
I was playing as FrankenKerry, but I wasn't getting the response I wanted, so I switched to FreeRepublic. That one guy in the pic changed his name to A DEMOCRAT after he saw me in there. Naturally, I spent my time going after him.
He left after I told him he really was a democrat since I caught him lying down on the job. (I came up behind him lying down in wait to try and ambush someone.)
The guy below me was after him too. Said he was a Republican. :-D
I see your problem.
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