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DOOM 3 is a first person shooter computer game developed by id Software and published by Activision. The version for the PC has been released and a version for Xbox (developed by Vicarious Visions) may be released in early 2005. Set in 2145 in a Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) research center on Mars, it is a complete retelling of the original DOOM, with a completely new graphics and game engine.
In June of 2000, John Carmack posted a .plan (news update) announcing the start of a remake of DOOM using more current technology. This .plan was unusual for the amount of ire and controversy revealed to have been brewing within id over such a decision.
Kevin Cloud and Adrian Carmack, two of the id Software owners, were always strongly opposed to remaking DOOM. However, after the warm reception of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and latest improvements in rendering technology, most of the employees agreed that a remake was the right idea and confronted Kevin and Adrian with an ultimatum: "allow us to remake DOOM or fire us" (including John Carmack). After the relatively painless confrontation (though artist Paul Steed, one of the instigators, was fired in retaliation) the agreement to work on DOOM 3 was made.
The game was in development for four years. In 2001 the game was first shown to the public at MacWorld in Tokyo. It was later demonstrated at E3 in 2002, where a 15-minute gameplay demo was shown in a small theater. It was extremely warmly received and DOOM 3 won five awards at E3. Shortly after E3, a development version of the game leaked from ATI Technologies and quickly spread on the Internet. The game was also shown at the subsequent E3 exhibitions in 2003 and 2004. According to some comments by John Carmack, the development took longer than expected, possibly due to internal team friction.
DOOM 3 went gold on Wednesday, July 14 2004. A Mac OS X release was confirmed on Thursday, July 15 2004, and a Linux version has been announced as well. DOOM 3 was released in the US on August 3, 2004. Due to high demand, the game was made available at select stores at midnight on the release date. The game was released in the UK and the rest of the world (except for Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, where official localisation was delayed and only pirated versions were released on August 3) on August 13.
Two days before its official release, DOOM 3 was released by pirate groups onto the Internet (most likely, a copy was leaked from one of the American stores) where it became possibly the fastest spreading pirated game ever. As the game's focus is its single-player mode, the need for a valid retail serial number for online multiplayer gaming was a weak deterrent against piracy. Other factors contributing to the high demand for the pirated version were the gamers' expectations for DOOM 3 and delayed release outside of the US.
According to John Carmack, the lead graphics engine developer at id, the "tripod of features" in DOOM 3 technology are
The key aspect of the Doom 3 graphics engine is the unified lighting and shadowing. Rather than computing or rendering lightmaps during map creation and saving that information in the map data, most light sources are computed on the fly. This allows lights to cast shadows even on non-static objects such as monsters or machinery, which was impossible with static lightmaps. A shortcoming of this approach is the engine's inability to render soft shadows and ambient lighting.
To create a more movie-like atmosphere id interspersed the gameplay with many in-game animated sequences of monsters ambushing the player or just lurking around.
To increase the interactivity with the game-world, id designed hundreds of high-resolution animated screens for in-game computers. Rather than using a simple "use key", the crosshair acts as a mouse cursor over the screens allowing to use a computer in the game world.
Other important features of DOOM 3 engine were normal mapping and specular highlighting of textures, realistic handling of object physics, dynamic, ambient soundtrack and true six-channel Dolby Digital sound.
Similar to the story of the original Doom, the game focuses on the marine who was transferred to Mars and sent out on a routine mission. In contrast to its earler disdain for storytelling, this time id Software employed a professional science-fiction writer Matthew Castello to write the script and assist in story-boarding the entire game. This time id Software focused on retelling the story and creating a tense horror atmosphere. Unlike in previous id games there are now cutscenes that give purpose and context for the player's actions. Similar to other science fiction action/horror games such as System Shock and AvP 2, hundreds of text, voice, and video messages are scattered throughout the base. The messages are internal e-mails and audio reports sent between lab personnel, administrators, maintenence stuff, and other marines at the Mars base. The messages explain the background story, show the feelings and concern of the people on the Mars base and reveal information related to plot and gameplay. Video booths and televisions give planetary news, corporate propaganda, visitor information and technical data about the base.
Perhaps most important in the gameplay and action of Doom 3 is the atmosphere. Most of the levels are very dark, to create the feeling of helplessness and scare the player with surprise attacks from the shadows. To showcase the dynamic lighting and shadowing, Doom 3 uses many moving light sources. Most importantly, on a Mars base with insufficient lights, the flashlight becomes one of the most important tools. Rather than allowing a flashlight to be equipped to a weapon which would create a sense of security, id decided to only allow the weapon or the flashlight to be used. This created a dramatic tension as the player can either to see ahead or be prepared for what could be ahead.
For a modern game with an advanced graphics engine, DOOM 3 did not have unreasonably high minimum system requirements. It has been reported on various review sites that minimally recommended 1.5Ghz processor coupled with a GeForce MX graphics card achieves satisfactory performance with the game (about 20 fps in low resolution).
However, to make full use of the game engine, newer hardware is required. A modern 3GHz CPU coupled with GeForce 6800 Graphics card or ATI's Radeon X800 (both released earlier in 2004) show about 70 fps in 1024x768 resolution (more than the built-in engine's framerate of 60 fps).
When the game was released in 2004, the gaming public was polarised. Many gamers and reviewers liked the game and argued that id Software delivered everything they promised and more. They often cited an excellent atmosphere and the resulting great horror gameplay, amazing graphics and sound. However, according to the reviewers' ratings (89% average at GameTab as of August 15), overall the game fell short from being the masterpiece id Software promised three years ago. A significant group of vocal critics emerged, who argued that the game was not as good as the "fanboys" claimed it to be. The complaints can be divided into two groups: the gameplay shortcomings, and the slightly outdated game engine. The most often named gameplay shortcomings of the game are:
Many critical reviewers also mentioned the lack of innovations in graphics and sound, arguing that visual quality of DOOM 3 is comparable to many other games released in 2003 and 2004, most notably Far Cry. When DTF, a Russian game industry site, interviewed five directors of game development companies about DOOM 3 release, the four of them who already played the game, firmly rejected the idea that DOOM 3 was the new panacea in gaming. They said that the technological level of DOOM 3 is similar to that of Far Cry and Half-Life 2, for example, and that features such as bump mapping have already became standard. Interestingly, even the per-pixel lighting and stencil shadows, the trademark features of DOOM 3, were already implemented in many games in 2003, including Secret Service, a budget title from Activision Value.
Despite the use of the positional audio in DOOM 3, some reviewers said that the lack of reverberation, echoes, etc., made the audio bland. Replacement of the game soundtrack with ambient audio was perceived as another shortcoming, although it should be noted that many players prefer the lack of music because of the heightened sense of immersion given by just the ambient audio.
Even the critics usually admit the overall polish of the game and the great quality of art direction. In any case, the game was probably still a success for id Software, with the planned total revenue estimated by Activision at $20 million. This success was bolstered by the near-record number of pre-orders placed for the game. id Software also typically benefits from licensing the engine to other developers. Several games are already being developed using a modified Doom 3 engine, including Quake 4 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2.
A week before the game's release, it has become known that an agreement to include EAX technology in DOOM 3 reached by id Software and Creative Labs was heavily influenced by a software patent owned by the latter company. The patent deals with a technique for rendering shadows called Carmack's Reverse developed independently by both John Carmack and programmers at Creative Labs. id Software would be putting themselves under legal liability if they used the technique in the finished game. To defuse the issue, id Software agreed to license Creative Labs sound technologies in exchange for indemnification against lawsuits.
Shortly following the announcement of DOOM 3's development, a promotional website was released that pretends to be the homepage of the fictional corporation operating on Mars in the game. Until the announcement of gold status, the site served as a teaser, later a countdown to the release date was added. Website for Martian Buddy, a fictional corporation, prominently featured in the game has been revealed before the game launch.
Some other developers have also created websites for in-game companies in the past. For example, Rockstar Games created sites for most companies mentioned in commercials on the in-game radio in Grand Theft Auto.
Some work was done by outside specialists
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