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Salka

An Abuse of Basic Human Rights (in Doom 3, apparently)

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I started playing Doom 3 the other night, and I spent about 3 minutes trying to get out of a room by leaping off objects trying to catch hold of a ladder that was just out of my reach, in the dark.

Then I realized there was an elevator. I think the elevator was pretty dark, too.

It surprised me that there was an elevator. Come to think of it, why are games designed so crappily, most of the time? Do people really leave barrels of gas lying about Underground Laboratories? Do you really have to navigate high tech facilities by use of a network of ladders that often require you to leap to reach them? What must it be like to work in L'oreal, where I'm sure they have plenty of scientists and barrels of petrol? Is there some kind of secret Staff Entrance that allows workers to avoid the death traps that await the casual infiltrator? Do people at Laboratoire Garnier have to put up with this shit every day? No wonder their Shampoo and Conditioner is so crap; they probably piss in the formula by way of protest against working conditions. That, or the main ingredient is Petrol. Or crates. Or Crates of Petrol. Or Crates, Petrol and Ammo. Or Crates of Ammo covered in Petrol.

I mean, even in Doom 3, there seems to be a lot of rooms that exist for the sake of being rooms. I don't think they serve any real purpose. If I walked past a Staff Room or a Games Room or a TV room or any kind of non-underground lab-looking room at any point, I was probably too shit scared to notice it. But I don't think I did. No, wait. There was that one Arcade Game. I think that was in a canteen.

What could they possibly use all that petrol for anyway? Not in Doom 3, mind. I don't think I've blown up one barrel of Petrol yet. I'm sure there'll be some eventually. I mean, they must use something to fuel all those neat flashing lights in the walls. And if it's not Barrels of Petrol or crates in general, it's something explosive. It's like they're actively TRYING to make it dangerous and unpleasant to work underground in secret weapon facilities or something. And where do all these generic scientists come from? What are they doing at their consoles? How do they get IN to the building? This brings me back to the idea of Staff Entrances.

Considering that it's so hard to become an Architect, they fuck up BIG TIME when it comes to Secret Underground Facilities. And they wonder why the Staff Turnover is so high (well, that and the whole infiltrator-randomly-shooting-people thing).

That said, Doom 3 is alright. It's still an abuse of basic human rights, but at least there are no barrels of petrol.

Yet.

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They gave effort in the beginning to the level design to have more "real-life" kind of room. A lobby, toilets, diner place, and etc, or if that was it I think. Then until the hell maps, it's just a sofisticated bunch of nonsense rooms on repeat. But when to think of it, I've been to underground rooms, like factory 'cellars', nuclear facilities, and a mine pit, and they are really sometimes, not at all times, really 'hardcore factory steel death' kind of architecture. No happy colours or nice normal environments like you are used to. Though, what I've seen, it hasnt been dark at all. It's been superlight. Oh, and I havent seen petrol all over the place either. I could sum this up to: Yeah I agree. Nice post.

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i played the doom 3 demo yesterday. the "story" and the "characters" where as "deep" as supposed. i liked the way how id used to create horror atmosphere. all this "aaaahhhhhahahahahahhhh!!!" crying around. and the blood and the monsters. and i really liked the heartbeat effect. so everything started pretty good. but everything became all the same: get code, open door, kill monsters, get better weapon, get code, open door, kill monsters, etc... after 30 minutes i was waiting for something new. but nothing came. and then i was pretty disappointed. i just thought, hey id! you have awesome shadows and sounds in an appropriate environment! what about ideas?

i only played the demo and can't judge the whole game, but that was what i thought while playing it.

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I don't know about you guys, but I nearly pee'd my pants when I first stepped out into Mars.

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I've been playing Far Cry alongside one of my friends playing Doom 3, and he says the thing that really keeps him going in Doom 3 is waiting to get the next weapon. Since ammo conservation is actually an issue in the game, he's really appreciating the progression of weapons. Also, getting into Hell put a pretty big spin on the environments.

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I found that cheating gave me all the weapons much quicker.

You suck!!!

Also, getting into Hell put a pretty big spin on the environments

You spoiled the game for me!!!

Man, Hell? I would never have seen that coming. Thanks a bunch, for nothing.

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You suck!!!

You spoiled the game for me!!!

Man, Hell? I would never have seen that coming. Thanks a bunch, for nothing.

No problem. Next up, I spoil more classic gaming moments when I reveal that the experiment in Half-Life goes wrong, and aliens invade Black Mesa.

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I think this game's engine would be put to better use if given to another company, like Monolith or Looking Glass

thus the whole concept of licsensing the engine.

i dunno, im pretty close to beating doom3, but the university life has stopped me from doing so. overall, i'd say its an amazing game ... it did exactly what id claimed it would ... "scare the shit out of me", so im rather happy with it. i think the best way to play it is in small sessions ... no more than an hour at a time. same with halo. i can never play fps's for too long, since in the end they're all pretty repetitive. however, doom3 has been quite the experience.

SiN

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On the "scaring the shit out of you" front, it's pretty funny to watch my friend play Doom 3. He's a pretty big guy and it's great to see him twitch back and go "Holy shit!" at various moments while playing the game.

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On the "scaring the shit out of you" front, it's pretty funny to watch my friend play Doom 3. He's a pretty big guy and it's great to see him twitch back and go "Holy shit!" at various moments while playing the game.

Right at the very start of the game, before there were even any monsters... I got so startled while turning a corner that my hand jerked back on the mouse and I fired several shots into the wall right beside this poor, innocent scientist who had only been trying to greet me. Or something. I don't know, I wasn't really listening to what he had to say because I was trying to find my inhaler.

(P.S. I don't have athsma, I was just saying that for dramatic effect).

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Right at the very start of the game, before there were even any monsters... I got so startled while turning a corner that my hand jerked back on the mouse and I fired several shots into the wall right beside this poor, innocent scientist who had only been trying to greet me. Or something.

I just shot the poor guy in the face, as a reflex. It was great! I mean, in a bad way. The game had got me so wound up that I was just itching to shoot something, and the poor scientist guy just happened to be it. Sorry scientist guy! That'll teach you to hide around corners though.

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To paraphrase an old British ad, Doom3 does exactly what it says on the tin. I generally don't enjoy things that are designed to scare me as much as my friends. Not that I get scared particularly more or less than the average Joe, I just don't seem to feel as happy after it's passed as most people do, just kind of... well, tired really :blink:

After drawing the curtains closed, setting up my surround sound speakers about 2 feet from my head in the right directions, turning all the lights off apart from a hunched over bedside lamp in the opposite corner behind the bed, and playing into night while slightly drunk or stoned, I could generally only manage about 2-3 hours of Doom3 before I felt physically and mentally too tired to continue.

Still, I enjoy the satisfaction of pretty graphics, getting through a hard game, and blowing stuff enough to say I don't regret purchasing it (at pre-order discount price anyway). I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the developers for managing to produce a game that so thoroughly scares me, regardless of how much I actually like being scared. I think the main problem that all the players who slate it have is that they were hoping it would also have some sort of involving/surprising story, impressive level design, or devilishly clever AI (no pun intented), etc.. but that's missing the point.

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If I walked past a Staff Room or a Games Room or a TV room or any kind of non-underground lab-looking room at any point, I was probably too shit scared to notice it.

You must have been, because all those are in the game (and not just in the pre-demon intro levels). :)

There are in fact lots of "rooms with a purpose", although admittedly there is a large mid-section of the game where they are connected by miles of metal corridor.

You may find your comments about lack of human rights and safety (exploding barrels, toxic ooze etc) pretty funny once you get towards the end and keep reading the diaries, as ID have managed to second-guess you. You will find emails from employees complaining about the dangerous arrangements and poorly designed facilities. It might not excuse the level design entirely, but it does make it a lot more amusing. :)

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DId like 40% of the posts get deleted or did I just get Deja Vu?

EDIT: That's odd, when I searched my own post the posts are restored.

Anyway, That's what I meant, this game was meant to sell by itself, sure but it was also made a lot for the licsensing fees for the engine

And yes, the corridors are annoying as hell. And the e-mails sound funny....

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After playing a bunch of levels on of PocketQuake on my pocket PC, I remembered how much better Quake is as a game. The level design is superb...John Romero makes me his bitch regularly in Quake, while in Doom 3, I'm not so much the bitch.

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Well, he finished the game yesterday and it was fresh enough for him the whole way through, so I'm just passing his opinions along.

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I've answered some of your questions below (I'm such a nice guy!)

Do people really leave barrels of gas lying about Underground Laboratories?

Yes

Do you really have to navigate high tech facilities by use of a network of ladders that often require you to leap to reach them?

Yes

Is there some kind of secret Staff Entrance that allows workers to avoid the death traps that await the casual infiltrator?

No

Do people at Laboratoire Garnier have to put up with this shit every day?

Yes

No wonder their Shampoo and Conditioner is so crap; they probably piss in the formula by way of protest against working conditions. That, or the main ingredient is Petrol. Or crates. Or Crates of Petrol. Or Crates, Petrol and Ammo. Or Crates of Ammo covered in Petrol.

True

What could they possibly use all that petrol for anyway?

Bonfires

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If they wanted to recreate a realistic work and research environment, they should've made a big warehouse lit with dull fluorescent lights and filled with countless rows of identical looking cubicles.

And a small room in the corner with free coffee for motivation.

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