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doom-nerdo-666 · 1 year

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Horror does have a place in Doom

(Mainly felt like making this post after a video by thebeansprout13, even if this comes out later because it was in my drafts for a while)

This is a very talked about, overplayed topic on Doom and it tends to repeat, sometimes because certain opinions/observations are more popular than others.

I think horror is an element in Doom and there's a lot of ways to talk about this, both in favor and against or even somewhere in the middle.

The 90's games

We all know about Doom Bible's canned ideas of the characters and story but even then, Doom is clearly inspired by Aliens, Evil Dead, DnD and so on.

But maybe this mix of inspirations (And the weird presentation of the games) means there's different things to pick apart.

If Doom was a movie, it could have been a B-movie with a goofy, campy nature and still have some eerie atmosphere or gross practical effects.

At first we have:

Some dark, suspense based music tracks.

Darker areas meant to show off lightning and "slow" moments.

Probably the default movement speed and the history behind "ALWAYS_RUN".

Doomguy being hurt in the box art and ingame status bar.

The Arch-vile's intended design of an eerie HR Giger inspired alien.

Textures like the flesh walls with metal pipes, twisted faces and some hanged corpses people thought were based on a real pic of Mussolini (But it's actually GI Joe figures).

But then there's:

The fast gameplay and combat that can happen.

Cartoony designs and assets.

The metal music (And other tracks like those that sound kinda like jazz).

The campy writing style in the manuals and intermission screens.

The presentation of Daisy's death.

Some of Doomguy's faces.

The name "BFG" and how some assets were made like using toys to make the guns.

Maybe whenever a level was clearly gimmicky and "gamey" or experimental.

The ridiculously low-tech aesthetic with blue carpet floors and maybe how Phobos' sky doesn't look like Phobos.

So it seems Doom always had a mix of elements and that's why people even argue over this, though i also see benefits of Doom being a "blank canvas" when it comes to its staying power.

Doom 64 was the more horror focused classic game with its take on Hell and some demon designs (But still not showing Doomguy's bloodied mugshot or some assets of classic Hell).

Even its theme song was barely metal (And i think John Romero really liked the PS1 port).

And D64 is also seen as "the real Doom 3" though this is a bit of a topic i mentioned in a different post.

Doom 3

A "reboot" of the series and a new entry in a time after the series was dormant (And mostly carried by fan mods).

D3 pushes things to a specific direction that John Carmack thought it was natural.

Some fans think the same, others thing it's opposite to what they expect out of Doom, some even accept it as a new thing.

D3 is much more story focused, with a bunch of cutscenes, background/lore, characters and most if it isn't goofy.

Demons are redesigned and some barely resemble their original versions (Might be because they looked "goofy" even if we have fanart that knows how to make them eerie; Meanwhile, D3's Arch-vile didn't capture the original design that much).

New demons represent a new art style that makes them "more serious and scary" or at least surreal.

The UAC stuff is still low-tech but in a more detailed, "professional" way.

Gameplay is slower, with a focus on reloading and the lantern.

Darkness focus and horror etc.

More serious tone, with little music.

D3 marine never smiles and looks worried most of the time.

Besides UAC and Hell, there's the Martians as a way to "extend" the universe but they're still mostly mysterious and not shown a lot.

The premise of a UAC marine having to fight demons after the UAC unleashing Hell is technically there, but it's also differently done from the original games (At least/specially if you look into the "lore" in the old manuals).

This game divided some fans, though a prespective i like to hear more is one that likes the idea but not so much the execution and i also always bring up how unfair it is that later versions (BFG edition and others) tend to have new problems or cut content for no reason, while not fixing certain flaws.

Because you'll still find some older fans thinking Doom was supposed to have some form of tension or horror, compared to those that prefer the fast action side of things.

Oddly enough, Hell in the series always had potential to be weird but D3, the game with the most experimental demon designs, didn't really took advantage of those elements.

At least D3 has some mods that fix some people's issues with the game, whether or not it leads to them respect the game more.

If you ask me: Doom 3's horror isn't just the dark corridors or slow "doomed" marine, but it's the crazy designs like the Bruiser having a screen on its mouth or the Revenant having transparent skin.

And i think D3 has its fair share of goofyness like the Turkey minigame (And the others in RoE that later versions deleted for no reasons) or that one fat zombie going "mmmm boy" that farts.

Doom 2016 and Eternal

D2016 is like an extreme opposite to D3: You are the horror and gameplay is more focused on movement and projectile avoiding that there's barely hitscan enemies besides the Possessed Security and maybe the Hellrazer.

Besides the arena focused combat, there's the Glory Kills, alt fires, upgrades, Mick Gordon's music, the character of the Doomslayer and so on.

But bits of D3's style are still present, speciall Mars and Hell a bit since Doom technically wasn't always "Mars" (Otherwise, more people would bring up the classic Phobos aesthetic and specific textures but even Hell still doesn't carry certain elements back).

(In fact, when D2016 was revealed, people complained about the lack of color and even said the demons looked "MOBA-ish")

The Hellknight is clearly inspired by its D3 design but one major difference is being eyeless instead of the weird eyes (Or are they sockets?) it had in D3.

Most demons have a rather "focused" aesthetic of chitin armored creatures and even lore explaining how they work or even how the UAC was involved in some being created/modified (Which may or may not affect the appeal of Hell being a weird dimension of evil that Doomguy has to put up with).

It's also somewhat known that D2016 was influenced by outside factors for Doom: The Doom comic ("Rip and tear") is obvious but there's probably other theories like anything to do with Death Battle or internet copypastas/webcomics joking about Doomguy (And i guess Brutal Doom but there's still arguements about it).

Doomslayer being a killing machine that scares demons is like an inverse to the "doomed" D3 marine: Putting classic Doomguy in the middle since he's both a strong action hero but still gets hurt (Even his portrayal in the 90's comic is like this).

The existence of D2016 is also a result of Doom 4 being cancelled: A game that was so deviated from Doom, it didn't even feel like a D3 sequel (And maybe it wasn't).

In a way, D2016's appeal relies on some bits of fanservice and at least getting basic ideas that people associate with Doom, which contrasts D3 not relying on "outside factors" but also chosing specific parts of the series while also executing them in a way that i'm not sure if it was ideal for D3 itself.

Then there's Doom Eternal, which builds up from 2016 in a lot of ways (And in was that people either like or hate it but it's still a very beloved and popular title).

The aesthetic is more colorfull and brings back some classic designs (Not entirely as they're put inside the new aesthetic), there's the concept of the "Doom universe", lots of new mechanics and a lot more to like (But also things that divided some fans).

Eternal's "videogamey" pickups were technically based on how some people thought pickups in D2016 overlapped with the environment, even if people liked how items in D2016 "existed in the setting" (Because even in classic Doom, you didn't have those kinds of pickups).

There's a lot of debates about Eternal's lore and aesthetic that leads to comparisons to 2016 but i'm thinking on making a post dedicated to that (Specially with some prespectives, opinions and stuff that most people don't consider).

Regardless, Eternal has clearly different media influences compared to the originals and feels like a different genre.

Basically, if classic Doom is a "campy B-movie", Eternal is a "saturday morning cartoon with gore" (And D3 is a serious sci-fi horror movie, i guess).

(And let's not forget: Different people are behind these games, in a series where people already interpret them in their own ways)

Sometimes, i think Doom is like the Planet of the Apes movie series:

D3 is closer to the original premise but 2016/Eternal are seem to be the more liked iteration of the series.

(Meanwhile, we have Mighty Doom as the most cartoony Doom game but in a cute way while the RPG Doom's had a different cartoonyness and sense of humor and a rather serious intro comic)

"Horror" in Doom to fans (And what else)

If you look at some pieces of fanart (Or even fan redesigns) and some mods, there's definitely an appeal of Doom being more horror focused and tense, even without affecting certain designs or the personality.

It's why one could not only defend D3 but even think that D3's issue isn't being different but rather doing a flawed job at its own direction.

Because 2016/Eternal also have their own differences from the original games but they seem to mostly nail their own direction.

I even see "horror" complement the "power fantasy" concept of modern Doom: Making Hell weirder and stranger, which makes Doomguy/Slayer feel even stronger.

Because "horror" as a concept can mean a lot: Not just dark corridors or walking slow, but it can lead to really interesting designs that make Hell feel threatning and weirdly creative.

After all, if it's possible to make a game out of "fans want a Doomguy that is more powerfull and the gameplay is fast", i don't see why we couldn't have one that is "fans want a tense, bone chilling experience and the demons look scary but still cool", even if you see those cool fan redesigns as better than what we got in D3.

(I like to believe that different types of Doom can coexist)

Even D3 haters may find or cherrypick some parts of the game they like (Which also makes me think it's another good reason why MetaDoom is a really cool mod).

I believe it should be possible to make a game that has elements of both "paths" represented, even if it means like a level with disturbing environments and then you find a goofy collectable toy in a secret.

I also said this before but i kinda get D3 hate coming from older fans but not people who got into the series at 2016 and after, because you technically "skipped" the "dark age" that some fans went through.

How hated D3 really is depends on which opinions or mindset overcome the others, because fanbases and hobbies almost tend to have an "anglicized canon" that is rather pushed by some specific people.

Anyway, i tried to add as much i could in this post but i'd like if someone like a Youtuber or older fan were to analyze this and even add more to this or correct potential flaws.

It's a topic that could be more explored, because even people that argue "Doom was always X" overlook elements that support their claims.

Other links to check, i guess.

How i think a good D3 re-release could be.

Doom 3 power ups and Doom 3 enemy roster rant.

"Doom 3 alternatives" for some picky fans.

The D2RPG intro comic.

Bunch of stuff related to Quake and Wolfenstein.

"Remastering" the 90's Doom games.

How a Doom movie or show could be good.

I mean, there's more on this blog but these could be good enough.

#doom 3 #doom 2016 #doom eternal #demon #doomguy #hell #classic doom #doom #opinions #id software #long post #horror

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no-rest-for-the-doomed · 7 days

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#53: Forsaken Compound (2024)

Download ^^

So this came out this week and I've been on a Doom 1 kick (I swear I'm playing other stuff behind the scenes, this just caught my eye) and oh boy what a pleasant surprise. ivymagnapinna is a rookie mapper AFAIK and you would not be able to tell it by the way this is constructed, ESPECIALLY for a Doom 1 mapset.

It's an E1 replacement, but it essentially runs the gamut of the base game's 3 episodes in its own take on the Doom 1 formula. Not meant to be taken too seriously story-wise, leaving the interpretations of what any given map means up to the player. Each map feels like a new exercise in any given "mapping muscle" and it follows a fair difficulty curve. Prevalent themes throughout *most* maps include; interesting geometric sector placement, slaughter, and platforming.

Slaughter in Doom 1 is hard to pull off well, and I feel like Ivy (is it ok if I call you that?) has a good grasp on it. The first 2 maps are relatively straightforward - if a little unique, and secrets are vexing. To get the secret exit in E1M3, I had to clip through a wall as I could find no way to open it. Blame my poor short-term memory on that one.

In the secret map however, the real meat of the mapset shows itself. You're trapped with hardly any weapons, the only path through being provided by Mr. Cybie himself in some Doom 1 INFIGHTING SLAUGHTER (which is just crazy to say) and things only get better from there.

E1M4's Dead Man's Station is a great run-n-gunner, followed by a strange "UDINO"-esque map in the form of Excavating Evil. Lots of Doomcute here and interesting atmospheric aesthetics.

My favorite of the set though by far has to be M6's G.R.I.N.D.E.R . It reminds me of some newschool slaughter that gradually unfolds, giving you access to the Doom 1 roster of weapons and more and more monsters to kill until it all culminates in 1 bloody BFG hornet's nest. This was really fun to play though.

From there, things kinda peter out a bit but it's fine, I'd had my fun with the set by then and from what I can gauge out of the Doomworld thread, the WAD author wanted the set to be over with too. E1M7 is pretty standard stuff - if a bit atmospheric - and E1M8 has you facing "More barons than usual", as per the flavor text.

All said, this is a great rookie release and I'm excited for what Ivy can cook up next.

#classic doom #doom #id software #retro gaming #doom modding

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smolsnailhugs · 2 years

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◇~•°small list of movies/shows i find aesthetically pleasing•°~♡

-Hugo

-A Series of Unfortunate Events

-BFG

-Once Upon A Time

-Merlin

-Hamlet

-Enola Holmes

-The Queen's Gambit

-Over the Garden Wall

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dcmonprncss-old · 2 years

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Childhood Aesthetics Meme

Bold all that apply to your muse as a child. (In modern verse if you write a historical or fantasy character.)

FUTURE JOB - ninja, pirate, vet, actor, astronaut, cooker, builder, knight, indiana jones, wizard, a parent, barbie, action man, writer, prince or princess, hero, villain, teacher, doctor, nurse, army man, rapper, singer, dancer, youtuber, twitch streamer, zookeeper, gardener, sailor, fisherman, carpenter, monarch, pilot.

FEARS - thunderstorms, strangers, space, abandonment, the dark, clowns, loud noises, dogs, spiders, masks, puppets, boys, girls, cooties, bugs, big objects, water, hell, being told off, police, new places, bullies, being wrong, ghosts.

PAINT YOUR BEDROOM - pink, blue, green, brown, yellow, orange, purple, neons, pastels, beige, mismatched multicolour, dark blue, wall mural, black, grey, white.

DECORATE YOUR BEDROOM - posters torn from magazines, maps of fictional lands, books, cassettes or cds, lavalamp, minifridge, your very own tv, games console, teddies, pirate ship, floor length mirror, fairylights, funko dolls, vhs or dvds, dinosaurs, beanbags, animals, framed posters, stickers, pokemon, princesses, glow in the dark stars, corkboard full of photos, awards, your own art, disney princesses, marvel heroes, ben 10 theme, cartoon network show theme, animes, space theme, fantasy theme.

TOYBOX - barbie, ken, action man, my first science kit, csi lab kit, tamagotchi, cuddly teddy, pirate ship, horse, lego, furby, easybake oven, archeology kit, pokemon cards, beyblades, disney princesses, baby doll, sword, gun, crown, recorder, spy gear, slinky, beanie babies, colouring set, paints, play doh, simpsons, disney princess dolls, marvel action figures, books, puzzle books, wizard broom, robes, dollhouse, space ship, ray guns, walkie talkies, craft kits, slime, fidget spinners, fake tattoos, football, basketball, skateboard, swings, mini ant farm, seamonkies, rock em sock em robots, stretch armstrong, he man, my little pony, care bears, girls world styling head, mostly broken, sticky, pristine, no batteries, perfect working order, crayons, sunbleached, well loved.

BOOKBAG - harry potter, bfg, the hunger games, wheres wally, winnie the pooh, the very hungry caterpillar, matilda, the cat in the hat, the lord of the rings, charlottes web, northern lights, lion witch and the wardrobe, goodnight moon, where the wild things are, the tale of peter rabbit, charlie and the chocolate factory, stuart little, alices adventures in wonderland, a series of unfortunate events, bridge to terabithia, diary of a wimpy kid, anne frank diary of a young girl, the outsiders, the jungle book, the wonderful wizard of oz, peter pan, the secret garden, the wind in the willows, how to draw.

WARDROBE - tshirts with your fave cartoon characters, youtuber merch, scuffed jeans, plasticy fancy dress costumes, pretty dresses, button down shirts, woolen sweaters, floral skirts, jean shorts, cargo pants, handmedowns, brand new, grass stains, mud stains, three days worn, clean on, all one colour, too many different colours, plain tshirts, hoody, custom printed novelty tops, bows, animal onesies, pufferjackets, bodywarmer, mittens, bobblehats, hats with ears, sunglasses, earmuffs, pastels, oversaturated dark colours, crinkled, ironed, smells floral, smells musky, animal print, sparkles, double denim, too big, too small, just right, karate uniform, scouts uniform, school uniform.

TAGGED BY: stole it

TAGGING: steal it

#[ 🌳 ] dash game.#[ 🌳 ] headcanons.#[ 📖 ] child verse.#[ 🌳 ] queue.

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impsandthings123 · 2 years

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Blocking out some ideas for my next K2S0 conversion. Still keeping the wasteland aesthetic but adding a touch of steampunk too. Thinking of replacing one arm with a BFG. #wasteland #K2S0 #makersgoingtomake #steampunk #bfg

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#Instagram

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blackfemmeguide · 5 months

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#black femininity #bfg aesthetic #soft black girls

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godzilla-reads · 5 years

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Book of the Day

“The BFG” by Roald Dahl

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delirious-dove · 5 years

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i can't stop watching footage from the olympics, specifically synchronized swimming and gymnastics. send help

#bfg status report #who came up with synchro swimming? 'let's take a difficult sport and make it harder for the ~aesthetic~'

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the-rp-vault · 3 years

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Childhood Aesthetics Meme

Bold all that apply to your muse as a child. (In modern verse if you write a historical or fantasy character.)

PAINT YOUR BEDROOM - pink, blue, green, brown, yellow, orange, purple, neons, pastels, beige, mismatched multicolour, dark blue, wall mural, black, grey, white.

TAGGED BY:

TAGGING:

#meme #rp #rp resources #resources #childhood #childhood meme

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doom-nerdo-666 · 6 months

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Another thing i never shut up about is MetaDoom but i also thought of this:

Most of the mechanics and gameplay lean toward the Slayer games snce they have the more material, but the aesthetics try to balance things out to represent other games (Not just visuals, even sounds too).

You get some weapons with combined parts like the Plasma Rifle or Rocket Launcher to increase the reference aspect.

But you also get a feeling that 2016/Eternal aren't always pririotized at times.

Might be because these games have a huge role in the gameplay direction, so it'd be fair if others went more with the visuals or sounds.

But it could also be that something like D3 still retains the "low tech" feeling that Doom gives while 2016/Eternal have more advanced "professional" aesthetic, so they could've looked Doomier.

The Frag Grenade has its mechanics from 2016 but the design is the D3 grenade.

The Gauss Cannon's design is even touched a bit to represent unused BFG sprites: Made to look more toy-ish as opposed to the advanced sci-fi aesthetic of 2016.

(Gif from Kinsie, i assume)

Edit: This is also why i didn't mind that Doomguy showed up in Smash as a Mii outfit because if he was a fighter, the series' presentation should be more than just the new games.

Like i genuinely think both id and Sakurai should know what MetaDoom is before ever thinking of how Doom could've been portrayed in a series like Smash.

Not directly copying the mod but rather get into a similar mentallity.

#doom #classic doom #id software #opinions #someone else's content #doom modding #modding #gameplay mod #gzdoom #analysis #art style

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no-rest-for-the-doomed · 10 days

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#52: Return to Hadron E2 (2017)

Feel familiar?

Not only am I doing back-to-back E2 replacements, but I'm continuing Cannonball's fine Hadron trilogy. We last saw this in #18 and oh boy was I different then. Hadron E1 is still one of my favorite E1 replacements, but I've still never beaten this until this morning.

If E1 was all about making techbases seem huge and ominous with a newschool flair, E2 revolves around making the most of the weapons you have available and creating a hornet's nest of sorts to buzz around while the action unfolds. The first few maps - let's say M1 to M3, are pretty straightforward, at least on HNTR. Flesh Start and Logistics Complex are simple key hunts that aesthetically do the job and add some fun gimmicks here or there such as only having a chainsaw at the start or enforcing Tyson gameplay for a bit. Comm Center is a bit of a resource starvation experiment, with its caco-swarm being the main threat, BUT E2M4 and beyond is where this set starts to get a little more bonkers and experimental.

M4's Mortuary is a nonlinear dark grungy fight for your life, but it's just a taste of things to come. M5 is pretty laid-back actually, just big. But the secret map and onwards all have at least 1 boss monster.

M9's Descent Into Darkness continues the 'Return to Hadron' trend of slaughtery Doom 1 maps by literally starting you in a narrow downward-moving elevator with a Cyb to kill with the BFG. Hordes come out from the dark, and it's your job to run around like a chicken with its head cut off until the job is done. Things only get wackier from here.

I feel like M6, Aqueduct of Agony also could've been a good secret map slot. It's another Cyberdemon dungeon crawl, this time taking place on hurt-floors. Core Processor, the penultimate map of the set, is probably the one most 'Hadron E1' lovers can get behind, it has all the hallmarks of an epic - high monstercount, huge nonlinearity, and plenty of meat to cut through. Surprisingly, I found this to be one of the easier maps of the set.

The set ends with something not too dissimilar from the secret map, perhaps a bit more slaughtery and newschool but carrying the same thematics.

Hadron E2 is a major step up in quality and shows more experimentation with the Doom 1 engine, Cannonball showing restraint in not just making leviathans of maps for its runtime, and everything is solidly put together.

2 thumbs up.

#classic doom #doom #id software #retro gaming #doom modding

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