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Mega Man goes to 8-bit Hell in Doom 2 mod [update]

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 30th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Doom's main character always seemed to be lacking that little extra something. Sure, he had a BFG 9000 and could battle demons with the best of 'em, but did he have a gun arm? How about a body covered by totally sweet blue metal armor? Didn't think so. And that makes all the difference in the Mega Man mod for Doom 2, created by Mike Hill of the UK. "I've been modding for Doom ever since I first got a hold of the PC version ... some may find it hard to believe that the Doom modding scene is still live and kicking after all these years," Hill told Joystiq.

The 22-year-old built the mod (still in alpha) as an homage to "the time when I feel Mega Man was in full fruition: on the NES," harnessing not just 8-bit sprites for characters but for entire levels. Mike Hill's hope is that someday the mod will contain "all the levels and weapons from Mega Man 1–6 (and maybe even 9)," though, as of right now, he's still got a long way to go. "Right now the gameplay is a bit slow paced and unbalanced, and the maps are extremely difficult to navigate ... expect a more stable release some time next year." He promises more levels and more weapons in 2010, but we're hoping the power of Joystiq BioMass™ can spur Mike on to get us more Mega Man deathmatch asap. Go forth and comment, BioMass!

Update: We've added a video of the mod in action just after the break.

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iPhone plays Doom, but what about Doom 3?

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 5th 2009 at 9:00PM }

id Software's John Carmack estimates that the iPhone version of iconic first-person shooter Doom took "maybe six weeks of serious work" to come together. Borrowing time -- and an artist -- the prolific programmer managed to assemble a port that, according to a recent VentureBeat interview, "plays great on every iPod Touch and iPhone ever made." But what if he focused effort on the iPhone 3GS, the latest and more powerful variant of Apple's killer app-platform?

"I think we could do the real Xbox Doom 3 game on a 3GS if we targeted it exclusively," Carmack notes. "That is pushing it a bit. You could probably get that kind of visual fidelity." And here we thought portable devices were only good for recording spooky audio logs and unlocking doors within exploding barrel research laboratories.

Doom Classic released for iPhone and iPod Touch

by Randy Nelson { Nov 3rd 2009 at 12:00AM }

How many versions of id Software's seminal FPS, Doom, can you possibly buy? At least one more. The developer has released Doom Classic for iPhone and iPod Touch, not to be confused with Doom: Resurrection, the ~~tech demo~~ rail-based shooter released earlier this year.

The title is going for $6.99 [app store link] and includes four episodes: "Knee-deep in the Dead," "Shores of Hell," "Inferno" and "Thy Flesh Consumed." It offers multiple control configurations, at least one of which we've gotten fairly proficient with after an embarrassingly long and death-filled adjustment period. We haven't tried out the four-player local Wifi deathmatch yet, but as for internet play? Based on John Carmack's comments, we'd expect to find that washed up on the shores of Hell.

Doom cover artist dies at 73

by Justin McElroy { Nov 2nd 2009 at 12:28PM }

Doom is one of the most influential games in history, and at least some of that credit has to go to the iconic cover, which features an aesthetic that's still pervasive in the industry a decade-and-a-half later. The man responsible for that image, artist Don Ivan Punchatz, has passed away. He was 73.

Though Punchatz created cover art for numerous books and magazines, ranging from Playboy and National Geographic to Boys Life and Newsweek, what we'll always remember is the lone space marine with the curiously exposed abdomen facing off against the legions of Hell. Our best wishes to his family and friends.

[Via BigDownload]

Doom Classic soon to hurt us plenty on iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 5:00PM }

An electronic device isn't a game machine these days until it passes the crucial "Does it run Doom" test. John Carmack has been hard at work on Doom Classic, an official port of id Software's groundbreaking FPS for iPhone, and now he reports that it's been submitted to Apple for approval, only four months after Carmack said it would be ready. Soon – provided Apple gives the okay to a tour of Hell – we'll be swiping and tilting our way to a symphony of exploding barrels.

Doom Classic should support wi-fi multiplayer upon its release, with Bluetooth to follow if it's not already implemented. At least, that's what Carmack said earlier this year.

id: Rage won't have Doom 3's 'Monster Closets'

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 16th 2009 at 5:30PM }

There was a major design element in Doom 3 that a lot of players took issue with -- and no, we're not talking about the protagonist's inability to hold a firearm and a source of illumination at the same time. The element was the game's enemy spawning mechanic, which would make baddies appear when the player reaches set points in the level -- a practice which has since been nicknamed "monster closets." Fortunately, it seems id's next angrily-named project won't feature this oft-harangued spawning system.

In a recent interview with 1UP, Rage lead designer Matt Hooper explained that enemies in a certain section of the game's demo will be "doing whatever they're supposed to be doing. If they're supposed to be defending against you coming there, they'll be doing that. If they're just tinkering or having a conversation they'll do that." Sounds like id's AI has actual motivation now. Well, motivation beyond "scare the crap out of then murder space marines," anyway.

Spotted at Quakecon: Doom II for XBLA

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 13th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Whilst roaming the halls of Quakecon and shooting everything in sight (with a camera), our friends at BigDownload spotted a heretofore unannounced Xbox Live Arcade version of id Software's FPS classic, Doom 2. According to Shacknews, the downloadable title is set feature all of Doom II's content, in addition to a new episode, 4-player local multiplayer and the usual online shootery. You can also expect an exciting doubling of barrels over the original Doom -- both of the exploding and shotgun varieties.

Also spotted at Quakecon: a further proof of life from our long-anticipated friend, Quake Arena Arcade!

iPhone It In: Doom Resurrection

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

What's the most you would spend on a game for your iPhone? Not a port, mind you, but a brand new game based on a classic franchise, developed specifically with the iPhone's control system in mind -- $5? $7? How about $10? Try as I might, while playing id Software's latest Doom iteration -- Doom Resurrection -- it was near impossible to shake the uneasy feeling that $10 is just a bit too much money for the experience.

Truth be told, the game is "big" -- Doom Resurrection could easily be ported to gaming-specific handhelds -- though it weighs in under 100 MB. The problem with the scope of the game, however, is the resultant long load times and an occasionally choppy framerate -- the length of time it takes to jump into the game make it something I don't want to play on my way here or there (full disclosure: I'm using an iPhone 3G and it may run significantly better on the 3GS).

Gallery: Doom Resurrection

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Carmack hopes Doom will kick off 'bigger' iPhone games in future

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 30th 2009 at 4:40PM }

While speaking with id Software's John Carmack and Escalation Studios' Tom Mustaine yesterday, we only briefly broached the subject of iPhone game pricing. Doom Resurrection's lofty (by App Store standards) $10 price tag puts it in a particularly prickly situation, with Carmack telling us that "convincing people who've been spending $1 on games to spend $10 is a real problem." We can imagine!

He's not entirely without hope, however, as he looks at Resurrection as a value proposition, trading higher production values for higher costs. In fact, Carmack's hoping to set a precedent with DR that will allow for "bigger iPhone games" in the future -- something he says he'd like to see a lot more of. "There's only so much you can do with games that cost two or three dollars -- there's only so much production value you can put into that," he told us. The clear answer: Make Doom-based alien flatulence apps.

Doom Resurrection getting DLC, 'possible' for other id titles [update]

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 30th 2009 at 10:45AM }

Though he didn't exactly spell out what it's going to be or when it's going to be hitting digital shelves, id Software's John Carmack told us his newest iPhone game will be getting DLC. He let slip yesterday morning during an interview about recently released Doom Resurrection that the game would be getting DLC "sometime soon" -- downloadable content just became an option for iPhone games, with the launch of OS 3.0.

When we pressed him on whether we'd see downloadable anything for the upcoming flood of id Software games coming to the iPhone, he kept his cards a bit closer to his chest, saying it's technically "possible" but nothing's set in stone yet. He also revealed that Resurrection will be getting multiplayer add-ons in the upcoming weeks, so for those of you who already took the $10 plunge, you may want to ask your best buddy to do so as well.

Update: We got some clarification on the DLC from id Software's John Carmack just now, saying, "There won't be any DLC until we have moved the projects to requiring 3.0, and we aren't sure exactly when that will be. Pretty much all of the titles are being set up for DLC in the future. We are prepping the "Spear of Destiny" levels for Wolfenstein 3D classic, and all the various classic games have sequels and mission packs that we can offer. For Resurrection, new content will have to be created from scratch. I expect we will know within a few weeks if the reception to the game is good enough to justify it."

Gallery: Doom Resurrection

John Carmack 'very interested' in other id Software iPhone resurrections

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 29th 2009 at 3:35PM }

We already knew that recently bought by Bethesda company id Software are looking at a hefty lineup of upcoming iPhone games, but after speaking with company co-founder John Carmack this morning, we found out a little bit more about the potential for more classic reboots, like Doom Resurrection, in the future. "It really depends on how this one is received by consumers before we can make any plans, but I'm very interested in the prospect," Carmack told Joystiq.

Apparently, he's most interested in seeing this treatment for Quake, though he also noted that Quake 3 Arena is still "possible" on Apple's handheld. Why not Quake Live on Apple's OS X, Mr. Carmack? Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could ask. It is high on his "high priority" list though, right? So we've got something then? John? Hello?

Please?

Gallery: Doom Resurrection

Doom Resurrection started life on the Wii

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 29th 2009 at 1:55PM }

Speaking with id Software's John Carmack earlier today, we got the sense that the man has a hunk of burnin' love for Apple's iPhone. Aside from bringing a metric ton of classic id titles to the device, the legendary developer let us know that the Wii game once being talked about around the hallowed halls at the company is what eventually became Doom Resurrection.

"We like to think of it as a more guided experience than an on-rails game," Carmack told Joystiq this morning, referring to the game's character control system. "Originally, I was pitched the title as a Wii game -- I dropped some hints about this earlier in the year but nothing substantial, in case the game didn't work out or it wasn't fun or something like that," he continued. Considering the $9.99 asking price of Resurrection versus the $50 a Wii title could have cost, we (and our wallets) are more than happy with Mr. Carmack's choice.

Gallery: Doom Resurrection

id Software bringing external development back in-house

by Christopher Grant { Jun 25th 2009 at 7:00PM }

When Raven Software's long-in-development Wolfenstein (remember when it was an Xbox 360 timed exclusive back in 2005?) finally hits store shelves this August, it'll mark the end of an era ...

... oh no! Not of Wolfenstein games – there are plenty more of those coming – but of outside developers working on id Software's hallowed franchises. John Carmack told Joystiq today that bringing external development back in-house at id is "exactly what's going to be happening." Carmack says that while id's had some hits (Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory springs to mind) and some misses (Enemy Territory: Quake Wars springs to mind) the externally developed titles haven't "had the same record that our internally developed titles have." We'd have to agree with him there.

With the lead team cranking on Rage for EA Partners, they created a second development team to work on Doom 4, with a still-formative third team currently toiling away on Quake Live. "We'll have three teams," Carmack told us. "We'll have Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, and Rage and one of them will be taking a vacation each cycle and that will depend on what we want to be doing each time." So don't worry, you'll have plenty of all of the above to go around.

id brings all-new Doom Resurrection to the iPhone 'next week'

by Christopher Grant { Jun 10th 2009 at 8:15PM }

Sure, the all-new iPhone 3G S was shown off to throngs of drooling consumers on Monday – wowing the geek-set with its newfound OpenGL ES 2.0 support (your lousy iPhone 3G only supports OpenGL ES 1.1!) – but don't expect id Software's just announced title, Doom Resurrection, to be a 3G S-exclusive. Id's John Carmack told VentureBeat that he's "happy with the faster iPhone 3G S" but "he is also focused on making sure that his games run on the widest number of iPhones." Translation: Doom Resurrection won't be 3G S-exclusive. (Speculation: id could make two versions of Resurrection: one 2.0-compatible and another 1.1-compatible).

But, where were we ... oh, yes! Doom Resurrection! This sure sounds like the "graphical tour de force" he promised to bring to the iPhone. Carmack & Co were able to reuse much of DOOM 3's assets (downsized for the iPhone's screen resolution, of course) and get the engine running at 30 frames per second on the latest iPod Touch. Wrapped around that fancy tech, they've built "eight full levels and about five hours of game play" – the future iPhone 3.0 OS release will also enable "peer-to-peer cooperative multiplayer" for some on-the-go Deathmatch.

One of the most notable takeaways from VB's interview: Carmack's assertion that the iPhone is "a real game platform, not a tiny little toy." He explains that "the iPhone should be better in performance than the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable" in raw horsepower "but the truth is you can't exploit it all because of software inefficiencies." We imagine the newly Open GL ES 2.0-compliant iPhones (gallery below) will ameliorate much of Mr. Carmack's concerns. In the interim, check out how far he's gotten on today's hardware when Doom Resurrection shoots the AppStore in the face next week.

Gallery: iPhone 3G S

Doom should come to iPhone next month

by Justin McElroy { May 28th 2009 at 8:00PM }

We wish all devs were as forthcoming as id's John Carmack. His update on the status of the iPhone version of Doom (or Doom Classic, as he's calling it) is exhaustive, but it's also rich with information and insight into porting an old-school classic onto new tech ... and doing it well.

We've dug up a few nuggets for you, like the fact that Carmack says he should be able to submit the game to the App Store by next month and that the game will use the original Doom sprites, but you should really take a few minutes to read the whole thing, it's really interesting stuff.

[Via Shacknews]