When the Doom engine was created and Id Software showed the world what it could do, it sparked a new wave of creative endeavor that pushed that engine to its limits even after legendary programmer John Carmack invented their follow-up engine. While he was busy creating said engine from the bottom up, everyone else was actively expanding and pushing the Doom engine to do more, preferably with less.
It took Id themselves less than a year to release the sequel Doom II, which was not a huge departure from what Doom was. The game introduced eight new monsters, plus the final boss and a shootable sprite of Commander Keen that, when killed, ended the final secret level. It also had a new weapon, the "Super Shotgun", which fires two shells but takes time to reload, making it fun to use, but arguably only as effective as the regular shotgun. It also introduced a powerup known as the Megasphere, which maxes out health and armor to 200%. Finally, we were treated to new textures and a few new bits of decoration, including burning barrels, and the levels in Doom II were generally larger and more complex than those in Doom. As far as new programming code, it contained three major developments:
1- "Blazing" doors, crushers, etc. This allowed doors to open/close very rapidly, crushing ceilings to move faster and other changes to rooms and walls to occur quickly if the level designer so chose.
2- Switches that require keys to activate. This was previously only done with doors.
3- What is known as "sector type 17". Each room or segment of room is referred to as a "sector". Sector type 17 has a randomly flickering light (as opposed to a regular flicker seen in Doom.
Less than a year after Doom II, we were treated to a whole new release of the first Doom. Why? Well, this release introduced a whole new nine-level episode called "Thy Flesh Consumed". It didn't feature any of the monsters or items from Doom II, but it did make use of Doom II's new bits of code. It also added a switch in the very first level of "Knee Deep in the Dead" which opened up the central courtyard.
While these developments were underway, other people took what Id made and developed it in their own unique direction. Carmack himself was involved with porting Doom to the 32X and the Jaguar. Both games were made parallel to Doom II and multiple updates to Doom, so while they don't feature any Doom II enemies or items, they do have a few of the new textures; additionally, JagDoom has a few unique features that set it apart and make it a worthwhile departure from the main series.
I can now say that I have beaten JagDoom on Ultra Violence. Sure, I've done it before, but this time I'm happier. It was immensely difficult, and I died many, many times. When I died on the next-to-last stage, "Limbo", I started to formulate a strategy that would allow me to win only if I got every step of it exactly right and got incredibly lucky! Ugh. Well. I decided instead to go back to "Mt. Erebus", a level that you can actually beat from a pistol start without a ridiculous amount of tension, picked up some weapons and ammo and then proceeded to beat "Limbo". It was immeasurably easier that time around.
I finally experienced noticeable slowdown in Limbo. Yes, even the vaunted first-ever "64-bit" machine, Atari's Jaguar, couldn't process all those enemies at once without going "Yikes!" It wasn't terrible, it was just...noticeable. The horde of Pinkies that comes at you in the very beginning is a lot for it to process.
Then you move on to the next level. Same one 32X ended with. It's called "Dis", but is actually "Fortress of Mystery" from the PC. Even though neither version included the Cyberdemon or Spider Mastermind, this is a fine and pretty epic level to end on. You start out surrounded by Barons of Hell and retreat into a room that contains an army of Cacodemons! On the Jag you can actually get them to infight, which is a real treat.
I found the Jag to be a great experience overall, despite the at times overwhelming difficulty (which others have noted in reviews). It's a graphical masterpiece. The lighting effects are brilliant, with its CRY color mode that allows objects in the distance to appear darker. Additionally, the JagDoom strobe light effect, which darkens and brightens from a central point out and then back in is not present in PC Doom. It can actually affect your weapon from the edges in and then from the center back out, instead of affecting the overall light level for the whole sprite all at once.
JagDoom and 32X Doom had one other minor alteration that I haven't spoken about yet. Health and armor bonuses offer a 2% increase instead of a 1% increase. As far as I can tell, the purpose of this is only to halve the number of sprites on-screen at any given time. I have to admit that it's much better than what had to be done on the GBA--where corpses disappear.
I didn't want to start this article until I had at least played one level from SNES Doom. Yes, SNES Doom. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting the game fired up. My original copy went missing, and the person who shipped me my new copy was relatively incompetent. Then my TV didn't want to accept signal from the A/V cable I ordered, so I'm using an RF adapter. As I understand it, this will adversely affect the output on my screen, but what choice do I have?
SNES Doom is a technological marvel. It's only possible because of the FX2 chip inside the cartridge, which helps with processing the pseudo-3D graphics. It aids with scaling and rotation. It wasn't going to happen at all, as Id had no intention of porting their game to the SNES. However, Randy Linden at Williams Entertainment worked on the game in secret, going as far as to develop a new engine and using only Doom's graphical and sound resources. This resulted in a Doom port that deviated from what appeared to be the "plan" at the time. That is, every level in SNES Doom is a very accurate copy of the original PC levels, minus the floor and ceiling textures. It doesn't have the edited versions with simplified/new textures. It contains the original "Hell Keep" and "Tower of Babel" instead of the entirely new levels with the same names.
This brings me to an interesting observation about the Jag version, actually. As a quick aside--despite its amazing color mode and its use of new textures, it actually contained less texture variation than PC Doom, and even SNES Doom. Weird how things balance out, isn't it?
So Linden developed his version of Doom without Id's knowledge, and only when it was done did he present it to them in all of its glory. They granted him permission to publish it, because let's face it--it was a marvelous feat of engineering!
I've now played through the first level of the first version of the game I ever owned for the first time in years, and...wow. I mean, nostalgia factor notwithstanding, it was a bit of a job. What I didn't notice back when I bought the game is totally noticeable now. The poor framerate. The poor resolution. The fact that, while your weapons swings back and forth as you walk, your perspective doesn't bob up and down. The control is annoying, and I find myself getting stuck on walls.
Despite all of this, I can't help but want to play more. There are good things about SNES Doom, regardless of whether or not I've seen them yet! I can already say that the music is a huge step up from the 32X and the Jag (which only had music during intermissions anyway). It's apparently sample-based, and it sounds like actual instruments in a really low, muffled bitrate. Yet when I had first played the game all those years ago, I remember pausing so I could listen to it.
I've double-checked. SNES Doom definitely does not have the switch added to Hangar in Ultimate Doom. It's funny how the consoles up to this point represent such a vast departure from the development of the PC version from Doom through Ultimate Doom. In a way, it makes me glad they exist.
Keep 'em peeled for the next article, and in the meantime, here's an updated timeline for you to chew on:
Doom v1.0: December 10, 1993
Doom v1.1: December 16, 1993
DEU: January 26, 1994
Doom v1.2: February 17, 1994
Origwad: March 7, 1994
Doom v1.4: June 28, 1994
Doom v1.5: July 8, 1994
Doom v1.6: August 3, 1994
Doom v.1.666: September 1, 1994
Doom II: September 30, 1994
Doom v1.7: October 11, 1994
Aliens Total Conversion: November 3, 1994
Doom v1.7a: November 8, 1994
32X Doom: November 14, 1994
Jaguar Doom: November 28, 1994
Heretic: December 23, 1994
Doom v1.8: January 23, 1995
Doom v1.9: February 1, 1995
The Ultimate Doom: April 30, 1995
SNES Doom: September 1, 1995
Doom 95: August 20, 1996
It took Id themselves less than a year to release the sequel Doom II, which was not a huge departure from what Doom was. The game introduced eight new monsters, plus the final boss and a shootable sprite of Commander Keen that, when killed, ended the final secret level. It also had a new weapon, the "Super Shotgun", which fires two shells but takes time to reload, making it fun to use, but arguably only as effective as the regular shotgun. It also introduced a powerup known as the Megasphere, which maxes out health and armor to 200%. Finally, we were treated to new textures and a few new bits of decoration, including burning barrels, and the levels in Doom II were generally larger and more complex than those in Doom. As far as new programming code, it contained three major developments:
1- "Blazing" doors, crushers, etc. This allowed doors to open/close very rapidly, crushing ceilings to move faster and other changes to rooms and walls to occur quickly if the level designer so chose.
2- Switches that require keys to activate. This was previously only done with doors.
3- What is known as "sector type 17". Each room or segment of room is referred to as a "sector". Sector type 17 has a randomly flickering light (as opposed to a regular flicker seen in Doom.
Less than a year after Doom II, we were treated to a whole new release of the first Doom. Why? Well, this release introduced a whole new nine-level episode called "Thy Flesh Consumed". It didn't feature any of the monsters or items from Doom II, but it did make use of Doom II's new bits of code. It also added a switch in the very first level of "Knee Deep in the Dead" which opened up the central courtyard.
While these developments were underway, other people took what Id made and developed it in their own unique direction. Carmack himself was involved with porting Doom to the 32X and the Jaguar. Both games were made parallel to Doom II and multiple updates to Doom, so while they don't feature any Doom II enemies or items, they do have a few of the new textures; additionally, JagDoom has a few unique features that set it apart and make it a worthwhile departure from the main series.
I can now say that I have beaten JagDoom on Ultra Violence. Sure, I've done it before, but this time I'm happier. It was immensely difficult, and I died many, many times. When I died on the next-to-last stage, "Limbo", I started to formulate a strategy that would allow me to win only if I got every step of it exactly right and got incredibly lucky! Ugh. Well. I decided instead to go back to "Mt. Erebus", a level that you can actually beat from a pistol start without a ridiculous amount of tension, picked up some weapons and ammo and then proceeded to beat "Limbo". It was immeasurably easier that time around.
I finally experienced noticeable slowdown in Limbo. Yes, even the vaunted first-ever "64-bit" machine, Atari's Jaguar, couldn't process all those enemies at once without going "Yikes!" It wasn't terrible, it was just...noticeable. The horde of Pinkies that comes at you in the very beginning is a lot for it to process.
Then you move on to the next level. Same one 32X ended with. It's called "Dis", but is actually "Fortress of Mystery" from the PC. Even though neither version included the Cyberdemon or Spider Mastermind, this is a fine and pretty epic level to end on. You start out surrounded by Barons of Hell and retreat into a room that contains an army of Cacodemons! On the Jag you can actually get them to infight, which is a real treat.
I found the Jag to be a great experience overall, despite the at times overwhelming difficulty (which others have noted in reviews). It's a graphical masterpiece. The lighting effects are brilliant, with its CRY color mode that allows objects in the distance to appear darker. Additionally, the JagDoom strobe light effect, which darkens and brightens from a central point out and then back in is not present in PC Doom. It can actually affect your weapon from the edges in and then from the center back out, instead of affecting the overall light level for the whole sprite all at once.
JagDoom and 32X Doom had one other minor alteration that I haven't spoken about yet. Health and armor bonuses offer a 2% increase instead of a 1% increase. As far as I can tell, the purpose of this is only to halve the number of sprites on-screen at any given time. I have to admit that it's much better than what had to be done on the GBA--where corpses disappear.
I didn't want to start this article until I had at least played one level from SNES Doom. Yes, SNES Doom. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting the game fired up. My original copy went missing, and the person who shipped me my new copy was relatively incompetent. Then my TV didn't want to accept signal from the A/V cable I ordered, so I'm using an RF adapter. As I understand it, this will adversely affect the output on my screen, but what choice do I have?
SNES Doom is a technological marvel. It's only possible because of the FX2 chip inside the cartridge, which helps with processing the pseudo-3D graphics. It aids with scaling and rotation. It wasn't going to happen at all, as Id had no intention of porting their game to the SNES. However, Randy Linden at Williams Entertainment worked on the game in secret, going as far as to develop a new engine and using only Doom's graphical and sound resources. This resulted in a Doom port that deviated from what appeared to be the "plan" at the time. That is, every level in SNES Doom is a very accurate copy of the original PC levels, minus the floor and ceiling textures. It doesn't have the edited versions with simplified/new textures. It contains the original "Hell Keep" and "Tower of Babel" instead of the entirely new levels with the same names.
This brings me to an interesting observation about the Jag version, actually. As a quick aside--despite its amazing color mode and its use of new textures, it actually contained less texture variation than PC Doom, and even SNES Doom. Weird how things balance out, isn't it?
So Linden developed his version of Doom without Id's knowledge, and only when it was done did he present it to them in all of its glory. They granted him permission to publish it, because let's face it--it was a marvelous feat of engineering!
I've now played through the first level of the first version of the game I ever owned for the first time in years, and...wow. I mean, nostalgia factor notwithstanding, it was a bit of a job. What I didn't notice back when I bought the game is totally noticeable now. The poor framerate. The poor resolution. The fact that, while your weapons swings back and forth as you walk, your perspective doesn't bob up and down. The control is annoying, and I find myself getting stuck on walls.
Despite all of this, I can't help but want to play more. There are good things about SNES Doom, regardless of whether or not I've seen them yet! I can already say that the music is a huge step up from the 32X and the Jag (which only had music during intermissions anyway). It's apparently sample-based, and it sounds like actual instruments in a really low, muffled bitrate. Yet when I had first played the game all those years ago, I remember pausing so I could listen to it.
I've double-checked. SNES Doom definitely does not have the switch added to Hangar in Ultimate Doom. It's funny how the consoles up to this point represent such a vast departure from the development of the PC version from Doom through Ultimate Doom. In a way, it makes me glad they exist.
Keep 'em peeled for the next article, and in the meantime, here's an updated timeline for you to chew on:
Doom v1.0: December 10, 1993
Doom v1.1: December 16, 1993
DEU: January 26, 1994
Doom v1.2: February 17, 1994
Origwad: March 7, 1994
Doom v1.4: June 28, 1994
Doom v1.5: July 8, 1994
Doom v1.6: August 3, 1994
Doom v.1.666: September 1, 1994
Doom II: September 30, 1994
Doom v1.7: October 11, 1994
Aliens Total Conversion: November 3, 1994
Doom v1.7a: November 8, 1994
32X Doom: November 14, 1994
Jaguar Doom: November 28, 1994
Heretic: December 23, 1994
Doom v1.8: January 23, 1995
Doom v1.9: February 1, 1995
The Ultimate Doom: April 30, 1995
SNES Doom: September 1, 1995
Doom 95: August 20, 1996