DOOM 3 BFG Edition coming this fall with updated engine?

[Briareos H]

Here's the press release:

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS ANNOUNCES DOOM 3 BFG EDITION

 

id Software's Genre-Defining Game Returns This Fall with All-New Content

 

May 30, 2012 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that DOOM® 3 BFG Edition will be available this Fall and features DOOM® 3 and the Resurrection of Evil® add-on pack, both of which have been completely re-mastered. The package also includes hours of new content – seven new levels entitled 'The Lost Mission.' DOOM 3 BFG Edition is slated for release for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PC and PlayStation® 3 – marking the first time any DOOM game has ever appeared on the PlayStation® 3.

 

Re-mastered for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this genre defining game and its expansion pack offers greatly enhanced graphics, deeply immersing the player in the demonic world of this terrifying horror masterpiece. Players will also experience a never-before-seen single-player story, 'The Lost Mission,' featuring seven heart-pounding levels that will once again have them on the edge of their seats.

 

DOOM 3, Resurrection of Evil, and 'The Lost Mission' have been optimized in 3D, featuring 5.1 surround sound, Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 trophies, improved rendering and lighting, and a new check point save system allowing for smoother progression through the game. id® Software has fine-tuned the controls to bring the intensity of the DOOM single and multiplayer experience to the consoles, and DOOM 3 now features the new armor-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time.

 

"DOOM 3 was enthusiastically embraced by gamers worldwide at its release," said John Carmack, Technical Director at id Software. "Today, the full experience has been enhanced and extended to be better than ever, and is delivered across all the platforms with a silky smooth frame rate and highly responsive controls. New support for 3D TVs, monitors, and head mounted displays also allows players to experience the game with more depth than ever before. We think shooter fans everywhere will love it."

 

As a special bonus, DOOM 3 BFG Edition will also include the original DOOM® and DOOM® 2 games, making it the definitive collection of the revolutionary games developed by id Software, the studio that pioneered the first-person shooter genre.

 

DOOM 3 BFG Edition has not yet been rated by the ESRB. For more information please visit www.facebook/Doom.

And

the trailer.

 

So it says "remastered for XBOX 360 and PS3", as well as "improved lighting and rendering". I wonder whether they mean that as an improvement from the original XBOX build, which was using a slightly nerfed idTech 4 engine, or whether the PC too will see a truly new engine build.

Features like 5.1, stereoscopic 3D and gamepad support point towards an updated idTech 4, but will we see any optimization or changes in the rendering engine that might make the Dark Mod run better? This has the potential to impact the mod in interesting ways.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Briareos H

[stumpy]

there is a chance that it wont work with the dark mod, like what happened with the half-life 2 source engine where every single mod had to be recompiled with the new tools and engine to make them run, the new source engine is a lot more darker (as in lights and shadows) than the previous version. This new source engine also got loads of restrictions added so that mods would run on the xbox, you cant use as many objects, (was 2400 now 1700) its restricted on how many displacement triangles (displacements in source are like patch's in doom3) it can handle it recomands that any displacements get turned into one model

 

idtech 4 might have been updated to render via directx 11 and not gl. its likely the engine is the same for everyone and full of restictions so the game cant be better on a pc than an xbox.

Edited May 30, 2012 by stumpy

[Briareos H]

I agree that if the rendering parts of the engine have been updated, some work will surely be needed on TDM to make it compatible. Knowing Carmack, it'll only be a question of time until SDK and even source updates are provided.

As for using DX11, I highly doubt it considering the game is released on PS3.

[stumpy]

it looks as if there's no pc version of this upgrade, cant find it mentioning a pc version on official site, it seems as though its console only, but might have to wait to find out which platforms its comming out on.

[Serpentine]

We'll have moved to our own engine before this matters - I also have a lot of doubt as to what they will be updating/changing; it all seems to be pretty minor content changes, the HMD stuff is mostly already in the engine as far as I can tell (It supports stereoscopic glasses last I looked).

[Springheel]

Man I hate "release-speak".

 

"Re-mastered, genre defining, greatly enhanced, deeply immersing, terrifying horror masterpiece, never-before-seen, heart-pounding, edge of their seats..." all within two sentences.

[Serpentine]

“Marketing folks are pretty smart. They’ve got MBAs, they spend their time studying games.” - Tim "The Profound Salesman" Willits

 

For more amusement : How Tim Willits Sold Rage's vehicles

 

Games are no longer about gameplay, they are about marketing.

[nbohr1more]

I don't get it. You'd think they would've beefed-up the shaders and lighting at least a little.

 

This pales in comparison to Sikkmod or even older enhanced shader packs.

 

They didn't improve the model assets, the textures look about the same...

 

Unless marketing is foolishly releasing footage before any engine updates were done?

 

I guess building-in the Duct Tape mod counts as "a big change"?

 

They needed a quick cash fix after Rage didn't live-up to expectations I guess...

[Serpentine]

They needed a quick cash fix after Rage didn't live-up to expectations I guess...

It's about 60mil short of that~~

But yeah, it would be a really nice gesture if they took in some of Sik's work; I doubt he'd have any problem with it (and a cheque in the post wouldn't hurt) for much and it'd be really good PR; then again I'm sure the Marketing Guys, after studying the situation have found that people don't actually want any more features in a re-release.

[Melan]

iD is one of the game studios I like to give my money to because... well, the possibility of this mod being made may be one of several reasons...

I don't get it. You'd think they would've beefed-up the shaders and lighting at least a little.

 

This pales in comparison to Sikkmod or even older enhanced shader packs.

...but this was my exact reaction to the trailer. (Actually, why not buy Sikkmod and sell it commercially? [edit]Great minds think alike, it seems. [/edit])

 

Also, since when has Doom 3 been a "genre-defining" game?

 

[edit edit]Also also, how is Rage? It looks hardware-intensive but really pretty. Is it a good game?[/edit edit]

Edited May 30, 2012 by Melan

[Komag]

yeah, video extremely underwhelming. I was suprised how NOT updated it looked.

[Briareos H]

@Melan it is a short FPS made of too few yet very enjoyable and competent post-apo shooting missions, pieced together using lengthy, bland and mostly boring vehicular sections. It also doesn't have an ending. It just... ends.

[Bikerdude]

Doesn't look any better than the PC original - so, I'm not paying Bethesda for something that's nothing more than a quick do-over.

[SiyahParsomen]

I see some polished shit. At the end, shit is still shit.

[stumpy]

apparently the torch is permantly attached to the gun you have equiped, but that was one of the first mods for the pc version ages ago.

[New Horizon]

It shows the PC DVD case behind the two console cases at the end of the trailer. Still, didn't see much of a difference...but then again the video is just a bunch of quick clips....hard to see much of anything.

[lost_soul]

Man I hate "release-speak".

 

"Re-mastered, genre defining, greatly enhanced, deeply immersing, terrifying horror masterpiece, never-before-seen, heart-pounding, edge of their seats..." all within two sentences.

 

hahaha Its almost as bad as some video card ads I've seen, but not quite.

 

If I were in charge of remastering Doom 3, I would do the following:

 

Get rid of claw-hands on the Doom 3 human models. It wasn't acceptable then, and it aint acceptable now!

Re-encode the audio to a reasonably high bitrate. The Doom 3 sounds were so compressed that you can easily hear the artifacting on any decent speaker system, especially in the vocals.

Upgrade some of the crappier textures, particularly a couple cabinets and extremely blurry/blocky panels.

Obviously add plenty of new levels.

 

The engine and lighting aren't what have aged, its the models/textures.

Edited May 31, 2012 by lost_soul

[Melan]

@Melan it is a short FPS made of too few yet very enjoyable and competent post-apo shooting missions, pieced together using lengthy, bland and mostly boring vehicular sections. It also doesn't have an ending. It just... ends.

Thanks! I'll wait until it hits a lower price level, then.

[MoroseTroll]

Let's hope that the upcoming release will boast a hi-res textures and normal maps. As for the engine, I'm sure there will be no DX11 support (and DX9 neither) and no critical optimizations for the PC version of the game. I believe that Bethesda just wants to sell the game primarily on 360&PS3, and because of this I'm a bit wondering why there will be the PC version...

[Sir Taffsalot]

apparently the torch is permantly attached to the gun you have equiped, but that was one of the first mods for the pc version ages ago.

 

 

I loved alternating between the torch and the gun. Sometimes a monster would jump out at me and I'd panic. I'd forget to switch to a weapon and just start hitting it over the head with a torch.

 

Going into dark areas provided you with quite the dilema. Do you use the torch to see where your going or have your weapon ready for combat? If you can't see where your going the AI has quite the advantage.

[lost_soul]

You know what would be even cooler would be if id collaberated with Flaming Sheep Software (makers of Classic Doom for Doom 3). They could finish out the last three episodes of original DooM in DooM 3. As a fan of both the classic games and DooM 3, that would be really cool to see. The guys who made that mod really nailed the atmosphere, just dark enough not to look like the original, yet you could still easily see without a flashlight. The music was awesome as well.

 

[betpet]

I seriously hope they don't expect to market it at full RRP when it does come out though. £10-£15 at a push maybe but the game is already out there, the engine is already out there so it's effectively a mod and assets you'll be getting really.

[Tels]

Man I hate "release-speak".

 

"Re-mastered, genre defining, greatly enhanced, deeply immersing, terrifying horror masterpiece, never-before-seen, heart-pounding, edge of their seats..." all within two sentences.

 

It seems to sell, tho. We should rework our website