Doom III out today

Same here - I used to be a total framerate obsessive, but these days I somehow can't be bothered hyper-tuning everything and turning details down until I get 100fps. It runs mostly ok-ish and looks superb at 800x600 medium detail - considering that I've been running Unreal Tournament 2004 at 800x600 with a lot of stuff turned down and that Doom absolutely destroys it visually, it's (yet) another demonstration of just how much better John Carmack is at programming graphics than everyone else.

MO, the sound technology is pretty amazing with awesome panning effects and the like (fireballs flying over your head, that kind of thing) - the source files sound like they're relatively low bitrate though (128kbps?). And I'd read up very carefully on exactly what the graphics card is as there's a lot of misleading marketing around with that sort of thing.

I've never had any problems with Scan and they're pretty cheap to boot (postage charges are quite high though IIRC).

 

built my latest pc using bits from scan:
P4 Prescott £125
Abit IS7 mobo - £40
WDD Raptor 10,000rpm hdd £75
425W silent psu - £38
+ bits I already had

and Chieftech dragon case on special from ebuyer- £35

 

Hard sell not required! The PS2 never really appealed to me, although I did have a PSOne. I haven't actually got Halo yet, been too busy playing Vice City when I should be sleeping to get round to much else game wise. Will have to pick it up though.

 

I know it's not fair to judge things by one game but I loved Splinter Cell (the original) on the PC and absolutely hated it on my mates PS/2. First of all the graphics on the PS/2 sucked compared to the PC (the resolution was way lower) but the worst thing of all was the gameplay. They removed several parts of the missions (no idea why) and also only made it possible to save your position at predetermined points in each mission which were often farily far apart. This made my mate eventually give up with it because if you'd just played for 20 mins and then screwed up the last tricky bit you had to do the whole 20 mins running up to it again .

On the PC version you can save whenever you like and I do a quicksave (just hit F5) almost every 30s or so and especially before and after any tricky section. There was one bit in the last mission which I had to try around 20-30 times until I got it right. If I'd had to play the 10 mins running up to it every time I would certainly have got bored. Not to mention that the PS/2 takes FOR EVER to save anything to it's silly memory cards.

All in all that totally put me off considering a console for games. Graphics simply aren't as good, you're less "in control" of what you can do (saving games, cheats, hacks etc), and last but not least, when I'm playing on my PC, the wife can still watch TV

Michael.

 

the x-pox far outstips the piss2 in these respects. the memory card is only a couple of meg and you have to share it with other games on the ps2 the x-box has a hard drive like a pc so it can theoretically cope with saves at any time. graphics wise (and processor wise) the x-box is also far better however m$'s licencing and submission criteria are much worse than sonys so it's easier to get a game through sony than m$.
cheers


julian

 

Michael, the PS2 version of Splinter Cell had to be cut down and modified to fit the limitations of the hardware i.e limited system memory. On the Xbox/PC the inbuilt HDD allows for more complexity and buffering of data. To be honest I find the ability to save anywhere in a game detracts from the experience/skill required, though I would agree that they needed a few more points in the Splinter Cell series. One of the best save systems I've seen recently is Full Spectrum Warrior on the Xbox. While there are fixed save points throughout a level the game records all your actions between the points. So if you screw up you just load up the replay and zip through it to just before you went wrong and jump into the action to correct your mistake. Although this feature was really intended to let you try put different strategies or have another player see if they could tackle the situation better than you.
While I agree the graphics in console games might not be up to the standards of fully tricked out PCs, the appeal for me is knowing that when I buy a title I don't have to invest another X pounds in new hardware just to play it or fight with configs/driver incompatibilities/finding the X gigs of space to install to.

 

I would not class myself as obsessive either, but I have to admit it seems to start getting a bit choppy when the action starts. Maybe i need to do some more tweeking.

 

NB Doom III is out on the xbox next month, so says amazon..

I might just have to get that one myself!

(although being a skinflint I usually wait a month or 2 and pick em up used for fifteen quid a pop)

 

For me, it changes most games from "impossible" to "just about possible with a lot of practise" . This goes back to the whole games being to difficult thing. Sure, if you're a 15yr old kid you can spend 8 hours a day (or more) becoming an expert but for most of us that's just not possible (or desirable).

Michael.

 

Hmmmm.... must be all those hours of misspent youth down the arcade and on the old C64 that did it for me. What really amuses me these days is that you can pick up the strategy/walkthrough guide for the game when you buy it, or in some cases before the title is even released. Where's the fun in that?

 

I played the original Splinter Cell using a downloaded walkthrough. I still found it fun just "doing" the missions without having to work out what to do. For SC2 "Pandora Tomorrow" I decided not to use a walkthrough and am enjoying it just as much, actually finding it better not having to look at the walkthrough every 30 seconds or so. It seems easier than the first one though.

Still, I have no qualms about using cheats or walkthroughs when a particular part of a game has baffled me and held me up for too long. If those support resources weren't available I'd just stop playing.

Michael.

 

just for a laugh Ive bought a ''midway classics'' compilation of old games for the xbox.

'defender' 'marble madness' 'rampage' and 'gauntlet' to name a few - hopefully direct copies from the arcade.

I will be smiling like mad..... ''elf needs food.... badly!' oh the mispent days with friends and a stack of 10p pieces!

 

Bought it at £35 in Game on Friday cos I couldn't be bothered getting organised to order it off the Internet, only to find that it's £30 today - and I appear to have lost my receipt. A*se.

 

if you thought that was scarey, check out FEAR

and some vids... part1, part2, part3.

note to self: build a PC!!!

 

I got this a couple of weeks back for my ps2... Let's just say that nostalgia isn't all what it's cracked up to be.
Marble Madness is so hard, I can hardly get anywhere on it, though I'm sure my patience with games isn't what it used to be. Saving Gauntlet till last though, I used to love that.

 

Just had a look at the Doom3 site. Perhaps I've misjudged it. So, will it play on my erm...933Mhz PIII with 512Mb of RAM? I have a very recent ATI Radeon 9600XT based gfx card (from Asus) with 128Mb of DDR on it. They say the minimum spec CPU is a 1.5Ghz....maybe it's time I built myself a new PC, I've had this one for a few years now.

Michael.

 

Michael, Doom 3 is more like System Shock 2 shorn of all the inventory-juggling and RPG elements than the earlier Doom games - thick, choking claustrophobic atmosphere and reasonably well-filled-out setting. And the technology and art that's gone into it are just jaw-dropping to behold (I seem to spend a lot of time wandering round just admiring the architecture, machinery and lighting effects...)

SS2 was still much scarier though.

 

When I first started SS2 (I still havent got very far cos I'm crap at games dont really have much time to play them especially now I have a SO, and have has a couple of computer/ hard drive failures) . Wandering down a corridor a wall blew out and absolutley scared the sh!t out of me !!

I'm also gradually ploughing my may thru Deus EX, Half Life and Halo !

I must say I'm very much with Michael here:

" For me, it changes most games from "impossible" to "just about possible with a lot of practise" . This goes back to the whole games being to difficult thing. Sure, if you're a 15yr old kid you can spend 8 hours a day (or more) becoming an expert but for most of us that's just not possible (or desirable)"

 

Hi!

Ive had my copy a few days.

Its funny isnt it nostalgia? When I was a kid I used to dream of a day when I could have arcade games in a room in my house - all lined up. Now - you dont have to!

Some of them have aged really, really badly. Others it seems to me have such amazing gameplay that Im addicted all over again!

Hats off to ''Smash TV'' - its hilarious, and better than I remember it.
Cant stop playing ''Defender'' and ''Defender II'' aswell.

Gauntlet is great (I used to love it also) but it really does need a couple of people playing to come into its own I feel. Most of the games dont suffer that they are effectively on 'free play' - but gauntlet does a bit I think.. not the same without a stack of 10p's!

I wish the CD contained..

R type
Double Dragon
Mortal Kombat 1
Tron

Then it really would be complete!

 

eugene jarvis was a fantastic games designer / programmer.
cheers


julian