Classic Doom Coming To the iPhone Next Month 90
Two months after releasing an iPhone port of Wolfenstein 3D, id's John Carmack brings an update to the similar effort underway to bring classic Doom to the iPhone as well. He provides some detailed information on the development process, and says they're aiming for a release some time next month.
"One of the things I love about open sourcing the old games is that Doom has been ported to practically everything with a 32 bit processor, from toasters to supercomputers. We hear from a lot of companies that have moved the old games onto various set top boxes and PDAs, and want licenses to sell them. We generally come to some terms in the five figure range for obscure platforms, but it is always with a bit of a sigh. The game runs, and the demo playbacks look good, but there is a distinct lack of actually caring about the game play itself. Making Doom run on a new platform is only a couple days of work. Making it a really good game on a platform that doesn't have a keyboard and mouse or an excess of processing power is an honest development effort."
Already have it on Android (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Already have it on Android (Score:5, Insightful)
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Well, the G1 _does_ have a keyboard. :)
Just wonder how annoying it must be to play Doom on it :D
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For this quote to apply, you also need to argue that the Android port wasn't an honest development effort, and that his phone doesn't have a keyboard.
Only if Carmack was being absolutely literal and precise (also, you left out the part about the mouse).
It's pretty clear that the keyboard needs to be sufficiently similar to a full-sized PC keyboard, and that "honest effort" doesn't simply mean "earnest" or "intentional", but has a certain level of competence required as well.
And above all, even if you have all of the quoted details correct, nowhere does he imply or promise success.
The takeaway here is that compiling Doom on various hardware is easy. It's
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Doom... visuals?
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He didn't say that it was hard to make it run on a platform without a keyboard; in fact, he said the opposite. What he said is that it's hard to make it *good* on a platform without a keyboard.
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It runs better on my Nokia N810 than it ever did on the 386 I had when I first played it way back when, in fact the stylus input is extremely responsive, I quite like it, my only complaint with the game is that I wish it were doom2 instead of the original...
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WTF? (Score:1, Informative)
Making it a really good game on a platform that doesn't have a keyboard and mouse or an excess of processing power is an honest development effort."
This is of course, retarded.
Keyboard? Mouse? The Android port of Doom [cyrket.com] not only runs great w/sound, but *doesn't* require a keyboard (although it works with the G1 phone's keyboard and mouseball as well). It's very playable w/o using the keyboard at all. Incidentally, there are currently TWO ports [cyrket.com] for Android.
Excess of processing power?
The HTC G1 (Android) ha
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Doom has been ported to Windows Mobile years ago, together with Duke 3D and Quake
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That's like saying "Doom came to the Phantom first....Phantom beats 360 and PS3".
To the millions who own an iPhone who cares if it came out first on some other platform. Technically it was ported to the iPod years ago by hackers so I guess iPod beats Android again! ;)
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If it's newsworthy on those grounds, where was the Doom runs on Android story (or Quake for Window Mobile, come to that)? Perhaps we did have those stories, in which case fair enough... but lately it seems like any trivia such as "You can view this website on an Iphone" makes the news here on Slashdot. The fact that there are a few million Iphone users out there hardly makes it newsworthy - there are a billion or more phone users in general, but we don't get a story every single time someone realises you ca
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The original Doom has already been ported to Android, Android beats I-phone again!
When Android is finished practicing against the I-phone, perhaps it'll be ready to take on the iPhone?
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That won't happen, since Android isn't about to slap around an obviously outclassed "opponent."
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The hyphen is incorrect, but Iphone is the perfectly correct way to write a proper noun. Unless you're marketing for Apple, there's no need to write "iPhone" anymore than you'd write "Toys R Us" with a reversed R, or sing "ding dong ding dong" everytime you said the word "Intel"...
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The thing is FPS games do NOT work on the iPhone. Lot of games don't. Any game that requires your hands to cover half the screen is largely useless to people with big hands. May just be me but I can't get used to games with no tactile control feedback.
Funny thing is with this is there was a version of QUAKE on the pre 2.0 jailbroken firmware.
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Great! (Score:2)
Now that makes me think of buying an iPhone
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Now that makes me think of buying an iPhone
Why? I tried Doom on the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. It utterly sucked. Its going to be even worse on the iphone.
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Pal, you don't get the idea. Every single "smart" or computer stuff I ever used, since Doom came up, has to pass the Doom test. Doom runs, it's good. Doesn't run, it's glamourous high-tech trash for geeky nerds. Even my phone had to pass it :)))))
I never used the Gameboy for some reason... Hehe...
Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)
Now that makes me think of buying an iPhone
Why? I tried Doom on the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. It utterly sucked. Its going to be even worse on the iphone.
I take it you have not played the Wolfenstein 3D port Carmack has made for the iphone, because it plays really well. I have played Spear of Destiny on my Pocket PC devices and various other places where it was ported in the past, and it was more of a "hey neat, the game runs" than an actual, enjoyable gameplay experience.
If Carmack could make Wolfenstein 3D the only game I truely enjoy playing on my iPhone, I trust he can repeat the feat with Doom.
Doom EVERYWHERE. God, I'm going to spend hours on the can now.
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I take it you have not played the Wolfenstein 3D port Carmack has made for the iphone, because it plays really well.
As I said in another reply:
The controls for iphone wolf3d sucked. It was playable, and perhaps even impressively playable even given the limitations. But that doesn't actually make it "good". Its still big pile of suck.
A number of people have come out in defense of doom based on wolf3d for iphone... I dunno what to say to that. Is it some sort of apple reality distortion or fanboyism? Sure, e
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I thought Wolf3D for iPhone really sucked. It's hard to play. The controls just don't work well. If they could just make it so you don't have to scrunch your hands up in the corners to play then it'd be much better.
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It couldn't possibly be that the two of you have different opinions about Doom on a mobile device?
We already had Doom everywhere. We already have Quake everywhere, in fact.
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Why? I tried Doom on the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. It utterly sucked. Its going to be even worse on the iphone.
Why? The iPhone is more powerful and has a better screen than the GBA. The only difference is the controls, and if you've played Wolfenstein on the iPhone (as mr_da3m0n said below), you'd realize how meritless your conclusion is.
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Why? The iPhone is more powerful and has a better screen than the GBA. The only difference is the controls, and if you've played Wolfenstein on the iPhone (as mr_da3m0n said below), you'd realize how meritless your conclusion is.
The problem with the GBA version was the controls not the screen. The problem with the iphone version will be the same. The controls for iphone wolf3d sucked. It was playable, and perhaps even impressively playable even given the limitations. But that doesn't actually make it "good"
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You keep claiming that Wolf3d on the iPhone sucked... but what you need to realize is that you're in the minority in thinking that. Go look around the web at all of the reviews... maybe you didn't spend enough time choosing one of the several options for movement that suited you best...
This isn't a reality distortion field... the game is really fun... and I have a lot of faith that this port of Doom will be the same.
Friedmud
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You keep claiming that Wolf3d on the iPhone sucked... but what you need to realize is that you're in the minority in thinking that.
For starters the title is self selecting for enthusiasts here, and trading in nostalgia. All it had to do was be novel and adequate. Would an iphone fps from a no-name with a new franchise has been so well received? I doubt it.
Secondly, while I still think the controls of wolf3d on the iphone suck, the game overall is a relative gem in big blue ocean of suck. Most iphone apps ar
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In which case it'll be fun on a GBA too.
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The GBA port sucked because it was half-assed and had several major things cut (no end boss? lame).
If the iPhone one sucks, it's only because of irrational iPhone-hate.
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The GBA port sucked because it was half-assed and had several major things cut (no end boss? lame).
Heh... I didn't even bother finishing the 3rd level in the first mission. I'd had enough.
If the iPhone one sucks, it's only because of irrational iPhone-hate.
I'm sure that must be it. I must have irrational hate for my own iphone that I'm overall very impressed with.
ok ok... I admit it... I actually only have the inferior ipod touch. I was waiting until they released the next hardware refresh before I bought t
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If your wondering how I got a hold of it, it's because he let several of us at project A-kon play it on his phone before his panel started. Great guy, that Carmack.
It's just Doom (Score:1)
Well... you know... (Score:2)
It's a game for an Apple platform.
They don't get to see many of those. So, every little bit counts.
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You should be able to drive the character just by changing the orientation of the iPhone.
I guess that is the part where "good" will come in, how will he adapt the controls to make it enjoyable.
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Plus isn't playing on a touch screen going to get really annoying. I mean imagine this...
No need to imagine, you can currently play Wolfenstein 3D on the iPhone and decide, for real, whether the touch interface works well or not.
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I bought Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone, and I found it utterly boring. Yes, that's right -- I'd never played it before. (Oddly enough, I remember the original Castle Wolfenstein a bit fondly from childhood.)
Nut the Original CW was a completely different game - a top view scroller rather than a FPS. It was a fun game, with good gameplay that would work well on an iPhone; but then people would complain about the graphics,
Which toasters can play doom? (Score:2, Interesting)
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There is a toaster which can toast images into the bread. The frame rate will be pretty bad, though.
Oh, and you'll want to be really careful when using the BFG...
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DOOM is already available for jailbroken iPhones (Score:2)
It was first ported way back in the days of the 1.x iPhone OS. The control scheme sucked, which is what I guess these guys are working on. One way or another, this isn't news.
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Doom has been on Cydia for quite awhile as shareware and will unlock as retail if you transfer the .wad files from your PC.
It currently requires firmware 2.x so maybe it's different from what you are mentioning.
Re:DOOM is already available for jailbroken iPhone (Score:2)
Yeah, "these guys" just happens to be the guy who actually wrote Doom in the first place. What's he know? Sheesh!
Doom, ho hum... (Score:1)
If someone ported Redneck Rampage I might be tempted to buy an iPhone...
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It'd have to be Blizzard, since they own the IP.
They've always supported Mac, so who knows?
cross platform! (Score:1)
Making Doom run on a new platform is only a couple days of work
And who said that you needed fancy managed stuff to be cross platform. C++ is the ultimate cross-platform language.
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Being a software developer myself, I can totally appreciate the comment about the port only take a few days (Afterall, the original engine is only a few hundred lines of code), but that a quality port will take much longer. If you need proof, again, look at th
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yeah, except that Doom is written in C.
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MAME on the iPhone (Score:1)
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Who cares? Quake is on the Nokia E71 (Score:2)
Sorry but Doom is not that cool. Quake is in fact much much cooler and goes to prove that Maddox is right about the iPhone vs. the Nokia E-series. Oh it legally unlocked, it multitaskes, and it will be OSS soon.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDnGIBei11A [youtube.com] SLYT
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Doom was the first shooter to offer multilayer functionality for up to 4 players.
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Quake > Ultima Underworld > Marthon > Doom
Quake was the first game to have multipayer support before the game even came out! It also had zombies rip flesh from their abdomen's a throw it at you.
Ultima Underworld was the first game 3D game you could look up in It was the first game with reactive music. It had hard puzzles based on logic and note taking and language acquisition. It had fighting. It even had... OMG... demons!
Marathon was insane and introduced physics, rocket jumping, friendly bots, an
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Enjoy it again! There is a stopped attempt on sourceforge to make a new engine for it with the same files. It looks fantastic but I can't pick anything up. But seriously after a 1/2 hour I don't notice the graphics at all. That game kicks ass on anything I have played in years. It is in fact the best FPS ever in my opinion. Learning Lizardman is fucking hard. Some puzzles even though simple I still fuck up.
www.abandonia.com/en/games/193/Ultima+Underworld+-+The+Stygian+Abyss.html
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I agree. Quake has in fact been ported to the the iPhone as well, unfortunately, because of poor design decisions it's nearly completely unplayable (using the accelerator for control).
Wolfenstein 3d really looks dated in comparison to the games that are currently available for iPhone.
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You sound as noobish as some kid saying "Sorry but Micheal Jordan is not that cool. Kobe Bryabt is in fact much much cooler".
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Oh my god an ancient sprite based game plays on a crippled piece of hardware! Seriously, not fucking news at all. Here's an actually cool game for a handset. It uses the camera and printed bar codes to created an augmented reality desktop tower defense game.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyWVH6jkDHg
http://cellagames.com/ [cellagames.com]
Now that's fucking cool.
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Sorry but Doom is not that cool. Quake is in fact much much cooler and goes to prove that Maddox is right about the iPhone vs. the Nokia E-series. Oh it legally unlocked, it multitaskes, and it will be OSS soon.
It isn't unlocked. You gotta collect keys and kill bosses and stuff to unlock doors. Quake is FULL of locks. Oh, sorry, you meant the PHONE....
(Sorry, normally I'm not a grammar Nazi, but this sounds so much the schoolyard skirmishes of the console wars that I feel like I'm back reading stories to grade schoolers. Correcting bad grammar comes with the territory there.)
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My type pretty one day. It was 4 am, I spell the 28th percentile, and I button mash like a Neanderthal.
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Newer s60 (N95-1, N82 etc.) run Quake III Arena with full-screen anti-aliasing, TV out, Bluetooth HID, or the even cooler (with a bit of practice) accelerometer based mouse look:
http://www.noeman.org/gsm/symbian-os-9-1-games/78656-quake-3-arena-accelerometer-support.html [noeman.org]
Hell I the x86 binaries of Wolf3d are playable under DosBOX:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/s60dosbox/ [sourceforge.net]
Ultima Underworld is slow but would be playable with a mouse, not tried Doom as I already had the native port.
Enhancements? (Score:2)
How about enhancing the game engine with polygon graphics like http://www.doomsdayhq.com/ [doomsdayhq.com] ...? I read the iPhone port has audio improvements. Can we get those for the original computer/PC port?
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DOOM ringtones! FTW (Score:2)
Honestly don't play mp3's for ringtones; they get cut off anyway: vocals, music from a tiny speaker that's meant for ringtones, all of it. THe midi sound is suited for it. Which short clip from which map would you go for :) (I still have them just for reminiscing)
Not exactly a port... (Score:2)
Doom was originally developed on NextStep, which is the OS that was used as the basis for Mac OS X when jobs came back to Apple in the late 90's. The iPhone runs OS X!
As a result, the DOS version and every other version of Doom are ports. The iPhone version is essentially on its native, original platform, probably utilizing the original code with some tweaks for the touch controls, etc.
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A really good game? (Score:2)
I guess it would be, since Doom wasn't even a really good game on a platform that did have a keyboard and mouse and an excess of processing power. Most overrated title in the history of gaming, a far greater example of "style over substance" than any more modern pixelshader-fests.
Quake 4 (Score:1)