'Doom' Celebrates 25th Anniversary By Re-Releasing Three Classic Games (theverge.com) 102
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Doom, there's now mobile versions in the Google Play Store, reports Android Police, "and since this is a 25th-anniversary release, it includes the fourth expansion Thy Flesh Consumed. It's the complete package folks, and it's finally available on Android as an official release."
And in addition, three Doom re-releases are now available for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, reports the Verge -- though there was one little glitch: Bethesda says it'll get rid of the strange requirement that players must log into an online account before they play the newly re-released versions of Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3, which went live yesterday. Players quickly criticized Bethesda for the seemingly ridiculous limitation -- the first of these games was released more than 25 years ago, at a time when there was obviously no internet requirement. The online login will be made optional in a coming update, Bethesda said today.
The re-releases were part of QuakeCon 2019, reports IGN, noting that Bethesda also showcased Doom Eternal's multiplayer, "revealing new details about the unique 1v2 Battle Mode."
Forbes hails the re-releases as "id Software's fast-paced, ultra-violent...classic shooters," adding that "It appears the re-releases are actually Unity remakes, though whether much has changed beyond resolution support remains to be seen." But they may also have some other minor differences, Engadget reports: There have been a few other complaints as well, such as the addition of copy protection, graphical changes (such as filtering that softens those 1993-era graphics) and apparent music tempo slowdowns on the Switch. That's not including the removal of downloads for the old PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It's not a fiasco, but these clearly weren't the straightforward ports some were expecting.
And in addition, three Doom re-releases are now available for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, reports the Verge -- though there was one little glitch: Bethesda says it'll get rid of the strange requirement that players must log into an online account before they play the newly re-released versions of Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3, which went live yesterday. Players quickly criticized Bethesda for the seemingly ridiculous limitation -- the first of these games was released more than 25 years ago, at a time when there was obviously no internet requirement. The online login will be made optional in a coming update, Bethesda said today.
The re-releases were part of QuakeCon 2019, reports IGN, noting that Bethesda also showcased Doom Eternal's multiplayer, "revealing new details about the unique 1v2 Battle Mode."
Forbes hails the re-releases as "id Software's fast-paced, ultra-violent...classic shooters," adding that "It appears the re-releases are actually Unity remakes, though whether much has changed beyond resolution support remains to be seen." But they may also have some other minor differences, Engadget reports: There have been a few other complaints as well, such as the addition of copy protection, graphical changes (such as filtering that softens those 1993-era graphics) and apparent music tempo slowdowns on the Switch. That's not including the removal of downloads for the old PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It's not a fiasco, but these clearly weren't the straightforward ports some were expecting.
Re:Please ban this asshole (Score:5, Informative)
You must be new here :-) He's been doing it for more than a decade, ever since a bunch of us got pissed off with his Hosts File spamming 100s of times a day and trolled him back. His real name is Alexander Peter Kowalski, he hides in plain sight by never posting his full name so that people looking up Alexander Peter Kowalski don't find his shit-posting, he hasn't had a real job since 1994, his business plan of spamming his Hosts File crap to attract clients failed, and he lives in a backwater of 1,000 people where coding jobs are non-existent.
As you've just experienced, anyone who posts any anonymous criticism of him MUST be me. The industry has left a lot of people like him in its wake. He reminds me of a guy who set out to write the perfect DOS printer driver - in interpreted BASIC. He figured he would make more than enough money to justify his collecting welfare while working on his pet dream. I was freelancing at the time (dBASE and Clipper mostly) but I wasn't going to introduce him to Turbo BASIC - his basic premise was doomed .
Windows 3x came out, he just kept plugging along, while I switched to c and Delphi. Windows 9x, he just kept plugging along, while I stuck with c and switched to Linux . He was so psychologically invested that he could not see how it was worthless.
As technology changes , you either grow your toolbox or you get left behind.
APK keeps harping on his Hosts File Engine , even though a bash one-liner can do the same thing. He hasn't done anything new since his original spam campaign. Why not? Because he's obviously so psychologically invested in his original dream that it has a death grip on his sanity. It keeps him from coming up with anything new to offer.
I'm an easy target for his misplaced self-loathing. I retired a few years ago at 60, I stopped using the Internet because I couldn't use a computer (still half blind but I'm adapting), and of course he thinks that his attempts to publicly shame me because I wasn't always legally a woman will find fertile ground.
I'm sure it does, but he doesn't understand that I don't care - for me it was the right, the only, thing to do. Attempts to shame me for something that is normal for me, rather than living as I did, won't work.
So now it's time to strip Alexander Peter Kowalski of his pseudo-anonymity by tying his shit posting to his name. Anyone searching his real name will never offer him a job after reading his crazy crap. He won't even be allowed to volunteer because he is too likely to create a toxic workplace. And if he were ever to try to volunteer where I do, the other women would not allow him in the door.
The only solution is to take away his pseudo anonymity. He won't stop, but he WILL suffer the consequences of his actions. Not that his "business" will suffer much - there's no real call for fixing computers, never mind writing software, in a food desert where people do their groceries at the Dollar Store and buy their milk and eggs at the gas station.
A lot of people don't realize that, even with the internet, you need to live near a population large enough to support a certain level of local technological industry. It doesn't have to be Silly Valley, but if you're going to be solely on-line you're competing with Bangalore.
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The people who run this site don't have the slightest clue how to filter it.
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Simple: You don't need to get a re-release. You can just play the original on DOSbox.
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" People don't realize that a lot of those Win9x games like Doom3 are really dos4g games"
Doom3 is most certainly NOT a DOS4G game.
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He probably meant Doom 1 and 2.
Exploding barrels (Score:2)
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Maybe the first 3D game with exploding barrels, but they were in 2D games before that. That terrible Captain Planet game had them, but I'm sure there must be earlier examples.
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Exploding fuel or fuel dumps was a real-life tactic long before video games existed. It's not exactly a new idea.
Not on a phone (Score:2)
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Or better if you still have the original DOOM installers and just copy their WAD files after updating them in DOSbox or whatever.
25 year old games (Score:2)
That still require you to register and be on-line to use on some platforms. NO.
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That still
What do you mean "still". That requirement is new, and a Bethesda special.
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How do you get an upvote for not understanding the context of a sentence? You must be University educated.
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Increasing rigor:
The division of Idthesda responsible for the Doom product identity rereleased three Doom games.
You can get it on GOG as well (Score:5, Informative)
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Anyway, I wonder if they'll remove the GOG versions to force people to buy the new, crappy ones.
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Or hop over to classicreload and play it in your browser.
Yes, in your browser.
Well, damn.. No Windows Phone version! (Score:2)
I was super looking forward to it.
Sigh.
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Windows Phone runs ALL Windows games! Just run the Windows version of Doom!
Re:Well, damn.. No Windows Phone version! (Score:5, Funny)
i get the feeling you say that a lot.
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Wolf3D isn't even 28 (Score:3)
It's a long ago made game, frickin' Wolfenstein is/should be public domain by now
Some blame The Walt Disney Company and Gershwin Enterprises for the extension of the United States copyright term from 56 to 95 years, but they can't be blamed for the first 56. Wolfenstein 3D isn't even 28 years old, having been released in May 1992.
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Honestly, I think software needs a totally different copyright timeline than the other artworks. Given the pace of technology, 10 years would be plenty. There was a good period of time where, if it was that old, it wasn't even usable. I guess we're past those dark ages, but that's still a lifetime in software.
Anyway, I was on Mac and didn't have Doom back in the day, but played enough at friends or in labs that I don't mind shelling out $2 for the original just to make good, and then revisit the game. I'll
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Really? Why does a crap film/book from 30 years deserve protection but a classic game from 10 years ago doesn't? I'm in favour of shorter protected periods across the board, and I'm not sure how robust the argument that different media types deserve different protections are.
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Main reason, as already cited, is the relative usable lifetimes of the different media. Software is often barely functional, if it even exists, after a handful of years. A book sticks around for decades or centuries.
Second reason would be proportion of the contents that are actually copyrightable. Books and movies are almost entirely copyrightable stuff. Software is mostly functionality which for the most part isn't protected, with a relatively small copyrightable component.
But I'm not particularly attached
Re:Back in Win95 days... (Score:5, Informative)
Anyways, how does someone would who wants to play this long ago game go about playing it without paying for it again. Do I have to install DOS Box? C'mon! It's a long ago made game, frickin' Wolfenstein is/should be public domain by now, Christ on a bike!
DOSbox for the authentic experience, but 'Chocolate Doom' or similar source ports will be easier to run out-of-the-box. Chocolate tries to resemble the original DOS version as closely as possible on modern systems, but others add OpenGL support and higher resolutions.
The idea of remaking Doom in unity makes me laugh, though - Doom's staying power was because it was easy to create custom levels, and there are many thousands of them out there, some of which were better than the stock levels. Making a remaster that can't play those is kind of missing the point about what made it awesome...
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Your time must not worth anything; GOG is selling the original Doom for $1.97. You shouldn't be playing Doom if you can't swing 2 dollars
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Shareware (Score:2)
Doom has never been freeware
Doom 1 was shareware. So you got episode 1 for free. This Episode 1 part is thus technically "freeware" in more modernish parlance and only Episode 2 and 3 are commercial.
Or in current-day's teminology, Doom 1 Episode 1 is Free-to-play, but the DLCs Episode 2 and Episode 1 need you to pay a season pass.
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If you've got the WADS, a DOOM source port is the best way. If you run Linux, install prboom-plus, that version uses SDL to play the midi music.
Zandronum is better (Score:2)
Get your DOOM WADs, install Zandronum, use Doomseeker to play Doom online with all kinds of awesome mods, and even play offline with those same mods.
Don't have the mods for the server? Doomseeker can usually find them for you.
FOR FREE. No bullshit online check-ins or anything.
Screw Bethesda.
PS3 version is NOT removed from the PSN store (Score:2)
It's still right here: https://store.playstation.com/... [playstation.com]
However the Xbox 360 version was.
The PS4 version does have a feature the PS3 version lacks, keyboard and mouse support.
How did I get to be this old? (Score:2)