![]() BFG Edition PC video we ran yesterday, illustrating the work id carried out in turning a specific kind of computer experience into a big, brash, console blaster. We'll roll out the cross-platform comparison vids, but perhaps the most telling - and relevant - head-to-head is the 2004 original vs. In Carmack's own words, the firm knew that farming out the game to a sub-contractor would result in sub-optimal results, so it carried out the conversion itself and the results are generally impressive - especially when it comes to frame-rate, where Doom 3: BFG Edition targets a 60 frames per second update. Thankfully the craze for simple PC ports masquerading as "HD remasters" appears to be over, but it's gratifying that in bringing Doom 3 to console, id has put the work in here. In the PC version, the changes are a mixed bag, but on console, the choices seem fitting. The lighting has been revamped, making the BFG Edition brighter and easier to track with the display at range, field of view has been tweaked with 16:9 screens in mind, while certain elements of the artwork have been embellished to reduce some of the more glaring, lower-quality texture work. An aesthetic originally designed around a desktop environment with the screen directly in front of the player has been tuned to better suit a living room environment. ![]() While some might argue that the PC version is somewhat superfluous when stacked up against eight years' worth of community-driven mods, on console the BFG Edition makes a lot more sense and in the hands of Carmack and company, the result is a game that's a cut above the typical HD remaster.įor a start, some thought has been given to the way in which Doom 3 will be played on console. The grumblings on a niche forum from a small handful of folks is not really incentive enough to do all that again.Doom 3: BFG Edition is best described as the net result of John Carmack and id Software taking on an HD remastering project, because this new release is effectively a 720p console revamp of a 2004 PC game originally designed with a 640x480 resolution in mind. Going back to the original Doom3 would mean having to remake all that code again, and there's frankly no point. On top of all that they needed to adapt the controls for proper gamepad support, improve the localisation text and adapt any shader and rendering routines for modern APIs. This is a problem for consoles which do not like dynamically loading code at runtime, so this SDK needs to be turned into internal scripts and logic. This binary however is native code and must be compiled to the platform you're running on. The original Doom3 was designed around having its gameplay logic in a separate binary, which became the modding SDK. I find it difficult to understand why they didn't go the easiest possible route for satisfying everyone: allow players the option to play the original or "enhanced" version, with mod support for the original.Īs for the thread topic itself, they use BFG because that's the only thing they have that's properly cross platform compliant. Overall I don't think it's necessary to port a 16 and a half year old pc game to modern consoles, but I imagine the reason they only use the BFG Edition is because it's easier than porting the original pc version from scratch and includes more content. ![]() Also the obtrusive quick save screen ruins the atmosphere. After all that, it's actually enjoyable for what it is the higher frame rate is nice and the lighting difference is interesting, though it's absolutely no replacement for the original and the flashlight change is weird and messes with my muscle memory. ![]() It somehow takes way more work than the original to get it running properly on modern hardware without screen tearing and giving me motion sickness. Somehow I managed to purposefully avoid re-buying BFG Edition until this year and it was only to compare the different versions of The Lost Mission. ![]() So I'm grateful to the BFG Edition for sparking my interest in the scene. I initially bought it on PS3 when it came out, and while playing No Rest for the Living I suddenly remembered that map editors and mods existed and I finally had a computer with reliable internet to be able to experience it all, so I returned the game, bought the original Doom 3 on Steam, pulled the iwads from the Ultimate Doom Trilogy I had installed on an old hard drive and registered an account here. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |