Doom (32X)

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Doom

System(s): Sega 32X, Sega Saturn, PC
Publisher: Sega US/EU ??? JP Soft Bank
Developer: id Software
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Sega PEGI BBFC USK OFLC CERO Missing Parameter! Tectoy

Doom (in Japan either as ＤＯＯＭ or as ドゥーム) is a first person shooter developed by id Software and released on December 10, 1993 for DOS-based IBM PC compatibles. It was later ported to numerous platforms, two of which are Sega consoles; the Sega 32X and Sega Saturn. It is widely considered to be one of the games that pioneered and popularized the first person shooter genre, and retains a large, dedicated fanbase to this day.

The player assumes the role of a nameless space marine and through use of a varied set of weaponry, must fight his way through moonbases on Mars and the depths of Hell itself.

Gameplay

The game is played through the eyes of the main character. The player navigates through the level and collects weapons, ammunition, powerups, and other miscellaneous items. Certain doors are locked via a red, blue, or yellow keycard which are hidden throughout the level. Eventually the player finds the exit and progresses to the next level. Every so often a boss is encountered, where the level ends upon defeating the boss.

Levels are often made more varied by use of gimmicks and traps such as elevators, poisonous pits, monster closets, and secret rooms.

Differences from PC Version

32X Version

Due to hardware limitations, the 3D portion of the screen is shrunken. Although the 32X is technically capable of rendering the full screen, performance concerns caused the developers to shrink the screen during development.

The level design and texturing in several levels is noticeably changed, presumably for the sake of performance, hardware constraints, and/or aesthetics on a TV screen as opposed to a computer monitor.

Due to storage space limitations on a cartridge, the 32X version contains a reduced set of levels from the PC version. The music was also noticeably changed, the developers deciding to remake the soundtrack with GEMS and keep it on the Mega Drive side only rather than use the 32X's PWM — having to make launch date didn't help the situation either. It's known by many fans and critics as the worst version of Doom's music for any console port, with even the SNES surpassing it in terms of quality. The game now features a level select menu, allowing the player to select any level within the game; however, by using the level select, the game only presents the user with a DOS prompt at the end, instead of giving the true ending away.

Interestingly enough, even after the game was released to the market, the developers continued adding onto the game. These versions were leaked in the February 23rd, 2008 Proto Release by drx.

Prototypes

Scene member drx released a few demos of Doom on the 32X, showcasing a better engine and direct ports of the PC levels before being changed.

Saturn Version

The Sega Saturn version of Doom was a rushed port of the PlayStation version that was widely panned. It suffers framerate issues, lacks multiplayer (although the box states it has multiplayer link up), and is seen as widely inferior to the PlayStation port. It contains both Doom and Doom II, with some changed to accomodate for the lost power on the console. It also contains the new levels the PSX version has, such as Club Doom. The Japanese release, released later, is seen as a better version due to tweaks in the game to improve performance.

Production Credits

id Software

Design: Shawn C. Green, Sandy Petersen, John Romero
Programming: Michael Abrash, John Carmack, John Romero, Dave Taylor
Graphics / Artwork: Adrian Carmack, Kevin Cloud
Tech Support: Shawn C. Green
Level Design: John Romero, Sandy Petersen, Shawn C. Green
Music: Robert Prince
Sound Effects: Robert Prince
Sound: Paul Radek
Tools Programming: John Romero
Audio Drivers: Paul Radek
Creative Director: Tom A. Hall
Biz: Jay Wilbur
Special Thanks To: Martin Kolodziej

Sega

Producer: Jesse Taylor
Assistant Producers: Vincent Nason, Greg Becksted
Product Manager: Tim Dunley
Product Specialist: Nemer Velasquez
Programming: Jonathan Flamm, Robert Hardy, Unni Pillai, Toshi Morita
Art: Jenny Martin, Susan Greene
Music: Brian Coburn
Game Lead: Michael Baldwin
Assistant Game Leads: Joel Breton, Christopher Lucich, Matt Underwood
Testers: Fernando Valderrama, Aaron Loichinger, Kim Rogers, Ben Cureton, Lloyd Kinoshita, Aaron Hommes
Manual: Carol Ann Hanshaw, Jay Wilbur
Special Thanks: Haven Dubrul, David Albert, Robert W. Lindsey, Doria Sanchez