Difference between revisions of "Doom (32X)"

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| developer=[[id Software]] {{32X}} [[Sega of America]]
 
| developer=[[id Software]] {{32X}} [[Sega of America]]
 
| system=[[Sega 32X]]
 
| system=[[Sega 32X]]
| sounddriver=
+
| sounddriver=[[GEMS]]
 
| peripherals=[[Six Button Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Six Button Control Pad]]
 
| peripherals=[[Six Button Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Six Button Control Pad]]
 
| players=1
 
| players=1

Revision as of 16:04, 23 January 2019

For the Sega Saturn game, see Doom (Saturn).

n/a

Doom 32X Title.png

Doom
System(s): Sega 32X
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega 32X
JP
¥7,8007,800 GM-4003
Sega 32X
US
$69.9969.99[2] 84506
Sega 32X
EU
84506-50
Sega 32X
AU
$99.9599.95[3]
Sega 32X
BR
152010
Sega 32X
AS

Doom (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, including the Sega 32X (as a launch title). 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.

Controls

General

D-Pad - Moves character. Holding A while using D-Pad moves character at running speed. Holding C while using D-Pad makes character strafe instead.
B - Fire.
C - Use (Open/close door; Activate switch).

When in Automap:
D-Pad - Moves character.
A - Zoom in.
B - Zoom out.
C - Activates/deactivates grid.

 START  - Pauses with options menu; Resumes.

You can swap A, B and C button functions around in options. It will also affect automap controls.

3-Button Mode

Pressing  START  while holding A - Scroll through available weapons.
Pressing  START  while holding C - View Automap.

When in Automap:
Pressing  START  while holding A - Toogle Follow mode on/off.
Pressing  START  while holding C - Hide Automap.

US manual has wrong information about Automap controls for 3-button controllers, futher contributing to rushed feel of this title.

6-Button Mode

X - Scroll up through available weapons.
Y - Scroll down through available weapons.
Z - View Automap.

When in Automap:
X - Toogle Follow mode on/off.
Y - Scale up or down instantly.
Z - Hide Automap.

Pressing any button aside from D-Pad while holding  MODE  will bring up a corresponding weapon. Examples:  MODE  +  START  brings up fists/chainsaw (pressing again switches between them if player has Berserk Pack),  MODE  + A brings up pistol, etc.

Using Six Button Control Pad is highly recommended. Cheats also require use of buttons that aren't available on Three Button Control Pad.

Levels

Doom 32X Level1.png

Hangar

Notavailable.svg

Nuclear Plant

Notavailable.svg

Toxin Refinery

Notavailable.svg

Command Control

Notavailable.svg

Phobos Lab

Notavailable.svg

Central Processing

Notavailable.svg

Computer Station

Notavailable.svg

Phobos Anomaly

Notavailable.svg

Deimos Anomaly

Notavailable.svg

Containment Area

Notavailable.svg

Refinery

Notavailable.svg

Deimos Lab

Notavailable.svg

Command Center

Notavailable.svg

Halls of the Damned

Notavailable.svg

Spawning Vats

Notavailable.svg

Fortress of Mystery

Notavailable.svg

Military Base

History

Development

Doom arrived on a 24Mb (3MB) ROM cartridge, albeit at some point of time it was reported that it will be upgraded from 24Mb to 32Mb (4MB), making it the largest 32X game in development at the time[4]. Most likely it didn't make it to 32Mb due to the third episode levels being cut out to save development time in order to become Sega 32X launch title. If we take a look at the size of known prototypes of this game then we will see that prototypes between September 6 and September 21 were larger than 3MB, as well as October 2 build.

Builds were leaked onto the internet in February 2008 on Hidden-Palace site.

Versions

The 32X port of Doom derives from the Atari Jaguar version, which adjusts level layouts in areas to ease with rendering, as well as potential hardware constraints, and/or aesthetics on a TV screen as opposed to a computer monitor. Despite this, the game managed to debut on the 32X before the Jaguar version was finalised. Leaked prototypes suggest that 32X Doom was originally more in-line with the PC version, the switching of levels occurring as an mid-development optimisation.

32X Doom does not run at full screen - while the system is technically capable of rendering a full 320x224 Doom image, a border is applied to mitigate performance concerns in some areas. Due to storage space limitations on a cartridge many decorative objects and textures are missing and monsters have only front-fracing sprites, albeit it's still possible to sneak up on enemies in rare cases as their behavior wasn't changed to take it into account. Monsters infighting was removed. Demons wake up on sound only if player is directly present in their radius.

Interestingly, 32X version updates Automap in real-time when it's activated, while on PC the changes will show up only if you hide and view Automap again.

The levels set is shared with Atari Jaguar version, both being in development at the same time. Most likely 32X levels were being ported from Atari Jaguar in-progress builds. Atari Jaguar family levels set contains heavily simplified layout of levels from PC original, some maps being completely different, using less textures and objects as well. Due to 32X version being rushed it ended up being released before Atari Jaguar version thus the levels set is unfinished in comparison. It's missing the third episode and there are occasional glitches: Hall of Mirror effect in Level 10, for example. You can't finish certain levels 100% as some monsters were misplaced outside of rooms.

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 is considered to house one of worst interpretations of Doom's music, 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. Curiously US manual mistakenly says that in such case the game will wrap back to the first level so player can complete the remaining ones.

On the 32X, Doom usually runs at around 15-20FPS - a long way from the PC version's 35FPS, but higher than several other versions, such as the 3DO, Super NES and even Sega Saturn.

Interestingly enough, there are few builds of Doom 32X that were made after the final version. The files were named as "Doom RR", quite possible new revision was planned for the game. These builds contain no differences from final Doom 32X release much to public knowledge.

Production credits

id Software Development Team
  • : John Carmack, John Romero, Adrian Carmack, Kevin Cloud, Sandy Peterson, David Taylor, American McGee, Shawn Green
Sega of America Development Team
Source:
In-game credits
  • Biz Guy: Jay Wilbur
  • Biz Assistant: Donna Jackson
  • Software Engineers: John Carmack, John Romero, Dave Taylor, Shawn Green
  • Artists: Adrian Carmack, Kevin Cloud
  • Designers: Sandy Peterson, American McGee
  • Composer: Robert Prince
  • Doom Logo: Don Punchatz
Sega
Source:
US manual
Doom 32x us manual.pdf
[5]

Magazine articles

Main article: Doom (32X)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

ES print advert

Television advertisements

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
75 №1995-01, p24[6]
88 №, p82[7]
94 №158, p72-74[8]
84 №66, p40[9]
75 №312, p39
83
87
91 №25, p63
91 №8, p16
92 №37, p94[10]
95 №27, p20-23
92 №34 (Supp.), p22-25[11]
87 №1/95, p31[12]
92 №27, p76-78[13]
95 №48, p64/65
78
96 №12, p70/71
95 №63, p50-52
94 №40, p40/41
84 №56, p24
91 №2, p97[14]
80 №71, p72[15]
Sega 32X
88
Based on
22 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
75
[16]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
94
[8]
Computer + Video Giochi (IT)
90
[17]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
91
[18]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
84
[9]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
75
[19]
FLUX (US) NTSC-U
83
[20]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
87
[21]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
93
[22]
Gamer (GR)
81
[23]
Gamers (DE) PAL
60
[24]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
91
[25]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
90
[26]
Joypad (FR) PAL
92
[27]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC
84
[28]
Mega (UK) PAL
95
[29]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
92
[11]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
87
[12]
Micro Kid's Multimédia (FR)
100
[30]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
93
[31]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
92
[13]
Player One (FR)
95
[32]
Play Time (DE) PAL
87
[33]
Power Up! (UK)
95
[34]
Power Unlimited (NL)
78
[35]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
78
[36]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
96
[37]
Sega News (CZ)
80
[38]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
95
[39]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
94
[40]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
84
[41]
Sega Force (SE)
100
[42]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
88
[43]
Todo Sega (ES)
91
[44]
Ultimate Future Games (UK)
91
[45]
VideoGames (US)
80
[15]
Sega 32X
88
Based on
36 reviews

Doom (32X)

32X, US
Doom 32X US Box Back.jpgDoom 32X US Box Front.jpg
Cover
Doom 32X US Cart.jpg
Cart
Doom 32x us manual.pdf
Manual
32X, EU
Doom 32X EU Box.jpg
Cover
Doom 32X EU cart.jpg
Cart
32X, JP
Doom 32X JP Box Back.jpgDoom MD JP BoxSpine.jpgDoom 32X JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Doom MD JP CartTop.jpg
Doom 32X JP Cart Back.jpgDoom 32X JP cart.jpg
Cart
Doom 32x jp manual.pdf
Manual
32X, BR
Doom 32X BR Box.jpg
Cover
Doom 32X BR Cart.jpg
Cart
32X, Asia
Doom 32X Asia Box Front.jpg
Cover
Doom 32X AS cartback.jpgDoom 32X AS cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega 32X
CRC32 53734e3a
MD5 1abe8b9b1855b1b101cb7f1d86395c22
SHA-1 4ec03c2114ebffbbcd16859583340d4ea4cd8dd5
3MB Cartridge (EU)
Sega 32X
CRC32 208332fd
MD5 79339867d9d4f58b169753d9a29ea1a5
SHA-1 b68e9c7af81853b8f05b8696033dfe4c80327e38
3MB Cartridge (JP/US)

References

  1. File:CVG UK 158.pdf, page 73
  2. File:GamePro US 065.pdf, page 64
  3. File:Megazone AU 46.pdf, page 20
  4. File:SegaMagazine UK 11.pdf, page 9
  5. File:Doom 32x us manual.pdf, page 22
  6. File:BeepMD_JP_1995-01.pdf, page 26
  7. File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 84
  8. 8.0 8.1 File:CVG UK 158.pdf, page 72 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 158.pdf_p72" defined multiple times with different content
  9. 9.0 9.1 File:EGM US 066.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:EGM US 066.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content
  10. File:Joypad FR 037.pdf, page 94
  11. 11.0 11.1 File:MegaForce FR Supplement 34.pdf, page 22 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaForce FR Supplement 34.pdf_p22" defined multiple times with different content
  12. 12.0 12.1 File:MegaFun DE 1995-01.pdf, page 31 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaFun DE 1995-01.pdf_p31" defined multiple times with different content
  13. 13.0 13.1 File:MeanMachinesSega27UK.pdf, page 76 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega27UK.pdf_p76" defined multiple times with different content
  14. File:UltimateFutureGames UK 02.pdf, page 87
  15. 15.0 15.1 File:VideoGames US 71.pdf, page 72 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:VideoGames US 71.pdf_p72" defined multiple times with different content
  16. Beep! MegaDrive, "January 1995" (JP; 1994-12-08), page 26
  17. Computer + Video Giochi, "Gennaio 1995" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 76
  18. Electronic Games (1992-1995), "February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 74
  19. Famitsu, "1994-12-09" (JP; 1994-11-25), page 39
  20. FLUX, "Issue #4" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 82
  21. GameFan, "Volume 2, Issue 12: December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 27
  22. GamePro, "February 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 60
  23. Gamer, "Ianouários 1995" (GR; 1995-xx-xx), page 1
  24. Gamers, "Januar 1995" (DE; 1995-01-08), page 35
  25. Games World: The Magazine, "February 1995" (UK; 1994-12-xx), page 15
  26. Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 78
  27. Joypad, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 90
  28. MAN!AC, "01/95" (DE; 1994-12-07), page 48
  29. Mega, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-11-30), page 20
  30. Micro Kid's Multimédia, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 60
  31. Micromanía (segunda época), "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 22
  32. Player One, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 64
  33. Play Time, "2/95" (DE; 1995-01-04), page 101
  34. Power Up!, "Saturday, December 17, 1994" (UK; 1994-12-17), page 1
  35. Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 3, Februari 1995" (NL; 1995-01-25), page 40
  36. Saturn Fan, "1995 February" (JP; 1995-01-07), page 34
  37. Sega Magazine, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-11-15), page 70
  38. Sega News, "Leden 1997" (CZ; 1997-xx-xx), page 34
  39. Sega Power, "February 1995" (UK; 1994-12-15), page 50
  40. Sega Pro, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-12-01), page 40
  41. Sega Pro, "April 1996" (UK; 1996-02-28), page 24
  42. Sega Force, "2/95" (SE; 1995-04-19), page 8
  43. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 84
  44. Todo Sega, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-1x-xx), page 28
  45. Ultimate Future Games, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-12-01), page 97
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Doom (32X)

Doom 32X Title.png

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