Robert Duffy Must Die.
I'll let him finish working on Doom 3 first, but his day is coming. The programmer is tap-dancing around my rocket fire…and when I'm just about to get the drop on him, the lights go out. How did I come to be so owned, you ask? After three years of development with minimal press information (and hundreds of stories for every gib-sized morsel of information), Id promised CGW a behind-the-scenes peek at the latest progress on Doom 3, no holds barred. In a single day, they'd show everything: All the big questions would be answered, all the weapons would be revealed, and previously unseen levels would be explored. Welcome, gentle readers, to your Doom.
Hellfire, Texas
In the same building that houses the office of the mayor of Mesquite, Texas, sits the unassuming headquarters of Id Software. Once inside, it's obvious these offices aren't for selling insurance. There's a 6.1 THX-certified conference room equipped with a plasma monitor and a Falcon Northwest PC with Doom 3 emblazoned in neon lights on the side. Our demo driver for today is lead designer Tim Willits. He fires up the single-player game, talking about how he "wants to scare the s--- out of people." Since the only thing scary about the original Doom for me was the multiplayer competition, I take Willits' warning with a grain of salt.
Do we really need to go into the proprietary physics, shadows, and A.I. being poured into the Doom 3 engine? It's been praised, it looks good, and everyone has said their two cents. Seeing it firsthand, however, makes me feel like I'm on the set of Aliens. The slow pacing, claustrophobic environments, and use of shadows all add a great deal to the game's palpable tension.
"The pacing is intentionally slow," says Willits. "After all, we put all this work into [the environments] and we want to give people the opportunity to explore them. Otherwise, what's the point?" He says this while unloading buckshot into a zombie commando. A whiplike tentacle snakes out from its right arm and lashes at the screen. There are plenty of other details in the carnage, including a bloody handprint on the wall and a disemboweled body hunched over a table. Wait. Was that the sound of a cracked pipe hissing…or something else?
Willits opens his in-game PDA for the next mission objective. The PDA contains maps, goals, e-mails retrieved from bodies, and so on. It's a cool little window into the world, but if you read some information carefully, you'll find hints to secret areas, inside jokes, and other minutia. For example, at one point you read an e-mail that you've downloaded to your PDA from a supervisor. In it, you're asked to fix the loose floor panels in the Alpha Labs before someone falls through and is injured. If you read the e-mail, you'll know where to find the broken floor panels, which lead to a secret underground passage. You can then sneak up behind a number of demons and zombies and kill them before they can ambush you.
Back in the game, a stray shot at a window suddenly breaches the base's atmosphere. Oxygen is getting sucked out to the Martian surface. You'll die from suffocation if you're not careful, but the developers, unfortunately, had to kill the visual effect of getting sucked out along with the air. "The calculations for the physics of shattering glass are bad enough, but trying to factor in [getting sucked out a window] is just too much," says Willits.
Now, we're walking in the dark and escorting the NPC Ed through some corridors. Lit only by Ed's lantern, imps pop out from the shadows, and I jump back for a second, laughing. These aren't some pixellated little buggers. They are detailed and coming right at you. It feels like a movie. Don't want to know what v xthis "movie" is about just yet? Skip the next section if you don't want the story line spoiled.
Spoiler Alert!
You start the game as a marine walking through a research outpost on Mars. "You don't jump into the action right away. As soon as you want to begin, you report for duty and go out on patrol," Willits says. Before long, a gateway to hell opens, leaving you as one of the few survivors. Ah, but seeing as how you played the original Doom, you already knew that. But did you know that there's an ancient civilization buried deep in the heart of Mars? Did you know that this had also happened centuries ago and the demons were beaten back with some ultimate weapon?
While the folks at Id didn't have any artwork to show of this nifty bit of alien gear, we can give you a hint: The new weapon, called the soul cube, has nothing to do with Hellraiser. This contraption, though, was powerful enough to beat back the demonic hordes once. Realizing its power, the hordes grabbed it and brought it back to hell to make sure it couldn't be used again—which means you're going to have to go down into the bowels of the underworld, where this superweapon is being guarded, retrieve it, and stop the inevitable invasion of Earth. OK, end of spoiler.
Hot Pockets
Deep in the caverns of Mars, at an excavation site, we start seeing signs of a previous culture. A huge temple with writings on the wall means more secrets for you to uncover. Little pockets of hell are busting though the walls. Normal areas meld with brimstone, and pentagrams appear on the ground. But there's no time to see the sights, as a couple of revenants start launching plasma balls and a demon floats overhead. Next come waves of zombie security guards armed with shotguns. A couple shots connect, sending you reeling.
This is one part of the game that surprised me—the visceral feel of each blow. Whether you get slashed by a zombie or take a shotgun blast to the grill, your "head" snaps away, making it tough to focus and aim properly for a few seconds. And, thanks to the per-poly hit detection, the strength of that shot and the v xsubsequent blow varies. Some bits hit your armor, but the strays that actually connect with flesh are going to do more damage…and every projectile is precisely calculated with the physics engine, whether you're taking potshots or just knocking out the glass from a window.
Visions of Hell
The art in Doom 3 looks like an H.R. Geiger nightmare. Lead artist Kenneth Scott starts by showing the cast of prezombified characters, each with different types of heads and effects. He uses a blending technique to shift a woman from the normal state to a sallow zombie. "Early shots we've sent out only have a couple zombies in them. People are probably thinking they all look alike, but they don't," says Scott. There are lots of gruesome ways to die, and they'll all be on display. Various chunks from a body could be missing, an exposed skull here, no stomach there. Then there are some personal favorites, like the security guards who still wear cracked goggles after their eyeballs have burst. There are effects also being added to some, like "Burnie," for example. This zombie model has flames licking off parts of his body, and you can see the charred flesh underneath.
But this is saying nothing of the bigger, tougher denizens of hell: fearsome hellknights, Thing-inspired trites that make Half-Life's headcrabs look like the catch of the day, and lots of as-yet-unnamed creatures. There's a spidery demon boss that skitters around and has a pouch in the back that looks like it'll spawn little tritelings. Scott's favorite: the sinister hell cherub. "Hey, heaven's got 'em," he says. Not like this though: Twisted baby faces top tiny, disfigured bodies that fly around with insect wings.
A huge monstrosity fills the screen for a split second. "Oops, I don't think I was supposed to show you that!" The unnamed Jurassic demon is so big it can't be seen in its entirety in one screen. While Scott can't go into detail on what it is, he assures me that this isn't the final boss. Now that's a scary thought.
If you want scary, though, you also need to get a feel for the animation work being put into Doom 3. "The trick is to add little sequences in the game engine that don't pull you out of the game," says lead animator Fred Nilsson, who was one of the animators for Shrek. So how does creating that movie's gingerbread man torture sequence compare to working on a game like Doom 3? "Games are a lot more creative. You've got to do a lot of things, like creating models and setting up the characters and skeletons."
The large number of bones in each character allows for detailed animation. Whether you're observing a marine's face contorted in pain, seeing a mouth form words, or simply noticing sets of eyes darting around the room, it all sells the realism beyond the v xgraphics. And, after a two-day motion capture marathon, it's easy to overlay mannerisms, staggers, and the like.
But the really creative part is being able to place cameras down and edit the scene. Using Maya, and the in-game engine, Nilsson briefly yanks the camera out of your control. The next 10 seconds in one scene focus on a pinky demon knocking over a railing, jumping down, and ramming a door. Only then do you get control back. Finally, Nilsson gets to be the director.
Technically, you'll get to be one as well, since the editing software will be available when Doom 3 ships. This is Rob Duffy's domain, programmer and the keeper of the tools.
"The fact that we include all the tools, source maps, and textures on the disc is big. This is the first time this has been done." You won't get the 3D modeling (Lightwave) and animation (Maya) tools that we used, but there are light versions and free programs available on the Web. "Because of the things the engine can do, we can expect to see some great things [from the modding community]."
You see, Doom 3 may be intentionally slow-paced, but that doesn't mean you can't get some serious speed. The physics engine allows for vehicles, if desired. You can also get fast and furious combat, as in the upcoming Quake 4. (Duffy confirmed that Raven Software is working on Quake 4 right now in tandem with the Id folks, but other than that, mum's the word.) What's Duffy looking forward to? More single-player mod offerings. "All the mods lately have been multiplayer. If you have a team that wants to break into the business with a commercial venture, a single-player mod is the best way to get noticed."
In order for those coders to get crankin', though, the game has to come out. "Early ads said that Doom 3 was coming in 2003," says Id CEO Todd Hollenshead, "but we knew that probably wasn't going to happen." People are getting anxious, though—anxious enough to distribute the game early. A year ago, the E3 build was leaked to the public, and the recent news of the Half-Life 2 source code leak brought up some painful memories.
So when will Doom 3 ship? Hollenshead gives the stock answer on cue: "It'll be done when it's done." Looks like we're going to have to settle this with a deathmatch before I hit the road.
"Lllet's Get Ready to Giiiiiiiiiib!"
The single-player game may be intentionally slow, but the pace is kicked up for multiplayer. No adrenaline meters required on the six to eight maps that'll come with the game when it ships. You'll be able to manipulate switches, activate security cameras, move objects, close shutters, and turn off lights. There may only be four people playing at a time, but Hollenshead explains, "We knew we were onto something because we started lining up to play it in the office."
Imagine moving a canister in front of a doorway and turning off the lights. You hide in a corner and—whoosh—the door opens. All you can see is the silhouette of your enemy in the doorway and it's time to open fire. Just pray your target isn't in berserker mode.
Scott describes the berserker mode as the sci-fi drug "red-eye" that was seen in an episode of Cowboy Bebop. As you slap the berserker helmet on, the world goes crimson; you run uncontrollably at a full sprint, and you're only able to punch or club someone with your flashlight for ridiculous amounts of damage. And all the while, you're maniacally screaming.
Which catches us up to where we are now: I've already been brained twice with a flashlight by a berserking Marty Stratton, and Duffy once again has me in his sights. Click. I forgot to reload. His shotgun blast catches part of my armor and sends my "head" reeling. The visceral screen shake, combined with the 6.1 surround sound, makes me feel the impact of every bit of buckshot. It's over. I come in second place with seven kills. The sad part? I know they were going easy on me.
There's always next time—especially since Nilsson waits in the wings like some sinister end boss. Everyone in the office fears his deadly aim, but not me…not yet, at least. I'll be in training until I head back down to see whatever's next from Id.
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Carmack on Carmack
"I'm not nearly as big of a game player as a lot of the guys [at id]. Part of taking a step back from being a designer to the directional role is that I may not be the best person to design games. I can code certain aspects, but I'd rather have passionate people that have a vision they want to get in. I'm more the engineer and technician who wants something to work well."
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