Techtite.com Editorial : My Two Bits, V2

Unless you live in a cave (and even then you have little excuse), you know that Doom 3 has been released. Many a message board is abuzz with what this means for the future of gaming. Does it offer any new technology? More impoartantly is the debate over how this game engine fares compared to, say, the latest from the Unreal team (UT2004), the latest from the Monolith Lithtech team (Tron 2.0), and the newest dark horse in the game engine race, Crytek (Far Cry). Such opinions are anyone's own, which is why I felt the need to post my comments in an editorial. And now, here we are.

The first big feature is one many "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" game players haven't even noticed; the ability to have full motion video, as viewable from any "video source," within the game. Some people may enjoy a few rounds of "Super Turbo Turkey Puncher III" in the game's cafe, without realizing what this means for the future of games. All video sources --be it an arcade console, computer, or TV-- needn't be a mere worthless prop. Such props are perhaps the singular most distracting thing in modern gaming; computers in particular might as well have been from a 1950's "Captain Video" rerun, given how worthless they were. TVs were even worse, and if a character was supposed to see anything on them, the game engine had to "exit" to play a video file (often gratingly lower resolution, at that), to show whatever they were looking at. As I said, this was distracting.

Doom 3 is way different. Approach any in-game TV monitor or video screen, and you don't simply get simple flashing lights, or a low-res texture. Instead, various Doom 3 TV screens offer an actual video clip, which plays in real time wherever you may be in the room. The whole game looks so much more "alive" without mere over-glorified cardboard props resembling a video terminal. Even the most obscure of PCs looks more realistic with such technology, with fluid animation instead of simple flashing lights, or a totally unchanging, low-res texture. In fact; nearly all TVs, computers, and other media devices in Doom 3, actually work. This is really cool stuff.

Think about what this means for the future in gaming. In Max Payne 2, when your character was supposedly watching a news show on TV, the game engine had to "exit" the action for a while, and show that clip in a separate FMV sequence. Such a method is acceptable, yet distracting. That would no longer be necessary in a game engine that could actually show the video, right on the TV, within the game itself. This is just one example of many. In Far Cry, you would get transmissions from your "friend" who helped you survive the first few missions. What if Far Cry could have the guy talk to you via video phone, within the game, with a fluid video clip? Think of what this means, for the future of game realism.

Then there's the option for "ultra quality" graphics. Games elsewhere for the PC seem to be in a rut lately, trying to please the unlucky Joes with an economy-priced P.O.S., meaning less quality graphics than everyone else is capable of. To be fair: I know I'd feel differently, if I had a cheap graphics card, but I don't; I have a Geforce 5900 Ultra, and very few games come close to this card's potential. As for the new-age cards like the 6800 or the new ATI Radeon cards; forget it. Doom 3 is the exception, and very enjoyably so. Textures were so crystal clear I could read the text from across the room. That was cool.

Even adventure games will never be the same again. With such high resolution textures now possible, and full motion video available within a game engine, a classic thriller like The 7th Guest would be possible within a 3D accelerated engine, very easily. This would be a major boon to a genre that, since the dawn of 3D acceleration, has been not unlike an endangered species. The dawn of 3D accelerators was a boon to the first-person shooter world, yet put a large nail in the coffin of adventure games, which up to now had a difficult time offering too many worthwhile puzzles within such a game environment. With the realistic environment available in the Doom 3 engine, I would think that a game team could make a very impressive adventure title, with highly advanced puzzles. I can't wait for someone to try it.

The last and best trait of Doom 3 are its mods. Yeah; many a new game promises updates, but how many deliver the mods? The game hasn't even been out a week yet, and already 20 mods are available. One mod "duct tapes" your flashlight to your stanadard gun. Another mod allows for more than four players in a multiplayer game. The list will surely increase. I'm reminded of how the original game was so accessible to Joe Six-pack, that whole CD-ROMs of level maps and modifications were available. I would think something similar will happen for Doom 3. 20 mod files in just its first week? That's truly impressive.

The list can go on and on, but this is enough for now. Nitpickers will love to gripe about how A.I. needs a little tweaking, and other comparisons to this or that game. Let them. There's a lot to love about Doom 3, and even more to love about its engine. It's just a matter of how many game designers jump aboard the Doom 3 bandwagon, offering higher resolution textures, full motion video on every in-game video screen, and complete expandability. I'd say such games in our near future is a sure bet. It's now just a matter of time.

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Doom 3: The Future