'Doom' gets scarier in third incarnation

By Mike Snider
USA Today

Hordes of demons inhabit the mazes of "Doom III," which still is in development.

More than eight years ago, id Software unleashed "Doom" on an unsuspecting world of PC video game players. The game, which took the first-person perspective of an armed-to-the-teeth Marine attempting to annihilate hordes of demons, was heavy on action and notably light on story line.

With no promotion or distribution to speak of, "Doom" became the stuff of legend for the young industry. The Mesquite, Texas, garage-band-like operation initially sold it as try-before-you-buy shareware — mostly via download, a glacial process in those days — and relied on people to send in money to unlock more levels.

About 20 million shareware copies were downloaded or passed along; several million more were sold in stores when distribution went national.

Game players were both scared and entranced, blasting shotguns and watching pixelated blood fly. "A lot of people remember being scared in 'Doom.' It's almost funny looking at it now," said id technical director John Carmack, one of the game's programmers.

The original will seem downright quaint in comparison with "Doom III." There's no official release date — perhaps late next year, perhaps 2004 — but in any case, "when it's done," as id's traditional mantra goes.

In the updated "Doom," Carmack and company ratchet up the action and graphics with a new software "engine," or core programming, that allows more immersion. "Previous game engines treated characters and the environment like puppets on a set," he said. With the "Doom III" engine, "we can do so many things that people have always wanted to see in games, like a monster in a mirror coming up behind you."

"Graphically, it absolutely represents the next generation in game technology," said Rob Smith, PC Gamer magazine editor, who saw a preview of "Doom III" at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in May.

"Doom" set standards that have guided the industry: People could play over networks and create their own levels, features expected today. The Marines have even used modified versions of "Doom" as training simulations.

Its wanton mayhem also led it to be cited by name in congressional hearings about video game violence.