quake/articles/1997/art-934

Path: mantis!not-for-mail

From: jurny@dimensional.com (The Journeyer)

Newsgroups: rec.games.computer.quake.playing,rec.games.computer.quake.misc,rec.games.computer.quake.announce

Subject: Doom vs. Quake from a nostalgic's viewpoint. [review]

Date: 8 Jan 1997 19:08:40 -0000

Organization: Dimensional Communications

Lines: 151

Sender: tony@jobstream.co.uk

Approved: quake@mantis.co.uk

Message-ID: <5aq4af$e42@quasar.dimensional.com>

I was playing a game of Quake over the net as usual (Is there therapy

out for Quake addiction? No? There should be,.) and a couple other

players and myself started talking about Doom vs. Quake. Well one

thing led to another and I decided that the next day I was gonna post

a message about this somewhere and see how everyone in general felt

about it. I'm sure there have been many such arguments since Quake's

debut, but as I very rarely ever get to this newsgroup I'd like to see

how things stand currently.

First off, what I loved about Doom.

After months of countless Quake frags over the net my memory of how

Doom actually was has kind of faded. So I decided to boot the game up

again and give it a run. The first thing that gave me that little

thrill was the music. I don't know about anyone else, but the music

in Doom was just right. Granted they were only midi samples on a

16-bit SoundBlaster compatible card, but still they were marvellously

omnimous. I just had to give up a smile at the sight of the shotgun

graphic. Damn it looked beautiful and sharp. The weapons in Quake

seemed almost dull and pixilated by comparision. Even the chaingun

was wonderful. And another thing which I found I missed was the

ambundant amount of enemies. Enemies to just mow down under your

chaingun and rocket launcher. You even saw them coming from a greater

distance it seems whereas in Quake everything is woefully constricted

and confined. Gone are the days of the mile-away rocket fights

between you and the Cyberdemon or some other DM opponent.

Amazingly all the secret codes popped back into my head so I was able

to get all the weapons instantly, jump to another level and activate

god-mode; a testament to how long I spent playing this game. :) I

miss the backpack also. I had forgotten all about it until I played

Doom again. It was great being able to carry twice your amount of

ammo (Yes, I went ballistic with the chaingun!! :) ) The megahealth

was as it should be! It didn't tick down back to 100 when you picked

it up unlike the one in Quake (DOH! Who thought up that dumb idea??

Kinda defeats the point of getting the thing no?).

I also liked the way they handled the God artifact. It didn't shine a

light out and make a noise to warn everyone that you were coming or

that it was powering down and that you'd be vulnerable. All you knew

was that if you hit your opponent and he made a boing sound then you'd

haul tail outta there!

The textures I missed alot also. For some reason they were more

appealing than the ones in Quake. Quake's colors seem watered down

and dull. I know they were trying to make things omnimous and scary,

and maybe it is when you're playing solo with the music on against the

monsters. The futuristic textures were better and are better than the

ones in Quake.

And how could I forget the chainsaw? Definately something I'd rather

have in Quake than that crummy worthless axe. I also liked the inviso

powerup here also. It seems like it would have been better for them

to keep it like this considering all the shadows in Quake. Of course

the floating eyes aren't that bad either, but that predator effect was

really something.

As to the satanistic emblems and messages in Doom; they were more

fitting to be in this game as the plot itself pitted you against the

spawn from hell. In Quake it seems more like a gimmick than anything

else; something to wow and giggle the little kids. Time to grow up a

little Id.

Who *doesn't* miss the Plasma gun??! Oh man! Just the sound of it

and that long trail of blue plasma balls. :) The rocket launcher

wasn't as powerful and superior as it was in Quake. It was better

balanced. And you could only carry 50 of em instead of the 100,

unless you got the backpack which wasn't too often.

It was even a joy seeing those misty mountains in the distance outside

the windows and open and bright courtyards (No dark spots for campers

to hide in. :) ). Not to mention the red cloudy skys.

I actually thought I'd miss not being able to look up and diagonally

but actually it was less to worry about. All you had to do was aim

straight on target and BAM!

I guess I kinda miss modem-play also. I miss the times when I'd play

the entire Doom game all the way through Coop with my buddy. Or we'd

play DM and leave the monsters in there. Plus there were all the

numerous maps that people made. Deathmatch never got boring. And

it was great that there were so many sound add-ons where you could

change the sound effects in Doom. I don't know about anyone else,

but the Terminator 2 one was my fav.

Oh well, that's basically how I feel about Doom. Now Quake.

What can I say? Quake does have better DM than Doom...in a fashion.

I've never played the final version of Quake DM over the modem however

and I wonder if I could. It'd be pretty boring I think to go back to

just 2 players after 8 and 10 player death orgies.

I like the fact that you can actually play Quake over the net and

still get some pretty acceptable playing conditions. It was a

nightmare with Doom and Doom2 trying to get someone to play you in

Ifrag if you had a 28.8 connection (I know some of you out there know

what I'm talking about. *G* You @$@$ elitistT1ers and ISDNers!! *G*).

Also you couldn't leave a game and rejoin like you could in Descent

(Something I'm sure all Doom players were envious of then.).

All around, Quake just has a better interface than Doom had for

network and modem play (I'm not talking about the reliability of

Quake's modem-play however. Its about as bad as Doom was trying to

get a modem connection.). Its great that you can bind various keys to

do different tasks.

Quake IMO would be dying right now were it not for all the mods that

people put out for it (I think Id actually has alot more employees

than it wants to take credit for. I think these mod people should be

paid. *g*). The grapple alone put months on Quake's lifespan. Then

when you add CTF, Team Fortress, IT-TI and all the other weapons mods

Quake really stands high.

Some people hate it (And so do I when I'm on the receiving end. :) )

but I love the Quad. I think its probably the best new powerup item

in Quake (Maybe that's because its the only new one no? :P )

I know I'm supposed to be recounting what I like about Quake, but

lemme say that I don't like the Lightning Gun too much. Sure its

great with the Quad and all, but I think they should have stuck with

the Plasma Gun from Doom. It had a nice dispersal and didn't need to

be fired on a direct line. You use up half of your ammo just trying

to get the thing lined on your opponent. God help you if they're

smart enough to keep moving. :)

Monster-wise, I like the Fiend and the Shambler, but they're about it.

It seems Id missed a chance to really capitalize on Quake's shadows by

not including some sort of camoflauged shadowy creature like Doom's

Spectre. Talk about a nightmare! The Shambler with his lightning ray

is a pretty chessy opponent IMO. It would have been great if you

could have faced him face to face, but as it is you really need cover

when fighting him because he's verty accurate with his ray. And its a

shame there couldn't have been any creatures like the Cyberdemon or

the SpiderDemon in Quake. Instead the bosses are in fixed locations

or in levels where there really isn't any manuvering room (Dare I say,

running room? ). I personally found it more horrifying to by pummeled

by the CyberDemon or the SpiderD from afar. The Archville was about

as cheesy as the Shambler though.

Welp, that's about it. The biggest fault I credit with Quake is that

its textures are too bland and color-washed. Doom and even Duke3D's

are more preferrable to me.

In closing I would like to comment on a long running Doom controversy.

After playing Doom the little bit I did I came to the conclusion that

THE MOUSE WAS BETTER!! :)

-TJ