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''Doom 3'' is a 2004
survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
video game developed by
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
and published by
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. ''Doom 3'' was originally released for
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on August 3, 2004, adapted for
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later that year, and ported by Aspyr Media for
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in 2005. Developer
Vicarious Visions Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Albany, New York. The studio was acquired by Activision in January 2005. After releasing its last game as part of that company, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Sk ...
ported the game to the
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, releasing it on April 3, 2005. ''Doom 3'' is set on
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
in 2145, where a military-industrial
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has set up a scientific
research facility A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
into fields such as teleportation, biological research, and advanced weapons design. The teleportation experiments open a gateway to Hell, resulting in a catastrophic invasion of the Mars base by demons. The player controls a space marine who fights through the base to stop the demons attacking Mars and reaching Earth. ''Doom 3'' is the first reboot of the ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' series, ignoring the events of the previous games. ''Doom 3'' utilizes the id Tech 4 game engine, which has since been licensed out to other developers, and later released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later in November 2011. ''Doom 3'' was a critical and commercial success; with more than 3.5 million copies of the game sold, it is the most successful game by developer id Software to date. Critics praised the game's graphics, presentation and atmosphere, although reviewers were divided by how close the gameplay was to that of the original ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'', focusing primarily on simply fighting through large numbers of enemy characters. The game was followed by '' Resurrection of Evil'', an
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developed by
Nerve Software Nerve Software, LLC is an American video game developer that was co-founded by ex-id Software employee Brandon James. Many of the original employees at Nerve were previously employed by Rogue Entertainment, another U.S.-based software company. G ...
, in April 2005. A series of novelizations of ''Doom 3'', written by
Matthew J. Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripte ...
, debuted in February 2008. An expanded and remastered edition titled '' Doom 3: BFG Edition'' was released in the fourth quarter of 2012, while a version based on the ''BFG Edition'' of the game was released without online multiplayer, simply called ''Doom 3'', for Android in June 2015, and
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,
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and
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in July 2019.


Gameplay


Single-player

''Doom 3'' is a story-driven action game played from a first-person perspective. As with previous ''Doom'' games, the main objective is to successfully pass through its levels, defeating a variety of enemy characters intent on killing the player's character. ''Doom 3''s more story-centered approach, however, means that the player often encounters friendly
non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
s, who provide key plot information, objectives and inventory items. The game incorporates ten weapons for the players use to survive, including conventional firearms such as a submachine gun, shotgun and grenades, experimental plasma weaponry, and the powerful
BFG 9000 The BFG ("Big Fucking Gun") is a fictional weapon found in many video games, mostly in id Software-developed series' such as ''Doom (franchise), Doom'' and ''Quake (series), Quake''. The abbreviation BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun" as describe ...
and chainsaw weapons of the ''Doom'' franchise. Enemies come in multiple forms and with different abilities and tactics, but fall into two broad categories of either zombies or demons. Zombies are humans possessed by demonic forces, who attack the player's character using their hands and melee weapons or a variety of firearms, while demons are creatures from Hell, most of which attack using claws and spines, or by summoning plasma-based fireballs. The corpses of demons are reduced to ashes after death, leaving no trace of their body behind. The game's levels are semi-linear in nature and incorporate several horror elements, the most prominent of which is darkness. This design choice is not only intended to foster feelings of apprehension and fear within the player, but also to create a more threatening game environment in which the player is less likely to see attacking enemies. This aspect is further enhanced by the fact that the player must choose between holding a weapon and holding the flashlight (until the BFG editions released in 2012 made the "duct tape mod" a standard feature), forcing the player to choose between being able to see and having a readied weapon upon entering a room, which consequently leads to a more deliberate pace for the player. In addition, the levels are regularly strewn with corpses, chopped body parts and blood, sometimes used in conjunction with the game's lighting to disorient the player. Frequent radio transmissions through the player's communications device also add to the atmosphere, by broadcasting certain sounds and messages from non-player characters meant to unsettle the player. Early in the game, during and directly after the event that plunges the base into chaos, the player often hears the sounds of fighting, screaming and dying through their radio transmitter. The ambient sound is extended to the base itself through such things as hissing pipes, footsteps, and occasional jarringly loud noises from machinery or other sources. Often ambient sounds can be heard that resemble deep breathing, unexplained voices and demonic taunting from the game's antagonists. Early in the game, the player is provided with a
personal data assistant A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in partic ...
(PDA). PDAs contain security clearance levels, allowing the player to access certain areas that are otherwise locked and off-limits. Additionally, the PDA can be used to read e-mails and play audio logs or video discs that the player's character acquires during the game. Whenever the player picks up any of the other PDAs found throughout the game, its contents are automatically downloaded to the player's own device. Other PDAs often contain e-mails and audio logs for other characters, which can provide useful information such as storage or door key codes, as well as significant plot details.


Multiplayer

''Doom 3'' was released with a four-player multiplayer element, featuring four game modes. However, the game's community created a modification to boost this to eight or sixteen players. The ''Resurrection of Evil'' expansion would later officially increase the player limit to eight. The four game modes are all
deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters ...
es. The standard deathmatch game mode involves each player moving around a level, collecting weaponry and killing the other players, with the player with the highest kills when the time runs out winning. A team variation of this involves the same principle. The third game mode is "last man standing", in which each player has a limited amount of
respawn In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...
s, with players losing a life when they are killed. Eventually, all but one player will be eliminated from the game, leaving the survivor as the winner. The final game mode is "tournament", in which two players fight each other while the other players watch as spectators. The victor of the battle remains in the arena, facing each other player one at a time until the winner of previous rounds is defeated. The loser then moves to the spectators and the new winner remains to fight the next player. The Xbox version of ''Doom 3'' also incorporates an additional two-player co-operative mode for the main single-player game. As of April 15, 2010, the Xbox Live service was shut down, thus online multiplayer for the original Xbox game is no longer available.


Synopsis


Setting

''Doom 3'' is set on the planet Mars in the year 2145. According to the game's backstory, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has grown to become the largest corporate entity in existence with near-unlimited funds, and has set up a research facility on Mars. At this base, the UAC are able to conduct research into several scientific areas, including advanced weapons development, biological research, space exploration and teleportation, outside of legal and moral boundaries. As the player progresses through the game, they learn that the employees on the base are unsettled due to a large number of incidents involving hearing voices, unexplained sightings and increasing cases of paranoia and insanity, often leading to fatal accidents with the facility's machinery. Rumors regarding the nature of experiments in the UAC's Delta Labs division are especially prevalent among the base's employees. Much of ''Doom 3''s story and dialogue was written by author
Matthew J. Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripte ...
.


Characters

There are five main characters in ''Doom 3''. The player assumes the role of an anonymous Space Marine corporal who has just arrived on the UAC's Mars base. The player's
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
in-charge is Master Sergeant Thomas Kelly (voiced by
Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...
) who gives the player objectives and advice over the player's radio for the first half of the game. The antagonist in the story is Dr. Malcolm Betruger (
Philip L. Clarke Philip Lewis Clarke (September 8, 1938 – April 23, 2013) was an American voice actor. He provided voices in several TV series, films, and video games, including his leading role as Malcolm Betruger in ''Doom 3.'' Roles * ''Oliver Twist'' - ...
), the head scientist of the UAC's enigmatic Delta Labs division, who is revealed to be working in collaboration with the forces of
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
to cause the subjugation of
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, and his demonic voice frequently taunts the player as the game progresses. The final two principal characters are Elliott Swann (
Charles Dennis Charles Dennis (born December 16, 1946) is an award-winning Canadian actor, playwright, journalist, author, director, and screenwriter. Background Dennis is the third son of Sam and Sade Dennis. He attended Cedarvale Public School, Vaughan Road ...
), a representative of the UAC's
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...
, and Jack Campbell ( Andy Chanley), a space marine who acts as Swann's bodyguard and is armed with a
BFG 9000 The BFG ("Big Fucking Gun") is a fictional weapon found in many video games, mostly in id Software-developed series' such as ''Doom (franchise), Doom'' and ''Quake (series), Quake''. The abbreviation BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun" as describe ...
. Swann is sent to Mars to check up on Betruger's research and investigate the rising number of accidents on the base after a request for assistance from a whistleblower. Swann is almost always accompanied by Campbell, and the two are often shown in the game to be a few steps ahead of the player, but cannot be reached and directly communicated with until late in the game. The game also incorporates a large host of minor characters who add details to the story or assist the player in certain segments. The player encounters multiple scientists involved in the various research and development programs and archaeological digs through the UAC base, as well as fellow marines and security guards. Civilian employees engaged in bureaucratic work and maintenance workers are also seen.


Plot

UAC board member Elliott Swann, his bodyguard Jack Campbell, and a recently transferred Marine arrive at Mars City, the main access to the UAC's Mars base. Sent to investigate multiple incidents involving the Delta Complex, Swann has a tense meeting with facility director Dr. Malcolm Betruger while the Marine reports to Master Sergeant Thomas Kelly for orders. Kelly orders the Marine to find a scientist from the Delta Labs who has gone missing. The marine finds the scientist in a decommissioned communications facility, where he is frantically trying to send a warning to the UAC on Earth about Betruger's teleportation experiments. However, as he tries to explain the situation to the marine, another teleportation test takes place but loses containment, at which point the entire Mars base is swept with a shockwave. The forces of Hell invade through the teleporter's portal and transform most of the base's personnel into zombies. Now forced to fend off attacks from zombified base personnel and demons from Hell, the Marine returns to Mars City, where Kelly gives him orders to link up with another squad of marines and get a transmission card containing a distress call to the main communications facility to call for reinforcements. As the Marine progresses through the base, he learns that Swann and Campbell have survived, and are also en route to the communications facility to prevent any messages being sent in order to contain the situation on Mars. The marine squad is ambushed by demons and slaughtered in the EnPro Plant, and although the Marine recovers the transmission card, he is too late to prevent the bulk of equipment at the communications facility being destroyed by Campbell. However, Kelly directs the Marine to a backup system, where the Marine is given the choice of whether to obey Kelly's orders to send for reinforcements, or accept Swann's argument to keep Mars isolated until the nature of the invasion is understood, so as not to endanger Earth. The Marine is told to go to the Delta Labs by Kelly or Swann, depending on whether the transmission is sent or not. On the way to the Delta Labs, the Marine is contacted by Betruger, who is now shown to be working in cooperation with Hell in order to invade Earth. If the Marine did not send the distress call to Earth, Betruger does so himself, hoping to use the ships bringing reinforcements to transport the demons to Earth. Betruger then unsuccessfully attempts to kill the Marine using the toxic gases in the base's recycling facilities. Upon arriving at the Delta Labs, the Marine learns of the details behind the teleportation experiments, expeditions into Hell to retrieve specimens and Betruger's increasing obsession with the tests, as well as of a xenoarchaeological dig under the surface of Mars. The dig is excavating the ruins of an ancient civilization discovered on Mars, and has produced a relic known as the Soul Cube. According to a scientist the Marine finds in the labs, the Soul Cube is a weapon created by the ancient civilization to defend against the forces of Hell. The scientist also reveals that the invasion began when Betruger took the Soul Cube into the portal at the beginning of the game, depositing it in Hell. The Marine pursues Betruger through the labs, but is pulled into the main teleportation portal after being lured into a trap by Betruger. The portal takes the Marine directly into Hell, where he proceeds to fight his way through a large number of demons to the Soul Cube, defeating its demonic guardian. The Marine is then able to reinitialize the teleportation equipment left by previous research expeditions and return to the Delta Labs. Betruger, however, tells the Marine that although the main UAC teleporter has been destroyed, Hell is opening a Hellmouth on Mars, capable of bringing millions of demons to Mars. The Marine encounters the injured Swann, who informs him that Kelly has been working with Hell for possibly the whole time, and has been transformed by the demons. Telling the Marine that Campbell has gone after Kelly, Swann gives the marine his PDA containing information on the location on the Hellmouth under the surface of Mars and says that he will try to make his way out of the base alone. However, when the Marine catches up with Campbell in the central computer processing sector of the base, Campbell is mortally wounded; before expiring, he says that Kelly has taken Campbell's BFG 9000 weapon. Kelly then begins to taunt the marine in a demonic voice. The Marine eventually faces off with Kelly in the central computer core, revealing Kelly as a cybernetic human grafted onto a tank-like base. The Marine is able to kill Kelly and takes the BFG 9000 before proceeding deeper under the Martian surface to Site 3, the archaeological dig site where the Soul Cube was unearthed. At the primary excavation site, the Marine discovers the Hellmouth, defended by Hell's mightiest warrior, the
Cyberdemon The Cyberdemon is a fictional character in the ''Doom'' video game franchise by id Software, where it was introduced in the first-person shooter game ''Doom'' in 1993. It has appeared in several other id games, including all main-line ''Doom'' ...
. Using the Soul Cube, the Marine defeats the Cyberdemon, and the Soul Cube then seals the Hellmouth. The ending cut scene shows the reinforcements from Earth arriving at the base to discover the carnage. They find the Marine alive, but discover that Swann has died from his injuries. They are unable to locate Betruger, who in the final scene is shown in Hell, reincarnated as a dragon-like demon.


Development


Production

In June
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
,
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
's game engine designer
John Carmack John D. Carmack II (born August 20, 1970) is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its 1990s games ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doo ...
, posted an internal company plan announcing a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...
of ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' using next generation technology. This plan revealed controversy had been growing within id Software over remaking ''Doom''. Kevin Cloud and
Adrian Carmack Adrian Carmack (born May 5, 1969) is an American video game artist and one of four co-founders of id Software, along with Tom Hall, John Romero, and John Carmack (no relation). The founders met while working at Softdisks ''Gamer's Edge'' divi ...
, two of id Software's owners, were always strongly opposed to remaking ''Doom'', believing that id was going back to the same formulas and properties too often. However, after the positive reception to ''
Return to Castle Wolfenstein ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 19, 2001, for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as a reboot of the ...
'' and the latest improvements in rendering technology, most of the employees agreed that a remake was the right idea and presented the two owners with an ultimatum: allow them to remake ''Doom'' or fire them. After the reasonably amicable confrontation (although artist
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, one of the instigators, was fired in retaliation), the agreement to work on ''Doom 3'' was made. Id Software began development on ''Doom 3'' in late 2000, immediately after finishing '' Quake III: Team Arena''. The game was made by 20 to 22 people. In February 2001, it was unveiled to the public by
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
(
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of
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at the time when it unveiled) in Macworld Conference & Expo/Tokyo 2001 along with the
GeForce 3 The GeForce 3 series (NV20) is the third generation of Nvidia's GeForce graphics processing units (GPUs). Introduced in February 2001, it advanced the GeForce architecture by adding programmable pixel and vertex shaders, multisample anti-ali ...
at Makuhari Messe and was later demonstrated at
E3 2002 E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...
at LACC, where a fifteen-minute gameplay demo was shown. It won five awards at E3 that year. Early in ''Doom 3''s development,
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
of the band
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
, a fan of the ''Doom'' games, was set to compose the music and sound effects to ''Doom 3''. However, due to "time, money and bad management", none of Trent Reznor's sound effects or music made the final product. Eventually, Nine Inch Nails' former drummer, Chris Vrenna, produced and fellow Tweaker band member Clint Walsh composed the game's soundtrack. ''Doom 3'' was also intended to be more storyline-focused than previous id titles, as was demonstrated by the developers' conscious effort to have more professional voice acting. Late in 2002, two employees at
ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Inc. (commonly called ATI) was a Canadian semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technology Inc., ...
leaked a development version of ''Doom 3'' onto the Internet. One year later, a new trailer was shown at E3 2003 and soon afterwards id Software's website was updated to showcase ''Doom 3'' as an upcoming project, although it was also announced that ''Doom 3'' would not be ready for the 2003 holiday season. According to John Carmack, the development took longer than expected. The developer
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assisted in design for the multiplayer elements of the game. Around 3,000 beta testers on site provided feedback via
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. The game's crunch period was between January and August 2004.


Technology

According to John Carmack, the lead graphics engine developer at id Software, the technology of ''Doom 3'' was supported by three primary features: unified lighting and shadowing, complex animations and scripting that showed real-time with fully dynamic per-pixel lighting and stencil shadowing, and
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
surfaces that add extra interactivity to the game. The key advance of the id Tech 4 graphics engine developed for ''Doom 3'' is the unified lighting and shadowing. Rather than computing or rendering lightmaps during map creation and saving that information in the map data, most light sources are computed in real-time. This allows lights to cast shadows even on non-static objects such as monsters and machinery, which was impossible with static non-directional lightmaps. A shortcoming of this approach is the engine's inability to render soft shadows and
global illumination Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from ...
. To increase the interactivity with the game world, id Software designed hundreds of high-resolution animated screens for in-game computers. Rather than using a simple "use key" to operate these computers, the crosshair acts as a mouse cursor over the screens allowing the player to use a computer in the game world. This allows for an in-game computer terminal to perform more than one function, from operating security door codes, activating machinery, toggling lights or unlocking weapons lockers. According to the ''Doom 3'' manual, GUI designer Patrick Duffy wrote over 500,000 lines of script code, and generated more than 25,000 image files to create all of the graphical interfaces, computer screens, and displays throughout ''Doom 3''. Other important features of the game engine are
normal mapping In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or Dot3 bump mapping, is a texture mapping technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents – an implementation of bump mapping. It is used to add details without using more polygons. A common ...
and specular highlighting of textures, realistic handling of object physics, a dynamic, ambient soundtrack, and multi-channel sound. ''Doom 3'' on
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
supports
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widescreen video display resolution and
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surround sound.


Release

''Doom 3'' achieved gold status on July 14, 2004 and a
Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lap ...
release was confirmed the next day. ''Doom 3'' was released in the United States on August 3, 2004, and to the rest of the world on August 13. Due to high demand, the game was made available at select outlets at midnight on the date of release. Additionally, a
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...
version was released on October 4, 2004, by
Timothee Besset Timothée Besset is a French software programmer, (also known as TTimo), best known for supporting Linux, as well as some Macintosh, ports of id Software's products. He has been involved with the game ports of various id properties over the p ...
. The Mac OS X version was released on March 14, 2005, and on February 20, 2006, the patch 1.3 Rev A included a
universal binary The universal binary format is, in Apple parlance, a format for executable files that run natively on either PowerPC or Intel-manufactured IA-32 or Intel 64 or ARM64-based Macintosh computers. The format originated on NeXTStep as " Multi ...
, adding support for Mac OS X on the
x86 architecture x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was int ...
. Finally, the modified Xbox conversion was released on April 3, 2005, featuring a limited steel book edition and two games including ''
The Ultimate Doom The present article is a list of known platforms to which ''Doom'' has been confirmed to be ported. ''Doom'' is one of the most widely ported video games. Since the original MS-DOS version, it has been released officially for a number of operati ...
'' and '' Doom II: Hell on Earth''. A week before the game's release, it became known that an agreement to include EAX audio technology in ''Doom 3'' reached by id Software and
Creative Labs Creative Technology Ltd. is a Singaporean multinational technology company headquartered with overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin, and Silicon Valley (where in the US it is known as Creative Labs). The principal activities of the compa ...
was heavily influenced by a
software patent A software patent is a patent on a piece of software, such as a computer program, libraries, user interface, or algorithm. Background A patent is a set of exclusionary rights granted by a state to a patent holder for a limited period of time ...
owned by the latter company. The patent dealt with a technique for rendering shadows called
Carmack's Reverse Shadow volume is a technique used in 3D computer graphics to add shadows to a rendered scene. They were first proposed by Franklin C. Crow, Frank Crow in 1977 as the geometry describing the 3D shape of the region occluded from a light source. A s ...
, which was developed independently by both John Carmack and programmers at Creative Labs. Id Software would have placed themselves under legal liability for using the technique in the finished game, so to defuse the issue, id Software agreed to license Creative Labs sound technologies in exchange for indemnification against lawsuits. During the keynote address at QuakeCon 2011, John Carmack announced that the source code for the ''Doom 3'' engine would be released. The source code was open-sourced under the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later on November 22, 2011. It contains minor tweaks to the shadow rendering code to avoid potential patent infringement with a patent held by Creative Labs. Art assets such as 3D models, music, sound effects etc. remain subject to the EULA.


Versions


Expansion

On April 3, 2005, eight months after the release of ''Doom 3'', id Software released an expansion pack for ''Doom 3'' on
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...
. The expansion, entitled ''Resurrection of Evil'', was developed by
Nerve Software Nerve Software, LLC is an American video game developer that was co-founded by ex-id Software employee Brandon James. Many of the original employees at Nerve were previously employed by Rogue Entertainment, another U.S.-based software company. G ...
, a company that had partnered with id Software on several other projects, including ''
Return to Castle Wolfenstein ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 19, 2001, for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as a reboot of the ...
'' and the
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
conversion of ''Doom''. Once again published by
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
, a
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...
version was released on May 24, 2005, and an Xbox version followed on October 5, 2005. The expansion featured a new twelve-level single-player campaign, set two years after the original storyline, as well as three new weapons, one of which is geared towards manipulating the
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
in the game. Several new enemy characters were also introduced. Multiplayer gameplay was enhanced, officially increasing the player limit to eight and adding new game modes such as
capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
. ''Resurrection of Evil''s reception was not as positive as it had been for ''Doom 3'', but still received generally favorable reviews from the industry's critics.


Mobile version

In 2009, Escalation Studios released a spin-off of ''Doom 3'' for iOS called ''Doom: Resurrection.'' It is a
rail shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a Video game genre, sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certai ...
much like ''
Time Crisis ''Time Crisis'' is a first-person on-rails light gun shooter series of arcade video games by Namco, introduced in 1995. It is focused on the exploits of a fictional international intelligence agency who assigns its best agents to deal with a ...
'' or '' The House of The Dead.'' It was removed from the
App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
a few years later.


''BFG Edition''

A re-release of ''Doom 3'' called ''Doom 3: BFG Edition'', published by
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In ...
, was released on October 15, 2012, in Australia, October 16, 2012, in North America and October 19, 2012, in Europe. The ''BFG Edition'' features enhanced graphics, better sound with more horror effects, a checkpoint save system, support for 3D displays and HMDs, and the ability to use the flashlight while holding a weapon, in the form of the so-called "armor-mounted flashlight". Also included are the previous
expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or ...
''Resurrection of Evil'', a new single-player expansion called ''The Lost Mission'', and copies of the original ''Doom'' (the '' Ultimate Doom'' edition with the add-on fourth episode, ''Thy Flesh Consumed'') and ''
Doom II ''Doom II'', also known as ''Doom II: Hell on Earth'', is a first-person shooter game by id Software. It was released for MS-DOS computers in 1994 and Macintosh computers in 1995. Unlike the original ''Doom'', which was initially only available ...
'' (with the expansion '' No Rest for the Living'', previously available only for the Xbox 360). The versions of ''Doom'' and ''Doom II'' released with the ''BFG Edition'' have undergone some degree of censorship. PC versions of ''Doom 3: BFG Edition'' other than the GOG.com release require the
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...
client and a valid Steam account for installation, play and achievements.


Reception

''Doom 3'' received a favorable reception from critics, with the PC version of the game holding an 87 percent score and an 88 percent score at the review compilation sites
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
and
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
respectively. Much praise was given to the quality of ''Doom 3''s graphics and presentation; ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' described the game's environments as "convincingly lifelike, densely atmospheric, and surprisingly expansive", while ''
PC Gamer UK ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'' described the graphics and
non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
modeling and animation as simply "flawless", stating that ''Doom 3'' signalled the return of the ''Doom'' franchise to the forefront of the computer and video game industry, eleven years after the release of the original ''Doom''. '' IGN''s Dan Adams noted that the game's presentation comprised a remarkably high proportion of the game, stating that "without the atmosphere, ''Doom 3'' is a plain shooter that hearkens back to those of the '90s." In addition, several reviewers praised id Software for making the game still look surprisingly good even on lower graphics levels. A number of reviewers also praised the attention paid to the game's premise and setting; GameSpot's
Greg Kasavin Gregory A. Kasavin (; born August 21, 1977) is an American writer and designer for Supergiant Games, and the former site director and executive editor at the gaming website ''GameSpot'' for over 10 years. Early life and education Kasavin atten ...
described getting "the impression that ''Doom 3'' takes place in a fully realized world" while ''IGN'' noted that "the UAC base also has a very worn and lived-in feel that adds to the realism." ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...
'' in particular pointed out that the game's opening sequence "feels like a fitting tribute to the excellent ideas" of
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
's genre-defining ''
Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ...
''. Many reviewers noted that ''Doom 3'' stuck with a similar " run and gun" gameplay style that was successful with its predecessors, and the game was alternately praised and criticized for this element. Several reviews were critical of a perceived repetitiveness in gameplay after a while. In addition, the game's
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...
was not regarded as particularly challenging, with GameSpot noting that "enemies follow the same sorts of predictable patterns that
layers Layer or layered may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Layers'' (Kungs album) * ''Layers'' (Les McCann album) * ''Layers'' (Royce da 5'9" album) *"Layers", the title track of Royce da 5'9"'s sixth studio album * Layer, a female Maveri ...
may remember from previous ''Doom'' games" while ''
GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the Ga ...
'' stated the way enemies would
spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: A ...
to attack the player was "gimmicky"; the reviewer noted that players would realize that picking up a lone armor vest would cause a variety of zombies to emerge from hidden compartments in the dark. In addition, several reviewers noted that the game's methods of conveying the story were "ineffectual", compounded by the lack of an identity for the
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
. Finally, the game's multiplayer was seen as lacking in innovation, with its low player limits and small number of game modes, particularly in contrast to id Software's influential ''
Quake III Arena ''Quake III Arena'' is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the ''Quake'' series, ''Arena'' differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing prima ...
''. The Xbox version of ''Doom 3'' received a similar level of critical support, holding a score of 88 percent on Metacritic and an 87.7 percent score on GameRankings. The game was praised and faulted on many of the same issues as the PC version, although the game was praised for maintaining smooth and user-friendly controls on a gamepad, as well as for including a two player co-operative multiplayer mode, which IGN described as "worth the price of admission alone." However, some criticism was directed towards slowdowns in play due to the game engine, despite being scaled down for the Xbox, still being demanding on the Xbox hardware. ''GameSpot'' named ''Doom 3'' the best computer game of August 2004, and later gave the game its annual "Best Graphics, Technical" prize. ''
Computer Games Magazine ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 19 ...
'' nominated the game for its "Best Technology" award in 2005, which ultimately went to ''
Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam (service), Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half- ...
''.


Sales

''Doom 3'' was a commercial success for
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
. id expected to sell 4 million copies of the game. In the United States, the computer version sold 760,000 copies and earned $32.4 million by August 2006. It was the country's 16th best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. Its computer version also received a "Gold" sales award from the
Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was originally founded as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), and the ...
(ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. By the beginning of 2007, over 3.5 million copies of ''Doom 3'' had been sold worldwide (compared to 2-3 million copies sold for the original ''Doom'' and 2 million for ''Doom II''), making it the most successful project by id Software at the time.


Legacy

In early 2008, a new series of ''Doom'' novels by
Matthew J. Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripte ...
were published, an author who had worked on the story and scripts for ''Doom 3'' and ''Resurrection of Evil''; previous ''Doom'' novels had expanded the storyline of the original two ''Doom'' games. The series of books aims to novelize the story of ''Doom 3'', with the first installment, '' Worlds on Fire'', published on February 26, 2008. The second book in the series, ''
Maelstrom Maelstrom may refer to: * Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool ** originally the Moskstraumen in English Amusement rides * Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort i ...
'', was released in March 2009. The game engine for ''Doom 3'', id Tech 4, has been licensed out for the use of other developers, such as in
Human Head Studios Human Head Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer located in Madison, Wisconsin. History Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul ...
' ''
Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
'',
Raven Software Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the stu ...
's ''
Quake 4 ''Quake 4'' is a 2005 military science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is the fourth title in the ''Quake'' series, after the multiplayer ''Quake III Arena'', and a sequel to ' ...
'', Splash Damage's '' Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'',
Raven Software Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the stu ...
's ''
Wolfenstein ''Wolfenstein'' is a series of World War II video games originally developed by Muse Software. The majority of the games follow William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an American Army captain and his fight against the Axis powers. Earlier titles are cente ...
'', and Splash Damage's '' Brink''; however id Tech 4 has not been widely licensed compared to
Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...
'
Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of g ...
. On November 22, 2011, the source code of the engine was released under the GNU GPL-3.0-or-later, but the game's artwork content still remains under the EULA. A later source code drop also included the changes made for the ''BFG Edition'', allowing the re-release to potentially be ported to other previously unsupported platforms such as Linux and OS X, and such a port was eventually released.


''Doom'' (2016)

Id Software eventually went on to release another title in the series, this time following the series' original roots in minimal storytelling and fast-paced action. Development was announced in 2008, then slated to run on the
id Tech 5 id Tech 5 is a proprietary game engine developed by id Software. It followed its predecessors, id Tech 1, 2, 3 and 4, all of which had subsequently been published under the GNU General Public License. It was seen as a major advancement ov ...
engine and initially titled ''Doom 4''. Titled just ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' and powered by the
id Tech 6 id Tech 6 is a multiplatform game engine developed by id Software. It is the successor to id Tech 5 and was first used to create the 2016 video game '' Doom''. Internally, the development team also used the codename ''id Tech 666'' to refer to t ...
, the game was released in 2016 by
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In ...
for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 with cross-platform support in its "Snapmap" multiplayer mode. A
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...
version was released in 2017. It is considered a continuation of the original ''Doom'' storyline.


See also

* 2004 in video games


Notes


References


External links


''Doom 3'' official website
retrieved from archived version of January 4, 2008
''Doom 3: BFG'' official website
* {{Authority control 2004 video games Activision games Aspyr games Commercial video games with freely available source code Cooperative video games Video games about demons Doom (franchise) games First-person shooters Horror video games Id Software games Id Tech games Linux games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Science fiction horror video games Science fiction video games Splash Damage games Video game reboots Video games set in the 22nd century Video games set in hell Video games set on Mars Video games with expansion packs Windows games Xbox games Xbox Cloud Gaming games Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year winners Video games developed in the United States Vicarious Visions games