How many games have become so popular that they have been installed on more computers than Microsoft Windows?
The success and impact of DOOM on the industry has been studied for over 25 years, trying to understand what was special about this 1993 title. We can talk endlessly about DOOM: starting with technical achievements, speedruns, mods and ending with the level design of the game. This will not fit into any article.
Let's take a look at what action games can learn from DOOM, the good and the bad.
Level design and authorship
Combat in DOOM is all about shooting demons on the move at the speed of light. Throughout the levels you can find closed doors, hidden places and secret rooms with weapons. Everything is peppered with backtracking, which makes these levels feel very open. There's no way to look up or down, and since you often have to rely on auto-aiming, you could say DOOM is all about finding the right location and speed. Each level is more difficult than the previous one. And the difficulty reaches its peak towards the end of the game, when the user has to find a way out of the miniature maze of death.
These levels are part of the first lesson. Initially, the locations were supposed to be developed by game designer Tom Hall, but programmer John Romero found them too weak. In particular due to the fact that did not use all available technologies. Unlike previous games from the company, such as Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM needed to include different levels of elevation above the ground, curved corridors, the ability to play with volumetric lighting and a bunch of other features.
3D rendering of location E1M1. Job .
These are the elements that make DOOM levels stand out from modern games and even surpass many of them. The most famous example is Episode 1, Mission 1: Hangar [E1M1], created by John Romero. You find yourself in a horseshoe-shaped room with stairs, go into a corridor, then a path zigzags through a pool of acid. After which you see a seemingly unattainable place that beckons with super armor.
All this doesnβt look as epic as it did in 1993, but that's the mood, especially for action games. Most action games place you in an open space with occasional corridors. Usually there are no hills, except maybe a small rock that you can jump onto. Modern technologies that allow for interesting types of geometry or combatβsuch as the ability to walk on ceilings, as in Prey (2006), fly, as in DarkVoid (2010), or grapple with a hook, as in Sekiroβare tied to context, ignored, or are reduced to minor gimmicks rather than playing a key role in game design. Technology moves forward and gives us many possibilities, which seem to have directed games towards simplification.
John Romero was a programmer but came up with the E1M1 design himself. DOOM levels were assembled from ready-made assets, so they could be made by one person. Romero worked independently and became almost the sole author of the levels. It is precisely this authorβs approach that is lacking in modern level design.
DOOM was made by six people. Programmers John Carmack, John Romero, Dave Taylor, artists Adrian Carmack (no relation to John), Kevin Cloud, and game designer Sandy Petersen, who replaced Tom Hall ten weeks before release.
For comparison: let's take one of the recent releases - Devil May Cry 5 (2019). 18 game designers, 19 environment artists, 17 interface artists, 16 character artists, over 80 animators, over 30 VFX and lighting artists, 26 programmers and 45 engine developers worked on it. Not to mention those who worked with sound, cinematics and all outsourced tasks, for example, character rigging. In total, more than 130 people worked on the product itself, almost three times more than on the first Devil May Cry in 2001. But management, marketing and other departments were also involved in the process.
DOOM Team 1993
A small part of the Devil May Cry 5 team
Why is this happening? Because of the visual aspect, making games today takes a lot more effort than it used to. The reason for this is the transition to 3D images, which means more complex rigging, advanced motion capture technologies, increased frame rates and resolution, as well as an increase in the complexity of the code and engines that process all this. You need powerful hardware, but the result is more error-sensitive and less flexible. For example, it took the team of the sprite-based title King of Fighters XIII about 16 months to make one single character. The creators of the project had to deal with several heroes at the same time and crunch in order to be on time for release. The requirements for what a paid game should look like have grown significantly. A striking example of this is the negative reaction of fans to Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Perhaps it was the desire to meet the ever-changing standards of cool visuals that pushed the author's view into the background. And although there are people in the industry like Kamiya (Resident Evil, Bayonetta), Jaffe (God of War, Twisted Metal) and Ansel (Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil), they are more likely to be executives who oversee the image of the product, rather than those who who create a whole pack of levels on their own.
Yes, for example, director working on most of the combat in Ninja Gaiden II. But despite all the excitement, change is no longer made by one person. One gear drives another, then another, and another, and another.
If Director Itsuno had wanted to remake an entire mission during the last ten weeks of Devil May Cry 5's development, it would have been a monumental task. For comparison, Sandy Petersen was able to complete 19 of DOOM's 27 levels ten weeks before release. Even if 8 is based on sketches by Tom Hall.
At the same time, they had their own atmosphere, thanks to Pietersen's love for the themes of the levels. The theme was a kind of dividing line in the game. For example, there was a level based on exploding barrels (DOOM II, Map23: Barrels o' Fun). Another example is Romero's focus on contrast. Light and shadow, limited space and open space. Thematic levels flowed into each other, and users had to return to previously completed areas to build a map in their head.
In simple terms, game design has become too complex and has lost the flexibility it had back in the days of DOOM in 1993.
Most levels in modern action games have open spaces and simple shapes when viewed from above. Strong art and complex effects hide this simplicity, and the story or interesting combat fills it out. Games rely more on ongoing gameplay than on the levels in which the action takes place.
Illustration by Stinger Magazine; color palette . The Mission 11 map is based on footage, so please forgive some missing details. But we hope the idea is clear.
DOOM's level design also has its shortcomings; its quality is not always the best. The first levels of the first episode of Knee Deep in the Dead were designed almost entirely by Romero. But later additions came out and the game began to look like a mishmash of several designers. Sometimes I had to go through maps from four different designers in a row: each of them was of different quality, philosophy and logic. As a result, the game can hardly be called complete.
However, here first lesson, which modern action games can learn:
Modern action games focus on the actual gameplay rather than where the action is taking place. Level design must embrace all technical advances to offer users new types of levels, interesting ways to overcome obstacles, gameplay or battle scenarios. At the same time, you need to avoid advertising gimmicks and remain true to your vision of the project. Open space is great, but should be used sparingly.
Technology has become too complex and detail-oriented for one person to create a level on their own. It all comes down to the combat and the art. It would be great to see an action title that cares less about texture resolution or the physicality of fabrics and is more focused on the flexibility of game design. In order for the design to be cohesive, unlike DOOM, the game must have a lead designer who makes sure the levels are consistent.
Relationship between enemies and weapons
The passage of levels is determined by what opponents the player encounters and what weapon kills them. Enemies in DOOM move and attack in different ways, and some can even be used to kill others. But thatβs not why the fighting there is so good. Pinky's only goal is to pounce on you and bite you. The imp periodically throws fireballs. So far everything is simple.
However, if Imp joins the fight with Pinkie, everything changes. If before you just had to keep your distance, now you also have to dodge fireballs. Add lava around the arena and things change even more. Twelve more steps, and we get a multi-level arena foundation, different types of enemies acting together - in general, everything to constantly generate unique situations for the player, who is already on guard all the time due to the environment.
Each demon in DOOM has its own special feature. This allows you to create exciting situations in battles with enemies of different types. And things get even more interesting when you take into account the player's weapons.
The first mission of each episode resets all collected weapons. The distribution of weapons that can be obtained in certain missions further influences battles. The battle with the three Barons of Hell will go differently not only depending on the room in which it takes place, but also on whether you received a Plasma Cannon or you only have a regular shotgun.
Later battles in the game tend to turn into massive carnage. Pinpoint skirmishes give way to waves of enemies, especially in the third episode of DOOM and the second half of DOOM II. Most likely, this is how the designers wanted to compensate for the growth of the playerβs skill and the increase in weapon power. Plus DOOM usually shows all his cards pretty early. Most of the enemies are encountered already in the first half of the game, and in further levels DOOM developers experiment with what is already there. Eventually every possible combination was implemented, and levels began to copy each other or rely on gimmicks like hordes of enemies. Sometimes these decisions provide interesting experiences, and sometimes they simply inflate the game.
Battles also change depending on the difficulty level. In Ultra Violence mode, in one of the key locations you can meet a Cacodemon that spits plasma clots, which completely changes the dynamics of the game. On Nightmare difficulty, enemies and their projectiles are accelerated, plus killed enemies will respawn after a certain period of time. In all difficulty modes, objects are located at different points and there are unique weapons. A good example: Episode 4, Mission 1: Hell Beneath [E4M1]. The author of this mission, American McGee, removed all health kits in Ultra Violence and Nightmare modes, making the already difficult level the most difficult in the entire DOOM series. And John Romero, by the way, removed some light sources in Episode 1, Mission 3: Toxic Refinery [E1M3] to make it harder to see opponents.
This approach allows level designers to create different versions of the same level with unique opponents, taking into account the player's skills.
Consider the add-on The Plutonia Experiment, developed by brothers Dario and Milo Casali. In one of the missions, the player encounters nine Archviles (these are one of the most dangerous enemies). By comparison, DOOM II only has one fight with two Archwiles near the very end of the game. The Cyberdemon (the boss from the second episode of DOOM) was used in the same way - it was not easy to get through the battle. In Plutonia, the player encounters four such monsters at once.
Dario officially stated that the addition was made for those who completed DOOM II on Hard and want to get a more difficult mode, in which the most extreme conditions are recreated using familiar elements. He completed the game on maximum difficulty and completed levels that were too easy. And he also added that he does not sympathize with the players who complained that Plutonia is too difficult in Hard mode.
Not only targeting hardcore players, DOOM also uses difficulty levels to make it easier for new players to get into the game. The player finds himself in less difficult battles with less dangerous enemies and receives more first aid kits or finds powerful weapons earlier. DOOM doesn't coddle players with changes like auto-aim (Vanquish), health regeneration (Resident Evil 2 Remake), the ability to let the game take control of combat (Bayonetta 2), or auto-dodge (Ninja Gaiden 3). Such changes do not improve your skill, they simply play instead of you.
It's clear that DOOM strives to bring even the smallest element of the game to perfection. That's what it is second lesson for action games:
Most modern action games already have the foundation of a good game: a large set of enemies, actions that the player can take, and their interrelationships. But all this is taken for granted. But you can experiment with what combination of opponents and abilities the user will see. The enemy must not only be introduced into the game, but also developed. You can try creating different settings and unique level designs to make the enemy feel different every time. Combine opponents who have no reason to team up, and if there's a risk of breaking immersion, keep these unique encounters only on higher difficulties. If your game is too difficult, add an easier mode to make it easier for new players to get the hang of it.
Use different combinations of enemies and weapons. Don't be afraid to increase the number of difficulty levels to introduce new, more dangerous battles or challenge users with new item placements. You can even let players create their own maps. The developers of Trials of Lucia for Dante's Inferno got this idea right, but executed it poorly. Who knows how cool battles could be if users could create them themselves? Just look at the endless creativity that Super Mario Maker brings to players.
Movement in an action game
The key element to all encounters in DOOM is movement. Your location, the enemy's location, and how you can bridge the distance between you. In addition to the standard features, action games offer a huge number of other options for movement. The ability to run along walls in Ninja Gaiden, a sharp sidestep in Shinobi and teleportation in Devil May Cry 3. However, all these movements are static, even the heroβs attack is static.
When Dante attacks, he cannot move, just like Ryu loses his mobility the second he readies his blade. There are also attacks that provide the ability to move, such as Windmill Slash in Ninja Gaiden or Stinger in Devil May Cry 3. But these are usually predetermined: movement is mainly necessary for quickly dodging or moving a certain distance at a certain angle. And then the attack continues from where it left off.
These games offer a ton of tricks to attack and advance on your opponent so that you can stay toe-to-toe with them. A stark contrast to DOOM, where movement and movement are tied to the attack key, which makes sense given the genre of the game. In addition, most of the game's hidden mechanics are related to movement speed and mobility - for example, SR50, Strafe Running, Gliding and Wall Running.
This is not to say that this is not implemented in action games. Players can move while attacking in The Wonderful 101, and there's also Raiden's Ninja Run in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. In some games, movement is an ability granted by weapons, such as Tonfa in Nioh (movement can be canceled by pressing a button). But in general, despite 2D brethren like Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom or Muramasa: The Demon Blade, movement in combat looks rather unnatural in modern action games.
In Devil May Cry 4, players can use the momentum of previously canceled attacks to move forward, giving them the ability to move around during combat, often referred to as Inertia. An example is Guard Flying. This ability was removed in Devil May Cry 5, which rightfully led to controversy and discussion, because along with it a significant number of attacking mechanics were also removed. This highlights how important it is for people to move around in this way in the game.
So why is this almost unique element used in DOOM 2016, Vanquish, Max Payne 3 and Nelo not implemented in games that so exalt mobility, such as Shinobi or even Assassin's Creed?
One answer to this question is that such mobility can make the game too easy. In Metal Gear Rising, enemies will automatically parry attacks after blocking a certain number of hits to prevent the player from completely blocking them with Ninja Running.
Another argument against mobility: attacks will seem less powerful. Although mobility does not affect the mechanics, the spectacle of an attack consists of various elements: animation anticipation, duration, body movement and enemy reaction. A moving attack will lack animation and appear less crisp, resulting in the movement appearing to float.
For everything to look right, enemies must influence the process, but this, of course, will not happen. Opponents are designed to be defeated, with rare exceptions. In DOOM II, Archvile demons appear in sight, shotgunners need to be run around the location, and Pinky should be wary of in confined spaces. These changes in enemy design allow action games to create enemies that dodge attacks much more often or use line-of-sight moves (such as staring in Nioh 2).
An interesting project: an action game in which the attack is only part of the whole, and the constant movement, control and exact position of the hero during this attack is as important as the attack itself.
Third lesson (And last). More precisely, not even a lesson, but a spark of inspiration:
Too many action games limit movement while attacking. Whereas 2D games were all about movement in combat, now movement occurs until you engage in combat. When attacking, you stop and move only when you start to defend.
Action games can grow by experimenting with movement during battle and how it combines with different types of enemies. It should become a full-fledged mechanic of games of this genre, not only when dodging an attack, it should also work in an attack. It doesn't matter whether the movement will be implemented through a unique weapon or the entire game will be built on it.
Conclusion
There are other lessons that can be learned from DOOM. For example, how the levels are filled with secrets that motivate you to explore the location. How replenishing armor in small fragments rewarded this exploration. How the results screen motivated you to perform all tasks at the level. Or how learning the BFG's hidden beam mechanics allowed you to play at a higher level. You can also learn from mistakes. You should avoid duplicating some weapons, boring boss fights and stupid changes in level aesthetics, like in DOOM II. You can also find inspiration in DOOM 2016. In particular, it shows how to properly implement a weapon upgrade.
It's important to remember that these lessons are all general - they can't be applied to every game or every style. Older Resident Evil games don't need extra mobility during battles. And these lessons do not guarantee increased sales.
General conclusion such:
Action games have been around for a very long time, but since the release of the PlayStation 2 they have gradually settled into a template created by Rising Zan and subsequently cemented by the Devil May Cry franchise. Let this article serve as an incentive to find new elements and explore unexplored perspectives that will help make games more complete and interesting.
Additional Information
- I originally planned to just write a review of DOOM. But it seemed to me that there were already too many of them and it was unlikely that I would be able to add anything new other than my assessment of the game. And I wrote this article. I think it turned out well, I was able to review and give the most positive assessment of DOOM, and suggest ways to improve modern action games.
- The main environment artist for Devil May Cry 5 is Shinji Mikami. Don't be confused with that Shinji Mikami.
- Initially, I wanted to make the ability to gradually restore armor a separate lesson, but then I decided to abandon it, since it was not significant enough. The idea is that armor in DOOM usually restores your armor to 100 points, no more. However, small pieces of armor can replenish it up to 200 units - the game is full of secret places where you can find them. This is a fairly simple way to reward the user with something useful for exploring. There is something similar in the title Viewtiful Joe, in each chapter of which you need to collect film containers to upgrade your VFX meter.
- I hardly mentioned battles between enemies because the article became too long. This happens in some action games - in Asura's Wrath, enemies can damage each other.
- I wanted to mention Sieg from Chaos Legion, Akira from Astral Chain and V from Devil May Cry 5 in the movement tutorial. I've always liked the ability to summon monsters to attack while you're moving. However, these characters suffer from the same restrictions when they start to be attacked, so I decided to omit them to avoid confusion. Besides, there are already enough examples in that part of the article.
- Nightmare mode was originally added to DOOM to eliminate any potential complaints that Ultra Violence mode was too easy. As a result, most found it overwhelming, although this difficulty mode still has its dedicated fans.
- The way DOOM changes enemies and object placements in more difficult game modes is only fully realized in Ninja Gaiden Black. In this game, along with the difficulty, enemies, item placement, scarab rewards change, and even new bosses are introduced. At each difficulty level, it's like you're playing a new game. In some mods you have to engage in more serious battles than in more complex mods, accordingly, you need to compensate for the damage received in a certain way. And Ninja Dog mode forces players to evolve instead of coddling them. I recommend reading a great article on this topic from fellow action hero Shane Eric Dent.
- I wrote an extensive analysis of why John Romero's E1M2 is such a cool level and why I think it's the best card in the entire DOOM series, but I couldn't find where to put it. I never edited it. Maybe one day. It's the same story with enemy analysis in DOOM II.
- The name of the game itself is usually written in capital letters - DOOM, while the builder is called Doom. It pains me to see such a discrepancy, but thatβs the way it is.
- Yes, American McGee is his real name. He himself comments on this: βYes, thatβs what my mother called me. She said she was inspired by a college friend who named her daughter America. She also said that she was thinking of calling me Obnard. She was always very eccentric and creative."
- It's sad that most modern action games are moving further away from combining different types of enemies. In Ninja Gaiden II you will never encounter Van Gelf demons and Spider Clan ninjas at the same time. Just like Dark Souls veterans won't encounter a Phalanx aided by enemies like Undead Archer and Ghost. Modern titles tend to stick to a specific theme, and mixing unrelated enemies together can break immersion. It's a pity.
- For this article, I decided to test Doom Builder myself. Even though it's unfinished, it's interesting to see how just one Lost Soul monster can change the entire course of a battle. What's especially cool is how the fight between the enemies themselves can affect the atmosphere of the entire battle. Here to the levels, just don't judge them too harshly, they're not too good.
Sources of
- Masters of DOOM β David Kushner (ISBN13: 9780812972153)
Source: habr.com