Devblog #2 - Playing Doom 3: Phobos news

New Members

First of all, we'd like to welcome our new team members. Cameron Law is our new coder. He has taken several tasks upon himself with great speed and flexible code. We have also received two new members in the area of sound. CaptNKILL and DEA7H have started a valuable cooperation and will play a big part in the uniqueness of the audio experience. Thank you for joining Team Future. We look forward to a long and enriching collaboration.

Weapons

The tool of the Doomguy's trade that has received the most obvious 'update' in Doom 3: Phobos is the shotgun. We came to a virtually unanimous opinion that the Doom 3 shotgun was... lacklustre, for lack of a better description. Both in regards to it's power as a virtual weapon and visually. So, we have given the cornerstone weapon of the Doom franchise both more 'oomph' and a brand new look. While it won't steal the thunder of the double-barreled shotgun that was introduced in Resurrection of Evil, players can sure enough send zombies and imps flying back into the wall with a single blast. The spread of the weapon has been reduced to something more along the lines of the original Doom shotgun.

Several other weapons of the D3/RoE arsenal have been given a small makeover, too. The pistol is held center-screen and can be fired more rapidly. It's just a lot more fun to use now. While it's not going to win you battles against multiple medium sized enemies, it will give you an edge over the lesser foes and most certainly be a worthy plan B. It's a blast to use.

We didn't feel that the plasmagun had the same awesome kick & effect of the old games. The sound was a little tame and the plasma bolt looked plain and friendly. The plasmagun being the favourite weapon of certain members of the team, we decided to bring back the look, feel and sound of the old version. Expect to see a deep blue electrical cloud along with an updated version of the characteristic Doom plasma sound.

The helmet

We felt that the outdoor environments of Doom 3 and the expansion pack weren't utilised to their full effect. But in the name of keeping a sense of realism (and maintaining consistency with D3's air cannister philosophy), we knew we couldn't just allow the player to walk around in the harsh atmosphere of Mars' surface as he pleases.

Thus, one interesting gameplay feature that we are introducing in Doom 3: Phobos is the helmet. It can be worn when outdoors and acts as a breathing apparatus. The downfall of wearing the device is that it obscures the player's vision very slightly and muffling all audio (similar to the effects seen and heard when the anti-radiation suit is worn in RoE).

But the helmet is a multi-purpose contraption. It also functions as a general anti-radiation protection device, shielding the marine's lungs from the many poisonous gases contained inside the hazardous areas of the different bases. It has nightvision capabilities. It has a built-in headlamp.

Water

We are proud to present water in Doom 3: Phobos. And it's not just there to look pretty, it will play an integral part in our game design.

Maneuverability

The player can now run a little quicker. Being a game primarily driven by action rather than horror and suspense (and also to give the game a more of an old Doom 'feel'), we have increased the player's runspeed slightly.

Also, you now won't die when you fall down a three meter hole :). We felt that the player should be able to use the many vertical design philosophies of our levels to the best extent, and not be quite so concerned with killing themselves (figuratively) in the process.