Since the very distant year 2004, when i first got the shiny and new Doom 3 in a box, i was as equally impressed with the game, as i was appalled by it. The highlights of the new ID Software creation were on par with its blunders. On the negative side of the terrible design decisions were the clunky combat that almost always would commence after you give the enemy a "chivalrous" headstart, tacky and tasteless use of darkness, which made most of the splendid artists' work shamelessly obsolete, an obscene amount of health and ammo at every turn, which made doing even an iota of exploration completely pointless (despite the game having a rather hefty amount of secret areas), botched weapon balance and handling...and this list could go on and on, - until it tops off with the icing on the cake: the abhorrent sound design, which makes the original Quake II SFX sound like a blockbuster...
At the same time, - i was in awe of the design of the Demons, and the levels filled with insane amount of detail and the seamlessly operating inricate sci-fi machinery (where i could actually take a half-decent look at it), - just took my breath away. While the weapons handled (and sounded) like a combination of a constipated frog and a rusty car with missing front wheels, - yet they definitely looked the part. The level ambient soundscape was also top notch, - and even legend-to-come: Dead Space, wouldn't quite surpass that.
Without troubling myself to endure this equal parts mix of flies and ointment - i went for the modding solutions even before getting past half of the game. The potential for something truly magnificent was there, and i saw it clear as daylight. And thus, the story of Doom-3-Bravo mod has begun.
And that brings us to Doom-3-Bravo, version 3.4 - which i have significantly upgraded with features and the scope of functions that the mod does, to further polish and maximize the Doom-3 experience, bringing it as close as possible to the style established by "Dead Space" - perfectly becoming the dark eerie corridors of the Martian UAC facilities and relentless demonic hordes you face there.
My aim with the mod is to tailor the gameplay as closely as possible to mandate exploration, - taking full advantage of the plentiful secret areas; upgrade certain demons to a more challenging level,
re-balance weapons into a reasonable hierarchy - and encourage their combining in battle; eliminate nonsense ID blunders, - such as your own weapons obscuring the screen with tons of smoke - for one (among many), provide integrated ambient flashlights that work seamlessly with the environments of Doom-3, and of course - completely new weapon/item sound design from scratch, which will bring some real oomph to the gameplay experience. All of this, - and more (view readme for the complete list of changes) is a neat little package that is Doom-3-Bravo, version 3.4. It is definitely not the final version, as i will continue experimenting to tune-up the gameplay even tighter, to truly rely on everything you've got, down to the last bullet and frag grenade. If i missed any further quality of life adjustment, i will incorporate these as well (even though the vast majority of that is already done). My commitment to this game is rock-solid, as this is the case when one little mod - has turned this beautiful action-adventure into one of my top 5 first-person shooters, the kind i play and still can't get enough of.
And on that note, i invite you to rediscover this game with the 'Bravo' mod. Hunt for scarce resources. Explore everything. Manage, combine and maximize the use of every weapon in your arsenal. Make every shot count. Challenge Hell...and survive. No reason to wait, - download Doom-3-Bravo now.
This looks promising.
Wow! This is exactly what I always was looking for.
I never felt comfortable with the Doom 3 Vanilla Design Decisions as well, especially regarding Sound and Combat. For example: Some weapons sounded and felt like cheap Toys (Machinegun, Rocket Launcher) while others were great (Plasma Rifle).
I really like your weapon changes (especially the Shotgun!), but the Sound of the Machinegun and Rocket Launcher is still like the poor one from the Vanilla Version (sounds so weak without any "oomph"). Do you plan to change these or maybe give us the chance to choose from different sound profiles? That would be great!
The Minigun Sound is great, just the volume should be slightly increased in my opinion.
Awesome! I am glad to know you like the mod so much!
The machinegun sound was always the hardest for me to work with, both
in Bravo mod and in Q2HM. And the Doom-3 version was even harder. Yet after i came up with this one - i could not surpass it in about a dozen other attempts. I am well satisfied with it, but having that said - i will try again a few times: either to cement the fact, or to disprove it. Rocket launcher - definitely not, it is one of my best sound works, and it is featured in Q2HM as well - for the enemy side. Yet here it is taken advantage of in a much better way. I may experiment with the explosion FX, that's for sure. But not anything else.
I am already working on the version 3.5 as we speak, - but sound-wise it will remain almost identical. I discovered that the Revenant is 'stealing' my rocket sound for himself (cheap ID-software bureaucrats)...so i am going to create a rocket sound of his own, for his missile attack. Either way, the most powerful sounds in the mod - are the Plasmagun FX. It's the nuclear icing on the cake.
The majority of the 3.5 update - is geared toward gameplay. I did very accurate with the ammo pickups estimation, but i could be even more accurate with its spending. So, a couple more demons will receive an HP boost. I feel like i am very close to the mod being 100% polished. I am 98% there already :-)
Otherwise, if i ever get to Doom-3 level editing, - expect Hell Knights to appear way earlier in the game...but that is too far from now.
Hey, i solved the machinegun riddle. It took me another two-dozen attempts, but i finally figured it out. Past studies helped, no doubt.
The issue is that MG fire sound in Doom3 is 'secretly' comprised of TWO different sounds, the second of which is some random blip, that is completely unrelated to the firing fx, - but it is nonetheless there.
The problems begin when Doom3 (for some reason) - starts mixing the firing fx - and that weird blip-sound; and the awkward way that it does so. This makes whatever you design - come out with some unwanted random EQ and other nonsense filters bundled up.
Finally, my past in recording kicked in, and i noticed that there is a kind of alien sound that is retained through whatever iteration i come up with for the main firing fx. At that point, the solution was already obvious: silence all the firing fx, isolate the "alien sound", track it down in Doom3 resource pak, and finally silence it for good.
Once this was done - any and all sound design attempts would come out as planned in the game, without any further random mixing by Doom3.
While not surprising, - even using completely different resources,
i subconsciously started building a sound which reminds of a similar effect in Q2HM. I guess this is the MG style that i find pleasing.
Wouldn't want to sound like M16, MP5, AK-47 and the likes. Definitely
not anything like that. Either way, that's all done now. Upgraded the reload as well. Expect numerous gameplay and sound upgrades in v3.6!
Well done!
I have no idea how to figure out such a hidden "mystery" in the Doom 3 Sound Engine behaviour, but I'm glad you found (and fixed) it.
Will wait for the Bravo 4.0 "eye-candy"-Version :-)
Update: version 4.1 ETA 10-14 days from now. Precision-polished, complete Doom-3 experience refinement. Lights. Sounds. Missiles. Explosions. Weapons. Monsters. Challenge. Quality of life. No ID blunders. No nonsense. Everything is addressed. The only thing needed - is a good texture set.
Two weeks or less!
My best recommendation is the AI 2x Upscale texture set.
Hey, Bravo 4.0 coming out in a about 3 weeks. The main difference is that it's gonna be much prettier, with all sorts of eye-candy explosion effects. And i plan to have 7 levels modified for a more exciting monster array (mostly Delta complex).
...and a big THANK YOU for your work! ;)
Version 3.6 is coming very soon. Testing it as we speak!
Expect numerous improvements and further hardcore adjustments!
Hey there, awesome work with this one! Is the release date near? Or i can start downloading the v3.4 to warm up until 3.6 comes out?
Thanks! And yes, it is very close - next week!
Testing it as we speak, so by the next weekend i should be
all done, if no unexpected surprises pop up. (so far they didn't)
Bravo 4.0 coming out in a about 3 weeks. A lot of pretty visual FX this time, and an increased challenge in some of the levels...
Oh my, waiting for it! Just came from my vacations and now rocking on the v3.7!
Outstanding! You'll be pleasantly surprised.
I promise to do my best!
Update: version 4.1 ETA 10-14 days from now. Extremely polished result. A complete Doom-3 gameplay experience refinement package.
This mod looks very interesting for sure. I appreciate the idea of enhancing the survival horror aspect of the game, while most of the mods that aims to "improve" D3 just ended be Brutal Doom 3.
So here's some questions about the mod itself:
1_ More enemies will be added per level? Not a crazy amount of them, but more monsters can be a good increase of the difficulty and making the campaing feel more fresh again.
Some demons can appear more early in levels where they're not present, like Cacos or Arch-Viles.
And other underused monsters should be more present (Riot Shield Z-Sec, Burning and Chainsaw zombie, Mancubus comes to my mind).
2_ Some Resurrection of Evil content will be included? Obviously not asking for add the Artifact lol, but the Super Shotgun and the Grabber can be excellent for expand the gameplay possibilities.
And minor monster like Vulgars or Bio Suit zombies could add variety to the levels.
Not mention the Bruiser, the must frightening enemy in Doom 3 in my opinion. He would fit perfectly in levels like CPU Complex.
3_ The Nightmare mode could possibly be reworked?
Imo, I just think that mode sucks. The health drain is a very annoying mechanic and start with the Soul Cube break all the logic in the game and feels totally silly.
The overall mode is more frustrating than truly hard.
I think that's all for the moment. If you agree, you should create a Discord server for discuss about the mod and recive better feedback.
Hey. Thanks for showing interest in the mod. I guess i am in the minority that is not obsessed neither with "brutal" Doom, nor with the recent Ostrich-n-Frog simulator, the one with the Nickelodeon creatures.
So expect my mods to always go in the opposite direction. As anti-mainstream as i can.
So, to your questions:
1. No. No additional monsters, - even though i had such idea for a while. But after careful consideration, i decided to drop it for various reasons, at least for the foreseeable future.
That is not to say that you'll have a lesser challenge. Facing the demons will be harder, as most of them get more HP (and some get damage bonuses). This factor alone will force you to: A) spend more ammo destroying them, - and they will show you that given the chance - their aggression is to be reckoned with. B) fight them longer - thus offsetting the battles against several enemies and timed enemy spawns. C) some enemies will now demand heavier weapons...
And these are NOT gonna lie around in the vanilla all-you can-shoot-buffet manner. And that is another cornerstone of the Bravo mod. You'll have to explore the levels properly, to get yourself enough resources. Also, combining weapons for best management will be recommended, lest you run out of ammo if spending carelessly.
2. Resurrection of Evil will be included, in the manner of updating the sound for the double-barrel shotgun, balancing it, attending other sound FX if necessary and such.
Including DB-shotgun in the original campaign never crossed my mind, since it is a no-brainer that it would break the gameplay flow. Same for the Grabber. And to rearrange the gameplay where these two are a feature, - is best left for the ROE, which has its own gameplay flow,
and i don't intend mixing the two.
3. Nightmare mode does suck, as IMO it is poorly designed and appears to be added in a hurry. Soulcube itself is a bad mechanic, as it negates the directive of avoiding damage as being the canon of skill.
Building gameplay around it was a huge blunder of ID Software, - and building entire campaign around such game mechanic is a measly flop.
Even though ID Software was apparently of the opposite opinion.
I do not intend to remake Nightmare mode per se, (nor do i have the know-how), but the Bravo mod aims to create its own difficulty, which uses "veteran" as a point of departure - and then adds its own twists and unique traits on top of that. So there you have it, in a way.
I guess that's it. I am releasing version 3.6 next week - which is a considerably more complete Bravo mod experience than the 3.4...but then i've got to switch back ASAP to work on my Hexen projects, i've got my work cut out for me there and then some.
Best Regards,
~HS
What about dhewm3 and coop support ? Seeing as dhewm3 and its coop support are the only correctly functional ones in existence, that makes or breaks the deal for me.
Another modder has reported that it does work with 'dhewm3'.
Can't say more than that, since i only deal with the original.
Ok, sounds good enough, I'll see about testing it.
I am actually working on the new version, - to include even more upgrades: quite a lot of eye-candy fx, and a modified monster array in some levels (read:more aggressive, and the removal of cheap-o-matics). I estimate it to be available in about 3 weeks.
I also suggest not to rely on the outdated version's gameplay video that is presented in the old article. Here is a recording of Bravo 3.6, to give you an idea what kind of survival-shooter Bravo is.
Of course, it is not always as tough as it is in this video, but it's in the same territory. Versions 3.6, 3.7 and the upcoming 4.0 - they all play the same, except for the 7 modified levels in Bravo 4, and the Imps hitting a little harder in 4.0 than they do in 3.7. So you can indeed rely on that 3.6 video, as those 2 levels presented - are identical. Even though i have a little bit over-dramatized the gameplay...on purpose :-)
Even better :D
Update: versions 3.6 and 3.7 will NOT play identical to 4.1 (ETA: 10-14 days from now).
Meaning, several adjustments have been made:
1) Flashlight now needs to be utilized as a weapon in the early zombie-rich part of the game. (pretty much until the chainsaw)
Or you won't have enough ammo
2) Mars Administration has been modified to be a little more lively and a little tougher. I call it "a cozy deathtrap"
3) Enpro Facility - "training wheels" removed. The bot will not detract from one of the best fights in the game.
4) In Hell, - the "big cheese" (read: the berserk artifact) was removed. Instead, you are given a BFG at that spot. Now you have to actually fight that battle and not cheat through it as it is in the vanilla.
5) Delta 1, Delta 2a, Delta 2b, Delta 3 and Delta 5 - are much more aggressive and much more fun. Almost zero cheap-o-matics, but plenty more of the iconic Doom demons. Quake II style action there, which is my favorite.
Stay tuned. Unleash the true power of Doom 3.