|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Doomworld: I was always under the impression that the PSX Doom port used the virgin Doom graphics with no alterations. Am I wrong on this? What sort of graphical enhancements were added? |
| Harry: The graphics were reduced: the textures chopped down in size, the sprites, monsters, and weapons reduced in size. We added colored lighting and moodier music. Sometimes animations had frames cut. Making these changes such that no one really noticed was my job. |
| So what exactly was your contribution to the PSX port? |
| I converted all the art, converted a couple dozen of the maps, and added a new map. Tim, Danny, and Randy (the other designers) did the rest of the maps, and each added their own new map. |
| How did you move from the PSX port to the N64 port? Were they done by the same company? |
| Yes, Williams did both versions (although I left Williams before the N64 version was finished.) We started the N64 conversion before the PSX one, actually, although production on the PSX took over precedence at some point in development. The N64 was a much more ambitious project, and involved a lot more work, while the PSX was out in the market and we wanted to be there quickly. |
| Did working on the PSX port help you in creating the N64 port? |
| Yes, mostly in understanding the gameplay effects of decisions you can make. No decision on a game happens in isolation: every decision you make in, say, art affects game design, and affects how the programmer will write code, which will affect other decisions further down the line, etc. Some ambitious game design ideas didn't survive because of the experience we gained doing the PSX port. |
| What was the original Doom64 going to be like and how much that made it to the final product? |
| That's tough to say. The original intention was to take advantage of the power of the N64, being a much stronger platform than the original 386 that Doom ran on. We wanted to take Doom and give it a new look, but still make it recognizably Doom in appearance and feel. That was a pretty broad notion for the port, and arguably it is all reflected in the final product. |
| What prompted the decision to create all-new artwork? |
| There were a lot of versions of Doom out there, and the N64 was a new console that really wanted to stand out as unique. We felt that we took and extended the artwork of the original Doom in the PSX version as far as it would go, and that to make the N64 version something truly new and exciting, we would need a new look. |
| Whose decision was it to make all new levels instead just reworking id's original levels for the new engine? |
| The team made that decision. We were going with new looks for the original monsters, and new textures, so new levels was the logical decision to make. We wanted to make a game that would appeal to folks who had never played Doom, as well as give Doom veterans something new to see and do. |
| How much guidance did you have from id Software while creating Doom64? |
| Aaron, the programmer, worked closely with John Carmack to optimize the code for both the PSX and N64 platforms. For the designers and artists that worked on both projects, we made sure id approved of the changes we made. |
|
|
|