Doom 3 goes gold

Ready for manufacturing

"Yes, this is the official word that [long-awaited PC FPS] DOOM 3 has been code released and has been approved for manufacturing! According to the .plan file of id CEO Todd Hollenshead: 'We literally just hung up with Activision and have confirmed that our latest release candidate has been mutually approved and is finally GOLD. So, the next question is release dates. Retailers in the States will be allowed to pick up games starting at 12:01 AM on August 3rd. The official street date is actually August 5th in the U.S.A., but some of your favorite stores will probably have it early for those of you who have to have it first. Check with your local retailer for that information... [Internationally] the UK will probably get it first, on or about August 6th. Everywhere else will probably be Friday, August 13th (cue Twilight Zone Theme) or close to that date, with just a few exceptions (e.g. Russia and Poland)'."

Sorry Stitch!! ;)

Awesome.

I want it quicker! :tongue:

It's never coming out! (oops, thats Stitch's line) :tongue:

But no dvd version of the game. :(

I'll be interested to see if my machine has enough horsepower to make it worthwhile. I was hoping to not have to upgrade until Christmas.

This is way cool, though. I've been looking forward to this for years.

Is it true that the Multiplayer portion of the game is only Four person max? Or did they change that?? I would hate like hell to think that they could get away with only 4 way multiplay.

Stitch, if I were you, I'd stick to my guns and keep insisting it's never coming out until you have a functioning copy working on your computer.

I'm still refusing to believe it myself.

Hey, maybe a new game for all of us Ak'ers to play... Not that I have had much time lately. I will be back, but I got to get this new job rolling and keep that home life health. But we should take a vote on who going to pick the game up. I hope more than 4 players... That would be useless..

Doom 3 is mostly intended to be a single player experience. Obviously because the graphics engine won't support 64 guys running around wide open terrain. It's all dank tunnels.

There are plenty of other MMPFPS coming out over the next few months.

I foresee AK Counter-Strike Source and Day of Defeat Source servers in the near future. Oh, and an AK Tribes Vengeance server. We can look forward to a lot of gaming goodness before the end of the year.

Battlefield is the first online FPS I have played. You guys will have to show me the light when it comes to online gaming goodness.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [AK]Palooka

I foresee AK Counter-Strike Source and Day of Defeat Source servers in the near future. Oh, and an AK Tribes Vengeance server. We can look forward to a lot of gaming goodness before the end of the year.

---

TV is where I'm hoping to end up. I haven't played CS in ages, and don't really have alot of desire to do so at this point. I've always hated DuD from the start, but that's just my opinion. Who knows what will pop up by the time late fall / winter comes rolling around.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [AK]Palooka

I foresee AK Counter-Strike Source and Day of Defeat Source servers in the near future. Oh, and an AK Tribes Vengeance server. We can look forward to a lot of gaming goodness before the end of the year.

---

Sweet I will definitely be pickng up HL2.

Your out of your tree Gunny. HL2 will never come out!!!! You'd be better off planning on buying a copy of Team Fortress 2!
:)

Hey there a server here to use anytime you want. RS, CS, day of defeat and how are a go at the orginal Half-life... Anyway I need to find some Freakin time to play!. Back in albany tomorrow.. Yahooo!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [AK]StitchJones

Your out of your tree Gunny.
:)

---

Well that tends to happen when you sit next to you for the last few years.

Oh sure, so now I guess you want me to help pay for your Theraphy bills! I'm not that strange to have to sit next too. Choozoo survived for a while, and he was my number one guy! :)


So speaking of DOOM3 are we Albany guys making a road trip for this?

I just pre-ordered D3 at ebgames so I could get my free Pinky figurine! ;)

Doom 3 video here: Click

Official Website

July 20, 2004, 8:26AM

COMPUTING
Gamers, check under hood because Doom 3 is coming
By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

If there's a gamer in your life, chances are you've noticed some strange behavior since last week.

There's that glassy stare, the twitchy hands, jumpiness, maybe even a little drooling and certainly some muttering. It's what happens when id Software says "It's done!" with its latest first-person-shooter title.

On Wednesday, Mesquite-based id announced that Doom 3, a much-higher-tech remake of the game that put it on the map, had gone gold. It will ship to stores Aug. 3.

In the gaming world, this is no minor event. Doom 3 has been in the works for four years and is built on id co-founder and chief programmer John Carmack's latest graphics technology.

Carmack's wizardry usually influences other developers, making a big impact on the future of PC gaming. And because id's titles are also released for consoles like the Sony Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox, they influence video games as well.

The last new-generation engine from id was introduced with Quake 3 in 1999, and previews of Doom 3 have hinted it's an even bigger leap forward. Players will be treated to near-cinematic images as they battle demons from Hell on Mars, provided they have the right hardware.

Each successive game pushes existing hardware limits, a tradition since the release of the original Doom, which introduced multiplayer death match gaming. College students in 1993 became obsessed with battling their dorm neighbors, to the point that many college networks buckled under the load.

A new id game has the potential to drive sales of both components and new PCs as gamers upgrade in preparation. Hardware makers are as excited as gamers.

Todd Hollenshead, id's chief executive, said Doom 3 will require:

• A 1.5-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500.
• 384 megabytes of memory.
• Two gigabytes of hard drive space.
• An nVidia GeForce 3 graphics card or better; or an ATI Technologies 8500 or better.
If your existing rig doesn't meet these specs, here's a guide to beefing it up to play Doom 3 in all its gory glory.


• Graphics card. This is the best upgrade you can make for Doom 3. It's also where computer makers, looking to cut corners on mainstream systems, often wimp out.
Here's hoping the PC you own doesn't have a graphics adapter that borrows memory from the main system. So-called shared graphics notoriously choke on high-end games, and most budget systems don't include an AGP slot that lets you install a better card.

ATI Technologies and nVidia are the two biggest providers of graphics cards. As you move up either company's set of offerings, the results will improve. Cards at the top of the heap — nVidia's GeForce FX and newer 6800 series, or ATI's Radeon 9800 or newer X series — will provide the best experience and cost the most.

If you're upgrading, look for at least 128 MB of video memory in a card with Direct X 9.0 capability that installs into an AGP slot. Cards in the $150 to $200 range — such as a GeForce 5900XT or a Radeon 9600XT — will be a sweet spot.


• Memory. The 384 MB minimum may trip up a lot of systems. Many mainstream PCs in the last few years have come with 128 or 256 MB of memory. If you want to play Doom 3, more memory is better. I'd recommend 512 MB, and adding up to a gigabyte would be smart.

Check with the maker of your PC to see what type of memory it requires. Prices varies depending on the source and type, but use $50 per 128 MB as a benchmark.


• Hard drive. This is one category that may not require an upgrade at all — just some spring cleaning on your part.

If your hard drive is nearing capacity, take some time to clear off at least twice as much space as the game requires. That means you'll need at least 4 GB free.

Of course, if you're down to your last few gigs, you probably should buy a new drive. Get the biggest you can afford, with at least 7,200 revolutions per minute. You'll pay in the $80 range for a 120-GB Enhanced IDE drive or around $95 for a Serial ATA model.


• Processor. Although this is harder to upgrade, it's key to your Doom 3 experience. The minimum may be 1.5 GHz, but you'll probably want at least a 2-GHz Intel Pentium or equivalent AMD Athlon chip. The ideal is 3 GHz or better.

But if you do need a new chip, unless you take joy in swapping out a motherboard or building your own system, Doom 3 is probably as good an excuse as any to buy a new PC.

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that, no matter what the minimum specs are, I'm gonna need a desktop supercomputer for this thing to really run well...

I have a 3GHZ machine with a gig of memory, but I think it's time to upgrade my graphics card (ati 9700 pro.) Time to pump a little more of my "Bush tax cut" into ye ole economy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly

I have a 3GHZ machine with a gig of memory, but I think it's time to upgrade my graphics card (ati 9700 pro.) Time to pump a little more of my "Bush tax cut" into ye ole economy.

---

Ditto Squid. 3ghz, 1 gig, and I'm thinking the 9800 Pro 128mb is going to choke on it. X800 is wanted.

Quote:

---

Choozoo survived for a while, and he was my number one guy!

---

You think Choozoo is ok? FYI, the X800 is awesome!

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy

As quoted by the news editor from the site I found the above link:

Quote:

---

As a tried and true ATI fanboy, it pains me to say that the new Radeons get smacked pretty hard by Nvidia's latest. In some cases, the flagship x800 XT is beaten, rather handily, but the hundred dollar cheaper 6800 GT. Keep in mind that according to Valve, the opposite is true with the HL2 engine. Supposedly Radeons enjoy a healthy performance premium over the GeForce series in Source. Could we be entering an era of PC gaming where the video card you buy determines the games you can play? What kind of effect do you think this will have on the industry?

---

Uh.....buy both? ;)

I have a 2.1 Ghz, 512mb Ram system.. as well as a Geforce 4.. I should be ok. ;)

I need to upgrade badly though.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/doom-3/559907p1.html


8-player multiplay
double-B shotgun!

It's never coming out.

In other news, Dawn of the Dead DVD is in stores today. A "MUST BUY."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly

It's never coming out.

In other news, Dawn of the Dead DVD is in stores today. A "MUST BUY."

---

I just put in into the new Vinc Bravo2 DVD player and it is displaying quite beautifully in 720p on my new set. The exploding heads are gonna be even more amazing then when we saw it in the theater.

I got it and the first season of The OC on DVD today.