"The game tic simulation, including player movement, runs at 60hz, so if it rendered any faster, it would just be rendering identical frames. A fixed tic rate removes issues like Quake 3 had, where some jumps could only be made at certain framerates. In Doom, the same player inputs will produce the same motions, no matter what the framerate is."

Are you going to upgrade for DOOM?
Just have upgraded - 20%
You bet, I'll be getting top end hardware when DOOM comes out - 36%
My machine can take it as it is - 32%
No way man, my GF1 will handle it fine - 7%
I'm not getting DOOM - 5%

"One of the more entertaining moments of our demo was when Willits attempted to show off the melee abilities of the weapons. As a large monster rushed in, Willits switched to his flashlight by accident, swung it at the creature … and killed it with a blow to the head! According to Willits, you will be able to beat up enemies with your weapons, although the flashlight shouldn't be as effective as it was in this instance."

"We then jumped ahead to a different level, called "Alpha Labs." Here the demonic possession became more and more apparent with what Willits described as "mini-hells." These were small areas in which pulsating flesh and occasionally embedded corpses covered the steely walls of the compound. In this level, we encountered small hordes of demontrites. They were bizarre, spiderlike creatures whose bodies were gaping, upside-down human heads with bony outgrowths that acted as legs. These critters scuttled toward us with surprising speed, and, when destroyed, they tumbled backward with their legs curled up in much the same way that spiders do when tossed into a fire. We also encountered maggots--pale, two-headed, vaguely humanoid creatures with an alarming tendencies to leap extremely fast and far at us from a completely stationary position, like the fiends from the original Quake."

"Are there going to be more open environments as well as the claustrophobic corridor ones we've seen so far?

Hollenshead: We have a few open areas, when you move from one complex to another complex, but we're going for that scary thing and it works better within enclosed spaces.

Doom 3 is all about those dramatic lighting effects. When you go outdoors in Mars, you have a single light source which is a giant sun - so the dramatic and interesting and unique things that you can do in interior locations stand out less. It doesn't really make that much sense to go running around on Mars that much."

"This project (named the Cyberdemon Project, a lot of thought went into the name as you can tell!) was, to put it basically, aiming to enhance the quality of the original DOOM midi soundtracks. I'd thought I'd try a different sound (less of the overdriven and distorted guitars), a much more acoustic sound, guitars and pianos and the like."

"PQ: But we are going to see it [hell], then?

TW: Yeah, definately. The player goes on a journey. There's the Mars base, then they travel to hell to get what they need, then they come back and things are twisted and warped."

"GameSpy: Do you see yourself ever straying away from FPS games?
John Carmack: Occasionally I desire to do a different kind of game. To a large degree, id Software is a prisoner of its own success. Because we are a single-title company, we have a strong obligation to do something that has relatively low risk."

"It was the 14th of August and our resident Spineless-mush was to be found at the annual QuakeCon. After 10s upon 10s of decisive battles, and an impressive mid-air frag that saved his team's flag, Spineless found that those 9 cokes and his morning coffee could no longer be contained. Still dazed from the never-ending deathmatch, he rubbed his eyes to clear the lightning gun still present in his peripheral vision. He snooped around carefully and strafed into the lavatory while gazing at his health and armour readings. But as usual, excitement followed him wherever he went. Even in the bathroom."

"GameSpy: So, I'm guessing you've been playtesting a lot in the office?

Todd Hollenshead: Yeah, we have been. That's one way you can always make sure that something's fun -- if people are waiting in line at the office to playtest, then you know you've got something that is going in the right direction.

Tim Willits: It's also nice to come here [to QuakeCon], to bring multiplayer to QuakeCon to our fans. This is the world premiere of multiplayer for DOOM 3, so it gives everyone here a good chance to see it, but it also gives us a great opportunity to have 4000 people beta test our deathmatch and get some feedback from it."

"GameSpy: So in that year-plus, how has the team been adjusting to working with the new DOOM technology?

Rick Johnson: Probably the most difficult hurdles have been for the art side of the creation, because the engine requires us to create high-poly models for every single texture that goes into the game. That just adds another level of stuff we have to do to get the game out."

"Much was made on the planned support for mods in Doom III. Duffy said that nearly everything in Doom III was text file based so that should make it easy for mod makers to pretty much do whatever they want in the game. The game’s development tools will be included in Doom III’s release and Willits said he expected that there will be a ton of mods made for the game in a short period of time.

Willits said that the physics engine for Doom III is a unique id Software engine and is not a licensed engine like other games have. Willits described a Doom III test map where 100 boxes are stacked up and one shot can bring the entire stack down. Willits claimed such a scene would bring other game physics engines down to their knees."

"Q: What key features will separate Quake IV from Quake 3?

A: Quake IV is a continuation of Quake 2, back on Stroggos fighting the Strogg in the single player. They are planning different types of gameplay such as vehicles and other elements."

"Shadows are especially impressive—they're all real-time, based on the actual models. If you reload a weapon in front of a light source, you'll see your shadow do the same. As you move, so does the shadow—and this is especially freaky when you're looking for any movement in the room anyway. Hanging or swinging lights will play further havoc on the room's illumination and the player's shadow. It's a distraction, but a fun one.

The level of detail is simply insane. Remember those screens from a few months ago that looked too good to be true? They're true, and they move. This is mostly due to John Carmack's latest engine, which enables all kinds of new interactions and special effects."

"You'll find it's much harder to hit your enemies in this game than in the previous ones. No longer does a single hit box surround your opponents. Now all hits have to be scored on the actual polygons of the character models. Todd explains that this is a natural evolution for action games given the increasing skill of players. As they get better, targets have to get smaller to compensate. While fighting you'll find that bullets can pass in between a character's legs or the space between their torso and arms without damaging them. You'll need to be much more accurate now with each of your shots. Still, it's not too hard to score kills, particularly if you're playing against a bunch of journalists operating on two hours of sleep and a three-whiskey breakfast. (To be fair, I came in second and third in most matches, but then I skipped breakfast altogether so...)."

"The center of the portal also housed the "berserk" power-up item, which, just like in the original Doom, lets you completely obliterate your enemies with a single punch. Considering that many of Doom 3's levels will be more tightly knit (and offer less room to run away) than the larger levels of Doom II, berserk seems much more dangerous, which is apparently why it's also so obvious. Picking up the berserk item causes your character to briefly go insane--you still have complete control of your character, but your screen flashes red, like in the original Doom games, and your character screams at the top of his lungs (which is audible from a distance) and is surrounded with glowing red rings."