E3 2002 Alpha

This is a sub-page of Proto:Doom 3 (PC, Xbox).

ItemsWeapons, items and powerups. Guest starring lots of Quake III Arena hand-me-downs!

Animations

MonstersSmarter, stronger, scarier !

TexturesScrapped and altered textures.

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General Differences#

The main menu present in the E3 prototype is completely different from the one seen in the retail build, baring strong influence and the same overall style of the classic Doom games.

Prototype	Retail

The executable file icon is completely different from the final version.

Prototype	Retail

The HUD is considerably different from how it looks in the final version.
- Playing with max FPS set to 60 or above causes the Hud and Cursor to flicker in and out of view.
Weapons, environment and monsters use completely different sound effects than the retail build, created by Trent Reznor.
Players and NPCs use death animations as opposed to the ragdolls seen in the finished game, the only exception being one Fat zombie used to showcase the engine's ragdoll physics.
- Corpses flinch when shot at, then disappear after a moment. They lack the burning away effect seen in the final release.
Upon firing after depleting any weapon's entire magazine, the 'dry fire' animation triggers before reloading.
Weapon, player and enemy stats were altered significantly before release and initially shared similarities with the classic Doom games.
All enemies are affected by pain states and monster infighting akin to the original Doom games.
- The monster's ranking which internally depicts how infighting is triggered differs significantly in values from the finished game. Allowing for easier internal conflicts between demons.
The particle effects and format have been completely changed before release, as such the visual effects bare strong visual differences with the finished product.
Reflective textures for glass windows are still being used. They where scrapped due to performance issues.
- This can still applied to materials in the finished game. However this feature was never fixed and enabling it is not recommanded.
An early prototype of Doom 3's level editor is available in the demo, witch can be accessed via the "editor" console command. While unfinished, it is usable in it's current state and can allow for the creation of custom levels.
Windows registers the game as "Radiant MFC Application".

additional_text.txt#

The prototype contains a "NIN" text file witch discloses the end of the partnership between id Software and Trent Reznor.

"We never really did come to an actual agreement with Trent. The original idea was just for him to do all of the sound design for the game. I don't think Trent anticipated how long and how involved that process was and what is involved in game design versus what he does in the music and production side. It just wasn't a good mix with how much time it was going to take him, the value it was going to provide to the game, and what we could afford to pay. Trent's a popular guy. He's a rock star, and his time is valued in rock star dollars."
- Todd Hollenshead

Levels#

The prototype consists of only 3 levels, and they all contain scripted events and some form of cutscene. The way the scripted events work makes it fairly clear that the demo was meant to be played in a predefined way. For example, near the end of e3_1 a Hell Knight comes out of a dark corner, in the E3 Demo Video, the player hides from it in the shadow to avoid being noticed, in reality it cannot be interacted with in any way.

e3/e3_1 - Possibly an early version of Recycling.
e3/e3_2
e3/e3_3 - Contains some early versions of locations that eventually ended up being used in the retail's Alpha Labs levels.

Images#

To do:

Mind separating these images for the maps they came from?
The final screenshots need to be retaken in native res.

Prototype	Retail

Prototype	Retail

Prototype	Retail

Prototype	Retail

Prototype	Retail

Prototype	Retail

e3_3

Prototype	Retail

This video by MarphitimusBlackimus (Marphy Black) shows how this build was meant to be played: Watch on YouTube