JF>   How is ROTT better than Doom?  The engine harks back to
JF> Wolfenstein 3D, not Doom.  No non-orthogonal (i.e. something other
JF> than 90 degree angles) walls, simpler lighting effects, and no
 PM>  Doom had non-orthogonal walls?  Perhaps an occasional 45 degree angle,
 PM>  but not much else.  90-degree walls were the vast 
 PM> majority.  ROTT has lots
 PM>  of curved walls and objects.
  No, ROTT doesn't have any curved walls.  ROTT essentially used a tile-based 
system, with elevation changes.  Doom is a sector-based system - and that 
means angles of all kinds (not just 45, as you claim).
 PM>  And as far as lighting effects, they seem about the same, although ROTT
 PM>  had things like lamps while Doom only had panels of one color.  And 
ost
 PM>  of the lighting in ROTT can be destroyed by gunfire. 
  But you forget that Doom's lighting was much more varied.  You could switch 
it on and off, it could flicker at random, and it could even pulse.  And 
since, as I said, it's a sector-based system, you don't have to limit it to 
"blocks."  You can actually draw halfway-realistic light paths.
JF> elevation changes.  True, there was 11-player network play... but
 PM>  ROTT has the Mercury wings, the elevator pads, the rounded stairs,
 PM>  and the flying transport things.  Not to mention what happens if you
 PM>  fly off into space.  Gives me vertigo -Duke3D doesn't do that, nor
 PM>  Descent.
  But how many of those actually affect the essence of gameplay?  A 
well-designed Doom level (or nowadays, Duke or Quake level) can overcome 
anything ROTT can put out.
  Descent doesn't give you vertigo?  My, you must have a strong stomach (or 
just a not-too-immersive computer).  The first time I played Descent, I felt 
sick.  Pretty good, seeing as how every other 3D game before it didn't do 
that.
JF> how many people used that?  And none of the enemies could really
JF> scare you like a demon lunging out of the darkness.
 PM>  Funny how the ROTT enemies can actually shoot straight, though.  The
 PM>  guys in Doom just kinda stand around.  The demons... well... the
 PM>  grenade throwers in ROTT seem a lot more dangerous.
  But what about the enemies of Doom II?  The Mancubus and Revenant are 
deadly against most anything.  And let's not forget the classic bosses, the 
Cyberdemon (a true terror) and the Spiderdemon.
JF>   It came from a quick, hurried effort to cash in on the 3D action
JF> craze - not some next-generation, genre-busting game.  
 PM>   Hurried?  Sure doesn't play like a hurried, rush of a hacked game.
 PM>   Plays as well -if not better- than a lot of other "current" games.
  That's very up for debate.  To me, ROTT seems to focus a lot on the traps 
and other little "toys," rather than the actual technology.
 PM>   It's not as techically advanced as Duke3d, but I can sure see an
 PM>   evolution here -and a good one.
  Where would that be?  I didn't see any.
JF> that was better was the weapons, and even then it was just a lot of
JF> variations on the rocket launcher.
 PM>  The whole game runs better.  It's that simple.  Doom may be bloodier
 PM>  or whatever, and have a catchy name... but the engine is clunkier,
 PM>  the motion more jittery, the sound effects and music aren't nearly
 PM>  as good (especially the music *gag*), and it's not as scary.
  Do you know why Doom's engine is "clunkier" (which it isn't, in my 
opinion)?  It's called an immersive world.  ROTT was essentially a 2D shooter 
in 3D, no more.
  I admit, some of Doom's SFX was a bit "empty."  I do like the pistol sounds 
of ROTT, as well as the rocket-firing sound.  But what happened to the 
machine gun in ROTT?  It sounds like someone tapping their pencil on a desk.
  And there are classic tunes in Doom... I can name a few good tunes from it:
E1M1 - Just hearing the opening tune gives me a chill.
E1M2 - Catchy.
E1M5 - The classic Doom music.
E1M8 - Sorrowful and brings the devastation home.
E2M8 - Haunting!
E3M3 - The grooviest gaming music I can recall, except maybe that for LA      
   Rumble in Duke 3D.
E3M8 - Perfect boss-kicking music!
 PM>  I've played with Quake and Chasm.  They both remind me a LOT of
 PM>  "LameDuke."  The enemies move the same way.  :)
  And the environment in Quake, at least, is tenfold better-looking, scarier 
and more immersive than in ROTT.  For that matter, same for Doom.
 PM>  Duke3D's enemies have a much more fluid movement, though still
 PM>  predictable at times.  It'll be very interesting to see how
 PM>  they move in Shadow Warrior. 
  Probably not too much better.  It's hard to create really good AI for 
mindless zombies.  :-)
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