Doom 32x Beta

[mrbigreddog]

Any one seen this... Kinda cool that it's full screen, looks like it runs pretty smooth!

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[doomguy]

I remember this! now i have a flash cart i will try it for real i remember there is a site you can download it from. Maybe chilly can use this for his port? they must have not used this only because of time, just shows what can be done with effort.

[Guntz]

Maybe they were unsatisfied with the current build and tried to tweak it a bit? Or perhaps they found the full screen mode had too much slowdown in places, leading them to decrease the size of the playscreen. :|

[doomguy]

Ive been testing it on an emulator and it runs better than the 3do version at its regular screen, pretty impressive for a beta.

[Chilly Willy]

The main issue I have with all (old) console ports of Doom is that they use "low detail" mode (even the Jaguar port). That means the display is half the width with pixels being doubled. Instead of 320 wide (for example), it would be 160 wide with every pixel repeated to display 320 pixels. I wouldn't mind if they made that default and allowed you to change it in the options (at the cost of lower speed rendering). You had to get to the Saturn and PSX versions before you didn't have low detail rendering.

[mrbigreddog]

The main issue I have with all (old) console ports of Doom is that they use "low detail" mode (even the Jaguar port). That means the display is half the width with pixels being doubled. Instead of 320 wide (for example), it would be 160 wide with every pixel repeated to display 320 pixels. I wouldn't mind if they made that default and allowed you to change it in the options (at the cost of lower speed rendering). You had to get to the Saturn and PSX versions before you didn't have low detail rendering.

I didn't know that about the Jag! Wow! What a turn off!!!

[Deo]

Does anyone else think that this version's music sounds a bit nicer than the finished version?

[Da_Shocker]

Maybe they were unsatisfied with the current build and tried to tweak it a bit? Or perhaps they found the full screen mode had too much slowdown in places, leading them to decrease the size of the playscreen. :|

Yeah it does seem to chug a bit but I wonder was the code even optimized?

[Chilly Willy]

I didn't know that about the Jag! Wow! What a turn off!!!

At least with the Jaguar version, they use the GPU to render the columns/spans in thousands of colors, giving a real light level instead of the remap-to-other-colors mode the other versions use. That's another option that would have been nice to see on the 32X - render in thousands of colors instead of 256 color mode.

[doomguy]

I think this beta has prolly the best graphics you can get from a doom port on the 32x while keeping it playable, mind you i know nothing about programming.

[Joe Redifer]

That looks fairly choppy to me. After an extended play, I could see how it would get annoying.

[Da_Shocker]

At least with the Jaguar version, they use the GPU to render the columns/spans in thousands of colors, giving a real light level instead of the remap-to-other-colors mode the other versions use. That's another option that would have been nice to see on the 32X - render in thousands of colors instead of 256 color mode.

Is that even possible on the 32X w/o the frame rate chugging?

[Aarzak]

I don't see much of a difference, frame-rate wise, from the final version. It definitely looks better in full-screen, which makes me wonder why they went with borders. Anyone notice how none of the screenshots on the back cover showed the in-game border? :D They either cropped it out or used this beta to take those screenshots. Yet another case of Sega's false advertising (the "Super Monaco GP" "Genesis screenshot when its really an arcade screenshot"), lawl.

The music however, has been stripped down even more than the already stripped-down music in the final build. Sounds like its coming out of just one FM channel. Maybe consumers wouldn't have minded if they were used to hearing music like this after playing Doom on the most lowest-end PC's. Perhaps they were to achieve full-screen by further nerfing the sound/music?

[Chilly Willy]

Is that even possible on the 32X w/o the frame rate chugging?

Would depend on other factors - how many bad guys are around, how complex is the level in that area, what display size is being used. Obviously, you won't be getting 30 FPS on full screen. Probably. Part of that would depend on how much the SH2 code gets optimized. I plan to at least try it on my port and see if it's playable.

[sasuke]

Does anyone else think that this version's music sounds a bit nicer than the finished version?

I think it just sounds like the finished version, but with one instrument, and a slap bass voice instead of the farting guitar. Still could be better.

The beta does look good for a 32x game. Too bad it wasn't fast or optimized enough to handle the later levels.

[kool kitty89]

I didn't know that about the Jag! Wow! What a turn off!!!
At least with the Jaguar version, they use the GPU to render the columns/spans in thousands of colors, giving a real light level instead of the remap-to-other-colors mode the other versions use. That's another option that would have been nice to see on the 32X - render in thousands of colors instead of 256 color mode.

The Jag version has some really nice shading, more than the PSX could do in 16-bit RGB as the Jag game is uising the CRY color mode which uses 256 colors with 256 shades each for excellent smooth shading (a key feature of the console). Well, technically not 256 shades for every color, but approximations of such from 24-bit RGB colorspace. Doom actually is the perfext example for the Jag's shading as it plays to it's strengths, shading from light to dark gradients; as I understand it that was a limitation of the Jag's shading, it could shade only towards black, not white. (great for shadow and darkening gradients though, just like doom uses)
The 32x version doesn't even seem to use the PC type 8-shde 256 color lighting, just all bright or all dark. (lights flicker on/off)

For the time, it wasn't that big a deal either as you'd need a fairly high-end PC in 1994 to play doom in full screen and high detial mode at decent framerates. (that quickly changed though)


Anyway, this is an interesting reworking of doom, I think I've seen it before, but it's definitely a lot closer
I wonder if they started doing a scratch conversion of the PC game and later opted for adapting the Jaguar port. (as most console ports did -other than SNES)

It seems sort of along the lines of what Chilly Willy was proposing for the Sega CD 32x port.



Wow, there's a ton of prototpe doom builds listed here: http://www.hidden-palace.org/?releases/console/6

I rather like that music in the sep 9 '94 prototype too, simple, unfinished, but more pleasant than the final version.


Hmm, it seems the sep 14 one is the first to introduce the boarder and has revised textures closer to the final version, the boarder is different than the final one though (more like the PC one), and the columns are still next to the stsircase, albeit with redone textures and soem other modifications. The Sep 23 one apears to be the first to use the revised music and boarder of the final versions.

[Jasper061992]

Any one seen this... Kinda cool that it's full screen, looks like it runs pretty smooth!

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First thing I notice in the early beta, is that it retains those two pillars where the armor is in the beginning, whereas the rest of the console ports (saving the SNES version ) lacks them. It even has the texture set like in the PC version. Yeah, they resized the viewing window of the 32x version to save performance, but why did they strip the final version down to the Jaguar based level set if there wasn't a problem running it in the beta version? Cart space problems? Also, I somewhat prefer the music in the beta, with the wooden xylophone (or some kind of harp) thrown into the mix lol. It sounds more stripped than the final version, but I like the vibe better in the beta music.

Hurrr...All this just make me wonder ever so more that the PSX version could have used the PC based level set when looking at the massive RAM increase (2MB compared to the 32x's 256KB though it was streamed).

[kool kitty89]

All the beta roms seem to be 3 MB like the final version, so space is the same, however I'm not sure how many levels they include (and there are no sound samples), the changes may have been made to maximize the number of levels whilst retaining acceptable compromise on the textures and maps. -note there are plenty of altered textures in this beta as well. (the 2nd room makes it obvious compared to the PC -though better than the final version still)

The pillars were actually kept in several other beta versions, including those with the smaller window and reduced textures. (kind of wierd with the wrong textures though)
DOes th elack of those pillars mean the secret gate int he 1st room can't be opened, os is th eswitched moved somewhere else. (in PC, an dI think SNES, I'ts on the side of th eright pillar)

[Nuxius]

they must have not used this only because of time, just shows what can be done with effort.
No, they didn't use it because it runs like garbage whenever too many sprites are on the screen.


Or perhaps they found the full screen mode had too much slowdown in places, leading them to decrease the size of the playscreen. :|
Exactly.


it runs better than the 3do version at its regular screenConsidering the framerate the 3DO version ran at (at default screen size), that's not saying much. :p


The main issue I have with all (old) console ports of Doom is that they use "low detail" mode (even the Jaguar port).
Of course, the dithering they used on the 32X version makes this not as noticeable, since it was resolution dependent.


I don't see much of a difference, frame-rate wise, from the final version.
Oh believe me, there is. ;) It's just hard to see in a Youtube video. It's definitely noticeable when you are playing it.


The 32x version doesn't even seem to use the PC type 8-shde 256 color lighting, just all bright or all dark. (lights flicker on/off)Yeah, I never really understood why they did that. The 32X could have (and should have) easily mimicked the PC versions lighting. They did it for the SNES version, so there's really no excuse.


I wonder if they started doing a scratch conversion of the PC game and later opted for adapting the Jaguar port.
You have to remember, both the 32X and Jaguar versions were in development at the same time. The 32X team never built any levels, what you see here was what the Jaguar levels looked like at the time of this build. id probably made daily builds of their Jag port and handed them over to the 32X team so they could port in the changes. So when the levels are changing through the various builds, what you are seeing is id's work on the Jag side, just through the 32X version.


but why did they strip the final version down to the Jaguar based level set if there wasn't a problem running it in the beta version?
See above.


Cart space problems?
Exactly.


All this just make me wonder ever so more that the PSX version could have used the PC based level set when looking at the massive RAM increase (2MB compared to the 32x's 256KB though it was streamed).
Yep, it easily could have. Too bad they didn't, though. :\


All the beta roms seem to be 3 MB like the final version, so space is the same, however I'm not sure how many levels they include...
I've heard that only the first 3 levels work, however, I haven't bothered to play it past the first level yet.



DOes th elack of those pillars mean the secret gate int he 1st room can't be opened, os is th eswitched moved somewhere else. (in PC, an dI think SNES, I'ts on the side of th eright pillar)
The 32X, Jaguar, 3DO, GBA and SNES versions are ports of Doom. Since that switch was added in Ultimate Doom, it is not featured in any of them. And although the PSX/Saturn versions are ports of Ultimate Doom, they used this same level set for the regular Doom levels, so they don't have it either.

[doomguy]

The game doesnt run like garbage try it out on the bigger levels the framerate doesnt even drop much. Maybe i barely notice a frame rate problem because im used to playing the 3do port. Now that runs worse on the medium screen than this and they released that, but because the controls were nice it was still playable. I would have been happy for them to release the 32x version like this with screen resize options like the 3do wouldnt this have been very playable at the final versions screen size?

looking at other betas of this game (the one right after this one) it proves they just cheaped out because its like the final version only more level detail (like the two pillars at the start being put in) and more textures.

[Jasper061992]

Kool Kitty

The pillars were actually kept in several other beta versions, including those with the smaller window and reduced textures. (kind of wierd with the wrong textures though)
DOes th elack of those pillars mean the secret gate int he 1st room can't be opened, os is th eswitched moved somewhere else. (in PC, an dI think SNES, I'ts on the side of th eright pillar)

The pillars in the SNES version even lacks that switch that opens that large wall. I don't think the switch exists at all in the console ports.

[Chilly Willy]

The game doesnt run like garbage try it out on the bigger levels the framerate doesnt even drop much.

He said it runs slow when there's too many sprites... that is, too many enemies and/or things. That's independent of the level geometry. Try running it again on the highest hardness so you have lots of bad guys.



Maybe i barely notice a frame rate problem because im used to playing the 3do port. Now that runs worse on the medium screen than this and they released that, but because the controls were nice it was still playable. I would have been happy for them to release the 32x version like this with screen resize options like the 3do wouldnt this have been very playable at the final versions screen size?

This is a big part of it - everyone has there own ideas of what makes a game smooth or choppy. I know people who complain about 100 FPS, while others (like moi) who grew up on old 8 bit computers don't mind 10 to 20 FPS.

[Defolto]

the music on the finished version is really bad i have heard nes games with better music, no joke. 8 bit greater than 32bit?

[Jasper061992]

the music on the finished version is really bad i have heard nes games with better music, no joke. 8 bit greater than 32bit?

Doom 32x uses the same stock Mega Drive sound chip like the rest of the Mega Drive games, only even poorer use of it.

[kool kitty89]

No, they didn't use it because it runs like garbage whenever too many sprites are on the screen. That has to do with the screen size, not the use of original textures... (other than a few parts of th elevels removed like the pillars next to the staircase)


Of course, the dithering they used on the 32X version makes this not as noticeable, since it was resolution dependent. Dithering? What dithering did they use more than the PC original? Do you mean th elow detail mode with 1/2 horizontal resolution? (which 32x, Jag, and SNES also used -plus PC if you selected it)



Oh believe me, there is. ;) It's just hard to see in a Youtube video. It's definitely noticeable when you are playing it. Yes, yes there is, but it's up to personal preference whether one prefers one compromise over the other, having variable screen sizes liek PC or 3DO would have fixed that. (I'd probably have opted for something about 1/2 way between the 2, especially on a TV with a fair bit of overscan)


Yeah, I never really understood why they did that. The 32X could have (and should have) easily mimicked the PC versions lighting. They did it for the SNES version, so there's really no excuse.
Probably time constraints, or somthing to do with the relation to the Jaguar version (if that is indeed true), or both. If the game engine has nothing to do with Id's Jaguar port, it's probably not related.


You have to remember, both the 32X and Jaguar versions were in development at the same time. The 32X team never built any levels, what you see here was what the Jaguar levels looked like at the time of this build. id probably made daily builds of their Jag port and handed them over to the 32X team so they could port in the changes. So when the levels are changing through the various builds, what you are seeing is id's work on the Jag side, just through the 32X version. What would be the point of that? Piggybackign on the space optimizations of the Jag port does make some sense, but it's not entirely clear how much less efficient the earlier builds are. (there's no level select to get a quick glance at the number of levels and such)
What makes less sense is that similar cuts were made fromt he 3DO and PSX/Saturn ports (including missing enemies/bosses iirc) where storage limitations were no longer an issue. (I believe Carmak mentioned that such cuts wouldn't have been necessary for the Jag port if thy have been allowed a 6 MB cart rather than 4 -but Atari wasn't going to risk the necessary cost increase)



I've heard that only the first 3 levels work, however, I haven't bothered to play it past the first level yet.
I've gotten to the second, and the music doesn't change, but the PC map design seem to hold true. Even if there are on;y a few levels, it doesn't definitively prove how limiting the added textures and original maps were (some cuts had already been made too), the additional levels may not have been completed yet, or functioning.
The SNES version is the epitome of compromise though, only 2 MB of ROM, more limited RAM, and a great deal of trade-offs made with the limitations -perhaps a bit less extreme if the SNES CPU is handling some of the game logic. (it would seem that some other ports could have been better witht he lesser limitations and similar compromises -the SNES port was a fair bit later)


The 32X, Jaguar, 3DO, GBA and SNES versions are ports of Doom. Since that switch was added in Ultimate Doom, it is not featured in any of them. And although the PSX/Saturn versions are ports of Ultimate Doom, they used this same level set for the regular Doom levels, so they don't have it either.
Huh, they must have added it to later shareware editions then, as it's in my DOS shareware version.

[kool kitty89]

The game doesnt run like garbage try it out on the bigger levels the framerate doesnt even drop much. Maybe i barely notice a frame rate problem because im used to playing the 3do port. Now that runs worse on the medium screen than this and they released that, but because the controls were nice it was still playable. I would have been happy for them to release the 32x version like this with screen resize options like the 3do wouldnt this have been very playable at the final versions screen size?
Allowing for variable screen size (and preferably detial level as well horizontal res) would have been best in that case, 3DO allowed variable screen window sizes at least (some requiring codes I think). PC of course gave the full range of drtail options, and on an average '93/94 PC, there's a fair chance that it's going to be slower than the 32x, maybe even in the 3DO range (possibly worse with a 386 -definitely with slower 386s -and gettign to unplayable pretty quickly; 33 MHz 386 being the minimal requirement).


looking at other betas of this game (the one right after this one) it proves they just cheaped out because its like the final version only more level detail (like the two pillars at the start being put in) and more textures.
ROM space is a limiting factor, so that could indeed be the issue, that and lack of times to make extensive optimizations and extensive compromises. (like the SNES one -which has to make do with a lot less)


the music on the finished version is really bad i have heard nes games with better music, no joke. 8 bit greater than 32bit?
It uses the GEMS engine, notable for it's usually poor music, although this seems to be a particularly poor usage (E1M1 in the extreme, soem later ones not so bad). The early bata probably uses the same engine, so that's not an excuse... It could have been better even with GEMS and the standard instruments. (soem games made good use of Gems with non-standard instruments, like Earthworm Jim/2)

At very least it should have matched the Soundblaster/Adlib version (which doesn't even take advantage of later SB card features), soem think they sound th esame, but I think SB sounds a g good bit better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18TTxhoF_EI
18TTxhoF_EI
(the SB version itsself could have been better if they took advantage of the SB PRO, or SB 16's added features -especially the 4-op FM capabilities and added channels of the SB16's OPL3)


Doom 32x uses the same stock Mega Drive sound chip like the rest of the Mega Drive games, only even poorer use of it.It does use the 32x's PWM for sample playback, but yeah, fairly weak, even for GEMS. (and again, that simplistic E1M1 music from the early bata is probably using GEMS too) As above, even with GEMS, it should have been better. (I don't even hear any PSG usage)
Plus, wasn't it a Japanese team developting it? (so why didn't they use SMPS -which SMPS wasn't used more often is another question entirely, but at least most JP developed STI games used it)

[Silanda]

Plus, wasn't it a Japanese team developting it? (so why didn't they use SMPS -which SMPS wasn't used more often is another question entirely, but at least most JP developed STI games used it)

AFAIK, the Doom 32x team was all American.

[kool kitty89]

Not all japanese perhaps, but definitely had JP staff involved: http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=323&title=Interview:%20Toshiyasu%20Morita

He oviously misenterpreted the complaints about sound to refer tot he sampled sound effects, which are fine... (but Melf didn't press the issue)

And onece more, even GEMS should be better than that, that's below average for GEMS, which on average at least sounds as good as the average Ablib/SB music. (inspite of using 4-op FM to the OPL2's 2-op, albeit 3 fewer channels, but PSG can suplement that to some extent)

THis is a separate issue, btu I really don't understand why SMPS wasn't used as standard, even if they wanted to have GEMS out there as well, there's no reason not to support both.

[Silanda]

Not all japanese perhaps, but definitely had JP staff involved: http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=323&title=Interview:%20Toshiyasu%20Morita

Don't want to be picky here, but I believe he's probably Japanese-American. He went to high school in Texas and has worked mainly in the US.

[Chilly Willy]

The 32x version doesn't even seem to use the PC type 8-shde 256 color lighting, just all bright or all dark. (lights flicker on/off)


The 32X port DOES do the "standard" PC VGA style lighting. When Doom starts on the first level, look at the ceiling... see how the brightness drops the further away you go? That's the way it works for 256 color mode on the PC as well. The way that works is that there is a translation table for each light level that converts the 256 color pixel value being drawn to another 256 color value that represents the same color at a different light level. The ambient light level for where the player is located combined with the distance from the player determines which light table to use while drawing the pixel. This yields rather lousy results, but it's quick and only needs 256 colors (paletted).

For a nice description, see this link: http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/COLORMAP

[Da_Shocker]

CAn somebody point me out to this beta?

[Silanda]

It was on the page Kool Kitty89 linked to earlier, but here's the specific page: http://www.hidden-palace.org/?releases/98

[kool kitty89]

The 32X port DOES do the "standard" PC VGA style lighting. When Doom starts on the first level, look at the ceiling... see how the brightness drops the further away you go? That's the way it works for 256 color mode on the PC as well. The way that works is that there is a translation table for each light level that converts the 256 color pixel value being drawn to another 256 color value that represents the same color at a different light level. The ambient light level for where the player is located combined with the distance from the player determines which light table to use while drawing the pixel. This yields rather lousy results, but it's quick and only needs 256 colors (paletted).

For a nice description, see this link: http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/COLORMAP

I know what the PC lighting looks like; I've played the DOS version enough to know... fairly choppy lighting gradients with posterized textures at times. The 32x version doen't have it, or at very least, not on any version I've played in fusion. The SNES version definitely has the simple 256 color shading, but the only lighting effects I see in the 32x port are simile on/off light flicker. (the jack has super smooth gouraud shading, of course)
This is most definitely real hardware, and I can't see it there either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XjRUBcV2hA
6XjRUBcV2hA

The Xbox emulated port in Doom 3 retains the original lighting and rendering style quite clearly for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaxZ1x5v4Fs
eaxZ1x5v4Fs

[Nuxius]

That has to do with the screen size, not the use of original textures... (other than a few parts of th elevels removed like the pillars next to the staircase)
I was referring to the screen size, sorry I didn't make that clear enough. The texture changes were obviously due to the cart size limit placed upon them by Sega.


Dithering? What dithering did they use more than the PC original?
No other version of Doom uses any form of dithering (unless it was applied to the texture beforehand). It's unique to the 32X version.


Do you mean th elow detail mode with 1/2 horizontal resolution? (which 32x, Jag, and SNES also used -plus PC if you selected it)
That is a completely different thing and not related to dithering at all.



What would be the point of that? Piggybackign on the space optimizations of the Jag port does make some sense, but it's not entirely clear how much less efficient the earlier builds are. (there's no level select to get a quick glance at the number of levels and such)
Two magic words: Cart space. That and memory constraints as well. (as we found out when we tried to port MAP20 from the Jag port over to the 32X port)



What makes less sense is that similar cuts were made fromt he 3DO and PSX/Saturn ports (including missing enemies/bosses iirc) where storage limitations were no longer an issue.
The only enemies the PSX and Saturn versions are missing are the Boss Cube and the Arch-vile. Both were due to memory constraints. (this was mentioned in an interview with the PSX team)

As far as using the Jag level set goes, it was mostly due to time constraints for the PSX version. For the 3DO port it was mostly the same. For the Saturn port it was a bit of that, added with a lot laziness and just plain carelessness.



The SNES version is the epitome of compromise though, only 2 MB of ROM, more limited RAM, and a great deal of trade-offs made with the limitations -perhaps a bit less extreme if the SNES CPU is handling some of the game logic. (it would seem that some other ports could have been better witht he lesser limitations and similar compromises -the SNES port was a fair bit later)
You have to remember though that SNES Doom (like GBA Doom 2) uses a custom engine built from the ground up.


Plus, wasn't it a Japanese team developting it?
American.

[Chilly Willy]

No other version of Doom uses any form of dithering (unless it was applied to the texture beforehand). It's unique to the 32X version.

Incorrect. The 32X uses low-detail mode like all the other (low-end) console ports. There is no dithering. Sounds like you're looking at Doom 32X in an emulator with filtering and TV processing turned on. Turn off filtering, turn off the TV post-processing, turn off the aspect correction, and look again - pixels are just doubled horizontally... it's plain old low-detail mode.

[kool kitty89]

I was referring to the screen size, sorry I didn't make that clear enough. The texture changes were obviously due to the cart size limit placed upon them by Sega. Hmm, yeah, but note that all the protos and final version used 3 MB, so no more space, however I'm not sure how much is in the early versions. (and how much they later cut to fit in more levels)



No other version of Doom uses any form of dithering (unless it was applied to the texture beforehand). It's unique to the 32X version.[/quote could you post an emulator screenshot to show what you mean. It sounds like you mean the vertical bars seen on some textures, but that's just an artifact from low detail mode, PC looks about the same when set to low detail. F5)

If you mean texture dithering, that's another issue, and still unrelated to rendering. (just an art choice due to limited colors)


[QUOTE]The only enemies the PSX and Saturn versions are missing are the Boss Cube and the Arch-vile. Both were due to memory constraints. (this was mentioned in an interview with the PSX team) So limited RAM space? That would inply the 3DO version was just a sloppy port as it has just a much RAM as the PSX. (2 MB main 1 MB VRAM)


American.
Hmm, on the GEMS issue, another reson would be the MIDI support, that would certianyl make a conversion simpler from one MIDI format to another. Still, the choice of soem instruments, even for GEMS was poor. (especially the lead instrument in E1M1, that and the bass drum or whatever that comes in -the occasional riffs and such are at least as good, if not better than in Adlib/SB on PC -again no SB16/pro specific support)

[T2KFreeker]

So limited RAM space? That would inply the 3DO version was just a sloppy port as it has just a much RAM as the PSX. (2 MB main 1 MB VRAM)


Yup, that was the huge problem with the 3DO port of DOOM. The system actually could have handled a decent version of DOOM but Art Data was not only inexperienced with programming for the 3DO, they were also rushing to get it out before the 32-X version of the game. Very sad indeed because the soundtrack was amazing and still one of the best ever using the original style DOOM music.

[kool kitty89]

I wouldn't be surprised if the 3DO port is all software rendered, not using the 3DO's GPU or matrix coprocessor at all. (not sure how useful the coprocessor is for faycasting calculations, it was intended to 3D calculations rather like the PSX's GTE) The GPU could do affine texture mapping fine, but did have to contend for bandwidth with the CPU. (still much faster than software rendering I'd immagine)

[Grounder]

I played numerous Doom 32X betas. It's pretty interesting seeing how they wanted the soundtrack and levels closer to the original in several of the betas.

Over time, they got lazy and gave us the final version. :-/

[OldSchool]

Watched the 32X review... wow, that sucks with the screen real estate being so small. I don't see how anyone could stand playing that way.

[Silanda]

Yup, that was the huge problem with the 3DO port of DOOM. The system actually could have handled a decent version of DOOM but Art Data was not only inexperienced with programming for the 3DO, they were also rushing to get it out before the 32-X version of the game.

Couple of corrections from what I recall from back in the day. After over a year of hyping the vaporware that was this game, ADI finally farmed the coding out to Bill (now Rebecca) Heineman, who was not at all inexperienced with the system having coded the excellent 3do version of Wolfenstein. It was a port of the Jag version that was extremely rushed however(developed in about 10 weeks), but AFAIK due to ADI's incompetence rather than competition with the 32x version (it wasn't released until early '96).

Their incompetence was such that the version that made it to store shelves wasn't even the gold version that had been turned in, it was an earlier beta.