But Can It Play Doom?

 I had the end of a giftcard leftover yesterday, and decided to see what I could get on the Nintendo store during their sale:

I probably should've had DooM selected for this screenshot

One of the things I've talked about (mostly on the Star Wars blog) is how different media influenced me, was important in my childhood, etc. Doom is a strong contender for the most important game I played as a kid. It's the first non-kid targeted media I ever consumed. I played coop with my dad for hours. So for $2, I grabbed it on the Switch. I think of "Doom 1" as 3 different products, each of which was released separately, and I'm going to address them as such here.

1. Shareware (Episode 1)

2. Registered (Episodes 2+3)
3. Ultimate (Episode 4)

Besides the weird distribution differences (oh 90s), I think they each have a very different philosophy in terms of how the levels are designed, etc.

I'm going to skip over the whole history of Doom, how it's influential, etc. for now and just focus on Episode 1, which I finished replaying today. Maybe I'll come back on that later.

Doom's first episode Knee-Deep in the Dead was originally released as shareware in 1993. Short version: games at that time were often made as "episodes." Instead of a single game with 30 levels, you might get 3 episodes of 10 each. The first one (with the simplest levels, only half the monsters, guns, etc.) would be a free demo released over the burgeoning internet or on floppies in magazines, trade shows, etc. You could mail off to buy the other two. Somehow iD managed to cram more into a 9 level demo than some complete games do these days.

So to start out, here's all the things Doom's first episode did right:

1. Configurable controls. You gotta go to a separate setup program, but still. 

2. Quicksave. Somehow in 2025, at the peak of "accessibility" and "gaming is for everyone" we can't pick our own buttons or save the game to go the bathroom whenever we want.

3. Six different weapons, most of which are actually useful (the pistol is basically defined by its uselessness) and don't overlap. The number of games with 20 guns that're really just upgraded versions of 3 guns is frustrating. What's Doom give us?

Fists: They punch. They do low damage. They are a functionally distinct melee weapon though.

Chainsaw: Like fists, but really fast. And it "grabs" whatever you hit. No ammo!

Pistol: Shoots one wimpy bullet really slowly.

Shotgun: Shoots a burst of low damage shots. Modest rate of fire. One of the most accurate shotguns in gaming.

Machine Gun: Shoots bullets fast.

Rocket Launcher: High damage AND splash.

The chainsaw mostly obsoletes the fists, and the pistol sucks, but the other 4 are all useful and distinct.

4. Six different (and slightly less distinct) enemies:

Former Human/Zombie: Has a giant rifle that slowly shoots pistol bullets. And almost no health.

Former Human Sergeant/Shotgunner: Slightly tougher, and with a shotgun.

Both of these are hitscan (instant hit with no dodgeable projectile) which makes them different from the demons, and still somewhat threatening even in the later levels.

Imps: Brown spikey demons with fireballs. The defacto mediocre grunt.

Pinkie Demon: Big pink and melee. Actually a modest threat in Doom 1, unlike some of the other games (more on that later).

Spectre: Semi-invisible versions of the above. Weirdly, show up before the original on higher difficulties.

Baron of Hell: Baphomet looking boss. Fights similar to an Imp, but much stronger.

Again, how many games today just use 10 different variants of "dude with gun" as their only enemy?

5. A varied pickup system with basic stuff like ammo, slightly more complicated ones like health and armor (do you pick up the little health now, or wait to combine it with a big health later?), and powerups like invisibility. Maybe invisibility is a touch unrealistic, but items like radiation suits give level designers a lot of flexibility compared to "follow the hallway" murder games.

6. Levels with mostly reasonable secret areas that start easy and work up to reasonably hard. Why don't games have secrets to find anymore? I play on the second highest difficulty level and this is how I wound up at the end of one fight. And freedom to wander and back track as you see fit. Some of the levels are like 50% optional. No rails for Doomguy.

That's a lot of damage!

7. An interface that includes: Health/armor, ammo for ALL your guns, which guns you have, and the FACE (which give a secondary health and damage indicator). Why do I not have access to all this info at all time in most games today? There's a niche case for "no ammo count, it's realistic" but that's only a few games.

Also, a working map. Why don't games have maps (and why do so many of them suck so bad)?

It's kind of depressing that a 30 year old game has more features than a lot of modern $60 ones.

Which isn't to say everything is perfect. There's a few too many "tripwire" secrets, that you find just by dashing towards the sound of the door when you cross a magic line of pixels. The level theming is a little flat (it never really makes it out of toxic waste dump/military base). It's only sort of 3D, so you get weird issues if you're right in front of (or on top of) a monster on a different level. Not much of a plot (although the final level ends with a 90s approximation of a scripted sequence to take you to literal Hell).

All in all, still plays great. Well worth the afternoon it'll take to shoot through. It does a great job of introducing the basic functions of the game. These are mostly slower, simpler levels. Doom is pretty slow on the "Boomer Shooter" (a term I find overly broad and not super useful) scale at this point. It'll pick up in the later episodes (and change substantially by Doom 2).

So I think that's this week's project. Ramblin' about Doom and video games. It's pretty classic. Certainly theme adjacent at least. And the whole last episode is Dante's Inferno with guns.

"Woodcraft and Camping" by George "Nessmuk" Sears Part 10: THE END

 Chapter X ODDS AND ENDS—WHERE TO GO FOR AN OUTING—WHY A CLINKER?—BOUGHS AND BROWSE

Not a ton here, this is a short section, and very much feels "stuff I wanted to say, but had no where to put." There's a short section on choosing where to go (and strongly recommending the Adirondacks) that feels like it could've been extended. I guess back then you mostly just camped in your own backwoods. None of this driving to the camp nonsense.

Mostly this is more canoe stuff. But here's two pieces of advice he gives.

1. If you go before the open season for shooting, take no gun. It will simply be a useless incumbrance and a nuisance.

2. In a word, act coolly and rationally. So shall your outing be a delight in conception and the fulfillment thereof; while the memory of it shall come back to you in pleasant dreams, when legs and shoulders are too stiff and old for knapsack and rifle.

Both good advice.

For myself, (and I noticed similarly in the Ben Franklin marathon) these week plus dives into a single work (or series of related ones) can get a bit boring. I much preferred how I did The Odyssey last year, doing an update or two a week (even if I did lose the rhythm part way through). I think the short and varied style matches my blogging better. I don't mind reading a longer piece, but blogging through it can be tough.

Not sure where I go from here. There are a few other old camp books I might read, Nessmuk has a poetry collection, and I've been kind of light on Star Wars updates. 

"Woodcraft and Camping" by George "Nessmuk" Sears Part 9: Canoing

 Chapter IX—Canoeing THE LIGHT CANOE AND DOUBLE BLADE—VARIOUS CANOES FOR VARIOUS CANOEISTS—REASONS FOR PREFERRING THE CLINKER-BUILT CEDAR

There's a lot here about the best kind of canoe, how to build them, etc. I'm not sure how valid that was even back then (I don't think most of his readers were building their own, or even taking detailed specs to a boatsmith). What was more interesting is how little the weight of a canoe seems to have changed in 150 years. They still weight ~50 pounds on average, same as back then. I'd think new materials and what not would've had more of an impact. Maybe 50ish is optimal for other reasons (stability in the water or something) and hasn't been changed on purpose. 

Also interesting, Nessmuk notes that he prefers a two bladed paddle to a single (though he brings a single as well for careful maneuvers). Today, we mostly think of a double as a kayak paddle, though they are used by canoes.

And a great pull quote, without comment:

 in spite of the disparaging remark that "a canoe is a poor man's yacht." The canoe editor of Forest and Stream pertinently says, "we may as properly call a bicycle 'the poor man's express train.'" But, suppose it is the poor man's yacht? Are we to be debarred from aquatic sports because we are not rich? And are we such weak flunkies as to be ashamed of poverty? Or to attempt shams and subterfuges to hide it?

"Woodcraft and Camping" by George "Nessmuk" Sears Chapter 8: Trekking Solo

 Chapter VIII A TEN DAYS' TRIP IN THE WILDERNESS—GOING IT ALONE

Nessmuk treks for ten days to visit a friend. He says up front that it's not for the faint of heart. 

" I had the decency not to slaughter game for the love of killing, and leave it to rot, or hook large fish that could not be used." Good for you, George. 

Like the earlier chapter with the "OW" this is out of Nessmuk's usual mode, and a little harder to follow. I do like the story about his encounter with the wild hog, which is too long to paste in here.

These know that nature is stern, hard, immovable and terrible in unrelenting cruelty. When wintry winds are out and the mercury far below zero, she will allow her most ardent lover to freeze on her snowy breast without waving a leaf in pity, or offering him a match; and scores of her devotees may starve to death in as many different languages before she will offer a loaf of bread.

(She will give you food, but only if you apply force and know how, he says.)

 He sees a flock of turkeys: "Among them were some of the grandest gobblers I had ever seen, and one magnificent fellow came straight toward me."

I had a whole flock of turkeys wander through my camp site about 6 or 7 one morning. One of the oddest, but coolest things I've ever seen. I heard something scratching around and, thinking it was squirrel bugging the guylines, peaked through the window. Instead I saw a good 10 or 15 turkeys. They picked their way along making little bawks occasionally. 

 I came at length to a stream that I knew must be the south branch of the Muskegon. The main river could scarcely be more than ten miles to the westward, and might be easily reached in one day.

It was time. The meal and pork were nearly gone, sugar and tea were at low ebb, and I was tired of venison; tired anyhow; ready for human speech and human companionship. 

Nessmuk is a people person. This reminds me of one time when we were canoeing down the river. We had a tropical storm at our back, so the river was moving pretty quick, and we came to what was supposed to be a good half day ahead of schedule. We got to the sandbar/island we were supposed to camp out on, and it was a scrubby mess. We decided to just push out and come in a day early.

"Reader, if ever you are tempted to make a similar thoughtless, reckless trip—don't do it." I'd like to do a night or two solo, but ten days is an awful lot.

"Woodcraft and Camping" by George "Nessmuk" Sears Chapter 7: MOAR COOKIN'

 Chapter VII MORE HINTS ON COOKING, WITH SOME SIMPLE RECEIPTS—BREAD, COFFEE, POTATOES, SOUPS, STEWS, BEANS, FISH, MEAT, VENISON

This chapter is Nessmuk's wilderness cookbook. He finds most of the others he's seen better suited for a fancy hotel than camp.

WHO DOESN'T LIKE FLAPJACKS!? "the universal flapjack. I do not like it;" (He prefers cornmeal johnny cakes. Fine.)

He also makes bread on top of a club of wood stuck in a fire, which is either gross or cool. Maybe both. I'd try it.

Cut a club two feet long and three inches thick at the broadest end; peel or shave off the bark smoothly, and sharpen the smaller end neatly. Then stick the sharpened end in the ground near the fire, leaning the broad end toward a bed of live coals, where it will get screeching hot. While it is heating, mix rather more than a half pint of best Minnesota flour with enough warm water to make a dough. Add a half teaspoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of sugar, and mould and pull the dough until it becomes lively. Now, work it into a ribbon two inches wide and half an inch thick, wind the ribbon spirally around the broad end of the club, stick the latter in front of the fire so that the bread will bake evenly and quickly to a light brown, and turn frequently until done, which will be in about thirty minutes. When done take it from the fire, stand the club firmly upright, and pick the bread off in pieces as you want it to eat. It will keep hot a long time, and one soon becomes fond of it.

He goes into a rather long section of coffee. I think he'd have made a fine coffee hipster in modern times. He's also a big fan of green tea.

And he wants you to cook your beans and potatoes better. You always mess them up. And squirrels. Basically everything.

Porcupine is, "like spring lamb, only better."

Of course, he gets some trout recipes in there.

He's not a big fan of cans (which he's said before). Heavy and uncomfortable to carry. He's not above a few now and then (usually milk and beans). Do bring salt, pepper, and lemon. Grind and mix your own. Don't bother with fancy sauces. (Save it for the hotel. Always with the hotel.)

"Woodcraft and Camping" by George "Nessmuk" Sears Part/Chapter 6: Cooking and Making Camp

 Chapter VI CAMP COOKERY—HOW IT IS USUALLY DONE, WITH A FEW SIMPLE HINTS ON PLAIN COOKING—COOKING FIRE AND OUT-DOOR RANGE

This is an odd chapter. Nessmuk is in a narrative mode here, telling the story of a party of four youngsters and the "O. W." (Old Woodsman). Much, but not all, of the content is restated from earlier in the book. It's not bad, but I think he's better in his standard expository style. This also might've made more sense later in the book, when he could review all of it instead of just the first half. Maybe there will be another one back there as well.

Pull quote: If there is a spot on earth where trifles make up the sum of human enjoyment, it is to be found in a woodland camp.

Camping is all about the little things. Enjoying the little stuff you don't get in the city, and avoiding the little mistakes that can ruin it.

I did not expect to be out this late and I'm tired.

 I should come up with a plan for when I have nights like this, instead of just posting BS. I need my own filler gimmick. We went to a fair today to meet with the local Lions club, which I'm thinking of joining. That's a nice old fashioned Classics Guy thing to do. And then tomorrow we're going canoeing, which is a very Nessmuk thing to do.

I was considering posting some pictures as a filler, but I'm hesitant to share pictures here that I share other places. I kind of like keeping my online identities separate. I went back and looked, thinking I had done it exactly once, but it doesn't look like it.

There you go, not a bad entry. Some talk about semi-topical things to do, and a bit of paranoia.