[bob82274]

Ok WOW.  I picked this one up yesterday and what an amazing accomplishment.  Buy this game.  Even if you have skin as thick as steel you will jump when you play it.  After the first guy. As he knaws on your head.  Nice little disclaimer is included in the box:

A Note of Caution:

Doom 3 is a terrifying sci-fi horror game experience. It is not recommended for the cowardly or the faint of heart. However, for those who dare to face Doom 3 as it was intended: Lock your door, turn off the lights, and turn up your sound.

Enjoy Doom 3

Check the to see if your computer meets the min requirements because if it does you are good to go.  The guys over at idSoftware did an absolutely fantastic job making this game play WELL on the minimal specs.  Believe it or not 640x480 looks great.  Right now I am running a GF4 4400 and it does well in 1024x768 and medium settings.  I do plan on buying a GF FX 6800 in the next week though so I'll let you know how good it looks then.

[pjchappy]

I might get this.

I have a GF4 Ti4600. . .probably needs an upgrade, too.

p

[bob82274]

Just don't turn on AA and you are butter.  Of course its going to be better with a new card but I would suggest buying the game first and decide then.  I'm not buying a new card just for the game... wanted it for some other things.

[The Killer Piglet]

D3 was worth the wait.

I remember d1 when it came out. One of those rare games that could make you jump (Dungeon Master on the Amiga as another).

We used to play Doom at client sites after hour. I love the 4 player deathmatch stuff. More personal. I'm glad to see they have kept that.

I have not tried DM with D3 yet, but the single player is superb. As it was on the first 2 installments.

D3 can make you jump. It's the most convincing 3d environment I've seen, even more so that Farcry.

I'm running on an Alien-ware 3.2 P4, Radeon 9700, 1 gig RAM. It runs in High, 1024x768, no slow downs at all.

After the disappointment of Unreal 2 and UT 2k3 and 2k4, I was ready for the worse. But he geniuses at id have come through.
I can't wait for the mod files to start coming out.

Oh, I do miss the two barrel shotgun from D2; I hope it's in there somewhere.

KP

[Rob Babcock]

I'm anxious for this to hit the Xbox.  I've got a P4/2.8 but nothing like the kind of graphics card to do justice to a game like D3.

[ekovalsky]

Agree completely.  I've played through a few levels and it has scared the crap outta me!

This has been a great year for computer games with Far Cry, Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, and soon Half Life 2.  

Too bad Duke Nukem Forever never made it  

[Rob Babcock]

Just how much graphics card would I need to get reasonable performance for  Doom 3?  I  really should get a decent card anyway.

[mcrespo71]

Since my computer blows, I guess I'll wait for the Xbox version.  I assume if you have a really good computer, the computer version of this is going to be best, right?  I mean, the Xbox is 3 years old now and computer graphics cards must be way beyond what's inside of the box, but maybe I'm wrong.  I'm looking forward to this one in surround.

Michael

[ekovalsky]

Choice of video card depends mainly on what resolution you want to play at.  Doom 3 looks good at 800x600 or above.  Note that if you use an LCD monitor the best image quality will be obtained at the native resolution, otherwise there will be degradation from scaling.  Most 17-19" are 1280x1024, 20-22" are 1600x1200, and 23-24" are 1920x1200.

1280x1204 or lower > Pick up a used ATI 9700/9800 Pro or 9800XT and you should be good to go.

1600x1200 or higher > Get a Nvidia GeForce 6800GT or Ultra or an ATI X800XT

The 6800 Ultra and X800XT-PE are the fastest boards on the market right now, and both are in short supply and thus costly.  As expensive as they are, they will seem pretty cheap compared to what we frequently spend on cables, power conditioners, room treatment, etc  

I play at 1920x1200 with an X800XT-PE and frame rates hover around 60fps (the maximum) with 4x antialiasing, 8x anisotropic filtering, and detail set to "high".  You need a 512MB video board (none available yet) to play with detail set to "very high" in single player mode!

Far Cry, with its massive outdoor environments, swaying vegetation, and realistic water, is more demanding on the video card.  My frame rates at 1920x1200 are around 30-40 with 4x AA, 8x AF, and all eye candy maxed out.

[mcrespo71]

I play at 1920x1200 with an X800XT-PE and frame rates hover around 60fps (the maximum) with 4x antialiasing, 8x anisotropic filtering, and detail set to "high". You need a 512MB video board (none available yet) to play with detail set to "very high" in single player mode!

**** that is a quick frame rate for such a visually demanding game.  Do you get dizzy with such a quick frame rate?  I have a few FPS games that run at 60fps and I get a headache it's so fast, but these games don't have nearly the amount of detail I've seen from screen shots of doom 3.  Man, I need to get a better computer.

Michael

[Woodsea]

I am as well waiting for the xbox version.  Am planning on building a new computer later 'round November when the new Mobo's come out.  Glad to read that normal people beyond pro reviewers were scared and loved the game.

[jqp]

This is thye real deal according to 2 colleagues who bought new video cards in order to play Doom3.

One said he threw the mouse in the air when his wife knocked on the door of the room he was playing in.

The other said that he got so stressed out from playing that he had to stop for a while.

I imagine this will cause a resurgence in the computer hardware industry. I know I am planning on getting a new PC this fall that can run Doom3.

[srclose]

I've been preparing for the release too, and put together an audio server with enough horsepower to manage the newer video games as well.  With low noise fans and insulated case, I have not run into a problem yet having both CPU speed - 3 Ghz - and a quiet PC at the same time.

[Rob Babcock]

At least Sam's Club has Doom 3 about $7 or $8 cheaper than BB.  There's no freakin' way I'm paying $55 for a game!   Sam's has it though for $46 or $47, can't recall the exact price.

Guess I'd better check NewEgg for graphics card prices (sigh!).

[bob82274]

Ok... I said I'd comeback with an update and here it is:

Yesterday was the schedualed date for my new nVidia 6800 to arrive. I'm at work and can't find my tracking number so I'm sitting there in the dark.  I call my flatmate right before I go to lunch only to find that I have woken him up  .  Tell him that I'm expecting a package and he says 'Aight... I'll be here... asleep.'  Ok... lazy bum.  Three thirty rolls around and I give him a call again.  Hooray he's awake this time.  Nope. No package.  I get home around 5:45 and pass him as he walks out. Still no package? Hmm.. Ok lets see what the tracking number says (since I'm at home with it).  Delivered at 3:45?!  What!?    I look around the apt figuring he's just jerkin my chain. No little brown package.  

Walk out the front door and see a guy wandering around with a package.  'Hey this you?'  Take a look at it and low and behold there is my order from NewEgg! I say 'Thanks! I was just coming to look for this' and we part ways.  

Alright! Got me a new toy.  Prior to installing it physically I download the new drivers from the website just in case it wants to act funny.  A tip for everyone out there.  Don't use the driver from the CD but instead from the vendor's website.  Sitting on the floor next to my desk is an older 17" monitor.  On my desk is a 19" monitor.  This thing has two DVI outputs (plus DVI to VGA dongles).  One and one and one makes a dual screen setup.  After several different setups involving resolutions and positionings, I finally settled on one that suited my liking.  The 17" runs at a lower resolution and holds AIM and Winamp and other misc items.  The 19" has the start button and the taskbar as well as my main applications.  nVidia has deveolped excelent dual monitor software.  I've used it several times over the past couple of years and this itteration is near perfect.  

Ah but this is a Doom 3 thread isn't it.  Well after getting the monitors set up I load it and change the settings to 1280x1024 at High settings.  Get into the game and its running at a solid 55-60 FPS.  Excelent.  I turn the corner.... and it drops to 5 FPS!  Ok well not what I was expecting but ok lets lower down the res.  I lowered it down to medium settings.  Still 5 FPS!?  Went down to the settings I was running my GF 4 at (1024x768 Medium)... STILL 5 FPS !?      It was worse than my last card? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

I turned it off in frustration and went and watched some TV before goin to bed.  I decide in the morning that after work I'll work on it some more and if I can't fix it that evening, its getting RMA'd back to NewEgg.  The guys at work don't have any idea whats wrong so I do a quick google when I get home.  Turns out that Doom doesn't like Dual monitor setups.  Other games are fine with it.  Just not Doom.  Ok I disable the 17" monitor in software and load up Doom.  It runs fine now at that lower setting!  Ok how high can I push this?  Still not done but I am now sitting at 1600x1200 in High Quality mode doing 60FPS.  This is me now ->      

In summary:

GeForce 4 Ti4400:
1024x768 Medium Settings:  ~ 30 FPS

GeForceFX 6800:
1600x1200 High Settings:     ~ 60 FPS

Not a bad boost huh?  Unless you are a hardcore gamer the 6800 is a great card $290 from NewEgg.  If you have money to burn you can get the 6800 GT or 6800 Ultra for $420 and $560 repectivally.  The X800 pro and X800 PE from ATI run about the same and are very good cards as well.  The only thing that you should watch out for is that the new cards require a molex connection (the same thing you connect to your hard drive) for power.  In fact the GT and Ultra require two connections and a  >350 Watt power supply as well as 1 or 2 PCI slots for cooling in addition to the AGP slot.  Ok... That was a long enough rant.  I'm goin to go enjoy my new card now.

[nathanm]

At least Sam's Club has Doom 3 about $7 or $8 cheaper than BB.  There's no freakin' way I'm paying $55 for a game!

I think computer\video games are a bargain when you see how much life you can get out of them.  Of course, I tend to find a game I like and play it to death (Oddworld series).  To me the 50 bucks isn't a big deal.  Compared to a DVD or something I think you get more of your money's worth with a computer game.

My experience with a failed FPS game development a few years ago really made me see the sheer amount of work involved.  Those guys who make these things really bust their humps.  And I have to admire id Software who actually has the power and position to say "it will be done when it's done" and not catch hell for it. Who else can actually say that?  And they always deliver the goods.  (if FPS is your thing, that is)

I'd have to get a new machine to play D3 on the PC but the xBox version might be fun to try first.  The nice thing about consoles is that they just WORK.  Plug and Play...no seriously, for real...not that horeshit P'nP we tried to sell ya on Win95!  But with PC games you're looking at patches, point releases, futzing with settings, reading FAQs, reinstalling hardware, it can be a pain.  I cannot believe that the xBox is made by Microsoft and it just WORKS.  How the hell is that possible?

[The Killer Piglet]

I think computer\video games are a bargain when you see how much life you can get out of them.

Agreed. I get tons my mileage from the football games playing against friends, and RPG and strategy games like Culdept and Disagaea are practically endless.

Once the user mods satrt coming out for Doom3 it will be a blast. Doom2 was enjoyable for years becuase of all the wad files released for it. Anyone remeber the chicken launcher?

KP

[DeadFish]

Just throwing $.02 in on my 9 days' experience w/ D3.
First off, it just plain creeps me out.
I'm taking it real slow and lettin' the mood get me.
Within a half hour or so, I gotta quit.  Creepy.
A 'limitation' of the game is flashlight *OR* gun.  There are even mods out there to fix that, but the designed way makes it slower..waiting for something to bump into you in the dark moaning, or stick their nasty face in the flashlight as you turn, with hands full of...flashlight.  
Guess I'm trying to stretch it out, 'cause I'm enjoying it.  Kinda like an 8 course meal.  Have played games pounded down in as few days as possible and then thought 'Now, what?'.  Gotta last until HL2
Anyway, am playing on AMD XP2500 w/9800 Pro and it is quite acceptable gameplay except under the direst of conditions at high quality.
Yeah there's faster, and slicker looking graphics out there, but just didn't wanna wait around until I upgrade more, or the unending wait for a game system.
I just wanted to kill something.
It creeps...

Haven't gotten this freaked out since AVP in the dark on the stereo and the Atari Jaguar!  
(and now AVP is a movie!) I'm dated..but still get the heebie jeebies!

Regards,
DeadFish