Which one is (generally) better? HL2 or Doom 3?

MisterChief

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Dec 26, 2004
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Here's my opinion. Hope that the "game-tech" savy can correct me:

I've owned both games for about three weeks and can't decide which looks better. From what I can desipher and observe, Doom 3 took no shortcuts in it's design. Everything is bump and displacement mapped, and where applicable, geometry, not textures, were used, which accounts for the heavy processcing power required by the GPU. But I did notice one thing that seemed what I call "sloppy" : There is a line of seperation on every human character, right down the middle; this means that in the creation process, Id designers made one half of a character, then mirrored it to create the other side. And I found the PDA to be a little annoying. But otherwise, the art department must be commended. The enviornments look amazing, as do the creatures, and the aliasing is kept to a minimum. Lighting and shadow really helps the game look, well, "CREEPY".

Half-Life 2, however, is another beast. The story is simply great; drew me in the first 30 seconds. Being a sci-fi fan really helps, too. Anyway, the visuals are stunning. Not only is HL2 infinitely brighter than Doom 3, the Source engine and it's corresponding shaders, which I hear were used by Pixar, does an amazing job of rendering characters, enviornments, shadows, etc. But what really caught my attention was the Havok engine. How did they make the most complex physics engine in a game ever run so well? I was expecting the CPU load to be immense, as the CPU takes care of AI, physics, etc., but I was pleasently supprised that there was no slowdown when using the GG. The only problem I found was variety: there should be a larger variety of "Zombies", and human models repeat every now and then. Oh, and the friendly AI could use some work... when I go into a bathroom, I don't need a cheerleading squad to accompany me! But otherwise, GOOD WORK.

Fell free to comment and post your thoughts
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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I think graphics look more realistic in HL2, especially characters. The skin textures for humans and zombies alike in Doom3 did not impress me at all. Plus, all the heads are "crowned". Maybe they are like this in a lot of games, but it's really easy to see in Doom3.

I was never in awe of the graphics of doom3, EVER, but I still sit in awe when I play hl2.
 

Schadenfroh

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Mar 8, 2003
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repost

repost

This topic has been run into the ground in the past. This thread will end up in a flame war between the one or two doom 3 fanboys here and the rest of the software forum.

but back on topic.

i liked both the same for very differant reasons. Doom 3 is a scifi horror shooter and that is how i judge it, for all its purposes i enjoyed it a great deal playing it alone at 1:00 AM. HL2 is more immersive, has much more roleplaying and story line than doom 3, but i dont like having to stack boxes on a see-saw to balance it perfectly to be able to run up it to get up to the next level. As far as graphics, doom 3 looked the best to me, the lighting and the characters just looked better for its genre, more spooky than the creatures in HL2. HL2 did have much better textures and outdoor scenes. As far as the engine goes, i feel doom 3 has more potential because of it is cross platform with linux/windows and runs OpenGL and a good deal of us would like to see people follow id and EPIC's examples for making linux a gaming platform as well. The graphics suited each's intentions greatly. I prefered the sound in doom 3 (the trent reznor sound pack that is) to that of the sounds in HL2, HL2 did have better music. But basically, all music in games suck compared to the music in Battlefield Vietnam. I have spent many hours playing both doom 3 and half life 2, but i have not touched either since i beat them and have uninstalled both to save room. I am waiting for Day of Defeat:Source before i put steam back on my system. I have since been playing World of Warcraft and Battlefield 1942: Desertcombat mod. Both have much better multiplayer than counter-strike:Source and HL2 Deathmatch, take it you cant really compare WoW to HL2/Doom3 when it comes to multiplayer since its an MMO so just forget i said that. Doom 3's multiplayer sucked bad. HL2 Deathmatch would have been much better if they lost the Gravity GUn and only had it on certain levels. I like to fight with guns and not flinging comode seats at people.
 

JBT

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
12,094
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HL2 is a MUCH MUCH better game than DIII was. DIII I couldn't stand to finish. HL2 I was egar to keep going. Both looked great IMO but I perfer the looks of HL2. The characters in DIII I thought looked like garbage while HL2's looked amazing. Personal opinion but I think alot of others feel the same way.
 

MisterChief

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Dec 26, 2004
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I can't understand why the D3 characters look so FAT and so...bald... And your right, there does seem to be a lot of crowning in Doom 3. I thought heads were supposed to be round...:)
 

MisterChief

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Dec 26, 2004
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And I love the shaders on the objects! Look closely at poisonous headcrabs and their body's have an amazingly realistic "sheen". So do Barney's gloves. That stood out in "Point Insertion".
 

SpunkyJones

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2004
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I played both and enjoyed HL2 much more. I'm still trying to finish Doom III, and I got it within a week of its coming out.
 

MisterChief

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Dec 26, 2004
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Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
This topic has been run into the ground in the past. This thread will end up in a flame war between the one or two doom 3 fanboys here and the rest of the software forum.


I was kinda hoping for that...:D
 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
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Originally posted by: MisterChief
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
This topic has been run into the ground in the past. This thread will end up in a flame war between the one or two doom 3 fanboys here and the rest of the software forum.


I was kinda hoping for that...:D


so you just admited to being a troll eh? ;)
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Originally posted by: MisterChief
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
This topic has been run into the ground in the past. This thread will end up in a flame war between the one or two doom 3 fanboys here and the rest of the software forum.


I was kinda hoping for that...:D


so you just admited to being a troll eh? ;)


proper coding is our friend.
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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I preffered Doom 3's style more since I'm a fan of horror games in general. (I love the Silent Hill series) I thought there was much that could have been improved upon -- after a while it became predictable -- but it was very good.

Half Life 2 was a very good play through, with stunning graphics and a good plot. (Albeit minimally explained) But my gripe there is with the weapons, namely how few of them there were. There was a point in the game where I said, "what, that's it? No more weapons?" It was somewhat frustrating to me, and by somewhat I mean completely.

I'd have to play both again, back to back, to be absolutely sure, but at the moment I'd say that HL2 beats out Doom 3, but not by much. I'm eagerly awaiting expansions for both.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
i dunno when i see a "real" game using the Doom iii engine, i will comment further. Doom iii is a POS.

Why not ALSO compare Far Cry's GFX? - excellent!

Or Painkillers? (superb with the mega patch or expansion pack BOoH)

Chronicles of Riddick is outstanding also

Don't forget the latest Unreal incarnation in Thief - Deasly Shadows

And you will need a highend videocard (6800 series) to really tell ;)
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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HL2's friendly AI drives me crAzy. By golly, if I could be free of those morons for good, I'd shoot 'em all myself :| OUT OF MY WAY RETARDS, I TOLD YOU TO GO WAIT OVER THERE AND I DID NOT TELL YOU TO STOP WAITING YET. :|

I mean, even the Mechwarrior4 AI's stay where you tell them to, until you tell them otherwise. F10, F6, done. :p Or target one of them, F10, F2, done.

 

BespinReactorShaft

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Jun 9, 2004
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I find it hard pressed to make a judgement till I see an outdoors-heavy Doom3 engine game. But for now, HL2 >> Doom3. This is simply on the strength of HL2 taking so much more of an opportunity to showcase the engine in different settings.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: mechBgon
HL2's friendly AI drives me crAzy. By golly, if I could be free of those morons for good, I'd shoot 'em all myself :| OUT OF MY WAY RETARDS, I TOLD YOU TO GO WAIT OVER THERE AND I DID NOT TELL YOU TO STOP WAITING YET. :|

I mean, even the Mechwarrior4 AI's stay where you tell them to, until you tell them otherwise. F10, F6, done. :p Or target one of them, F10, F2, done.

They make superb meatshields. ;)

Friendly AI never got in MY way. :p
:roll:


edit: Curious . . . does Doom III use anyAI. or is is all scripted?
:shocked:
 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
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Originally posted by: mechBgon
HL2's friendly AI drives me crAzy. By golly, if I could be free of those morons for good, I'd shoot 'em all myself :| OUT OF MY WAY RETARDS, I TOLD YOU TO GO WAIT OVER THERE AND I DID NOT TELL YOU TO STOP WAITING YET. :|

I mean, even the Mechwarrior4 AI's stay where you tell them to, until you tell them otherwise. F10, F6, done. :p Or target one of them, F10, F2, done.

Your not leaving without me freeman!
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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I liked D3 better. HL2 just didn't grab me like the original did. I thought the puzzles were uninspired, The graphics not so great ( except for the people, they did a great job on them), and the sound average. The driving sequences got on my nerves also.

I really liked the sound and atmosphere on D3 although I think they could have made the attacks less predictable. Also the graphics were much better( except for the people, they needed more variety and better shaped heads). Lots of good smoke and lighting effects.

So Doom III for me.
 

BenSkywalker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,140
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As overall games, I felt both fell significantly short of expectations. HL2 wasn't remotely close to the bar set by the first title, and D3 was extremely repetetive- well past the point of simple tedium.

In terms of engines, D3's is without a doubt better then Source. There really is no comparison. The only advantage that HL2 has is that people can run it at much higher settings as it is fairly antiquated in today's market. Besides D3, FC and CoR both have considerably more advanced engines then Source.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
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Everything is bump and displacement mapped,
There's very little bump mapping and AFAIK no displacement mapping at all. Most of it is normal mapping.

As for games, HL2 loses by default because of Steam.