It has finally come down to Hell. One can't help but feel that Hell is the most sought after piece of Phobos. The Hell portion of Doom3 was criminally short for most people's tastes. I however found it to be rather dull the first time around. It actually ended up feeling like several maps instead of just one. While I have come to appreciate that one map a whole lot more over the years, I still think it was a bit of a failure.

So, what does that mean for the Hell of Phobos?  To begin with, colors are a more prominent member of Hell in Phobos (but still not to the level of the original Doom mind you). After all, we are trying to stay true to the source. It will be a lot more varied and vivid than the caves and plateaus you explored in Doom3.



A lot of the level design for hell stems from original Doom level design principals. While we're not trying to mimic the game play of Doom (since we find that pointless), we are doing our very best to rival the quality and variety of it, and carry over things that we think fit well with the game we are making. 

The story will be cut down for this episode as well. It will keep on until the end of course, but since being in Hell is mostly about getting out, survival will be the No.1 component. You expect to get hell, and you will get it.



Building Hell

Hell is naturally a lot more organic than the cold steel of Mars and Phobos space bases. This means we have to work in a drastically different way for most of the time.

A major component of the world is made up of models instead of brushes and patch meshes common to the Quake-Doom3 engines. Most of it can be built using low polygon models, but anything that is of special character needs extra work in getting properly fitted assets (textures, normalmaps, etc). For instance, every demonic face needs a high and low polygon mesh to complete the process.

This is, naturally, not a process that is limited to Hell alone; the other episodes will have these things too.  Sometimes the regular level editing capabilities just aren't enough.

The beginning of the end is not meant in a negative way. Far from it. The beginning of the end is the beginning of the end of development, and I stress the word "beginning". Some really exciting developments have taken place within the last months. It really all started back in 2007 when a proposal for an internal demo level was made. It didn't take off right away and we were back to business as usual. 1,5 years later the idea was reproposed and we felt the time was right. We have begun the finalization of two maps in Episode 1. E1M2 and E1M3. M2 was already very far in development when we picked it up and M3 was well on its way.



We are working on an internal demo. Again, I must stress a word and this time it's "internal". We will not be releasing this demo as that is not the purpose of it. What the purpose is, however, is a way for us to "start in a corner" and work our way through the maps one by one or two by two. This means that when M2 and M3 are done, we will pick up M4 and M5. And by done, I mean playable with puzzles monsters, sounds and details. We can't have absolutely everything done in one go, but as much as is possible.

While Kristus and Gait are both hard at work on the third episode (We will have an upcoming devblog about this episode. It will include screenshots and exciting new info), DoomUK, geX and I are focusing on the internal demo. We each have our areas of expertise. DoomUK is extremely good at fleshing out unfinished rooms and corridors as well as detailing and lighting. As opposed to me, geX is really good at taking a defined assignment and run with it. He has put a huge amount of hours into this internal demo and done a lot of management. Personally, I'm best suited for putting it all together and the preliminary architectural work.



So how far in the process are we? We have reached a point with E1M2 where we don't have any additional rooms or areas planned that we haven't already made. We have a couple of testers looking through the maps for bugs. At the time this is being written, E1M2 is currently in the phase where we implement all the puzzles and progression of the map. We're making it functional in both play and script. E1M3 is receiving a lot of architectural work and is still a few weeks away from reaching the stage M2 is currently at, but it's only getting easier and faster for us. This truly is the beginning of the end and it has never been more exciting to work on Doom 3: Phobos.

After our last devblog we have seen some nice interest in Doom 3: Phobos. We greatly apprieciate the extremely positive feeback we have been getting. It makes it all even more worth while. Along with the interest we have accepted quite a few new members.

Bobbeh: Prop modeler.
GregTaylor: Character concept artist.
Neurological: Music/sounds and Gui guy.
Nynedown: Character modeler.
Chung Wong: Character/prop modeler.

Thank you all for joining. It will be great working with you.

Now, to continue down the road of devblog #3, we will tell you a bit about the maps in episode two. Episode two will take place on the martian moon of Phobos. As you may already know, the base on Phobos was established much later than the base on Mars, making it newer in both appearance and functionality. This is something we have worked hard to achieve, and we are half way there.

Episode 2 is the pivot point of the story, hence the name of the mod. It is there the story will really begin to take shape and you will begin to learn a lot about what you encountered in episode 1.

When working on episode 2, geX and I have spent a lot of time laying the foundation for the layout. The main challenge has been to create something that was different from Episode 1, but not so different that it would feel disjoint. This has lead us to some obvious inspirational sources, so the attentive player will notice a great deal of style references from things like Star Wars or the original Doom series. We have take a lot of care into making Episode 2 connect with the original Doom in style.

E2M4 - Containment Area (shaviro)
The Containment Area shares more than its name with Doom 1 E2M2. The layout of the level is heavily inspired by its old namesake. The area itself holds a lot of crates, obviously, and is connected to a platform further up above the surface of Phobos. This is the entry point to the moon for the FCE. Expect heavy resistance.



E2M4 contains more than just crates and conveyance. The establishment has been built upon ancient structures like those found on Mars. It is also here that the first signs of the hellish invasion are seen. Lava streams and general Doom gore are all around.



E2M6 - Command Control (geX)
This map is highly focused around water. As this part of the base is filled with water from the water systems. You need to find a way through the labyrinth of hallways without drowning. When working on this I thought a lot about how well valve have previously made these kind of areas feel like you were on the brim of drowning, and making you think very fast about your next move in order to survive.



After you survive the flooded area of this map you will end up nearer the surface, and you will have a good view of that and mars in the hologram control room. It is here you will find important information about how you succeed in the map and further maps aswell. Before you can this though, you will have to figure out how to turn on the servers again, since they have been shut down due to the water leak. In the way is the FCE who has a barricade in this part of the base.



E2M7 - Gravity Manipulator (shaviro)

This is a monumental level in both style and story. Once this level is over, the game will change pace and appearance, quite drastically. It is the epilogue for Phobos and the prologue for Hell. The level starts outside of a speed elevator with connected offices. The style is a weird mixture, yet beautiful. Ancient architecture and bricks combined with human metal and fixtures. Once the player has solved a puzzle, gaining access to the speed elevator, he starts it.



The elevator closes the doors and slowly warms up. Warnings are heard on the speaker system. The elevator starts. A window to cave wall and pipes reveal the incredible speed the elevator is reaching. We're going down, fast. Once the elevator has reached its low destination, we are near the core of Phobos. This is where it all begins. And ends.



As the player exits the elevator, it soon closes and goes back up, indicating that other people (or beings?) have called it back up. Leaving the elevator area, the player goes through new locales similar to the initial ones in style. On his way he encounters a lot of electrical equipment and battery stations, huge cables going up to the surface and other places on the bases of Phobos. This is where the electricity for all the teleporters (and more) comes from.
This is only the beginning of the level. Completing it will leave the player with a distinct before and after feeling.

That's it for the maps. As promised, here are two high-resolution shots:






Come back for another update soon.