That’s absurdly high resolution for 1994 - it should be at 320×200, although with the “slightly rectangular” pixels that you get in DOS.
I think some of the magic of Doom gets lost in higher resolutions. The odd badly-aliased pixel gives the impression of glinting light, which it obviously does not have, and some of the mysteries of the enemies is lost, since normally they’d just be a few pixels unless you’re dangerously close to them. Gives the impression that it’s more animated than it is, since it would always be shifting. Modern ports will let you mouselook and things as well, which makes it crazy fast; not that you were exactly slow at turning around, back in the day, but you did need to play it in a more considered way.
Minor thing - DOS games didn’t always necessarily use non-square pixels. Many did, but some (Jazz Jackrabbit springs to mind) did not. It was down to the fact that if you displayed a 320x200 image, the CRT would stretch it out to 4:3, giving you slightly taller pixels.
I read a really good blog post about it years ago, but I can’t seem to find it right now.
I have amazing memories of that game. It’s something about being a kid that makes games feel so exciting. That goes away later so just enjoy the hell of it while you are young. :)
I find I enjoy Doom more now than I did when I was a kid. Back then I paid way more attention to the things the engine could and couldn’t do, but these days I’m able to appreciate it just for being fun.
Counterpoint, 1994 also gave us this graphical masterpiece
That’s absurdly high resolution for 1994 - it should be at 320×200, although with the “slightly rectangular” pixels that you get in DOS.
I think some of the magic of Doom gets lost in higher resolutions. The odd badly-aliased pixel gives the impression of glinting light, which it obviously does not have, and some of the mysteries of the enemies is lost, since normally they’d just be a few pixels unless you’re dangerously close to them. Gives the impression that it’s more animated than it is, since it would always be shifting. Modern ports will let you mouselook and things as well, which makes it crazy fast; not that you were exactly slow at turning around, back in the day, but you did need to play it in a more considered way.
That’s a good point: it’s not a fully authentic experience unless it’s window-boxed on a 15" 640x480 CRT, LOL.
15 inches would’ve been a big, luxurious monitor back then.
Minor thing - DOS games didn’t always necessarily use non-square pixels. Many did, but some (Jazz Jackrabbit springs to mind) did not. It was down to the fact that if you displayed a 320x200 image, the CRT would stretch it out to 4:3, giving you slightly taller pixels.
I read a really good blog post about it years ago, but I can’t seem to find it right now.
Tbh I took the screenshot using a modern device and doom retro (the source port)
I have amazing memories of that game. It’s something about being a kid that makes games feel so exciting. That goes away later so just enjoy the hell of it while you are young. :)
I find I enjoy Doom more now than I did when I was a kid. Back then I paid way more attention to the things the engine could and couldn’t do, but these days I’m able to appreciate it just for being fun.