Hugo Martin on the Creativity Behind DOOM

my name is Hugo Martin I'm creative director here at ade software suite so tell us about your life before you worked in video games I was a concept artist for many years I worked in films and games my first game job was at Naughty Dog that was awesome I got to be there when they made the transition from their last jak and daxter game to uncharted 1 so I've got to work on that a little bit that was really cool and then I went to blur studios where I got to work on like game cinematics and things like that and after that I went freelance for a while so I was kind of like a free agent bouncing around to different projects like commercials and films and games and things like that I got to work on Lost Planet 3 it was it was a really fun time but I definitely reached a point where I was tired of being like a hired gun like I always kind of felt like I would come in make some friends work on some projects but then I my contract could be up and I would leave which was fine that's kind of what I was after but it was the variety but then I I had a kid and I wanted to settle down you know see see what was outside of LA you know what was going on there so I started freelancing for it and I really enjoyed working with those guys like marty was was awesome and the rest of the team and I asked them if they would be interested in me coming on full-time they said yes and then yeah a couple months later I was here so it was really cool so one of us was a little and what stage was going to do not a message that was in 2013 they had just done like the reboot so they were a few months into I believe the version of doom that you see now I was fortunate in that it was really perfect timing I the film thing was awesome but I always loved working in games I loved working both of both mediums are super fantastic and and fun and challenging in their own ways the I got a chance to work on Pacific Rim that was that was really amazing and and getting to see the inner workings of like what it takes to make a film really really up close because when you work with Guillermo you get to he definitely likes his concept artist you know close by him you get to do a lot of really cool stuff so but I missed working in games I'm a gamer and just the the idea that a consumer gets to spend just 20 30 50 hours with something you worked on versus two hours in a film is is really compelling to me and and so coming here was I was just jumping at the chance I specifically wanted to go back full-time at a game studio that it worked out perfectly that they had just restarted I knew people I had people on the inside telling me what was going on a little bit so they said dude we just you know we're starting over and I think you'll dig it and so I started freelancing and yeah I got I got in right at the perfect time excellent if you came to it at 2013 you were very fortunate right because you were right there when we were about to start on something that ultimately was pretty cool and what was your experience with the doom franchise sort of growing up with banging you know I wasn't a PC player growing up so I was always like more you know more of a console guy and doom 64 was probably my first you know real diving in for hours at a time and doom game of course you know in the dorms everybody's playing doom so I certainly got a chance to play into it and it was awesome I mean everybody loved to do I loved it - I thought it was badass I just loved we were just talking about names in the name of your documentary and stuff no cliff it's it's it's um it just had it all working for it it was the look the name the simplicity of it all it really clearly hit a nerve with people so as a franchise I was just super aware of it because I'm kind of like a pop culture nerd I love to you know it's just it's a hobby you know so and as a as a professional essentially what we're making is pop culture content you know so you want it to resonate with people and when you look at a brand like doom it really did I mean it was it just definitely struck a nerve so and it did with me but it was interesting to watch see to see how connected with everybody so yeah that was my first experience and then I mean I couldn't wait to work on it this my experience the main thing is like I I love I love fast games I love action games I like it intense them I like my my gaming to be skillful and and that's everything that doom you know needed to be so it was very much like it was just great to work on a project that I really it was the type of game that I would play outside working on it well that was cool what was that was there pressure associated with basically being tasked with redesigning a game with so much funding behind us like is that exciting or is it daunting um I mean I think it's funny people I spent a long time I think that this is a good question the it's a artists they like challenges like all everybody in this building likes a challenge so I think you want to take on the biggest challenge and and try to figure them out and solve the biggest problems and definitely that's a big problem to solve like how do you update it for today's audience visually game wise game design wise narrative Lee you know like how do you do all that stuff so it was a big challenge but I think that's kind of what it made it exciting that's kind of what gets you up in the morning you know if it's an easy task like you you know a get this one it's just not as compelling you know so this this was you had to bring your a-game like every day it was we were fans of the game like we're huge fans of the game and we know that the fan base is super passionate anything less than our best effort would you know it was not going to be good enough so like what makes doom do what what were the things that you liked word that were essential ingredients that you had to bring into 2016 movement definitely like it had to move you know like a doom game honestly I think the tone of the violence and just the tone of the game was super important it couldn't be too serious it had to be fun because I've said this many times i'ma say it again that that the characters and the world of doom you know 1990 in 1990s when it came out is it looked like something that a teenager would draw in the back of his notebook during math class like everything had this like juvenile quality to it which made the ridiculous violence all kind of seem in good fun I call it like horror for the whole family you know it's it's it's a yeah it it's very uh consumable you know and so it had to feel like that like which meant going over the top and I think the the work that many people here understood that whenever anybody would do is something that felt like that it just stuck you know it was very much like you you'd work on stuff you'd work on stuff something would feel right it was kind of like a puzzle piece that felt like doom you put it down on the table and it was about finding the next puzzle piece okay that that story element feels good oh that level design you know that feels good this character feels good this character model looks good you know just sort of slowly building it out that way presumably then there was a lot that was that was country in the process we're talking to Marty he mentioned about like a hacking game for instance that was pulled out was there any other like stuff that thread that iterative design that just sort of didn't make wasn't the puzzle piece and got thrown on the side um my god there's so much stuff uh uh yeah you know just everything every every department you know like concepts that didn't quite fit the tone that I that I'm talking about that juvenile didn't have that juvenile quality levels that just didn't quite feel right in their block out phase you know that you wanted everything to be like super simple I I'm a big believer in the best design the best designs both my background is in I went to school for automotive design Art Center and so I that definitely filters into a lot of things like just my thinking about design whether it's you know illustration or game designer think that just just in general like brand design the simpler it is the clearer the message the more easily the fans the consumers will identify with it and so if you had something that was over complicated and a little bit too flowery it just didn't make it in the game you know even the name doom it's just simple you know so I think yeah if it was overly complicated it wasn't going to make it in the game but that doesn't mean it's funny because it's like that doesn't mean that the game is dumb because I think it's deceptively smart you know and sophisticated it's just easy to understand which is honestly how things should be I always compare it to like Apple products with Apple when it's at its best my son is six he knows how to use an iPad you know that's that's good design so yet that thing is obviously pretty sophisticated has your some tie do i I don't know if I should say that I camera well we know the answer then yeah he may or may not have played doing that he might have made the crate toxic he might have made it to foundry hahahaha he might be struggling with the shield guys and his mother might be extremely upset about this could be an ongoing problem in my house I can't I can't help I'd like so you know we looked at the kaijus like I thought that's what that I always tell him like that's what daddy does for a living you know try to take the edge off it he loves it he's also mad too like we play a little of yeah we play a little bit of everything so together so it's kinda how we bond and we talk about like the sort of the initial level as like I I feel like for this that we're going to do some sort of like an anatomy of an opening level because sure the opening of a for Doom is the most like structured self-aware yes communication with a player I've seen in years did you talk about like crafting that oh my god it was so hard um we had so talk about cutting stuff you know so there was a tutorial level where a guy stood in front of you you know and told you what to do uh how things work that was awful there was just so much stuff like Olivia lecturing in front of yours she paced back and forth and you were stuck in your chair uh just a lot of like sit there and listen to me stuff and and very much the when he just throws everything aside that's like how we felt after a while of just like my god enough with this you know I just want to kill demons and I want everybody to shut up okay and we were literally like he should do that yeah like I it's funny like I really appreciate that people picked up on all the little sort of there's some messaging in there like it's making a statement it really is about doom about what players want you know in a game like this I think it's right for our game I love story games I play all the time you know I'm in the middle of many of them right now at home and it's just for this game for this brand it was the right way to go so when he when he yeah you you wanted it to be immediate like when he when he says the first they say that the first 15 minutes of a movie the audience is very receptive and they're very open to like they're like okay what world do you want me to go to like let's go there about 15 minutes to convince me that I will you know what the world is and then if you break that later on the it's the audience gets like super upset so we knew that like that opening we kind of treated it like that it was like we're going to set the tone for the whole game it's an action first game the beginning has to be action if we open with like a tutorial where people are talking they're going to be like okay it's that type of game so as soon as you you know when you that shotgun and you leave the elevator you're like I I know what kind of game this is going to be I'm ready you know so there's the little scripture in the beginning that's that says may we never need you again you know blah blah blah that that kind of set the tone that there's like this biblical you know he's just this biblical force the do marine it's kind of got that flavoring it's and and hopefully people tasted the cheese like there was this like a layering of cheese to all this and it's like we kind of wanted people to just exhale and be like let's just have fun like seriously like we know this is ridiculous you know this is ridiculous like good can we shake hands on this and just like have fun cool so it starts with that that little scripture and from the corex tablets which again the corax tablets like what are the core acts I don't know yeah they're just awesome there's some awesome text somewhere that says awesome stuff on it so so I'm totally metal you know like absolutely I grew up with that like my brother big-time metalhead man we listen to the iron main stuff some of the first drawings are amazing are our main cover covered albums I remember the opening to Iron Maiden 666 song with like Vincent prices that thing the number of the beast I'm like dude the game should start like this you know like this would be awesome so you got the saying and then it says that they are rage brutal relentless like that was totally just to set the dial to like metal you know and then the dude comes out in like you just immediately attack them one of my favorite things about the intro is is it is the great example of the teamwork that was involved in making this because everybody from every department contributed something totally awesome to this it was just constantly getting plussed every time somebody put their hands on it we all like high-five it was one of the last things we did and I think throughout any project you're kind of learning how to work like a team so by the very end we were a team like we we knew how to get you done and work together and I mean as painful as was to throw stuff out Brandon Souders who is the level designer on the intro level was I mean it required an incredible amount of patience but he was totally down and he kicked major ass I mean it's a huge credit to him the work that he did Alan Rogers the animator who did the swipe and the hit and the grab and like my this the little touches that he grabs in it you know and he smashed his head down like he's geeked out to it meme are you like freaking out like oh my god that's awesome but that in the game you know and and then as soon as you land I love watching the twitch feeds because the players are like oh oh my god oh my god I play you know like but that was good it was like doom like boom right in your face but the sarcophagus thing was cool because a ruthless efficiency like that was kind of like the motto like say everything with as little as you possibly can and I think it's a deceptively you know a intriguing story because I'm asking you to figure it out I'm not going to tell you the answer like so that way if you don't care they just don't even look at it don't even look at the echo like who cares what that sir Crawford kisses but if you're into that stuff you know ask ask the question it was funny when we when we were play testing it and it wasn't complete people some of the play testers freak decks are like well I don't know what I'm being born in like what is this where are my answers because like you know in some things you might get all the answers right away and I'm like the fact that you want to know what that answer is that's exactly what we want you know and hopefully that drives you through the game that while you're blowing up you've just got a little question in the back your mind like what the hell am I like why was I in a sarcophagus and it's sort of like good we'll answer that later if you keep paying attention so um yeah that when you look back to sarcophagus and they're like praying to him again it was like sort of setting the tone that like I mean you're you're a god you know the demons fear you that was something really important like you are the monster you know that there is a monster in doom and it's you're it's really you you know I just thought that was so powerful we we looked at Marty and I loved to geek out about stuff like much we connect in in he keeps just so down to nerd out about for hours and dissected and figure out what the ingredients of something good is and then how we put it into the game like and we just had we did so much of that with the devs and everybody like just we just have an awesome team it overall it's very fun so in in robocop in a good action movie the the characters kind of learn they learn about who the who the hero is by what people say about him or to him so in Robocop when you're slowly being made into Robocop which is one of the most phenomenal sequences I've ever seen you know that everybody knows it you know it goes black and then they put the lens on and all that stuff we studied that and it was sort of a big inspiration for the intro to do and there's this great scene where like just the moments where they goes to shake his hand he crushed his hand she's like that you know hit 1,500 pounds of foot pressure he could crush every bone in your body and you're like Robocop just a badass dude and then the guy goes up to him and and he like rubs his hands like you know be went bad you know what mother effort and that I just curse them I'll I said mother I yeah so so that that right there you knew Robocop's badass you know and and the way that they go into is tracking and everything they just indirectly are telling the audience Robocop super badass everything he does is going to be awesome so when you see him walk into that grocery store and he just aims and shoots there's all this subconscious stuff going on if like he's just not a guy he sees these do he's got a targeting system it's crazy you know like wait till he picks up that guy it's 1500 foot pressure old crushes here so that and um yeah just just just stuff like that there's another one that we use as a point of reference when I can't remember but so when when you woke up in the way that what they were bowing to him you like people bow to me that's how badass I am and I'm just sleeping you know and and later on when you touch the the Slayers Testaments it you know and they talk about you like you're a god I mean that that that is basically that actor leaning forward to Robocop and being like you're gonna be one bad like they're basically saying like you know he's this wrecking machine we have to see little boy that complements and this is a big big point of everything we did the star of the show which is the combat like it was believe me I'd love to like make the whole game about these Robocop story moments because that's what I'd like to geek out on but ultimately we're making a game you know so and the star of the show is combat its level design its guns its system all working together to make you feel like a badass so the story has to just support that and I think that was kind of the theme I don't know if we talked about this but like we saw it it's like you're taking art Tech and design and pushing all those things together to make a tight cohesive like tight as a drum experience that's all about just being this killing machine and the story really just had to support that when you it's just so funny when you when you got to the suit and you know you walk out and you want to see it again it's just giant bomb wrote this great article in it and listening to their bought their podcasts and other people's podcasts I love when they get it like right because some people looked at it like this is ridiculous why is this thing with candles and and it's the person it's the person who says at the beginning of that 666th Iron Maiden song like why is that guy talking it's like we need to stop talking about this right you have to leave like you don't get it you don't get this like it it is just awesome you know just let it go let's just have fun you know it looks like a cover of a madman totally heavy-metal oh and it's ridiculous you know it's got glyphs on it and stuff like that and and but honestly like you need your characters in your story to take the ridiculous seriously it's okay if I laugh at it in the audience but you want them to you know when they're bowing they're not like giggling you know it's very serious so it's kind of that balance and and then this was this was a big one so when we went through development we talked about what we threw away we wanted to most stories they say the bad guys have to take something away from the good guy in order for the audience to understand that the bad guys bad you know the they took away Robocop's life essentially you know the bad guy takes away his ability to be with his family you know so we see that when he murders them it was like oh the demons like well you land on Mars and then you don't know it's demons yet then you find out it's demons and oh my god and somebody even asks like what do you think they are and they're like I think they're demons you know and and and then that's what we did we left because like that is ridiculous you know like who cares like you know uh they have pointy teeth it might be vampires what so so then uh and then we we wanted it like you'd find out like they murdered someone or like they took something away from you and all of it was like oh my god like who cares the phrase demonic presence in progress I mean demonic invasion in progress is meant to take this we're saying something to the audience we're literally like handing them a ticket for a train ride we're like are you ready to go because like we're good we're gonna leave right now you know like what I think we just forget it like you know they're demons I know they're demon that we both want to shoot them in the face let's just go you know and that's cool and then when the guy comes in and he starts talking you know uh and again just the animators did just such amazing work like the subtlety like just just getting it right you know the the little inflections in his hands like we were trying to emot-- as much as we could from that character and to hear some of the positive feedback that we got about that was was just awesome and the art and the effects it is really just a culmination like punching the elevator just like yeah he he grabs it when they when the guy goes to give him um yeah that was a great deal just the clenching fists when the guy goes to give you the exposition and and truth be told we want you to hear who that guy is I mean Rusty's he's basically the only other guy in the world we like the fact that like there is no normal human left like there is there's an aspect of the end of the thing I love John Carpenter movies and John Carpenter heavily influenced a lot of stuff that we did the end of the thing when Kurt Russell's sitting across from that guy and they just say we'll just sit here and drink this and see what happens because one of both of us might be you know it's so depressing it's like what a shitty ending but I love it you know I love that there's nobody left so it's like there's nobody left on Mars like everybody's murdered and then the one guy that you think might be human hey is a robot you know like and and so but he starts to give you the ham-fisted you know delivery the exposition the rules you know like let's talk I'm going to give you orders and you're going to go push buttons and and I think just throws it away you know and we purposely wrote that in a way that like right at the moment that the audience is like I this guy and then do Marines just like and just nice I was thinking the same thing yeah like even the way he does it it's not like he shoots it yes or like breaks it off and smashes it it's such like it off just off it is such a like yes so you've superfluous like I'm not even gonna waste energy getting rid of you it's the animators I mean they they I believe Alan did that as well but they all did a great job like like Brett and we have a bunch of really really great animus but but exactly like when you saw it you were just like that no that's perfect you know because we would talk about that like it really was it wasn't just yeah and then he moves it out of the way we go the next thing like no like he's saying shut the up like I don't want to hear this you know like and you get the tutorial you go through you get introduced to the first bit of arena combat and that's really interesting because push forward combat was everything to us like the play we had a rule yet yet you you hold still if you stand in place you're dead no so that imp room is meant to teach you that like not unlike you see in some I love when a game does this where the first level kind of smacks me in the mouth like it's a little bit like we're not messing around these are the rules of our game and no you will not I what I like about doom I love when games put me on a on a road and it's slightly it's a slightly narrow road sometimes like an action game where it's like you kind of have to do this if you want to be successful because it forces me into their mechanics and I get to explore them and like you know I just enjoy that when almost sometimes when they for certain games I love it in an open-world game but like on certain action games did give me too many choices I might not experience the the really great mechanic that you have lying in there so you know we had that room set up Dorian modeled that room and Jerry I think was involved as well and it's basically a showcase for the type of combat that you're going to experience without game and teach you to move it's wonderful to watch the people on Twitch die because that rooms kind of challenge especially playing on ultraviolence like it's not easy so yeah they're moving around and they're learning the cadence of things and and and this meant a lot to me I think I think a movie a book anything should be good from the beginning like it's not a well in three hours the game it oh did you make it to the third level because that's when the game goods no dude within five minutes the game will be awesome you know like you will have fun it will be fun from the beginning you know and and you're skipping around you're learning the mechanics you're learning the MS which is one of my favorites you meet the first Gordon s what I love about the Gordon s is which is funny because in a lot of games and we had discussions about this and a lot of games at Gore Ness would be something you avoid like it would be like oh that's the thing avoid the thing I should I triggered the thing and it starts to fight the do Marines looking for a fight you know it is literally like a t-bone when he sees that thing it's a t-bone steak and he's a tiger he's just like cool because I love starting fights you know like my favorite thing is to kill demons yeah does this start that great you know like so when he goes in and he and he just rips it apart there's Benedict of course in the ridiculous level of violence and the blood sheets out the way the blood shot out was totally inspired by Kill Bill that final scene in Kill Bill when a chick you know the sword fighting seemed she cuts the heads off in the blood is just like ridiculous I'd Virginia she's an amazing effects artist we have an amazing effects team it was so funny the discussions about that because it's sort of like you know normal amounts of blood and we're like no way it's got to be like a geyser coming out of thing just everybody's like this is ridiculous that when you get a head shot it's huge and and everybody just cracked up it actually works mechanically very well from a game perspective because you really get the immediate feedback that you got a head shot so the blood you know pops out there's this huge scream in them boom like the fights off but we just banked we we were betting on the audience that that's what they wanted to do you know that the we had one or two people say oh well should I avoid these this is early early during tests and we're like I don't think anybody who paid 60 bucks for a doom game is going to avoid a fight you know I think they'll they want to fight so then there was that name when you walk through the hallway and she says we you know we have to contain this he could ruin everything that's that subtle indirect storytelling like just super lean very very efficient and and just I don't know I like that kind of storytelling it what was that movie Sicario was something a big inspiration for for this type of storytelling I mean we're not the only ones that do it and everything that Sicario says by the Benicio del Torres character says at the end of the movie it all adds up to so you hang on his every word I love that like really we wanted the audience to hang on on the do Marines every gesture and and the games every movement because there were so few when you're only laying out like ten parts for them to put it all together everyone counts it's kind of like when I kind of feel like we got this is that like with the Terminator like in Terminator 1 and 2 and especially into every little like humanistic inflection that he gave it was a huge you know when he turns to the camera in like cracks is murky like oh my god he's smart so like when the do marine pauses on on to do something and then he grabs the Vega chip puts it away like everybody picked up on it because he's not do me doesn't do much you know so every bit of it counts I think the whole or delicately places the was it delicately take out the yes the argent generator and its weak in cakes like this guy so so uh yeah if you were paying attention you know that that that would say again I love the idea that she would say he could ruin everything because again it is the Robocop scene of him leaning in saying like you're bad it's basically saying like I'm powerful and I'm feared you know which makes the player feel powerful and I just kicked the out of a bunch of him so I mean that was amazing so and then and when you go into the elevator it was just timing Jerry I mean just to get stuff to work I mean video game development is not easy to get stuff time to the point that when the elevator opens the shotgun and the music is right there with the leg this and the timing of that and the frame rate this and holy cow like you know six you know literally 3:00 in the morning at Jerry's desk and and I'm we're all sitting there like pale like the timing is off we have to get this fixed like you know any any he totally got it I mean yeah it was just awesome it was fun honestly like it it's not work it's it's we're having a ball I mean I'm at least I am like it's it's we're just doing the best work that we can and it's challenging but it's literally like I said while you get up in the morning and when when when he when he hits that mark this was Marty's suggestion when he glances down at the body when when the guy says no I think what he says I should it was worth it yeah it was worth the risk I assure you any like look so clearly things have gotten out of hand there whatever any glass that I love that little touch that's all of us in a room just like watching the scenes giving dailies giving notes everybody's contributing it was just it was just awesome and then he hits the thing Chris Chris Hightower sound guy at the time he just did an amazing job putting that all together we actually had that sequence already that we were going to make the whole title sequence and when it shakes that was from something else and I I I really feel like the creative process is at its best when people are improving together in the moment because that we didn't make that specifically for that it's literally like fourth quarter oh my god we have an idea let's put this in there you know but you she's like it works so yeah it the timing was perfect I mean if I could just I think about it it's like the textures broke on the glass then we fix the textures then it broke again then to get to the back then there's no sound way this is crazy when you finally went into the box wrote like don't breathe on it don't even look at it so uh and then you're off you know you leave but you know you're in a doom game you know we really wanted a in a in a wonderfully cheesy fun way just yeah we're gonna have some fun we know it's stupid and if you're down we're gonna play with this you know and and just make a statement and and the the level that that Souders had had put together immediately following that I thought was wonderful and introduce you the secrets a little key card action which I'd love to talk about more later and and and I love that it all ends with again that little subtle nod you just blast doing it it says the thing about the 221 accident three days he's just like I I just had a lot we just caused a lot of havoc and it just make that little comment but it's just on the side you know it's very very much out of the way but I think it maintains that tone you know like that complements the fact that I'm ripping people's arms off and beating them to death of it you know I think that's that's what felt right all the puzzle pieces kind of coming together make like a doom experience so I guess one of the things actually didn't talk to Marty very much at all and was we'll get into the combat again a little bit but and the exploration stuff right like this is a game where you're like you're basically just running around during every 100 miles our demons around miles an hour and then you have these moments where it's like oh I like I'm using this what's basically a throwback like the original doom like map yes to like find like bobbleheads like explain and it's fun which is insane he collects toys like he's a toy : exactly yeah uh you know oddly enough that's that's where the paste break came from we were nervous at some point the the breakneck pace of combat combat combat would be too much but it's it's a you know the game basically leaves it up to you to shift it down to second gear if you want to if you want to blast through the game and just kill stuff I will accept the fact that you would say the game is you know repetitive if you play the full game if you read a couple of codex entries you listen to a couple of stories you look for those toys you do some searching and then you do the combat I think it's it's a it's a wonderfully paced game you know but it's kind of up to you so for those that did yeah it it proved to be the pace break that that that really complemented the action I remember I had a play test I play the game obsessively I'm a big believer in just really understanding your product like inside and out I just think you know you're designing a sports car you've got to drive the out of sports cars every day like you you're making a video game you better play that video game like non-stop and know it as good as you can so I had a playthrough it's odd because you knew where the secrets were and the designers were putting them in the map so I often wouldn't search for the secrets you know you just kind of check in to see if this thing triggers the thing and working with the with the LEDs and everything and then I had a playthrough where I went for the secrets and a whole new game opened that very much what you said and I went I ran over to to fook pad hook was one of our L DS he made surface to which I think is when it's not surface to its argent surface to is what it's called by developers insights goof yes uh whatever map surface to is I don't even remember argent facility destroyed or something uh it's when you go back the the I loved his map so much more it was the secrets I'm like oh my god I found them all and it was so much fun and it's just this perfect balance I mean these guys are fans of the game so they know that classic doom that feeling of you know searching for those secrets and obviously going into making I mean mark I'm sure my talking about when we rebooted it was all about making it feel like to wanted to like that was the main focus so obviously secrets a huge part of it so automap you know using those two things together to search for the secrets but how much fun it was I mean people ask me like did you were you nervous about key cards in the game or secrets and I'm like if it was fun it stayed in the game like that I'm so proud I give a lot of credit to to Marty and and for for standing by this because there was a lot of criticism not a criticism but it's just it shot focus on the fun at all costs like we were all committed to that if it was fun who cares like old school this school like it's fun you know it's the fun school that's all that matters so you research for the secrets and it was so much fun i remember the patum like this just feels awesome i mean i it's funny because i I don't know where all your secrets are because I he he didn't tell me where he put them all so I was just having so much fun I gave a lot of credit to Marty as Peter Sokol who did a lot of great work in the game and getting the autumn app working and feeling good it was really funny they were having a creative conversation about the automap so being an artsy fartsy type like of course I want it to work and I want it to look cool you know and I remember Peter saying like it doesn't need to look old it just needs to work and at some point I remember I literally removed myself in the conversation I didn't I didn't hold things up too much but everything like I'm just going to not be here because it really doesn't need to look good he's right it just needs to work oh no so and it does it's very simple and it reads really well those guys did tremendous work and it adds just so much to the game and then the toys like everything about the game has a sense of humor and it just made us laugh you know we're like I love that he would search for these things you know uh we you know what I'm hesitant to say what they were going to be other than toys because we actually might you know I don't want to say okay but but it yeah it just cracked me up and it was also a moment Brett Brett Brett put this say he's one of our animators he put this in the game the little fist bump thing in the little moment like I love how he touches it that stuff was really interesting because you can ruin your brand like even though he's a simple character and we were just doing you know what was fun we took our fun super seriously like like we really obsessed about the brand and the do marine and and that just it was a knife's edge of cheesy stupid to like cool stupid you know there's there's smart dumb and there's dumb dumb like we wanted to be smart dumb and and so too much of this it's ruined right this once in a while you know the little thing like that's that's perfect so like and and all the secrets were meaningful like there was there was something to them you were progressing your character I think the the systems in the game and the progression in the game which is a huge testament to the great work that Peter Sokol did and and some of the other guys it just everything is meaningful you know every that was one of Peters mantras was that you get an upgrade for a gun it's meaningful so when you dig into these corners I love the toys but also you get the mod box you get the stuff that you need to make yourself more powerful and then again it's super simple you know Apple level simplicity uh you can get your combat points and your upgrade points you go to your venue and you know how to do it and it works and you're using it and it's impactful and it's making a difference like that that was key you know I really think that's where that stuff works tremendous and I guess like with the different models that you put into it as well like putting like a Commander Keen one in there like yeah his idea was that a tional carlton so he he really brought a lot to the game like we Jerry Jerry's our lead level designer and Jason Collins our principle level designer and you know at it you come in everybody's going to contribute to everything like we get stakeholder groups together so I I have zero interest in the idea being necessarily my idea I just want the best idea and and I don't care if like a system idea comes from a character modeler or you know whatever so Jason had a big influence on the game from from many different perspectives first of all he's a huge doom fan like huge when he would make levels he he had doom on and he was listening to do music you go into his office you were transported into you know 1994 and and there was all kinds of doom stuff going on it was it was inspiring and and when he would block out levels he would put in all of these cards with these funny little nods to the original doom and it not like I said cool idea it's going in the game and I would see that subject I were modeling that like you know that that's going in there so when he set up that first secret that was that was his idea wanted to put the commander key wait was that his idea I know he put so many of those things in the game so he certainly deserves credit but I think I'm trying to remember who actually did that that might have been it doesn't matter if he was totally in on that net that stuff was just awesome we loved it and and it was the satisfaction that you got out of at a defined in the secret you know I mean you dig around and maybe find something meaningful for this for the progression stuff and maybe find a Commander Keen head or a doll you know like it just all of it was was entertaining we didn't want to waste the player's time with anything that wasn't entertaining I can talk about that that line of straddling like you know there's two kind of things just like the over exposition there's a subtle storytelling you doing which is like the super clever there's like the cool you know stuff that's in the game that's like not not stupid cool you talk about that in relation to like for instance the codex entries like who wrote those you know I was a I was in charge of story and we had atom gas going came in to help us out with the writing and stuff like that in we was funny like we we interviewed a couple of writer guys in Adam just he wrote beautiful geek fiction like it just I like he was so good at it and I loved working with him like he is awesome seriously so we're developing the story and and also have I'll get to this but Chad Moss colder our lead sound guy he did the he wrote a lot of the UAC spokesperson - like argent energy that you know the the road to hell is paved with argent energy so we're struggling with the story we really did it was the last thing to fall in place because the games going first all levels fall into place secret ones plays got the glory kills got all this stuff like I'm gonna put a story on this you know what I mean and like I said it was getting in the way you know like cuz you stopped a player and start trying to justify why he hates demons and they everybody loses their so um for a while there it was a slow build up to like revealing things and an atom would would pitch so you know we give him that direction and he'd do some stuff and we knew that I I wanted the Codex to be like a like a nerd Bible like basically what you're doing is you're a Comic Con geek going around the world filling it with pages so by the end you could sit there and go through it and just just till your heart's content I love that stuff on Pacific Rim there's a forum and you know what kind of metal dangers made out of and who made his engine you know the Gundam universe they just nerd out about that stuff I love that you know like I could read that for days so we really wanted the Codex to just be the deep dive into the you know but the nerd world of doom into the universe of doom and also like some meaningful stuff to like kind of kind of fill out the picture again and it seemed like the best way to do it and stay out of the players way so it is optional it you you don't have no doom doesn't have a story if you don't look for you know so the codex was a little dry like it was geek fiction but it was like uh you know like even for me I'm like I don't know you know it was the direction that we were heading in and then we watched this is a critical moment I think in that in the tone of a certain aspect of the game there's this geo slicked at comparisons in different mediums right so in the 90s there was the movie last last Boy Scout as one of my favorite movies and it came out at a time when the whole concept of doing a buddy cop movie action movie with Bruce Willis was so cliche because he'd already you know we had lethal weapons and diehards and the writer we believe is Shane Black I think he did an amazing job in that he knew it was cliche and he let the audience know that they knew like it was just and and they would make these little comments and I remember as a kid it just it just made it all okay was so smart he's being so for there's like this wonderful scene that Marty and I talked about this we watched and kind of I said wheat you know that this feels right you know for doom the one where he's uh he wakes up and and and he smokers he has the guy for a cigarette he says yeah I'll give you a cigarette and then he cracks someone and then he says you know touch me again I'll kill you gives me no cigarette he pushes the guy's brain into his nose to his brain kills him the bad guy Milo walks in and he's like you know we should introduce ourselves and Bruce Willis to smoke a cigarette you know so when Bruce Willis was awesome and and he was it's a turn around let's do our introductions he's like what difference does it make he's like you're the bad guy right he's like I am the bad guys like I'm supposed to be quaking in my boots something like that it's like something like that he's like yeah I'll quake in my boots in a minute and as a fan I was just like this is awesome you know cuz I was totally ready for some super cliche scene and he just took you know took the sauce right out and um we were like let's just everybody knows like we know they know everybody knows you know like so let's play with that let's say what if the corporation was totally like because you're expecting the game to be like maybe it's in a cult and it's a secret and no one knows how about as soon as you walk in it's playing on a megaphone like we need volunteers for the revenant program we're going to turn people into demons you know and and and the the idea was the idea was that Hell had already taken over so you know like when you're talking to somebody who's like full-blown nuts about something they got that glassy look in their eyes and you're like you really scared me with stuff you're saying right now so it was a little bit of a play on that um it's just just being so out and about with your crazy that seemed very liberating just for me for everybody and and because and so the messaging in the end and the craziness so Adam comes back because he would stay with us for a couple weeks at a time and I I pitched it to him I was just kind of like what they know you know they're just and and they're proud of it because let's say the demons have already kind of because he'll influences everybody so like they they've already become members of the occult and they're not even aware of how crazy they are we painted this scene to kind of sum up the way it was is that they had board meetings about human sacrifices to summon the gods or like who's going to donate you know their heart to the next you know summoning of the next baron and and then they have a you know so they have interns applying for this stuff and and there's like you know posters in the lunchroom about mang Cuba's programs and like we just kept going with it atoms cracking up he's like and he just you know it's right when it's very much like being a comedian you kind of put it out there and if the audience laughs you're like okay you know so he we put it out there and I was like dude this this is he's like this is awesome like this is we could do this you know so so he comes back and he he says I'm gonna do the first half he's like okay he's super fast the guy guys awesome you know he's freelancer you guys ever in iron so so uh the the the super experienced guy - like I loved talking to him just about stuff in general real real real experience stuff so he comes back and he's like I'm gonna take the first half or the codex entries when you because they're coming stages the first one you unlock like on the IMP or whatever or like the facility is going to be kind of a straight line because most cults the kind of normal upfront they're just like yes everything's fine it's about finding yourself and no it's not weirdness going on you know and then you get to like the seventh level you know four years in and you just get handed the book and you like this is nuts like what is going on so he's like let's make this the second entry be like the black book right that only like certain advocates can get and will like reveal the crazy to them and he's the first one he gave me was the one curl up in a ball and basically kiss your ass good-bye if you get attacked plaintiff dude I lost it I was like I'm like this is it once he did that I mean I I have the email like it's funny like I'm like Adam I'm losing it like I'm like this is it like just you found the gear brake the shifter off for staying here you know like this this is it and so he kept doing that and it was like slightly normal corporate agenda oh this is the access to the black book which is totally nuts you know like and and uh and then you know in in line with that because that was right about the time when the whole story kind of fell into place like that that literally that that was about when from that came demonic invasion in progress you know because it was super liberating you know I always say like a good idea is user friendly like you know when you're working with developers if you throw something out there and it works when in the meeting everybody's like oh and this and this and this and this and this a bad idea is usually like it goes nowhere but when it works or was like you know so out of that then came the UAC spokesperson guy you know and so Chad Moss holder is uh is a I wrote a lot of the dialogue and the general outlines in Suffolk that Adam actually did passes on it the back when we were trying to do the other stuff the sort of the slow set up the one that didn't work he he helped us out with that early on I ended up writing outline and the script for when we finally found that like you know when it went all kind of locked into place so so uh Adam Chad muscle to the sound guy Chris Hite told me oh he writes comics I'm like cool is it that we don't have a huge team you know and and this has to be awesome so I don't care who it is if you know anybody in the building kid that can help you're going to help you know so um we sat down and we told them about it I'm like they're nuts like just write it like they don't know that you know when you talk to somebody in they're crazy and they don't know they're crazy and they're just telling you about the weirdest you know like just write it like that you know and and what you wanted was like while I'm tearing apart demons it's like if you have a problem with the weaponization of the demons please see HR like what the did she just say like this like is that what you just said you know and and just just picking it up like as you walk by a totally dark cuz I mean what it's a doom game why would it be anything but darker and and that he he sent me a sheet dude I was dying I mean we we had that everything had to be like that was mostly the task of like okay that's great like boil out the fact that me and Marty's job was literally like with the saucepan boiling out fat like I love it yeah that's 40 words say that in 10 words you know uh he just had a stack of them and they're hilarious then we had this one brainstorming session we're all sat in a room he had producers in there people just throwing out the most random like argent energy it's the road the road to hell is paved large energy I'm like that's awesome it's going in the game like you know I totally like that and yeah I honestly this was a hard game to make there were hard times with the reboot and all that stuff once we clicked in it was fun like and I think it shows in the game like if you and joy I'm a painter you can see how much fun I had making my paintings you could tell you're really into that one yeah you that was a job you just had to get that gig done this was just fun I mean are these meetings like it was almost that premise was just fun to work with the other one where you tried to set it up and and who's the demons in the slow reveal like it was just it was just like dragging something through the mud it was it was hard this was just like Kapow you know and Adam was into it and he was smiling and this stuff was just flying out and then so we we outlined the story for the Slayers testaments all this kind of happened at the same time because believe me our hair was on fire was sort of like the story still doesn't work in oh how much is left on me oh my god not it'll make us seem irresponsible if I tell you how much time was that it was I don't even remember it was it was it was tight I mean like anything else because it was tight because there was a there was a commitment to doing the very best that we could we could have stopped at the other story we really could have liked that would have been okay like that would have been good you wouldn't been asking about me you would not be asking me about it right now for if we stopped there it was just very forgettable um so when it came in and it clicked and it felt so good and it was like booop you know like it was just like okay get it in the game you know while all this other stuff was going on that's when you lead on your team you know and you really got great guys like Jerry who know how to make stuff happen because you're showing up at his door like midnight like I got the story we gotta get it in the game you know like um so was it the Slayers oh sorry no no no you got so the Slayers Testament we outlined the legend of the do marine you kind of enter the game as doom guy but you leave as the doom Slayer like that's that was important to us because nobody knew who the doom Slayer was and that was a lot of debate about like could you he's going to be a god by the time it's done will they accept this and then we were like it's cool like I hope they do you know so this latest Testament was very much that you're going to be one bad right but it's really drawn out and it's just you know epic and it's like you're hearing this Black Sabbath in concept album dude with a mic just reading it out and you're just like holy I'm a bad F and and Adam is he's so awesome at that like he really is like we outlined sort of the arc of the do marine and the he would do and stuff like that and Adam just put it together and I mean I was reading and I was dying I'm like this is amazing and then this the the voice actor right I mean like just it was crazy to watch him do it and like he just it just was perfect and we put it in the game and I got to be honest like ress were out there I mean like we were putting ourselves out there like sort of like what but why not I mean when you're making it when you're making something I'd rather go down swinging for the fences than bunting like that you know like who cares I'm a hit in singles like I don't give a like just work home run you know go all the way so like was there a worry that you were like sort of making a joke out of this like I mean it's doom right it's like people love this thing and they've loved it for like 20 years yes and you're like putting all this was there was a little bit of reticence like oh maybe we're doing too much with this so if you if you let them see you sweat they they won't buy it you know like it's I did a little bit of stand-up comedy at one point when I lived in LA and there's a thing that like you got to own it like you got to stand up there and sell it with everything you got and then they'll buy it they'll go with you you know if you could tell don't believe me and because Marty is 2:00 in the morning and Marty and I looking at each other we sure about this like that voice is pretty out there like this is some serious we just said he brought down like a Titan you know like we're like it like this let's just do it you know like it's go all the way I think I think the brand was so easy to work with it was like the most pliable clay for a sculptor to work with I mean it it to do you know like every time we worried about that stuff which was totally valid you look at the sprites going burn and like the this stuff you know what I mean and you're just like we could do anything I like like have you seen the stuff that goes on to do we would say that you just play a game and I'm like yeah let's just do he's kind of wrap it like you know like that who cares there's a rabbit on a stake and what it came like like let's just go to and I think ultimately like I I just think that games and and movies I love when they take the time to put the juice into the character I think that jaws is jaws is powerful because they spend so much time talking about how badass jaws is and they build them up and he's the thing and oh my god and so like we were doing that with the do marine I I love when they do that like you know when it when that when the hero pulls out his special gun don't just pull it out and shoot somebody I want to know that that was made out of special metal that was forged by some samurai dude like long you know I mean and slowly pull it out in the gleam off the thing like that's really what we were doing we were like milk in it like built building up the legend of the numeron and uh and and just I loved what what Adam wrote like it was it was just the way he wrote it like he is pretty cool like he could shift with the codec stuff on the Slayers Testament he was able to shift from like fantasy you know like like hellish culty fantasy to total nerd tech you know like with the guns and stuff like that just I loved it it was really cool we talked a little bit the audio design this game because like it's amazing it adds to the cinematic flare of this game like constantly yes talk about the music maybe in a second but just like the actual audio Sam design itself it's crazy um Chris is amazing so so's make Gordon so is every Chad the whole team all those guys uh and and um yeah I mean it crescendos beautifully it accents every action that I do it is a rock concert Chris for for that there was a there was a filters in place there was a priority he maintained that priority don't think there was an arguments you know like I got it here the thing and it's like dude you know the power of fantasy always comes first so and we ultimately struck a really good balance you know of like hearing the things that you needed to hear from a gameplay perspective from a narrative perspective but then ultimately like making the player constantly feel like a badass I just love the work that make Gordon does I listen to the OST on my way home to work you know it's a it's such a it's such a simple emotion I think that doom taps in from an audio perspective that wonderfully complements the gameplay everybody just wants to kick some ass sometimes you know what I mean like just keep it simple like there's been a long time since a piece of entertainment is made me pull out the horns like everybody's got the horns we vote you know we all grew up with these today it's not you don't pull these out that much like it's just and it do made me do that again where I was just like this is awesome you know like it horns up heads down let's just kill some demons no like and and uh it says it felt so good and the music was just perfect you know there were times when he first put in the music when it would kind of come online at the end right just run into his office and be like dude I can't stop playing this like I feel like I just want to smash someone in the face after I'm done playing this you know if you have Mickey Gordon in house or was he he came he did come in he came in in the beginning and we talked we talked about the comic book talk we would though we initially when we kicked it off we knew that we shifted from and doom for the original was was a bit more hard science fiction like everything was justified and a little bit more serious a little more like contact you know like just just totally just grounded in realism and then when we shifted to doom one and two we shifted to a comic book tone like we said let comic books be the filter you know where you know everything kind of goes you know and Argent energy is our gamma rays you know every there's mutagen and teenager and Ninja Turtles there's gamma rays and Marvel like this the the secret sauce that does everything yeah it makes Hulk's it makes whatever you know so and that went for everything else like once once it went to comic book and it was big and bold and loud I think that was kind of you know at that point Mick was here and when he heard that of course it's doom you know it's got to be metal and stuff like that but I love what he infused in with sort of all different kinds of music I mean I graduated in 94 so like I love Industrial Nine Inch Nails of course that there's no Pearl Jam in Doom but that would have been my choice but the the yeah it was it just was a great power fantasy and it and it accented it it accented it beautifully and even the way like I remember the moment I was dumar I went oh no okay this is awesome and it was in when I think was the argent tower oh my god BFG division plays for the first time oh it's just like I yes and I restarted it totally immediately well and then you're discovering other things like the jump pants like when you first play through it you might not use those as much by the end when you get really good at the game so you just keep playing it I mean I'm like I'm just a killing machine I'm up in the air I'm down like like trying to nail guys the music is going it's just we couldn't stop playing the game we kept saying that in interviews it's really funny extry like what do you think a game you know peoples are all the I love it who's going to stand up there and say they don't like their product but but we really did like it was kind of a problem in the office like it was sort of like oh I got a play test Maps check to see if two checkpoints are going it's like two hours go by I'm still playing it's like oh my god I got it I have to do work you know like when you just couldn't you couldn't stop doing when you see an enemy flashing in a staggered state in front of you it's it's nearly impossible not to run up to him and smash them in the face you know it's it's very difficult how difficult I guess just couple more questions because I know we've got a bunch more people to go through and the Heather mean that the music how it like the breaks when you when you did like the way it like sucked all the audio out and then came back in again like I wish must have taken a long time to cry it did and I wish Chris would get Chad in here he could go more into it it's just the way I asked him about that recently it's just the way that it accents in the type of music that they're putting in then it wonderfully accents the action of the combat and I think it's a it's a simple enough game that I think it kind of steers into that making it almost easier to do that you know what I mean because we know what it is it's like you get to the big fight it's party time like and you know when the first wave hits like that's when it's going to go it's not a slow game that's kind of like a little fight here a little fight here oh there's a puzzle it's literally like we're about to enter cowboy stadium there's a game that's going to happen then you know we go off and do the next one get to the next stadium uh it's yeah and I think they just they just because of the power of the music it's just accented it beautiful he gave them they were working with a wonderful variety of different as you see in the doom soundtrack like you just had a lot of a lot of really great options and Mario is really go to the sort of explaining like the what the scope of that Dhoom 4 wasn't like cover shooter and sort of like in earthy and you know different sort of vibe with like a group of people you're waiting all that you're really going to like explaining things in a much more like it filmic sort of matter yeah is it because you get like you're so you're sort of take on what that was and had different it was - doom 2016 yes realistic uh you know Robert Zemeckis II contact kind of like if this really happened now granted it just want to be clear it was awesome seriously like it doesn't in my opinion as a fan of vid games and that's why I came here I don't think it makes bad stuff like I'm a fan of everything they make if you've got a controller in your hand and a gun on the screen and it's got it on the box it's gonna feel good to pull the trigger you know so it did like it was cool but it was it was more realistic you know it was a more about the the global impact of a hellish invasion you know which is cool and and as a concept I could see why they went there because I would probably want to explore that too if it wasn't a doom game you know because it sacrificed to tell a bigger story it sacrificed the doom Slayer and doom is is is about one guy involved in big things and doom for classic was more about the big things and it kind of forgot about the the dooms the the do marine or ultimately became the doom Slayer so I think that's the difference I think doom 2016 definitely focused more on the new marine and and the powers fantasy of one guy against an army you know Conan with a shotgun like it's just it and and that yeah that that solitaire you know story his cross to bear you know the sort of his mission the lone mission there's a lot of Rambo in there you know and we definitely referenced that stuff and just the cheese I mean there wasn't a lot of cheese on the doom 4 original taco there's tons of it on the new one there really was we're bringing that in in barrels and so it was it was yeah it was just more comic book more about the doom Slayer and a huge just focus on on doom 1 & 2 you know really using that as a touch that was the Bible I mean we went to that just non-stop it always showed us the way you know of what you know I told wise let's say just look back on look at the sprites okay we're okay you know when you were working on episode program obviously were involved in crafting the the various different like robots and one younger shakers yes I should know that I own blew it and the I mean you had a similar kind of cool task with do right like yes all these demons and it's kind of like are we kind of know what they are but we can like add flares them you talked about the design of some of those yeah oh your favorites and I like I like them all um gank gameplay first you know we would talk about I'm big on that like a you know in in school they would always talk about like you guys you gotta stay on package like you're given a you're given a package to work within certain dimensions a chassis you know and whatever you makes gotta fit on that and and you really haven't done your job as a designer it's not okay to say holy cow that looks amazing it's off budget doesn't fit on package like you know that that's not what our job is you know for the artist what their job is and your uh so you you're in the meetings and we're working out the design of stuff and then you want to make sure that like he looks cool but he he accentuates what it is we're trying to accomplish from a design perspective as well and then that's a good design you know something that that does its job like that that's super important so and there's no compromises like you can't really sit there and say yeah but if he just had three missiles he'd look ten times cool because that's a lot of that there's a lot of aesthetic principles and formulas that sometimes run in opposition of what's good for the game the game wins you know fun wins always fun first that was always our mantra so probably some of my favorites with that in mind would be probably the pinky I love that he's this freight train there are many times when I'm in like the last level of the game or any level of the game and you're doing the dance and you're feeling like a rock star and you're kicking major ass and he just plows you from the side just like really Coley you know and and I love how simple he is but and it speaks to that simplicity that the Apple likes and city of just swing around behind and shoot him in the in the part that looks weak you know the I love that about him I think he perfectly complements the dance you know and that's what it is like as you play through the game you're playing chess combat chess the combat puzzle that you have to solve and your tools and the amount of chess pieces on the board increase and the size of the chess board and the type of chess board increases as you progress through the game so he was a wonderful addition to the combat puzzle I thought when he came in he's one of my favorites plus he looks like that was that was so hard he looks like the original pinkie and that was a giant like pain in the in the butt to do seriously the character model are on that Jason Martin who was awesome his whole team dens Brian wynia Emmanuel Keaney all those guys just kick major ass it's weird I can't do any of their jobs so I just kind of stand there in awe when you get this stuff I mean it's it's the work that they did was really incredible and the ideas that the designers had and stuff is just awesome and then the the revenant is probably my favorite because he's so straight metal I mean he's just I mean he he belongs on the cover of an Iron Maiden album you know and and he looks I like that he looks insane like I because it's everything is humor and everything I you know I have a heart as you can tell like God I trying to take things too seriously and and the like just the the he just looks not he may that's actually was a big thing I I like to focus when you're making a product on on the emotional response that you'll get from the consumer like hat when I show you something I put a product in your hand and put a new phone in your hand we sit in the car you watch a movie that I we worked on you know or play a game that we made what are you doing I want to see are you going like this huh well maybe we're making that type of game and I want you to be scared are you smiling the whole time because that's how you should be on doom like totally we wanted you to smile we didn't want you to shriek or cover your eyes smile so when we showed it at QuakeCon and you see the revenant I mean the revenant just makes you smile because he looks ridiculous you know he's like losing his mind never he's never not screaming you know it's just hilarious so any and he makes everybody smile so you know and end to be it is why we get away with the level of violence that we do because it's kind of all okay it's all in good fun I'm just going to rip his arms off you know like this is fun we're having fun you know and because if it's just a little bit mean-spirited I think it's it's a it's a little bit that you know tonally it's a little more harsh and and and we did mean-spirited we didn't want that you know um it popcorn horror that's what we called it popcorn har-har for the whole thing and uh who else is really good the IMP is just amazing like he's the character that you could just keep fighting again and again you get a roomful of imps in our in our levels with the way these guys set this stuff up and and you're just gonna get good results flailing on the walls oh he's just awesome he really is and and um yeah it's it's uh the the concept guys so Alex Palma designed the revenant and the the the sketch just spoke to us immediately I think I think the look of the game really clicked into place with that character and we definitely like captured the spirit of something with the revenant and the work that Alex did under John John Lane is our lead concept artist and those guys really hit the mark and and then we started to like put that into everything you're always looking in my position you're always looking for those puzzle pieces that fit and then you kind of put other piece you know pieces around them so it's sort of like you see something that clicks or animation will do this animation that's like oh like that made people smile that drawing kind of has that then you just kind of linking things together you know what I mean setting up the filters and stuff like that and making sure that everything's on Brandon and speaking to the to the right tone that you're trying to achieve but yeah those the concept guys definitely did some amazing work last question I mean worked on this game for years you obviously poured your heart and soul into it and kind of went out there and like took a risk when it comes to the mood and why not what was it like when I finally got released and like you're watching videos of people like got it it was crazy the the because not everybody got it internally it was in an unfinished State a lot of the time so it it wasn't all there so you understandably it didn't click and there were concerns a I give credit to everybody involved for for we all stood by each other and we said we're going to finish this and it's going to work when it's done we have faith in what we're doing we believe in what we're doing like we feel like it's going to connect and you watch there was this guy profet I could get his name it's profanity he's a twitch guy he's got an Australian accent ah it was he was I should remember this I'm sorry he played it first he did a playthrough he gets on it was so we're all watching I'm obsessively read everything about doom if anybody writes anything I'm going to read it like immediately I have a bit of a problem and so uh he gets on first and he and it was wonderful so he gets uh he says I wasn't even thinking about doing this but I'm gonna just put it on anyway let's see what we got and then the opening hits and he just he's he's he pulls him out dude like he's all about it and I'm like dude he's doing like he's getting it like this is it's like this wheeze he you know he bought the ticket like he took the ticket he's on the train he's doing it you know and and um he was losing his mind he and then he did this thing where he he would stop and and read every codex entry in this like hellish satanic voice to people when he got to the Slayers testimony would do that and just he's he's dodging the projectiles and he's looking for all the secrets and he he was so into it and you're just like it worked like he they liked it you know I mean you I just want to make stuff that connects to people the greatest satisfaction that a creative person has a routine is that you can get it honestly the best part of being a creative person is seeing that moment when you laugh at the joke that you're supposed to laugh at are you just enjoying it you really are it's very much like a being a commercial artist means that you make art for others you have to enjoy that you know and and I love it I'm very I wear my commercial art I waive my commercial art flag with pride because I like making stuff for other people and I want them to enjoy it so to see people freaking out over it and having so much fun and doing this and he people that keep saying this is metal is block like I'm like good that's what I want you to think you know it was it was so cool every was the team was it was so great to just see like for everybody that killed themselves because we worked so hard like we really did I mean it it was easy it's easy to pour yourself into something that you love but but and honestly like and I gotta give Marty a lot of credit like he was so committed to all of us just doing the very best that we could and standing by it that like you know you you could bring your a-game it was wanted people wanted your a-game they wanted you to give it their all we totally did there's just so much heart and passion put into this even talking about it like I can't talk about it and not just gush because it was it was so much fun and we're so proud of it and just seeing it connect as a team I mean we were running around the office and and everybody so I read every reddit comment like every single one and and I in the and the doom world guys I read everything like and we and every every video that gets made so like it just felt so good when people even today will will just discover the game on sale and they'll post again and say I just want to say that this is seriously like holy cow like this is awesome I'm having so much fun best FPS Beauvoir like and whatever that's all like hyperbole like we totally appreciate it we're not putting ourselves in any kind of position but it just feels good that they like it you know it's it's amazing

Channel: Noclip - Video Game Documentaries

Views: 343,214

Keywords:

Id: LVLecokaRv4

Length: 71min 50sec (4310 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 23 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/HP_Craftwerk]

"Horns Up, Heads down, let's just kill some demons" should be on the game box. It sums it up perfectly.

[u/livevil999]

I really like this guy's interviews from the DOOM Docs. He just seems like a really cool guy and he's surprisingly funny.

[u/dammejed]

I love this guy. He clearly loves the hell out of video games, and it really shows in both the experience we got with Doom as well as his enthusiasm in this documentary series.

I'm really looking forward to more stuff from id now that I know this guy is steering the ship, creatively speaking.

[u/claudiopiccinni]

Interesting guy and interesting also to know a little about the development of such a good title. Thanks for sharing!

[u/KidCasey]

I loved DOOM's focus. Seems like the success of the game really came out of the team being able to stay on brand 100%. I can't wait for more from them and wish other studios would take note rather than shoving a million tiny missions into every game.

[u/GamerKey]

Well this was even more fun to watch than I expected it to be just from the parts that made it into the doc.

Now I can't wait to watch the extended interview with Marty, talking a bit more about "Doom 4 1.0" and all the other stuff that happened during development.