The Platforming Appreciation Thread

I'm part of this weird minority of players who actually enjoy first-person platforming (I wonder if you can tell). I've always been a big fan of the increased movement capabilities in DOOM4 but I honestly didn't expect Eternal to go as far as it does in the platforming direction. The combination of double jump and double dash, wall mounting, swinging on those rods or whatever, shooting timed buttons to jump though doors, avoiding hazards midair - it's like a surprise gift for me. I know that people generally hate platfoming in shooters so the id's decision to include it in the game was completely unexpected. Hopefully it's as fun as it looks in the gameplay videos.

I do have mixed feelings about the fact that falling into the abyss simply teleports you back to the ledge without any penalty... But I do understand that it's tricky to design platforming in a way that would not instantly frustrate the player. Instant death just leads to reloading which is not any different from teleporting back and forcing the player to traverse a certain distance to get back to where they were can be quite irritating. But anyway, I cannot really complain as I didn't expect this to be in the game in the first place.

So I wonder, how many insane people share my excitement for the platforming in Eternal?

I love it

I'm fine with the direction they're taking Doom, I just prefer retro Doom.

Don't think you're in a minority, honestly. While it's not my favorite part of 2016, I did enjoy the sense of motion it presented, certainly how smooth the controls were. If Eternal has that kind of control responsiveness plus the sense of SPEED that Shadow Warrior 2 had with its own zipping motions, I think I'll be a very happy man this year indeed. 

Yeah, I disagree with some of the reception it has received. I think the platforming will help the game's pacing by cooling things down between battles and making exploration more engaging. Having the game involve non-stop shooting will eventually get old, no matter how good it is.

Also, first-person platforming is my favorite kind when done well, so I'm looking forward to this aspect of the game.

I like oil platforms, I think they're pretty cool and shit.

I'm excited about it, as well. It just looks fun, and extra mobility during combat is hardly a bad thing. Having more interesting ways of getting from point A to point B is certainly not a bad thing, either -- having to figure out the correct timing and sequence of the double jump, dash, monkey bar swing, shoot-the-switch acrobatics sounds a lot more engaging to me than simply climbing up the ledge, and walking down the corridor to get to the next combat area.

There's also the addition of swimming, which I hardly see discussed. Really curious how that will be tied into the gameplay and level design. 

Nah I hate it. I’m just playing a nightmare run in Doom 2016 currently and the platforming is the weakest part of the game.

if I wanted to platform I’d do gymnastics or something 

1 hour ago, TheRedTide said:

I like oil platforms, I think they're pretty cool and shit.

I don't like oil platforms because of the environmental impact, but I like platforming

@sluggard seems to share your passion with his Project POD

Yep :) Platforming is fun when it's done right in my opinion, Mirror's Edge and Titanfall are some of my favorite games because of it (well that and of course the minimalistic art style and music in the case of ME)

3 hours ago, Touchdown said:

...(I wonder if you can tell)...

OH gawd hell no.  I would rather play a game that specialized in platforming that doing whatever the fuck that is.  Chasm is my leave favorite classic doom level.

HOwever, Doom Eternal platforming looks a lot more intuitive and puzzle like.

I don't mind the platforming at all, but I do wonder if they could have made some of the platforming sections sit more naturally in the environments which we see them. Although having said that, maybe that's the point. The big flaming chains and the massive floating bronze platforms are out of place because they are where Hell is. Maybe we'll get some kind of self-aware in-universe note about the things. Or maybe it's meant to be a mystery?

Stuff like the swingbars in the ruined urban areas and the climbable walls don't quite trigger that "why is this here?" response on my part. The idea that ruined buildings might have stuff sticking out of them and the Slayer having an eye for surfaces he can cling onto has the vaguest shade of plausibility for me to just go with it.

I think ultimately all games have this internal contradiction between gameplay logic and sensible-world logic. Even the most immersive games have allowances for the virtual realities in which they inhabit. I think the liberties that Doom Eternal's designers have chosen to take are unfamiliar ones for the FPS genre of late, but they're in service of the core gameplay first and foremost.

The decision not to punish the player too harshly for failing at the platforming is a good one in my opinion. It allows unfamiliar players more confidence to perform manoeuvrers, without the risk of having to load a save point or lose a life, keeping the flow of the game going.

First-person platforming works when the movement capabilities accommodate it, see Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.

I appreciate that it allows for more verticality, something I happen to be a fan of in maps, for any game really. I still hate first person platforming but the new movement mechanics remedy the gripes I have with it. Ledge grab ensures you can still get up if you under shoot it, and if you overshoot it you can dash backwards. Double jumping gives you leeway to watch where you land. They've obviously put thought into the system, so I'm not complaining.

I also like the platforming bits, I think it'll add a lot variety in environment and level design.

The platforming allows more engaging level design, breaks the monotony, and also trains the player in movement mechanics that will be very useful during combat. Love it. 

I mean I dont mind platforming in FPS games like the Xen levels in Half-Life for example, but that game play video you linked is killing me.

I'm interested in level hazards, like the stuff that can hurt or even kill you.

I wonder if the floating rock things with skull that drop lava can hurt the player.

The platforming is one of the things I'm most excited for personally. I've heard a lot of people say that it looks weird and out of place, but I'm glad they went the arcadey route. I like games to be unrealistic, outlandish, and over the top with things. When I play a game, I try to escape my life and enter a new world, and all the cool spinning mario flame things and floating pillars look awesome to me and appeal to that side of me.

Super happy about the platforming myself

6 hours ago, BBQgiraffe said:

I don't like oil platforms because of the environmental impact, but I like platforming

What if they're retrofitted to house an army of Mercenaries with bounds to no nation, led by an eyepatch wearing, grumpy former special forces operator with a kickass mullet?

I like some of the movement mechanic expansions but not all. I'd happily ditch the grappling hook and dashes, but I like the double jump, mantling, wall climbing, swinging from pipes, etc.

I usually don't care for platforming in FPS games but Doom 2016 pulled it off really well. 

43 minutes ago, TheRedTide said:

What if they're retrofitted to house an army of Mercenaries with bounds to no nation, led by an eyepatch wearing, grumpy former special forces operator with a kickass mullet?

nope don't like oil platforms no matter the entity controlling them

56 minutes ago, Ajora said:

I usually don't care for platforming in FPS games but Doom 2016 pulled it off really well. 

This. I don't like platforming in FPS games but i think it worked in Doom 2016, although i feel like it may have had a bit to much of it in certain areas. For Doom Eternal it does seem like it'll have quite a bit of platforming as well but there are new moves such as the new dash move as well as a swinging ability to help compensate. I do wonder how console players are going to be able to pull this stuff off on a controller though.

I hope DE has a surprise quake-style underwater level as well. Would be another fun traversal element + underwater demons would be cool

1 minute ago, FortressOfDoom said:

I hope DE has a surprise quake-style underwater level as well. Would be another fun traversal element + underwater demons would be cool

You know, nobody seems to ever bring this up, and I wouldn't have even noticed had Touchdown not pointed it out to me some time ago, but there WAS an underwater clip in one of the trailers. I tend to love underwater stuff in FPS games, all the Quake levels with moats that had secrets in them or were just the lowest level of the map that you could explore first, or having them be a sort of variant of the hidden-behind-damaging-floors secret, an optional underwater part you explore at the risk of running out of air, but there could be secrets there. That's definitely a gameplay element that I'm all for and I hope there's a good amount of both water areas and damaging floor areas.

Doom Eternal has some underwater sections.

1 hour ago, TheRedTide said:

Doom Eternal has some underwater sections.

That's awesome, I didn't know that. Hope they are like Quake.