DOOM · EC900 - NEW CLASSIC

1440p IMAGE (right click to view full size)
This image has been used so much when referring to DOOM 2016, I felt it was important to call out two people that made it happen, because without them, it would never exist in the first place. It was my original intention for this to be a surprise for finishing the game, but the marketing people caught wind of it, and sort of ruined that by putting it in the trailers. This made me extremely sad that the surprise was ruined, but I do think it had a positive effect overall as it created a small buzz before the game came out. Obviously, the entire team at id Software contributed to the assets used to make it, from the character models, weapon model, environment lighting and even rendering code.

However, while I was working on the credit sequence, the original idea to recreate Don Punchatz box art for an ending to it all came from Ivo Zoltan Frey, the lead animation programmer. Sometimes an idea might seem simple or obvious, but that’s just because sometimes it’s so perfect. Joon Kim, a senior animator, posed the scene, did the nice camera lead in, and added the surprise come to life animation at the end. My contribution to this particular shot was merely getting it in-game, setting up some character lights, and doing a bit of integration with simple effects.

While it is part of the credit sequence I created and something I definitely wanted in there, the credit for this shot and image really goes to the guys mentioned above, specifically Joon Kim and the great work he did. Normally I wouldn’t go out of my way to illustrate something so specific and dedicate a whole page to it, but when art takes on a life of its own like this, I feel it’s worthy of recognizing the few who actually came up with it and made it happen, and in this case I’d say Ivo and Joon. Plus this is probably the largest and cleanest rendering of it.

One last thing I'd like to mention about this image and shot is that I really wanted to use it as the shot to thank JOHN CARMACK, JOHN ROMERO, DAVE TAYLOR, ADRIAN CARMACK, KEVIN CLOUD, TOM HALL, SANDY PETERSON, and all the original creators of DOOM, because without their legendary work, not only would this version of the game not exist but the blueprint for much of how to make it fun would not either. I even thought about hiding it somehow in the body pile. Unfortunately, the political climate at id and Zenimax makes this type of thing very touchy these days and with all the headaches and egos I had to deal with on a super out of time schedule, I just didn't have the energy to put it even on a black slate after the id logo to see if it would be approved. For that I feel ashamed.


IVO ZOLTAN FREY
·re-creation idea

JOON HYUNG KIM
·layout, animation and camera