Prerelease:Doom 64 (Nintendo 64)
This page details pre-release information and/or media for Doom 64 (Nintendo 64).
 | This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article? |
 | This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes. |
| To do: A few todos.
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Contents
Development Timeline
1994
- Late 1994 - Doom 64 starts development at Midway San Diego, with id Software supervising the project.
1995
- May 11th-13th - Midway announces ports of Doom for the PlayStation, SNES and the then upcoming Ultra 64 (which become the Nintendo 64 when it finally released).
1996
- December 10th - The evaluation prototype is complied
1997
- April 4th - Doom 64 is released in North America.
- August 1th - The game is released in Japan
- December 2th - The game is released in Europe.
Early Development
Doom 64 went by the tentative title of The Absolution, before being changed. The name was later reused for the final level.
Of note, the name was also reused for the cancelled Doom Absolution, a multiplayer spin-off in the same vein as Turok: Rage Wars that went unreleased supposedly due to the aging nature of the id Tech 1/Doom engine, most of the Doom 64 being assigned to work on the Nintendo 64 port of Quake and "internal politics" at Midway.
Screenshots
Nintendo Power Issue #85, June 1996
| To do: More screenshots from this Nintendo Power issue alone. |
Screenshots of the game were featured in Issue #85 of Nintendo Power magazine in June 1996.
A screenshot showing a Mesoamerican step pyramid absent from the final.
GamePro Issue #86 September 1996
 | This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: In the Doom 64 prototype WAD, there is a "Laser Gun" (image ID: LSRGA0) that fits the description of this. Look closely.  |
A screenshot showing a cut weapon that resembles a flamethrower. It often thought of as being an early version of the Unmaker, but according to Tim Heydelaar he believes it is an early version of the Rocket launcher.
Pre-Alpha Demo Reel Footage
| To do: Begin adding stuff from here. |
A video featuring early gameplay with some of the Mesoamerican architecture seen in the early screenshot above along with Egyptian architecture as well.
Pre-Production Models
| To do: Gregor revealed some background info and tidbits in responses to some comments on his posts/images. This probably should be documented as well. |
In 2016, model designer Gregor Punchatz would post early designs of some monsters on social media, mostly on his Facebook.
It should be noted that unlike the games on PC, these models weren't scanned to make the sprites. Rather, after being moulded from concept art they were then used as a reference for the Midway team to make digital 3D models before finally converting them into sprites ala Donkey Kong Country.
Doom Guy
Models of the Doom Marine that show him without a shirt or a helmet. The yellow one on the right has no head or arms. A more complete shot can be seen in this video on Gregor's YouTube channel.
Early Cyberdemon
Gregor appeared to have a VERY strange, earlier and complete Cyberdemon model that bears a resemblance to the demons from the cover of the original Doom (to which it's notable that the cover was made by his late father) and has two rocket launchers and metal hooves instead of a singular rocket launcher and metal hoof. It's abdominal area also has a weird cybernetic part sticking out instead of wires connecting it's torso to it's legs. It's also worth mentioning this design was going to be used for one of the covers of the game funnily enough, but the entire cover also got unused. With this info, there is a possibility of a prototype build having this design for the Cyberdemon.
Hellhound
A model of a cut enemy known as the "Hellhound" or "Hell Dog". It has the appearance of a hairless two-headed dog, that makes it resemble the mythical greek beast Orthrus. It not known if this enemy had any work done on it, or why it was scrapped.
While a similarly named monster is seen in Doom RPG, it looks nothing like this design and is just a recolor of the dogs from Wolfenstein 3D.
Pinky
The original model of the Pinky demon with Gregor Punchatz, obliviously proud with his work.
A close-up and side view of the model from before.
A photo with a much earlier version of the same model that is lacking details. Concept art of the Pinky used as a reference can be seen in the back while Dave Bim is seen working on another model of an unrelated game Gregor was working on around the same time.
Mischievous
Heads of the Cyberdemon and Doom Guy. Doom Guy lacks a visor on his helmet and the Cyberdemon appears to be based on the early design seen above.
