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My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

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Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#121
post #108

Anyone else have experience with Id Software Studio Director Marty Stratton? We don't want to ruin his reputation unnecessarily either. But if he really did commit defamation to this degree, it should not be a footnote.

The only gut feeling I have is that other people might have took the gag money plus the heavy-handed NDA or don't have the clout of Mr. Gordon to publicly speak out. But other than that, you're right. I hope more people come out and share their stories wrt id.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#122
post #45

”The same thoughtless disregard for basic music fundamentals that plagued the preliminary edits ended up on the final OST.” As a musician and music-lover, seeing how they brickwalled [1][2] Mick’s tracks in the screenshots only serves to add to the heartbreak of his entire saga. [1] Loudness War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war [2] The Loudness War https://youtu.be/3Gmex_4hreQ

It seems the brickwall mastering was intentionally done by Mick Gordon. See the section starting at "id Software approved my mastering". The alleged "disregard for basic music fundamentals" appears to have introduced more dynamic range, although not in a way that's pleasant to listen to.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to say, and important to do, but also hard to do. These relationships always have a hugely asymmetrical power balance. As a contractor your reputation is so critical and the games industry is a small place. And there are far more artists than jobs.

True. Touched on this in my other comment too. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33535123 Reading through this particular situation though, he was in a unique position to negotiate due to all of management bungles. 1. Original soundtrack author. 2. Conference announcement that he would be producing the sound track as presales exploded. There were others as well. I'm a very patient person, but one thing I've learne…

It's hard to find good legal representation you can trust and is knowledgeable about the industry/situation.

It is very easy to find a lawyer who will take your money, however.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#125
post #68

In case we need another example to why Reddit moderation needs... moderation: Attempting to remove the Reddit post myself I’d had enough. I grew tired of having the respect I afforded Marty, and his employer, with attempts to resolve the dispute privately, get turned into a giant waste of time, effort and money. The Reddit post had been up for 15 months and attempts to resolve the dispute with Marty had gotten me now…

FWIW that post now has a warning notice on it with a link to the Medium article.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#126

it was always obvious that DOOM Eternal had a pretty troubled development, what with all the delays, the apparent focus on the novel multiplayer mode that nobody ended up really liking at all, the promised-after-release Dark Souls-style "invasions" system that never ended up materializing, and the general unfocused nature of the final product compared to its predecessor. but getting a peek behind the scenes here is r…

DOOM 2016 got by on its freshness and its tone. The combat mechanics in DOOM Eternal, while having some divisive elements, really pushed the envelope for the series and for FPS games in general. But that was thanks to Hugo Martin, not Marty Stratton.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#127
I don't do much contract work or deal with the video game industry at all, so I'm wondering was Mick just being overly understanding here about the payment issues? Someone refusing to pay me for work would instantly shut down any work I do with them. And my head nearly exploded when I read the part about how they secretly published a soundtrack that they didn't pay for, and then agreed to be pay for it only if he did another soundtrack for them.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#128

Marty came across as a slimy prick in the (otherwise excellent) Noclip documentary about the making of Doom (2016). Turns out the real-life version is much worse.

I remember bouncing off DOOM Eternal after a couple hours because all its clever new mechanics were oddly anti-fun and puzzly resource management. Like the creators didn't know what made the predecessor special. I was confused and stopped playing a couple hours in.

So I watched the Noclip hoping to understand the design choices better. Marty was disgustingly smug and assured about it all, coming across like a victim for being a misunderstood creative genius. Several times he implied the 2016 breakout hit he was following up on was dull and repetitive.

That helped me understand where it all went wrong. I'm devastated but not surprised that Mick got treated this way. Props to him for choosing to get the word out instead of taking a payoff. I hope there are professional repercussions for Marty.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#129
A lot of assholery going on at ID management, but mick did a lot of mistakes himself.

He probably should just have sued them to pay for all the music and to not put his name on the OST...

And why in the world would you trust that marty guy after talking with him on the phone. That just ... Also it would probably helped his reputation, to write some of this (the part about the OST) earlier in the doom reddit as response to marty.

Re: My full statement regarding DOOM Eternal

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The soundtrack for Eternal was the only thing that felt special about this sequel IMO. Doom 2016 was and is amazing though, instant classic including the congenial soundtrack. I’m even less excited about any further sequel now. Too bad John Carmack didn’t want to put up more with the business side of things. Zenimax are slowly becoming the worst of all the gravedigger big gaming companies.

I liked Eternal, I know that a lot of people felt the new mechanics were too much of a departure from 2016, and I'm sympathetic to that, but I had a hell of fun time beating the game on Nightmare. It turns it into something like Hotline Miami, where there's a room full of guys who can kill you almost immediately, so you wind up playing the encounter over and over until you have the perfect path of devastation through…

> It turns it into something like Hotline Miami, where there's a room full of guys who can kill you almost immediately, so you wind up playing the encounter over and over until you have the perfect path of devastation through the enemies.

I call it Mario-ization, and I hate it.

I also hated Eternal. It wasn't Doom. It was a "first-person jumper."

Based on the previous game, I pre-ordered the deluxe whatever version, and then couldn't stand the game, even on the easiest setting. This was the game that finally ended pre-ordering for me.

As always, TACMA and YMMV, etc., et. al. I wish I could enjoy these kinds of games, since a lot of effort is devoted to them these days.

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