Bioshock 2‘s lead level designer JP LeBreton, in conjunction with his release of Arcadia Demake, takes a fascinating look at how the design of Doom contrasts with more modern design of FPSes.
When you play Doom today, it doesn’t feel much like you’re controlling a human or moving through real spaces. Try this though: press the TAB key, type IDDT twice and pretend you’re playing Geometry Wars, and the moving triangles are your enemies. This is what Doom’s designers were working from in 1993 – back then, the idea of a first person shooter was barely established, and their closest models for many mechanics were from 2D shooters like Robotron, Berserk and Tempest. This approach echoes throughout Doom’s design.
