Dear id Software/Hugo Martin: Please make a Doom Eternal Roguelite

[MisterAnderson]

Coming hot off of Hades and gearing up to dive into the new Doom Eternal DLC (been holding off due to other gaming commitments), it just occurred to me how badly I'd love for id Software to take the Doom Eternal combat loop and stretch it out over a roguelite type of game. Like...I can't even imagine how great that would be. Not only is it true to form in many ways to classic Doom (just relentlessly running and gunning through rooms with virtually no story interruptions), but it could also incorporate a similar kind of PvP demon invasion mechanic that they already designed in Eternal to allow a chance for other players to come in and disrupt your run. That would not only be a unique twist to the genre, but would probably cause it to blow up on Twitch.

I can't be the only one who would eat this up. Taking the Doom Eternal core combat loop and scattering its various weapon mods/upgrades/perks/powerups (and of course creating more) throughout randomized environments/arenas would be rip and tear PERFECTION. Ultra-Violence is definitely a thrilling experience, but it gets old grinding through the same levels over and over with the same exact moments of acquiring weapons, enemy encounters, etc., essentially boiling down to an exercise of memorization. The logical next step is to either create a roguelite add-on game mode or, ideally, a new game entirely from the ground up, but in this case they could at least use the same engine and re-use a lot of the enemy assets they've already created.

Am I just too hyped for the DLC to be thinking straight or is this a really great idea? I think the only thing I'm bummed about is that "Doom Eternal" would have been the perfect name for a roguelite Doom.

Spoiler

In before the Eternal haters

 

[Tophat Jones]

I'd be down for that actually.

 

[LumberPanda]

I would definitely pay money for that.

 

[Pancracio17]

tbh, most combat focused games could get a rouguelite spinoff and id be down. Your post made me think about what a DMC rouglite would look like.

 

[ChaosSmurf]

yeah gimme

 

[robot]

I know it's not what you're asking for but there is actually a Doom Roguelike and it's pretty kick-ass (Derek Yu is one of the devs) if you can put up with the ascii.

 

[SofNascimento]

Would something like Prey: Mooncrash be considered a roguelike?

 

[Tatsu91]

Would something like Prey: Mooncrash be considered a roguelike?

Click to shrink...

Yep it is and its one of the best 3d ones

 

[wwm0nkey]

Yeah I would be super down for that

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Like this:

 

[MisterAnderson]

I also must admit that I was unsure if the type of game I was describing is best defined as a "roguelite" or "roguelike."

 

[trashbandit]

Would something like Prey: Mooncrash be considered a roguelike?

Click to shrink...

Not through and through, but it's certainly taking a lot of its design ideas and structure from rogue-likes. I think Mooncrash is a bit too deterministic to be compared with other popular rogue-likes, but personally I think it's one of the coolest experiments in the space in recent years.

 

[Dever]

So basically Ultra-Nightmare, but you keep the upgrades every time you have to start from the beginning? Bet someone could make a mod like that

 

[Alek]

So basically Ultra-Nightmare, but you keep the upgrades every time you have to start from the beginning? Bet someone could make a mod like that

Click to shrink...

I think you would need a lot more upgrades, mods and weapon variants, as well as a distinct structure to the game that enticed replayability (randomised level orders, enemies, and variants of enemies and bosses).

I agree with the OP though, a Doom roguelit would be a great fit.

 

[MisterAnderson]

So basically Ultra-Nightmare, but you keep the upgrades every time you have to start from the beginning? Bet someone could make a mod like that

Click to shrink...

In my mind, you wouldn't keep the upgrades. You'd possibly build up persistent currency along your runs that would let you unlock perks between runs. And the game wouldn't just start on ultra-nightmare difficulty, but it would have permadeath. Some degree of randomized environments with randomized enemy spawns as well.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

This makes a lot of sense for the direction they went with Doom Eternal, and fits well with the upgrades/perks too I think.

They could probably chop the arena rooms/slayer gate areas up into small unconnected rooms, and portal you to a new random one after every clear. Randomize demon/powerup/weapon spawns and increase difficulty as time goes on, I think there's a lot of opportunity there. The only issue I somewhat see is how many weapons act as direct counters to certain demons. In my mind you can get around that by linking the spawn of certain weapon(s) spawns with specific demons. Or maybe have some layer of choice as time goes on, with weapons perhaps. Decided to get the rifle instead of the shotgun early on? Now you're forced to snipe arachnotrons tails the rest of your run.

It's definitely a fun thought experiment for the game. They would probably end up tweaking/adding perks around the run based nature too.

 

[MisterAnderson]

This makes a lot of sense for the direction they went with Doom Eternal, and fits well with the upgrades/perks too I think.

They could probably chop the arena rooms/slayer gate areas up into small unconnected rooms, and portal you to a new random one after every clear. Randomize demon/powerup/weapon spawns and increase difficulty as time goes on, I think there's a lot of opportunity there. The only issue I somewhat see is how many weapons act as direct counters to certain demons. In my mind you can get around that by linking the spawn of certain weapon(s) spawns with specific demons. Or maybe have some layer of choice as time goes on, with weapons perhaps. Decided to get the rifle instead of the shotgun early on? Now you're forced to snipe arachnotrons tails the rest of your run.

It's definitely a fun thought experiment for the game. They would probably end up tweaking/adding perks around the run based nature too.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, thinking about the slayer gates is basically what gave me the thought. And to your point about the weapons/enemy relationship, one potential solution is to give the player 4-5 "basic" weapons at the start that allow them to essentially handle any enemy type without feeling completely handicapped. Weapon unlocks/drops/whatever along the run (rewards for succeeding in a room like Hades) could include variations or upgrade mods for those weapons, variations of the same weapons, or super weapons, etc.