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I love this game unapologetically. The shift from fast pace to horror in darkness really makes this game stand out, theres a certain eeriness to it i cant explain but its dark, and i fucking love it.
Here are the problems I've encountered and the solution.
TLDR: Just install original Doom III and DHEW3 source port. Follow the instructions in DHEW3 (copy the pk3s from the original game). Download Lost Mission from moddb (expansion from BFG).
I've started from Doom III BFG, because it is newer and has additional expansion so I thought it might be better. It launches without problems, but in the game the mouse is not moving the gun. It seems it's impossible to bind mouse movement to "look up", "look down", "turn left", "turn right". I've read it's a console port and maybe that's the reason. I've tried various fixes I've found somewhere like deleting joy config files and renaming the exe. But no such workaround worked for me. I know that classic DOOM had such controls originally (moving the gun with arrow keys), but even DOOM I/II can be played with a mouse without a problem and it's just more comfortable. I've tried alternative engine RBDOOM, but it didn't help either. Nothing I've tried fixed the problem of not having a "free look".
After not being able to play Doom III BFG with a mouse. I've tried original Doom III. It's considered a better version by the community, because it's not a console port and has better moddability. It comes with Resurrection of Evil expansion and the last patch - 1.3.1 which is exactly what we need if we want to play with mods. The Lost Mission expansion which was exclusive to Doom III BFG has been ported to this version as a mod which is available on moddb, so it seems like there is nothing lost if we aren't able to make BFG work like in my case. With the mod we have all 3 campaigns and the original has no content cut from it. Thanks to mods we can enhance the game so it looks and plays better than BFG. But it didn't come without it's own issues on my system:
When I first launched the game it asked me for a CD key, but I couldn't do anything. Mouse didn't work and menu can't be controlled with a keyboard. I needed to edit the key manually outside the game. The files are base/doomkey for Doom III and base/xpkey for ROE. The keys are in our library on GOG under Doom III -> More -> Serial. I just inserted the serials on first line of these files. After launching the game next time there was no prompt for a key.
The second problem is that even then I still couldn't use the mouse in the menu. It was stuck in upper left corner of the screen and didn't respond to any movement of the mouse. It looks like it's very common issue, because there are many posts on various forums, Steam etc. I've tried some of the fixes that people recommended but they didn't work.
Finally I've tried from scratch with a source port that people recommended called DHEW3 and it fixed the problem with mouse stuck in the corner in menu and freelook in the game so finally it is playable. DHEW3 is the definite way to play the game. It apparently fixes many issues in original game. It actually works even on my stubborn Windows 10 system and is compatible with mods so there is no reason not to use it. It just works.
Well, Where shoul I start? I bought the BFG edition because of the NOSTALGIA FACTOR. I wanted to relive some of my childhood memories etc. In quality it is above most of the other shooters out there, the shoty-shoty part is really solid. The engine ... oh the engine it's the grandfather of all today engine. here and there you got into places where lights and shadows can create a really artistic design. Back than ID wanted to make a more story driven horor game, and I think they had succeeded in it. Sadly BFG strips down a little bit from the original concept no flash light, the PDA is chaged to be more excessive and some other tweeks here and there. That is why I give it only 4 stars :(. If it's on sale than, that is the the biggest bang you can buy for your bucks.
DOOM is the number one best 3D shooting game franchise period and this classic 2004 DOOM3 remaster is in my opinion the best of all DOOMS so far. Even better than the newest one! Really Really!! scary horror atmosphere and really challenging. Love everything about this!!! Who did not play, never lived...
I was looking for a DRM Free version of the original Doom 3 that included support for XP which could then be run off the Ramdrive at lighting fast speeds. Instead this BFG edition dropped XP and Vista support as well. Doom 3 WTF Edition is what this should have been called. Was about to drop $5 on this but I'm glad I scanned the reviews as well and it doesn't sound worth it.
Was the original Doom 3 protected in some way with DRM or can you just still use the original CDs and install the game to the computer and run it without an optical disc in tray check?
Gog if you can include the original Doom 3 DRM Free I'll buy this Doom 3 BFG Edition but I'll probably most likely just use the original Doom 3 version only. It's a shame the BFG edition didn't include XP and Vista support.