Amsterdoom
AmsterDoom is a first person shooter developed by Davilex and published around March of 2000. Davilex was a developer of video games, computer games and computer software from the Netherlands. The game is set in the city of Amsterdam, which has been invaded by alien creatures. It takes place in several well known locations like the central station, red light district and Schiphol Airport. The game was only released officially in the Netherlands.
The concept of the game that guided its design and development was described by the lead technical director of the game:
- Localized for the Dutch market: recognizable locations and ingredients from Amsterdam
- No gore (no blood & limbs flying)
- Simple entry-level gameplay for casual, non-hardcore gamers.
- Interesting opponents (Grøbbers) with enough marketing potential.
The game was developed for over a year. It used a modified Genesis3D engine, an existing open 3d engine that could also be licensed for commercial usage. It also used a game engine that was developed in house.
The game was not the success that Davilex hoped it would be. Around October of 2001 the game was renamed and republished as Amsterdam Monster Madness. Davilex stated that this was a business decision: the game failed to reach its intended audience in the numbers it hoped for. The change of the name and the box art was made to appeal more to a general audience instead of a traditional gaming audience, who in some reviews were very dismissive of technological and gameplay aspects of the game compared to other shooters like Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament.
Before its release the game spawned a minor controversy by a supposed possibility kill parking attendants in a virtual re-creation of Amsterdam and destroy city landmarks. The controversy died down when the game was released and people could see what the game was actually about.
The game Invasion Deutschland (also by Davilex) uses a lot of the same assets, level designs and enemies from AmsterDoom. That game takes place in several locations within Germany, in cities like Berlin and Cologne. Invasion Deutschland was released on October 30th of 2000. Invasion Deutschland builds upon the same strategy that Davilex took with some of its previous games, where the Netherlands focused racing game A2 Racer would also get adapted and localized versions for countries like the UK and Germany.
Alternative box art[edit]
Big box version with sticker attached to it stating the lowered retail price for the game. Also describes the game more, presumably to make it more appealable to its intended audience. Unknown when this version started retailing.
Box with new name and artwork for the renamed version of the game, now called Amsterdam Monster Madness. Presumed to have started using this name and art around October of 2001.
Manual[edit]
Manual. Viewable in full here
News[edit]
Article that discusses a computer game that caused some controversy, and Amsterdoom is brought up as an example case.
News article describing controversy about a new upcoming game called AmsterDoom, where the writer states that you can supposedly kill parking attendants in a virtual re-creation of Amsterdam
Commentary about AmsterDoom and the controversy that happened in the press in the weeks before release. Places the game in a more realistic context of what actually happens in the game, and the developers intent.
Announcement of the availability of several AmsterDoom related music tracks that could be downloaded from the game's website. Also mentions an upcoming version of the game made for the German market.
Article from Webwereld discussing the launch of the game, the intentions of its creator behind the game and the decision to not include multiplayer game play modes.
Interviews[edit]
Interview with Ellen van Meerendonk, at that time marketing manager Games at Davilex, published in November of 2002. Goes into the retail performance of the game and the failure of the game to reach its intended mass market audience instead of hardcore gamers. Also states that this was the driving force behind the decision to change the name of the game to Amsterdam Monster Madness. Also mentions that no sequels of this type of game are to be expected.
- Podcast: BeeldBreak Podcast #18 - Milan Pollé over Davilex, RedCat en A2 Racer Interview with Micheal Pollé on the Beeld. Pollé was a graphical artist for AmsterDoom. In the interview the controversy regarding parking attendants is mentioned. According to Pollé the monsters that wore parking attendants outfits were put into the game two weeks before development was completed. Pollé states that the reason the parking attendants were put in as an enemy was because nobody likes parking attendants and it would be fun to shoot them.
Reviews[edit]
Review in PC Gamer UK #84. Surprisingly, because the game was not officially released outside of the Netherlands.
Review in Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, March 2000
Review by newspaper Trouw discussing the game and has reactions from the department of Amsterdam concerning parking attendants and the Rijksmuseum, which is one of the locations used in the game, March 2000
- Gamersnet.nl review from May 2000
- Gamers.nl review from March 2000, including comments from readers and a developer of the game
- Game Place website review from March 2000
- Gamez.nl review from March 2000
- Gamesen.nl review from March 2000
- Gamelife.nl review from 2000
- Gamermagazine.com review from 2000
- Classicgaming.nl review from 2002. Incorrectly states that the game uses the Quake 2 engine
- Contemporary review from November 2002 in the retro shooter focused publication E1M1, issue #2. Publication still in circulation.
Television[edit]
Item in the news program NOVA with interviews discussing the slight uproar at the idea that a player would be able to shoot parking attendants in the game. Interviews include the CEO of creator Davilex and a parking attendant.
Item in the afternoon program Middag Editie with interviews discussing the slight uproar at the idea that a player would be able to shoot parking attendants in the game.
TV commercial of the game. Unknown broadcast period.
Technical information[edit]
Paper called "Ray tracing as the future of computer games" by Juri A. Oudshoorn. Oudshoorn was one of the programmers of the game. Discusses several aspects of the game engine, rendering techniques, workflow and editors used for the creation of AmsterDoom.
Technical overview of the game and its development, documented by the games lead technical designer Lambert Wolterbeek Muller. It describes the engines used, modifications made, rendering techniques and level editor implementations. It even documents levels should be compiled. Published in March of 2000, right around the time the game was launched.
Forum threads[edit]
Thread on tweakers.net from March 2000, with people discussing the game. Hardcore gaming oriented
Website[edit]
Website of the game as it was in April of 2000. Redirects to this page when you visited amsterdoom.nl
Information page on the Davilex website from October of 2001 showing the box art of the Amsterdam Monster Madness version of the game for the first time. The title of the game has not been updated yet on the page. Price of the game is Hfl. 29,95.
Information page on the Davilex website from November of 2001 showing the box art of the Amsterdam Monster Madness and the new title. The text describing the game has been updated as well. Price of the game lowered to Hfl. 14,95.
Updated information page with new price: the game is now € 6,95 as the Netherlands has now moved over to the Euro as its currency.
Scans[edit]
Miscellaneous[edit]
Screensaver of the game included on a pack-in disc included with Eigen PC magazine
Game credits[edit]
Source: help file included with the game.
- Productidee
- Rudolf Wolterbeek Muller
- Projectleiding
-
Edwin van Dessel
Vincent Beek - Productontwerp
-
Peter Cossee
Richard Duijnstee - Technisch ontwerp
- Lambert Wolterbeek Muller
- Programmering
-
Arjan van den Boogaard
Frits Broekhuis
Jacco Bikker
Juri Oudshoorn
Mike van der Voort
Paul de Feyter - Grafische vormgeving
-
Alejandro Gasch Kuhne
Anko Elzes
Arjan Ubert
Camiel Feij
Jan-Pieter van Seventer
Marc van den Boom
Mathijs Mahon
Milan Polle
Peter van Dranen
Remi van Loenen
Rudy Seedorf
Shawn Burnam - Documentatie
- Marleen Overduin
- Muziek en geluid
-
Marwijn Mommersteeg
Nico Verrips - Intro animatie
- Bumble Bee Studios
- Kwaliteitscontrole
-
Didier Pippel
Jan Molenaar - Marketing
- Ellen van Meerendonk
