Shack PSA: Don't install Doom 3 BFG on Xbox 360

Bethesda is recommending that you play Doom 3 BFG on your Xbox 360 off the disk if you want to play the original Doom packaged with the game. Why? A glitch in the program makes Doom inaccessible if Doom 3 BFG is installed on the hard drive.

John Keefer

October 17, 2012 4:00 PM

If you've picked up the Xbox 360 version of Doom 3 BFG, publisher Bethesda is recommending you do not install the game onto your hard drive. Not only are there no performance gains to be found, installing the game will make classic Doom inaccessible. Twitter user Wario64 discovered the error message seen below. NowGamer reached out to Bethesda and was told by Bethesda's Matt Grandstaff that "we recommend not installing the game" as it will prevent the launch of both Doom and Doom 2. Additionally, "there is no performance advantage to installing the game to your hard drive."

This won't happen if you play the game off the disk.

John Keefer

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October 17, 2012 4:00 PM

John Keefer posted a new article, Shack PSA: Don't install Doom 3 BFG on Xbox 360.

Bethesda is recommending that you play Doom 3 BFG on your Xbox 360 off the disk if you want to play the original Doom packaged with the game. Why? A glitch in the program makes Doom inaccessible if Doom 3 BFG is installed on the hard drive.
- [deleted] 638871538
  
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  October 17, 2012 4:01 PM
  
  [deleted]
  - shirif
    
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    October 18, 2012 3:29 AM
    
    uhm, why not?
- David Craddock
  
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  October 17, 2012 4:07 PM
  
  Why...? How does that even...? Okay. GG video games.
  - Chandler55
    
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    October 18, 2012 7:26 AM
    
    maybe something was hardcoded to read from a disc instead of relative path
- Tuskin
  
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  October 17, 2012 4:11 PM
  
  I read you can launch them from the dashboard. Just not from within the game.
  - the archvile
    
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    October 17, 2012 5:16 PM
    
    Well then, incoming patch, I guess. This is a Dean Wormer "What the fuck's going on down there?!" moment.
- ASmartguy
  
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  October 17, 2012 5:56 PM
  
  Actually, it is not a glitch, it says it right in the Xbox 360 Manuel not to install, no patch will be coming, but like it says, no performance enhancements, so no point installing anyway right?
  - GreggD
    
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    October 18, 2012 10:41 AM
    
    I install games just to keep my xbox from working too hard. That disc drive heats up something fierce.
- dantastic
  
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  October 17, 2012 10:26 PM
  
  oh bethesda...
- pgharavi
  
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  October 17, 2012 10:48 PM
  
  I don't get it...are they the worst AAA coders in the industry? I've never seen anything like the "we can't make DLC for the PS3 version of Skyrim bcs..." I don't even know why.
  - one random winner
    
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    October 18, 2012 7:55 AM
    
    While bethesda published this game, these glitches are all in id.
- Draingored
  
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  October 18, 2012 3:09 AM
  
  I'm not sure it's the go-to "poor coding" ol' standby so much as I suspect IP issues, that being it "has" to play from disc in order to not be considered copyright infringement from Apogee software. I would not be surprised if this were the case.
  - evildanish
    
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    October 18, 2012 3:28 AM
    
    Apogee had nothing to do with Doom.
    
    Also, it is litterally the same game that's available on Xbox Live Arcade already. It even uses the same saves.
    - Schnapple
      
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      October 18, 2012 6:15 AM
      
      Also even if Apogee were involved, I don't see how installing to the hard drive or not would be a factor.
    - Draingored
      
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      October 19, 2012 12:11 AM
      
      Actually they did have something to do with it, they severed ties with ID before it was published. That's why Commander Keen is in the game.
      - Draingored
        
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        October 19, 2012 12:20 AM
        
        confused Apogee with GT Interactive (the ones who published Doom II, who got folded into Infogrames). I lost track of how many publishers were involved in the Doom series.
        
        As for Commander Keen, I am aware that Id created him, but Apogee published him and assumed rights belong to publisher not developer :)
- Schnapple
  
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  October 18, 2012 6:14 AM
  
  Ok, let's play "bigger idiot"
  
  Who's the bigger idiot here? id/Bethesda/Zenimax for bonering the details of an old game release, or Microsoft for somehow making it possible to install a game on the HDD and not get all of its features.
  
  I don't know the technical details but if there's no point in installing it, why isn't there some way to flag the game as not-installable?
- Smitty
  
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  October 18, 2012 6:42 AM
  
  is anybody really going to buy this for the 360?
  - Schnapple
    
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    October 18, 2012 7:23 AM
    
    I think once Best Buy tries to unload their extra copies for $3 I'll pick it up for the PS3 for the heck of it.
    - Rehevkor
      
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      October 18, 2012 7:26 AM
      
      ^ This. I'll buy it for $5 on Steam to try out the Lost Missions. Otherwise I'd be better off to reinstall my CD copy of the original and install some mods.
      - Smitty
        
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        October 18, 2012 8:48 AM
        
        Yeah, Steam Xmas sale for $5 sounds about right.
  - dantastic
    
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    October 18, 2012 7:36 AM
    
    is anyone going to buy this at all? doom 1 and doom 2 can already be had off of steam or XBLA and doom 3? why would anyone want to play that again?
    - TEXIT
      
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      October 18, 2012 7:39 AM
      
      The Lost Missions are tons of fun.
    - Schnapple
      
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      October 18, 2012 7:53 AM
      
      I liked DOOM 3, and the console release of DOOM 3 was a neutered version for the Xbox 1. The 360 and PS3 never got it.
      
      The 360 got Quake 4 so that re-release makes less sense, but I can see why DOOM 3 would make sense on a console.
      
      And to be fair if this was a console-only release PC gamers would get butthurt about it.
      - Mad Brahmin Disease
        
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        October 18, 2012 7:55 AM
        
        Because this version has a flashlight and achievements. And new extra missions.
    - atom519
      
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      October 18, 2012 8:07 AM
      
      I've beat Doom 3 multiple times on the PC.
    - shirif
      
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      October 18, 2012 9:07 AM
      
      Because Doom 3 rocks, danbro.
      - dantastic
        
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        October 18, 2012 10:14 AM
        
        i can have just as much fun chasing jen's cats with a squirt gun and a blindfold on and that's FREE
        
        shirif
        
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        October 18, 2012 7:01 PM
        
        Sounds fun. Do the cats put up a fight?
        
        dantastic
        
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        October 18, 2012 8:05 PM
        
        not after they're dead
    - ColoradoCNC
      
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      October 18, 2012 9:18 AM
      
      Maybe because it was fun?
- Nehvrook
  
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  October 18, 2012 10:11 AM
  
  I don't get how loading from a hard drive wouldn't give an improvment over loading from a CD?