bobby prince return for new doom game?

how do you think about that?

(bobby prince is original doom's music composer)

Unless there's a major change in the game's mood I don't see how that could work, the type of music Mick Gordon and Andrew Hullshult make is the only kind that modern Doom fans would accept.

The last game he worked on was Wrack, and the style is completely different from the usual metal.

I find the idea very unlikely. Considering that the man hasn't composed a game soundtrack in nearly a decade, hasn't updated his blog since 2018 and his recent, but successful battle with colon cancer, I think it's safe to say that Prince is more or less retired.

Not gonna happen.

4 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

I find the idea very unlikely. Considering that the man hasn't composed a game soundtrack in nearly a decade, hasn't updated his blog since 2018 and his recent, but successful battle with colon cancer, I think it's safe to say that Prince is more or less retired.

Given that Bobby is already like... over 70 years old?, it's better for him to take a break.

Would be cool for him to contribute to a project like Sigil but probably not a modern Doom release.

I do not see Bobby Prince coming back, but I would not say no to a return to a Bobby Prince-style soundtrack.

What could we get from Bobby?

For MIDI tracks, we've got a lot of composers that made stuff for wads and maps.

For the actual genres in old Doom music, there's heavy metal and suspense tracks and even stuff that sounds like jazz.

We also got stuff like "remasters" of Doom's music: Hulshult got to work with id, wonder if his IDKFA tracks could eventually "be canonized" or something.

This also depends if id were to "return to the classic formula for real" when the old games have a creative and expanded modding scene, while the new official games will always be their own thing.

Maybe depending on fanservice related projects, id could always check a community that always had "hire this man" energy.

I also still remember Bobby having a battle with cancer.

9 hours ago, Chezza said:

Would be cool for him to contribute to a project like Sigil but probably not a modern Doom release.

Does anyone remember Tom Hall saying something about wanting to make a wad too, like Romero?

Honestly, I wouldn't support it, even if there was a chance. Part of the problem is that his background was really in midi composition and not MP3 music so much. It's not like he couldn't transition theoretically. However.....

....I actually find him to be seriously overrated, with many of his best melodies being stolen wholesale from popular music, "Message for the Arch-vile" and "DOOM" from DOOM II excepting but honestly, both of those beginnings probably have their sequences taken from somewhere. 

And more to the point, his attempts at making remotely original music tend to fall flat. Case in point: his soundtracks for games like Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Monster Bash, or the larger portion of Wolfenstein 3D. He has a far better grasp on rhythm than melody...except for the cases when the magic inexplicably strikes. But mostly, he just has this way of using two or three different chords without really bothering with mood adjustments. 

Could this be because he didn't have too much time for the soundtracks when he was doing like 6-10 games a year in '92 and '93? Maybe, and some of his Duke 3D music would actually rank among the best of his career. However.....there are just plenty of better composers out there. I'd suggest reaching out to Kevin Schilder who did Heretic and Hexen's music before him, because Kevin actually did some fairly creative things while still having a solid grasp on melody. And Bobby, well......his composing skills just aren't terribly advanced and it's harder to craft catchy melodies when you aren't as familiar with composition (which might be why it's suggested composers study music theory....but that's a whole other conversation).

I mean, he probably copied other music for the same reason why id copied a DnD design for the Caco.

Game dev wasn't as "professional" as it is nowadays and that's probably why people look up to indie games.

Perhaps another arguement for not bringing back Bobby is the limits of how many things with can bring back in an age of older media being rebooted or never leaving.

I've seen the term "stuck culture" used to describe Jaleel White being brought back to play Urkel despite hating that role.

Infinitesimal chances of that happening. Unless a new Doom game were to go full-on Pixar with the art style, Bobby's style isn't something I see working out in a modern Doom game.

His style wouldn't work with the newer games.