I actually started over and over each time I changed my keyboard
settings.  a) left, s) forward, d )back, f)right, w)flashlite,
c)crouch.  You have to get good at moving left and right because the
imps throw to a spot and while the ball is in the air you can move
left and right,  I think the sound cues tell you that the imp is
behind you but without 5.1 sound, it comes out left or right.
Definitely a disadvantage.  Also note that the imps are right handed
which means if you approach from the left side they can't hit you as
easily.  Another tactic is to backup an give ground, this gives you
greater distance and makes left and right moves more effective.  I
just kept practicing.  I'm in nightmare right now and real unhappy
with the game's play (its different than the other three).

Don't worry about how your brain's wired :)   Does the game play
smoothly?  Good framerates?  If so, then you're simply not used to the
control scheme or even the 'manner' of gameplay that this kind of FPS
is.

TIP:  even on easy level, there will be a few monsters to deal with.
That's what this game is :)  Ok, you got ears, and the critters make
sounds.  Some give off light.  Some in appearing cause the lights to go
out for a bit.  When they come back on, guess what is there?  Heh!
You're early in the game.  You have the trusty shotgun by now.  Keep
running over healthpacks and armor shards, keep those stats up.  Pick up
everything.  Any kind of ammo and weapon.  Move slowly, sneaky.  Till ya
get used to how the monsters appear and act, keep the shotgun real handy
and fully loaded.  Practice switching between the flashlight and the
shottie.  You're gonna be dealing with them toe to toe for as long as it
takes you to get used to their 'ways'.  Mr Shottie is a gooood friend of
yours in close combat.  center on the heads if you can.  Does more
damage to the baddies.
Look for odd things, like lights dimming, 'organic' movement, items
floating around or falling.  Something is making that happen.  And it's
usually shootable!  Explore everywhere.  Look behind boxes, crates,
shelves.  Look under things, use the C key to crouch (or whatever you
have crouch bound to) and crawl under things too.  There is a LOT of
armor and ammo all over the place.  You should never run out :)
You will also learn how to 'strafe'.  This allows you to dodge fireballs
and even jumping critters at times.  I use the A and D keys for that.  I
use the mouse for looking and turning.  You will find that moving the
mouse plus using the strafe keys can make you do some interesting moves.
Like it, use it, and survive :)
I realize you're trying to enjoy this game.  Surviving very few of the
fights can be really frustrating, I realize this.   So practice the
moves while you're going thru the levels.  That can be fun too.
Pretty soon, you'll be fraggin em with the best.
Think about this too;  to all games there is an order.  You've learned
that order or organizing of the Japanese games.  These FPS's are
different, but they're still games, and in every one of them there is an
order or structure to the game play.  Pay attention to what all is going
on in game.  There are clues to guide you all over the place.   Keep at
it, and have fun!
McG.

If you are having trouble with imps you must not be strafing as you fight.
Imps have an extremely poor grasp of the concept of leading a target, so if
you keep moving sideways they always miss. Use the machinegun at a distance
and the shotgun close up. Go for the head -- at point blank range a single
headshot is a sure kill.

Are you comfortable with keyboard and mouse control yet? It takes a
while (about a week for me) to get used to it and once you do it sets
you up for most PC FPS games. Maybe you could play something like the
Serious Sam (1 or 2) demos as a more fun way to getting your eye in.

I had one coworker who went out and bought Return to Castle Wolfenstein
without every playing a FPS. The guy never could get past the three guards
at the beginning. I always thought that interesting, since I can kill the
first 4 enemies in that game without firing a shot (knife to the back). It
does take someone who's not used to shooters a while to get used to it.
After a couple of days, though, you should really get the hang of it. The
thing you'll want to do is map your keys in such a way that is comfortable
and will allow you to move around well without having to look down at the
keyboard. I can never play with the defaults for crouching, reloading,
etc., and if there's a gun that I know that I'll be using a lot, I'll have
it specially binded so that I can get to it quickly, without having to
cycle through weapons or press number keye.

Another thing is making sure you master strafing. It also helps to learn
how to hit a target in front of you while strafing, going forward, running
backwards, etc. The better aim you have of staying on a target while
moving, the easier these games become.

Just for giggles, you may want to download the quake 3 demo from
3Dgamers.com. It's only 50mb which is relatively small if you have
broadband, and you could use it to practice hitting a target, strafing,
getting used to different game physics, etc.

Don't give up. You'll be rewarded with some great skills. :)

I think most people playing Doom3 have the gaming history of having played
the first Quake, Doom1, Duke Nukem, etc - so they've always had the
fundamental FPS skills which never really go away. Myself, I play Medal of
Honor a lot online so you're forced to either get very good or lose. Doom3
on Easy, for most, is probably just that - far too Easy. I played on veteran
the first time then went back and replayed on Nightmare skill and THAT, I
think, is how the game is meant to be played. Excellent atmosphere and the
feeling you're NOT invinicible. The only thing that screws up Nightmare
skill is you can still use the savegames if you're a complete wimp. So it
basically nullifies the reason for playing on that skill. Anyway, great
game - cant wait to see what next uses the engine.

Yeah, learn to strafe. The early parts of the game can be very narrow,
making strafing impossible, but once it opens (deeper in the game)up you
can start to run about dodging the shots while you pick off the foe.

I really disliked the early levels - too tight, too dark, too scripted.
But it does get better!

The other guys have given you some good advice : ) and yes it does take a
while to get used to this kinda game... doom 3 is probably not the best game
to learn on, but anyway....

One thing I would advise is to practice your keyboard and mouse
coordination.

Find a largish empty room and practice these basics..

Firstly, get used to side stepping left and right to avoid fire balls ect,
then find a mark on the wall and while you side step left and right keep the
targeting recital on the same spot on the wall. you need to be able to shot
the bad guys and move at the same time.

Secondly, while side stepping again get used to changing aim between 2 marks
on the wall or 2 objects with the targeting recital. After all, you will be
facing 2 monsters at once, you need to change aim quickly.

Another thing to learn in a large room is how to run around in a circle
while still aiming at the same point in the centre. get the hang of this
too.

Now you know how to move heres some other tips.

The shot gun is useless at even medium range.. shoot it point blank.. Rush
the bad guys when they gate in and blast em before the get a chance.. if
they don't go down first shot, step back so they swing and miss, then rush
and shoot again.

I've seen newbie's do this a lot... don't walk around a corner facing the
wall in front of you.. side step around each corner.. having practiced
walking around in a circle while aiming at the centre this should end up
becoming natural and smooth rather than a stop and a side step.

I turned off the blood effect when being hit because it shited me.. if you
want instructions on how to do this post me back and ill let you know how.
Also the "duck tape" gun flashlight mod is a help.... just my personal
preferences on how I like to play the game.. that and I up the gamma
sightly.

Hope this helps..happy demon hunting.

Oh yeah.. do save game every few minutes.. ya never know when your gonna get
hammered.
That and always check your corners, and your back...

Nuff said.. I could go on all day.

Andy.

A good idea might be to play a third person shooter ala hitman2. I found
these got me used to moving properly, because you can see the sprite adn I
learn what keys made the sprite wove the right way.

I prefer quick saves in a game like Doom where the enemies are
scripted throughout the game , because after an ambush , if I don't
survive , I now know where everything is and I am able to now ambush
them , and also I hate doing the same scenes over and over again ,
although sometimes I do just to see if I can get through the scene
smoother ,

the main reason I like quick saves in games is I don't enjoy going
all the way back to the same scenes and having to fight the same
enemies all over again , especially if the first few enemies were
heavily scripted.

Use a trackball instead of a mouse.
I don't even understand why people still use a mouse and mousepad for
a computer anymore.

No, no... it isn't you... Doom 3 sucks...

HAPPY SOFA: One suggestion Please use strafe the keys are A and D for
dodging all missile attacks in any first person shooting game offcourse keys
may vary..

The other guys have given you some good advice : ) and yes it does take a
while to get used to this kinda game... doom 3 is probably not the best game
to learn on, but anyway....

One thing I would advise is to practice your keyboard and mouse
coordination.

Find a largish empty room and practice these basics..

Firstly, get used to side stepping left and right to avoid fire balls ect,
then find a mark on the wall and while you side step left and right keep the
targeting recital on the same spot on the wall. you need to be able to shot
the bad guys and move at the same time.

Secondly, while side stepping again get used to changing aim between 2 marks
on the wall or 2 objects with the targeting recital. After all, you will be
facing 2 monsters at once, you need to change aim quickly.

Another thing to learn in a large room is how to run around in a circle
while still aiming at the same point in the centre. get the hang of this
too.

Now you know how to move heres some other tips.

The shot gun is useless at even medium range.. shoot it point blank.. Rush
the bad guys when they gate in and blast em before the get a chance.. if
they don't go down first shot, step back so they swing and miss, then rush
and shoot again.

I've seen newbie's do this a lot... don't walk around a corner facing the
wall in front of you.. side step around each corner.. having practiced
walking around in a circle while aiming at the centre this should end up
becoming natural and smooth rather than a stop and a side step.

I turned off the blood effect when being hit because it shited me.. if you
want instructions on how to do this post me back and ill let you know how.
Also the "duck tape" gun flashlight mod is a help.... just my personal
preferences on how I like to play the game.. that and I up the gamma
sightly.

Hope this helps..happy demon hunting.

Oh yeah.. do save game every few minutes.. ya never know when your gonna get
hammered.
That and always check your corners, and your back...

Nuff said.. I could go on all day.

Andy.

So you think you are bad; Get killed over and over, even easy settings..
Here is where I think you fail mostly.

(..)

That's your problem, right here.
You misuse it either way.  Just put somewhere in your mind that,
you don't have the skillz yet.. Now obviously you're gonna get killed
sooner than later. Unless you have a short term memory problem,
Doom3 is not gonna surprize you as much the second time around.
But of course you DIE in this game, until you improve your skillz and
that's the point.

Learning to use Quicksave is something that should become evident,
sooner than the actual skillz Doom3 require.
So you die again.. Who do you think expect to go flawless here;
Do you really think this is a strategy game ?.. Of course not; It's a
run around the haunted house, full of booby trap monsters "SURPRIZE".
..You panic and die or develop your own approach next time.

FPS 101:
At least quicksave those spots you feel like you've done enough with success.
Eventually you last longer, at least if you panic and throw grenades at yourself
you won't have to redo it all.

Lemme give one clue... GREAT !.. You found what Doom3 SP is about.
Getting surprized and having split second decisions to make..
Lots of fun the first time, and the second or third time around if you are
up to the challenge.

Obviously, in time you'll learn skills; The basic strafing is required here.
Optimize your controls; Keyboard, arrows for move left right instead default
turn right left..
(...)

Give it time dude.. Meditate about what you want to get out of this game.
If you do your best each time, feel the nightmare ahead, then there is no
shame in ajusting how often you use F5.

This game does not challenge your braincells.
It's a self torture machine........ Now go torture yourself a little more,
right now you're going too hard on yourself.
Muwahahaha.
N?o