---

aldiboronti said:
I've noticed that if I'm retreating rapidly backwards and get hit by a rocket I take far less damage than if I'm stationary or running head on into the attack.

---

---

Maes said:
The wiki is right: nowhere in the source code is there anything directly relating target & source speed to the damage dealt/received.

In the case of the rocket, you are actually evading/moving away from the blast damage, after you take the physical damage and cause the rocket to explode. Since the blast is generated precisely at point of impact, due to the way Doom works you have an entire tic to move away from it before it actually executes, so you can really shrug off some damage if you had sufficient speed. Since rockets are solid, this does not hold for full-frontal hits.

You can use the same technique to explode barrels taking minimum or no damage with your bare fists, but it involves being already in motion AWAY from the barrel when you hit it.

However, you can't shrug off explosions from Archvile blasts no matter how fast you run because they are always generated IN your position and they are applied INSTANTLY, with no status-update delay. You can only sort of abuse a bug if you are blasted in small, cornered space at near-point blank to take less damage, which has nothing to do with your speed though.

The other thing you mentioned however is just wishful thinking, as is the impression that "charging" before berserk punching things somehow increases damage. Try as you might, you won't get consistently higher damage from doing that.

That being said, the way you and monsters move (and almost anything else you and they do) DOES effect the final outcome of damage because the RNG gets used in particular patterns. If you could somehow "monitor" the RNGs status in real-time, you could indeed decide which is the best moment to take a shot (e.g. to guarantee max damage). That's what some TASers do.

---

---

aldiboronti said:
(charging in to berserk punch, not walking like an old lady, though I guess now I might as well! It's weird how your perceptions can often fool you in Doom.)

---

---

I assume it's still all random, but I always wondered if there was any sort of "locational damage" for the player.

---

---

Redeemer812 said:
I haven't looked in the doom source in a long time so I don't know if the fireball works like an explosion

---

---

Maes said:
Again, this is mostly a "sociological" effect: when you get "a bit" of damage while running, you tend to reinforce this belief inside you, while selectively forgetting those 80 HP revenant fireballs that managed to catch up with you ;-)

---

---

Maes said:
you can't shrug off explosions from Archvile blasts no matter how fast you run because they are always generated IN your position and they are applied INSTANTLY, with no status-update delay. You can only sort of abuse a bug if you are blasted in small, cornered space at near-point blank to take less damage, which has nothing to do with your speed though.

---

---

tempun said:
PROTIP: straferunning would allow you to outrun the rocket.

---

---

Megamur said:
Although movement speed has no effect on damage, there's been several occasions where fireballs just barely clip me (hitting me "in the shoulder," as it were), and I barely take any damage. I assume it's still all random, but I always wondered if there was any sort of "locational damage" for the player.

---

---

st.alfonzo said:
It has no baring on the amount of damage inflicted, but the most enjoyable movement/damage related action for me in Doom is playing Pinball Wizard (official signature move as approved by the Doom Signature Association) with Lost Souls. Stand still in front of a Lost Soul, giving yourself plenty of space and making sure there are no obstructions for it to get stuck on mid-flight. Then, as it rushes toward you, swing out with your fists and connect full on for a monstrous 200 points of damage and watch as it shoots across the room. Obviously this requires that you don't take any damage in the process.

---