Why is it that....

[Old-Doomguy]

4 hours ago, Gerolf said:

1) Because it would look stupid. They’re not Nazi guards. They’re possessed humans and DEMONS. Why would they just be standing around? 

 

2) This is because the clip is a hold over from Wolfenstein 3D. It’s clip looks fairly similar. Also, a pistol magazine like one you’d see in the 92FS (which the Doom pistol is clearly based off, err well at least the toy is clearly modeled after that handgun) are fairy long and wide. Not all magazines are made the same in real life, so this is sort of a silly observation in my opinion.

 

3) Most likely because it was designed with E3M8 in mind initially, and they didn’t see a reason to change the behavior. 

 

4) Because they are maps? This is silly dude... you can call them levels, maps, stages, realms, etc. who cares?! It’s just the name they chose to go with for the internal files. Duke 3D used Levels. 

 

5) This is because of limitations of the original engine. While many complain about this issue, I have found it to not be as problematic as others claim it to be. If you don’t like this feature, it can be disabled in many source ports. 

 

6) Same reason as above. Looks like Gez beat me to this. 

 

7) This is also present in Wolfenstein 3D, except in that game the knife only alerts nearby enemies once you’ve attacked an enemy, not just when you stab to the air or walls. To me, this is something that should’ve been fixed initially. It allows players to break levels by luring enemies to their position without wasting ammo. It can actually be fixed and I’ve seen WADs that correct this behavior in the past. 

 

8) Ok... here’s the truth. It’s not just because there was a rifle in the betas. It’s because a rifle is a generic marine weapon. Literally, a marine is generally ALWAYS going to be issued a rifle. It makes sense. Why doesn’t it change between weapons? Because it is generic enough to reflect all the weapons of the game. Instead of making more images that take up more file size (yeah, people cared about not making games too large back then compared to now), you can just use the same image for all of the guns. This is also the reason they made certain directions the enemies face as mirrored images of other sprites was to keep the file size down.

 

 

Yeah, I don't have an issue with the Doomguy always holding the same weapon regardless of what weapons is being used. 

 

I just always wondered why he's holding a weapon that's not even present in the game. It's not really a critique just a simple question 👍

[printz]

5 hours ago, Gerolf said:

4) Because they are maps? This is silly dude... you can call them levels, maps, stages, realms, etc. who cares?! It’s just the name they chose to go with for the internal files. Duke 3D used Levels. 

I find it odd to use the word "map" like that. A map is only a helpful drawing of the place. It's not the place itself. But I follow the convention of saying "map" to the area too...

[Old-Doomguy]

32 minutes ago, printz said:

I find it odd to use the word "map" like that. A map is only a helpful drawing of the place. It's not the place itself. But I follow the convention of saying "map" to the area too...

 

Yeah it strikes me odd as well. I believe that a map is what the automap is, and a level is what the map is. Get it? Hehe 

 

[Redneckerz]

4 hours ago, Old-Doomguy said:

I just always wondered why he's holding a weapon that's not even present in the game. It's not really a critique just a simple question 👍

And you were given an answer, but you called that an excuse.

 

So the question obviously is not so simple, because the given answer is not sufficient enough for you.

[Pechudin]

Looking at the huge amount of unused textures (used in NEIS and some newer WADs), just how rushed was the production of DooM? So many unused gorgeous textures and sprites...

[Old-Doomguy]

40 minutes ago, Redneckerz said:

And you were given an answer, but you called that an excuse.

 

So the question obviously is not so simple, because the given answer is not sufficient enough for you.

 

 

Yeah but they have had to take the decision to leave Doomguy with a rifle despite the fact that the rifle was removed from the game. There has got to be another reason than "there was a rifle in the alpha/beta/whatever".

[nname]

It's an old game. No really, that's all.

[Biodegradable]

23 minutes ago, Old-Doomguy said:

Yeah but they have had to take the decision to leave Doomguy with a rifle despite the fact that the rifle was removed from the game. There has got to be another reason than "there was a rifle in the alpha/beta/whatever".

 

I feel like the simplest answer could be that they simply couldn't be fucked redrawing Doomguy's sprite.

[Old-Doomguy]

Just now, Biodegradable said:

 

I feel like the simplest answer could be that they simply couldn't be fucked redrawing Doomguy's sprite.

 

 

Now THAT'S the kind of answer I was hoping for!

[Redneckerz]

29 minutes ago, Old-Doomguy said:

Yeah but they have had to take the decision to leave Doomguy with a rifle despite the fact that the rifle was removed from the game. There has got to be another reason than "there was a rifle in the alpha/beta/whatever".

Relevant Wiki page regarding the rifle

 

So essentially you want to know why Doomguy retains a rifle in the pic.

 

Looking at the page, the rifle was replaced with the pistol going in from Doom 0.5 to Press Release Beta. It may very well be an oversight not to change the relevant pictures away aswell, given how long the rifle was to be the starting weapon. It may also be that it simply was forgotten to change given it presence in various alpha versions all the way up to PR Beta.

Or they didn't care. It could be either 3 of them (Oversight, Forgotten, Didn't bother)

You could always attempt to ask Romero on Twitter on this.

 

Not exactly a simple question as you can tell, but hey.

EDIT:
 

2 minutes ago, Old-Doomguy said:

 

 

Now THAT'S the kind of answer I was hoping for!

Really?

[Tetzlaff]

18 hours ago, Danzer said:

Why are there medieval helmets on a martian base anyway, is everybody in the UAC into roleplaying or something?

Angels put them there. To help Doomguy. And I am not talking about faux Eternal style roboangels, but classic medieval angels.

[Gokuma]

4.  Because the headers in doom2.wad are map##.    Externally the players just see them called missions in Doom 1 and levels in Doom 2 and many consoles versions of Doom 1.

 

8.  What Biodegradable said.   But also because the rifle is generic looking.  It would look silly if shotgun blasts and bigger projectiles were coming from other players just holding pistols.

[DuckReconMajor]

12 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Didn't his parents ever teach not to drink strange liquids you found on the floor!?

 

[Old-Doomguy]

1 hour ago, Gokuma said:

4.  Because the headers in doom2.wad are map##.    Externally the players just see them called missions in Doom 1 and levels in Doom 2 and many consoles versions of Doom 1.

 

8.  What Biodegradable said.   But also because the rifle is generic looking.  It would look silly if shotgun blasts and bigger projectiles were coming from other players just holding pistols.

 

But it doesn't look silly at all to be chainsawing someone's arms of with the rifle

[Biodegradable]

A thing to keep in mind is the time period Doom was made in and how small id Software as a company were when they made it. At that point, games on the PC were more of a novelty rather than a viable competitor to the arcades and early home consoles. It had fewer resources and time spent on development was much, much shorter. Also, at the time of Doom's development, id were a very small team with even more limited resources and would naturally have had to cut corners and save time where they could. That's probably the most logical explanation for Doomguy's lack of sprite variants for the different weapons and why they kept him in his Alpha state, holding the original assault rifle.

[DNSKILL5]

I don’t know what you’re not understanding about question number 8. More than one person has already explained it clearly and gave you the actual answer. It is a weapon that can be used for all the game weapons. Duke Nukem 3D did the same thing. Blood had Caleb hold two shotguns at all times which is also done for the same reasons. I could go on. It is to save memory dude. Sure, it may look weird to you but it was common practice before Quake to do this. A 3D model doesn’t require multiple frames of sprites (which take up space) to draw and add to the code of the enemy animations. It would’ve been a waste of resources and time, and it would only have made the game more inaccessible to people with slow computers at the time of release. 
 

That’s all there is to it. 

[Biodegradable]

3 minutes ago, Gerolf said:

Sure, it may look weird to you but it was common practice before Quake to do this. A 3D model doesn’t require multiple frames of sprites (which take up space) to draw and add to the code of the enemy animations. It would’ve been a waste of resources and time, and it would only have made the game more inaccessible to people with slow computers at the time of release. 

 

YES! Thank you, Gerolf. Technical limitations of the time are also important to note as well.

[BoxY]

By my count and not counting death and gib animations, Doomguy already has 35 sprites totalling 47 kB, so if id was to change the rifle sprites and then add 7 more sets to represent every held weapon, it would require drawing 245 extra sprites, and also cost 330 kB overall, almost a quarter of a floppy disk.

[ZeroTheEro]

I would like to add that Duke in Duke Nukem 3D always hold a rifle despite none of the weapons in the game resemble the one he's holding in sprites.

 

[Old-Doomguy]

Hey listen guys.

 

I know why there is only one and the same weapon on the Doomguy sprite. I just don't know why it is a weapon not included in the game. That is all. 

 

Quake 1 had the one and same as well as the axe. But quakeguy had the shotgun which is a weapon present in the game. 

 

I'm not arguing against the technology, I'm just asking why it's a rifle rather than for example a shotgun. 

[Redneckerz]

11 minutes ago, Old-Doomguy said:

I'm not arguing against the technology, I'm just asking why it's a rifle rather than for example a shotgun. 

Then ask Romero on Twitter. I gave numerous possible reasons as to why the rifle remained on the picture.

 

The only way to actually confirm anything is either Romero, id's Sponge, or perhaps Linguica or Quasar can pull some DeHackEd strings behind the scenes.

[Tetzlaff]

3 hours ago, Old-Doomguy said:

Quake 1 had the one and same as well as the axe. But quakeguy had the shotgun which is a weapon present in the game. 

It‘s actually some energy blaster, not the shotgun.

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Tetzlaff

[Old-Doomguy]

15 minutes ago, Tetzlaff said:

It‘s actually some energy blaster, not the shotgun.

 

 

Jesus H Christ, I think I've been cheated! I always thought he was holding the Boomstick!

 

Anyway we can all agree on the fact that Doomguys weapon is there because they just didn't give a rats ass. 

 

Next question: why is it that the Chaingunner's weapon sounds like the shotgun?

[NoXion]

I'm guessing that whoever was responsible for the sound design thought that the shotgun sound more accurately conveyed the sense of being ripped apart by their gunfire. The chaingunners can kill you pretty quickly. The little popping pistol sound probably doesn't do it justice.

[Mayomancer]

Donna Jackson really liked the shotgun sound, so they thought adding more of it in the game would be a considerate thing to do

[DNSKILL5]

The chaingunner and spider mastermind use the shotgun sound. Their rate of fire and attack damage is also different than the player’s chaingun. The shotgun sound fits better for their firing rate. 
 

I remember using DEH to make them use the pistol sound, and it didn’t feel right. It’s hard to explain, but it didn’t sound like the players chaingun even with the pistol sound. 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Gerolf

[Kyka]

On 9/19/2020 at 5:11 AM, N1ck said:

Why does Doomguy just stack helmets on his head to gain armor points

 

...you may think that it is to protect him from demons and the like, but it is actually from all the fast closing doors slamming into the top of Doomguy's head.

 

Not to mention standing on the edge of elevators as they rise, and hitting his head on the (often) lowered sectors around the elevators. Also running down stairs and bouncing off the lower sectors of the ceiling in front of him. And so on.

[Eric Claus]

1 hour ago, bLOCKbOYgAMES said:

 

...you may think that it is to protect him from demons and the like, but it is actually from all the fast closing doors slamming into the top of Doomguy's head.

 

Not to mention standing on the edge of elevators as they rise, and hitting his head on the (often) lowered sectors around the elevators. Also running down stairs and bouncing off the lower sectors of the ceiling in front of him. And so on.

 

Doom is an OSHA nightmare.  The UAC clearly decided to cut corners on worker safety long ago.

[ButteredToast]

On 9/19/2020 at 1:44 AM, BoxY said:

Who built all those secret closets inside the walls, and why did the demons find them, get inside, and then line up and wait perfectly still in total darkness until someone happened to walk by?

They were going to hold a surprise birthday party for their friend Joe, but they didn't realize that Doomguy got there first.

[Doomkid]

10 hours ago, NoXion said:

I'm guessing that whoever was responsible for the sound design thought that the shotgun sound more accurately conveyed the sense of being ripped apart by their gunfire. The chaingunners can kill you pretty quickly. The little popping pistol sound probably doesn't do it justice.

10 hours ago, Gerolf said:

The chaingunner and spider mastermind use the shotgun sound. Their rate of fire and attack damage is also different than the player’s chaingun. The shotgun sound fits better for their firing rate.

 

On this note, in the beta version of Doom 2 (which you can download in a "ready to play" state for DosBox here) the chaingunners actually did use the pistol sound, and sure enough, it sounded very dinky and disproportionate to the amount of damage it actually does.

 

For whatever reason, the audio compression used on the pistol sound effect resulted in it sounding super weak and lame. The actual non-downsampled version of that sound effect seems to have a lot more balls to it.