Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
40oz

What are barrels made of?

Recommended Posts

I was just watching an episode of Mythbusters where they tested to see if simply penetrating a propane tank with a firearm will cause it to burst into a firey explosion.

Propane tanks are made of steel. They first tested it by shooting at it with a 9mm handgun. The 9mm alone didnt even penetrate the container, but left a mere dent. They used a shotgun on their next test, which did penetrate through it, but not out the other end. The gasses leaked out but did not burst into flames as portrayed in many video games. They tested again using a sniper rifle, which did penetrate through both ends, but with the same result.

They weren't actually able to cause a firey explosion until they used a gattling gun which fired incendiary rounds, which then resulted in a massive explosion which exploded in well over a 50 foot radius.

Countless video games tend to bum the same idea that shooting anything labeled with a dangerous firehazard sign will inherently cause the item to burst in a firey explosion - including doom.

My question here is what do you hypothesize is inside Doom's barrels that cause them to explode at roughly a 15 foot radius? In addition to that, what material do you think the container is made up of, that causes it to break into shards and disintegrate completely at the climax of the explosion?

Share this post


Link to post

It's not just video games, but hollywood in general likes to give the false idea that gun + flammable container = explosion (quite often, the formula is used to blow up cars with a 9mm pistol by simply shooting its gas tank).

Share this post


Link to post
JohnnyRancid said:

They weren't actually able to cause a firey explosion until they used a gattling gun which fired incendiary rounds, which then resulted in a massive explosion which exploded in well over a 50 foot radius.

Well, there's your answer. Doom Guy happens to carry one of those around with him.

Share this post


Link to post

Bucket said:
Doom Guy happens to carry one of those around with him.

Well, I've seen barrels explode due to shotgun or pistol shots... or even the impact of spiked knuckle duster furnished fists :p

To answer the question, DOOM barrels contain some nasty green shit that explodes very easily.

The id guys may have gotten the idea of the explosive barrels (at least partly) from Aliens. There's a part where the space marines are in an area with stuff that may explode (I don't recall what it was at this point).

Share this post


Link to post

They're made of the most unstable metal and radioactive waste in the universe, capable of exploding if punched, or headbutted by a Lost Soul. In Duke Nukem 3D it's even funnier, how you can blow up a propane tank by kicking it, but drop it from a hundred feet, and it lands perfectly on its base without exploding.

Share this post


Link to post
JohnnyRancid said:

Countless video games tend to bum the same idea that shooting anything labeled with a dangerous firehazard sign will inherently cause the item to burst in a firey explosion - including doom.

I'd even say they all get it from Doom.

JohnnyRancid said:

My question here is what do you hypothesize is inside Doom's barrels that cause them to explode at roughly a 15 foot radius? In addition to that, what material do you think the container is made up of, that causes it to break into shards and disintegrate completely at the climax of the explosion?

The barrels contain highly volatile and corrosive radioactive wastes. "Explodium" is indeed a good name for it. The barrels themselves break into shards because they're completely corroded by the explodium. See those bubbles? They're caused by the ongoing dissolution reaction between the explodium and their container.

Share this post


Link to post

it could also be a gas given off by the radioactive waste in the barrel, spark from bullet/knuckleduster/chainsaw = explose

Share this post


Link to post
Da Spadger said:

The barrels are made out of explodium.


lol.

... and not just any explodium, but explodium mixed with that green napalm hell goo that the Barons and Hell knights hurl at you.

I always thought that the green stuff in the barrels must be connected somehow to the green stuff in the Baron's fists.

Heh. I can see it now. Long lines of Barons in storage tanks in some top secret UAC facility, having their fists "milked" into nearby barrels, which the UAC then just left lying around, waiting to explode.

I believe the word used in the original Doom manual was "Kablooey."

Share this post


Link to post

Kyka said:
I always thought that the green stuff in the barrels must be connected somehow to the green stuff in the Baron's fists.

More so with the green stuff on the floor, and also the green stuff on the zombiemen's hair. They stop by barrels to wash their heads every now and then.

Share this post


Link to post

So, the baron of hell is really a daemonic hairdresser that came through the portals to give newly created zombies a new hair style?

Share this post


Link to post
myk said:

More so with... the green stuff on the zombiemen's hair. They stop by barrels to wash their heads every now and then.

If that's the case, shouldn't a couple of carefully placed shots make their heads explode?

Share this post


Link to post
GreyGhost said:

If that's the case, shouldn't a couple of carefully placed shots make their heads explode?


Heh! Those zombiemen are covered in that green stuff. I mean, the sergeants are covered in blood, and the zombiemen are covered in this green goo, so GreyGhost is exactly right. If you look at the sprites, its all over their uniforms and everything. They should be like... mobile barrels or something.


Someone should make a mod...

...or at least a 'B' grade horror film. "The Mutant Zombiemen from Explodium IV"

Share this post


Link to post

Lets see, It sometimes takes two shots to blow up a barrel from a point blank range. the barrels material needs to be able to hold in the obviously volatile toxic waste without disintegrating, which it ironicly does itself in the explosion, denoting a relatively lower vaporizing (or obscenely close melting and boiling points) point. My assumption would be a Magnesium/Zinc alloy that would prove essentially worthless in that situation but technically would hold true to the explosive theory. The other option is some other material that only exists in a fictional universe that you aren't supposed to think about.

Share this post


Link to post

Videogame logic thread GO.

Doomguy hauls around 200 lb of equipment and runs at 50 mph.

Mario eats mushrooms and grows in size. Then jumps on a turtle.

Simon Belmont eats ham found in a hidden section of a wall in a castle full of undead monsters.

Etc etc :P

Share this post


Link to post
MikeRS said:

It's not just video games, but hollywood in general likes to give the false idea that gun + flammable container = explosion (quite often, the formula is used to blow up cars with a 9mm pistol by simply shooting its gas tank).


What about with 007 every goddamn thing exploded. even chairs and a toy helicopter!

Share this post


Link to post
GreyGhost said:

If that's the case, shouldn't a couple of carefully placed shots make their heads explode?

Why do you think you can make them gib so easily? Burning plasma and berserk punch can make them explode.

Share this post


Link to post
Espi said:

Fun.


Heh. Espi wins the thread.

Share this post


Link to post
udderdude said:

Videogame logic thread GO.


The Postal Dude can generate and piss like 20 ga. each minute, and he can heal from any health level to 125% with a single crack pipe. Not only that, but in his favourite fast-food joint, a zombie once called him a "piece of shit".

Share this post


Link to post

They're made of 100% recycled steel - from car wrecking yards.

As we all know from watching too many action movies, when you drive a car over a cliff thare's a high probability it'll explode on impact, which as we all know from watching too many episodes of MythBusters has nothing to do with the fuel tank. That leaves the steel chassis as the prime suspect - or a fortuitous combination of magnesium alloy from the wheels, powdered aluminium in the paint and a generous quantity of ferric oxide creating an impromptu thermite bomb.

Share this post


Link to post
RTC_Marine said:

it could also be a gas given off by the radioactive waste in the barrel, spark from bullet/knuckleduster/chainsaw = explose


Am I the only one that thinks id just made a mistake?

Lol

Share this post


Link to post

Yes you are.

It wasn't a mistake, it was pure, unadultered gameplay.

Share this post


Link to post
Necros20 said:

It actually probably was Doom that popularized the idea of exploding containers in games.


It probably was doom that popularized it, especially due the visual effect of sending monsters across the room in a pile of ground beef, but I'm sure there are many other games before it that used that same idea.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×