Mythbusters Video Game Special

first win: bo-ken cam.

Adam and Jamie both took a more conservative approach to the doom level than their "pro" did. this made it kind of surprising there was more difference in their times than the pro's time.

I agree on the medpacks - and the ammo should also be disappearing from the equation as the guns are fired.

Anyway, basic story behind the Doom games (Doom I and Doom II) -

Your character is a sergeant in the USMC. While assigned to a peacekeeping mission, your CO makes a seriously bad judgement call that leads to a number of civilians being killed. You were opposed to the decision from the get-go, and when the aftermath happens you respond by beating him senseless.

For the crime of "assaulting a superior officer", you are essentially exiled to Phobos, where you serve as part of the small garrison protecting a government contractor known as the UAC (I want to say "Union Aerospace Corporation") who is attempting to set up colonies on both moons. Someone with the UAC crew finds a portal of some sort, and for whatever stupid reason fires it up. Thankfully, you were (for some reason - it varies by source) far enough removed from the site to avoid the initial onrush of demons through the portal.

Doom I - Knee Deep In The Dead: So far as you know, you're the last human being alive on Phobos. Your mission is to carve a path through the demonic hordes as you explore the moon for survivors and answers, especially since - as near as you can tell - Deimos warped out when the demons warped in.

Doom I - The Shores Of Hell: You kill (so far as you know) all of the demons on Phobos, but before they die they let their buddies on Deimos know you're coming. As such, when you found the warp gate to Deimos, they had an ambush waiting for you. Now down to just your pistol and brass knuckles again, you must make your way through Deimos in order to figure out what's going on. (Fortunately for you, it soon becomes obvious that the different classes of monster hate each other and will - in the absence of an enforcer - turn on each other at the slightest provocation.)

Doom I - Inferno: Well, you now know where Deimos is. It's floating right above Hell itself. Literally. Oh, and you were stupid enough to lower most of your gear down first when you tried to climb down on that rope, meaning that it was all stolen... so back to your pistol and brass knuckles as you try to make your way through the underworld.

Doom I - Thy Flesh Consumed: The good news is that you killed the demonic mastermind behind everything. The bad news is that it already sent an invasion force to Earth by the time you arrived, and so you must now clear out another part of the underworld to find a functional warp gate that will take you home.

Doom II - You're back, but your pet bunny - like so much of the planet - has now been reduced to demon chow. What's left of the American military command orders you to single-handedly clear out a space port so that the last remnants of humanity can flee (levels 1 - 7), and as a reward you find yourself "accidentally" left behind when everyone else evacuates. You decide to spend your last days killing demons (8 - 15, IIRC) when high command finally contacts you: they've found the main portal the demons used, and it's located in your home town. They need you to destroy it, then find and clear out the demon stronghold (rest of the game).

Some semi-official sequels were released after this, but DOOM II was the last (timeline-wise) officially-produced id creation before Resurrection rebooted the franchise.

of the current season it definitely had the lowest science content and the most reliance on visuals. you might notice, I didn't have a whole lot to say in my initial commentary.

Gratuitous fruit annihilation.

the point of it was that in the game, you can pick up everything and casually switch back and forth without it having any effect on your movement.

They did say that the MMA fighter matched the description of the main Doom hero. Since the test they were doing was specifically related to that game, and the pro DID run it about the same speed, they were confirming (or at least plausible) the scenario provided.

The DOOM weapons, based on the 1990s games -

[1] Pistol: This one is your "starter" ranged weapon, in that you start the game holding it. It does well enough against individual weak enemies (the Zombie Soldier, the Zombie Sergeant, the Imp, and the Lost Soul) and is a good way to conserve on ammo, but its low rate of fire means that only the most elite of players (those who compete for the "UV Tyson" speed run records) will attempt to use it against the nastier monsters if they have any other weapons available to them. Fires bullets.

[2] Brass Knuckles: This is your "starter" melee weapon. Like the pistol, it's good enough against weak enemies but unless you've got a berserker pack nearby or you're a UV Tyson runner, you're better off choosing something else if you have the option.

[3] Chainsaw: Your only other melee weapon, and permanently replaces the brass knuckles unless you get a berserker pack. Does a shocking amount of damage to the enemy and can cause them to flinch, but the mechanism pulls you into your foe. Is the only other weapon allowed under UV Tyson rules, and is available in all games.

[4] Shotgun: This weapon (referred to as a riot gun in the novels) fires buckshot at the enemy. It's good for quickly clearing out rooms full of weak enemies, but it's inaccurate and has a limited range. Uses shells. Is available in all games.

[5] Chain Gun: This weapon (referred to as a machine pistol in the novels despite obviously being a multi-barreled weapon in the game) is a fair balance of rate of fire and range. You could hypothetically "snipe" with this weapon, but it's most commonly used to lay down a wall of hot lead against anything you face. Is famous for the "Chain Gun Cha-Cha", in which monsters being hit keep flinching. Also uses bullets, and as such people need to be cautious of their ammo. Is available in all games.

[6] Rocket Launcher: This is for when you absolutely need to kill something quickly. Weaker enemies will explode when hit by this, but a glitch in the game means that Lost Souls will automatically and perfectly side-step rockets if there is room. Due to an oversight on the part of the game designers, while there is a horizontal limit to the shock wave from the blast, there is no vertical limit, meaning that a rocket which hits the wall in front of you can kill a monster standing on top of it; this oversight was kept in mind when they developed a boss monster known as the Icon of Sin, and is the only way to defeat it without cheating.* You also have what is known as "rocket jumping", in which you face a wall and fire the weapon; you take massive damage, but you fly a good distance (and, in fact, this is the only intended way for you to access an alcove in Inferno which leads to a hidden level, but two glitches make it legally accessible otherwise). Uses rockets. Is available in all games.

[7] Plasma Rifle: This is an energy-based version of the chain gun, and behaves in roughly the same fashion. However, the projectiles will actually appear on the overhead map. First becomes available IIRC in The Shores of Hell. Uses energy cells.

[8] BFG 9000: This energy-based weapon is essentially a small WMD. When fired, the weapon unleashes a blast of energy followed up by what some sources claim to be a host of tracer rounds (I always saw it as space folding). Unless your targets are point-blank to you (due to its minimum range) you can clear most rooms in a single shot if you're willing to burn through your energy cells quickly. First becomes available in Inferno.

[9] Super Shotgun: This is a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun. What you lose in range and rate of fire you make up for in raw destructive potential; this is pretty much the only weapon in the game that can make a Cyber Demon (the single most powerful critter shy of the Icon of Sin) flinch. You can use the shotgun and super shotgun at the same time and will cycle between them by pressing the same key repeatedly. Only available in DOOM II.

The UV Tyson speed run records indicate that a cunning player can make it through all levels but those with an Icon of Sin using just the pistol, the brass knuckles, and the chainsaw. But when it comes to quickly killing enemies regardless of the situation, there's a lot to be said for having each of them available. ttttttttttttt


*When you face the Icon, it looks like a massive piece of wall artwork depicting a demon head. If you look closely, however, you'll see what appears to be an exposed brain. This exposed brain fires off cubes that, upon contact with something solid, will transform into a semi-random monster (you could actually crash your game by allowing too many monsters to spawn this way and as such hog too much memory; I used to do it all the time).

What you're supposed to do is fire your rockets into the exposed brain.

Thing is, the brain isn't the weak spot. If you use the "no clipping" cheat code and walk through the Icon, you'll see the severed head of lead designer John Romero on a pike. His head is the actual weak spot. It's located just beneath the brain panel, and so the splash damage from the rockets hitting the brain will hit it instead.

Of course, if you've used the code to get inside, you may as well just shoot the head directly.