Pistol start

The term pistol start refers to the initial status of the player in the Doom games when a level is started by In the status, the player has a full health (100%), a pistol and fifty bullets.
 * setting up a new game in the main menu.
 * pressing use (spacebar) after dying.
 * using the warp cheat code (IDCLEV ##).
 * using the -warp ## command line parameter.

Notability
Ensuring that the player is able to complete the level from a pistol start with a reasonable effort is generally considered important for a map. However, due to the fact that the player is able to keep his supplies when advancing to a new level, it can be tricky for the mapper to balance the difficulty levels between pistol start gameplay and the one with the preobtained ordnance. Naturally, it is a problem when multiple levels are chained together. The maps in Doom and Doom II were typically created so that the player could finish them from a pistol start.

When Sandy Petersen was asked about the things he found disappointing in Doom, he said he felt the episodes were too easy because id mappers did not properly take account the player's ability to carry ordnance from the early levels. The gameplay testing was based mainly on pistol starts, separately for each level.

Arguably, the most striking consequence is seen in E3M8: Dis where the spiderdemon is practically powerless if the player has found a BFG9000 somewhere in the episode. In case the player has managed to keep the weapon along with its ammunition and ultimately uses it against the boss monster, the battle will be dealt with ease which one may consider anticlimatic, given that it is the final endeavor of the game. The intended challenge of the level is experienced only when the player fights the spiderdemon solely with the weaponry that is provided in the map.

A reprise of the problem is avoided in Doom II as the destruction of the final boss was made more independent of damage and more dependent of accuracy. However, the solution has a similar threat of disappointment as the boss, technically, ended up being a mere static wall and not a moving thing. As the main opposition in the level is produced by the spawned monsters, the player could be given a considerable arsenal in the beginning of MAP30: Icon of Sin.

Variations and enhancements

 * Of Doom engine games, Heretic also has an equivalent of a pistol start. It uses the same numeric values for health and ammunition but replaces the pistol with the Elven Wand and the bullets with pieces of crystals.
 * The ACS scripting language of Hexen was extended for ZDoom. A new feature allowed level designers to abandon the pistol start status and give a desired amount of supplies to the player at the level startup. In reverse, it also made possible for the designer to clear the present equipment. The relevant action specials are GiveInventory and ClearInventory.