Doom community jargon

As with any other long-running community, the Doom community has a long list of technical jargon, memes, slang terms, idioms, and catchphrases. Without knowledge of most terms, a lot of Doom community discussion may be indecipherable for new members or new mappers. An example sentence would be as follows:

"The borders in your map have waggle problems, but you can only see them if you're bottlenecking the stairs. Maybe replace them with slopes or widen that area out? Also, remove the number of hitscanners in those hallways because it's almost impossible on UV MAX unless I spam plasma from the map before. This would be impossible on pistol start."

This list is by no means exhaustive, but should help a newbie in understanding the gist of old and new Doom community discussion.

A

 * ACS - A byte code script from Hexen. Usually short for Extended ACS, an extension of the ACS Format supported by ZDoom and Eternity Engine.


 * Agitating skeleton - A nickname for the revenant. Originally from a satirical "How-To" YouTube video by Rottking, it was popularized by the 4chan /vr/ group.


 * Alignment - Specifically texture alignment.


 * Attacking the ZDoom - The act of designing a mod to push the limits of ZDoom to the point of hilarious errors, or to exploit a bug in a ZDoom feature to obtain a desired effect. Originally from a CIF3 screenshot displaying a bug in the dialogue system, in which the screenshot read "You will pay for attacking the ZDoom".

B

 * Ball shit snakes - Ancient Doomworld forums meme from a disgruntled member with a questionable grasp of English.


 * BFG whore - Competitive Doom trash-talk for a player who consistently abuses the BFG, especially in areas where avoiding the tracer cone is impossible.


 * Boom compatible - A map designed in the Boom map format. Boom compatible maps usually run in every popular source port, with a few exceptions.


 * Borders - Small sector of floor that outlines the main floor with a wall, analogous to moulding in a house. Borders were a bit of a mapper fad in the mid-2000s.


 * Bottlenecking - The act of leading monsters into a small area or opening to make them easier to take out. Some in the scene have viewed this tactic as "cheap" and have designed their maps to discourage bottlenecking or eliminate it entirely.


 * Brutal Doom - Gameplay mod for ZDoom. Its gameplay changes, including insulting monsters with keybinds, are loved by some and hated by others. A few believed that Brutal Doom was the of the Doom Community, and left the scene. Derived phrases from this mod include: "Not Brutal enough", "Does this run with Brutal Doom?", and "Brootal".


 * BSP - Binary Space Partitioning, a method of searching a placed in the map to determine what sections of maps to draw. Since BSPs are binary trees, the time it takes to  search for the right walls, floors and sprites to draw is reduced to a few CPU instructions. This allows Doom to render large, complex areas with relative ease and little overdraw.


 * Bump - To obtain an item by exploiting the collision code. The most famous bump is the "Plasma bump" in MAP01 Deathmatch, where the Plasma Gun can be picked up by running into the raised platform.

C

 * Caco - A cacodemon.


 * Cardboard - An optimized software renderer by Stephen McGranahan (SoM). Used in Eternity Engine.


 * COLORMAP - A lump in a WAD file that most software renderers use to determine light levels.


 * Compet-n - Shorthand for "Competition". Also "Compet-n database", a website hosting Doom speedruns that were recorded under strict rules.


 * Copypasta - A term for the action of a mapper directly copy/pasting sections of a map solely for the sake of breaking up perceived monotony. An example would be a large number of "sector lights" in a hallway that would otherwise be barren. Wise texture use can help remedy this problem.


 * Cybie - A cyberdemon.

D

 * DECORATE - Script format defining actors and weapons in ZDoom. Comes in two flavours, with the original format largely unsupported. Intended as a temporary stopgap in the never-ending wait for DoomScript, it became an instant hit with Doom modders and is arguably the primary reason for ZDoom's current dominance.


 * DeePsea patches - Tall patches.


 * DeHackEd - A patch format (DEH) for modifying various code pointers in Doom. Most source ports have DEH support.


 * DEHSUPP - A lump for ZDoom that extends DeHackEd capabilities. It has since been deprecated in favour of DECORATE, but still used and extended in ZDaemon. DEHSUPP was the subject of controversy among some who protested its removal with no suitable replacement ready to fill the gap.


 * Delted - Slang for "deleted". Comes from a joke page touting a site-wide hacking of Doomworld.


 * Dime - Doom Speedrunner, who famously rocket-suicided while streaming. "To pull a dime" or "to be dime'd" means to rocket suicide by wall or enemy.

E

 * EDF - A DECORATE-style modding format for Eternity Engine. Unlike DECORATE, EDF aims to make the entire port moddable.


 * Eternity Engine - An advanced source port that can render portals. It can also play high-intensity maps like Sunder with a tolerable framerate.

F

 * Fake contrast - A feature of the Doom Engine that allows orthogonal walls to be either brighter or dimmer than walls that are not orthogonal. Very visible on square map geometry, such as crates. This helps break up some of the monotony of dynamic lighting. Some source ports allow this to be disabled or "smoothed" across various angles.


 * Fake floor - A lowered sector with no side textures. Due to the way Doom's floor rendering works, these can be used as traps by hiding monsters into the floor.


 * FDA - First demo attempt. Usually a "blind run".


 * Flags - Usually a numeric value for source ports to set binary switches, to enable/disable certain features. Common phrases include "dmflags", short for "deathmatch flags", and "compflags", short for "compatibility mode flags".


 * Flat detailing - The use of additional sectors on floors to give a sense of an uneven or damaged floor. Used primarily on hexagon tiles, and was a fad in the mid-2000s.


 * Fog - An earlier method of light diminishing that hardware accelerated source ports used when advanced shading techniques were either unavailable or too GPU-intensive. Can also mean custom color light diminishing in source ports that allow this, such as ZDoom.


 * Frad - A deliberate misspelling of "fraud".


 * FraggleScript - A (mostly deprecated) scripting language for source ports. Was first featured in SMMU.

G

 * git - The "Development" version of a source port. The term is from, a content control system for software. Usually used in sentences like "Use the latest git revision".


 * Gothic - A mapping style inspired by the GothicDM series.


 * Gothic99 - A Deathmatch mapset known for its ridiculously detailed first level, and one of the first instances of overdetailing. For a few years, most mappers did not want to be associated with "Gothic99" levels of detail, and would state this explicitly. If a map is described as "Gothic99-ish", it is usually not a compliment.

H

 * Heh - Heh.


 * Helled - A thread on Doomworld forums was sent to Post Hell with extreme prejudice.


 * Hitscan - Attacks in Doom that are not projectiles - they immediately register a hit on a wall or a thing. A "hitscanner" is a monster that uses hitscan attacks.


 * HMP - Hurt me plenty skill level.


 * HNTR - Hey, not too rough skill level.


 * HOM - Short for "Hall of Mirrors", a shimmering, mirror-like effect that occurs due to the no clipping cheat, missing textures, or malformed nodes. Some source ports have "HOM detection" that blinks colors if HOM is in the frame.


 * HUD - Short for Heads-up Display. Can be the status bar or a different display entirely.

I

 * Instadoom - Gameplay mod for Doom. Its gameplay changes, including taking selfies in-game with various filters, are loved by some and hated by others. A few believed that Instadoom was the of the Doom Community, and left the scene. There seems to be some sort of pattern, here.


 * Impse - A graphic adult fanfic about a marine, his imp, and a berserk pack. Had a sequel called Mancse, but was not as popular.


 * ITYTD - I'm too young to die skill level.

J

 * Joke WAD - Any WAD with humorous elements that may or may not impact gameplay. There may or may not be any traditional gameplay contained in them. There are usually a lot of community references in joke WADs, including cameos of various Doom community members. Not to be confused with a Terry WAD.

L

 * Limit removing - Describes a map that runs in source ports that extend static limits.


 * Looks like Christmas - Originally the description of the BFG 2704's plasma fire, it is now used to describe texture choices that complement each other to the point of clashing and being overbearing (e.g. green wall with red floor).


 * Longtics - A modified demo format that retains precision lost during normal (shorttic) demos.


 * Longwall - Also known as "long wall". Slang for Long Wall Error, a phenomenon in which walls wobble about due to limited precision of Doom's renderer. Most source ports fix this issue. If you have a long wall in your map, split it up using vertices until you are satisfied.


 * Lump - A single asset in a WAD file. Can be a texture, marker, sound, or map element.

M

 * MAX - A "maximum" Doom speed run demo. Usually 100% items, kills, and secrets.


 * MUS - Doom music format.

N

 * Needs more detail - A running gag in the Doom modding community, usually in response to a map that has more detail than needed to convey a sense of place.


 * Nickbakery - Nonsense. Used to mean "Overreaction to drama" but use in this sense has been lost. Term references Nick Baker (NiGHTMARE).


 * Node - A "leaf" or branching point of a tree - more specifically, a BSP tree. You build "nodes" for Doom using a node builder.


 * NM - Nightmare! skill level.

O

 * OPL - The music format available for Adlib/Soundblaster cards for DOOM.EXE. Used FM Synthesis.

P

 * Pacifist - A style of play where the player must use no weapons unless required to get to the exit, relying on infighting to kill monsters.


 * PC - "Partial Conversion". A WAD that may contain new maps, sounds, and even sprites, but not to the lengths of a TC. This may be subjective, however, as WADS like Back to Saturn X replace nearly every asset but is still Doom themed.


 * Pinky - A demon.


 * Pistol start - Playing each level in a mapset with no weapons or powerups acquired from the previous level. Useful for testing custom maps.


 * PLAYPAL - The actual color palette for Doom. there are 14 palettes for Doom, each with various effects for powerups like item pickups. If you change the PLAYPAL entries, you can display colors that were not in the original game. However, some TCs have custom colors that may break other mods if the extra mods are loaded on top of a TC.


 * Plus - A patch for original Doom executables that extend limits, which have traditionally limited mappers' designs.


 * Portal - A source port feature that enables the player to see into another area in the map that would be either distant or occluded otherwise. These portals can make effects like room-over-room, or Escher-style levels with never-ending hallways.


 * PrBoom+ - A source port based on Boom that is popular with speedrunners.


 * PWAD - A Patch Wad, traditionally loaded with the -file command.

R

 * REJECT - A table used by the Doom engine for a quick reference on which sector could be seen from another sector. For maps with lots of monsters, having a REJECT table can speed up the game by disregarding areas that cannot be seen from the player. Creating a very accurate table can take a long time, and as of this writing, there is no perfect REJECT builder.


 * Rip and tear - A meme that pays homage to the Doom comic, which contains other gems such as "Sweet Christmas", "Huge Guts", and "Man-and-a-half".

S

 * Shorttics - A demo in the original format, complete with decreased precision while turning.


 * Slaughtermap - A map focused around challenging gameplay in the form of overwhelming hordes of monsters, most notably mid-tier monsters. Most slaughtermaps are made for Doom 2 due to the larger monster roster.


 * Slopes - Mapping features that allow mappers to create ramps, inclines, and angled architecture. Popularized by ZDoom.


 * Software - A rendering mode for a source port that supports a column-based rendering engine. "Software renderers" closely match the original renderer in Doom, and usually require no hardware acceleration. Some PWAD text files may stress to the player to play the maps "in software".


 * Source port - A custom version of Doom that runs on various platforms. May include extra features for modding or playing. The first notable one is Boom.


 * Spam - A compressed volley of plasma rifle shots, rockets, or BFG balls. Usually seen in Deathmatch, it can be used to "blind" the opposing player in dark areas.


 * SR-50 - SR-50 automation.


 * STARTAN - The texture name of the iconic walls in E1M1 of Doom. Since it is a default texture for sidedefs in many map editors, liberal use of STARTAN may be seen as lazy.


 * SVN - The "Development" version of a source port. short for, a content control system for software. Usually used in sentences like "Use the latest SVN".


 * Swingshot - The belief that turning quickly while firing the Super shotgun deals greater damage. Used by competitive doomers, this technique's effectiveness was debunked with the release of the Doom source code.

T

 * Telefrag - The act of fragging an opponent or monster by teleporting to his location.


 * Terry WAD - A WAD specifically designed to piss you off, take up space, or do both. While some are simply screamers, others have been more malicious and attempt to change the player's settings.


 * THREE-DEE FUCKING FLOORS - A mockery of maps that used GZDoom's 3D floors to obnoxious ends. This would cause some players' computers to chug along at unplayable frame rates. The situation was compounded by the fact that ZDoom could not render 3D floors during this time, resulting in only a handful of players who had the hardware capable of rendering such maps being able to play them.


 * Tic - Short for "tick", a single unit of time for the game logic. For the sake of brevity, Doom logic runs at around 35 tics per second. In Vanilla, a frame is displayed to the screen every 35 tics if possible, thus Doom is 35 frames per second maximum.


 * Torm - Adding detail to a map to the point of excess. Phrase comes from Tormentor667, who had a reputation for obsessive detailing to the point of performance loss in game.


 * TC - Total conversion, or a WAD that replaces the majority of the maps, sprites, sounds and even actions in Doom. The first famous TC was Aliens TC.


 * Transfers - Sky transfer sectors. Source ports that implement these allow the mappers to showcase multiple skies in different parts of the level.


 * Tyson - To complete a map, usually for a speedrun demo, with the bare essentials needed to trigger lines and get to the exit. Usually this means pistol and fist only, but in certain situations the chainsaw is also acceptable.

U

 * UV - Ultra-Violence skill level.

V

 * Vanilla - Vanilla Doom. When describing a map, this means the map should run on the original Doom without problems.
 * Vile - An Arch-vile.
 * Visplane - Short for visual plane. A visplane is a span of texture for floors and ceilings that are represented in data structures as vertical columns, but rendered horizontally to save CPU time on perspective calculations. Visplanes are flood filled to the screen. If a visplane is not cut off correctly due to imprecision in the renderer or bad nodes, slime trails occur.
 * Visplane overflow - An error in Vanilla Doom in which Doom would crash due to exhaustion of available visplanes. This is because was faster than  on slow systems due to the reduction of cache misses (which would be seen as "hitches" during gameplay), and was seen as an acceptable sacrifice. During Doom 2's development, the number of visplanes was increased on request of the level designers. Modern source ports work around this by using a hashing system, which allows visplane lists to grow in size with no loss in speed.

W

 * Waggle - The term given to the rendering errors caused by imprecise trig tables of the Doom renderer. This causes some ledges and ceiling edges to "waggle" about when walking alongside them.


 * Wait for DoomScript - Usually told to a ZDoom forums user who requests a feature that would be difficult to implement using the available tools. DoomScript is a vaporware Turing-complete scripting language for ZDoom that would replace ACS.


 * Wallrunning - The phenomenon of going faster by pushing against an orthogonal wall while moving. Can also be achieved using things.

Y

 * Y-Shearing - A technical term for the side-effect of enabling mouselook for software renderers. mouselook works by moving up or down the of the player. Since software renderers are column-based and will always have vertical lines for columns, this causes a "shearing" effect.
 * You are the demons - A meme referencing a fanfic by Peter Chimaera, in which the protagonist slowly turns into a zombie. Notable for its many quotable lines and misspellings that some doomers deliberately misspell terms in homage to it.

Z

 * ZDoomism - A term for common mapping errors that may appear when a mapper only tests maps in ZDoom, without testing in other source ports. Can also be used as a term for the quirks ZDoom exhibits that other ports do not.