Difference between revisions of "Romero's head"

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'''Romero's head''' is a [[thing]] that looks like the severed head of [[John Romero]] impaled on a pole. It appears in [[Doom II]] [[MAP30: Icon of Sin (Doom II)|MAP30: Icon of Sin]], where it must be damaged with the [[rocket launcher]] to finish the level. It is located in a room that cannot be reached or looked into from the outside; the only way to see it is to use the <tt>idclip</tt> [[Doom cheat codes|cheat code]] and go behind the face of the [[final boss]].
 
'''Romero's head''' is a [[thing]] that looks like the severed head of [[John Romero]] impaled on a pole. It appears in [[Doom II]] [[MAP30: Icon of Sin (Doom II)|MAP30: Icon of Sin]], where it must be damaged with the [[rocket launcher]] to finish the level. It is located in a room that cannot be reached or looked into from the outside; the only way to see it is to use the <tt>idclip</tt> [[Doom cheat codes|cheat code]] and go behind the face of the [[final boss]].
  
The head is deliberetly placed in a small pit to prevent it from being targeted with all weapons other than the splash damage of the rocket launcher (though unintended exploits have been discovered that allow the player to hit it with any weapon), from the lift
+
The head is deliberately placed in a small pit to prevent it from being attacked with means other than the [[splash damage]] of the rocket launcher. However, unintended exploits have been discovered that allow the player to hit it with any weapon from the lift.
  
The head has 250 hit points meaning it is usually killable in two to three rockets. Though in source ports that remove/fix the infinite Z height quirk from a rockets splash damage in Vanilla Doom, it may take considerably more.
+
The head has 250 hit points meaning it is usually killable in two to three rockets. The head alone is harmless, but usually with these heads come [[spawn shooter]]s. The head roars in pain when damaged, but it is the spawn shooter, not the head, that initially [[Easter eggs#Romero's head|speaks backwards in Romero's voice]].
  
The ZDoom and Doomsday ports remove the infinite Z height from rocket splash damage but include a special exemption, via mobj flags, for Romereo Head mobjs (rocket splash damage still hurts a Romero head mobj as if it has infinite Z height).
+
When the head dies, the sound <tt>DSBOSDTH</tt> is played, explosions are spawned and the level ends. The explosions are created 320 units south from the Romero's head at heights between 128 and 640 units.
  
The head alone is harmless, but usually with these heads come [[spawn shooter]]s. The head roars in pain when damaged, but it is the spawn shooter, not the head, that initially [[Easter eggs#Romero's head|speaks backwards in Romero's voice]].
+
Romero's head has a [[sprite]] prefix of BBRN, and is also known as the ''Boss Brain'',{{cite web|author=id Software|title=Doom source code, p_setup.c line 324|url=https://github.com/id-Software/DOOM/blob/master/linuxdoom-1.10/p_setup.c#L324|publication=|publishdate=19971223|accessdate=20170915}} or ''Big Brain'' (an interpretation by the [[DeHackEd]] author before the [[Doom source code]] was released). The former name can be taken as part of an insider joke, as the "[[boss]] brain" of the level would be the head of one of the bosses at [[id Software]].
  
Romero's head has a [[sprite]] prefix of BBRN, and is also known as the ''Boss Brain'',<ref>id Software (1997), [ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/doomsrc.zip Doom source code], p_setup.c. Retrieved on April 14, 2008.</ref> or ''Big Brain'' (an interpretation by the [[DeHackEd]] author before the [[Doom source code]] was released). The former name can be taken as part of an insider joke, as the "[[boss]] brain" of the level would be the head of one of the bosses at [[id Software]].
+
== Data ==
 +
{| style="border-spacing: 0;"
 +
|style="vertical-align: top;"|
 +
{|
 +
|
 +
  {| {{prettytable|style=width: 100%;}}
 +
  !colspan="2"|Attributes
 +
  |-
 +
  |ID #||88 (decimal), 58 (hex)
 +
  |-
 +
  |[[Hit points]]||250
 +
  |-
 +
  |Speed||0 [[map unit]]s per frame<br>(0 map units per second)
 +
  |-
 +
  |Width||32
 +
  |-
 +
  |Height||16
 +
  |-
 +
  |Reaction time||8
 +
  |-
 +
  |[[Pain chance]]||255 (99.61%)
 +
  |-
 +
  |Pain time||? tics
 +
  |-
 +
  |[[Mass]]||10000000
 +
  |-
 +
  |Bits||6
 +
  |}
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
  {| {{prettytable|style=width: 100%;}} |
 +
  !|Bits list
 +
  |-
 +
  |
 +
1: Obstacle
  
== Notes ==
+
2: Shootable
 +
  |}
 +
|}
 +
|style="vertical-align: top;"|
 +
{|
 +
|
 +
  {| {{prettytable}}
 +
  !colspan="2"|[[Sprite]]s & [[sound]]s
 +
  |-
 +
  |Sprite name||BBRN
 +
  |-
 +
  |Pain sound||DSBOSPN
 +
  |-
 +
  |[[Types of death|Death]] sound||DSBOSDTH
 +
  |}
 +
|}
 +
|}
  
 +
== Appearance statistics ==
 +
 +
The [[IWAD]]s contain the following number of Romero's heads per [[skill level]]:
 +
{| {{prettytable}}
 +
!Game!!1-2!!3!!4-5
 +
|-
 +
|[[Doom II]]||1||1||1
 +
|-
 +
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||1||1||1
 +
|-
 +
|[[The Plutonia Experiment]]||1||1||1
 +
|}
 +
 +
Of the maps covered on the Doom Wiki, the following have the highest numbers of Romero's heads in single-player:
 +
{| {{prettytable}}
 +
! Map !! Count
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP06: Mount of Steel (Avactor)]] || 140
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP30: ??? (Claustrophobia 1024 2)]] || 116
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP09: Overflooded with Ideas (Avactor)]] || 96
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP08: Violent Geometry (Avactor)]] || 92
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP05: Calculating Under Pressure (Avactor)]] || 85
 +
|}
 +
''This data was last verified on December 16, 2020.''
 +
 +
== Trivia ==
 +
[[File:Wilbur-Carmack-Romero-1994.jpg|thumb|right|Jay Wilbur, John Carmack and John Romero in a photo that appeared in Wired Magazine.]]
 +
* In source ports that remove the infinite Z height quirk from a rocket's splash damage in vanilla Doom, it may take considerably more shots to destroy a Romero's head than intended. Most such ports, including [[ZDoom]] and [[Doomsday]], now remove the infinite Z height splash damage from rockets but also include an exception via [[mobj]] flags which causes the Romero's head to be damaged as if it had an infinite Z height.
 +
* The source image for the sprite was a photo taken for a magazine photoshoot in 1994. This photo appeared in July edition of Wired Magazine, though Romero himself has stated that it was taken for a photoshoot for BusinessWeek.
 +
 +
== References ==
 
<references />
 
<references />
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
  
* [http://rome.ro/lee_killough/history/doom2boss.shtml History of Romero's head]
+
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140217002342/http://rome.ro/lee_killough/history/doom2boss.shtml History of Romero's head] (archived)
 +
 
 
[[Category:Doom monsters]]
 
[[Category:Doom monsters]]
 
[[Category:Boss monsters]]
 
[[Category:Boss monsters]]
 
[[Category:Easter eggs]]
 
[[Category:Easter eggs]]

Revision as of 11:40, 16 December 2020

John Romero's head on a stick

Romero's head is a thing that looks like the severed head of John Romero impaled on a pole. It appears in Doom II MAP30: Icon of Sin, where it must be damaged with the rocket launcher to finish the level. It is located in a room that cannot be reached or looked into from the outside; the only way to see it is to use the idclip cheat code and go behind the face of the final boss.

The head is deliberately placed in a small pit to prevent it from being attacked with means other than the splash damage of the rocket launcher. However, unintended exploits have been discovered that allow the player to hit it with any weapon from the lift.

The head has 250 hit points meaning it is usually killable in two to three rockets. The head alone is harmless, but usually with these heads come spawn shooters. The head roars in pain when damaged, but it is the spawn shooter, not the head, that initially speaks backwards in Romero's voice.

When the head dies, the sound DSBOSDTH is played, explosions are spawned and the level ends. The explosions are created 320 units south from the Romero's head at heights between 128 and 640 units.

Romero's head has a sprite prefix of BBRN, and is also known as the Boss Brain,[1] or Big Brain (an interpretation by the DeHackEd author before the Doom source code was released). The former name can be taken as part of an insider joke, as the "boss brain" of the level would be the head of one of the bosses at id Software.

Data

Attributes
ID # 88 (decimal), 58 (hex)
Hit points 250
Speed 0 map units per frame
(0 map units per second)
Width 32
Height 16
Reaction time 8
Pain chance 255 (99.61%)
Pain time ? tics
Mass 10000000
Bits 6
Bits list

1: Obstacle

2: Shootable

Sprites & sounds
Sprite name BBRN
Pain sound DSBOSPN
Death sound DSBOSDTH

Appearance statistics

The IWADs contain the following number of Romero's heads per skill level:

Game 1-2 3 4-5
Doom II 1 1 1
TNT: Evilution 1 1 1
The Plutonia Experiment 1 1 1

Of the maps covered on the Doom Wiki, the following have the highest numbers of Romero's heads in single-player:

Map Count
MAP06: Mount of Steel (Avactor) 140
MAP30: ??? (Claustrophobia 1024 2) 116
MAP09: Overflooded with Ideas (Avactor) 96
MAP08: Violent Geometry (Avactor) 92
MAP05: Calculating Under Pressure (Avactor) 85

This data was last verified on December 16, 2020.

Trivia

Jay Wilbur, John Carmack and John Romero in a photo that appeared in Wired Magazine.
  • In source ports that remove the infinite Z height quirk from a rocket's splash damage in vanilla Doom, it may take considerably more shots to destroy a Romero's head than intended. Most such ports, including ZDoom and Doomsday, now remove the infinite Z height splash damage from rockets but also include an exception via mobj flags which causes the Romero's head to be damaged as if it had an infinite Z height.
  • The source image for the sprite was a photo taken for a magazine photoshoot in 1994. This photo appeared in July edition of Wired Magazine, though Romero himself has stated that it was taken for a photoshoot for BusinessWeek.

References

  1. id Software (23 December 1997). "Doom source code, p_setup.c line 324." Retrieved 15 September 2017.

External Links