Difference between revisions of "Skill level"

From DoomWiki.org

[unchecked revision][unchecked revision]
(fists and pistol only -> fists, pistol, and chainsaw only)
Line 56: Line 56:
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
 
In addition to the five Doom standard skill levels, in [[vanilla Doom]] a skill level of 0 can also be specified (from the command line only).  Doing this empties maps of all [[thing]]s apart from the [[player]] starts. This does not work in many [[source ports]].
 
In addition to the five Doom standard skill levels, in [[vanilla Doom]] a skill level of 0 can also be specified (from the command line only).  Doing this empties maps of all [[thing]]s apart from the [[player]] starts. This does not work in many [[source ports]].
 +
 +
The "I'm Too Young To Die" skill level was named "I am a wimp" for some console ports.
  
 
In the Doom [[alpha]]s, "I'm too Young to Die" was called "I Just Want to Kill", hence the name <tt>M_JKILL</tt> for the graphic for skill 1.
 
In the Doom [[alpha]]s, "I'm too Young to Die" was called "I Just Want to Kill", hence the name <tt>M_JKILL</tt> for the graphic for skill 1.

Revision as of 13:36, 4 August 2006

Skill level determines the overall difficulty of a game: for instance, how many weapons and powerups are encountered, how much ammo various items give, and monster populations and behavior. There are five settings.

Doom skill levels

Level Name Class1 Modifiers
1 I'm Too Young To Die easy 2 × ammo2, player(s) take half normal damage
2 Hey, Not Too Rough easy
3 Hurt Me Plenty medium
4 Ultra-Violence hard
5 Nightmare! hard 2 × ammo, respawning3 & fast4 monsters, no cheats5 (in vanilla Doom)
  1. Skill levels of the same class have the same number and same types of monsters and items. The difference mainly amounts to larger and tougher comportments of monsters on the harder skill levels, but not always; for example, in E3M6: Mt. Erebus the blue key is located in different places depending on the skill level.
  2. Ammo powerups give twice as much ammunition as they do on other skill levels.
  3. Killed monsters (apart from the ones spawned by the spawn shooter) respawn at their original starting point where possible. This happens after a randomized time delay (roughly 8 seconds to 5 minutes). The respawn modifier can be used with any skill level using the -respawn command line parameter. See also (0,0) respawning bug.
  4. All monsters attack more often, Demons move and attack 2 × faster, Imp fireballs are 50% faster, and Cacodemon, Hell Knight, and Baron of Hell projectiles are 33% faster. This modifier can be used with any skill level using the -fast command line parameter. See also IDCLEV idiosyncrasies.
  5. All cheat codes except idclev and iddt are disabled.

Heretic skill levels

Level Name Class Modifiers
1 Thou needeth a wet-nurse easy 50% more ammo, player(s) take half damage, number of monsters decreased, number of items and powerups increased.
2 Yellowbellies-r-us easy Number of powerups and items increased, number of monsters decreased.
3 Bringest them oneth medium Nothing decreased or increased.
4 Thou art a smite-meister hard Number of monsters increased, number of items and powerups decreased.
5 Black plague possesses thee hard 50% more ammo, number of monsters increased, number of items and powerups decreased, 3 × monster move and attack speed, 3 × enemy projectile speed, cheats disabled.

Hexen skill levels

Level Name
(Fighter)
Name
(Cleric)
Name
(Mage)
Class Modifers
1 Squire Altar Boy Apprentice easy Damage is lessened
2 Knight Acolyte Enchanter easy
3 Warrior Priest Sorceror medium
4 Berserker Cardinal Warlock hard
5 Titan Pope Archimage hard Cheats are disabled and all monsters move faster and attack more often.

Notes

In addition to the five Doom standard skill levels, in vanilla Doom a skill level of 0 can also be specified (from the command line only). Doing this empties maps of all things apart from the player starts. This does not work in many source ports.

The "I'm Too Young To Die" skill level was named "I am a wimp" for some console ports.

In the Doom alphas, "I'm too Young to Die" was called "I Just Want to Kill", hence the name M_JKILL for the graphic for skill 1.

Early versions of Doom did not support Nightmare mode. The initial mail-order releases were version 1.1 and only included the first four skill levels. Version 1.2 added Nightmare mode support; most shareware versions of Doom distributed were version 1.2 and so included Nightmare mode. Nightmare was added as a joke, in response to comments that the game was too easy.[citation needed]

The name of the fourth skill level, "Ultra-Violence", comes from a phrase in Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange, via Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film version.

Some skilled players have created new challenges by defining custom rules such as pacifist (not hurting monsters), Tyson (fists, pistol, and chainsaw only), and playing with the -fast option set.