Wolfenstein SS

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Revision as of 10:36, 16 August 2006 by Aaron Pepin (talk | contribs) (Damage)


An SS Nazi on MAP31: Wolfenstein, the player is cheating and has used the IDDQD code. If you look inbetween his legs you will notice different coloured pixels.
More Nazis, in action

The Wolfenstein SS (also referred to as the SS Nazi or Wolf3D Guy) is an enemy from Wolfenstein 3D which makes an appearance in Doom II.

In Doom II, is a humanoid monster encountered by the Doomguy, seemingly in undead form, as a result of the demonic takeover of Earth. He appears as a blond, square-jawed man wearing blue coveralls and a sidecap, and carries a submachine gun. His eyes glow blue.

The SS Nazi inhabits only two maps released by id Software, MAP31: Wolfenstein and MAP32: Grosse. (In fact, he is absent from the latter on I'm too young to die and Hey, not too rough). He is not mentioned in the Doom II instruction manual, presumably to avoid a spoiler.

Combat characteristics

The SS Nazi attacks by firing a single bullet, which is slightly less powerful than the player's bullet; unlike the Trooper, however, he tends to fire repeatedly as long as his enemy is in sight. When killed, he drops an ammo clip containing 5 bullets (10 on I'm too young to die and Nightmare!).

Wolfenstein 3D sprites include only "head-on" attack sequences (because that engine did not allow monster infighting, it was unnecessary to depict other angles). Therefore, the SS Nazi always appears to face the player when firing, no matter where the actual target is. Also, one of the aiming frames has pink pixels between the legs, possibly due to a palette conversion error.

Tactical analysis

The SS guard in Wolfenstein 3D was a feared marksman whose high rate of fire, low pain chance, and unusually large hit point total forced the player to know exactly where he was on each level and ration its health pickups accordingly. Such challenges exist in Doom II, but this is not one of them.

Although a single SS at close range can inflict significant damage (his rate of fire is half that of a chaingunner), their main distinguishing feature is now their inaccurate aim, which sometimes allows a skilled player to clear 80% of a large room without even pulling the trigger. Perhaps for this reason, SS Nazis are rarely included in third-party levels — the end result, especially in close proximity to other monsters, is more often comic relief than a pitched battle between good and evil.

If the chaingun is used against a group of SS Nazis on Hey, not too rough, Hurt me plenty, or Ultra-Violence, the player should watch his ammo stock carefully, since he is usually expending at least five bullets for every five-bullet clip he recovers. The plasma rifle dispatches SS Nazis fairly rapidly, while a single shotgun blast is fatal only about half the time (or perhaps a bit more often at point-blank range). However, a chainsaw can be useful, but only at corners and/or narrow rooms and dead-ends.

Inspiration and development

Although the engine considers him to be the same height as other zombies and the player, the SS Nazi appears shorter on the screen, because his sprites are unchanged in size from the originals.

His alert and death sounds are spoken in German; they are "Schutzstaffel" (literally, "protection squad") and "mein Leben!" ("my life!"), respectively. The Schutzstaffel (SS) was a paramilitary organization active during Hitler's tenure in Germany.

Notes

The SS Nazi does not appear in the German release of Doom II, because the two secret levels are absent. This is due to the fact that Nazi imagery is banned in Germany.

Data

Attributes
ID # 84 (decimal), 54 (hex)
Hit points 50
Speed 8
Width 40
Height 56
Reaction time 8
Pain chance 170 (66.41%)
Mass 100
Bits 4194310
Bits list

1: Obstacle

2: Shootable

22: Affects Kill %

Sprites & sounds
Sprite name SSWV
Alert sound DSSSSIT
Action sound DSPOSACT
Pain sound DSPOPAIN
Death sound DSSSDTH (normal)
DSSLOP (gibs)
Ranged attack
Type Hitscan
Damage (rapid-fire shotgun: d5x3) 3-15
Sprite name PUFF (impact, miss)
BLUD (impact, hit)
Rate Of Fire 175 RPM
Sound DSSHOTGN

Appearance statistics

The IWADs contain the following numbers of SS Nazis:

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Doom II 32 74 156

Sources