Light amplification visor
From DoomWiki.org
The light amplification visor is a powerup first introduced in the Knee-Deep in the Dead episode of Doom. Picking one up will show everything at full brightness for 120 seconds. When 5 seconds remain, the display will begin blinking back to its original light level, signaling the end of the visor's effects. The same effect can also be achieved with the cheat code idbeholdl. Picking up a visor while a previously collected one is still active resets the duration to 120 seconds.
The powerup appears as a pair of light gray goggles with blinking red lenses in Doom and Doom II, whereas in Doom 64 it is a yellowish gray and the blinking lights alternate between purple and violet. Light amplification visors are the rarest of Doom's powerups, as they undo the various lighting effects that are an integral part of the game's atmosphere.
They are included in the items percentage displayed at the end of each level.
Contents
Data[edit]
| Light amplification visor data | |
|---|---|
| Thing type | 2045 (decimal), 7FD (hex) |
| Enum | MT_MISC16 (61) - Doom MT_ITEM_PVIS (68) - Doom 64 |
| Appears in | Shareware Doom Doom/Ultimate Doom Doom II/TNT: Evilution Doom 64/Lost Levels |
| Radius | 20 |
| Height | 16 |
| Sprite | PVIS |
| Frames | 2 [AB] |
| Class | Item Pickup |
| Flags | 8388609 (decimal) 00800001 (hex) |
| Flags list | 0: Can be picked up 23: Affects item % |
Appearance statistics[edit]
In the IWADs the light amplification visor is first encountered on these maps per skill level:
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The IWADs contain the following numbers of light amplification visors per skill level:
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Notes[edit]
Light amplification visors originally used colormap 33 in the press release beta to simulate night vision goggles. However, this tended to make the game darker and sprites more difficult to discern due to the limited number of shades available in the palette, which probably explains why it was changed.
In the Atari Jaguar port and most other ports directly based on it, the visor is absent, along with the blur sphere. The item was restored for the Sony PlayStation version, and appears particularly in maps derived from Doom II; it was not, however, added back to maps from which it was removed for the Jaguar version. In Doom 64, instead of blinking, the added light effect simply fades into the current lighting when the power-up runs out. The power-up is retained in the Super NES version of the game and works exactly the same as it does in the PC version.
Many players have lamented the replacement of the light amplification visor in Doom 3 with the flashlight, as the player cannot use the flashlight and another weapon at the same time. This was a deliberate limitation implemented by the developers in an effort to increase the tension and possibility of scares, as the player would have to make a choice between whether to brave dark areas with a weapon and low visibility, or improved visibility via a flashlight but without adequate firepower. Still, the complaints prompted id Software to address this in Doom 3: BFG Edition by changing the flashlight into an armor-mounted device.
See also[edit]
| Items from Doom, Doom II and Doom 64 | |
|---|---|
| Health: | Health bonus • Stimpack • Medikit |
| Armor: | Armor bonus • Armor • Megaarmor |
| Powerups: | Berserk • Computer area map • Invulnerability • Light amplification visor • Megasphere • Partial invisibility • Radiation shielding suit • Supercharge |
| Keys: | Keycard • Skull key • Demon Key |
| Weapons: | Fist • Chainsaw • Pistol • Shotgun • Super shotgun • Chaingun • Rocket launcher • Plasma gun • BFG9000 • Unmaker |
| Ammo: | Backpack • Clip • 4 shotgun shells • Rocket • Energy cell • Box of bullets • Box of shotgun shells • Box of rockets • Energy cell pack |
