Key

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(Redirected from Skull key)
This article is about the keycards and skulls found as in-game items. For the keys used for moving, shooting, etc., see Controls.

A key is an item used to open designated locked doors or switches.

Description[edit]

The first key encountered in the series, a red keycard in E1M2: Nuclear Plant from the Knee-Deep in the Dead episode of Doom

There are two types of key: electronic keycards, and skull keys which resemble glowing monochrome skulls. If the player encounters a locked door and attempts to open it without the correct key, the door will not open (and the player will receive a message to that effect). Once a key is obtained, any locked door of the corresponding color on the map can be opened. All keys are lost upon exiting a map.

Multiple keys of a given color may be picked up in the same level; the status bar will display whichever type was last taken. Doors in vanilla Doom are affected identically by keycards and skull keys. In stock maps, as a cosmetic guideline, a bar of coloured lights surround a locked door when keycards are used, while a column of coloured skulls are used for skull keys. (However, this is occasionally violated, such as in Doom's E2M3: Refinery which had keycard pickups but skull doorframes.)

Keys, as other things, can be flagged to appear on certain skill levels. This allows the map designer to place a key in a more challenging spot for higher levels of difficulty. The original games include a couple of instances. In Doom's E3M6: Mt. Erebus, the blue skull key can be found quite effortlessly in the center area when playing on the easiest levels. If played on Hurt Me Plenty or higher, the key is instead hidden inside one of the buildings. Thus, in addition to being attacked by a larger population of monsters, the player also has to explore more areas to find the key. In Doom II's MAP06: The Crusher, the blue keycard will appear at one of three possible locations in the great crusher hall. The higher the skill level, the bigger effort the player has to make to obtain the key.

In multiplayer deathmatch games, all keys are removed from each map, and players spawn carrying all keys.

Enhancements[edit]

  • Ultimate Doom and Final Doom introduced "locked" switches, which cannot be activated without a key of the appropriate color. However, the feature was limited only to toggles that open fast doors permanently. Such switches were already supported in Doom II but the level designers never used them in the game.
  • Boom introduced door types that require the key to be of the right type and not just the right color, such as a door that responds to a red skull but not to a red keycard. Boom also introduced locks requiring all keys, a situation sometimes approximated in the original games by placing several locked doors in front of each other (e.g. E2M6: Halls of the Damned), and locks requiring any key. In Boom and compatible ports (that is, most ports), a locked door can be activated in any way a linedef can (including walkover) and can have any movement speed and delay before moving back (or staying in the final position) supported by Boom.
  • Hexen replaced hardcoded linedef types (e.g., 26 for blue key, 27 for yellow, 28 for red) by action specials where the key is represented by a parameter, making it simpler to manage the eleven key types from the game. In addition to door specials, Hexen also allows ACS trigger specials to be locked in the same manner. ZDoom extended the parameterized system to allow mappers to define new lock types with the LOCKDEFS lump, enabling the creation of doors requiring any arbitrary key combination.
  • Doom 64 changed the key system to be entirely independent of line type, instead being a property of the linedef itself. This allows to use key locks on any line type; for example there is a "locked" tripwire in MAP30: The Lair, which lowers a switch on the wall when traversed, but only if the player has the yellow key. If the player does not possess the key the switch will not lower, the marine will grunt, and the line "You Need The Yellow Key" will appear at the top of the screen. In addition, the game will make the appropriate key icon in the status bar flash for a short while when trying to activate a locked line without the proper key, a feature it shares with the PlayStation version of Doom.

Data[edit]

The blue keycard in ATTACK.WAD from the Master Levels.
The blue keycard found in MAP29: Outpost Omega from Doom 64.
Blue keycard data
Thing type 5 (decimal), 5 (hex)
Enum MT_MISC4 (47) - Doom
MT_ITEM_BLUECARDKEY (51) - Doom 64
Appears in Shareware Doom
Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite BKEY
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA] - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch
The red keycard in MAP03: Chambers of Confusion of Obituary.
The red keycard in MAP05: Tech Center from Doom 64.
Red keycard data
Thing type 13 (decimal), D (hex)
Enum MT_MISC5 (48) - Doom
MT_ITEM_REDCARDKEY (52) - Doom 64
Appears in Shareware Doom
Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite RKEY
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch
The yellow keycard in MAP02: Rusty Rage of Alien Vendetta.
The yellow keycard in MAP07: Research Lab from Doom 64.
Yellow keycard data
Thing type 6 (decimal), 6 (hex)
Enum MT_MISC6 (49) - Doom
MT_ITEM_YELLOWCARDKEY (53) - Doom 64
Appears in Shareware Doom
Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite YKEY
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA] - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch
The blue skull key in MAP16: Blood Keep from Doom 64.
Blue skull key data
Thing type 40 (decimal), 28 (hex)
Enum MT_MISC9 (52) - Doom
MT_ITEM_BLUESKULLKEY (56) - Doom 64
Appears in Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite BSKU
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA] - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch
The red skull key in MAP20: Breakdown from Doom 64.
Red skull key data
Thing type 38 (decimal), 26 (hex)
Enum MT_MISC8 (51) - Doom
MT_ITEM_REDSKULLKEY (55) - Doom 64
Appears in Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite RSKU
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA] - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch
The yellow skull key in MAP27: Terror of Scythe.
The yellow skull key in MAP32: Hectic from Doom 64.
Yellow skull key data
Thing type 39 (decimal), 27 (hex)
Enum MT_MISC7 (50) - Doom
MT_ITEM_YELLOWSKULLKEY (54) - Doom 64
Appears in Doom/Ultimate Doom
Doom II/Final Doom
Doom 64/Lost Levels
Radius 20
Height 16
Sprite YSKU
Frames 2 [AB] - Doom
2 [AA] - Doom 64
Class Key
Pickup
Flags 33554433 (decimal)
02000001 (hex)
Flags list 0: Can be picked up
25: Not in deathmatch

Appearance statistics[edit]

The IWADs contain the following numbers of keys:

Blue keycard

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 11 11 11
Doom II 14 14 14
TNT: Evilution 19 19 19
Plutonia 11 11 11
Doom 64 13 13 13
The Lost Levels 1 1 1

Red keycard

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 7 7 7
Doom II 11 11 11
TNT: Evilution 18 18 18
Plutonia 7 7 7
Doom 64 6 6 6
The Lost Levels 1 1 1

Yellow keycard

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 9 9 9
Doom II 9 9 9
TNT: Evilution 13 13 13
Plutonia 8 8 8
Doom 64 9 9 9
The Lost Levels 1 1 1

Blue skull key

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 15 15 15
Doom II 8 8 8
TNT: Evilution 7 7 7
Plutonia 11 11 11
Doom 64 15 15 15
The Lost Levels 4 4 4

Red skull key

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 12 12 12
Doom II 8 8 8
TNT: Evilution 10 10 10
Plutonia 12 12 12
Doom 64 13 13 13
The Lost Levels 5 5 5

Yellow skull key

Game ITYTD and HNTR HMP UV and NM
Ultimate Doom 11 11 11
Doom II 8 8 8
TNT: Evilution 8 8 8
Plutonia 14 14 14
Doom 64 16 16 16
The Lost Levels 4 4 4

Doom RPG[edit]

Keycards appear in Doom RPG, but skull keys do not.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]