Status bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the screen during gameplay and shows the player's status. It is a key component of the game's heads-up display interfaces. The status bar can be removed from the screen by maximising the viewport, although it will remain visible in automap mode. In the very first alpha version of Doom, the status bar framed the entire screen and was a visual representation of the player character's visor. The status bar is present in Doom and Doom II, as well as its console ports, which nonetheless feature different designs depending on the port. The status bar was removed in Doom 64 in favor of a more streamlined HUD interface, an option which is also offered by most popular source ports.

Doom games status bar

In the Doom games the status bar is made of a cement-like texture overlaid with large red characters for key information, graphics for the face of the protagonist, and smaller yellow characters for additional information. This status bar is utilized for all versions of Doom, including Doom II and Final Doom. Recent re-releases, however, like the Doom Classic Unity port, keep the same graphic but feature additional detail on the left and right sides to better support widescreen displays.

• Ammo: The remaining ammo of the currently selected weapon, in large red characters.
• Health: The player's health in large red characters. This can range from zero to 200 percent. If it is reduced to zero percent the player dies.
• Arms: The weapons currently possessed by the player (except fists, chainsaw and super shotgun), in small yellow characters. These correspond to the keys pressed to activate them.
  • In deathmatch mode, the arms display is replaced by a frag display showing the player's current accumulated kills in large red characters. Further, the background color of the player face is changed to match the player's uniform color.
• Graphics of the protagonist's face. This gives an immediate indicator of health and also reacts to events such as damage to the player. Specifically, if the player is hurt, the face turns and looks in the direction of the attack; a new weapon causes the face to grin briefly; and as health falls, the face becomes more beaten and bloodied. If the player has activated the invulnerability cheat, or picks up the invulnerability powerup, the face has glowing golden eyes while idle. Gaining more than 20 points of health while taking damage will result in the Ouch face appearing.
• Armor: The current amount of armoring that protects the player, in large red characters. This can range from zero to 200 percent (and, in versions of Doom prior to v1.2, a much larger value).
• Graphics of the keys obtained by the player for the current level.
• The remaining and maximum ammo for all four ammunition types (bullets, shells, rockets and energy cells), in small yellow characters.
• When "spy mode" is used in cooperative multiplayer games, the status bar remains that of the "spying" player.

Technical

STDISK visible at level start-up

An example of a custom status bar. This example is taken from the PWAD A Fistful of Doom.

The status bar code in the Doom source code is responsible not only for drawing the status bar, but also performs the palette special effects when injured or picking up items, and detects the entry of cheat codes.

Pre-release versions of Doom showed messages to the player and multiplayer chat being performed inside the status bar. This was moved to the heads-up display; however, the Doom source includes leftover variables relating to "status bar chat" and the message display.

In the source code, ST_* is used as a prefix for data and functions associated with the status bar. This trend continues in the IWAD file, where graphic resources relating to the status bar begin with ST. The following resources are used for the status bar:

STBAR

The main status bar graphic.

STGNUM[0-9]

Small grey numbers used for weapons not yet possessed. The graphics for 1, 8, 9 and 0 are present but never used.

STTNUM[0-9]

Large numbers, used for health, armor, frags, and ammo displays.

STTMINUS

Negative symbol for large text.

STTPRCNT

Percent symbol for large text.

STYSNUM[0-9]

Small yellow numbers to indicate weapons possessed (also used for total ammo display).

STKEYS[0-5]

Icons used for the key display. For Boom-compatible source ports, STKEYS[6-8] lumps can be overridden to represent combinations of key cards and skull keys.

STDISK

Floppy disk graphic used when accessing the disk.

STCDROM

CD-ROM graphic used when accessing a CD-ROM.

STARMS

The STBAR graphic includes a frags box. This box is overwritten by the STARMS graphic containing the weapons inventory when not in deathmatch mode.

STFB*

Used as backgrounds behind the face graphics in multiplayer mode, with the color corresponding to the player's color.

STF*

Player face graphics.

Older versions

The setup above is valid for Doom v1.2 and later. In v1.1 and earlier, the status bar is composed of the following images:

STMBARL

Left part of the main status bar graphic, showing the ammo and health blocks.

STMBARR

Right part of the main status bar graphic, showing the frags box, the mugshot, the armor, keys, and global ammo blocks.

STABARL

Left part of a status bar meant for the automap, showing the score. This is a remnant of abandoned design ideas from the pre-release versions.

STABARR

Right part of the automap status bar, showing currently owned weapon. This too is development garbage.

STCHAT

A large box covering the right part of the automap, used to display messages. This can be seen in the beta, but was abandoned as well.

STWEAP0-5

Weapon graphics, in the order shotgun, chaingun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle, chainsaw, BFG 9000, apparently created by shrinking the pickup sprites.

Status bar in console ports

When Doom and Doom II were ported to home consoles, among the various changes, the status bars would generally feature different designs, as well as slightly different functionality compared to their DOS counterpart.

Atari Jaguar and 3DO

The first port released for consoles was id Software's port to the Jaguar. The status bar features a much different design from the DOS counterpart, being mostly brown in color, and featuring entirely different graphics for the keys. The markers for health, ammo etc. are located above their respective values instead of below like in the DOS version, and the level keys, which use brand new sprites compared to the DOS version, are located to the left of the player's status bar as opposed to the right of the armor counter. Most dramatically, the rightmost interface that shows the total amount of ammo has been removed in this version and all other console ports of the era. In its place is a new graphic showcasing the level number the player is currently on, similar to Wolfenstein 3D.

The 3DO port re-utilizes the same status bar as the Jaguar version, with slightly different colors and with the "Area" section being renamed to "Level". Both versions also feature somewhat more limited facial animations: for instance, Doomguy's expression will not change when walking over damaging floors, unlike the DOS version.

Sega 32X

Released in the same month as the Atari Jaguar version, the 32X version features a similar status bar design, although now once again gray in color and with a significantly more simplistic color palette. This is because the 32X port's status uses the Sega Genesis hardware instead of the 32X dedicated hardware, which is instead used to render the levels. The keys have been moved to the left of the health counter, and neither the global ammo counter nor the level number graphic are present at all.

Super NES

Developed separately from the rest of the console ports, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of Doom features a new status bar design which, unlike most of the others, is directly modeled based on the one from the original DOS version. It had to be reduced in size owing to the hardware's limitations, and drops the global ammo counter as well as the graphic showcasing the player's collected weapons. The player's facial animations are more limited, as Doomguy will not grin upon picking up a new weapon and will not clench his teeth when taking damage or firing a weapon non-stop. Uniquely to this version, a new section of the status bar shows the player's currently held weapon.

Sony PlayStation

Developed by Williams Entertainment, the Sony PlayStation version once again features a total overhaul, with a much darker look and also a significantly lower resolution face for the protagonist than the other versions. Unlike the Jaguar version and its derivatives and like the Super NES version, the markers for health, ammo and armor are now once again below their respective values. For the first time in a console port, the game also features a brand new font for the various values. It also has an overhauled weapon pickup counter, with a white square to indicate the weapon the player is currently holding. The keys once again utilize different status bar sprites than the DOS version, being similar to the Jaguar version in design albeit smaller and more simplistic.

When Final Doom was released for the PlayStation, the status bar received another overhaul. While very similar to the one for the first game, it utilizes a slightly different texture and is overall slightly darker and desaturated compared to the original. The design and functionality, however, remains the same.

Sega Saturn

The port of the Sega Saturn is directly based off the PlayStation version, but in spite of that contains a completely original status bar design. Once again the graphics for it are entirely new, with a rusty silver look, and the font utilized for it is likewise original. The placement of the various sections of the status bar mirrors the PlayStation version, but the keys now feature the original sprites from the DOS version as opposed to the ones made by Williams Entertainment. The white square that indicates the player's currently held weapon has also now been made red, and Doomguy's face features the high definition spriteset taken directly from the DOS version.

Game Boy Advance

Two Doom games were released for the Game Boy Advance, a port of Doom and a port of Doom II, developed by two different companies.

The Game Boy Advance port for the first game is based directly on the source code for the Jaguar version of Doom, but it does not utilize the status bar from that version as a base, instead opting for a reconstructed status bar from the DOS version, being once again grey in color. The global ammo counter has returned, and the key sprites are the same as the pickups found throughout the level, but the graphic that shows the player's currently owned weapons is gone. Like many other Game Boy Advance ports for other games, the graphics of Doom are significantly brightened up to compensate for the early Game Boy Advance models lacking a backlit screen, and this applies to the status bar graphics as well. A new font is present, but it is notably more simplistic than the fonts featured in the DOS and PlayStation versions of the game, and can sometimes be hard to make out in the global ammo counter in particular.

Of all the console and handheld ports, Doom II for the Game Boy Advance features by far the closest status bar to the DOS version up to that point. It features the same design, except once again brightened up to compensate for the Game Boy Advance's screen, and is arranged in the same form as the DOS version, utilizing the same font and even keeping the global ammo counter missing in any other version except the Game Boy Advance version of the first Doom. As a minor visual bug, there appears to be a stray pink pixel below the global ammo counter.

Heretic status bar

In Heretic the status bar is made of a grey rock-like texture with two demonic heads on the sides. A chain is stretched between the mouths of these heads. A gem is placed on the chain. The position of the gem corresponds to the player's health level: the further to the left, the lower the health. The color of the gem is red in single player, but it can also be green, yellow, or blue when playing deathmatch to match the player's cape color. The eyes of the demonic heads become yellow when either the Ring of Invincibility is active, or the god mode cheat is used.

The central part of the status bar has two appearance options. Most of the time, the player will see its normal mode, in which its contents are similar to Doom status bar. A different appearance option will be displayed when the player switches between inventory items.

Normal mode

The central part of the status bar in this mode has several sections in it (from left to right):

• Life - this section shows the amount of player's health. In a deathmatch game it changes to "Kills" and shows the amount of frags.
• Ammo - this section shows the amount (above) and the type (below) of ammo for the current weapon. The type of ammo is shown as a picture (in the example image above it is a green arrow that corresponds to ethereal arrows). This section is empty if the current weapon is a staff or Gauntlets of the Necromancer.
• Keys - this small sections shows the keys that the player has collected. Each of these three grey squares changes its color to the color of the taken key: the top one is for yellow, the middle one is for green, and the bottom one is for blue.
• Inventory - this section shows the current selected item from the inventory and its amount (if there is more than one) in the lower right corner.
• Armor - this section shows the amount of player's armor.

Inventory mode

This mode is activated when the player switches between inventory items. The central part of the status bar in this mode consists of seven rectangular cells, which will show items from the player's inventory. The number of items of the same type, if there is more than one, will be shown in the lower right corner of the corresponding cell. The selected item is shown with a golden frame. Items are shown in order of pickup, newer on the left. Since there are ten types of items in the game, and there are only seven cells on the screen, the player needs to press the inventory switch buttons to see other items. In this case, blue flashing arrows will be shown on the corresponding sides for hints. The status bar will return to normal mode if the player does not press the inventory switch buttons within five seconds.

Fullscreen version

Fullscreen status bar in Heretic.

Heretic also introduced a special fullscreen version of the status bar. This version is very minimal in the amount of information shown: in normal mode, only the player's health and the currently selected item are shown (the former is shown in the lower left corner of the screen, and the latter is shown in the lower right corner). In inventory mode, it acts similar to the regular status bar, showing seven cells with available items. The regular status bar is still shown when using the automap.

Technical

The status bar code in the Heretic source code (file sb_bar.c) is responsible not only for drawing the status bar, but also for handling cheat codes.

In the source code, SB_* is used as a prefix for data and functions associated with the status bar. In the IWAD file the following resources are used for the status bar:

LTFACE, LTFCTOP

Parts of the left demonic face.

RTFACE, RTFCTOP

Parts of the right demonic face.

BARBACK

The background of the status bar.

CHAINBAC

The background for the health chain.

CHAIN

The health chain.

LIFEGEM[0-3]

Different color versions of the gem that shows the player's health: 0 for green, 1 for yellow, 2 for red, and 3 for blue.

ARTIBOX

Background for the chosen item's sprite in the fullscreen mode.

SELECTBO

An icon showing the selected slot in the inventory.

USEARTI[A-E]

Animation for using an item from the inventory. It looks like a blue splash.

INVGEML[1-2]

Flashing left arrow shown when scrolling through the inventory.

INVGEMR[1-2]

Flashing right arrow shown when scrolling through the inventory.

STATBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar for the deathmatch.

INVBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar when the player is scrolling through the inventory.

*KEYICON

Icons used for the key display. * is Y for the yellow key, G for the green key, or B for the blue key.

BLACKSQ

A black rectangle used when the amount or type of the ammo or item is updated.

ARMCLEAR

Used when the amount of frags, health, or armor is updated.

IN[0-9]

Large yellow numbers, used for health or frags, ammo, and armor displays.

NEGNUM

Negative symbol for large text.

LAME

Used in deathmatch when frags are below -9 (negative nine), then a word "Lame" is displayed instead of number.

SMALLIN[0-9]

Small yellow numbers to indicate the amount of each item in the inventory.

INAM*

Icons showing the type of ammo for the current weapon. * is GLD for wand crystals, BOW for ethereal arrows, BST for claw orbs, RAM for lesser runes, PNX for flame orbs, and LOB for mace spheres.

LIFEBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar for the single player.

SPINBK[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Tome of Power artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

SPFLY[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Wings of Wrath artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

GOD[1-2]

Overlays that make the eyes of the demonic heads become yellow when either the Ring of Invincibility is active, or the god mode cheat is used.

Early versions

During the development of the Heretic, the status bar underwent changes. The screenshots that were published in various gaming magazines show three early versions of the interface: from around September, November and December 1994, with the latter two versions being closer in appearance to the final version.

September 1994 version

This early version of the status bar can be seen in the screenshots included in issue 5 (September 1994) of the CD-only Interactive Entertainment magazine. Some notes on this version:

• all screenshots have a "Kills" section on the left side, which shows the number of enemies killed;
• instead of "Armor", there is a "Mana" section on the right side, which shows the amount of ammo for the current weapon;
• the central part of the status bar is divided into eight small and two large cells, with the silhouette of the armor in the left large cell. This part looks the same in all screenshots and the cells are always empty.

November 1994 version

This version of status bar is from an early pre-release build of Heretic. Screenshots with it were shown in issue 124 (November 1994) of the Computer Gaming World magazine. This version is almost identical to the final status bar. Some notes on this version:

• it appears that in this version, the player's invulnerability was shown with two yellow rectangles instead of the demon heads' yellow eyes;
• none of the known screenshots show the amount of the player's armor, although there is a cell for this;
• there are no ammo type icons yet.

December 1994 version

This version of status bar is from a later pre-release build of Heretic. Screenshots with it were shown in volume 3, issue 3 (December 1994) of the Electronic Games magazine. This version is identical to November 1994 version with the following exceptions:

• the number of kills is now displayed as a three-digit number (instead of two digits before) and zero is displayed in the most significant digit if the sum is less than 100;
• the amount of the player's armor is finally displayed in the status bar using a three-digit number. In all known screenshots it is shown as three zeros (000);
• ammo type icons were implemented.

Hexen status bar

In Hexen the status bar is made of a grey rock-like texture with two winged demonic figures on the sides. A chain with a gem on it is located at the bottom of the status bar. The position of the gem corresponds to the player's health level: the further to the left, the lower the health. The appearance of the chain and gem depends on the player's character class. The color of the gem is red in single player, but it can also be one of eight different colors when playing deathmatch to match the player's color (blue, red, yellow, green, jade, white, hazel, or purple).

The central part of the status bar has three appearance options. Most of the time, the player will see its normal mode, in which its contents are similar to Doom status bar. A different appearance options will be displayed when the player switches between inventory items or uses the automap.

Normal mode

The central part of the status bar in this mode has several sections in it (from left to right):

• Life - this section shows the amount of player's health. In the deathmatch game it changes to "Kill" and shows the amount of frags.
• Mana - this section shows the amount of blue (on the left) and green (on the right) mana the player has.
• Inventory - this section shows the current selected item from the inventory and its amount (if there is more than one) in the lower right corner.
• Ultimate weapon pieces - this section shows the parts of the ultimate (fourth) weapon that the player has collected. It is Quietus for Baratus, Wraithverge for Parias, or Bloodscourge for Daedolon.
• A.C. - this section shows the player's armor class.

Inventory mode

This mode is activated when the player switches between inventory items. The central part of the status bar in this mode consists of seven rectangular cells, which will show items from the player's inventory (both artifacts and puzzle items). The number of items of the same type, if there is more than one, will be shown in the lower right corner of the corresponding cell. The selected item is shown with a light gray frame. Items are shown in order of pickup, newer on the left. Since there are only seven cells on the screen, and a lot more types of items in the game, the player needs to press the inventory switch buttons to see other items. In this case, blue flashing arrows will be shown on the corresponding sides for hints. The status bar will return to normal mode if the player does not press the inventory switch buttons within five seconds.

Keys and armor mode

This mode is activated when the player uses the automap. The central part of the status bar in this mode consists of five small rectangular cells on the left and four big rectangular cells on the right. The left cells show the player's keys, and the right cells show the pieces of armor that have been picked up (from left to right: mesh armor, falcon shield, platinum helm, Amulet of Warding).

Fullscreen version

Fullscreen status bar in Hexen.

Like Heretic, Hexen also has a fullscreen version of the status bar. This version is very minimal in the amount of information shown: in normal mode, only the player's health and the currently selected item are shown (the former is shown in the lower left corner of the screen, and the latter is shown in the lower right corner). In inventory mode, it acts similar to the regular status bar, showing seven cells with available items. Unlike Heretic, there is no way to see the normal mode of the regular status bar, even when using the automap.

Technical

The status bar code in the Hexen source code (file sb_bar.c) is responsible not only for drawing the status bar, but also for handling cheat codes.

In the source code, SB_* is used as a prefix for data and functions associated with the status bar. In the IWAD file the following resources are used for the status bar:

ARTIBOX

Background for the chosen item's sprite in the fullscreen mode.

USEARTI[A-E]

Animation for using an item from the inventory. It looks like a blue splash.

INVGEML[1-2]

Flashing left arrow shown when scrolling through the inventory.

INVGEMR[1-2]

Flashing right arrow shown when scrolling through the inventory.

IN[0-9]

Large yellow numbers used to display health or frags, and armor.

NEGNUM

Negative symbol for large text.

SMALLIN[0-9]

Small yellow numbers used to indicate the amount of each item in the inventory and to display the amount of mana.

INRED[0-9]

Large red numbers, used for health when its amount is less than 25.

SPFLY[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Wings of Wrath artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

SPSHLD[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Icon of the Defender artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

SPBOOT[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Boots of Speed artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

SPMINO[0-15]

Spinning icon of the Dark Servant artifact, shown in the upper right side of the screen when it is active.

H2BAR

Complete status bar.

H2TOP

Top of the status bar.

LFEDGE, RTEDGE

Left and right borders of the health chain. Right border contains the symbol of Ankh, which means "life".

ARMCLS

Used when the amount of frags, health, or armor is updated.

ARTICLS

An image of an empty inventory slot. It is displayed after the item has been used.

MANAVL[1-2], MANABRT[1-2]

Bars and icons of blue (1) and green (2) mana that appear when the weapon that uses it is in the player's hands.

MANAVL[1-2]D, MANADIM[1-2]

Bars and icons of blue (1) and green (2) mana that appear when the weapon that uses it is not in the player's hands.

INVBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar for the inventory mode.

STATBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar for normal mode.

SELECTBO

An icon showing the selected slot in the inventory.

KILLS

Overlay for the "Life" section in deathmatch mode with the word "Kill".

WPSLOT[0-2]

Silhouette of an ultimate (fourth) weapon: 0 for Quietus, 1 for Wraithverge, and 2 for Bloodscourge.

WPFULL[0-2]

An image of a fully assembled ultimate weapon.

WPIECEF[1-3]

Images of various pieces of Quietus.

WPIECEC[1-3]

Images of various pieces of Wraithverge.

WPIECEM[1-3]

Images of various pieces of Bloodscourge.

KEYBAR

Version of the central part of the status bar for the keys and armor mode.

KEYSLOT[1-B]

Icons for different keys.

ARMSLOT[1-4]

Icons for pieces of armor.

CHAIN

The health chain for Baratus (fighter).

CHAIN2

The health chain for Parias (cleric).

CHAIN3

The health chain for Daedolon (mage).

LIFEGEMC[1-8]

Different color versions of the life gem for the cleric: 1 for blue, 2 for red, 3 for yellow, 4 for green, 5 for jade, 6 for white, 7 for hazel, and 8 for purple.

LIFEGEMM[1-8]

Different color versions of the life gem for the mage.

LIFEGEM, LIFEGEMF[2-8]

Different color versions of the life gem for the fighter.

Strife status bar

In Strife the status bar is made of a grey frame with two brown squares on the sides. Sliding bars above the inventory indicate the player's health level: the shorter, the lower the health. The bars are normally green, but turn yellow when health drops below 21, and red below 11. When the god mode cheat is used, they turn gold. When health is above 100, a second gray bar is overlaid on top of the first health bar to represent the added health.

Most of the time, the player will see just this main bar, but when pressing specific action keys a popup widget will be temporarily displayed above it.

Normal mode

The main status bar has several sections in it (from left to right):

• Armor - this section shows the type and amount of player's armor. In multiplayer it instead shows the player color and number.
• Health - the health value is shown in the top-left area and also indicated by the slider bars.
• Inventory - this area shows up to six items in the player's inventory, with the selected one marked by a red box.
• Sigil - this section indicates the number of Sigil pieces the player has collected, with an increasing number of yellow icons matching the shape of the weapon itself.
• Ammo - this section shows the amount and type of ammo for the current weapon.

Popup mode

This mode is activated while the player presses the key (default 'Z') to show a widget panel (above) that contains slots for weapons, available and maximum values for ammo and stats, the number of keys collected, and whether the communicator is enabled.

It is also activated while the key (default 'W', or 'M' in Chocolate Strife) is pressed to show the mission log, describing the current objective and showing the running time played so far.

Finally the widget is popped up when the key (default 'K') is pressed to list all collected keys. This widget remains visible for 50 tics (1.43 seconds) during single-player or 20 tics (0.57 seconds) in multiplayer, and allows for additional presses to list more keys, and to close the widget without waiting.

Technical

The popup widget for the mission log.

The status bar code in the Strife source code (files st_*.c) is responsible not only for drawing the status bar, but also for handling cheat codes.

The popup widget for the keys inventory.

In the source code, ST_* is used as a prefix for data and functions associated with the status bar. In the IWAD file the following resources are used for the status bar:

INVBACK

The main status bar graphic.

INVTOP

The left and right top parts of the status bar.

INVCURS

The red box around the selected inventory item.

INVPOP

The popup widget frame with the weapons/ammo/stats foreground text.

INVBAK

The background panel with the weapons/ammo/stats slots.

INVPOP2

The popup widget frame for the mission info or keys.

INVBAK2

The plain background panel for the mission info or keys.

INVFONG[0-9%]

Green numbers and percentage sign for health and ammo values in the main bar.

INVFONY[0-9%]

Yellow numbers and percentage sign for the inventory and the weapons popup.

I_SIG[1-5]

Icons for the Sigil slot in the main status bar with an increasing number of pieces.

I_*

Icons for inventory items and keys.

CBOWA0, GRNDA0, RIFLA0, FLAMA0, MMSLA0, TRPDA0

Pickup icons for the slots in the weapons popup, from top-left to bottom-right: crossbow, grenade launcher, assault rifle, flamethrower, mini-missile launcher, and mauler.

Source ports

In ZDoom-family source ports, the ZScript scripting language can be used to create custom status bars. Previously, a special SBARINFO lump was used, but this option is now considered deprecated. SBARINFO is now only used for custom status bar faces.

See also

• Heads-up display
• Health percentage hysteresis in sector type 11