* * * D O O M I I * * * Beginners Guide by John L. Jiemback Table of Contents Welcome to The Neighborhood - Introduction . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 4 How to Make Friends and Influence People - Weapons . . .. . . . . . . . 4 HANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CHAIN SAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PISTOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SHOTGUN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 *SUPER SHOTGUN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ROCKET LAUNCHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PLASMA RIFLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BFG9000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The People in Your Neighborhood - Enemies . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 6 RIFLEMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 *CHAINGUNNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 IMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DEMON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SPECTRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 LOST SOUL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CACODEMON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 *HELL KNIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 BARON OF HELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 *ARACHNOTRON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 *PAIN ELEMENTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 *REVENANT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 *MANCUBUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 *ARCH-VILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SPIDER-DEMON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CYBER-DEMON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 *BOSS BRAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Things You'll Find in Your Neighborhood - Items . . . . .. . . . . . . . 9 ARMOR BONUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BACKPACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BERZERKER PACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BOX OF BULLETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BOX OF ROCKETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BOX OF SHELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BULLETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 CELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 COMBAT ARMOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 COMPUTER MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 HEALTH BONUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 INVULNERABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 LIGHT AMPLIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 MEDKIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 *MEGASPHERE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 PARTIAL INVISIBILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 RADIATION SUIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SECURITY ARMOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SHELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SUPERCHARGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 STIMP PACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Sights to See Around The Neighborhood - Obstacles . . . .. . . . . . . 11 BUTTONS/SWITCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 DOORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 LIFTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 NUKAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 SECRET DOORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 TELEPORTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 How to Make Your Visit More Enjoyable - Survival . . . .. . . . . . . 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to The Neighborhood - Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me be the first to welcome you to the DOOM II neighborhood. It's a nice place to visit. Sure, the neighbors get a little rowdy sometimes. You know, shooting at you, throwing balls of fire or plasma at you, possible trying to bite your arm off. It shouldn't be a problem for a space marine like you. Just let your neighbor's know who's the boss and everything will be fine... This document is targeted at the first time DOOM player who really needs to buy a clue, but any of you old war dogs who get your paws on this might find a few tidbits of useful information. The document covers five basic areas: weapons, enemies, items, obstacles and survival. Any items in this document tagged with an asterisk (*) are new to DOOM II. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Make Friends and Influence People - Weapons ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you're settled in I'm sure you'll be dying to take a stroll around the neighborhood, but you'll have to be prepared incase you meet up with some of the local residents. Local customs are a little strange around here. People are very outgoing and as soon as they see you they'll start sending gifts your way. Of course, it's better to give then to receive... Here is a list of the toys you'll be playing with while taking that stroll. Each has its good points and, of course, its draw backs. The numbers in parenthesis indicate what number to press on the keyboard to select the appropriate weapon, assuming you have one. The weapons are listed in order from weakest to strongest. which happens to be the order they are in on the keyboard. Note that keys one and three have more than one weapon assigned to them. For key one, once you have the chain saw you can no longer use your bare hands; pressing one will always bring up the chain saw. The shotgun key works differently. If you only have one of the shotguns, pressing the number three key will ready whichever you have, but if you have both the number three key will toggle between the regular and super shotguns. When you first switch to a shotgun it will default to the super shotgun if you have both. HANDS - (1) Using your hands should be an absolute last resort. It requires you to rub more than just noses with your intended victim which can be a real problem, especially if said victim is firing at you the whole time. Of course, if your out of ammunition what else can you do? Another problem with using your hands is that they don't do as much damage to your opponent as the other weapons do. CHAIN SAW - (1) What an interesting and useful weapon, sometimes. Whenever you're facing a critter (or two or three or...) that doesn't fire at you the chain saw is an incredibly efficient weapon. It doesn't use ammunition, never runs out of gas, and can deal out a large amount of damage quickly. Of course you have to be rubbing noses with your intended victim for the chain saw to do its job. If you are every completely out of ammunition for the weapons you have, the chain saw (or your bare hands if you haven't found the chain saw) will be your best buddy. PISTOL - (2) When you first start a game (or restart if you got killed) you always have the pea shooter and 50 bullets. The pistol is not the most effective weapon in your arsenal, but it gets the job done with most of the little guys (like Sargents, Riflemen and Imps). SHOTGUN - (3) Probably the most useful weapon in the game, the shotgun is the one to keep ready when you don't know what's coming. When the shot gun is fired it releases several pellets that spread out as they travel. So, if a critter standing right in front of you and you blast it with the shot gun it's likely to fall over (or at least take notice). At a distance, the pellets released by the shot gun spread out doing less damage to individual targets, but possibly hitting several targets at once. Also, shotgun shells are usually easy to come by so you can maintain a good supply of ammunition. *SUPER SHOTGUN - (3) The super shotgun is just like the regular shotgun with a few important differences. First, every time you pull the trigger this puppy fires off two shells instead of just one making it twice as deadly as the regular shot gun. Its a very effective weapon. On the down side it's pretty slow reloading which can be a problem if a bunch of guys are breathing down your neck. Also, you tend to go through your supply of shell pretty quick if you continuously use the super shotgun. CHAIN GUN - (4) What a beautiful weapon. Hold down the fire button and this baby will lay down a continuous stream of bullets that can clear a room pretty quick (assuming there is nothing too formidable in the room). On the down side, this thing likes to eat a lot of bullets. Fortunately, bullets are usually easy to come by. ROCKET LAUNCHER - (5) Can be quite a deadly weapon for you as well as your enemies. A well placed rocket shot can be a thing of true beauty as it clears a room in one blast, but if you happen to shot the wall next to you by mistake then your probably face down on the floor. So, be extra careful when playing with the rocket launcher. PLASMA RIFLE - (6) The plasma rifle is one of the best weapons available. It uses cells as a power source and spits out balls of plasma at a furious rate. Although a single shot from a plasma rifle probable won't kill most targets the rate of fire will more than make up for it. The only problem with this fine piece of hardware is that you can burn through your supply of cells very quickly, and cells can be hard to come by. BFG9000 - (7) Your first question about the BFG9000 is probably "What does BFG stand for?" Well, it stands for big @*&%$#! gun, which is exactly what it is. This is the most powerful weapon you can get your paws on. But, before you go toting one of these on your shoulder there are a few details you need to know. First, the BFG9000 has a very slow rate of fire. Once you press the fire button there is a significant delay until the thing burps a ball of energy. Second, the BFG eats cells like candy. Every time your pull the trigger 40 cells get sucked dry. Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use the BFG9000, it just means you should pick your shots very carefully. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The People in Your Neighborhood - Enemies ------------------------------------------------------------------------- While taking a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood you'll meet all sorts of interesting and different "people". Be sure to stop and say hello because the folks in these parts just hate to be ignored. The following is a list of the enemies that will find you during your visits to the DOOM II world. A description is provided along with information about any weakness the creature might have. The list is ordered from the weakest to the most impossible to defeat opponent. RIFLEMAN - The low man on the totem pole, Riflemen look like men in brown uniforms. They go down with a few pistol shots or a decent shotgun blast. Don't waste something like a rocket on one of these guys unless your trying to clear a whole room of them. Riflemen shot at you with pistols, and usually leave you a clip of bullets when they go down. SARGENT - A little tougher then Riflemen, Sargents tote shotguns, and usually leave you a shotgun with a few shells in it when you kill them. Sargents look a lot like Riflemen except they wear gray uniforms instead of brown. Again, a few pistol shots will take down a Sargent, but I find a shotgun does the job a little better. *CHAINGUNNER - As the name implies, this guy carries a chaingun, which can rip a few holes in you pretty quick. Fortunately, Chaingunners have pretty bad aim, but when they do hit it hurts. Chaingunners look like oversized Riflemen. You'll know one when you see it. IMP - Imps are an annoying bunch because you rarely meet up with just one. The fact that they toss fireballs at you doesn't help either. Imps are easy to recognize by there all brown suits, but you'll usually meet the fireball first. A shotgun blast is a great way to return an Imp's greeting. DEMON - Demons are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive pink color. They attack by biting and clawing at you, and are not capable of shooting any kind of missile object. That means the beast has to rub noses with you to hurt you. In most situations, the chain saw is the best weapon against Demons, as long as you can keep the beast in front of you. If used properly, the Demon will not be able to reach you while your wielding the chain saw, so you won't suffer any damage. SPECTRE - Spectres are basically Demons with partial invisibility. They attack the same way as Demons and the chain saw works just as well on them. They only problem is spotting a Spectre, but once you know what to look for its not that hard to see them. Basically, a Spectre looks like the surrounding scenery but with a constantly shifting, wavy effect. LOST SOUL - These critters look like floating skulls that are on fire because they are. Lost Souls attack by flying at you and then biting you (I think) if they get close enough. The best way to take on a Lost Soul is to have the shotgun ready. Wait for the Lost Soul to fly at you and then blast it. The force of the shotgun blast will push the Lost Soul backward, and it won't get close enough to hurt you. CACODEMON - These guys look like big, red, floating eye balls, and they spit nasty red balls of energy that can make short work of any space marine that gets in the way. Fortunately, they move a lot slower than you and seem to have a problem shooting back if you pelt them with a continuous stream of fire (i.e. the chain gun or plasma rifle). *HELL KNIGHT - A Hell Knight is an exact copy of a Baron Of Hell shrunk down a bit. It fires they same pain full green energy balls (only less deadly) and is easier to kill. It even looks the same, like a half man, half bull creature with horns. Of course, this guy is a little smaller than his big brother. Their is no particular tactic or weapon to use against a Hell Knight other than the obvious advice to avoid being hit by its energy balls. BARON OF HELL - The Baron Of Hell is a half man, half bull creature with horns on its head, and it is about one and a half times as tall as you. Needless to say, its big. It also like to greet you with these nice green balls of energy that will put major dents in your armor (if you have any). When returning a Baron's greeting be sure to use an appropriately large weapon if one is available, and of course, don't get hit. *ARACHNOTRON - Smaller in size then its big brother, the Spider-demon, these mechanical critters still pack a mean punch. They fire green plasma balls that don't exactly tickle when they hit you. On the up side, baby spider demons are easier to kill then their larger counter parts and they have a hard time returning fire if you hits them with a continuous barrage of weapons fire (like from a chain gun or plasma rifle). *PAIN ELEMENTAL - Pain Elementals are just like the Cacodemon described above, with two small differences. First, Pain Elementals are gray instead of red, and the other minor change is that the shoot Lost Souls (also described above) instead of the boring red projectiles the Cacodemon spits. A plasma rifle is probably the weapon of choice if you meet up with one of these critters, but a rocket launcher works well too. *REVENANT - These skeletal looking dudes are nasty. They fire what are know as tracer rockets which can home in on and follow its intended victim (even around corners). As if that's not bad enough Revenants aren't lightweights; they can take a hit. If you come across one of these guys I suggest you pull out a big gun. *MANCUBUS - These hulking creatures move kind of slow (I think their just too big to move fast), but the two fireball shooters they have for arms more than make up for the speed problem. Words of wisdom when fighting a Mancubus: don't get hit by a fireball. This is another situation where you want to put a big gun to use. *ARCH-VILE - Arch-Viles are tall, skinny, very fast moving creatures with some interesting abilities. To attack, the Arch-Vile raises its hands and a glowing aura forms around it. The next thing you'll notice is a burst of energy exploding up from the ground under your feet (unless you moved in time), that will probably lift you right off the ground. This experience does not feel good. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Arch-Vile can also resurrect any dead critters he happens to "pray" over. His aura is reddish when he is performing a resurrection. If you meet up with an Arch-Vile pull out a big gun, shoot it a lot, and don't stand still for too long. SPIDER-DEMON - These mechanical spider dudes like to say hello with a chain gun that will rip you apart pretty quick. You'll recognize a Spider-demon when you see it because it looks like a large, mechanical spider. The plasma rifle works well if you have it, but any big gun can get the job done. Just don't stand still to long. CYBER-DEMON - A really large (about three times as tall as you), fast, brown, fur covered dude who looks like kind of like a Baron Of Hell's big, big brother. If you see a Cyber-demon your probably already dead. If you can, run away, save the game, then try coming back. This guy fires rockets as fast as you fire the pistol and takes a huge amount of damage to kill. If a Cyber-demon is between you and the exit, expect delays... *BOSS BRAIN - I don't want to scare anyone away so lets leave this one a mystery. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things You'll Find in Your Neighborhood - Items ------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you take a tour around the neighborhood you'll find all sorts of great things that you'll want to pick up and take with you. Just be careful because some of the people in the neighborhood might decide that what you just took belongs to them and they want it back. The following alphabetical lists gives a brief description of all the items you'll find in DOOM II, and what those items do. ARMOR BONUS - These little helmets will add 1% to your current armor rating up to a maximum of 200%. Grab them when you can. BACKPACK - When you pick up the backpack (you'll know it when you find it, it looks like a backpack), you'll receive some ammo (20 bullets, 8 shells, 2 rockets, and 40 cells), and the amount of ammo you can carry will be doubled. BERZERKER PACK - A berzerker pack is a gray box with a red plus sign on it. When you take the berzerker pack it will put you current health to 100%, if your health is less then 100%, and will also temporarily increase the amount of damage you do when attacking with your bare hands. Be warned that when you pick up a berzerker your weapon automatically changes to bare hands. BOX OF BULLETS - This is a large green box will add 100 bullets to your inventory. Very helpful if you like to use the chaingun. BOX OF ROCKETS - Pick up this tan colored box and add ten rockets to your arsenal. BOX OF SHELLS - Grabbing a box of shells will give you another 40 rounds. Pump up that shotgun... BULLETS - If you find a clip just laying around it will add 20 bullets to your inventory, but one grab off a dead guy will only give you ten. Also, if you take out a Chaingunner he will drop his chaingun. Even if you already have the chaingun pick up the new one because it will have extra ammo in it. CELLS - Cells are boxes with bright green lines on the side that boosts your sell count by 200 when you pick them up. COMBAT ARMOR - This item looks like a blue set of football shoulder pads and will boost your armor to the maximum of 200%. COMPUTER MAP - Grab this item then take a look at the map (press the TAB key). You now have a map of the entire level. Gray areas are where you haven't been yet, while red lines indicate areas you have already visited. HEALTH BONUS - These handy little blue bottles give you an extra 1% of health up to the maximum of 200%. INVULNERABILITY - This green sphere, with the face on it, will temporarily make you Superman. Nothing will be able to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. When you grab this item the screen will turn white. When the screen starts to blink the invulnerability is wearing off so be ready. Don't pick up an invulnerability sphere just because you found it. Be sure your ready to put it to good use so it doesn't go to waste. KEYS - Keys are used to open doors. If you try to open a door a message will appear on screen telling you what color key you need. Keys come in three colors: red, blue, or yellow, and either look like credit cards or skulls of the appropriate color. LIGHT AMPLIFICATION - This item looks like a pair of sun glasses but does quite the opposite when you pick it up. Everywhere you go it will seem like somebody turned the lights to full brightness. Even rooms with those annoying blinking lights won't bother you. Unfortunately, the effect wears off after a while. MEDKIT - A medkit will heal add 30%, to you current heath, up to 100%. *MEGASPHERE - The megasphere appears as a gray sphere with a face on it, and when you grab it both your health and armor jump to a full 200%. PARTIAL INVISIBILITY - Picking up this multi-colored sphere will give you partial invisibility. Basically, you look the same as a Spectre to the weaker creature (Imps, Chaingunners, etc.). Tougher enemies can still see you with no problem. The effects of this sphere are only temporary. RADIATION SUIT - This handy item will let you walk around in nukage (see next section) without suffering any damage. When you grab a radiation suit (which looks like a white jump suit) your screen will have an annoying green tint. When the screen starts to blink the suit is wearing off so you better get out of the slimy stuff. SECURITY ARMOR - This green colored set of shoulder pads will bring your current armor level up to 100% if it isn't already up there. SHELLS - Shells look like a bunch of red shell casings standing up (big surprise). When you grab them and addition eight shells will be added to your shell count. When Sargents get killed they leave behind shotguns which have four shells left in them, so be sure to grab them. SUPERCHARGE - A supercharge is a blue sphere that will crank your health up to 200%. STIMP PACK - Same as a medkit except that it only boosts your health by 10% up to a maximum of 100%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sights to See Around The Neighborhood - Obstacles ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This place is great! There is always something new and exciting to find. Just the other day I was walking along and boom. The floor dropped and there was with size or seven Imps who wanted to have a big party. You never can tell what's going to happen when you take that next step... BUTTONS/SWITCHES - Be careful whenever you pull a switch or press a button because almost anything can happen. A lift could move, the light could go out, a wall could go up letting out a bunch of critters. There are vast possibilities so be prepared. DOORS - A Door will be area of a wall that stands out because it's a different color or style then the rest of the wall. Doors really aren't to hard to spot (they aren't suppose to be). Also, they appear as yellow lines on the map. Whenever you open a door expect something to be waiting on the other side. In fact, once a door starts to open you may want to start taking a few steps back. Don't be fooled if you open a door and don't see something immediately. Often guys are hiding just out of sight. If a door has a red, yellow or blue border this usually means a key of that color is needed to open the door, but try the door anyway. You never know. LIFTS - Lifts and moving floors are a common in DOOM II, and they can be activated in many different ways. You have to be on guard at all times because the floor could suddenly go up or down, taking you with it. Also, you never know what will be at the top or bottom of a lift ride so be very wary when the floor starts to move. NUKAGE - This stuff comes in different colors and has greatly varying properties. On the first few levels of DOOM II you are free to run around in all the blue nukage and nothing happens, but in later levels the nukage becomes deadly and will drain health from you. In general, blue nukage is safe and green or red will harm you. Of course this is not a hard and fast rule. Any of these could be safe on one level and very harmful on the next. SECRET DOORS - Obviously, these types of doors will not be easy to spot like normal doors are. They wouldn't be very secret then, would they. Usually though, there is some indication that a door is around. Often, the wall pattern will be slightly off, or a can will be in front of the door. Sometimes, the door will even appear on the map as a yellow line. TELEPORTERS - Teleporters are a lot like lifts. They move you from one location to another and you don't know what you'll find when you get there. So, all the warnings for using lifts apply for teleporters too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Make Your Visit More Enjoyable - Survival ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, now that you've had an introduction to this quiet, peaceful resort let me give you a few last words of advice: Go slow. Yes the game times how long it takes you to clear a level but who cares. By going slow you can stay alive longer and find more secret areas. If you go cruising through a level you'll must likely find yourself dead. Check your map frequently. It is a great source of information, and you can even pause the game while you check out the map. Don't take supplies unless you really need them. For example, if you have 49 shells don't pick up a whole box of shells to top off your ammo because, since you can only carry fifty shells (without the backpack) you'll add one to your inventory and the other 39 will be wasted. Don't die. This one sounds obvious but it is very important. When you die you loose everything. All the weapons, ammo and power-ups you've collect go away and you restart with 100% health, a pistol, and 50 bullets. So, don't take unnecessary risks. Don't waste ammo. Yes it is a lot of fun to shoot an imp with the rocket launcher, but why waste a rocket when a single shotgun shell will do the trick. That rocket could be a lot more useful later when it takes out a whole group of guys. Learn how to slide. Holding down the Alt key and moving left or right will make your guys sidestep. This is a very handy thing to do when your being shot at. For example, you can slide out from behind a wall, peel off a few shots, then slide back behind the wall for cover. Let the enemy fight itself. Sometimes, one of the guys, like an Imp, might toss a fireball and hit a Sargent by mistake. Usually, the Sargent will turn and fire on the Imp and there you go. As long as you don't remind them that your there they will fight with each other. This only works between different types of guys. For example, this trick won't work in a room full of Imps, but toss in some Rifleman and it could be party time.