bfg is nub wepon

[Bloax]

I've seen this discussion come up every 6 months, it's getting quite old. Experience is all that determines how effective BFG is, much like any other weapon.

there is nothing to add here
nothing

all but the ones of us who have been there since the dawn of doom competition (not all that many) have been these noobs that cried about the assblasting BFG that isn't really all that unfair once you know your shit

i've been that noob, you have been that noob
now your friend is that noob
and later someone else will be that noob

[Hypnotoad]

BFG is a poorly coded abomination that defies all logic and physics and would never be acceptable in a more modern arena death-match game, but it's not a "nub" weapon by any means and you're not a real player if you refuse to use it, anyone who disagrees needs to git gud.

[capodecima]

BFG is best weapon which was ever made, especially in doom is this weapon really nice. In quake its not used in duels at all. But in doom dueling this weapon has your place especialy for your tricky actions. Only noobs always find excuses how is this weapon lame bcz they cant dodge and shit. Against good player run only for BFG is NOT good tactic you will only die and die. But with some experiences this weapon can win some matches for you.

[ESTAR]

BFG is a poorly coded abomination that defies all logic and physics and would never be acceptable [...]

Game.

Now, i am a noob in dueling, and my preferente is not to use BFG, but the main reason is Because i don't know how to use it... Then If i want to win, i Will logically not use it, Because no matter What weapon it is, If i don't know how to use it, the weapon be it OP or not, i wont make ANY frags at all, so i strongly think it's the player. Im kinda introduced to dueling, but i already realized You can evade it, then, whats the problem? Just think logically, the fact that BFG gets You easy kills is false, Because If i use it against Jhon Zombie, for example, IM sure i wont kill him, If the case is inverse, he will kill me, ITS THE PLAYER.

Btw writing with IPad is a pain in the ass.

[someoneelse]

i've been that noob, you have been that noob
now your friend is that noob
and later someone else will be that noob

HOW DARE YOU

But seriously, probably there was a conversation like that on IRC, on DoomWorld, but not here, so why not? We started from a bad point here, like "LET'S PROVE THE PEOPLE WHO HATE BFG ARE NOOBS" and not "IS BFG A GAME-BREAKING WEAPON".
Well, lately I learned how BFG works, and it's really fun to use because of how broken and unintuitive it is (I wish there could be a training version with visible tracers, but people say if we'd use railgun tracers most computers wouldn't manage to render them all). I mean, I play Doom for over ten years and I didn't know the tracers come from player, not ball (damn Doom 3 misguided me), but in direction of ball, and is basically best used like SSG, though a very slow and ridiculously 360 degree one.
But with BFG there's another thing: it's, in most cases, either hidden, or requiring some jumping skills. While the latter uses skill, though not the one usually used in duels, the former uses map knowledge. Which makes playing on a map you don't know and opponent does A LOT more frustrating and a lot less satisfying.

[HexaDoken]

I mean, I play Doom for over ten years and I didn't know the tracers come from player, not ball (damn Doom 3 misguided me), but in direction of ball, and is basically best used like SSG, though a very slow and ridiculously 360 degree one.

Yes, who would have thought when first using BFG that it is, in fact, a ridiculously well disguised shotgun.

But with BFG there's another thing: it's, in most cases, either hidden, or requiring some jumping skills. While the latter uses skill, though not the one usually used in duels, the former uses map knowledge. Which makes playing on a map you don't know and opponent does A LOT more frustrating and a lot less satisfying.

Will disagree on the last point actually. For one, usually, it's not terribly hard to figure out how to reach the BFG - you just need to keep your eyes open for switches and/or ledges that you can jump from. For two, even if it's not immediately obvious and the player knows it, it's still possible to figure out where the bfg is easily by spying on him. Which is actually pretty damn interesting in my opinion - for some time supressing your bloodthirst and just go in shooting him down, instead following him around until he gets the BFG uncovering how to get it in the process, then immediately backstab-SSGing him, grabbing the BFG and owning him for the next few seconds until you run out of ammo.

Isn't that bloody fun? Even if you don't win due to losing a bunch of frags while trying to figure out what or when, it's still worth it. And then there is next time anyway.

[Strych6]

I've seen a great deal of fine DM sessions fall apart from a spontaneous chain-reaction BFG festival.

The gameplay changes quite a bit as potential traffic patterns shift a great deal. It becomes a ridiculous parade of musical chairs, and before you know it - players are disconnecting left and right in a Flying Circus. If you ask me, I think Terminators 10 point spread trade-off is more fair than FFA tracer spam

When I was slaving over an unreleased duel project, I noticed theres a certain obligation to include the bfg in a dm map. The shortage of weapon variety causes problems in directing traffic throughout the map. This is probably easier explained in a diagram, but Im in no rush to draw one up.

[Zakken]

Qent's link sums it up pretty well. Also, I believe it's mentioned somewhere in the Doom bible that all of the weapons were designed with singleplayer/co-op in mind, so it wouldn't be a big surprise if Deathmatch was a tad bit unbalanced (and it kind of is, the SSG has seen much more playing time than other weapons), but the BFG can still be countered easily, depending on the map.

[SwordGrunt]

it's really fun to use because of how broken and unintuitive it is (I wish there could be a training version with visible tracers, but people say if we'd use railgun tracers most computers wouldn't manage to render them all). I mean, I play Doom for over ten years and I didn't know the tracers come from player, not ball (damn Doom 3 misguided me), but in direction of ball, and is basically best used like SSG, though a very slow and ridiculously 360 degree one.

wait, did you just say the bfg tracers cover 360 degrees

not sure if that was what you meant but they cover 90 degrees in a cone in front of you

[HexaDoken]

in a cone in front of you

In the direction the BFG wall was shot in*

It's very possible to BFG spray someone with him behind your back, as long as you were facing him when you shot the ball and did a 180 turn before it exploded.

[Ivan]

Just think of it as a party hat. You're the tip, and the area it extends to is the area the guy can die at.

[Kara Kurt]

http://xsnake.online.fr/doomforever/bfg.htm
-
http://www.doom2.net/doom2/facility/bfg.html

BFGhack training program.

[SwordGrunt]

in a cone in front of you

In the direction the BFG wall was shot in*

It's very possible to BFG spray someone with him behind your back, as long as you were facing him when you shot the ball and did a 180 turn before it exploded.

Yeah I know, but it's nothing like an actual 360 degree range

[Absolute Zero]

in a cone in front of you

In the direction the BFG wall was shot in*

It's very possible to BFG spray someone with him behind your back, as long as you were facing him when you shot the ball and did a 180 turn before it exploded.

And this cone has an angle of 90 degrees (shame on you widescreen users, the cone is not bigger for you, vid_nowidescreen to make your life easier and distorted sprites) and it is defined in the moment the bfg ball appear, after that, you can only "move" this cone anywhere, as long as it's direction is the same (must be parallel to your direction at the moment the bfg ball appeared), the tracers will be applied in some misterious explosion frame that is unknown to me right now, I'm too lazy to check it's code. I'm possibly being inconsistent in a few points, but wording it's effect is a bit hard.

And no, it's not possible to do what you described. You cannot spin this cone after the BFG ball appeared (please note that before the bfg ball appear, the bfg is still "charging" and the cone wasn't defined).

[Lollipop]

I can imagine that this could be used somehow, I guess I could do some testing on how to utilize this behaviour?

[HexaDoken]

And no, it's not possible to do what you described. You cannot spin this cone after the BFG ball appeared (please note that before the bfg ball appear, the bfg is still "charging" and the cone wasn't defined).

You probably misinterpreted what I described. This isn't turning the cone - this is turning yourself. What I meant is that the cone will always appear in the direction the BFG ball was originally shot at, no matter what you were facing at the moment. Thus, it is possible that when the BFG ball explodes the enemies that are right in front of your field of vision will not get hit, while the enemies that are behind you will get wasted, as long as you have managed to do a 180 degree turn after the BFG ball was launched but before it exploded.

tl;dr - if you're looking at something it doesn't mean they will be bfgsprayed

[someoneelse]

I really wonder, our dear coders, would it be possible to make a WAD making at least the cone show up somehow, so people (mostly me) could train using BFG and have some chance to see what the hell happens? It would be so useful I can't even describe.