Why are you able to run so fast in Doom?

[Screenracer]

I have been questioning this for a while but never asked anyone. Why can the player run so fast in DOOM 1 and 2? Was it a bug that ID software couldnt fix? Was it made that way on purpose? If so, then why? Why would ID software want you to be able to run faster then a car?

[agaures]

It was intentional. And seeming as you wouldn't actually encounter any cars in the game, I'm not seeing the problem.

Doom was meant to be a unrealistic fast paced game that you can get in to.

[jwaffe]

I wonder this as well, though I think it was brilliant personally.

Being able to move so fast is a good substitute for not being able to duck, roll, and lunge left/right like you would in real life if you were in a fast paced gunfight. Basically it makes up for the inefficient method that you're using to control your character (no keyboard is as good as your own muscles).

Personally I love being able to most fast in action games, it's simpler and it feels more natural to me than "double tap a while holding the control stick left to do a quick jump left" anyday.

[Screenracer]

It was intentional. And seeming as you wouldn't actually encounter any cars in the game, I'm not seeing the problem.

Doom was meant to be a unrealistic fast paced game that you can get in to.

I don't have a problem with it or anything. Im just wondering.

[Ænima]

It was a mathematical oversight IIRC. ID made running speed simply x + y velocity, when it should have been a Pythagorean equation.


ALSO 2000 POSTS OMG WUT

[Slim]

Or simply, that's asking the same question as why Mario jumps so high, it's a vidya gaem damn it. Logic wasn't so existant in video games especially back then.

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EDIT: Or simply Doomguy is a step in evolution and can run as fast as a train.

[Medicris]

Because fast is fun. Here's an exercise for you: pop open the game, turn off freelook/turn on autoaim, go to the automap, and type "iddt" twice and pretend it's a shooter like Asteroids. That's basically how Doom really is in a nutshell.

It's a 1993 videogame when FPS was still in its infancy. Silly things like "sense" or "relative scale" didn't have to apply. Things like "limited sprinting" like in modern military shooters didn't exist. Consider for a second how slow you move with autorun off in Doom, that's like power-walking or jogging speed, right? I can imagine someone as built as Doomguy managing a sprinting speed of Doom's forward running, and something like "sprint stamina" wasn't a concept at the time (SR-40/50's a technical oversight).

I'm convinced Doomguy is something more than human anyway.

[Vivid]

Why are you able to run so fast in Doom?

Why not?

[Slim]

Do you even know what logic is?

Logic is correct use of reasoning in stuff, of course I know. And Doom wasn't exactly proper with logic. (hellish invasions, medkits can heal the almost dead back to full health instantly, you know.)

[Laggy Blazko]

And Doom wasn't exactly proper with logic. (hellish invasions, medkits can heal the almost dead back to full health instantly, you know.)

That sounds more "improbable" than "illogical". I think videogames are logical as long as "their own physical laws" don't contradict themselves.

Back on topic, I suppose usual human speed seemed very slow back in the day. Doom maps are huge and non-linear, so they would want to make non-shooting times shorter.

[Cruduxy]

Because doomguy takes a stimpack every 5 secs.

[DoomAndWWEFan]

n/a

[Slayer]

OP, look up SR50 to be able to run even faster.

[IdeIdoom]

I know why. You gotta go fast. You just need to hit that 90 mph, baby!