The BFG ball shot against the corner, the column and etc.
You shoot the BFG ball against the wall near the corner and as it explodes you strafe off from behind the corner. If the enemy appears unfortunately before you when you’ve rushed out from behind the corner, it’ll be hard time to him. The same maneuver can be use with a column (we are talking about an ordinary column that has a polygon-like shape and that is pictured on the map, and not about sprite-like “column” object).
Dirty tricks at the first level: the BFG operation in parallel corridors and more
1. The first level is characterized by the small size and rather close deathmatch respawn spots. It’s quite an ordinary dirty trick here that having killed an enemy somewhere in the corridor between the RL and the CG to throw the BFG to the PG along the corridor, if you see the enemy respawn in this corridor or in the hall with the PG, then go on according to script 2. If not, then the enemy respawns near the CG, or at the balcony with the RL, the SSG and the BFG. The first case is no good, in the second one while the charge is flying behind, you should run quickly to the corner of the corridor leading to the room with a balcony. It gives you an opportunity to frag an enemy by the damage area. Note: he can launch a rocket to the corridor from the balcony or do something equally treacherous.
2. If an enemy is close to the BFG, and you are close to the RL by the corridor turn, then throw a BFG ball at him. He’ll go aside (for you – to the left). Run along the corridor to the PG, before entering the hall just shoot the ball against the corner to the left, looking to the left and forward (without releasing the shoot button the BFG heats up slowly), a little bit more to the left than it’s natural for the diagonal running. Then run in.
3. Traditional BFG shooting against the corner without preliminary maneuvers and shots is also rather effective on MAP01.
The BFG ball shot against the stairs, the window-sill, the door
If you are running up the stairs to a landing (platform) where there is probably an enemy, while running up, try to throw the ball against the stairs. It can help as the damage area will be just formed at your arriving upstairs.
The same trick is good for the window as well: if there is an enemy behind the window, throw the ball against the window-sill and stay here by the end of explosion.
In order to kill an enemy standing behind the door, push the Fire button and open the door right after it. In order to kill an enemy is quite enough, IMHO, to see his feet under the door at the moment of explosion. The BFG ball will blow up against the half-open door and the aim will be knocked out. By the way, if you open the door AFTER pressing the Fire button, there will be also the BFG muffling which we are going to discuss.
The BFG muffling
This technique is actually not so difficult, though it seems to be rather strange at the beginning. It is possible because of the way that DOOM works with sounds, the point is that a player can produce just one sound at a time. If a sound is not finished at the moment the next sound starts, then the previous sound is muffled completely even if it should last for a long time, and the second sound is short.
Thus, to muffle the BFG you should as soon as possible after pressing the Fire button (there is a special sound of the BFG heating) produce another sound, which will muffle the shot. Usually a sound is produced by USE at the nearest wall, but there are some alternatives – it can be a jump from an elevation, door opening and etc. The ball will take off the BFG ABSOLUTELY QUIETLY. Of course, it’s much easier to hit off an enemy in this way.
It’s clear that you can muffle only shot in such a way , but not a ball explosion. It’s encouraging that the time between the start of the ball explosion and the end of the damage area formation is not very much.
Usually the BFG shot should be muffled. The exception is the BFG usage without muffling as the sound of the BFG heating not only warns the enemy but has a demoralizing effect.
As a rule you can guess about the BFG usage by the sound muffling it: the wall USE is accompanied by the specific “uhhhhhh” sound that rarely occurs in a game usually. But with other actions being used for muffling it’s hard to understand what the point is. For example, we’ve recently discussed you shooting at the door and opening it. The sound of the door being opened doesn’t usually suggest the idea of the BFG, so it’s not an easy thing to solve this trick.
By the way about sound! For deathmatch, the PC Speaker is often better than the SB, especially if the later is Mono (there are good things in Stereo), many sounds with the PC Speaker are more distinct, the muffled BFG, in particular, is heard much better. At least, the PC Speaker sound volume level is much more leveled as it’s almost equal for everything. The rockets can be heard better.
If you shoot the ball but are killed…
... take up your time. Some people say that while you are just dead body, the damage area can be formed with the ball explosion, and its center will be your breathless body, but if you’ve respawned ahead of time then there will be no damage area. Other people say that the damage area will be formed in any case, its center will be your corpse and with early start there will be an opportunity to kill or injure yourself by your own BFG in the damage area. I don’t know who is right, I suppose the later to be right, but it doesn’t really matter as you shouldn’t respawn at once in any case.
The BFG getaway
Here we’ll enumerate all possible ways of the BFG protection when it is used against you. There are few in number, they are rather simple and are based as on understanding of the BFG work, as on the ways of this weapon usage.
So, let’s make it clear from the very beginning that we are talking about ways of avoiding an area effect as it’s quite trivial to protect yourself from the direct hit: you should get away from it.
1. When your enemy is shooting the BFG, you should always try to guess about it by the specific sound long before the actual shot. It’s very easy, if he doesn’t use muffling, but sometimes it’s practically impossible (as in the case with a door) if he knows this trick well. If you know where the shooting occurs, try to get out of the place quietly - hide behind the walls, behind the columns, far in the corridors and so on.
2. If you see the direction of the ball shot, you should imagine the possible damage area with the starting point at the current location of your enemy and you should try to leave this area before the explosion. If your opponent is standing in the middle of a small room (not actually standing but probably running in the middle) and is shooting at you, then you can use the “arc”-trick, described earlier. It’s advisable to make a full circle around your enemy until he’ll run out of ammo or until you’ll shoot him off with a kind of weapon more convenient in this situation than just BFG.
3. If you’ve outflanked the shooter , you’ll never be knocked off.
44. If you get away of a shooter at a considerable distance then you’ll probably be injured slightly as you can catch only one ray at most (see the principle of the BFG work in the first volume and the note about 20 rays in the damage area) or pass between the rays at all.
5. Try to shoot the enemy off while the BFG heating, that is BEFORE the shooting ;-)
6. Don’t stand at places where the BFG can be used “just in case”. For example, on MAP01 it’s quite strange to stand in the corridor by the room exit with the SuperShotgun when the enemy are to go out of the dark hall with a balcony where the BFG, the RL and the SSG is: most players shoot with the BFG at the corner before the corridor. Though if you are ready for it, you can try to greet an enemy with a rocket while the BFG muffling and slip away in a room
Preventing the BFG getaway
The previous section was about the situations when you were being shot at. Now let’s dwell on the situation when you are shooting and the enemy is getting away. We’ll preserve the numeration as in the case of the BFG getaway discussion, so there will be a correspondence between the points of this subchapter and the previous one.
1. Muffle your BFG! Don’t let your opponent guess that you are using the BFG. It’s better to use unusual methods (muffling with door opening and etc, an ordinary one – the wall USE, but it’s well known. You can, by the way, frighten the enemy with the wall USE, so he may think that it’s the BFG), though they are not always convenient.
2. Try to conceal the shooting, so that the enemy doesn’t see you at the moment. Avoid the long-distance ball flight, shoot right before you as it’s less noticeable. In every moment between the shot and the damage area formation always imagine the damage area location and drive the enemy in it, just the way you aim another kind of weapon on him (the difference is that after the shot you can’t change the damage area location, it’s direction is already set, and you can change only its initial point).
3. Don’t let the enemy outflank you! Strafe back, strafe aside while getaway and etc!
4. Pursue the retreater!
5. Try to heat the BFG up in such a way that nobody couldn’t get you caught before the shot itself. ;-)
6. Occasionally use the preventive BFG shots in convenient for the enemy corridors, rooms and etc. For example, on MAP01 DOOM II as moving from the BFG (the balcony) to the Chaingun and at the exit of the lighted corridor turn sometimes you have to shoot the BFG at the corner (see the previous section) even if you haven’t seen the enemy and you are not sure if he is hiding behind the corner.
