Exit switch lore

[ludicrous_peridot]

So, tell me, when you first played the game, what exactly did you think happened to the Doomguy (and the world around him) when he pressed the level exit switch button - presumably while we as the player enjoyed watching the stats on the tally screen?

 

Did the elevator come? Or door open? Or self destruct timer was armed? What did you think?

Edited April 26 by ludicrous_peridot

[LegendaryEevee]

In Ultimate Doom back in the 90s I remember seeing the place you completed blow up in red.  So I always imagined like Duke Nukem when you hit the Exit Switch the area you completed blew up.

[Sesamia]

My own head canon is that they're an elevator that allow you to exit wherever you are.

There was some discussion about this recently:

 

[Metal_Slayer]

I think the level ends and you go to the next one.

[Edward850]

The game state variable gameaction is set to ga_completed, which later triggers G_DoCompleted which sets up the intermission screen.

Edited April 27 by Edward850

[Maximum Matt]

They should've kept in the decorative Exit doors in exit rooms, that were in the betas - makes more sense

[JadedFanatic]

I've always presumed that the switch just opens up a direct route to another level, be it through a lift, the lowering of a wall or a corridor. In-universe, nothing really happens, so its omission is at least somewhat justified.

[VICE]

The research participant in the other room gets an electric shock.

[Drago]

Well, looking at the endscreen map, im assuming its some sort of airlock to the outside.

[ludicrous_peridot]

Yeah, coming to think of it - I never thought much about what the switch represented when I originally played the game. Staying alive and finding the keys was a bigger problem. And then there's the giant demonic switch, and other occasions when Doom pretends something makes sense about it :)

I just thought the Exit signs and properly painted doors were simply a hint for me, the player, showing where to go, and never questioned why would UAC put something into their Demos base for me, the player.

 

These days, I am somewhat fascinated by that. I mean in Dark Forces you had to go back to the start of the level and a ship came to you, in Black Thorne you reached an NPC at the end of elevator riding sequence (ironically, in dead end), but in Doom it's just a simple switch! Height of abstract design?

So, I mean, yes there are serious explanations (like the ones in thread by @Sinnesloeschen  - thanks @Sesamia  for sharing), there are accurate explanations like that from @Edward850, but I thought there were probably creative explanations, from players who - unlike me - tried reconcile the game and its plot, and I curious to hear more of those. 

 

[Doom-X-Machina]

On 4/27/2024 at 4:43 AM, ludicrous_peridot said:

Did the elevator come? Or door open? Or self destruct timer was armed? What did you think?