What happens when you exit a level?

[Maes]

As we all know, the ultimate goal of every Doom level is to exit it. No matter how well or bad you play, whether you speedrun, UV MAX, Tyson or just play cowardly, in the end you have to hit that switch, cross that line, or even take that damage like a man.

But exactly what is supposed to happen to Doomguy when he reaches that goal? How can hitting a switch in the middle of big fight and with 20 fireballs targetted at your ass ready to hit, suddenly make all of Doomguy's worries go away?

OK, the exit doors (and exit rooms) in most official id levels can be thought of as elevators, airlocks, access bays or transporters of some sort, carrying Doomguy to the next level -quite literally-. Doom 3 makes this very explicit, having you take elevators to move between different base levels, walking in the Martian near-void from building to building, and a few times taking literal transportation from one level to another (monorails, skytrams etc.)

But in Doom, the level-ending event is too abrupt. You could argue that once Doomguy enters an exit room, he shuts the door, hits the switch and Gets The Fuck Out of there, leaving any unkilled monsters behind uselessly clawing at the door. But what if a monster (or more...) are still there with you? And there are plenty of maps where the exit switch is in an open place and under heavy fire....how exactly would hitting it help Doomguy escape?

Instant worry-free exists are only partially justified if the exit is supposed to be a magical portal or teleporter (but then again, what prevents enemies from following you?), while damaging sector exits are the most puzzling, as the implication is none less that Doomguy has to die, especially if they are NOT used as a final episode or mapset exit.

[Doominator2]

The switches probably work similarly in duke nukem where once you press the switch it kills all the enemies ion the map or something similar to that.

[GreyGhost]

Maes said:

But exactly what is supposed to happen to Doomguy when he reaches that goal? How can hitting a switch in the middle of big fight and with 20 fireballs targetted at your ass ready to hit, suddenly make all of Doomguy's worries go away?

Divine intervention, or the demons are sticklers when it comes to rules of engagement.

[mouldy]

I imagine upon hitting the exit switch doomguy and all the monsters immediately break character and stand around chatting and smoking cigarettes until the next map.

[Krispy]

You definitely found a hole there, Maes. Now we have to report our concerns to id and see if they'll fix it.

[Memfis]

Remember that you can press the exit switch when you're already dead with 0 hp and you can activate exit portals as a corpse (and be alive on the next level). So all exit devices, even simple switches in techbases, have resurrecting powers.

[joe-ilya]

It teleports you to the next level, that's what.

[TwinBeast]

Maybe the switch in the middle of something activates the bomb, calls an airstrike and radios for the helicopter. But Doomguy was the demons and then the helicopter pilot was the zombies and they crashed into the next level.

[Maes]

joe-ilya said:

It teleports you to the next level, that's what.

Only that teleporters don't "officially" appear until the end of Episode 1 in E1M8 (and even then, more as a stage-ending gimmick), while they only appear in regular gameplay starting from E2 (E2M1 already uses them way too liberally).

Plus, there are some exits that are explicitly shaped/meant as walk-through or fall-through teleporters, while, especialy in Episode 1, almost all the exits Doomguy seems to take, are shaped like conduits, elevator rooms, transportation tunnels etc., supposedly carrying him to the next building, and reasonably safely sealing/delaying all the monsters he left behind.

This goes to the extreme of all exits in Episode 3 (where you're definitively in Hell) being W1 teleporters (with the exception of the secret exit in E3M6...) while E2 still uses mostly switches (presumably activating transports or conduits that take you from one Deimos - human-built - base to another.)

Perhaps somebody should make a set of levels that tell the story of what happens "between levels", e.g. that all of Deimos' and Phobos' bases are connected by underground service tunnels or surface transport of sorts, and that even those are not entirely devoid of Hellspawn...

FWIW, I recall there was some big ZDoom map that placed all of Episode 1's maps together on the same mapspace, making transitions between them literally crossing a door hallway.

Oh and of course there's the converse of this question: What's behind the doors that you seem to "come from" at the beginning of each level (including E1M1)? And exactly how did you get in MAP01 in Doom II (though I can imagine the balcony overlooking some sort of landing pad zone...)?

[Inkie]

All the enemies you leave behind head over to take the place of enemies in the later levels, ready for another go at you.

[NiuHaka]

As Doomguy quickly presses the elevator button, a demon steps onto the platform behind him. With an evil grin on his face, Doomguy turns and flosses the demons teeth with his chainsaw. His blood splattered grin curls into a frown as he realizes that this kill does not count toward the scoreboard inside his head. With a shrug, he prepares his shotgun and waits for the platform to reach its destination.

[TwinBeast]

The ending pic with Doomguy standing next to the city with the rabbit's head in his hand, makes it look like Doomguy walked/ran into MAP01 from the end of E4. Probably ran so fast that he didn't see the chainsaw.

[Gez]

Maes said:

and reasonably safely sealing/delaying all the monsters he left behind

100%/100%/100% or bust, mister.

Seriously though. The monsters, seeing that they failed to stop Doomguy, were recalled by the Icon of Sin to be chastised for their incompetence. Later, they'd be teleported back to another level to try again.

[BlueFeena]

Doominator2 said:

The switches probably work similarly in duke nukem where once you press the switch it kills all the enemies ion the map or something similar to that.

Funny you should mention that; for the longest time, I thought the "splat" that appears on the previous level on the Doom 1 intermission screens was actually an explosion.

[Hellbent]

Inkie said:

All the enemies you leave behind head over to take the place of enemies in the later levels, ready for another go at you.

this would be an awesome mod, or probably more realistically, doom port, whereby there'd actually be a consequence to skipping killing monsters in a level and thus reason to go for 100% kills. Any monsters left over would show up in random places on the next level. Would be awesome if zdoom would implement this as a gameplay option.

[ASD]

Would be fun with all those cybers in slaughter wads.

[DoomUK]

Doomguy continually attempts something FORCED and PAINFUL in-between levels. Originally conceived as a series of minigames, id omitted them from the game for some reason, replacing them with some lame intermission screen or whatever.

[Clonehunter]

Hellbent said:

this would be an awesome mod, or probably more realistically, doom port, whereby there'd actually be a consequence to skipping killing monsters in a level and thus reason to go for 100% kills. Any monsters left over would show up in random places on the next level. Would be awesome if zdoom would implement this as a gameplay option.

Maybe a future update for Memorial, where when you leave a level, a bunch of teleporters open up behind youso the alerted monsters left behind may find a way to teleport into the next level/area. Granted, if you were to go backwards, you'll find some empty areas maybe, but it'd be interesting nonetheless.

[NiuHaka]

DoomUK said:

...Originally conceived as a series of minigames...

What are you talking about here? Were they really doing this? If so, I'd have to admit that I am very glad that it ended up the way it did.

[Waffenak]

Teleport or airlock, simple

[Deleted_Account]

I hope they address this issue in Doom 4.

[savagegrant]

I think that all of the exits in classic Doom are teleportation devices that are calibrated for human use only. If a monster tries to teleport with you, they will suffer a fate similar to the Pig Lizard. lol

[GreyGhost]

Maes said:

Oh and of course there's the converse of this question: What's behind the doors that you seem to "come from" at the beginning of each level (including E1M1)? And exactly how did you get in MAP01 in Doom II (though I can imagine the balcony overlooking some sort of landing pad zone...)?

E1M1 is easy, it's the shuttle craft you were left guarding, behind most other doors will be the hellspawn you left unkilled. It's probably assumed we climb onto the balcony in Map01, leaving behind Daisy's inedible bits.

NiuHaka said:

What are you talking about here?

It looks like a FORCED and PAINFUL attempt at humour.

[Maes]

savagegrant said:

I think that all of the exits in classic Doom are teleportation devices that are calibrated for human use only. If a monster tries to teleport with you, they will suffer a fate similar to the Pig Lizard. lol

The problem with this theory is that those exits that are supposed to be teleporters/porters are actually explicitly designed to look like it (in Doom, those only exist in E3, which takes place in Hell).

Also, a basic element of Doom's storyline, is that teleportation -at least the one in the hands of humans- is supposed to be a novel/experimental technology, whose research led to all those troubles like the monster infestation in the first place, while demons are able to use them at will. In E1, the only -human made, but Demon-infested- teleporter is in E1M8. In Doom 3, you don't see human-made teleporters until you go to the Alpha labs (and then again, they are supposed to be test rigs), plus the big-ass "portal" that gets you to Hell.

Think about it: almost all teleporters in the original IWADs are demonic in appearance, while whenever human-made teleporters are involved, those form the backstory of a level, and are supposed to be supported by huge installations in order to function.

They are not a technology that humans have mastered to the point of just littering the levels with self-contained teleporting pentagrams, like the Demons can.

So it seems unlikely that "human-specific" teleporters are installed so ubiquitously around human bases for ordinary use, while there was still supposed to be ongoing research on them at the time of the invasion. Doom's storyline also implies that the technology was dropped and resumed several times (and each time it was resumed, it just caused a shitstorm).

[savagegrant]

You didn't mention anything about the Pig Lizard! :/

[GreyGhost]

I'd forgotten about the Pig Lizard's teleportation. It's a bit like the military's failed experiments, with "volunteers" who are sent through "...finally suffering an untimely death of full-body explosion. Matching heads with torsos to send home to the folks became a full-time job.". Doomguy might well have the demons to thank for getting the teleporters functioning properly.

[William Blazkowicz]

Or maybe it is just a video game and does not require any sort of explanation? (Sorry if I sound a tad assy)

[myk]

Maes said:
But exactly what is supposed to happen to Doomguy when he reaches that goal? How can hitting a switch in the middle of big fight and with 20 fireballs targetted at your ass ready to hit, suddenly make all of Doomguy's worries go away?

That's nothing compared to the situations his cooperative buddies might be in. Perhaps in the middle of the level surrounded by hordes of monsters and no way out, with fireballs and arch-vile attacks about to damage them. Yet they get whisked out and appear at the start of the next level with all their equipment as soon as the exiting guy hits the switch or crosses the line!

[printz]

Maes said:

Think about it: almost all teleporters in the original IWADs are demonic in appearance,

They can always be considered not demonic, but ancient alien. See that even the Doom 3 Delta Labs teleporters have some peculiar patterns on their floors.

[Avoozl]

They were subverted by demonic presence that's why they have those symbols.