BFG9000

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The BFG 9000 is a fictional futuristic weapon found in the computer game series Doom, in Doom, Doom 2, Ultimate Doom, Final Doom, Doom 3, its expansion, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, and Doom RPG. The BFG 9000 appears as a huge, solid metal gun that fires balls of green plasma. The most powerful weapon in the game, it is capable of destroying nearly any player or enemy with a single hit. Most subsequent first-person shooters implemented similar weapons, but few of them were quite as notorious as the BFG9000. Quake II and Quake III Arena pay homage to the BFG9000 with a pair of similar weapons both called the BFG10K.

The abbreviation BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun", as explained in Tom Hall's original Doom design document (Section 14). Other explanations of the name that circulated before the document was made public include "Big Fragging Gun", "Bullshit Forever Gun", "Big Fun Gun", "Big Fantastic Gun", "Big Friendly Gun", or the "Blast Field Gun", due to the blast fields caused during use or most logically "Blast Field Generator." In the paperback novelization of Doom published in 1995, the characters refer to the BFG as a "big freaking gun". Another name, according to the motion picture, seen on a computer monitor, is "Bio Force Gun" (though in the movie itself, "Big Fucking Gun" is spoken as it comes into view).

[edit] Damage calculation

In the Doom games, the BFG9000 is capable of annihilating an entire room full of enemies.

When firing the BFG9000, there is a pause of 6/7 of a second (about 857 milliseconds) before a green plasma ball is ejected. If the plasma ball hits a solid object, it explodes and causes between 100 and 800 points of damage on that object. After a further pause of 16/35 of a second (about 457 milliseconds), blast damage is calculated: 40 invisible rays are emitted by the player in a cone-shaped area (about 45° half-angle) in the direction the plasma ball was fired (if the player has turned around, the direction of the blast damage rays does not change - they are still traced in the direction of firing of the original plasma ball; if he has moved around, their origin changes). Each ray causes 49 to 87 damage points if it hits a solid object. Therefore the minimal damage of the weapon is 49 points of damage (if an object is hit by one ray and not the plasma ball) and hypothetical maximum damage of the weapon is 800 + (40 × 87) = 4280 points of damage (if the plasma ball hits an object for full damage and all 40 rays also hit the object for full damage). Although that much damage can never actually be inflicted due to the periodicity of the simplistic pseudorandom number generator used by the Doom engine, damage in the 3000+ hit points range is common enough for the weapon to be used to kill a Spider Mastermind in one shot during assorted speedruns.

The BFG has several limitations. It usually only affects creatures in line-of-sight of the player (therefore it would have little to no effect on monsters behind the player). It also only has limited effectiveness over a long distance, unlike the plasma gun or rocket launcher.

[edit] Incarnations

The BFG9000 in Doom 3.

The BFG makes an appearance in the infamous Doom comic book as the ultimate weapon (or the big gun), used by the anonymous hero to defeat a Cyberdemon. Unlike its game incarnation, the comic version seemed to fire (at a machinegun-like rate) moderate-sized bullets instead of plasma, although it is possible that it is meant to be synonymous with the "rays" emitted by the game's incarnation.

In early pre-release versions of the original Doom, the BFG functioned instead by firing a steady stream of plasma gun rounds in a wide spread for a few seconds. This was changed for the final version, because the large amounts of plasma rounds on the screen at once not only made the game slow down drastically, but also "looked like Christmas". The shareware version of Doom did not include the gun or its graphics, and the gun was inaccessible even if the player used cheat codes.

The BFG from Doom 3, as with all of the weapons, had been overhauled, and required reloading. It only held four shots at a time, but had its own ammunition type (as opposed to using the same ammunition as the plasma gun). By holding down the "fire" key, the player can "charge" the weapon for a more powerful shot with a wider detonation radius. However, if the player holds on too long, the weapon overloads and (apparently) discharges the shot into the player, killing him/her. In addition to the normal splash damage, the projectiles extrudes small rays damaging other opponents as they pass or approach them; finally in Doom 3 the BFG does little damage to the player because of a 'chip' inside the projectile (this is explained in game) if this chip is destroyed (by shooting the projectile) the player will be hurt and the projectile will be weakened.

The BFG in the Doom movie is identified, on a computer monitor, as "Bio Force Gun version 3.14". Unlike in the video games, the gun is not labeled as '9000'. When obtained, Sarge refers to it as a "big fucking gun" as an in-joke. This gun has no apparent magazine, suggesting that it is recharged in its special storage system. The gun fires a blue (rather than green) blast of plasma, which melts through its targets. It will burn through solid rock for several metres. The "Splash Effect" does not occur with this weapon, but if it hits a target, the plasma will expand into a large circle that will blanket the affected area with plasma and continue to burn away at the target for several seconds. The design of the weapon is more streamlined than the Doom 3 iteration, lacking a visible HUD display, although there is a small ammo counter on the weapons dorsal side, above the grip.

[edit] References to the BFG

• BFG10K from the Quake series
• Adventure quest a new weapon called "THE BFG" is based on the Doom BFG
• Magic: The Gathering (Unglued expansion), featuring The "BFM" (Big Furry Monster)
• Jason X: where one character mentions using a BFG
• Sacred: One of the skills that can be learned by the Seraphim is called the Bee Eff Gee, and its description says that a large weapon that fires green blobs of energy appears when the skill is used.
• Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: The Archer and Tigress characters have a turbo attack called BFG, which fires a huge green burst shot forward
• EverQuest: There was originally a quest in the second expansion, The Scars of Velious, that resulted in an item called "Breezeboot's Frigid Gnasher", using the image of the BFG9000. The item lore calls it "Model 9000"
• FreeSpace 2: 1999 space-simulator. The biggest red- and green-colored beams in the game are referred to (internally) as BFRed and BFGreen
• Jazz Jackrabbit: Jazz's gun is called the "LFG-2000"
• Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal: there is a level in the game called "The Nefarious BFG", a reference to both the weapon and to rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
• FreeDoom conversion: BFG replacement is called the "SKAG 1337" (Super Kick-Ass Gun leet)
• Infected: Appears in the PSP game as the BMFG (Big Mother Fucking Gun)
• Eureka: the episode "Alienated" referred to a high-tech gun called the "BMFG."
• Black: The unlockable M249 SAW is called the BFG
• The table-top roleplaying game Cyberpunk v3 introduced a new class of lightweight, large-bore, man-portable gyrojet weapons know as Ballistic Flechette Guns or BFGs for short.
• Magnum Research, Inc. produces a line of powerful revolvers called the Magnum Research BFR. Officially, this stands for 'Biggest Finest Revolver'.
• It's Walky! (webcomic): A "BFG" is the preferred weapon of SEMME agent Joyce (who apparently keeps it in hammerspace).
• ReBoot: In Bobs guitar duel against Megabyte, he commands "Glitch. BFG." (Big Fancy Guitar) This is also a reference to the DOOM weapon.
• Soldier (movie): A computer screen (it goes by fast) shows Kurt Russell's character is qualified on the BFG9000.
• Tiberian Sun: When opening the .INI files used to modify the game, the name of the Cyborgs Commando's weapon is "BFG". In game this weapon launches exploding green balls of plasma.

[edit] See also

• BFG10K

[edit] External links

• The BFG9000 FAQ
• Information on the BFG9000