BFG9000

Encyclopedia : B : BF : BFG : BFG9000

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The BFG9000 is a fictional futuristic weapon found in the computer games Doom, Doom II, Doom 3, and [[Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil]]. The BFG9000 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 Fat 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).

Damage calculation

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.

Incarnations

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 fires (at a machinegun-like rate) moderate-sized bullets instead of plasma, for unknown reasons.

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 normally allow the item to be acquired, though it could be obtained with the use of cheat codes.

The BFG9000 featured in Doom 3 made some changes over the version that appeared in Doom and Doom II: Hell on Earth. As with all of the weapons in the first two games, the BFG drew from a pool of ammunition that was depleted once all ammunition of that type had run out, meaning the gun never needed reloading. Each shot used a specific number of "rounds" and did damage according to a standard calculation.

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.

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The BFG in the Doom movie is identified, on a computer monitor, as "Bio Force Gun version 3.14". The number is possibly in reference to the games [the 3] and Section 14 of Tom Hall's original Doom design document [the .14] (it also could just be the number pi). Unlike in the video games, the gun is not labeled as '9000'. When obtained, the Rock's character calls it a "big fucking gun". This gun has no apparent clip, suggesting that it is recharged in its special storage system. The gun fires a blue (rather than green) blast of plasma, which obliterates the target and burns away at the surrounding areas for several minutes. The "splash effect" does not appear to be part of this weapon, as it's fired at the hero, who dodges the plasma blast and is either not attacked by any other energy or is immune to that energy.

References to the BFG

• BFG10K from the Quake series; which is later used in the Doom source port Skulltag
• [[Magic: The Gathering]] (Unglued expansion), featuring The "BFM" (Big Furry Monster)
• Jason X: where one character mentions using a BFG
• ReBoot: in one episode, the character Bob plays a guitar called 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)
• 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 revolvers chambered in powerful cartridges and called the 'BFR'. Officially, this stands for 'Biggest, Finest, Revolver'.
• [[Duke Nukem: Zero Hour]]: There is a weapon in the game called BMF Thunderstrike.
• It's Walky! (webcomic): A "BFG" is the preferred weapon of SEMME agent Joyce (who apparently keeps it in hammerspace).

See also

• BFG10K
• Iterations of the BFG

External links

• [The BFG9000 FAQ]
• [Information on the BFG9000]

 

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