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Each game skill level provides general difficulty settings that allow a greater variety of players to enjoy the game, allowing novices to face fewer opponents even with advantages for the player, and giving those who have mastered the game a challenge against many monsters, possibly with enhanced aggressiveness. Each skill level bears a colorful name suiting the character of the particular game being played and can be selected when the game starts or through additional options, particularly the -skill parameter.

Picking "Nightmare" will trigger the game telling the player that said difficulty "isn't even remotely fair."

Doom, Doom II and Final Doom skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Source code1 Thing placement2 Ammo3 Special
1 I'm too young to die sk_baby The same as in sk_easy Double Players take half normal damage from monsters and the environment. 
2 Hey, not too rough sk_easy Least numbers or strength Normal
3 Hurt me plenty sk_medium Default numbers or strength Normal Used unless otherwise defined by the user
4 Ultra-Violence sk_hard Greatest numbers or strength Normal
5 Nightmare! sk_nightmare The same as in sk_hard Double No cheats4, fast5 and respawning monsters
  1. This is the name or tag for each skill level according to the source code.
  2. Each thing placed in a level (except for player starts) has cumulative bit flags (easy, normal, hard) marking on what skill levels it appears. The difference mainly amounts to larger and tougher behavior of monsters on the harder skill levels, but may also account for changes in the location of certain things. For example, in E3M6: Mt. Erebus the blue key is located in different places depending on the skill level.
  3. Double means twice as much ammo is added to the player's current total when a corresponding item is picked up. For example, a rocket will provide 2 rockets, 4 shotgun shells will be counted as 8 shells, an energy cell will provide 40 units, and a box of bullets will provide 100 bullets instead of the usual 50.
  4. All cheat codes except idclev and iddt are disabled.
  5. Monsters attack more rapidly, demons and spectres move faster and several monster fireball types fly faster.

Heretic skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Source code1 Thing placement2 Ammo3 Special
1 Thou needeth a wet-nurse sk_baby The same as in sk_easy +50% Players take half normal damage, and auto-use quartz flasks and mystic urns, Keys are shown on the Automap
2 Yellowbellies-r-us sk_easy Least numbers or strength Normal
3 Bringest them oneth sk_medium Default numbers or strength Normal Used unless otherwise defined by the user
4 Thou art a smite-meister sk_hard Greatest numbers or strength Normal
5 Black plague possesses thee sk_nightmare The same as in sk_hard +50% No cheats4, fast monsters5

See the Doom and Doom II table above for specific notes, as there are no differences in general, except that +50% means one and a half times as much ammo is added to the player's current total when a corresponding item is picked up, and that monsters do not respawn on the "Black plague possesses thee" skill level like they do in Doom's "Nightmare!".

Hexen skill levels[]

Skill Menu name
(fighter)
Menu name
(cleric)
Menu name
(mage)
Source code1 Thing placement2 Special
1 squire altar boy apprentice sk_baby The same as in sk_easy Players take half normal damage
2 knight acolyte enchanter sk_easy Least numbers or strength
3 warrior priest sorcerer sk_medium Default numbers or strength Used unless otherwise defined by the user
4 berserker cardinal warlock sk_hard Greatest numbers or strength
5 titan pope archmage sk_nightmare The same as in sk_hard No cheats4, fast monsters5

See the Doom and Doom II table above for specific notes, as there are no differences in general, except that monsters do not respawn on the hardest skill level (as in Heretic).

Strife skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Thing placement2 Ammo3 Special
1 Training The same as in skill 2 +50% Players take half normal damage
2 Rookie Least numbers or strength Normal
3 Veteran Default numbers or strength Normal Used unless otherwise defined by the user
4 Elite Greatest numbers or strength Normal
5 Bloodbath The same as in skill 4 +50% Fast monsters5, robots, templars and turrets respawn

See the Doom and Doom II table above for specific notes, as there are no differences in general.

Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Thing placement
1 I am a wimp Least numbers or strength of opposition
2 Hey, not too rough Lesser numbers or strength of opposition
3 Hurt me plenty Greater numbers or strength of opposition
4 Ultra-violence Greatest numbers or strength of opposition

Doom 64 skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Thing placement
1 Be Gentle! Least numbers or strength of opposition
2 Bring it on! Lesser numbers or strength of opposition
3 I own Doom! Greater numbers or strength of opposition
4 Watch me die! Greatest numbers or strength of opposition

Chex Quest 3 skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Source code1 Thing placement2 Ammo3 Special
1 Easy Does It sk_baby The same as in sk_easy Double Players take half normal damage
2 Not So Sticky sk_easy Least numbers or strength Normal
3 Gobs of Goo sk_medium Default numbers or strength Normal Used unless otherwise defined by the user
4 Extreme Ooze sk_hard Greatest numbers or strength Normal
5 Super Slimey! sk_nightmare The same as in sk_hard Double No cheats4, fast5 and respawning Flemoids

Doom 3 skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Special
0 Recruit The Marine takes 75% of the base damage. Slightly fewer monsters are encountered.
1 Marine The Marine takes 90% of the base damage. Normal number of monsters.
2 Veteran The Marine takes 170% of the base damage. Health kits are fewer in number. More monsters appear in this skill level.
3 Nightmare The Marine takes 350% of the base damage. The player starts with the Soul Cube in Doom 3, or all Artifact powers in RoE. All medikits are removed from the game, and the player's health steadily drains until it's 25 or below. The only sources of healing are health stations, or the healing powers of the Soul Cube (Artifact in RoE). Number of monsters is the same as on Veteran skill. This skill level must be unlocked by first completing the game on any other skill level.

Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Special
1 I'm too young to die Enemies are much slower in reaction and with less aggressive AI.
2 Hurt me plenty Enemies are normal. Their AI is standard, they will dodge often, but otherwise easier to land shots on.
3 Ultra-Violence Enemies are stronger, react faster, and use more of their special attacks. Their AI is more aggressive than in "Hurt me plenty".
4 Nightmare Enemies are very smart and aggressive. They are accurate and can use their most powerful special attacks often. Enemy AI is also at maximum aggression.
5 Ultra-Nightmare Same as "Nightmare", but if the player dies, the game is over. Saving possible only after the end of levels.

In DOOM Eternal, the difficulties do not affect standard enemy health, but it does impact boss health.

Doom Eternal also has an "Extra Life Mode", where a game ends if all Extra Lives are used up, like in an old-style video game. Upon selecting Extra Life Mode, the player then selects one of the difficulty levels, so the mode can be in any difficulty level except Ultra-Nightmare.

Bethesda Pinball skill levels[]

Skill Menu name Special
1 Hurt me plenty
2 Nightmare All ball protection systems (kickbacks, ball saver and extra balls) are disabled in exchange for a 50% overall score boost. Players now strictly only have three balls to play with in a session.

Mighty Doom skill levels[]

Each of the game's chapters can be played on up to 3 skill levels. Harder difficulty levels can only be unlocked by clearing certain chapters for the first time on the default "Hurt Me Plenty" difficulty.

Skill Menu name Special
1 Hurt me plenty
2 Ultra-Violence Enemies have increased health and attack power.
3 Nightmare Enemies have high health and attack power.

Notes[]

  • In addition to the five Doom standard skill levels, in vanilla Doom a skill level of 0 can also be specified, but only using the -skill parameter. Doing this empties maps of all things apart from the player starts. This does not work in many source ports. It also renders many levels that have boss trigger effects, require keys or use teleporters impossible to finish without the aid of cheat codes.
  • Early versions of Doom did not support "Nightmare!" skill. The initial mail-order releases were version 1.1 and only included the first four skill levels. The widely circulated version 1.2 added "Nightmare!" skill support. "Nightmare!" was added with the characteristic dark humor of the Doom games in response to any comments saying the game was too easy on "Ultra-Violence." After selecting "Nightmare!" from the main menu, the player is asked "Are you sure? This skill level isn't even remotely fair." The player must then confirm that they want to play on Nightmare mode, a step which is unique to this skill level.
  • In the Doom alphas, "I'm too Young to Die" was called "I Just Want to Kill", hence the name M_JKILL for the graphic for skill 1.
  • Doom's "I'm Too Young To Die" skill level was re-named "I am a wimp" for Atari Jaguar, 3DO, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions.
  • Doom's "Ultra-Violence" difficulty was renamed to "Nightmare!" for the Game Boy Advance versions of Doom; however, true "Nightmare!" difficulty is not available.
  • Some skilled players have created new challenges by defining custom rules, such as pacifist (not hurting monsters) and Tyson (fists, pistol, and chainsaw only).
  • Doom 3's Nightmare mode can be unlocked without completing the game by using a console command. After this, the game requires a restart to take effect.
  • In Doom (2016), the Nightmare level is the first of that name in the Doom series to not have any special handicaps for the player beyond making the monsters harder to kill and more aggressive. By contrast, the new Ultra-Nightmare skill level, with its permadeath feature, is so hard that none of the game's developers were able to complete it.
  • Overall, the Doom (2016) skill levels are more difficult than those in Doom 3 (unless the 2016 game is slowed down via lagging). Comparing to how quickly monsters move, attack, throw projectiles, and damage the player when they hit, Doom 3's Veteran skill level (the hardest one after Nightmare) is roughly equivalent to 2016 Doom's Hurt Me Plenty skill level (the second-easiest).
  • Doom Eternal is similarly tougher than Doom (2016), with Doom (2016)'s Nightmare roughly equivalent to Eternal's Hurt Me Plenty.

See also[]

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