/vr/ - Retro Games

>>4949984
>Just because you make a pistol that's really good against zombies and imps, and kinda good against pinkies, doesn't mean the pistol will be especially great against barons, mancubi, arch-viles, or cyberdemons, enemies for which it would be worthless.
That falls into "they do certain things better than your starting weapon." As you say, the starting pistol could still be "good," just against zombies and imps and pinkies.

But what makes the starting pistol in Doom what it is is precisely that it isn't good. The closest thing to a strength it has is that you don't have to run into a shotgunner's face with your fists to kill him and take his gun. You are supposed to feel "hopelessly weak" (the Ultimate Doom manual in pic related says "pathetic") if you are forced to use your pistol. That is part of the dynamics of the game - you're on your back foot when you start a level, with just enough resources to kill a weakling and take his gun. It's comparable to how Wolf 3D starts: you break out of your cell with a shank, stab an unsuspecting guard to death, rifle through his pockets for his sidearm, and hopefully never need to pull that knife out again.

>once you have your chaingun, there is zero reason to look at it ever again.
You'll have to look at it again if you pistol start every level, which is how every map in Doom was designed.

Like I mention in >>4949286, it exists within the mechanics its surrounded by, and is meant to compel certain kinds of gameplay and feelings. It's subjective whether or not you like those feelings, but it's not for no reason that each game has its own approach to its starting weapon.