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I'm SeventhSentinel. I work on [https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Snap_the_Sentinel Snap the Sentinel], providing its music, sounds, many of its maps, and more. Please read my full bio [https://snapgame.net/sev/ here].
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'''Hitscan''' attacks are instant and are used to represent most bullet and melee weapons. When a hitscan attack is fired, an invisible line is drawn from the position where the attack originated towards the specified direction; the attack will hit at the point where the line connects with something (an [[actor]], level geometry, or nothing, if the attack doesn't reach anything due to limited range). A hitscan by definition can't have travel time or size, since the line that represents it has no width, and no extra objects are spawned to handle the attack (in contrast to [[projectile|projectiles]], which ''are'' separate objects). This also means that, if the calculation determines the attack hits something, it can't be dodged, since it's instant.
Hitscans are used for all vanilla bullet and melee attacks, both for players and monsters. Authors of custom projects can, of course, make more realistic "bullet" attacks using projectiles or other means. In [[ZScript]], the most basic function used to initiate hitscan attacks is [[LineAttack (ZScript)|{{c|LineAttack}}]].
[[Railgun]] attacks are, fundamentally, also hitscans, but with added visuals, such as [[particle|particles]] being spawned along the attack's trajectory (this happens ''after'' the attack has connected and doesn't imply travel time either). In [[ZScript]], the most basic railgun attack function is {{function|RailAttack}}.
Hitscan attacks rely on [[autoaim]] during the calculation, adjusting the pitch to aim the hitscan line at a valid target whenever applicable. Monsters have their own autoaim as well, which sometimes can have strange effects: the monster will aim horizontally at its enemy (generally, the player), but then the line slope computation will aim vertically at the nearest possible target along that line. As a result, it is possible for a monster to accidentally hit another monster than was not, strictly speaking, in between it and its target; for example if a flying monster stands above the battlefield. (Note, however, that monster mêlée attacks work with a simple distance check rather than a hitscan line computation. For this reason, monster melee attacks never accidentally harm anything else than their intended target.)
[[ZDoom]] deviates from [[vanilla Doom]] a bit in that the maximum ranged attack distance for the player is increased from 2048 map units to 8192 map units.
[[Category:Glossary]]
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