MAP17: Compound (The Plutonia Experiment)

MAP17: Compound is the seventeenth map of The Plutonia Experiment. The music is "At Doom's Gate", which is the same as for the very first level of the Doom series, E1M1: Hangar.



Walkthrough
Run out and hit the switch to raise the pool up (you WILL take damage), kill the imps and get your rad suit. Head north and clear out this area (watch out for the specters in the toxic waste), destroy all the barrels and press the switch on the southern platform to open the eastern part of the map.

Jump on the #-shaped structure from this platform, and from here jump into the western openings to get a soul sphere (you can also take care of a hell knight through the window in this room). Jump back onto the outside structure and jump into the openings to the north. Follow this corridor west, then south, fighting your way through the zombies, until you get to the blue torches. In this cramped space is a hell knight, but BEWARE when you alert him, a second one will teleport BEHIND you, so be aware and ready. (Best thing to do is try to strafe around and get behind cover in the room to the north). Once they're taken care of, follow the corridor around to the red key but again BEWARE a trap opening up behind you. The best thing to do is to back up to the key, then start firing when the trap is revealed.

This done, backtrack to the outside toxic waste area and go through the small tunnels to the east. In this new area, destroy all the barrels, then find the red door and go through. Work your way through this area (you can take out some enemies, like the arachnotron, early by targeting them from the southern windows by the stairway) until you get to the southern room with the blood pool and the teleporter. Clear out this room, and once you approach the teleporter bad guys will start to beam in so get the hell out of there. (On UV and NM there is an arch-vile too, so target him first.)

Once that's done, go back to the teleporter room and hit the switch then head back to the main hall and go through the openings on the east side. Line yourself up, and RUN across the four structures to grab the yellow key. Backtrack again through the red door to the yellow switch at the end of this hallway, flip it, then go back to the blood-pool room and lower the middle pillar in the south of this room to take the hidden teleporter back to the middle of the #-shaped structure outside.

From here, simply jump back through the windows in the north, head north to the exit room and take the big teleporter. Flavor.

Official

 * 1) At the center of the level is a thin roughly "#"-shaped walkway in a pool of nukage. In the northeast corner of the nukage pool, beneath a triangular outcropping of the wall, is a fake wall you can walk right through to get some hidden health bonuses.
 * 2) After getting the red skull key, a wall behind you will open, revealing some enemies. One of the walls in the back of this newly revealed area can be opened, leading to a hidden radiation suit and a teleporter to a secret area.

Non-official

 * 1) At the last room (where you get ambushed by several Imps, a Baron of Hell and an Arch-Vile), in which you must press a switch to gain access to the yellow skull key, the middle of the three pillars can be lowered to reveal a teleporter that warps you to the otherwise inaccessible highest ovoid platform at the center of the "#"-shaped outer ledge.

Trivia

 * This is the only level in The Plutonia Experiment (aside from MAP11: Hunted, since it is exclusively filled with Arch-Viles) to not include any Revenants.
 * Playback of the E1M1 song "At Doom's Gate" may sound slightly different compared to in doom1.wad, no matter what port is used.

Routes and tricks
Upon acquiring the rocket launcher (or if you already have one), you can perform a death slide in the exit room by killing yourself with a rocket while running backwards toward one of the yellow skull bars, causing you to pass underneath them and onto the teleporter, ending the level. This was first demonstrated in Vincent Catalaá's 00:09 NM speed run of this level.

Records
The Compet-N records for the map are: