E1M2: Nuclear Plant (Doom)

E1M2: Nuclear Plant (MAP02 in PSX/Saturn/Jaguar/3DO/GBA/32X) is the second map of Knee-Deep in the Dead in Doom. It was designed by John Romero and uses the music track "The Imp's Song". The par time is 1:15.

Walkthrough
Get out of the starting alcove and go right. You will be in front of a door, but go left, and kill the 13 Zombiemen in all corners of this room. Now check the wall across from the wall in between the 2 doors until the wall opens. Grab the goodies in here, and flip the switch (don't forget the backpack), and leave this room. Take the door to the left, and kill the Zombieman in front of you.

Go up the stairs, and while you're climbing up, go through the opening to the left when you see it. On skill levels 4 and 5, beware of all the 8 nasty Shotgun Guys here. But out here you can get a soul sphere and a chaingun and some chaingun ammo. Now go back through the opening. Climb up the stairs in front of you, and when you get to the top, kill the Imp and 3 Zombiemen here, and get the Red Key in this little room. Now go back to the room we started in.

Get to the other side of the room. Go through the Red Door. Kill all 5 Zombiemen and maybe an Imp that comes from a different room on the right, and head straight, going up the stairs killing 2 Zombiemen and 2 Imps. From the edge of the stairs, get to the other side of the room, and collect the health and ammo, and go down the elevator.

Down here is an "ambush" of 3 Imps and 3 Zombimen. Kill all of them, even the 3 Imps on the high platforms. Hit the switch and two doors will open (to your left and right). Take either one, and go right down the stairs, and open the exit door. Kill the 5 Zombiemen and the Imp, go down the lift, and watch out for that nasty Imp there on hard skill levels, and hit the exit switch

Secrets

 * 1) There is a construction in the center of the first room (with a passageway through the middle). On the east side of this is a secret door; this can be seen from the fact that the texture on the wall is different at this point. Opening this door reveals a room (E) with a switch, a medikit, a green armor, and a backpack. (sector 116)
 * 2) The switch in secret #1 opens a door in the northern steps which lead up to the tower with the red key. In the outdoor area beyond this door (F) there is a soul sphere and a chaingun (and, on UV and NM, a crowd of Sergeants). (sector 21)
 * 3) On the far west side of the maze there is a secret door behind a green armor (I). Shooting the door causes it to open; the passageway behind it leads to an outdoor area (J) with a chainsaw on a pillar. (sector 188)
 * 4) In the passage leading to the chainsaw there are some steps. Where the second armor bonus is located, there is a secret door on the east wall. This reveals a room (K) with four more armor bonuses. (sector 194)
 * 5) On the east side of the maze is another secret door; this appears as a computer texture surrounded by two vertical metal beams. This door reveals a secret room (L) with a backpack. (sector 106)
 * 6) In the short piece of corridor between the room with the slime walkway and the elevator to the dark room below, there is a secret door on the left side. Opening this reveals a passage (N) to a ledge overlooking the dark room. (sector 140)

Bugs
Linedefs 134 and 574 have their upper textures on the wrong side, resulting in a Hall of Mirrors effect. These are not normally observed, however, because the corresponding sectors (28 and 187) cannot be entered by the player without cheating.

There are 7 known anomalies in this level's REJECT table.

Demo files

 * [[Media:E1m2secr.lmp|No monsters, 100% secrets walkthrough]] (file info)
 * [[Media:E1m2wik1.lmp|100% kills, items, and secrets on ITYTD]] (file info)
 * [[Media:E1m2wik2.lmp|100% kills, items, and secrets on HNTR]] (file info)
 * [[Media:E1m2wik3.lmp|100% kills, items, and secrets on HMP]] (file info)
 * [[Media:E1m2wik4.lmp|100% kills, items, and secrets on UV]] (file info)

Routes and tricks
In a straight speedrun, cross the first room along its south edge, which is much less crowded than the north edge. In an episode run, use the shotgun to clear a path through the next-to-last room with a barrel frag at the bottom of the lift. Opening the exit door from the left side seems to prevent the first Imp from immediately walking southward and blocking the small lift. It is not necessary to kill the Imp guarding the exit switch; one bullet or punch sometimes pushes it back far enough for the switch to be pressed. (A pacifist player can still do this, but he has to use his shoulder.)

NM100S players frequently take two detours to help them survive the maze: getting the green armor in secret #1, and killing one Sergeant in the outdoor area to obtain the shotgun. In NM episode runs, get the chaingun also; the health and time saved in high-traffic areas will be worth the delay (this seems to be true even for NM100S, where the chaingun is obtained by default on the next level).

For styles requiring 100% kills, a clockwise route around the maze, including the chainsaw area, usually causes leftover monsters to collect near the northwest corner (where they can be gunned down on the way out). Even Tyson runs seem to benefit from this, despite the resulting delay in getting the chainsaw. On the other hand, NM100S recordings often use a counterclockwise route around the maze, causing leftover monsters to collect near the center (where they can be ignored). In a max episode run, most players pick up the backpack in secret #5; this is a minimal detour because there are deaf troopers to kill in the facing passage.

UV -respawn recordings can be sped up by killing everyone in the first room a second time, on your way out of the maze. This allows you to leave a few monsters alive in the maze (especially in dead ends) and ignore the sniper Imps in the next-to-last room.

Current records
The Compet-N records for the map are:

Inspiration and development
An early version of E1M2 was the first level of the Doom press release beta. It also appeared as E1M8 of Doom 0.4 and E1M8 of Doom 0.5.

In the Atari Jaguar port of Doom, and all of the ports derived from it, this level is just called "Plant" instead of "Nuclear Plant."

In early versions of the level, until v1.4, the door to the computer maze could be closed from the inside, by pressing into the thin air of the doorframe.

This was the first level designed by John Romero, and the first level that uses his signature "horseshoe" level design.

Trivia
The music in this level is inspired by "The Thing That Should Not Be" by Metallica.

This level was also used in the non-famous Windows 95 promo video starring.