MAP18: Regulate (Memento Mori II)

MAP18: Regulate is the eighteenth level of Memento Mori II. It was designed by Matthias Worch and uses the music track "Fear's Falter" by David "Tolwyn" Shaw. It contains a separate area for multiplayer competition.

Mission briefing
According to both the text file and the Infopack:


 * [local] - Start transmission BUILDerman (AZ375B) -


 * "Hi, this is scout Ken BUILDerman, reporting from the refinery in sector 18. I have penetrated the base so far and not encountered anything harmfull, [sic] to be honest I don't think there's anything bad in this base, the evacuation was senseless. But of course you had to waste my brilliant talent on something like this and... - ah, never mind. I had to use some of the refinery's equipment to get here - some of the doors seem to be stuck, I'm off to reactivate the power generator. As you can see at [sic] the picture I'm sending you right now everything is fine, I won't need any hel...brzbrzbrzbrz."


 * [local] - Transmission was interrupted -

Walkthrough

 * Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector numbers in boldface are secrets which count toward the end-of-level tally.

Other points of interest
There are some switches that have no influence on actual gameplay and need not to be activated:
 * Two computer panels (Linedefs 562 and 914, Type 49 - S1 Ceiling Lower to 8 above Floor (perpetual slow crusher damage), Tag 18) that lower bars (sector 109) crushing barrels.
 * The switch (Linedef 2667, Type 23 - S1 Floor Lower to Lowest Floor, Tag 5) that lowers slime (sector 447) in the blue keycard room's southern tank with a pain elemental and the switch (Linedef 2661, Type 23 - S1 Floor Lower to Lowest Floor, Tag 11) that lowers slime (sector 418) in the blue keycard room's northern tank with the southern blue keycard. (The northern blue keycard on sector 443 actually is raised by approaching (Linedef 2665, Type 38 - W1 Floor Lower to Lowest Floor, Tag 6) the last-mentioned switch.)
 * The switch (Linedef 510, Type 23 - S1 Floor Lower to Lowest Floor, Tag 20) behind the blue door that lowers slime (sector 89) in the tank northeast of it. The slime seems to flow into the sectors 41, 110, 547, raising those sectors' floor heights, enabling access to the yellow keycard area and the exit area. (Actually the floor heights are raised by approaching (Linedef 508, Type 119 - W1 Floor Raise to Next Higher Floor, Tag 16) the last-mentioned switch.)

Secrets

 * 1) In the red keycard room, the tiles on a southern portion of the western wall are situated differently than the rest. Press on this portion to find two stimpacks and a set of shells (sector 679).
 * 2) In the room east of the red keycard room, a portion of the northern wall is covered with scorch marks. Open it to find a box of bullets and a medikit (sector 681).
 * 3) In the eastern cavern, a portion of the eastern wall right north of the room with an arachnotron, a dead marine, blood puddles, the super shotgun and a chaingun is bordered with metal. Open it to find a secret tunnel, containing a box of bullets and a soul sphere (sector 466) as well as a vantage point where the player can dispose of cacodemons. This allows you to lessen the severity of the trap that springs in the exit area.
 * 4) In the northeast drilling facility, part of the southern wall is bordered by metal. Open it to find a box of bullets and a stimpack (sector 237).
 * 5) At the foot of the stairway south of the nukage vats is a demonic face over a pentagram. To the northwest and northeast of the vats are metal pillars that bear "Poison" signs, with the exception of the northwestern pillar's eastern side. Press upon this side and the demonic face (sector 416) will lower to unveil two sets of shells, two stimpacks and a blur artifact.
 * 6) In the hallway with the yellow keycard door, once you fill the nukage pit enough to access it, there is a section of wall in the south that bears a skull. Open it to find a medikit and a box of shotgun shells (sector 167).

Bugs

 * Thing 240, an imp, is placed in the void, outside of valid playing space and seems unreachable. However he can be killed by firing rockets (from a safe distance) at the walls next to him. Using the automap and the iddt cheat helps locating him.
 * Because one of the two berserk packs not marked as multiplayer-only in the deathmatch arena, you can only obtain 75% items on this level. The following items are also not flagged as multiplayer-only, but placed in the deathmatch arena: The chainsaw, ten of the eleven shotguns, one of the two super shotguns (a third one, placed in the regular area, actually is flagged as multiplayer-only), two of the four chainguns, the rocket launcher, one of the two plasma guns, two sets of shells and two energy cells.

Routes and tricks
Four enemies standing under ceiling lights near the start are meant to be telefragged, which can be done by constantly moving forward after getting off the first elevator.

You can obtain the red keycard through the grate by straferunning against it, similarly to the red skull key in MAP05: Rites of Passage, skipping a few rooms with tough opposition.

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

Trivia
The appearance of "Ken BUILDerman" in the mission briefing for this level is a jab at Ken Silverman, who created the Build engine used to run Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996 before the megawad. BUILDerman's characterization as a militaristic snob is perhaps a reference to the arrogant behavior of Duke Nukem, the main character. A direct shot at Duke himself in the form of the equally ill-fated scout, "Duck Nukem," appears in MAP04: Ratamahatta in both the mission briefing, and, more famously, on a gravestone in the level itself.