Doom Map Talk #12:Military Base, Command Control, Phobos Lab
2I'll confess, I never was aware that Episode 1 through 4 had a secret exit in my younger days playing Doom but you know, We learn as we go right? It wasn't til I was a teen that I actually found the exit in Toxin Refinery through the Doom Collector Edition's Doom95 launcher, It wasn't exactly a perfect port but it played good.
"Military Base" is the secret level of Knee Deep in the Dead, It really..doesn't look like a military base generally but perhaps it is, if it was on the surface of a moon, The entire map isn't really challenging unless you miss hitscanners behind corners who get a critical hit on you with hitscan shots, All of the keys are on the floor and are highly guarded by monsters that like to stand around explosive barrels, I jumped over the gap to the exit as it's been a habit of mine on the sourceport GZDoom, Texture usage of this map is good and the high adrenaline "Hiding the Secrets" track gives Military Base a somewhat of a action movie feel vs the level we were in previously.
"Command Control", the 4rth map also has a adrenaline pumping track to bear named "Kitchen Ace and Taking Names", It's an outpost of the UAC Military base (or something close, since it is followed by Military Base if you take the secret exit), overrun by Imps and hitscanners and pinky demons, Theres again a emphasis on looking for secrets, but like Nuclear Plant I don't remember at times how to get to them like the soulsphere you see after you leave the beginning of the map, There's some odd design choices such as the room with imps and the blue key and the low ceiling room full of demons but this map feels more about expanding through the hellspawn and before long, Doom reveals it's horror element near the end with a computer room that lowers automatically, that still gives me a jumpscare now and again.
Then... We enter "Phobos Lab", This is one of several levels in Ultimate Doom that give me the chills and a sense of dread, It's here that Doom reveals the true scope of it's gameplay and atmosphere, We're inside the ruins and the remnants of a UAC Lab overrun by demons, The light level's low, We're jumping into poison again to look for secrets, there's a air of unease which is NOT helped by "Suspense" The track for this level which feels...so wrong. The map also has the first "dumb" item placement with a radiation suit behind a wall you open behind a wall, the ending always is a challenge for me because of the spectres in the darkness but usually I run for it or strafe.
The final part of Episode 1 will be tackled in Doom Map Talk #13 with Central Processing, Computer Station and it's boss map Phobos Anomaly, Episode 1 generally feels well polished since Romero made 7 of the 9 maps in here with Command Control being by Tom Hall, It was these maps that Romero laid down the fundamentals to make a Doom level, something that Player Made Wads try hard to emulate.
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