MAP27: Starhenge (Icarus: Alien Vanguard)

MAP27: Starhenge is the twenty-seventh level of Icarus: Alien Vanguard, set somewhere on Beta Pictoris 3. It was designed by Ty Halderman, and uses the music track "SUPER Slow Evil" by Tom Mustaine.

Essentials
In the beginning area, find the green switch on one of the eastern columns. It will raise some stairs behind you, so head up these stairs, then jump from platform to platform until you reach the red trapezoid. This teleports you to an area northeast of the starhenge. The switch there lowers the wall behind you so ignore it and head down the shaft. The shaft empties into a large room. Do not go down into this large room, instead, stick to the outer wall all the way to the other end. The door will open for you revealing a lot of shotgun guys in the corridor. Follow it all the way to the yellow skull key, then jump out of the broken vent to find the yellow door nearby. Open it and approach the ammo box to reveal cacodemons around you. Open the wall with the insignia on it to find the red skull key. Now return to the starhenge at the beginning of the map and locate a switch to the south. Flip it to lower a gray lift leading to the exit teleporter, and ride it up and teleport. Press the panel to exit.

Other points of interest
When you approach the green switch at the beginning, approach it from the front to lower a ledge that the arachnotrons were behind. When you do, go towards the super shotgun and medikits, and press on the gray wall. This lowers it as a lift so you can access the shaft without taking the stairs and platforms.

The interior building in the large room to the east is optional, but it holds several supplies. On the platform with the mancubi on it, you can get a plasma gun and other supplies, and if you jump to the northwest, you can navigate a maze. When you reach the blue switch, press it, and you will be able to access a soul sphere (or a megasphere on Hey, Not Too Rough or lower).

Secrets

 * 1) At the east of the map, in the wooden structure east of the room, climb onto the eastern window's edge, and then run at an angle toward the platform on the east, where you can acquire a box of shells and a berserk pack. (sector 10) The jump is a little tricky, so it may take some practice.
 * 2) After the yellow skull key door, open the door in the next room.  Pass under the doorway you came through, and a wall will lower in the westernmost room.  Run back in and dash into the newly revealed compartment before it closes to get a backpack. (sector 136)
 * 3) Upon grabbing the red keycard, return to where you found the yellow skull key to find that a teleporter has been revealed, leading back outside.  This actually consists of two sectors, both of which are marked as secret. (sector 159)
 * 4) See secret #3. (sector 141)

Routes and tricks
If you know where the switch south of the starhenge for the lift to the exit teleporter is, you can activate it from above while it is still underground. Furthermore, if you collect the rocket launcher in the same area, you can perform a suicide exit in the exit room by blasting yourself off the Comstar panels with your back to the barrier while running backwards, which will slide your corpse underneath it into the simulator exit.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on November 6, 2022.

Miscellaneous demos
The data was last verified in its entirety on January 16, 2022.

Player spawns
This level contains five spawn points:
 * 1) facing south-west. (thing 1)
 * 2) facing south. (thing 2)
 * 3) facing east. (thing 83)
 * 4) facing east. (thing 207)
 * 5) facing south-east. (thing 214)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: