MAP16: Spirit World HQ (Community Chest 2)

MAP16: Spirit World HQ is the sixteenth map of Community Chest 2. It was designed by Gene Bird, and was originally released standalone as part of his Blind Alley series. Despite its name, it is not a remake of Doom II MAP28: The Spirit World. Its title is also rendered in different ways throughout the megawad; it is called Spirit World HQ in the intermission screen, Spirit World - Headquarters (the standalone version's name) on the automap, and Spirit World - HQ in the megawad's text file.

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.

Essentials
Enter the building northeast of where you start, and run to the skull in the northeast corner. Press it, and a door will open at the opposite wall. Grab the loot and press the switch to open the northern door. Exit, and rush into the opposite building, which is now accessible. Press the "Poison" sign at either the northwest or southwest corners, and a lift will rise at the southeast. Take the lift, run north, and jump across the crate stacks; when you jump from the wide crate stack to the first one, a switch will lower from the ceiling over the last stack. Flip it, and exit the building. Climb up the stairs at the center of the area, and go around the east side to find that a new stairway has been created. Ascend it, go around to the west side, and open the door. Open the northern door, and go through the next two doors. Jump down to the bottom floor to find the red key. Press the nearby switch to create a lift. Take both lifts back to the higher level, and head outside again. Go to the northwest of the area and open the red door. Open the skull-covered wall and hit the switch at the southeast end. Head through the doorway and use the lift. Open the door outside, and enter the teleporter at the northeast.

Now, at your destination, hit the eastern switch to raise a stairway. Climb up and open the northern door. Open the door immediately after it, and hit the switch in the southwest of the room. Leave through the eastern doorway, hit the northern switch in the next room to raise another staircase, and ascend it. Jump down to the east side, hit the northern switch to open the door nearby, and take the lift. Head north, go through the next two doors, and descend the steps on either side. Enter the next, vine-covered room, and open the western door. Head through, and step into the teleporter in the northeast corner. Hit the switch you land close to to raise steps into the northern corridor, and head toward the northwest "door" to be dropped into a stone tunnel. Open the next door, and head on until you find another door. Go through it, and hit the switch at the south of the next room.

Backtrack to the vine-covered room to find another door at the east side; open it to find a room with stacks of oval-shaped crates. Run to the northeast corner, grab the items at that location (or step into where they rest,) and a lift will raise at the west of the central stack. Use it, and walk onto the stack; a switch will lower right next to you. Use it, and head through the new doorway in the southeast corner. Open the door in the next room, and grab the yellow key at the northwest of the next one. Backtrack through the doorway to find another door at the south end; open it, go through the door after it, dash through the hallway, and hit the switch.

Secrets

 * 1) The room where you find the switch in the southeast building during the first half of the map counts as a secret. (sector 31) You will find a chaingun, a super shotgun, a backpack, a box of ammo, a box of shells, and a box of rockets alongside the switch.
 * 2) The crate stack you stand on when pressing the stair-raising switch in the southwest building during the first half of the map counts as a secret. (sector 73)
 * 3) When you enter the central building in the first half of the level, look to the south to find that one section of the wall is covered with cracks and holes.  Push it, and it will open to reveal a computer mainframe, a stimpack, a box of shells (Ultra-Violence or higher,) and a few monsters. (sector 91)
 * 4) As you backtrack through the stone tunnel during the second half of the level, a compartment will have opened in the northwest of the tunnel, containing a box of ammo, a box of shells, and a soul sphere.  This alcove counts as a secret. (sector 280) On higher skill levels, it will also contain a medikit (Ultra-Violence or higher,) a Hell Knight (Hurt Me Plenty or higher,) and a Chaingunner (Ultra-Violence or higher.)

Current records
The records for the map on the Doomed Speed Demos Archive are:

Last updated on March 17, 2013.