MAP29: Odyssey of Noises (The Plutonia Experiment)

MAP29: Odyssey of Noises is the twenty-ninth map of The Plutonia Experiment. It was designed by Milo Casali and uses the music track "At Doom's Gate", as in Doom's E1M1: Hangar.

Overview
Odyssey of Noises is one of the most expansive and difficult of the official Doom levels. It resembles a city, complete with roads running between the numerous buildings. At one end of the level is a vast lava-filled crater. Because of the level's layout, it is very unsafe to be out in the open, since the player is exposed to attack by monsters sniping from numerous windows almost everywhere in the map.

Essentials
Start

You start in a building with a pool of blood. Go down the stairs and head out the door.

Your first order of business is to head behind the building you are in. Kill the three imps in sniping windows on the building's wall. Head to the southwest of this area and notice a hole between two buildings. This provides a great vantage point to snipe off a monster on a platform in the lava crater - on Hey, not too rough and below, a revenant; on Hurt me plenty, an arachnotron; on Ultra-Violence and above, a cyberdemon (making this step particularly important). This will save you much pain when collecting the red key.

Your next order of business should be to go around the map and kill as many enemies you can see, ensuring that a minimum of enemies will be taking pot-shots at you while you are progressing the map. Once the enemies have been reduced to an acceptable level, proceed to collect the red key.

Red Key

Proceed to the southwest of the map. Look for a building with three square pillars forming a corner. Head into the building and take the stairs up to a platform (there may be an arachnotron if you have not killed it earlier). Kill the revenants ahead, then jump from the platform onto a flight of steps across the lava crater, leading to a large door. As you step onto the "island" where the revenants were on, pay attention to the cages to the right of the big door - chaingunners will appear in them.

Head through the big door. There will be two chaingunners ahead. Turn left to find another door, behind which lies the red key. However, as you step back into the main room, an arch-vile will be released from the west wall in the room. Defeat it and flip the switch in its alcove. This will lower the red bars in the level.

Yellow Key

Head to the building just north of the building you started in (northeastern "block", southernmost building). Head up the staircase in its north face and follow the ledge around to an opening. Back up, then run through the opening through the next building. Continue running through the plus-shaped opening in this next building to reach another metal floored building. This building may have some chaingunners remaining, so use caution.

The yellow key is on a pedestal in the northeast corner of this building. However, once you grab it, two traps open - one in the building to the west with one (Hey, not too rough and below) or two (Hurt me plenty and above) chaingunners. The brick structure also opens to reveal two cacodemons and on Ultra-Violence, a pain elemental. Deal with the monsters and get back to street level.

Blue Key

Head to the eastern building of the northwestern block. The yellow door is on the eastern face of this building, behind a row of pillars. Kill the two revenants inside, then flip the switch, which raises bars blocking access to the blue key.

Next, find the road that leads directly into the lava crater. The blue key is in the building southwest of where you spawned, along with some boxes of rockets. Open the door and take the blue key.

Raising Access to Exit

Head to the middle block in the north of the map, and find the eastern building. Head up the stairs to a raised area. Move west, face north, back up as far as possible and then run forward. You should make the jump onto the next room. Next, face west, back up as far as possible, then run forward across two roofs towards a door flanked by blue banners. Go through this door.

You will be in a room with "fan-like" lighting patterns on the floor. Flip both switches in this room and kill the baron of Hell in the corner. Once this is done, drop back to street level.

Do note that this has triggered a trap in the building to the southwest - it has opened up, releasing five cacodemons (Hey, not too rough and lower), five cacodemons and two pain elementals (Hurt me plenty), or eight cacodemons and two pain elementals (Ultra-Violence and above).

Exit

The exit is in the southwest of the map, in a dark brown building with black banners flanking a door high on the wall. Head up the steps and open the door.

You will now be on a platform above a blood-floored room. Raised stepping stones lead to the exit behind a metal frame. Beware of arch-viles in the northeast, northwest and southwest corners. The final trap here is the pedestals sinking into the blood as you run over them - simply run across all the steps and you should be safe. If you fall in, there is a teleporter to take you back up, and a niche will open next to the door with a teleporter to the other side.

Other points of interest
While some buildings are merely for positioning enemies, other buildings are good places to go to if you need extra health and/or ammo - if you can fight off the monsters.

Northern Block, Southernmost building

This building contains a rocket launcher and many firey alcoves with rockets. However, once you pick up the rocket launcher, ten demons will teleport in around you.

Northwestern Block, Southeast building

This building houses up to 10 chaingunners in windows. However, by going up either set of stairs in the southeast corner, one can gain access to both sets of windows and kill the chaingunners easily. Besides the dropped chainguns, there are boxes of shells and rockets, as well as four medikits.

Western Block, "Castle"

The castle's two "turrets" contain a revenant each. Inside, there are six chaingunners on the semicircular ledge ahead and two more in niches by the side. This room has five medikits.

Push the switch in front to raise stairs to the ledge and access the door ahead. There is a box of shells (on Ultra-Violence and above) and a soulsphere here, but beware of the two barons of Hell inside. Behind where each baron came from is a small cache of three boxes of rockets.

Do be warned that completing this area will open up the D-shaped building in the northwestern block, releasing up to 11 demons and seven revenants into the streets. However, that building has more shells and three stimpacks.

Western Block, Northwestern building

This U-shaped building has two Hell knights, but also contains a megaarmor, three medikits and two energy cell packs.

Eastern Block, Western building

This building, directly next to the building you spawn in, has a platform with seven chaingunners. After killing them, you can access two medikits and 21 rockets.

Secrets

 * 1) After getting the red skull key, return to the building you started the level in (the southernmost of the easternmost row of buildings). A secret room will have opened on the back side of it. (sector 154)
 * 2) While standing on the platform the yellow key rested upon, straferun into the opening in the building to the north. Inside this alcove is a megasphere. (sector 191)

Current records
The Compet-N records for the map are: The data was last verified in its entirety on May 5, 2013.

Player spawns
This level contains seven spawn points:
 * 1) facing north. (thing 243)
 * 2) facing east. (thing 244)
 * 3) facing north-east. (thing 245)
 * 4) facing north-west. (thing 246)
 * 5) facing west. (thing 247)
 * 6) facing south. (thing 249)
 * 7) facing north. (thing 255)

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