The Eye

The Eye is a single-level PWAD for Doom II using a Boom-compatible source port. Its author is Cyriak Harris (mouldy) and it uses the music track Octo from Hexen. The Eye was awarded a Cacoward in 2012.

Essentials
The text file accompanying the level describes the level as "A fairly tough single map with a circular layout and moments of mild carnage." This is a significant understatement - The Eye is a significant challenge even by modern difficulty standards, dipping into slaughter map territory at critical moments. You will have to be on top of your game in order to survive.

Phase One: The Rim

You begin in a small wooden room facing a gargoyle switch. Shoot this switch to raise the panel it is on, revealing a darkened green stone hallway leading into a large room with a big wooden door. As suggested by the signs above the door, this door requires all three skull keys to be opened. In front of you are three zombiemen and two shotgun guys, as well as six imps hidden from view (four in the near corners and one behind each pillar). Grab the shotgun and three sets of 4 shotgun shells, then run around the former humans (without firing) and grab the armor. This quickly reduces the damage you are taking while forcing the imps and former humans to fire through each other, resulting in monster infighting. Use your shotgun to mop up the survivors, then carry on south (anticlockwise).

Head across the bridge over the glowing rocks and kill the shotgun guys, but watch for up to four imps and a revenant (Ultra-Violence and above only) on the rock formation nearby. Once across the bridge, you will be in a ledge in a darkened hall with a blood channel. A large horde of former humans and imps (and a revenant) will be onto you by now. Your goal is to find and kill the chaingunner on the near ledge, grab his chaingun and use it to mow everyone down. Hop down into the blood channel and kill the three spectres in there, then head up the steps in the northeast to the area across the blood channel.

In this next segment, head up the green steps in the southwest, kill the revenant lying in ambush (not on Hey, not too rough and below) and follow the "red carpet" on the floor. It will take you past a pair of windows with two mancubi behind them, then up a flight of steps. This leads to a pedestal with a super shotgun. Grab it and beware of rockets from the two revenants perched in the two alcoves nearby (four imps on Hey, not too rough and below). Quickly head back down the steps to force homing rockets into the mancubi, causing even more monster infighting for your benefit. Back at the start of the "red carpet", an arachnotron will have teleported nearby - use the super shotgun to dispose of it quickly.

Continue counterclockwise towards an area with grey and green pillars. As you enter this new area, watch for an ambush by two Hell knights to the right. You should also watch for shotgun guys on high ledges to the north. Shortly after you pass the first pair of pillars, a pair of chaingunners will teleport to the east of this area. Deal with them with your chaingun. Close to the next row of three pillars, you will attract the attention of three imps, a cacodemon, a pain elemental and a revenant (not on Hey, not too rough and below) from a large alcove high on the south wall. Approach the pair of steps in the east cautiously while facing north - there is a small niche north of them that contains a concealed arch-vile (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Use the pillar to shield yourself from its attacks and kill it.

Climb up either pair of steps and jump down into an area with a crack of lava running through the ground. Grab the plasma gun and two bulk cells in the south. Grabbing the plasma gun triggers a teleport trap, causing up to 11 cacodemons and 2 pain elementals to teleport into this area. As always, when confronted with a horde of floating monsters, the pain elementals have to go first. Once they have been mopped up, you can collect the four energy cells (six on Ultra-Violence and above) to either side of the hall where you found the plasma gun. Climb the steps in the southeast to a skull switch and flip it to raise the red brick bars nearby, allowing access to the next area.

This next area has a thin "red carpet" leading to a large wooden door with inverted crucifixes beside it. Watch for the three shotgun guys on the three split pillars in the north. Head towards the door and open it. Four things happen:


 * The "door" lowers, revealing a chamber with a cyberdemon and the red key.
 * The entrance to this area closes (the red brick bars rise up again)
 * Three walls in the southeast open, releasing up to 10 cacodemons and one pain elemental.
 * A revenant appears on each split pillar in the north.

You probably don't have enough in your arsenal to deal with the cyberdemon right now. Unless you can expertly navigate around the cyberdemon horde, bait the cyberdemon into infighting with the cacodemons and use those brief moments of distraction to grab the red key, you are better off getting the red key later, when you can fight the cyberdemon on better terms. Quickly jump into the blood in the north and find the hole in the wall in the east, then jump down it into a darkened blood sewer. Kill the imp to your right, then head down into a darkened area. There are three pillars in this room, each concealing an imp. On ultra-Violence and above, there is also a spectre to deal with. Count the requisite number of dead enemies, then press the gargoyle switch on the north wall to lower a platform.

Ride this platform up to a metal room with a baron of Hell. Kite it around and kill it, then grab the ammo and health in this room - you'll need it for the next battle.

When ready, press on the gargoyle face in the east of this room, then ride the platform up to a pink flesh corridor that opens into a circular flesh room with a large number of rockets, plasma cells and a berserk pack in the north. Entering this room causes bars to close in the north and opens three panels in the east, releasing a huge horde of monsters:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Six demons, 26 imps, two mancubi.
 * Hurt me plenty: 11 demons, 36 imps, three mancubi.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: 11 demons, 36 imps, three mancubi, four revenants, one arch-vile.

Pull out your plasma gun and hold onto the fire button for dear life. On Ultra-Violence and above, you'll need to pay attention to the arch-vile's attacks as well. Once they have all been cleared out, head into the middle trap and go all the way east to retrieve the yellow key from its alcove. Next to the bars in the north, a new switch will have opened. Press it to slowly raise the bars and allow access to the next area.

The next area is a small maze of blood-filled flesh tunnels. It initially contains only demons, but as you make your way through it, up to 15 revenants will teleport into the area. With ample supplies of plasma, this area should not be a problem. Make your way towards the north to find a channel blocked by two sets of bars. Flip the switches on either side to raise both pairs of bars and allowing access into the final stretch of this first part of the level.

You will enter a large green hall with an altar in the northeast and a rocket launcher in some sort of demonic shrine in the southwest. If had taught you anything, this screams "teleport trap" to any seasoned player. Pick up the boxes of rockets at the edges of the room, then pick up the rocket launcher from the altar. This triggers a large teleport trap, releasing up to 52 assorted monsters near the altar. You might be tempted to immediately put your rocket launcher to good use, but there is one slight problem - among the monsters is a pain elemental. If you unload your rockets before dealing with it, you could hit a stray lost soul with catastrophic consequences. Use plasma to take it out before using your rockets liberally. Once the horde of monsters is dead, head back to the altar in the northeast. The blue key has appeared. Climb onto the altar from the back and collect it.

The door in the west that is surrounded by tentacles is non-functional. However, to the northeast of this door is a set of steps leading up to a marble panel with an alien face on it, flanked by two candles. Press use on the marble panel to lower it, allowing access to a small room with two tiers of cages. The top tier contains two mancubi and one revenant; the bottom tier contains three revenants (all revenants replaced by pairs of imps on Hey, not too rough and below). You will also have to deal with a chaingunner, two shotgun guys and two zombiemen heading up the steps in this room. Jump down from the steps to the floor of this room, grab the goodies in the east and find the blood-stained wooden panel in the southwest.

Lower this panel and ride it up to a room with bookcases. Watch for up to four demons and a Hell knight in here. If you want to take the super shotgun here, collect it from the north-south axis. This avoids lowering a bookshelf in the north, releasing a revenant (chaingunner on Hey, not too rough and below).

Exit through the door in the west. This curved hall contains a horde of former humans, along with up to two Hell knights and four revenants. As you cross the midpoint of this room, traps open in the north, releasing up to three cacodemons into the hall. Go in guns blazing and move fast to cause infighting, distracting the hitscan enemies from you. Mop them up, then go up the steps in the southwest and lower the metal wall. Head across the curving bridge to return to the large room with the big locked wooden door requiring all three keys.

If you did not retrieve the red key, you should return to the area with the cyberdemon and collect it now. You are probably more well equipped to take it out at this point, and you can even duel it from the plasma gun area if necessary.

Phase Two: The Climb

With all three keys in your possession, head through the wooden door and jump down into the center of the arena. A very large horde of monsters (up to 189 of them) is going to be teleporting into various parts of the donut-shaped arena, as well as parts of the central spiral staircase. The entrance to the central spiral staircase is blocked, and you have to lower it twice using two switches to gain access. Your first task is to head to the entrance of the spiral staircase and pick up the BFG9000 over there. Harness your slaughter map skills and let rip into the horde of monsters with rockets and plasma while circling around the arena.

When the horde is thinned out, you can now find and flip the two switches on the perimeter of the spiral staircase. The first switch is roughly at the 11 o' clock position, while the second switch is near the three o' clock position. Be warned that flipping both switches will also release one (Hurt me plenty) or two (Ultra-Violence and above) arch-viles into the arena, so be alert as to where they have ended up and position yourself accordingly to avoid immolation.

Once the coast is clear, begin ascending the central spiral staircase. Collect the boxes of rockets and head up the steps. A supplementary horde of monsters will have begun teleporting onto the spiral staircase, and this horde includes another cyberdemon (not present on Hey, not too rough and below). Furthermore, at three points along the staircase, an arch-vile will teleport behind you:


 * About 1 and 1/4 turns climbed.
 * About 1 and 1/2 turns climbed.
 * About 2 and 1/8 turns climbed.

Power through this final onslaught of monsters to make your way to the top of the staircase. Some assistance is available in the form of an invulnerability near the entrance of the spiral staircase, lowered by a switch you can find on a pillar after about 1 turn climbed. However, you might wish to save this for the encounter at the top instead. Do not be afraid to fall off the staircase if you need to avoid enemy fire - use Doom's lack of falling damage to your advantage.

Right at the very top, you will see a nested set of pillars. You have to lower all four to access the exit. However, flipping the switches that lower each of the first three pillars triggers several particularly nasty traps. In order, lowering the first three pillars releases these monsters:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: baron of Hell, revenant, arch-vile.
 * Hurt me plenty: arch-vile, two arch-viles, two arch-viles.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: arch-vile and baron of Hell, two arch-viles and revenant, three arch-viles.

Carefully align your BFG9000 tracer cone to take out multiple arch-viles in a single hit, and use the remaining pillars wisely to avoid fire.

The fourth pillar triggers no trap, leaving a speckled red circle in the floor. Walk across the speckled red circle to exit the level.

Other points of interest
Progressing the map clockwise

While the design of the map indicates that the intended direction of progression of the first phase is anticlockwise, it is possible to complete the level by proceeding clockwise, and the map is also designed to facilitate doing so. Proceeding clockwise allows you early access to the rocket launcher, and generally gives you a huge advantage in completing the first phase. However, considering this, the means of fully completing the first phase in the clockwise direction are well hidden. Your lack of a plasma gun may also make clearing the yellow skull key encounter significantly more difficult.

In clockwise order from the starting room, these are the areas where continued clockwise progression may not be intuitive:


 * Room with bookshelves: Lower the wooden panel with skulls in the northeast to access the room with mancubus and revenant cages. Alternatively, use secret #1 to skip that room and go straight to the rocket launcher room.
 * Rocket launcher room: In the organic growth in the northeast, there are two eyes, one on either side of the blocked passageway. These are switches - flip them to lower the bars blocking the way into the blood channel.
 * Organic tunnels (east of map): From the room with tentacles, go southeast to a chamber with a C-shaped flight of steps. Go up the steps and take the left at the fork. Jump across to the platform with the megaarmor. From the platform, make a U-turn to the left and jump across the gap to the yellow key arena.
 * Dark tunnels (southeast of map): All platforms you lower and ride up in the anticlockwise route can be lowered from the higher side by walking towards them. All dropoffs you jumped from in the anticlockwise route have narrow steps allowing you to climb back up.
 * Cyberdemon area (red key fight): Use the platform in the south wall of the blood to climb back up. Open the "door" to the cyberdemon's chamber. Quickly clear out the floating monsters and run to the steps in the southwest. Jump into the nearest of the three alcoves in the southeast, revealing all three alcoves to be connected. Nearby, you will find a skull switch. Flip it to raise the red brick bars, allowing you to jump back into the plasma gun area.

Secrets

 * 1) From the start of the map, proceed clockwise until you reach the room with tentacles reaching under a wooden door. In the southeast of this room is a panel with a painting. Open it to reveal a concealed ledge (sector 1651) with 12 rockets that leads to a window. Jump through this window to get to the blue key and rocket launcher area early.
 * 2) From the start of the map, proceed anticlockwise across the first bridge over blood to come to a ledge just before a channel of blood that flows into a drain. Head to the southwest of this ledge and jump from the window to the rock formation ahead. Climb this rock formation to the top to access a hidden tunnel with eight health bonuses, a megaarmor, a box of shells and a box of ammo (sector 343). Do be careful of two imps and a revenant (three imps on Hey, not too rough and below) waiting in ambush in the cave-like area just before the actual secret area.
 * 3) In the southeast marble area of the map, follow the red and blue "carpet" up to a pedestal with a super shotgun. From this pedestal, jump to the nearby perch of a revenant. Run northeast across two pillars to the perch of a shotgun guy, then south across three pillars to a raised red-floored area. Flip the switch in the east and a bridge will rise at the doorway, allowing access to an isolated ledge with a soul sphere. (sector 944)
 * 4) On your way to the yellow key, you will find yourself in an underground metal room. Open the bookcase in the northeast to access an isolated green ledge. Ride the ledge at the north end up to a higher ledge. Head to the top of the steps and flip the switch to open two alcoves with monsters. The northern one has a switch. Press it to lower the southernmost marble slab along the ledge. Ride it up, run across the tops of the remaining marble slabs and carefully strafejump to the ledge in the northwest. It contains two boxes of rockets, two energy cells and an invulnerability. (sector 563)
 * 5) After opening the door that requires all three keys, do not drop down to the floor of the main arena yet. Instead, follow the raised red ledge around to the south for a short distance. You will come to a concealed area with a megasphere. (sector 81)

Bugs

 * An arch-vile (Thing 737) in one of the western monster caches has no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, so it does not actually appear in the level. This arch-vile is supposed to teleport behind the player when the player has climbed about 0.8 rotations of the spiral staircase.
 * Lowering the final pillar (sector 589) also triggers sector 2322 to lower, which is intended to allow a fourth group of monsters in the holding pen for the final set of teleport traps to teleport to the top of the tower via linedef 1353 (WR Teleport Monsters Only). However, there is no fourth group of monsters.

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

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