E3M6: Mt. Erebus (Doom)

E3M6: Mt. Erebus is the sixth map of Inferno in Doom. It features a secret exit to E3M9: Warrens (and see the trivia). "Mount Erebus" is a real mountain in Antarctica. It is named after Erebus, the son of Chaos, a character from Greek mythology. It uses the music track "On the Hunt." The par time is 1:30.

Walkthrough


You need to be quick with this level. At the start, go left, and cross the lava pit, and stop when you get top another platform. From where you are, look around for a staircase. Climb it, and when you get to the top, jump off to the floor in front of you. Kill the enemies here, and on this platform, collect the weapons, and the Invincibility Sphere. Once you collect the Invincibility Sphere, face the small platform where you got the weapons, and *run* right, onto another platform. On here, *run* to the wall with skull heads on it. From the wall, go left, then right, and jump into the pit. Now *run* straight, heading towards the teleporter in the small alcove. When you do teleport, open the door in front of you. You may pick up the Blue Key on easy skill levels, but it's not needed for these instructions.

In this room, you NEED to be invincible, otherwise you can't do the next part safely. From the door, check all the walls to the left until one opens (the secret wall has a tiny candle in front of it). Inside the secret alcove, go through the teleporter. When you get teleported you here, turn around, and when you do, go *slowly* right onto a smaller ledge. Facing the wall, to the right on the smaller ledge, switch to your automap and make your you (the arrow) has its back to the Blue Box. If you are, read this next sentence: YOU MUST STILL BE INVINCIBLE!

Then, when your back is to the Blue Box, take out the Rocket Launcher, save your game (if you are invincible). If you are playing on Skill Level 1, hold Shift. Fire. Right when you fire, hold down. If you do make it to the box, jump in. On Skill Levels 2 and up, you don't need to hold Down or Shift. Getting here Invincible and making it in the box takes a lot of practice, so keep trying to get in the box. When you are in the box, hit the exit switch (this takes you to the secret exit).

Secrets
Secret exit: This secret contains the secret exit switch and is inescapable, so only enter it once you are ready to exit the level. Pick up one of the invulnerability spheres from this level and make your way back through the teleporter from secret 2. This time, inch along the platform you arrive on to your right and around a corner. You'll see a blue box in the water below. Position yourself directly across from this box and face the red brick wall. Fire your rocket launcher at the wall and run backwards simultaneously, and you should be fired into the box, the invulnerability sphere absorbing all damage you would have taken. It's possible to straferun or jump (in some source ports) into the box, but the rocket jump is the intended (and easiest) method.
 * 1) Go inside the brown vine-covered building. Inside are two teleporters. Take the one on the right, and you'll be taken to a ledge with a plasma rifle on it.
 * 2) Enter the green marble building. There are two candles on the floor against opposite walls here. Open the wall behind the candle on the right for a bulk cell.
 * 3) From secret 2, open the wall behind the other candle and take the teleport. Once you're through, drop onto the platform ahead of you to get the chainsaw. Note that you must get this secret before collecting the blue key, or the chainsaw platform will raise up even to the roof, and completing the map with 100% secrets will become impossible.

Records
The Compet-N records for the map are:

Trivia
According to John Romero, "The only way you are supposed to reach the secret switch [inside the blue box at the north end of the map] was by (1) getting the invincibility, (2) blasting a rocket into the wall so you would fly backwards into the box. We found out early on that it was possible to flip the switch from outside, so Sandy made the walls thicker." (See Doom Level History.) In fact, it is still possible to activate the switch from just outside of the walls, and also to straferun-jump into the box. See Access the secret exit on level E3M6 for details.

In Greek mythology, Erebus was variably a god of darkness and a dark region of Hades. This is the most likely source of the name for this level, although Mount Erebus is a real volcano, situated in Antarctica. There is also a crater on Mars known as Erebus, named after HMS Erebus (itself named after the region of Hades).