MAP50: Barrels of Fun (PlayStation Doom)

MAP50: Barrels of Fun is the fiftieth level of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions of Doom, and the twentieth level of the Doom II episode. It is based on the original MAP23: Barrels o' Fun, with modifications made to adapt the map to the consoles' limitations. The author of the original map is Sandy Petersen. As its name suggests, the level contains a high number of barrels.

Completing this level takes the player directly to MAP51: Bloodfalls, as The Chasm level is not present in the console games.

Essentials
You start in a long room containing many barrels, facing a wall that will open and reveal a chaingunner when you start moving. Turn around and run towards the door before the chaingunner starts firing and causes a chain reaction of explosions. At the end, open the door and head into the teleporter behind it to enter another room full of barrels; there are Hell knights here but they are facing away from you. Go straight forward past some alcoves with chaingunners, shoot the barrels when you are clear and head into the next teleporter.

You will arrive on a raised ledge west of the starting area, which holds more barrels and a varying number of lost souls. Shoot the wall on your right with an impact weapon to open it, head to the opposite end of the ledge and press the switch, then go back to where you teleported in; you will see that a ledge with a burning barrel has raised, letting you cross to the platform on the east side of the room. Drop down the steps and face north to find a number of demons heading towards you; kill them and head north into the metal tunnels they emerged from until you reach an outdoor platform over a blood pit. Take the rocket launcher here if needed, then drop off the south-east side of the platform into the blood. Step into the teleporter on this side to be sent to the large round chamber in front of it.

Go into either of the dark passages ahead (the doorway you entered through closes behind you when you do this) and follow them round to a small brown cavern, which contains imps guarding several boxes of rockets. Go inside and take whatever supplies you need, then backtrack to the round chamber to find that another area has opened to the south-west containing arachnotrons, plus revenants on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) or Ultra Violence (UV) skill levels. Kill them, take the yellow skull key they were guarding and step into the nearby teleporter.

You will arrive on a ledge overlooking the earlier platform in the blood pool. Turn around and follow the passage upwards, killing any enemies that get in your way. There will be a number of demons at the end of the passage; kill them and step into the left-hand teleporter (the right-hand teleporter sends you to the ledge east of the starting room). You will arrive in a gray room with many barrels, where one or two chaingunners will immediately be alerted - run forward and go through the door at the end of the room before the chaingunners start a chain reaction of explosions. Once through, open the yellow door and destroy the barrels behind it, which will clear your path to the flashing blood pool which is the level exit.

Other points of interest
There is a shotgun in the alcove that opens when you move from the start point.

The room you enter after using the first teleporter contains two backpacks, a berserk pack and a computer area map. These should be collected after blowing up the barrels and killing the enemies here.

Just before the cavern with the final teleporter is a platform holding a BFG9000 and a medikit; press the skull switch on the platform to lower it.

Secrets

 * 1) After raising the triangular platform allowing you to cross the long corridor you started in, you will be able to access a raised corridor on the eastern side of the area. At the northern end of the hall there are two passageways that lead outside. Take the left (west) passage and go to its end, but do not drop off yet. Look just to the right to see a narrow platform below, then drop down to land on it. Once on the platform, turn around and you will be able to access a thin secret passage with a megasphere at its end. (sector 25)
 * 2) Once in the outdoor area, drop into the pit of blood and take the teleporter in the south-east corner. It takes you to a raised area with a wide, circular tunnel. At the far end of the tunnel is a pair of smaller brown tunnels that each lead to a cache of boxes of rockets. The southern of the two tunnels has a skull switch on the wall. Open it to reveal a soulsphere. (sector 79)

Comparison of versions
Several changes were made to this level compared to the PC version.

Room design

 * All switches use a skull switch on metal wall texture.
 * The step that the shotgun in the starting room rests on is larger.
 * The hallway east of the starting room has staircases at either end, instead of steps running along the entire length of the room.
 * Secret #1 and the corridors either side of it are slightly wider to accommodate the player's increased radius.
 * The octagonal pillar in the north-western corner of the level is an unreachable sector on the PC version of the level. This sector is deleted in console versions, leaving a void space.
 * The level exit uses a blood floor instead of a sky, as well as a rapidly flashing light.

Monster placement

 * Pain elementals are replaced with three or four lost souls each.
 * Arch-viles are removed without being replaced.
 * The mancubus in the starting room is replaced with a chaingunner.
 * The spiderdemon guarding the yellow skull key on HMP and UV is replaced with two revenants, while one revenant appears on I am a Wimp (IAAW) or Not Too Rough (NTR). The five arachnotrons in the same room will all appear on HMP on UV, but none of them appear on IAAW or NTR.
 * The arachnotrons in the room with the final teleporter only appear on HMP; on PC, they should both appear on UV. One arachnotron is placed on the steps leading up to this cavern on HMP and UV.

Other

 * The level is named "Barrels of Fun" rather than "Barrels o' Fun".

Music
The map uses the following music tracks:

Player spawns
This level contains seven spawn points:
 * 1) facing north. (thing 401)
 * 2) facing north. (thing 402)
 * 3) facing south. (thing 403)
 * 4) facing north-east. (thing 404)
 * 5) facing north. (thing 405)
 * 6) facing north-west. (thing 406)
 * 7) facing south-east. (thing 407)

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