MAP08: Phobos Anomaly (Console Doom)

MAP08: Phobos Anomaly is the eighth level of most console versions of Doom, based on the original E1M8: Phobos Anomaly with modifications made to adapt to consoles' limitations. The author of the conversion is American McGee, and the original authors of the map are Tom Hall and Sandy Petersen. The map first appeared in Atari Jaguar version, and is additionally used in the 3DO, Sega 32X, Game Boy Advance, Sony PlayStation, and Sega Saturn versions.

The map features two barons of Hell as bosses. A major difference from the PC version is that, rather than ending with the apparent death of the protagonist and serving as the end of the episode, play continues normally into the next level via a corrupted teleporter exit.

Essentials
From the start, throw the switch in front of you to lower the wall and reveal a room containing many zombiemen, shotgun guys and barrels. Fire into the barrels to kill all the zombies (or wait for the shotgun guys to shoot them), then head north down the staircase through a door. Keep heading north until you reach a switch, which lowers the lift in front of you. Step on the lift and you will emerge in a red star chamber with two doors in front of you. Approach the doors and they will open to reveal two barons of Hell. Kill them any way you see fit, and the walls around the north point of the star will lower.

Step through the lowered walls to reach a large outdoor area. Head north and open the door, then throw the switch behind it to raise a staircase. Kill the two zombiemen at the top and step on the teleporter to finish the level.

Other points of interest

 * The small room east of the starting area contains a computer area map, a box of bullets and ten stimpacks.
 * After going through the wooden door, you will enter a cross-shaped chamber with red torches, which contains armor. The room east of this chamber contains a chaingun and four boxes of bullets, while the west chamber contains a shotgun and three boxes of shells.
 * The star chamber contains numerous items - the south-west point has a box of bullets and a stimpack, the north-west point has a box of bullets among barrels, the north point has a box of shells and a medikit, the north-east point has a box of bullets and a medikit, and the south-east point has a box of bullets.

Secrets

 * 1) Near the bottom of the first staircase, part of the east wall is misaligned. Open it to reveal an alcove containing a megaarmor pickup. (sector 32)

Comparison of versions
As well as geometry simplification, the following changes were made to the console versions of this level:

Room design

 * All switches use a knife switch on brown texture (SW1BRN1).
 * The nukage pit at the start of the level is replaced with a raised platform. The lift leading to the pickups in the east chamber has also been removed.
 * The soulsphere behind the hidden door at the southern staircase is replaced with megaarmor.
 * The PlayStation version of the level adds two triangular sectors to the hallway before the lift, representing dim lights cast by the blue torches in the room.
 * The barons' chambers are connected by an alcove containing a soulsphere.
 * After the barons are defeated, only the walls at the north point of the star will lower.
 * The open area beyond the star has been significantly reduced in size and made rectangular. Two teleporters are added to either side of this area - the west teleporter will send you to the north-western point of the star (with the barrels), while the east teleporter will put you in the hallway before the lift.
 * The exit teleporter and the staircase leading to it have been placed in an enclosed room. The teleporter, which is a single white pad, will take the player straight to MAP09: Deimos Anomaly with their inventory intact, rather than to an inescapable ambush.

Monster placement

 * The demons in the starting are are replaced with zombiemen and shotgun guys.
 * The PlayStation and Saturn versions adds a nightmare spectre to each of the rooms adjoining the cross-shaped chamber on Ultra Violence skill level (UV).
 * Eight of the ten spectres that appear in the star chamber on UV are replaced with nightmare spectres in the PlayStation and Saturn versions.

Other differences

 * The hidden door and switch in the east baron's chamber are not present, so the lift leading up to the star chamber cannot be opened from above. This door was added in v1.666, but the Jaguar and PlayStation versions of the level are based on v1.2.
 * A shotgun is removed from the south-east point of the star chamber, while a partial invisibility powerup is removed from the north-west point.

Music
The map uses the following music tracks:

Player spawns
This level contains nine spawn points:
 * 1) facing south. (thing 59)
 * 2) facing south. (thing 60)
 * 3) facing south. (thing 61)
 * 4) facing north-east. (thing 62)
 * 5) facing north-west. (thing 63)
 * 6) facing west. (thing 64)
 * 7) facing east. (thing 65)
 * 8) facing west. (thing 66)
 * 9) facing south. (thing 67)

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