E4M2: Parallels (No End In Sight)

E4M2: Parallels is the second map of episode Blood Stained Earth of No End In Sight. It was designed by Emil Brundage (NaturalTvventy).

This level includes two versions of the same map, a "normal" area resembling a techbase and a "parallel" area that has been partially transformed by Hell. Both areas must be traversed to find the exit.

Essentials
Take the shotgun behind the green panel in front of you then head north through a door and follow the passage behind it until you drop into a tan area with some demons. Head east into another passage and follow it to a circular hallway that has three tunnels filled with nukage - follow any of these passages to the middle of the room to find a column with three buttons, then press the south button to open a wall on your right and reveal an area with the blue keycard (the other buttons reveal areas with radiation shielding suits as well as more monsters). Jump to the ledge with the floor lamp, clear out the imps standing on the round pillars then climb these to reach the platform with the key.

With the blue key, deal with the enemies that have been released into the room go to the west side of the circular hallway to find a doorway leading outside to another nukage pool. Head south through the nukage to a staircase, climb it then enter the doorway at the top and go through to a metal room. Cross the room and follow the passage south-west until you reach a room with four red columns; there are two doors here requiring the yellow door (one of which leads to the normal exit) and a third door to the north which requires the blue key. Open this final door and kill the monsters behind it then flip the right-hand switch to lower a metal wall below and reveal a wide hall behind it. Drop to the floor below, collect the armor sitting on top of the wall then follow the hall north-east to a computer room. Flip the switch in the corner to reveal a teleporter which will send you to a "parallel" version of this level.

Step off the teleporter and head forward to the wide hall, where several imps are waiting along with some cacodemons that teleport in. You will see an arrow on the ground pointing at the west wall nearest to the teleporter chamber; press this wall to lower a lift and ride it up then turn left and head down some steps to a ledge overlooking a blood pool. Drop into the blood (which is a damaging floor) and run north to a staircase, climb it then turn right to find a radiation suit which you will need for the next area. Drop into the blood again and run south-west into an area with lava, then head south until you find a fiery tunnel leading to a wooden staircase. Instead of climbing this staircase, turn left to find another staircase with armor bonuses and climb it to an area with green platforms then head east and north to find a skull switch next to four yellow skull keys above the teleporter chamber; press the switch, grab the keys then step on the teleporter to return to the "normal" level.

Back in the normal level, head through the wide hall to get outside then head north-west to a doorway. From here you can return to the area with the red columns, open the exit door requiring the yellow key and press the switch behind it to move on to E4M3: Square Zero.

Secret exit
Refer to secret #9 below to find the red keycard. With this item, you will be able to reach secret #10 which leads to the secret exit for E4M9: Vile Cross.

Other points of interest
From the exit door in the "normal" level, head north-west then follow the passage north until you reach a dead marine then turn right and step over a gap in the floor to find a chaingun. In the "parallel" level you will find a rocket launcher in the same place.

Go through the blue door in the "parallel" level to find a supercharge; taking it will cause a number of monsters to teleport in. There are two dead ends under this room that hold a partial invisibility and a berserk pack.

Near the start of the level is a blue walkway that you must cross; when you try to cross this walkway in the "parallel" level it will drop you into a new area with large brick columns. Press the skull switch on the north side of the walkway to open a marble wall to the east, then go through it to find a dark room with a plasma gun. If you visit the same room in the "normal" level you will find two energy cell packs and two boxes of rockets, but approaching the items releases a large number of monsters into the area.

Secrets
Note: Taking certain actions may render secret #10 inaccessible.


 * 1) From the starting point, walk south off the ledge to the area below, and then enter the north-west doorway.  The north wall at the end of the short passage is a lift.  Lower it, get rid of the imps, then ride it up to a rocket, a box of bullets and an invulnerability. (sector 22)
 * 2) Go to the big hall in the center of the "normal" side of the map, with the teleporter at the north end (leading to the "parallel" side).  The eastern wall is made of brown sections.  The northern-most of these sections has ridges on the bottom instead of at the top.  Use it to lower a lift.  Ride it up and go around for a supercharge. (sector 79)
 * 3) Secret #1 has a mirror image duplicate in the "parallel" side.  An armor and four stimpacks are the rewards for this secret. (sector 449)
 * 4) At the western-most part of the "parallel" side is a lava-filled area that resembles the circular blue key area from the "normal" side of the map. Go to the north-west part of this area, and use the sides of the red brick walkway to lower it like a lift.  This also uncovers a hole with two medikits and an invulnerability. (sector 1007)
 * 5) To the north of the starting point is a curved walkway with a blue floor, with notches cut in it. On the "parallel" side, its counterpart is brown, and drops down when you cross it.  From there, proceed to the southern-most area of the "parallel" side, and find three blocks with switches on them.  Flipping the switches raises floor sections nearby, allowing you to build staircases.  The obvious route is to the north, allowing you to run across the tops of the blocks.  Instead, build a staircase leading to the south.  This part is blocked off by bars on this "parallel" side, but open on the "normal" side.  Go there and step into the north-west corner to lower a lift, leading to a teleporter, taking you back in the "parallel" side, which is the secret.  The lift up on that side allows you to collect a supercharge, two medikits, green armor, and a computer area map. (sector 1025)
 * 6) When the blue walkway in the "normal" level has been lowered, flip the knife switch at the east end of the walkway to raise it again. Run to the opposite end of the walkway as it is rising up and look to your left, towards the rising and lowering block. Jump to this opening, and follow the rising and lowering blocks going north-east until you spot a different section of wall looking north. This is a fake wall you can walk through, allowing you to retrieve some health bonuses. (sector 318)
 * 7) Just east of secret #6 is a block containing a megaarmor. (sector 291)
 * 8) At the northern-most tip of the "normal" level is a wall, creating two short east-west passages.  Use the tan wall section on the southern wall of the southern passage to reveal a secret room with rockets, a stimpack, and an imp. (sector 414)
 * 9) After obtaining a yellow key, go to the northern part of the "parallel" level where there will be a yellow door and a red door; the secret is behind the red door, but the red keycard is also behind this door. To reach it, open the yellow door and use the teleporter to return to the "normal" level. In the same area that the red door was in the "parallel" level, there will be a yellow exit door which actually leads to the normal exit. Opening the yellow door here will also open up the red door in the "parallel" level. Open this yellow door, then quickly run back through the teleporter you came from, then into the open red door before it closes to collect the red key and the secret. (sector 658)
 * 10) On the left walkway above the big hall in the "normal" level is a red door with a barrel under it. Do not shoot this barrel or you will miss out on this secret and the secret exit as well. Once you have the red key, open this red door then go to the same hallway in the "parallel" level. If you did not shoot the barrel earlier, this hall will stay open so you can enter the teleporter here to reach a third version of the level. Grab the radiation suit then drop into the lava and press a computer skull switch under an evil eye; this will lower a metal wall (revealing a spiderdemon on Hurt Me Plenty or higher) with an invisible bridge behind it that you can cross to find a teleporter. Climb the steps to find a berserk pack and an eye switch that will open the teleporter; step into it to reach the secret level. (sector 696)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on December 21, 2021.

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