MAP31: Festering Wicked Helix Sectors (Resurgence)

MAP31: Festering Wicked Helix Sectors is the first secret level of Resurgence, accessed from. It was designed by Josh Sealy (Joshy) in the style of Xaser Acheron, and uses the music track "Day of Mourning," composed by Stuart Rynn (stewboy) specifically for the level.

The level takes place around a large Gothic-themed structure, castle-like in design, with plenty of large pools of blood. Situated near the structure is a huge tower, which the player must get to. However, the level features a twist: In the vein of Xaser's Wicked Garden, and TNT: Evilution MAP04, a second version of the level exists, which is darker and mostly abandoned. This alternative version appears at the very end of the level, and it is here that the tower is accessible.

Festering Wicked Helix Sectors was featured in Doomworld's Top 100 Most Memorable Maps, placing 42nd.

Inspiration and development
The level was originally designed for the led by Brian Knox (Snakes), in which mappers would be assigned to another mapper, and have to make a level in the style of the mapper they were assigned to. After signing up to the project, Sealy was assigned to Xaser Acheron. Sealy carefully studied MAP15 and MAP25 of PRCP, E3M0 of ZPack, and E2M26 of Back to Saturn X to learn the main features of Xaser's maps. The name of the final product is an amalgamation of the names of these maps. A full description of the development of the level is included at the end of Resurgence's text file.

Secrets
All secrets apply to the first part of the map. The corresponding areas in the second part are empty, and do not count as secrets.
 * 1) As soon as the map begins, you will see a soulsphere on a ledge next to some imps. The ledge is in front of a window, which you can straferun through from the staircase inside the entrance. (sector 33)
 * 2) Next to the yellow skull key is a tall pillar with a BFG9000. When you are in the process of accessing the yellow key, you will come to a narrow hallway, at the end of which are three torches, one of which is green. Press the wall immediately north of the green torch (there's no feedback to this) to partially lower the BFG's pillar. When you get teleported onto the yellow skull key, run forward to collect it. (sector 281)
 * 3) After taking the yellow key, run backward to land on the walkway leading to a lift. Go up the lift, then turn left through the opening, and move towards the railing opposite. Move close to the railing, and carefully drop down to the right. You should land on an energy cell pack that's visible from the start of the map. (sector 421)

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

The data was last verified in its entirety on April 3, 2022.

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