Z1M2: Nuclear Plant (Knee-Deep in ZDoom)

Z1M2: Nuclear Plant is the second level of Knee-Deep in ZDoom. It is a reimagining of Doom's with new areas and enemies. The primary designers were Nick Baker (NiGHTMARE) and Michael Niggel (Risen). The par time defined in MAPINFO is 7:00.

Essentials
Turn right as soon as the level starts and head towards a silver door, open it and go up the red staircase to a wide hallway with zombiemen and imps. Look west to see the red keycard (which is guarded by soul harvesters on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM) skill levels) and pick it up, kill the imps that teleport in behind you then return to the starting room and go to the west wall to find a red key door. Go through the door to a red hallway and turn right to reach a room with imps on a platform surrounded by nukage, then step over the nukage and flip the switch on the east side of the central column. Go back to the hallway and head south down a set of steps that have been revealed to reach the entrance to the reactor maze, which is guarded by demons and spectres.

There are two doorways leading into the maze - go through the east doorway, head east through a low doorway then follow a passage east until you see a light-gray block ahead. Just before the block are two square computer screens with a button in between them; press the button then head south past a green forcefield and follow the path west until you reach a junction, then continue west until you see a red doorway on your left and go through it. Follow the passage round the corner to a bridge protected by a satyr (or two shotgun guys on UV and NM) and approach the button in front of you. Press the button to shut down the reactor (which will cause the lights in the area to go out) then go back through the red doorway and head north-west to find an armor in front of another doorway.

Go through the doorway then climb the steps and look round the corner to see two stone imps and a shotgun. Go through the doorway here and follow the path past more stone imps to a room with a chainsaw on a pillar, which is guarded by mauler demons and rapid fire troopers. Press the button in the north-west corner to lower the chainsaw if you want it, then press the green button on the south wall - the screen next to it will show a set of bars lowering elsewhere in the level. Backtrack through the reactor maze to the red hallway then head west up the staircase to a curved walkway over nukage and follow it round - watch out as you pass the east wall, as it will open to reveal a demon ambush. Kill the rapid fire troopers at the end of the walkway and head north through the bars you opened earlier, then step on the lift to be carried down to a chamber with imps. Flip the switch on the north wall, which will light the three platforms above you revealing imps and soul harvesters - the north-east and north-west walls will then open to reveal stone imps.

Go through the walls that opened and head north through a small door to a hall with a bird symbol on the floor (there will also be six soul harvesters on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) skill level or higher). Open either of the east doors and kill the demons waiting behind them, then go through to an outdoor area with shotgun guys and press the button on the east wall; this will lower a column behind you with two mauler demons, plus three imps on HMP or higher. Return to the bird hall and go through the now-open north door, then go up the steps in front of you and proceed east past some imps and shadows until you reach a lift that will carry you down to a door. Open the door to see demons, imps and soul harvesters guarding the yellow keycard; when you approach the key the doors behind it will open, releasing three mauler demons (as well as regular demons on HMP or higher).

Backtrack to the bird hall and go back through the south door, then follow the passage east past some spectres until you reach the exit door guarded by a mauler demon. Open the door using the yellow key, kill the zombiemen and shotgun guys in the exit room then press the button below the lift to finish the level.

Other points of interest
As soon as the level starts, enter the structure in front of you and turn left to see a lift. The lift will take you up to a shotgun and a box of shotgun shells, or four shotgun shells on HMP or higher.

Secrets

 * 1) As soon as the level starts, go to the east outside wall of the structure in front of you and open the orange section of wall to find a backpack and other items. (sector 107) The button in this room (which opened secret #2 in the original level) no longer works.
 * 2) After going through the red key door, turn right to enter a room with nukage and look for a poison sign on the north wall. You can swim under this sign to find a submerged tunnel leading to a room with two medikits, six health bonuses, a box of shotgun shells and a box of bullets. (sector 483) After getting the yellow key, you can open the door in this secret to reach a supercharge.
 * 3) In the maze area, go to the south-east corner of the maze to find a green forcefield. Open the computer panel opposite the forcefield (with tan strips) to find the green keycard. (sector 97)
 * 4) With the green key from secret #3, go to the south-east corner of the starting room to find a green key door. The room behind it is the secret and holds three rapid fire troopers, and another door leading outside where you can find a supercharge. (sector 1092)
 * 5) In the outdoor area past secret #4, go to the north-east corner to see a gap in the rocks leading to a megaarmor. (sector 474)
 * 6) After shutting down the reactor, return to the starting room. A green forcefield on the north side of the room has deactivated, letting you collect the chaingun behind it. (sector 2499)
 * 7) As soon as you walk past the forcefield blocking the stairs to the chainsaw room, open the wall on your right (with a nukage stain on the bottom) to find an armor bonus and two stimpacks. (sector 2715)
 * 8) In the curved walkway room at the top of the stairs past the red key door, look at the north-west corner to see an opening in the wall. Drop into the nukage and swim under the railing then resurface to get into the opening. The stairs here will allow you to reach an armor on top of the railing. (sector 2621)
 * 9) In the outdoor area before the yellow key, climb the rocks on the west side to reach a brown platform in the south-west corner then drop down the hole to land in a storage area. Follow the corridor to find the blue keycard and a radiation shielding suit. (sector 1296) You can escape by continuing down the tunnel, which will bring you to the blue bars in the room preceding the outdoor area.

Current records
The records for this map at the Doomed Speed Demos Archive are:

This information was last verified in its entirety on October 26, 2021.

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

Primary mapping

 * Nick Baker (NiGHTMARE)
 * Michael Niggel (Risen)

Secondary mapping

 * Daniel Gimmer (Tormentor667)

Tertiary mapping

 * Pawel Zarczynski (NMN)
 * cccp_leha
 * Damian Lee (Lexus Alyus)
 * Mephisto

Trivia

 * A number of decorative objects are not flagged to appear on all skill levels, including the tech pillars in the hall with the bird symbol (which only appear on UV and NM) and the bloody messes in the neighboring area to the east (which only appear on HMP or higher).