MAP14: Pistol Only (Eternal Doom)

MAP14: Pistol Only is the fourteenth level of Eternal Doom, and the first level of Eternal Doom II upgrade. It was designed by Dietmar Westerteicher and uses the music track "Fugue in A Minor".

Even when played as part of a full episode run, this map will normally be played from a pistol start, as the previous map ends with a death exit. Progress may be blocked near the end in ZDoom-based ports; see Bugs below.

Walkthrough


To complete this level, it is almost mandatory to play it Tyson-style: Although it contains a single shotgun and several sergeants, this helps a little because of minimal amount of shells available to the player. Also, combined with presence of cyberdemon and spiderdemon bosses, this makes 100% kills very difficult to obtain.

This map is the same on all skill levels.

Starting out
You start in a large room, with a cyberdemon constrained inside a raised circular structure. Ignore him for now, and turn to your right. Go through the door in the east wall, then continue down the hall. As you approach the wall at the apparent end of the hall, it will lower, revealed two imps. Kill them, then use the wall opposite the light to reveal a teleporter.

You can use this teleporter to telefrag the enemies at the true end of the hall. You have to move quickly, or risk a serious hit with no armor. Step into the teleporter and continue moving forward. As soon as you teleport a second time, step backwards to teleport a third time, then switch to forward again. After the forth teleport, all the monsters will be dead except for the imp at the end, which you'll have to kill the old-fashioned way. Then take the imp's teleporter.

Eastern area
You will arrive in a room facing a raised platform, barrels and imps along the sides. Shoot the barrels to kill the baddies, then step forward and take the berserk pack. Continue to the far end; this will trigger the side walls to lower. Shoot the barrels in each side space to kill your new friends, then finish off any leftovers. You can use the sides of the raised platform to lower it to cross to either side.

The northwest torch is red (the others are blue); use it to open a hidden door on the east side. In that room, go straight across and to the left/north, use the skull switch there, then turn around and find a switch has been revealed at the southwest corner. Go straight there and use that, ignoring the other enemies until you've hit the second switch. Stay in the corner until you hear the arch-vile die. Then you can head back out the way you came in -- the blank wall will open like a door. Continue across the raised platform and through the now-open door to the west.

Go to the end of the hall, use the bullseye switch, kill the two pink demons that attack from behind, then open the door behind them. In that area, you'll wake a bunch more pinkies, but they're separated behind a low wall. Continue around and open the door on the south wall. Kill the pain elemental in there, then press the skull switch, which also starts a crusher in with the pinkies. Continue to the end of the walkway, and use the red block to climb over the wall. There are some clips in with the pinkies, which you'll probably need. Climb up onto the central platform here to find another teleporter.

Southern area
You'll teleport back to that first hallway, where a wall has opened and some zombiemen will immediately attack. Get them, then continue in and up the stairs to a dead end. Go back down and you'll find the two cross-passages have opened up. The western one has a mancubus and a supercharge; the eastern a baron and a blue armor. Your may want to stand in the middle and bait them into infighting. The western end has a linedef that blocks monsters, so don't expect the mancubus to come out. You need to cross that same line to open a door at the top of those stairs. Press the switch there, then go back down again, this time to the right/east cross-passage, where a door will have opened. You can walk through the bars.

Open the door at the end of that new passage, and you'll be looking down into a room with an invulnerability sphere. Jump down onto that, then use your berserk-fists to pummel the revenant, then up the stairs to the Hell knight, and then around to the imp. Use the button behind the imp to open a door to the north, and take the teleporter there.

Northeastern area
You'll end up back in the first hall, yet again. A new opening will have appeared to the north, immediately behind you as you come out of the teleport. There is a chaingunner in there, but you can't get in there (yet). Instead proceed east to a second northern opening, up some stairs to a bunch of barrels and a cacodemon. Blow the barrels when the caco' is nearby and you'll take him out (if you're still invulnerable, that will be easier).

At the end of the stairs, you'll be overlooking a wooded area, with a square silver column, and some imps and zombies. Take care of the baddies, take the radsuit at the north, and then jump down into the nukage to the south. At the east end, use the brown brick wall to lower it, and then cross into the wood-panel hallway.

FIXME more here

Northwestern area
FIXME more here

When you find a door with a blue hole inside, shoot or punch in the hole to open the door out of the room (to your right).

Cyberdemon and exit
FIXME

Other points of interest
FIXME optional red key fight with mastermind

Secrets

 * 1) In the easternmost room, after you hear the arch-vile die, you can enter the oval-shaped area to the north, which lowers the oval column.  That will reveal a green armor and the remains of the arch-vile. (sector 171)
 * 2) In the area with the cross-passages with the mancubus and baron, when you walk into the eastern end, a door opens.  Go back to the first hall and head east again, past the false wall that lowers.  The north wall will have opened, exposing three imps and a medikit. (sector 46)
 * 3) In the northwest hallway at the bend where the stairs are, press on the inner wall between the steps at the U-bend. This will open up a compartment with a cacodemon and a berserk pack. (sector 15)

Bugs
In the northwestern area, the normal progression of the level expects you to shoot a blue wall with a hole in it, to open the door to continue. It may be very difficult or impossible to make this shot trigger in at least some ZDoom-based ports. If you are using such a port and the door will not open, there is an alternate path.

Backtrack the way you came in, lowering the the wall on the window, back down the next lift, and go back out the yellow door. In the big arena, the new switch will have come up, and you can pick up the walk-through from Cyberdemon and exit above.

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

The data was last verified in its entirety on August 1, 2022.

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

Inspiration and development
This was originally the starting level of an unfinished project called "Weapons.wad", where in each level you would have to survive using mostly one weapon. The idea can still be seen in this version.