MAP21: Nirvana (Doom II)

Doom II maps 21-30
MAP21: Nirvana MAP22: The Catacombs MAP23: Barrels o' Fun MAP24: The Chasm MAP25: Bloodfalls MAP26: The Abandoned Mines MAP27: Monster Condo MAP28: The Spirit World MAP29: The Living End MAP30: Icon of Sin
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (21 - 30) Secret maps: 31 32
This level has a console version.

This level occupies the map slot MAP21. For other maps which occupy this slot, see Category:MAP21.

MAP21: Nirvana is the twenty-first map of Doom II, named after the Nirvana, a concept in Buddhism, meaning a transcendent state of freedom from passions and desire that ends the reincarnation cycle of birth and death. It was designed by Sandy Petersen and uses the music track "Countdown To Death". The par time is 4:00.

Walkthrough

Map of Nirvana

Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector, thing, and linedef numbers in boldface are secrets which count toward the end-of-level tally.

Essentials

Pick up the health bonuses and medikits in the starting area (A) and kill the imps in front of you. Take the teleporter on the right. On the other side, continue along the path either way, killing spectres and shotgun guys along the way. Once you approach the teleporter at the end, the wall will open, releasing two pairs of revenants. Flip the switch to lower the wall, then step through the second teleporter (B).

In the next area, flip all four switches on the triangular platform (C). This raises a staircase in front of you. The nearest step actually acts as a lift, so lower it and step on. Once it has risen again, you can jump onto the triangular platform (D) to retrieve the rocket launcher. Afterwards, climb the stairs and continue down towards a horde of imps and mancubi as well as two teleporters. Take the one on the right.

In the next area, press the use key on any of the four walls to lower them, unleashing an ambush of imps around you. Crossing into their territory causes the next four walls two lower, revealing a further two pain elementals. After all the enemies are dead, pick up the yellow skull key (E) and go through the teleporter. To get the megasphere in the room you just came from, flip the switch closest to the teleporter and go through again. Run into the megasphere's corner before it rises again. Once you have obtained the megasphere, flip the other switch to open a shortcut back to the starting area. This time take the teleporter on the left (F).

Open the yellow walls in the next area. From here, follow the ledge around to the end, then drop down onto the imps' platform and flip the switch. This lowers the chaingunners' platform across the way, where you can pick up the red key (G). Grab the nearby radiation suit and head back out into the main slime pit with the brown platforms. The blue key rests on the northwestern-most platform (H). Lower the platform just southeast of this as you would a lift, ride it up and drop onto the blue key platform. Once you've obtained all three keys, head back to the southeast corner of the pit and lower the platform there (I). Ride it back up to the ledge, make your way through the red and blue barriers, then exit.

Secrets

There are no official secrets in this level.

Speedrunning

Routes and tricks

The player does not need the blue key to finish this level, as there is enough space to fit through the gap between the blue doors.

Current records

The Compet-n records for the map are:

Run	Time	Player	Date	File	Notes
UV speed	00:17	Vincent Catalaá (Peroxyd)	2001-11-21	lv21-017.zip
NM speed	00:25	xepop	2010-02-04	nm21-025.zip
UV max	02:19	Anders Johnsen	2003-01-17	lv21-219.zip
UV -fast	02:29	Radek Pecka	2004-05-17	fa21-229.zip
UV -respawn	02:15	Henning Skogstø	2000-04-05	re21-215.zip
UV Tyson	09:34	Jim Leonard (Xit Vono)	2006-02-24	ty21-934.zip
UV pacifist	00:28	Kim Lundqvist (N.C.)	2003-11-16	pa21-028.zip

The data was last verified in its entirety on July 5, 2020.

Deathmatch

Player spawns

This level contains six spawn points:

1. facing north. (thing 0)
2. facing north-west. (thing 1)
3. facing north. (thing 2)
4. facing north. (thing 3)
5. facing north. (thing 8)
6. facing north. (thing 129)

Statistics

Map data

Things	217
Vertices	396*
Linedefs	327
Sidedefs	538
Sectors	61

* The vertex count without the effect of node building is 298.

Things

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

Single-player
Monsters	1-2	3	4-5
Shotgun guy	7	14	19
Heavy weapon dude	3	8	11
Imp	24	55	76
Spectre	0	0	3
Revenant	1	2	4
Pain elemental	0	1	2
Hell knight	0	3	6
Mancubus	0	1	3
Weapons	1-2	3	4-5
Super shotgun	1
Rocket launcher	1
Ammunition	1-2	3	4-5
Box of shotgun shells	4
Rocket	6
Box of rockets	1
Health & Armor	1-2	3	4-5
Medikit	20
Items	1-2	3	4-5
Health bonus	16
Megasphere	1
Backpack	1
Invulnerability	1
Radiation shielding suit	4
Keys	1-2	3	4-5
Blue skull key	1
Red skull key	1
Yellow skull key	1
Miscellaneous	1-2	3	4-5
Exploding barrel	6
Teleport landing	10

Multiplayer
Monsters	1-2	3	4-5
Shotgun guy	7	14	19
Heavy weapon dude	3	8	11
Imp	24	55	76
Spectre	0	0	3
Revenant	1	2	4
Pain elemental	0	1	2
Hell knight	0	3	6
Mancubus	0	1	3
Weapons	1-2	3	4-5
Shotgun	1
Super shotgun	1
Chaingun	1
Rocket launcher	1
Ammunition	1-2	3	4-5
Box of shotgun shells	4
Rocket	6
Box of rockets	1
Health & Armor	1-2	3	4-5
Medikit	20
Items	1-2	3	4-5
Health bonus	16
Megasphere	1
Backpack	1
Invulnerability	1
Radiation shielding suit	4
Keys	1-2	3	4-5
Blue skull key	1
Red skull key	1
Yellow skull key	1
Miscellaneous	1-2	3	4-5
Cooperative start	4
Deathmatch start	6
Exploding barrel	6
Teleport landing	10

Trivia

• The official French name of this level is Le Nirvana.
• The level's name has been frequently rumored to be a reference to the band Nirvana, whose lead singer Kurt Cobain died of a gunshot wound by a shotgun, due to the level having a super shotgun in its opening scene. Designer Sandy Petersen debunked this claim in 2021, stating that it is a mere coincidence.

External links

• MAP21 demos from the Compet-n database: UV speed • NM speed • UV max • UV -fast • UV -respawn • UV Tyson • UV pacifist
• MAP21 demos at the Doom Speed Demo Archive
• Top-down perspective view of all Doom II levels by Ian Albert

Petersen, Sandy (19 March 2021). "My Doom II Map 21, 'Nirvana', was made the year Kurt Cobain killed himself with a shotgun. And there is a shotgun in the opening room. I swear it is just is a grim coincidence. I never listened to Nirvana (I don't think anyone at id did.). I picked the map name out of the blue." Twitter. Retrieved 19 March 2021.