E3M6: Depths (Doom the Way id Did)

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Doom the Way id Did maps
Knee-Deep in the Dead

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

The Shores of Hell

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

This level occupies the map slot E3M6. For other maps which occupy this slot, see Category:E3M6.

E3M6: Depths is the sixth map of Inferno in Doom the Way id Did. It was designed by James Cresswell (Phobus) in the style of Sandy Petersen. The par time defined in the DEHACKED lump is 1:30.

This level contains a secret exit leading to E3M9: Lake of Fire.

Walkthrough[edit]

Map of Depths
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[edit]

You are next to several barrels. Try not to shoot the barrels here, instead head down the passageway as quickly as you can, because barrels will explode behind you. Drop down and pick up the shotgun. Picking it up triggers a large monster ambush from three sides. There are a number of paths you can take at this point. If you climb the stairs to the northeast, you will find the yellow door and a room with a chaingun. The secret exit and the blue skull key can be accessed from here. If you go southwest instead, you can drop into the blood and see the red key. To retrieve it, go west and around out of the blood until you find an opening northeast. Go around the structure to get the key. You can go east from this area down the blood hallway, further pressing on and you will find a small spiral staircase downwards. There is a large room to the east with the red door and the plasma gun. With the red key, go through the door here, drop down, and follow the path to the yellow skull key. Take the teleporter to appear back in the plasma gun room, with two barons of Hell on the sides. Now you can go to the normal exit if you choose so. To do that, head back to the hub, and climb the set of stairs to the northeast. Open the yellow door to open the one behind it, and exit here.

If you want the secret exit, you need to do two things. First, you must open the way to the exit, and second, you need the blue skull key. To open the way, return to the plasma gun room. Find the set of gargoyle faces with torches in front of them to the northwest. Find the one that is behind a blue torch. Shoot this one and then return to the hub that had the shotgun trap. Through the eastern monster closet is a new passage, enter it and grab the soul sphere to trigger a wall to the north revealing several monsters and switches with red and blue torches in front of them. The color of the torches do not mean anything here, all you need to do is find the switch that is already lit. You must press this switch directly; this opens up the way to the secret exit in the northwest part of the map. Now to get the blue key, return to the plasma gun room. Go through the passage north of the torches and through here is a new area. Press the switch to lower the lift behind you. When you ride it up, you will notice the lower passageway zigzags and has nukage and crushers. To cross safely, jump from the platform you are on to the ledge on top of the switch and press the wall without green slime on it. This opens a secret with a radiation suit in it. Reuse the lift, and traverse this area carefully looking out for crushers until you obtain the blue skull key. With both of these things done you will be in the room with the chaingun, and the way west will be open. Take this path and the blue door to the secret exit.

Other points of interest[edit]

Secrets[edit]

  1. At the very beginning, go to the left for a berserk pack. (sector 4)
  2. Right where the red key is, press the switch and turn right to get an armor. (sector 60)
  3. In the room to the south with the rocky steps leading up to the rocket launcher, grab the gun and a wall opens up revealing a small room with cacodemons and a spiral staircase. When you go down the staircase, you may hear a lift lowering. When you do, head back into the previous room and quickly head into the opening before it rises. Follow the path, opening the next wall and you will find a computer area map. (sector 99)
  4. At the top of the stairs in the spiral staircase room, jump northwards and follow the path to a room with blood and several columns with switches on them. You need to find the switch here that is unlike the other ones. It is on the northeastern column and it is a lion switch. Press it to lower a platform containing a blur artifact. (sector 117)
  5. On the eastern side of the map, before getting the yellow key, you can press the northwestern wall to obtain two cell charge packs. (sector 213)
  6. Head north of the plasma gun room up the stairs to the open area. Flip the switch to lower the lift and ride it up. Now jump east over the switch you pressed and find the gray wall that does not have green slime on it to obtain a radiation suit. (sector 173) This will help you if you are getting the blue key required for the secret exit.
  7. In the plasma gun room, look to the northwest to find several switches behind torches. Shoot the switch that is behind the blue torch, then return to the room where you dropped down from the beginning. The rightmost closet here has a new opening, so go climb the steps down to get a soul sphere. (sector 144) When you grab the soul sphere, the northern wall opens up revealing monsters, as well as more switches behind torches. If you are attempting to get the secret exit, what you need to do is find the switch that is already lit, and press it (do not shoot it, press it).
  8. The switch mentioned in Secret #7 will lower a barrier to the secret exit, next to the chaingun. (sector 197)
  9. The secret exit room counts as a secret sector. (sector 205)

Bugs[edit]

Obtaining the yellow key releases barons of Hell from monster closets at the player's teleporter destination, with the opening of these closets causing a large amount of items in this room to snap up to high ledges. Eight shotgun shells (things 316, 317) and two armor bonuses (314, 315) become impossible to obtain if they were left behind before this happens, and the stimpacks and cell charges at the plasma gun start hovering.

The wood-floored area just before the secret exit has teleporter lines (linedefs 1075, 1092) to let monsters from here ambush the player from all sides. These lines are not of the monsters-only variant, making it possible for the player to kill the monsters and then get themself teleported back, though this can only happen once. Teleporter line 1075 faces away from the entrance and thus gets spent without teleporting when walked over by the player, while line 1092 closer to the secret exit is likely to remain if monsters are killed swiftly.

Demo files[edit]

Areas / screenshots[edit]

Speedrunning[edit]

Routes and tricks[edit]

Current records[edit]

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

Run Time Player Date File Notes
UV speed (normal exit)
UV speed (secret exit)
NM speed (normal exit)
NM speed (secret exit)
UV max 3:59.11 Casey Alvis (Altima Mantoid) 2013-02-26 dtwid-lmps.zip
NM 100S
UV -fast
UV -respawn
UV Tyson
UV pacifist (normal exit)
UV pacifist (secret exit)
NoMo (normal exit) 0:34.60 Guanlan Chen (GarrettChan) 2021-09-04 i3d6o034.zip

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

Deathmatch[edit]

Player spawns[edit]

This level contains five spawn points:

  1. facing west. (thing 95)
  2. facing west. (thing 96)
  3. facing south. (thing 98)
  4. facing north. (thing 352)
  5. facing north. (thing 392)

Statistics[edit]

Map data[edit]

Things 394
Vertices 1106*
Linedefs 1198
Sidedefs 1672
Sectors 220
* The vertex count without the effect of node building is 945.

Things[edit]

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

Technical information[edit]

Inspiration and development[edit]

Trivia[edit]

See also[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]