E4M8: The Crawling Chaos (Strange Aeons)

Strange Aeons maps
The Shattered City M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9
The Stagnant Fortress M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9
The Land That Time Forgot M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9
The Plateau of Leng E4M1: Cold and Stranded E4M2: Hell Frozen Over E4M3: Twilight Meat Train E4M4: The Biospherians E4M5: The Salt Mines E4M6: Alcatraz E4M7: Devil Canyon E4M8: The Crawling Chaos E4M9: Maniac Mansion
Out of the Aeons M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9

This level occupies the map slot E4M8. For other maps which occupy this slot, see Category:E4M8.

E4M8: The Crawling Chaos is the eighth and final map in episode The Plateau of Leng of Strange Aeons. It was designed by Mike MacDee (Impie) and uses the theme music track from DeathMask.

Walkthrough

Map of The Crawling Chaos

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

The nearby door opens via the switch on the platform in front of you. You can open the door and go straight to the fight, or take the detour to the left of the switch for extra goodies.

The detour leads to a mob of Devils and a Leng Spider ambush, but rewards you with an AK47, plenty of ammunition, and a couple of secret powerups (Rage sphere, blue armor, medikit).

Beyond the door, Spiderbabies stand guard over a soul sphere and the slipgate to their master's lair. When you're ready to fight, jump through the slipgate.

Avoid fighting Nyarlathotep and focus on the monsters on the four platforms with the white pillars of light: they're the ones who summoned him to Leng. Each time you kill one, the light goes out and stops emitting eerie ambiance. When all four lights have gone out, Nyarlathotep is bloodily banished from the realm, and the exit slipgate opens, allowing you to return to Earth at last.

Boss: The High Priest Not To Be Described

To escape Leng you must defeat one of Nyarlathotep's nightmarish avatars. The flying Elder God bombards you with swarms of wraiths, volleys of magic missiles, and trails of fire that chase you down like blood hounds. Worst of all he ducks, weaves, and teleports constantly: most of the time, only a lucky shot will hit him. It is possible, however difficult, to stun-lock him with a Rage sphere and Yithian Lightning Gun. Killing his minions is the easier route.

Secrets

1. Halfway between the starting point and the Devil camp is a secret wall concealing a Rage sphere. (sector 50)
2. A somewhat hard-to-see staircase leads up to the cliffs surrounding the Devil camp, where you will find a blue armor. Grabbing it lowers the cliff and unleashes a Leng Spider ambush (plus a cache of bullets). (sector 52)

Areas / screenshots

• 

  The icy entryway.

• 

  Nyarlathotep, Messenger of the Great Old Ones, lies in wait.

Speedrunning

Current records

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

Run	Time	Player	Date	File	Notes
UV speed
NM speed
UV max
NM 100S
UV -fast
UV -respawn
UV Tyson
UV pacifist

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on June 29, 2022.

Statistics

Map data

Things	185
Vertices	332
Linedefs	376
Sidedefs	555
Sectors	63

Things

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

Single-player
Monsters	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Man from Leng	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	4
Devil	5	5	5	14	14	14	14	14
Nightmare	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2
Leng chieftan	0	0	0	4	4	4	4	4
Grell	1	1	2	4	4	4	4	4
Demon wizard	16
Spiderbaby	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	2
Nyarlathotep	1
Weapons	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Shotgun	1
Rocket launcher	1
AK47 assault rifle	3
Ammunition	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Clip	6
Box of bullets	5
4 shotgun shells	3
Box of shotgun shells	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3
Box of rockets	2
Health & Armor	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Medikit	1
Megaarmor	1
Items	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Armor bonus	12
Supercharge	1
Rage sphere	1
Miscellaneous	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Teleport landing	5
Voodoo doll	1