E5M9: Realm of Iblis (SIGIL)

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SIGIL maps
This level occupies the map slot E5M9. For other maps which occupy this slot, see Category:E5M9.

E5M9: Realm of Iblis is the ninth and secret map of SIGIL. It was designed by John Romero and uses the music track "Fastpass" by Buckethead as well as "Adrenaline in the Blood" by James Paddock (Jimmy). The par time defined in the DEHACKED lump is 11:00.

Completing this level takes the player to E5M7: Nightmare Underworld.

Walkthrough[edit]

Map of Realm of Iblis
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 start in a large hall on a walkway between two cages, facing north. There is a shotgun directly beside you, and the yellow skull key is visible inside the cage to your left, though the path to it is locked for now. At the T-junction right in front of you, turn west and go downstairs to where you can see a green armor and a berserk (plus a radiation suit on HMP) at the far end of a lava pool. Run forward and pick up the items. As you do so, the walls in front and to the south will open up, revealing the blue key and its guards—a baron of Hell, two cacodemons, as well as shotgunners and demons. Dispose of them (there is another radiation suit in the southern alcove if you need it), then pick up the blue key and return to the starting hall.

Next, turn east, and follow the path on the left downstairs to where you can see a chaingun on the ground. You will trigger an ambush consisting of a couple of cacodemons as you cross over the foot of the stairs, so quickly pick up the chaingun as well as the red key and return to the starting hall to deal with monsters in a less cramped environment. Now head down the stairs to the southeast, and negotiate your way past the crushing polls until you reach a dimly lit red cave with a large building in its center. Go around this building to its southern side, and locate a small cave in the rock with a satyr switch inside. Activate it, and the wall in front of the red key door above will lower briefly, allowing you to ride it back up. Head through the red door, and deal with the enemies inside. Afterwards, jump over to the adjacent platform from the opening in the northwestern wall (mind your step, as one of a crushing poles is placed directly above the opening), and from there onward to the small cave toward the northwest. Continue straight on—the platform at the end of the cave will automatically lower. Turn east, and move along the narrow walkway until you reach a cave with a brick wall, inside of which there is an evil eye hidden inside the northern wall. Shoot the eye, turn back, and jump down onto the perimeter wall surrounding the red key room below. Carefully walk along the wall onto the small ledge in the north where the metal barrier next to it has been lowered, allowing access to the next area, which leads to the blue key fortress.

The fortress is guarded by a cacodemon, some imps, a lost soul or two, and some shotgunners. Beware that once you step onto the patch of ground before the blue key door, a cyberdemon will be primed to wake up from the next shot you fire and teleport into the center of the fortress (note that only shots fired inside the blue key area will trigger the cyberdemon; the rest of level is still safe to fire in). There are four pillars inside the fortress, which provide decent cover from the cyberdemon's attacks. However, there is a way to avoid triggering the cyberdemon altogether: first, make sure to kill all the enemies in the area before you jump down to the blue door, including all the monsters you can see on the battlements. When you open the blue key door, turn around, and quickly climb back up to the ledge behind you to allow the enemies inside the fortress to pour out into the open. This way you can clear the path into the fortress without firing a shot. Once a path has opened up, jump back down and run into the fortress. Pick up the rocket launcher and ammo, and press the satyr switch in the southern wall (while still avoiding to attack any monsters). This will lower the floor of the southern battlement; ride it up, and run along the outer wall of the fortress over to the northern battlement, and press the satyr switch there to lower the wall of the cave in the southwest. Run over into the new opening to exit the area. To kill the cyberdemon and the remaining enemies, return to start of the area via the red key room, and fight the cyberdemon from the ledge above the lava, as it makes it much easier from there to dodge his rockets and avoid taking splash damage.

After exiting the area, follow the ledge to the yellow door. Approach it, and two switches in the metal cage directly behind you will be exposed (facing north). Activate both, and head out of the cage. Turn south, and follow the newly raised 'islands' in the lava into the cage with the yellow key. Take it, and return to the yellow door. Inside you will find some sort of maze populated with some imps and lost souls. However, as you step over one of two linedefs in the northeast, a block of the maze will lower, which in turn will lower another section of the maze once you step into the newly lowered sector. Stepping into the next lowered sector will trigger the final part of the maze to lower, revealing a satyr switch. Press it to lower the western and northern walls of the room, revealing the exit. Approach the wall with the image of Baphomet on it to complete the level.

Other points of interest[edit]

Secrets[edit]

  1. At the start, head right at the T-intersection and go until you see stairs to the south. Do not go down the stairs, instead get on the outside ridge outside of the fence and move along until you reach a cave with an energy cell and a plasma gun. (sector 44)
  2. In the southeast part of the map, enter the small cave and press the satyr switch to lower the lift to the north. Step on the lift, then head off and back towards the satyr switch. A new cave here leads to armor bonuses and a soul sphere. (sector 108)
  3. At the top of the castle at the north end of the map, get to the northwest corner and look west. Shoot the eye, then enter the lava at the north end and follow the path to a light amplification visor, a medikit, and a box of shotgun shells. (sector 197)
  4. Approach the yellow door, which will allow you to reach two satyr switches just to the southeast of the door. Press both of them, then head south, using the stepping stones to reach the yellow key area. A cave to the south holds a box of rockets and a medikit. (sector 283)

Bugs[edit]

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 1:44.57 similaun 2022-05-09 sig9-144.zip
NM speed
UV max 4:29.20 Tatsuya Ito (Tatsurd-cacocaco) 2022-06-12 sig9-429.zip
NM 100S 2:47.29 Jean-Charles Dorne (JCD) 2021-09-06 sig9ns247.zip
UV -fast
UV -respawn 4:06.09 grapes 2023-06-30 sigil09r406.zip
UV Tyson
UV pacifist
NoMo 100S 1:27.40 Thomastd 2020-12-24 sig9os127.zip

The data was last verified in its entirety on July 10, 2023.

Deathmatch[edit]

Map of E5M9's deathmatch arena

This level includes its own, separate deathmatch arena.

Player spawns[edit]

This arena contains four spawn points:

  1. facing north-east. (thing 186)
  2. facing north-west. (thing 221)
  3. facing south-west. (thing 222)
  4. facing south-east. (thing 223)

Things[edit]

The following things (per skill level) are placed in the arena:

Weapons 1-2 3 4-5
Chainsaw 1
Shotgun 4
Chaingun 1
Rocket launcher 1
Plasma gun 1
BFG9000 1
Ammunition 1-2 3 4-5
Box of bullets 1
4 shotgun shells 1
Rocket 1
Energy cell 1
Health & Armor 1-2 3 4-5
Stimpack 5
Armor 1
Megaarmor 1
Items 1-2 3 4-5
Supercharge 1
Backpack 2
Miscellaneous 1-2 3 4-5
Deathmatch start 4
Teleport landing 1

Statistics[edit]

Map data[edit]

Things 335
Vertices 2560*
Linedefs 2593
Sidedefs 4296
Sectors 596
* The vertex count without the effect of node building is 2005.

Things[edit]

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

Technical information[edit]

Inspiration and development[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • Iblis is a figure frequently occurring in the Quran, commonly in relation to the creation of Adam and the command to prostrate himself before him. After he refused, he was cast out of heaven. For many classical scholars, he was an angel, but regarded as a jinn in most contemporary scholarship. He is often compared to Satan in Christian traditions. In Islamic tradition, Iblis is often identified with Al-Shaitan ("the Devil").

See also[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]