Foundry

From DoomWiki.org

Doom (2016) missions
Foundry

The Foundry is the third level of Doom (2016). It is an integrated steel mill and as such is filled with hazardous molten liquid metal. The Praetor suit does not offer sufficient protection from the heat if the player comes in contact with the metal, and so it must be avoided. The third mission, Meltdown, takes place here after VEGA alerts the Doom Slayer and Dr. Samuel Hayden that the demons have shut down the cooling turbines and could cause a catastrophic explosion to occur.

"With the satellite back online, the full scale and origin of the attack is revealed. Olivia Pierce, the Lazarus Project's lead scientist turned cult leader, attacked a Hell wave and released hundreds of demons from their holding cells in the Lazarus Laboratories. The devastation that followed has left the facility on the brink of complete destruction - the Foundry reactors are in critical meltdown. Samuel Hayden, a survivor and Head of the Mars facility has offered you his help if you need it. You don't. You just need ammo and a way to stop the meltdown before it tears the base apart."
― Loading description

Description[edit]

The foundry is the primary processing location for heavy elements mined from areas surrounding the UAC Mars Base, including the Argent Fracture. Elements processed here, in particular transitional metals and noble gases, are required for refinement of Argent plasma. The Foundry is a high risk area due to volatile materials and high-temperature metals, so workers assigned to it are given regular "med-checks."

As of 2146, employees exposed to hazardous materials began being sent to the Lazarus Labs for "cleansing," "re-education" and, where possible, "reintegration". This is stated to have resulted in a dramatic drop in official casualties.

Mission 03: Meltdown[edit]

After learning from VEGA that the foundry is about to experience a critical meltdown, the Doom Slayer travels there to reactivate the cooling turbines. On arrival at the foundry, the Slayer finds that the turbine room is locked down due to a demonic incursion, which can only be lifted by destroying four gore nests in the area. After destroying all the nests, the Slayer proceeds to the turbine room and reactivates the turbines; they are then informed by Samuel Hayden that a primary control room has been activated nearby, where the Slayer finds Olivia rerouting all available power to the Argent Energy Tower to create a portal between Mars and Hell. Hayden explains that the system will not allow anyone but Olivia to shut down the tower, so it will have to be shut down manually from the surface; the Slayer then travels to the Argent Facility to put this plan into operation.

Summary[edit]

A detailed walkthrough is available for this level.

Objectives[edit]

Stop the Meltdown
Destroy the Gore Nests (0/4)
Activate the cooling turbine
Investigate the signal
Shut down the Argent Tower

Challenges[edit]

Three Possessed, One Barrel
Kill three of the possessed with one explosive barrel.
Curb Stomp
Perform three "Death from Above" glory kills on possessed soldiers (attack from above).
Quite the Collector
Find two collectibles. Refer to the "Collectibles" section of the walkthrough for more information.

Special items[edit]

Item Amount
Argent cells 1
Combat support drones 1
Praetor tokens 3
Rune trials None
Secrets 6
Datapads 3

Areas / screenshots[edit]

Concept art[edit]

Pre-release[edit]

  • Accodring to unused strings in closed alpha multiplayer build, the level had other objectives: it was necessary to find the last remaining survivor inside the flow control center and after that prevent the foundry meltdown.[1]

Insparation & development[edit]

  • At QuakeCon 2016, producer Marty Stratton displayed a beta version of the level on a much earlier build of what was still considered id Tech 5, mentioning that Foundry was the first environmental concept for the game. The level was initially "pretty linear", but was greatly expanded into its final, non-linear form over the course of the game's development.[2]
  • Accodring to Id Software former artist Jonathan Lane, Foundry came later in the game's development process.[3] He also added that despite the fact that Foundry was conceived as a singleplayer level, there was a multiplayer version at some point in development.[4] There are also unused strings in the game files that indicate that the multiplayer level would include demon testing.[5]

Notes[edit]

While not listed as a mission objective, a blue access key and severed hand are required to access the locations of the gore nests.

Trivia[edit]

  • If the Doom Slayer dies while standing in molten metal, they will give a thumbs-up as they sink below the surface. This is a reference to one of the final scenes of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where the T-800 is lowered into molten steel and gives a thumbs-up as it is destroyed.
  • There are several dead possessed, including possessed soldiers, that can be found throughout the level. It is unknown how these demons died or why their bodies have not burned away.
  • There is an unused part of the map that can be reached via noclip, most likely it was planned as a secret area.[6]

References[edit]

  1. "Doom (2016)/Multiplayer Alpha/Unused Strings." The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  2. Bethesda (2 September 2016). "QuakeCon - Bringers of DOOM." YouTube. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  3. Lane,Jon (30 April 2024). "grenade launcher yes. foundry came later." Twitter. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  4. Lane,Jon (1 May 2025). "it was a SP level before it was adapted to MP." Twitter. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  5. "Doom (2016)/Unused Strings." The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  6. Lagomorphin (7 February 2023). "(Foundry) Scrapped secret room?" Reddit. Retrieved 24 May 2024.