Demo Recording Recommendation #6: Equinox Map04
Download Equinox Here | Get the -nomonsters Demo Here | Get a pack of demos here

     Game mode: Doom 2; Map04.
     Executable: OK with most ports.
     Recommended Categories: UV Fast Max, UV Speed or UV Max.
     Difficulty Rating: 4 (Easy to die, and difficult to keep enough ammo).
     Par Times: UV Fast Max: 25 minutes; UV Speed: 12 minutes; UV Max: 16 minutes.
     Impressive Times: UV Fast Max: 20 minutes; UV Speed: 9 minutes; UV Max: 13 minutes.

     Equinox is a 13-level episode for Doom 2 by B.P.R.D., and is one of my favourites. The maps are highly innovative, offer an excellent challenge, and have a very "clean" look to them. Equinox features many new textures that work extremely well to enhance the futuristic/"spacey" theme.
     Equinox has a story, but unlike most wads with a story, it is told purely by the maps themselves. There appears to be some sort of alien invasion of the Equinox International Space Association complex going on. Where the action begins, it is in its early stages, with just a few monsters (small ones) present, and the buildings still have a human feel to them. As we progress, we see various parts of the facility, in increasingly changed states, and even get beamed up to a flying saucer (complete with a full crew of convincing-looking aliens, heheh). The final map seems strangely similar to the first. Whether this is meant to be the same building, completely transformed, or some alien replica of it, I am not sure. But anyway, if you were paying attention during map 01, your experiences there will help you find some vital secrets on map 13.
     Equinox does not work with vanilla Doom, but works with most advanced ports. jDoom doesn't like a few of the larger maps, while it works OK with Legacy apart from map 13 for some reason. As far as I know, it is fine with Zdoom and PrBoom.
     So far as gameplay goes, the difficulty and complexity varies quite a lot, but a number of the maps are interesting for demo recording. Map 01 is fairly easy, while maps 02, 05 and 08 are small linking maps, mainly there to give an extra sense of reality - in each case we are returned to the same area with three transporters, only one of which is active on each occasion. Map 11 is another such map, but on that occasion all three transporters are defunct, and there are enough monsters, and new areas to explore, to make it an interesting and difficult challenge.
     Map 03 is fairly large, but does not present any major challenge. Map 04 we shall come to below; it is the first map that ends with a big explosion. Map 06 is pretty tough, with quite a variety of styles. Map 07 is a real killer; recording a demo would be a real test of skill and endurance. It is the second map that ends with us flipping a switch that causes a major explosion. Map 09 sees us mostly outdoors, fighting our way to reach a flying saucer. There is infighting aplenty to be provoked, and it should make an interesting speedrun. Map 10 is reminiscent of Plutonia's map 11 - the flying saucer turns out to be populated with 51 arch-viles. It is a pretty scary map, and highly atmospheric too. And yes, it ends with us blowing the thing apart, while getting fried by 13 archies on the bridge. Maps 12 and 13 are both really difficult. I would be very impressed by any successful demos on these maps.
     OK, so that leaves us with Map 04. We have entered the Genome Labs, where various bizarre experiments seem to be going on to create new lifeforms. The place is jam-packed with monsters. Right at the start we see something unusual - mappers may wish to take a close look at the mechanism used for the opening door. The music is "Mars - the Bringer of War" from Holst's Planets Suite (one of my favourite pieces of music when I was a kid, before I grew up and got into thrash metal).
     On a large scale, the map starts off with a wide-open area where there is a great deal of choice with respect to routes. There are a number of switches you need to flip before you can progress to the rest of the map. Once you leave this area, there is no way back. You then enter some narrow tunnels before reaching an arena with a rather nasty cyberdemon (obviously one of the most successful test subjects - ominously, this is "Genetic Test Subject No. 293895"), before reaching another complex of tunnels and chambers leading eventually to the self-destruct switch that ends the level.
     This is a map where ammo conservation is a major issue. There is a lot of infighting to provoke, and even then you may find yourself running very low on ammo, whether you opt for a Max run or a Speed run. The best method from the start depends on which game mode you choose. For UV Fast Max, a fairly cautious approach is recommended - run out to provoke infighting, and then run for cover. (However, you don't need to be such a cowardly camper as I am in the UV Fast Max demo I have provided!) For UV Max and UV Speed, you will want to provoke as much infighting in as many parts of the initial area as you can, and as quickly as you can, without dying. Then flip the necessary switches, while mopping up and collecting ammo. Note that when you are confronted by five switches, you should press all but the second from the right. If you press all five, you will block off your access to the megasphere and rocket launcher, which would be quite a shame.
     There is scope for many different strategies in the initial area, but you will want to leave with a lot of health, armour and ammo. For a UV Fast Max run, I think the priority is to have close to 200 health, 200 armour, 400 bullets, 100 shells, 3 rockets and 20 cells when leaving this area (to ensure that, use the shotgun more than the chaingun, and pick up the megasphere only after polishing off almost all the monsters). For UV Max and UV Speed, somewhat lower stats should suffice, but expect to need the chainsaw later on.
     I'm not sure if there is a foolproof way to deal with the cyberdemon, so I'd recommend arriving at this area with enough health and ammo to survive one direct hit as you depart the lift. You also need to consider what to do about the invisibility you pick up just before you meet him. Taking on a cybie while invisible is not at all easy. You can simply waste it, at the cost of some time. This is what I have done in UV Fast Max runs - I have got splatted in runs where I didn't (though that is mainly incompetence on my part). For UV Max, it is not so difficult to fight him while invisible - if you circle-strafe closely enough around the cybie, you should be OK, since you will be outside the angle into which he randomly sprays his rockets.
     After the cybie, the ammo shortage really kicks in (even in UV Speed, since you presumably won't have spent much time collecting ammo - and there will be less dropped ammo in any case). Make use of every opportunity for infighting, and never waste ammo. The chainsaw may well be needed in the room after the three mancubuses. If you get as far as killing the pain elemental just after that room, then you should be OK, even if you have no ammo at all by then. You are about to pick up a box of shells and get some useful infighting going (or in UV Speed, to make a dash for the exit switch). In a Max run, you need to keep some ammo for the final area (with the self-destruct switch) since there are a number of monsters on walkways that need to be shot from a distance.
     There are four secrets. The first three are simple: the alcove with the megasphere counts as two secrets, and there is the room with the computer map. The fourth is an area to which you can teleport - see the demos, since it is messy to explain in words how to reach it.
      The three demos I have provided are my first valid exits in each category, and are intended to suggest some ideas and to show how the map works. The Par Times are meant to be what an average Doomer can achieve in reasonable safety without too much effort. The Impressive Times intended to represent times that a good Doomer could achieve with a fair bit of effort, and taking a few risks. However, they should still be beatable, quite possibly by a significant amount.
     Other categories? Nightmare? You must be joking. You can certainly forget Pacifist, and I can't quite see the map being done in Tyson mode, but who knows... UV Respawn? I haven't tried it, but it should be OK. Skills 1-3? Why not - ITYTD Max is quite a slaughter, with no real ammo or health issues to worry about. One last point - for UV Fast Max, remember to use the -maxdemo parameter. ;)