Mark, when I said you didn't have to take it upon yourself to do a map a day, I didn't mean you would go into hibernation. Actually, I was kind of hoping you would go first on this one, so that I could reply that, yes, it violates a lot tenants of good mapmaking, but I still consider this one of my favorite maps. The reality is indeed that this map is one of the most frustrating I have ever played, yet it's still a favorite for reasons that even I don't fully comprehend. I guess I really like the visuals and the map flow among the various areas is superb - if you ignore the amount of backtracking. I'd like to say that the extremely well-hidden, cleaver secret terminal on this level was a major factor, but I only discovered it for the first time on this run-through. And, no, this isn't the secret I was referring to in my last post.
We are dropped into a major Pfhor power facility with, again, a lot of instructions from the last level that we can't even access on this level, so we're on our own, with the exception of the bobs that teleport in. They're not too helpful, though - mostly grenade fodder for the troopers - and they certainly can't help you find your way. This is an incredibly cryptic map with lots of switches that must be flipped and places that must be visited. At least the switches are generally always near the structures they activate, but you wouldn't know that off-hand, as the paths to get to each switch are so round about and obscure as to often leave the player dumbfounded. After clearing out the initial area of the map, the player needs to somehow find a way into the next area of the map. You can see the area that you probably need to get to through a fence, and you can even overlook another area you need to visit through an enclosed overlook, but you just can't seem to get there. Only through perseverance and looking at all wall textures over the fenced-in area you could see from outside will you find a wall texture that is slightly darker than the others, and really a door. Dropping down here takes you to the rest of the map. Once you find this, finding other places to explore with switches to flip is fairly straight forward. In the first alcove with the first switch you have to flip is a panel that evidently is a locked door. Tabbing on it gives the telltale sign. Remember this door - the desire to open it will reveal a significant secret.
The next stop is an amazing red-textured (at least in the Infinity version) maze. This brings us to cryptic problem number 2. You must both visit a poly at the bottom level of the maze and one at the very top of the maze to lower a couple of platforms that are in your way. You will see these platforms lower from each vantage point, so you should be able to figure this all out. When you do make it to the room with the three platforms, you'll discover that the third (middle) platform can be lowered by simply tabbing on it. If you're expecting to need to visit a third place to lower it, you'll be exploring for a long time. The interesting point is that all of this is to reach an elevator that takes you back to a locked door leading back to the start of the level. A nearby switch opens the door, providing an helpful shortcut, but this isn't the point of the maze at all. All you really need to find a fairly well hidden passageway that angles back from the ledge where the lava yetis are hurling fireballs at you. BTW, if you choose to grenade jump across the chasm, you won't find anything interesting. What a pity.
The hidden passageway takes you to a couple of circular stairways (from which you can also jump back to the start of the level) that lead to maze number 2. Thorough exploration of the maze will eventually get you to a switch that lowers the lava in a large circular room near the end of the level. Now, remember that locked secret door? If you go back along the hidden passageway, you'll come to a point where there is a window to the outside. Directly across from the window is a panel with a texture that doesn't align with the one above it. Tab on this and you'll reveal a switch, but don't click on it, as it opens the door only briefly. Once you go back outside, I think you'll quickly figure out what to do. When you access the terminal, you'll get a message from Frigidman along with a plug for the sequel, "Cursed", complete with a screenshot from what became Marathon Evil. I suspect that this secret terminal is only in the Infinity version os SoNK - Mark, could you verify this?
OK, now for cryptic problem number 3. Once back in the starting structure of the level, you'll find a new open area that leads to the circular lava-filled room. You can see where you need to go, but the stairway lining the perimeter of the room leads downward, away from your destination. Walking around the stairway, you'll see a switch high up on a wall, but hitting it with a grenade or fusion blast only raises a walkway to the center of the room. Once there, you'll find a spot on the wall that emits a locked door sound, but you can't seem to unlock it. If you go back into the adjacent room and look very carefully, you'll find that what you might have thought was just another dirt patch on one of the walls is really a very small patch of destructible wires. Fist it and you'll hear something open, but you'll likely have a devil of a time finding it as it opens a door directly below you. Exploration will eventually lead to a newly opened alcove with more bad guys and another switch - one that opens that locked door to the final switch you need to flip - the one that reverses that stairway so you can reach your destination. What a round-about way to get there.
Why did I go into what ended up being a bit of a walkthrough? Because this is really a nice level - but a lot of people probably give up in frustration at this point without the benefit of a spoiler guide, as there are so many places at which to get stuck. And you don't want to miss the coming levels, now, do you?
