Thy Flesh Consumed
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Thy Flesh Consumed is the fourth and final episode in Ultimate Doom.
All of the level names, as well as the episode title, are phrases taken directly from the Bible (with the exception of the secret level "Fear"). The list was compiled by Kevin Cloud, and John Romero assigned names to the individual levels. This episode was also Tim Willits' first contribution to the Doom series, as he joined id Software after the release of the original Doom (version 1.666) and Doom II.
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Plot
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Since the expansion was produced while id Software was involved in other projects,[1] not much thought was put into making it consistent with the previously developed plot of the game (which included Doom II, a portion that occurs after the added episode), and the designers simply concentrated on straightforward action (which was already the general focus of the games,[2] in any case). As a result the locales of the levels are unclear, and one is not certain if the protagonist is still in Hell, already on Earth, or somewhere in between. The final message and screen with the rabbit Daisy arguably reinforces the acknowledgment that the designers' main concern at that point was the levels and not the background story or any general aesthetic considerations.
Story-wise, the episode is both a sequel to Doom and a prequel to Doom II. It chronicles the Doomguy's battles against the legions of demons that the Spider Mastermind had sent through the doorway between Hell and Earth, the very same gateway that the player had earlier used to return to his home planet. (It is presumed that there are two distinct regions of "Hell". The first is what the Deimos moon floats over and where Episode 3: Inferno takes place. The second is the marine's home of Earth which will undergo terraformation at the hands of demons and become a Hell in is own right.) Ultimately, though the player is victorious, inflicting heavy losses on the invaders and avenging the death of his pet rabbit Daisy, it turns out to be an empty victory as the demons eventually overrun the major cities and the stage is set for Hell on Earth.
It may be set on Earth, with the background sky being a light brownish-yellowish with white hazes (clouds), similar to the ending cutscene of Inferno and the starport levels of Doom II. The graphical style is generally hellish, though there are a handful of techbase themes used. While there are some features carried over from Doom II, such as switches that require keys, otherwise all of the music, textures, monsters, and weapons are of the original Doom.
DescriptionEdit
The levels are considered much harder than the levels of the three other episodes and Doom II. Unlike the other episodes, the difficulty in Thy Flesh Consumed does not follow the expected learning curve as one progresses through the levels. It could be argued that E4M2: Perfect Hatred is the most difficult, not only of the entire episode but also the whole Doom series, as the player faces a large number of monsters all at once, while having little cover. By contrast, E4M7: And Hell Followed and E4M8: Unto the Cruel are tricky but relatively straightforward, as the monsters are more dispersed and can be dealt with piecemeal.
Also unlike the earlier episodes, the intermission does not display the player's current progress on a map.
LevelsEdit
| Ultimate Doom episodes |
|---|
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- E4M1: Hell Beneath
- E4M2: Perfect Hatred (Exit to secret level)
- E4M3: Sever the Wicked
- E4M4: Unruly Evil
- E4M5: They Will Repent
- E4M6: Against Thee Wickedly
- E4M7: And Hell Followed
- E4M8: Unto the Cruel (Spiderdemon is boss)
- E4M9: Fear (Secret level)
SpeedrunningEdit
Current recordsEdit
The Compet-N records for the episode are:
| Run | Time | Player | Date | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV Episode | 04:26 | Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore | 2002-09-19 | ep4-0426.zip | |
| NM Episode | 05:54 | Drew "stx-Vile" DeVore | 2002-09-16 | e4nm0554.zip | |
| UV Max Episode | 22:07 | Radek Pecka | 2001-12-16 | ep4-2207.zip | |
| NS Episode | 09:13 | Vincent Catalaá | 2002-01-06 | e4ns0913.zip | |
| UV -fast Episode | 36:00 | Chris "Ryback" Ratcliff | 2001-03-23 | e4fa3600.zip |
NotesEdit
The level names were taken from the following passages in the King James Version of the Bible:
- Thy Flesh Consumed
- Proverbs 5:11 - And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed
- E4M1: Hell Beneath
- Proverbs 15:24 - The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from Hell beneath.
- E4M2: Perfect Hatred
- Psalm 139:22 - I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
- E4M3: Sever The Wicked
- Matthew 13:49 - So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just
- E4M4: Unruly Evil
- James 3:8 - But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
- E4M5: They Will Repent
- Luke 16:30 - And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
- E4M6: Against Thee Wickedly
- Psalm 139:20 - For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
- E4M7: And Hell Followed
- Revelation 6:8 - And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
- E4M8: Unto The Cruel
- Proverbs 5:9 - Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel
The name of the secret level, Fear, is not taken from any specific passage (though it does indeed appear in the Bible a full 528 times).
- ↑ Planet Romero (2002), Ultimate Doom thread, id Games Discussion forum, The Romero. Retrieved on April 5, 2008.
- ↑ Doomworld.com (1999), Interview with John Carmack, (questions 1-2). Retrieved on April 2, 2008.
