Pandemonium (E3M3)

maybe this is common knowledge, but I never knew it.

'Pandæmonium. Milton coined the word from familiar Greek lexemes: pan meaning "all"; daimon meaning "demon" or "mortal-to-god go-between"; and ion, meaning "assembly" as in Panathenaion, "assembly of all."'

I never noticed the word "demon" was in 'pan demon ium'.

The first time I stumbled upon 3rd episode level names was when I read them in a Polish games magazine which gave short description of the levels. At the time I knew Knee-Deep In The Dead and maybe Doom II. I remember Slough of Despair was described as "one of the hardest maps because of lack of ammo". My first impression was that Slough of Despair and House of Pain were heavy metal inspired. Pandemonium was kind of redundant to me, as a synonym to Inferno, the title of the episode.

Edit: it was also kind of threatening. There was a level called "Demon's Inferno" in Catacomb Abyss, one of the first 3D shooters. It had red glowing walls and scared the hell out of me.

All this demon-stuff, biblical/religious/inferno, hell-theme, and general evilness (hehe) combined with space-stuff are so appealing to me. One of the main reasons I still play Doom. Thats why I hate maps with happy music nad joke-wads in general. :P

edit: don`t like Doom 2 either. Nor any "realistic" and/or city-maps.

a bit off-topic though...hehe

darkreaver said:

All this demon-stuff, biblical/religious/inferno, hell-theme, and general evilness (hehe) combined with space-stuff are so appealing to me. One of the main reasons I still play Doom. Thats why I hate maps with happy music nad joke-wads in general. :P

edit: don`t like Doom 2 either. Nor any "realistic" and/or city-maps.

a bit off-topic though...hehe

I pretty much agree, although doom 2 has grown on me a little over the years. Some of the maps have decent gameplay. But original doom atmosphere and level designs are by far still my preference for quintessential doomness.

vdgg said:
My first impression was that Slough of Despair and House of Pain were heavy metal inspired.

I doubt it because Sandy Petersen, the Mormon, was in charge of those, and not John Romero, the metalhead. The former is most likely derived from the Slough of Despond in The Pilgrim's Progress. It seems natural that Petersen would refer to an image that's common to Christian Americans.

Pandemonium was kind of redundant to me, as a synonym to Inferno, the title of the episode.

It's the name of the capital of hell in Paradise Lost.

Dis (Divine Comedy), the fictional city in The Divine Comedy that contains the lower circles of hell & alternate name for Lucifer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dis_%28Divine_Comedy%29

Mt. Erberus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erberus

House of Pain is just a hip-hop band according to Wikipedia. I can't find any relation to that name and any demonic mythology.

Kagemaru_H said:
Mt. Erberus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erberus

Yes, but Mt. Erebus is a volcano in Antarctica (and the level looks kind of like the top of a volcano.)