MAP14: Halls of the Damned (Console Doom)

MAP14: Halls of the Damned is the fourteenth level of console versions of Doom, based on the original E2M6: Halls of the Damned with modifications made to adapt to consoles' limitations. The conversion was performed by American McGee, and the original author of the map is Sandy Petersen. The map first appeared in Atari Jaguar version, and was later used in the 3DO, Sega 32X, Game Boy Advance, Sony PlayStation, and Sega Saturn versions.

Essentials
You start in a dark room facing another room ahead. Enter the second room where you discover some enemies and a rocket launcher. Open the silver door here behind which is a demon and a cacodemon (this depends on the skill level). There is also a button. Push it and return back to the small room where you start. You reveal a corridor open. Follow it to get to the outside area with two nukage rivers. Go to the other end of this area and push a switch. This will allow you to get a berserk pack. Once you take it, the overall area will flood with nukage and nukage tunnel will open as well (south east). Enter this tunnel and follow it to its end. Flip another button and backtrack through the tunnel. You will notice a wall opened revealing a blue exit door and another door.

The locked blue door actually conceals two other doors that are also locked requiring red and yellow keys consistently. All three keys are scattered in the main parts of the level behind the unlocked door. The order of collecting them is not important, however, the blue key is nearest and can be got nearby behind the door. The yellow key is most far, and is explored deeper.

Blue key

As soon as you open the small door, destroy all the enemies behind. The blue key can be found in the south east corner of the room, however approaching this corner will open two demon traps (imps can also be present). Instead of going there, better take right turn and left to a switch. This will open the same traps but you can therefore manage the situation by ruse. Shoot the demons via the narrow window. After the cleanup head to the keycard and grab it.

Red key

From the eastern portion of the grey corridor, head westward and you will see two passageways into a maze. Go all the way southward until you meet a small door. Open it to reveal a "sub maze" which looks slightly different. Head to the right, around the wall. Go to the west and, when you can, turn left and around. You will see the red keycard. Grab the key and prepare to fight with some hellspawn while going back.

Yellow key

Return to the grey corridor from which you accessed the first maze. Follow this corridor northward until you will come to a dead end with two doors on the left. Both doors conceal rooms with rows of enemies, which lead to one place. Open the third door at the west and you will come to a room with yellow keycard on the central platform. Prepare to fight with hell spawn once you take the card.

When all the keys are found get back to the exit doors. Open all them one by one and press the switch for the exit.

Other points of interest
PlayStation and Saturn only: if you wish to avoid the final surprise trap with a baron of Hell and demons located near the exit of the level, there is a neat trick (you will not have all 100% kills though). Access the north portion of the main hall (leading to the yellow key) only via the two entrances leading to the red key maze. Doing such a "dodge" you will not activate the walkover line located between these entrances. This only works in PlayStation and Saturn ports, as in playing the other console releases you have already done everything to have the walls shut anyway (see Bugs section).

Official

 * 1) The platform on which the yellow keycard resides is tagged as secret, and thus is impossible to miss. (sector 34)

Non-official

 * To the south of the blue keycard is a monster ambush alcove. Once it opens, push a dark grey wall to discover a chainsaw.

Bugs

 * A box of shells that were in the disposed part of the tunnel are still present but in the outside space.
 * The trap in the first part of the red keycard maze is textured with walls which do not exist in any Jaguar-based version (presumably, leftovers from PC-version). They will automatically switch to (gray rock wall) at the startup of the map without errors, however.
 * A trap next to the door after the colored exit doors, which led into the main hall, by mistake no longer opens (it hid one or more demons and one baron of Hell, depending on a skill level, and 4 shotgun shells). The room that originally had the yellow skull key also had walk-over lines causing the wall of the trap to open. However, the room was removed entirely along with adjacent optional places. Therefore, the players cannot get 100% kills (the higher the skill level is the lower the percentage, as there are more enemies in the trap left to kill). The PlayStation and Saturn ports correct this (read below).

Geometry simplifications
The following describe the major apparent simplifications:
 * Tunnel accessed after flipping the switch at the starting rooms is one-way to only lead to the south west part of the large nukage pool. The east part is retained. However, it is no longer the part of the tunnel and is only needed to get the two doors, one of which is the blue-key-coded exit.
 * Five of the seven pillars in the nukage outside room were taken out. The remained ones now have square shapes.
 * A piece in the east portion of the first red key maze (leading to the second maze with the key itself) previously had a stimpack, an ammo clip, a box of rockets, 4 shotgun shells and a demon. This part was deleted in the console versions.
 * In the second maze to the red key (where the key itself is) the room to the north west which had monsters, some items and light amplification goggles is out completely.
 * The areas in the extreme north of the level (of which the second part of the level is comprised) where the yellow key resided were deleted altogether freeing much space for nearly half of the level. The only room to "survive" on the consoles is the asterisk room with a platform in the middle and four traps in either corner. The yellow key was moved into this room instead making this room not optional.

Redesignation

 * Both the starting rooms have rectangle shapes.
 * The main long corridor, which gives access to all the three key areas, as well as the labyrinth leading to the red key, are actually taller having their ceilings higher than original. This gives a more expansive feel.
 * The second maze to the red key is open to the sky.

PlayStation

 * A box of shells, which was inattentively left in the outside space where the removed tunnel used to be, was instead placed into the switch room with the cacodemon.
 * Trap in the first red key maze features an additional baron of Hell, making a total of three barons on the level.
 * The yellow key room has a new, yet weird, redesignation: the ceiling of the whole room is taller and all the room edges, except the south, now feature alcoves. Plus, the alcoves and the opening traps on the corners have floor textures other than the room texture, which sometimes may look discordant.
 * Since the yellow skull key room was removed, which in turn had activation walkover lines that opened the final surprise trap, the action causing opening the walls is applied to walkover lines located in the main corridor: to be accurate, between the two entrances leading to the first red keycard maze.

Music
The map uses the following music tracks: