MAP04: Caverns (Threshold of Pain)

MAP04: Caverns is the fourth level of Threshold of Pain. It was designed by John Gourley (scalliano) and uses the music track "Mutation," composed by Aubrey Hodges for the Sony PlayStation port of Doom. The par time defined in MAPINFO is 20:00.

Essentials
Turn left and take the shotgun and backpack in front of you, then go through the door to a cavern with a lava pit - on the other side of the pit you will see a metal structure and a door with red key markings which is currently unreachable. From this point you can go west to collect the red keycard, or east to raise the bridge leading to the structure - these tasks can be completed in either order.

Raising the bridge
Head east from the starting area and follow the steps down until you see a lava pit on your left with a barred tunnel. Kill the two cacodemons which emerge from overhead nooks then head west to find a set of steps leading up to a switch - fight your way past the chaingunners and shotgun guys on the stairs and kill one or two revenants waiting at the top, along with the pain elemental sitting on a ledge by the north-east wall. Press the switch then go back down the steps to see that the bars blocking the tunnel ahead have lowered.

Go through the tunnel and climb the stairs behind it to another cavern, which has a set of rock steps over a lava pit. Watch out for one or two Hell knights trying to ambush you from either side, then climb the steps and go through the small door at the top, guarded by two nightmare imps. Kill all the waiting imps and press the switch in the north wall, then take any needed supplies before using the teleporter to return to the bridge area. Watch out for two arachnotrons that have appeared on the other side of the bridge.

Red keycard
Head west from the starting area and follow the steps down to a cavern with a lava pit and three platforms - you must raise two of these platforms to reach the red keycard at the top. Turn left and follow the path round to an opening in the south wall; the steps here will lead to a skull switch guarded by one or two knights. Press the switch and take the rocket launcher, then go back up the steps to the main cavern where the middle pillar has risen.

Follow the path back round to another opening in the north wall and follow the stairs until you reach a junction guarded by a demon. Turn right and follow the path down past more demons until you reach a cavern guarded by imps and shotgun guys, along with two nightmare spectres next to another switch. Press the switch and take the super shotgun, then backtrack to the junction and head north-west past a set of bars which have opened to another cavern. Kill the chaingunners and knights, then lower the lift by the west wall (next to an armor) and ride it up to a ledge guarded by one or more nightmare imps.

Press the skull switch here, then go through the opening in the south-east wall to drop into a niche containing a chainsaw. Backtrack to the main cavern and jump up the three platforms to a minigun and the red key. On Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) skill level or higher, taking the key will cause three afrits to appear behind you.

Yellow and blue keycards
After raising the bridge and collecting the red key, go back to the starting area and cross the bridge to the red key door. Behind the door is a cross-shaped area guarded by spectres and cacodemons; kill them then go through the west door and kill one or two more spectres waiting behind it. Turn right to kill the zombies and nightmare imps guarding the staircase, then go down the stairs and open the door at the bottom. Kill the demons and zombies waiting in the next room, then climb the steps and press the switch in the east wall. This will open the bars surrounding the yellow keycard.

Take the yellow key and backtrack to the cross-shaped area, watching out for nightmare imps that have appeared on the staircase and imps and shotgun guys in the cross-shaped area itself. Go through the east door (with yellow key markings) and turn right to kill one or two waiting shotgun guys, then climb the stairs next to them and kill the chaingunner waiting at the top. Take the plasma gun then press the switch in the east wall, which will lower a platform in the next room holding the blue keycard. Go down to the bottom of the stairs and pass through the door on your right.

Prepare yourself before picking up the blue key - doing so will cause bars to rise in front of the door, and two alcoves will open containing one or two arch-viles along with mancubi and barons of Hell. Once the arch-viles are dead, the bars will open again so you can escape.

Exit
Return to the cross-shaped area, where two more alcoves containing nightmare imps and plasma zombies have opened. Kill them then go through the north door (with blue key markings) to find a hallway with caged imps and nightmare imps, as well as two nightmare cacodemons blocking the exit door. Kill the cacodemons then go through the exit door, where the exit switch is protected by two more nightmare imps.

Other points of interest
A super shotgun and some health bonuses can be found on the island in the lava pit east of the starting room, guarded by three imps.

A rocket launcher can be found on a raised platform in the cavern due east of the bridge area. On HMP or higher, the weapon will be guarded by two plasma zombies.

Secrets

 * 1) Leave the starting room and head forward into the lava pit ahead of you. In the north-west corner of the pit is a small opening; crouch down and follow the crawlspace to a small cavern with a super shotgun, a backpack, a megaarmor and a medikit. (sector 23)
 * 2) After passing through the barred tunnel in the south area of the level, follow the steps up to the top until you see a green firestick in an alcove. Press use on the firestick to open a wall behind you; behind it is a chamber (sector 110) with several armor bonuses and a soulsphere. Use the teleporter by the soulsphere to return to the steps.
 * 3) After pressing the switch to open the bars in the western cavern, go round it to find another switch on the rear side. Pressing this second switch will temporarily open a wall to the south; go through it before it closes to find a plasma gun, four energy cells and 16 health bonuses. (sector 275) Use the teleporter to return to the switch.
 * 4) After passing through the yellow key door, climb the steps on your right to the top and open the misaligned section of the south wall to reveal a megaarmor. (sector 403)
 * 5) Open the back wall of secret #4 to reveal a switch as well as triggering another secret. (sector 424)
 * 6) Press the switch mentioned in secret #5 then go to the bottom of the nearby stairs - part of the north wall has opened to reveal a Doomsphere. (sector 409)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on February 21, 2022.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level, not including monsters spawned via scripts: