MAP32: Mutare (Community Chest 4)

MAP32: Mutare is the super secret level of Community Chest 4. It was designed by Jeffrey Nordin, who also composed its music track, "Jerub Baal." Completing this level takes the player to MAP16: The Forgotten Base.

Essentials
Mutare, Italian or Latin for "change", and much "change" this masterpiece of level design contains. From a bare pistol start and a scramble for survival, you work your way up to wielding a BFG9000 and confronting a horde of monsters that would make proud. At every turn, what appear to be impassable walls lower, connecting earlier sections of the map together and revealing new paths. But if there is one thing that does not change about this map, it is the sheer level of difficulty from start to end - so difficult at points that you may need to enlist the help of secret areas to avoid certain death.

Part One: Scavenge

With nothing but a pistol, you begin in one corner of a narrow room. Head forward and open the gargoyle panel. In this next room, head down the steps, and you will come to an area with a shotgun on a metal plate (berserk pack on Hey, not too rough and below) and up to three zombiemen facing away from you. Ahead, there may be up to two imps incoming. Pick up the item on the plate, and walls will lower, releasing:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: four imps, three demons and six zombiemen.
 * Hurt me plenty: Five Hell knights, two demons, four spectres and six zombiemen.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A baron of Hell, four Hell knights, four shotgun guys and nine zombiemen.

The secret to dealing with this horde is to run past the sleeping zombiemen, grab the shotgun, and continue west to the switch on the west wall. This activates a few crushers in the room, which you can use to pulp your enemies with zero ammo expended. Position yourself near the switch to position as many crushers in the way of your enemies for maximum effect.

Next, head up the stairs north of the switch. Watch for an imp (Hey, not too rough and below), an imp and two shotgun guys (Hurt me plenty) or two imps (Ultra-Violence and above). Continue forward into a C-shaped corridor. As you enter, the wall behind you rises, sealing you in, Along the way, look through the windows and see if you can provoke some monster infighting - you will visit that area later, and it will help. Follow the corridor clockwise all the way to the end, and press on the wall to lower it.

You will now enter a blue-floored room with a super shotgun (shotgun on Hey, not too rough and below) on another metal plate. (At this point, you may wish to enlist the help of secret #3 for extra cover in the next battle). Press use on the pillar with the armor to collect it. Once ready, collect the super shotgun. Walls in all 4 cardinal directions will lower, revealing a grand total of:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: six zombiemen, four imps and two shotgun guys.
 * Hurt me plenty: five zombiemen, two Hell knights, seven imps and two shotgun guys.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: 12 zombiemen, two Hell knights, four imps and two shotgun guys.

This crossfire will hurt. The barriers that secret #3 raises will provide you with cover from hitscan monsters, and walls to kite the Hell knights around while you fill them with buckshot.

Next, head through the corridor in the northwest of this area. You will encounter a baron of Hell (demon on Hey, not too rough and below). This monster can use an invisible teleport line to teleport behind you, so be prepared. Continue through to an outdoor area, with a mix of imps, zombiemen and lost souls on the ledges. Watch for the shotgun guy and imp (Hey, not too rough and below), Hell knight and revenant (Hurt me plenty) or two revenants (Ultra-Violence and above) on the platforms closest to the entrance. A chaingun (super shotgun on Hey, not too rough and below) lies on yet another metal plate. Picking it up triggers a trap in the southwest of this area, with:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two Hell knights.
 * Hurt me plenty: A baron of Hell, a chaingunner and a cacodemon.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A demon, two chaingunners, two shotgun guys and two imps.

Head up the steps south of the chaingun, open the door and follow the path around (watch for a demon (Hey, not too rough and below) or an imp (Hurt me plenty) at the end. As you reach the end of the path, the wall in front of you opens, revealing that you are now back in the western trap in the blue-floored super shotgun room. Run into eastern trap and its back wall will open, revealing a new area and an approaching horde:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: A mancubus, two cacodemons, two spectres, two shotgun guys, 20 zombiemen.
 * Hurt me plenty: Two mancubi, three arachnotrons, four cacodemons, four spectres, two shotgun guys, 17 zombiemen.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A mancubus, an arachnotron, two cacodemons, five spectres, two chaingunners, 12 zombiemen.

Head into where they came from, proceeding forward into a large hall with checkered patterns on the floor. As you approach, sections of the floor will rise up. You have to worry about three enemies ahead and five enemies on each side in the high niches. By skill level:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Two spectres and a baron of Hell ahead; five imps in the niches on each side.
 * Hurt me plenty: Three Hell knights ahead; two imps and three revenants in the niches on each side.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: No monsters ahead; a Hell knight, a revenant and three cacodemons in the niches on each side.

When the monsters are dead, collect the rocket launcher (chaingun on Hey, not too rough and below) from the northeast platform, then take the platform in the southeast up, and hop to the nearest niche. The niches are connected by a corridor. Follow this corridor west. You will come to a switch. Flip it, and it will lower. Run all the way along the corridor and you will be dumped out just before the hall with checkered patterns on the floor. Take the platform in the southeast up again, hop to the nearest niche, and head along the corridor again. This time, you will notice that a new room has opened. Be careful, it has a good amount of enemies for a small space:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Three imps and a mancubus.
 * Hurt me plenty: Two Hell knights, a chaingunner, three imps, a shotgun guy, two zombiemen.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two Hell knights, two chaingunners, eight imps, two demons.

Open the wooden door in the back of this new room to find three imps (Hey, not too rough and below), a baron of Hell (Hurt me plenty), or three revenants (Ultra-Violence and above). From there, head down the irregular marble stairway (watch for an alcove with some cannon fodder (and cacodemons on Ultra-Violence and above) halfway down). This will take you to a large rectangular outdoor area in the south of the map. In here, you will be subject to another big crossfire between a good number of arachnotrons, Hell knights and cacodemons. On Hey, not too rough and Hurt me plenty, you'll find some cannon fodder to fill the numbers, but not on Ultra-Violence and above. In the south of this area, there is a double-sided switch panel. Flip the switch on the north side. The walls in the north will all lower, revealing another new area further north - and another huge horde of monsters. Again, because of their varied composition, you can let infighting do the hard work for you.

Head into the area where the huge horde of monsters came from. In the northeast is a plasma gun and some cells (rocket launcher and boxes of rockets on Hey, not too rough and below). Collect the plasma gun and surrounding walls will lower, revealing cages with monsters in the north, west and east. This trap is particularly dangerous on Ultra-Violence and above, because there are arch-viles in the cages. Collect the bulk cells nearby to raise pillars in the room, which can provide some cover from arch-vile attacks.

It is difficult to see, but the bars of the western cage are of irregular heights, and there is a gap between the bars that you can jump into. With your plasma gun, clear out the monsters in the western cage. At the back wall, you will find a passageway going north. This will take you all around the other cages, enabling you to kill the monsters inside. At the end, you will emerge in the eastern cage. As you exit, all the bars of all the cages will be lowered. Walls will lower, revealing a new area to the west. A small pack of monsters will also be released into the room:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Nine zombiemen nearby; a cacodemon, two revenants, five imps and two zombiemen further west.
 * Hurt me plenty: Nine shotgun guys nearby; two Hell knights, three revenants and a chaingunner further west.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Nine shotgun guys nearby; two Hell knights, two cacodemons, three revenants and four zombiemen further west.

Part Two: Conquest

Backtrack to where the western cage was to access a new outdoor area in the west. In here, you will find monsters on pedestals:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Four imps, a Hell knight and a baron of Hell;
 * Hurt me plenty and above: Four Hell knights and two barons of Hell.

Flip the switch on the westernmost pedestal. This causes walls in front to lower, revealing this area to be connected to the outdoor area where you collected the chaingun. You will need to deal with some imps and demons (barons of Hell on Ultra-Violence and above). This pathway allows you to access the isolated ledge in the west of the chaingun area. As you head to the door, watch for imps in the window.

Head through the wooden door on this ledge. This takes you to a narrow corridor. The first window either has a cacodemon and two lost souls (Hey, not too rough and below), or an arch-vile (Hurt me plenty and above). Continue forward and watch for zombiemen (Hey, not too rough and below) or imps (Hurt me plenty and above) along the corridor and in the next window. At the end of the corridor, watch for a demon (Hey, not too rough and below), a baron of Hell (Hurt me plenty) or a chaingunner (Ultra-Violence and above). Flip the switch the monster was guarding.

This lowers walls to the left of the switch, Another small group of tough monsters is exposed:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: An arachnotron, two cacodemons and five lost souls
 * Hurt me plenty: An arachnotron, three cacodemons and a baron of Hell
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Two mancubi and two cacodemons.

From where the previous switch was, jump down to the north and notice a new opening just to the right. Head into this opening and follow the curved corridor to find another switch. Flip it, and the curved corridor itself will lower. This leads you to the room that you saw through the windows in the C-shaped corridor near the start. Hopefully, most of the enemies in here are dead by now. Regardless of that, you need to take care of enemies released in the northern half of the room:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: A revenant and four imps
 * Hurt me plenty: An arachnotron, A demon and an arch-vile.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: A shotgun guy and an arch-vile.

When you have dealt with them, leave through the door in the south. This takes you to an L-shaped area. As you enter, two pillars lower, releasing two shotgun guys (Hey, not too rough and below), two chaingunners (Hurt me plenty) or two revenants will be released into the area. These pillars actually the back of trap alcoves in the C-shaped corridor. Further up, you have another big horde to deal with in the conventional manner:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: A mancubus, two arachnotrons, two chaingunners, 13 zombiemen.
 * Hurt me plenty: A baron of Hell, two mancubi, an arachnotron, two Hell knights, two chaingunners, three demons, 16 zombiemen.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: An arachnotron, seven demons, three Hell knights.

Your next stop is to grab the weapon on the metal plate in the corner. It is a plasma gun (Hey, not too rough and below), a BFG9000 (Hurt me plenty) or a chainsaw (Ultra-Violence and above). Collecting the weapon causes walls in the east to lower, releasing another pack of monsters:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Nine imps and nine zombiemen.
 * Hurt me plenty: Three barons of Hell, two demons, nine imps and four shotgun guys.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Nine imps and nine demons.

In the southeast, you will find a new switch has been revealed. Flip it, and even more walls will lower, revealing this area to be linked to the shotgun area at the start of the map. Unfortunately, this leads to an even bigger horde of monsters being released into the area from two traps - one near the last metal pad where you picked up a weapon, filled with monsters no less tougher than a Hell knight; and one from a new area north of the shotgun pad, which may or may not contain cannon fodder depending on difficulty. Head up the steps into the new area north of the shotgun pad and flip the switch at the end. This will open it up, but wedge you between enemies:


 * Hey, not too rough and below: Three Hell knights in front, one Hell knight behind.
 * Hurt me plenty: Three barons of Hell and two Hell knights in front, two Hell knights behind.
 * Ultra-Violence and above: Three mancubi in front, two arch-viles behind.

On Ultra-Violence and above, you may wish to go to the trap east of this new area, then look through the windows on the left to kill the arch-viles first.

Continue forward to the north of the newly revealed area to reach a wooden door. Open it, and you will find yourself in the southern trap in the blue-floored room where you collected the super shotgun. As you enter, the floor will turn red with blood. Watch the far right corner (northeast) for a baron of Hell (Hey, not too rough and below), or an arch-vile (Hurt me plenty and above). The northern trap will also have opened, revealing that it is connected to the area with the monsters on pedestals. Find the eye switch to the left of this new ledge and flip it.

This causes a pedestal with an item (an invulnerability on Hurt me plenty and below, a BFG9000 on Ultra-Violence and above) to lower. However, while that is happening, a large number of walls in the north are lowering too, revealing the extreme north of the level. It is filled to the brim with monsters, with at least one spiderdemon in the mix; on Ultra-Violence and above, you have cyberdemons to deal with too. Get in with your BFG9000 on full-automatic while abusing monster infighting to thin the crowd. Your task is to get behind the panel with the Icon of Sin on it, where you will find the red skull key on a blood pillar. Press use on this blood pillar to lower it and collect the key. Make a break for the far northeast of this area, where there is a section of wall with a different texture. Approach the corner near it, and it will lower.

Head out through the new opening, along the neck of dry land (you can't step off it) and open the red skull panel at the end. Step into the teleporter to end the level.

Secrets

 * 1) When you pick up the shotgun in the southern part of the map, you open up several closets in your vicinity. In one of the northeastern closets that has a demon inside, press on the back wall that is differently textured to reveal a medikit and a passage up. (sector 243)
 * 2) The switch you saw near the beginning can be accessed from Secret #1. Flip the switch in the area here to lower the walls, then return to the shotgun room. Just south of the shotgun, press on the differently textured wall that doesn't quite reach the ceiling to reveal a megasphere. (sector 239)
 * 3) From the shotgun room, follow the path up the steps and serpentine around until you lower a brown wall. In the next area, press on the brown wall to the right for a switch. (sector 39) The switch raises some barriers in the next room.
 * 4) In the area with the rising square steps, there are two lifts on the far sides. Take the left one up, and then enter the nearby corridor and flip the switch to lower into a small hall with a partial invisibility at the end. One part of this hallway is dark and blinking. Press the northern wall in this area to lower the whole wall revealing lots of monsters and a few supplies. (sector 383)
 * 5) Now take the right lift up, entering the corridor and moving all the way through. Flip the switch, then go down the corridor until you find a backpack and a box of ammo. (sector 84)
 * 6) When you flip the switch mentioned in Secret #5, the walls next to your left will lower. Go through them until you reach a door. Open it, and in the next room, press the northern wall to lower it. Then, take the radiation suit as you drop into the blood with several monsters and supplies. (sector 1367) It is also possible to access this right after getting Secret #1. In the room after Secret #1, you can climb the marble floors up to the room and then press the northern wall to reach the secret from that end.
 * 7) When you are back in the western part of the map near the chaingun room after coming from the north central part of the map, go southward, flipping switches until you come to a room with neat, brown floor tiles and a gargoyle switch on the wall. Shoot this switch to open it, then press on the wooden column to lower a health bonus, as well as bars leading to a soul sphere to the east. (sector 589)
 * 8) In the far southwestern part of the map, flip the switch in the southeast part of the room to open the way back to the shotgun room. Manuever back up the stairs and flip the switch to lower walls back into the serpentining hallway. Enter the first closet you see that opens, and walls will lower so you can pick up a blue skull key. (sector 406)
 * 9) After flipping the switch in the southwestern part of the map and returning to the shotgun room, head up the stairs you see and flip the next switch to lower the walls in front. There is a large door and a lift here; take the lift, and look towards it's south side. Part of the wall is blue, so while the lift rises, hug the wall and you will obtain a computer area map in a small cove. (sector 1150)
 * 10) After getting Secret #8, go back to Secret #4 if you have not already and flip the switch there. This lowers a wall north and there should be a door with blue borders here. Open it with the blue key for lots of ammo, a backpack and a switch. (sector 854) The switch activates crushers that will kill the arch-viles you see to the sides, and will also crush any monsters that cross over the red teleport pads in the final arena.

Bugs
Two stimpacks (Things 2349 and 2350) and three energy cell packs (2626, 2627 and 2628) have no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, so they do not actually appear in the level. The same goes for a multiplayer-only 4 shotgun shells (thing 2357) and a multiplayer-only box of shotgun shells (2578). Lastly, 8 deathmatch starts (163 through 167 and 2667 through 2669) have no flags set either, but because of special handling in the engine, they function normally in the level.

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

The data was last verified in its entirety on January 13, 2022.

Player spawns
This level contains nine spawn points:
 * 1) facing east. (thing 163)
 * 2) facing north-west. (thing 164)
 * 3) facing west. (thing 165)
 * 4) facing north. (thing 166)
 * 5) facing east. (thing 167)
 * 6) facing west. (thing 2667)
 * 7) facing west. (thing 2668)
 * 8) facing south. (thing 2669)
 * 9) facing south. (thing 2736)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * Most of the monsters on this level are flagged to appear on one skill level only, or on all skill levels in co-op. Only two cacodemons (things 157 and 2745) appear in single-player and co-op on all skill levels.