E2M7: The Core (ConC.E.R.Ned)

E2M7: The Core is the seventh map in the Parallel World episode of ConC.E.R.Ned. It was designed by Matt Powell (cannonball) and uses the music track "Junkie Smack," originally composed by Mark Klem for Memento Mori II.

Essentials
Take the chaingun in front of you then press the gargoyle switch on your right to lower a lift, which leads up to a central hub holding some zombiemen and a caged spiderdemon; you should drop into the water trench around the cage to avoid the spiderdemon's attacks. Go to the south-west hallway and follow it past a demon and some shotgun guys to a T-junction with a partial invisibility, then open the door on your left to enter a large room with zombies, imps and one or more barons of Hell; there are also some cacodemons hiding behind the tech pillars in front of you. Go up the south-east staircase and turn round at the top, go through the small door in front of you and follow the steps down to a chamber full of damaging blood; grab the radiation shielding suit near the bottom of the steps before entering the pool. Go to the north side of the pool to find a skull switch guarded by one or two cacodemons and spectres, press the switch then go back to the previous room; some bars between the south windows have lowered allowing you to reach the blue keycard. Approaching the key will lower the computer block behind you to reveal a cyberdemon, as well as releasing cacodemons, demons and other enemies into the room.

Leave the room by the north door to go back to the T-junction, then head north until you see some metal bars on your right; ride the silver lift opposite the bars up then head forward into a room with a fountain as well as some demons. Flip the switch on the west wall to open four closets containing cacodemons, then ride the lift back down to find that the metal bars you passed earlier have lowered allowing you to reach a second lift. Ride this lift up to a room containing demons and shotgun guys then go to the south-east window to collect the yellow keycard - taking it will cause four cacodemons to appear in the cage behind you (or another cyberdemon on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM) skill levels), as well as allowing barons to teleport into the room; you should get them to infight while you wait for some switches to be revealed by the lifts.

Go back to the lift on the west side of the room and press the button that has been revealed here to return to the floor below, then head north to a green door and go through it. Go round the corner and dispose of any approaching enemies then ride the silver lift on your right up to a crossroads, then turn left and left again to enter a small room with demons who are guarding a button between the windows on the south wall. After pressing this button, go back to the crossroads and head down the north steps to an outdoor area with a helipad then look right to see a gray chamber with shotgun guys and barons that contains another switch; after flipping this switch, head north-west past the helipad to find the red keycard sitting on a red-bordered step. When you take the key, part of the floor behind you will sink into a blood river and allow some cacodemons to fly up from underground tunnels; you will also have to contend with a cyberdemon that appears on the helipad, along with imps and demons that teleport to the south-east corner.

With all three keys, go back to the spiderdemon cage and enter the south-east or north-east passages and follow them until you reach a hallway with a hexagon floor - in the center of this hallway are three switches that will open the colored bars opposite, allowing you to enter a wide hall that seemingly contains no monsters. Take the supercharge and armor at the back of the room then go up the blue steps to a switch; ready yourself before flipping it as shotgun guys and two cyberdemons will teleport into the cages inside the hall, along with a crowd of cacodemons, barons, imps, demons and spectres. Fight your way out and go back to the spiderdemon room then go down the east passage to find two exit teleporters guarded by barons - make sure you step on the left teleporter, as the right teleporter will send you to a suicide exit.

Other points of interest
From the blue key area, head through the north-west door to a round chamber with some steps. Flip the switch at the top of the steps to lower a pillar with a supercharge.

Enter the blood river on the west side of the level and look for a red firestick in the west wall - opposite this firestick is a lift leading up to a berserk pack and an invulnerability.

There is a second outdoor area in the north-east corner of the level; entering it will cause barons to appear in the center of the gray structure here, or a cyberdemon on UV and NM. There are four buttons in the middle of the structure that must be pressed in the order north, south, east and west - a BFG9000 can be found on top of the final button.

Secrets

 * 1) Enter the passage south-east of the spiderdemon room and enter the room to the north. Go west and use the wall with slime to find a hidden switch. Flip it, leave the room, and head east and south to a megaarmor. (sector 83)
 * 2) Enter the passage south-west of the spiderdemon and follow it until you reach a spine wall on the left. Press the tiny eye switch in the middle of the spine to lower a wall on your left, revealing health bonuses, armor bonuses, boxes of rockets and energy cells. (sector 283)
 * 3) In the room with damaging blood at the south end, go to the platform at the east end and lower the wall to find health bonuses, armor bonuses and an energy cell pack. (sector 434)
 * 4) From the blue key area, head through the north-west door to a round chamber. You can walk through the south demon wall to find an invulnerability. (sector 539)
 * 5) Enter the room north-west of the yellow key area and use the computer from its west side to open the walls to the north, with a computer area map and two energy cells inside. (sector 362)
 * 6) At the west side, enter the room with three computers and use the eastern-most one. Leave and head to the neighboring room to the west to find a rocket launcher and a plasma gun. (sector 863)
 * 7) From the crossroads south of the helipad area, head east until you see a metal doorway with satyr faces on your right, go through it and immediately turn right to enter an alcove. Use the back wall of this alcove to find an energy cell pack and a partial invisibility. (sector 607)
 * 8) In the north-east area with the BFG, use the gargoyle switch on the west side of the BFG box, then quickly run east through the wall that lowers to enter an area with crates and a berserk pack. (sector 223)
 * 9) In secret #8, the crate by the east wall has a gray side. Use it to find a switch to remove the barrier to the south, leading to a supercharge. (sector 89)

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 December 20, 2021.

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

Trivia

 * This level provides the background for the intermission screen in the Parallel World episode. The player is standing at the entrance to the eastern-most room and facing east.
 * Unlike the previous levels, this level does not allow cooperative play as there are no starts for players 2 to 4.