E4M5: Life Support (Thy Flesh turned into a draft-excluder)

E4M5: Life Support is the fifth map of Thy Flesh turned into a draft-excluder. It was designed by Matt Powell (cannonball) and uses the music track "The Demons from Adrian's Pen," originally composed by Robert Prince for Doom.

Essentials
Press the skull switch on your right to open the west and north doors (plus an alcove containing a shotgun and two rockets), then walk through the north door to see a backpack and berserk pack on your right. Kill the various enemies in this room (including some imps and one or two barons of Hell that teleport in when you start firing) then head north-west to a passage with a low ceiling, which leads to a corridor with some demons. Follow the corridor north, passing a green pillar with a chaingun behind it, until you reach a red key door then enter the doorway on your left to drop down to a chamber with some spectres. The red keycard can be found sitting in an alcove on the west side of the room, but approaching it will open some monster closets behind you containing shotgun guys, imps and a cacodemon (this last enemy is replaced with a baron on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM) skill levels).

Head north into a neighboring chamber with a crucifix light on the floor and kill any waiting shotgun guys and spectres, press the button on the north wall to lower a lift and ride it up to find yourself on the other side of the red key door you saw earlier. Head through it and return to the starting area then follow the east corridor to another locked door which you can now open, leading to a room with a marble block (the block will lower as you enter, allowing you to reach a partial invisibility sitting on top of it). Go through the south doorway to a room with a computer block and kill the zombies on top of it, drop to the floor below to dispose of some imps then go round to the south-west side of the block to find a button that will lower a lift on the south side of the room. Ride the lift up and kill any waiting enemies then press the button in the south-east corner to reveal a teleporter; step into it and push past the baron and spectres in front of you to reach the blue keycard, which lowered when you pressed the button.

Taking the blue key will open three closets around you containing shotgun guys along with demons and/or barons. Go back to the previous room and head up the north staircase to find your way back to the marble block room, then open the north door (requiring the blue key) to drop into a large L-shaped cavern. Head to the north end of the cavern to find a square alcove containing a button, but arm yourself before pressing it - pressing the button will open several closets in the cavern containing cacodemons, lost souls and a caged spiderdemon, as well as allowing a gang of imps and demons to teleport in. The north wall of the alcove will eventually lower to reveal barons, or a cyberdemon on UV and NM - once this happens, enter that chamber and press the button on the east wall to finish the level.

Other points of interest
From the red key area, head up the south staircase to a room with red walls and tech panels. A rocket launcher is hidden behind the marble block in this room.

With the red key, open the south door in the starting area to enter a room with a Y-shaped walkway. A plasma gun, megaarmor, energy cell pack and box of rockets can be found on a ledge at the south side of this room.

Secrets

 * 1) From the red key room, head up the south staircase to the neighboring chamber then look at the north brick wall - you will see two metal supports on it. Press the section of brick wall between these supports to lower it, revealing a room with six armor bonuses and a computer area map. (sector 493)
 * 2) With the red key, return to the starting area and go through the south door to enter the room with the Y-shaped walkway. Drop into the blood pit on the north-east side then enter the alcove to the north-east to find a partial invisibility and a teleporter. Next to the teleporter is a tiny green button - press it, then quickly enter the teleporter and turn left to see that another button has been revealed on the wall east of the door you entered through. Press this button before it closes off, then go through the entrance door and enter a newly-revealed passage on your left to reach a supercharge. (sector 384)
 * 3) When you reach the computer block room, you may notice a yellow keycard on top of it. Ride the lift on the south side of the room up to enter the chamber with the button that lowers the blue key, then press the white computer panel on the east side of this chamber to lower it and reveal some steps. Drop down the hole here then run across the red platforms (do not fall into the black pit below as it is inescapable) to reach a teleporter that will send you to the yellow key. (sector 216)
 * 4) With the yellow key from secret #3, go to the top of the red staircase north of the blue key room. You can open the yellow key doors in the south-west corner to enter a room with several items, including an invulnerability and energy cells. (sector 158)
 * 5) In the same room as secret #4, head to the brown ledge on the south side to reach a berserk pack, then press on the wall with the candle in front of it to reveal an energy cell pack as well as stacks of ten armor bonuses and health bonuses. (sector 486)

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: