MAP08: Exquisite Torture (Threshold of Pain)

MAP08: Exquisite Torture is the eighth map of Threshold of Pain. It was designed by John Gourley (scalliano) and uses the music track "Beyond Fear," composed by Aubrey Hodges for the Sony PlayStation port of Doom. The par time defined in MAPINFO is 25:00.

Yellow key
Take the shotgun in front of you if needed and approach the door, which will cause an alcove with one to three cacodemons to open behind you. Kill them and take the items they were guarding, including a backpack and a berserk pack, then go through the door to an octagonal hallway populated by shotgun guys, chaingunners and imps. Stay behind the doorway to avoid being surrounded as you kill the zombies, then go down the steps and head through the door in the east wall.

You will enter a small chamber with two zombiemen and two shotgun guys. Kill them, take the super shotgun then head through the south door and kill one or two plasma zombies waiting behind it, then head down the stairs to a gray-floored hallway populated by zombies and an afrit. Follow the gray floor south past numerous enemies to a door marked I which is protected by one or two nightmare cacodemons. Go through the door to a square outdoor area.

Kill the zombies visible from the doorway, then take the rocket launcher in the south-east corner and use it to slay the arachnotrons and revenants to the west. Go to the west wall to find a gargoyle switch - pressing it will reveal four alcoves that contain four mancubi on Ultra-Violence (UV) or Nightmare (NM) skill level, or two mancubi and two Hell knights on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) or lower. Killing all the mancubi will lower the central column and reveal a green skull switch; press it then go through the east door to return to the gray-floored hallway.

Two alcoves containing knights have opened ahead - kill them and follow the gray floor to a T-junction, then turn right to see an open door marked II which was previously guarded by mancubi. Behind the door is a chamber with a cross-shaped path protected by nightmare imps - kill them and take the plasma gun in this chamber, then press the skull switch in the center of the room to open three alcoves containing knights, along with another alcove outside the room containing one or two arachnotrons.

Kill or avoid these monsters, then return to the gray-floored hallway and head west and north back to where you started. Turn right to see that the door marked III has now opened, revealing a staircase leading to a red skull switch guarded by one or two Lords of Heresy. Kill the lords and press the switch (one of two needed to reach the yellow skull key), then head west up the steps back to where you first entered this area.

Back in the small octagonal chamber, head through the north door and follow the rocky steps down past several zombies and a lava pit guarded by revenants. At the bottom of the steps you will find a lava river with nightmare spectres on one side and imps and nightmare imps on the other - cacodemons and a pain elemental can also be found here depending on skill level. Cross the river to a low ledge, then jump up another ledge to reach the area with the imps.

There are two tunnels leading away from this area, but take the south tunnel first and follow it past nightmare imps and plasma zombies (plus chaingunners on HMP or higher) to a door. Go through the door to enter a red-brick chamber, watching out for knights that fade in as you step through the door (plus revenants on HMP or higher). Grab the plasma gun and use it to slay the monsters, then press the switch in the center of the room - this will open three alcoves containing barons of Hell, three of which will be replaced with Lords of Heresy on UV or NM.

Leave the chamber and return to the lava river where one to three nightmare cacodemons have appeared, then head north to another passage which leads to a cavern guarded by nightmare imps, plus two plasma zombies on UV or NM. Climb the large steps slowly as a monster will fade in when you step on the bottom stair - a revenant on I am a Wimp (IAAW) or Not Too Rough (NTR) skill levels, or an arch-vile on HMP or higher. Press the red skull switch that the monster was guarding, then step into the teleporter to return to the small octagonal chamber.

Pressing both red skull switches has opened the door in front of you, leading to a fenced area with one to three barons guarding the yellow key. Kill the barons then head round to the east side of the room, where you can step across to their platform and press the skull switch to lower the pillar with the key. Picking it up will open the surrounding walls to reveal numerous imps - clear them out before you get caught in their crossfire.

Red key
Return to the octagonal hallway and head round to its west side, then go through the door with yellow skull bars. Kill two chaingunners and knights waiting behind the door and take the minigun behind them, then head north or south through either passage to get outside. Head west past some imps then turn the corner to find some gray steps guarded by one to three arachnotrons and two afrits. Climb the steps, taking all the health bonuses on the way, and press the gargoyle switch at the top.

Pressing the switch lowers a set of bars behind you. Turn round and head through the doorway that was blocked by the bars, and kill the imps and nightmare imps which appear in the blood pool in front of you. Take the megaarmor then press both switches on either side of the bars blocking the red skull key, which will open the bars and lower the pillar holding the key so you can collect it.

Prepare a rapid-fire weapon before taking the key, as the north and south walls will lower to reveal imps and nightmare imps, who will be joined by spectres and nightmare spectres on HMP or higher. Kill all these enemies and two hectebi will be released into the area; the passages leading out of this area will also be sealed, and will not open until both of the hectebi have been killed.

Blue key and exit
Return to the octagonal hallway and go round to its north side, then head through the south door which has red skull bars. As you enter the area, a pillar with the blue skull key will lower and three monsters will fade in - two barons, plus a knight on IAAW or NTR or an afrit on HMP or higher. Take the key, then leave the area and head north through another door with blue skull bars to enter a large chamber with four square columns. This area requires you to kill several waves of monsters to open the exit.
 * 1) Slay the spectres and nightmare spectres in the chamber, then climb the central steps and collect the Unmaker.
 * 2) On HMP or higher, kill three or four Unmaker zombies that teleport in around you. On IAAW or NTR, phase 3 will begin as soon as you take the Unmaker.
 * 3) Kill all the imps or nightmare imps that emerge from the north-east alcove - phase 4 will start once all of one of these monsters has died. They will be joined by plasma and Unmaker zombies from the south-west alcove.
 * 4) Kill the cacodemons and nightmare cacodemons that emerge from the north-west alcove, as well as the mancubi and barons that emerge from the south-east alcove.
 * 5) Kill two or four hectebi that emerge from the north alcoves.

Once the last hectebus has died, the exit door in the north wall will open. Collect any remaining supplies from the arena then head through the exit door and step on the teleporter to finish the level.

Other points of interest
After going through the door marked II, press the switch in the center of the room to open three alcoves containing knights. Open the back wall of the east alcove to reveal a hidden chainsaw, backpack and medikit.

The alcoves in the final arena contain a megaarmor, a berserk pack, a soulsphere and a Doomsphere. The last item will be especially useful when clearing out the numerous monsters in this area.

Secrets

 * 1) From the starting area, head through the east door then go north through a door leading to a rocky tunnel. Follow the tunnel until you see a lava pool on the left guarded by revenants. Drop into the pool and crouch, then pass through the lava-fall into a crawlspace leading to a chamber with a rocket launcher, a soulsphere and two demonic orbs. (sector 197)
 * 2) From secret #1, continue following the tunnel to a lava river and climb to the top of its east bank. From here, jump north-west to get on top of the lava-fall then follow the river until you drop to a hidden cavern with a BFG9000. (sector 218)
 * 3) Taking the red key will lower the outer walls of the room and reveal a number of imps. Kill them then look at the south wall to see a gargoyle switch, which opens when you shoot the switch with an impact weapon. Go round to the hallway with the door marked III to see that part of the north wall (between two sets of red torches) has also opened to reveal a tunnel. (sector 295) Follow the tunnel to enter the imps' area which contains a computer area map, two boxes of rockets and many health and armor bonuses.
 * 4) In the penultimate area with the Unmaker, open the metal column in the middle of the west wall to find an invulnerability sphere and three demonic orbs. (sector 352)
 * 5) From secret #4, step on the plinth with the Unmaker. A small gargoyle switch will be revealed in the metal pillar in the middle of the east wall; shooting it will lower a platform in the south-east corner with a light amplification visor guarded by three imps. (sector 80)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doomed Speed Demos Archive are:

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