E1M4: Withering Gardens (ConC.E.R.Ned)

E1M4: Withering Gardens is the fourth map in the Dead Colliding episode of ConC.E.R.Ned. It was designed by Matt Powell (cannonball) and uses the music track "Under Death," originally composed by Mark Klem for Requiem.

Essentials
Take the shotgun in front of you and head into the center courtyard, which is guarded by zombiemen and spectres. Go through the west archway to a garden with a white rock then follow the path round to a door in the south wall, then open it and go through the doorway on your left to a room with a couple of shotgun guys and demons. Press the button in the south recess to open a set of bars to the east, then go down the steps here to find a switch being guarded by two shotgun guys; be ready to step back when you flip this switch as the walls on either side will open and release more demons. Flip another switch in the east alcove then return to the door leading back outside - you will see that a second door to the south has opened revealing the blue keycard. Watch out for the shotgun guys and lost souls that are revealed when you take the key, along with a demon on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) skill level or lower or a baron of Hell on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM) - this last enemy will teleport behind you.

Go back to the center courtyard and head through the east archway to enter an octagonal garden with a chaingun, watching out for the enemies that rise from the ponds on your left. Go through the north door (requiring the blue key) and push past two shotgun guys and a spectre to reach a pair of staircases, which lead down to a chamber containing two columns that will open to reveal a spectre and a demon (the demon is replaced with a baron on UV and NM). Flip the switch on the northern wall - which will allow you to collect the yellow keycard later - and be prepared to destroy some lost souls hiding behind the red warning signs along with some shotgun guys and demons that teleport in to the chamber.

Go back to the octagonal garden and open the south door, then follow the corridor past some imps and a spectre to a switch between two shotgun guys. Flipping the switch will lower a set of bars behind you, allowing you to enter a room with chairs and a long table; kill the imps that teleport in then flip the switch between the south windows. Go back to the center courtyard to find that the doors of the small building here have opened, revealing shotgun guys, demons and a baron guarding the yellow key. After taking the key, defeat the enemies that teleport in to the courtyard then head north to an exit door and open it to find a cacodemon (plus another baron on HMP or higher, which teleports outside) guarding the exit switch.

Other points of interest
Look behind the white rock on the west side of the level to find health bonuses and a chaingun.

Secrets

 * 1) At the west garden with the white rock, go behind the rock to the area with the chaingun then lower the west wall to get a box of bullets and a megaarmor. (sector 99)
 * 2) In the south-west room, use the terminal with the candle in front of it to find a hidden switch. Flipping it lowers the terminal south of it, revealing armor bonuses, a medikit, a partial invisibility and a computer area map. (sector 190)
 * 3) From secret #2, head east into the room with the blue floor then open the ripped wall in the north-east corner for armor bonuses, a rocket launcher and three rockets along with a cacodemon. (sector 290)
 * 4) Open the north door in the south-east corridor, then shoot the flashing warning sign in the south-east corner to open a wall to the east, revealing a rocket launcher, a box of rockets and six armor bonuses. (sector 367)

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: