MAP08: Audience Chamber (Strife)

MAP08: Audience Chamber is an area in Strife that is accessed from the castle during the Front's attack against the Order. It is located directly across from the hospital, just west of the entrance to the Programmer's keep. It uses the music track "Slide".

This is one of the few Strife maps that can only be accessed for a limited time; after the Programmer is killed, this map becomes blocked off in New Front Base due to the Front's new headquarters being built on top of the temple's original entrance. Due to this, the player should seek out the three secret areas here before leaving this map.

Overview
In this area, the player will meet one of the False Programmers. When confronted, he will tell the player that he is not the true Programmer and will give the silver key, which allows the player to access the Programmer's keep.

Walkthrough

 * Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector numbers in boldface are secrets.

Essentials
You begin the area behind a door. On the two highest skill levels, you will be greeted by a crusader and a reaver when the door is opened. There are eight acolytes and four shadow acolytes in side rooms behind doors that are locked by the silver key. After dealing with the opposition, you can access one of the doors on either side of what appears to be a throne.

When you enter a door and step further, you will trigger a trap in the hallway in front of you: a section of the floor will lower for a while and adopt a surface that would kill the player instantly. When the trap is activated, switches become available on both sides of the floor section, and either of them can be pressed to disable the trap. As you continue forward, you will find a False Programmer.

Secrets

 * 1) There is a bedroom at the end of the area. A small crate has been placed next to the eastern wall. When you jump on the crate and cross its western side, you will make the other half of the adjacent bed lower as a lift. On the bottom, there is a chamber with a surgery kit and a shadow armor. (sector 32)
 * 2) East of the bedroom, there is a computer chamber. The northwestern side of the control table has its texture misaligned. Press the section to temporarily open a room with a grenade launcher, a targeter, medical supplies and ammunition. There is a stalker as well so beware. (sector 65)
 * 3) The silver key can also be used to open the back of the throne. Behind, there is a room that holds poison bolts, an ammo satchel and 50 pieces of gold. (sector 55)

Bugs
To the east of the valid map area, there is a separate linedef (656) that is 2,048 map units long. It references sidedef 867 that, in turn, references sector 67, but the arrangement serves no evident purpose.

The player 1 start (Thing 0) and teleport map spot 2 (Thing 18) have no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, but because of special handling in the engine, they function normally in the level.

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