MAP17: Through the Black (Community Chest 2)

MAP17: Through the Black is the seventeenth map of Community Chest 2. It was designed by Andy Leaver, and uses the music track "Watz Next?" from Rise of the Triad.

Walkthrough

 * Letters in italics refer to marked spots on the map. Sector numbers in boldface are secrets which count toward the end-of-level tally.

Essentials
Gather supplies here and head into the next room. Approach the northern wall and a block will lower revealing a switch that in turn, opens the door to the east. Keep going eastward and you will eventually end up in a large room with a blood pool containing the red skull key and a ton of monsters. A little alcove close to the entrance has a blur artifact, but watch out for a surprise revenant. Take either the north or the south doors in this room, and be careful because cacodemons are behind the faceted walls here. Go along the pathway and you will find a room in the south hallway, opposite of a pentagram on the floor. The switch in this room opens a teleporter, flip it and enter. You end up in another hallway with another teleporter at the end, which will lead you to the key. Backtrack all the way to the entrance and open the red door to complete the level.

Secrets

 * 1) In the brick room at the west side of the level, the southeast wall has a section where the gaps between bricks are less visible than on the rest.  Open it to find security armor. (sector 183)
 * 2) In the room where the red key is found, there are two trios of blue torches at the western corners; near the southwest pair is a section of brick wall where the gaps between bricks are much more visible than on the others.  Open it to find a soul sphere, combat armor, a chainsaw, a backpack, two boxes of ammo, two boxes of shells, and six boxes of rockets. (sector 316)

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

Last updated on March 17, 2013.

Trivia
Andy Leaver is the only Community Chest contributor to have designed for the same map slot in each installment of the series. Prior to this level, he designed Community Chest MAP17: Infliction of Hate; after this level, he would design Community Chest 3 MAP17: Mind's Prison and Community Chest 4 MAP17: Metastasize.