MAP10: Inner Fear (Community Chest 4)

MAP10: Inner Fear is the tenth map of Community Chest 4. It was designed by Ronald Lubbelinkhof (Dutch Devil) and uses the music track "Icicles" by James Paddock (Jimmy).

Essentials
If you thought the previous map was hard enough, you will be in for a rude shock with this one. Packing more than 500 monsters on Ultra-Violence, of which more than half are stored in teleport traps, the narrow corridors of this level will quickly become deadly. Being able to squeeze past hordes of monster will be the key to staying alive in this mad battle for survival.

The map uses all three skull keys, to be collected in the order blue, red, yellow.

Start and Blue Key

You start in one corner of a cave with a fountain of blood. Head towards the shotgun in the northeast of the lit area and prepare yourself for a rough start. As you head towards the lit area, two traps open to the west and east, each containing two imps (three on Ultra-Violence and above) and a shotgun guy. When you open fire, two groups of monsters further north will be awakened and begin teleporting into this area - one to the north in front of the door, one to the south near where you started the level (read: behind you). In this frantic crossfire, your goal is to get the armor from the eastern trap and the box of shells, box of ammo and medikit in the western trap. This scene of carnage is going to repeat itself again and again as you progress through the level.

Head out through the door in the north. You will find yourself east of a green marble fort. Watch for former humans and imps on the bridge and ahead, a chaingunner on the brown walls to either side of the fort, and up to four revenants visible through the windows. Continue all the way along this path, watching for a demon ahead. Open the door at the end and watch for four imps and two shotgun guys in the next hall. At the T-junction at this hall's end, you might want to take the chance to clear out any imps you see beyond the blue bars in the south first.

Open the door in the north and kill the demon ahead. Turn right, and you will find yourself on a catwalk around a vine-covered courtyard. There are two imps, a chaingunner and a demon (last two not present on Hey, not too rough and below) on the catwalk to deal with, but the real threat is from the chaingunners in towers in the north. Be sure to mow them down to avoid taking unnecessary damage.

Continue down the steps at the end of this catwalk to enter a room with up to four imps and a chaingunner (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Grab the super shotgun from its platform in the north, along with more shells. At this point, you will start having to deal with the monsters on the courtyard floor - zombiemen, imps, demons, even a cacodemon (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Former humans, imps and even a baron of Hell (not on Hey, not too rough and below) will also take potshots at you from the windows in the west. If you're all geared up from the previous levels, go to town on the monsters behind the windows too, but if not, your priority is the two windows in the northeast of the courtyard (each with a zombieman and a shotgun guy).

Head to the blood pit in the northwest of the courtyard and flip the satyr switch to lower a platform. Kill the imp on it, watch for enemy fire from beyond the yellow bars and ride it up to a small corridor, being careful of a demon to the north. Equip a chaingun or plasma gun (if available), flip the skull switch in the north of the corridor and immediately turn around - the first of the level's numerous teleport traps has activated, dropping up to eight imps and eight shotgun guys into this corridor. You need to mow them down before they overwhelm you, and you don't have much time.

When the coast is clear, head back to the middle of this corridor and flip either of the two satyr switch on the east wall to re-lower the platform you used to enter this corridor. The pedestal with the blue key in the south of the courtyard will have lowered, allowing you to get the blue key. However, when you grab the blue key, an even bigger teleport trap activates. This causes up to 18 imps, six shotgun guys, four chaingunners and two revenants to teleport into various spots around the courtyard. Keep moving and initiate some monster infighting - you have the luxury of space in this courtyard (which you won't have in later stretches of this level).

Red Key

Backtrack to where you saw the blue bars at the T-junction. You will need to deal with some monsters that have teleported into the hall in the east - up to four imps, two shotgun guys and two chaingunners. Raise the blue bars and head into the marble fort. You will be attacked from the west by a spectre and a chaingunner (not on Hey, not too rough and below), but you should also watch out for an arachnotron in an alcove in the west, beyond some bars. Head around this C-shaped corridor and clear out imps, former humans and another spectre. You will get a rocket launcher as well. At the end of the corridor, watch for another arachnotron in an alcove in the west, then go south.

You will next find yourself in a corridor overlooking a courtyard in the south of the level. This corridor has up to two imps and two demons. Two imps, two shotgun guys and a baron of Hell in the courtyard may attack you through the bars in the corridor wall. Head all the way east to the end of this corridor, equip the rocket launcher and prepare for yet another teleport trap. When you flip the switch in the east wall, the door to the southern courtyard opens, but up to 12 imps, six shotgun guys and two barons of Hell (Hell knights on Hurt me plenty and lower) teleport into the corridor. This time, you have enough standoff distance to make rockets work for you. Unload your rockets, then switch to another weapon when the horde approaches.

Head back west, then south into the southern courtyard. Fend off two demons here, and finish off the baron of Hell on the pedestal if you have not already done so. Go head west through the metal doorway. You will be attacked by a shotgun guy and two imps, but again, that is a distraction - the real trap is two cages with chaingunners appearing in the windows ahead. Prioritize those two first, then clear out the rest of the enemies

Go through the door to the north into a long marble corridor. You will be first be attacked by four imps, two chaingunners and up to six demons. When you cross where these monsters came from, you will be attacked by two imps and two shotgun guys on a perch to the right (east) and a revenant to the west (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Open the blue door behind the revenant's alcove to enter a corridor surrounding a courtyard with the red key. You need to go the northwest and southwest of this corridor to flip two switches to access the switch needed to lower the red key. Each switch is guarded by an arachnotron. When you flip one of the switches, it also causes up to 12 demons to teleport into that half of the corridor.

When both switches have been flipped, head into the red key courtyard and thin out the horde. Next, proceed through either passageway in the west into a dark chamber with the yellow key. This chamber starts out with four imps, two revenants in pillboxes and a pain elemental (Ultra-Violence and above only). As you approach the switch in the west, the doors to the red key courtyard lower and lock. Flipping this switch lowers the red key in its courtyard, but also causes four traps in the yellow key chamber to open. Each contains four imps, a Hell knight and a chaingunner (not on Hey, not too rough and below). Pull out into the red key courtyard and funnel them through the two passageways before using rockets on them, then collect health and ammo from their traps.

Back in the red key courtyard, the pillar with the red key on it will have lowered. By now, you would be ready for yet another teleport ambush when you pick it up, and you would be right. This one is a tad more complex than the previous ones. First, a mancubus teleports into each of the pentagrams on the floor, while a pain elemental teleports to the north and south of the courtyard. Quickly dispose of them, return to the yellow key chamber and flip the red switch in the east to unlock the doors to the red key courtyard. Exit the surrounding corridor through the door in the east.

When you leave through that door, you will find an arch-vile and two barons of Hell on the perch directly opposite, and you will need to use the blocks with boxes of rockets as cover from the arch-vile's attacks.

Yellow Key

You now need to backtrack all the way to the C-shaped corridor, where you will encounter the last monsters from the previous trap (up to four imps, four shotgun guys and two revenants). Head through the red door in the west wall of the eastern part of this corridor to reach the perch where the arch-vile was earlier. Flip the switch to open a red door in the north of the long marble corridor, then jump back down from the perch into that corridor.

Continue north past the red door. This triggers a first teleport ambush, with up to 12 imps, four shotgun guys and four chaigunners teleporting in both in front of and behind you. You will also have to deal with four zombiemen in the corridor ahead. As you proceed further north, you will pass a small alcove with two imps waiting in ambush. Continue north past a wooden door to a room with bookshelves, up to four imps and a Hell knight (Ultra-Violence and above only). You may have noticed that there's way too much health in the past few areas, and that something is wrong. Once you flip that switch in the corner to lower the yellow key, you are going to face one of the level's bigger ambushes.

First, up to two shotgun guys and two imps teleport into the room, with up to six shotgun guys and two Hell knights approaching from the corridor. When you head further down the corridor, past where the red door was, teleporting up to two imps, two shotgun guys and four revenants in front of you while up to four shotgun guys and two imps teleport behind you. Moving further south towards the entrance to the red key courtyard, up to six demons teleport in front of you and up to 12 more behind you. The red key courtyard will also fill up with enemies - up to eight each of imps, shotgun guys and revenants, as well as 12 cacodemons, all of which will be making a beeline for your position. Now is a good time for plasma cells, and loads of them.

The worst is not over yet. Head down into the red key courtyard and further into the yellow key chamber. The yellow key pillar is lowered, and you can take the yellow key. of course, this triggers another teleport trap. Up to 12 demons and three revenants flood into the yellow key chamber, boxing you in from all directions. Up to eight cacodemons also fill the red key courtyard, and up to four each of imps, shotgun guys and revenants will be moving in from the marble corridor and making their way to your position. Do your best to stay alive through this and make your way back out of the red key courtyard.

Now, you need to go the north side of the marble corridor, where there are yellow bars on the east wall. Lower these bars, and you will trigger the last of this segment's teleport traps: up to 16 imps, four shotgun guys, four chaingunners and six Hell knights from both sides in close proximity. Lower the metal platform ahead, fend off the enemies and get out of there!

Exit

You are back in the corridor where you flipped the switch to lower the blue key. Head south to open the yellow bars, but equip your rocket launcher before doing so. When you open them, quickly retreat to the north - a trap in the south will have opened with up to six imps and a Hell knight (Ultra-Violence and above only). Clear it out and grab the supplies inside. Head back into the room beyond the yellow bars, pull out your plasma gun and flip the switch in the northeast.

You guessed it, another massive teleport trap. This time, three groups of up to six imps, two shotgun guys and two chaingunners will teleport in: one at the entrance to this room, one at the near end of the corridor, and one at the far end. Stand your ground and force your way out of the room when the enemy numbers have been thinned out.

Once again, head back to the middle of this corridor and flip either of the two satyr switch on the east wall to re-lower the platform you used to enter this corridor. Exit back into the blue key courtyard. The gate in the north will be open, allowing access to the exit area. There's mostly cannon fodder in this area, but the most important thing to do is to get your hands on the BFG9000 in the northeast of this area and equip it - you will need it soon.

The exit door is locked, so step into the teleporter in the west of this area. This takes you to an isolated room with four revenants facing away from you. Step off the teleport pad you are on and walls lower, revealing 12 (four of Hey, not too rough and below) mancubi facing you. This calls for immediate action. Use the BFG9000 to clear a corner, back into it and clear out another corner, and continue until all these monsters are dead. Flip the switch in the northwest, then take the teleporter in the southeast out of this area.

Unfortunately, the map still has one last teleport trap to throw at you. While you were busy handling the mancubi and revenants, up to 14 imps, four demons, four spectres, two Hell knights and a baron of Hell teleported into the exit area, and they're all probably clustering around the teleporter you return to the exit area in. Also, an arch-vile has been released from the exit chamber. Fortunately, you have your BFG9000 with you, so you can clear a path and take evasive action.

Head into the exit chamber and kill the two imps inside. Jump into the hole in the floor to exit this map.

Secrets

 * 1) Near the southernmost courtyard of the map, there's a switch to the east which opens the way to that courtyard. However, if you look north, you will see a lit satyr switch. If you step on the platform where the chaingunner was, you will reveal an unlit satyr switch. Shoot it quickly and doors will open up behind you revealing chaingunners. More importantly, one of the columns next to you has also opened, allowing you to get a soul sphere. (sector 102)
 * 2) In the southernmost courtyard, head on over to the eastern side behind the fountain of blood. Press on the brown wall with a light on it to get armor bonuses, energy cells, a box of bullets, a chainsaw, and a box of shotgun shells. (sector 551)
 * 3) After you open the big red door near the northern portion of the map, head through it all the way to the next door. Open it and in the next small room, examine the bookshelf on the right and it will reveal a teleporter. Enter it and press the satyr switch that is inside, then return through the teleporter. Go back through the hall you passed earlier, and opposite of the yellow bars, a wall has opened and you can get several supplies including a computer area map. (sector 652)

Bugs

 * The linedefs of one of the monster storage sectors for a teleport trap (northwest of the red key courtyard) have not been flagged as "not shown on automap". This must be presumed to be a mistake, since the rest of the monster storage sectors have their linedefs flagged as "not shown on automap".
 * 3 voodoo dolls are placed in control sectors (sectors 835, 861, 864), but do nothing as there are no triggers in their control sectors. It is unknown if they are a remnant of a previous design to trigger the teleport traps, or serve some other purpose.

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

Last updated on March 31, 2013.

Miscellaneous demos
Last updated on March 31, 2013.

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

Technical information
Voodoo doll-free delayed tripwire teleport traps

Some teleport traps on this level trigger only when the player crosses a particular line after performing another action. This is achieved without the use of voodoo dolls.

Each teleport line in the monster storage sector is blocked by two thin sectors which function as doors. The tripwire line is set to open the rear raised sector for one second, then close it. However, since the front sector is blocking the monsters, the monsters still cannot teleport. Performing the first action raises the front sector permanently. However, since the rear sector is still lowered, the monsters still cannot teleport. Only when the tripwire line is crossed again does the rear sector open, and one second is enough time for all the monsters, each with their own individual teleport line right in front of them, to access the teleport lines and teleport into the level.