E2M2: Proving Grounds (No End In Sight)

E2M2: Proving Grounds is the second map of episode The Depths of Doom of No End In Sight. It was designed by Emil Brundage (NaturalTvventy).

Essentials
Take the shotgun then walk through the doorway to get outside; the doorway will seal behind you. Turn left and step into an enclosed area with a tan floor (there will be a megaarmor here on I'm Too Young to Die (ITYTD) and Hey Not Too Rough (HNTR) skill level, or an armor on Hurt Me Plenty) then walk through the vine wall that opens in front of you to enter a passage leading to two teleporters. Push past the monsters in the passage and step on the right-hand (lower) teleporter to be sent to a long tunnel that ends with two cacodemons guarding the red keycard.

After taking the red key, lower the lift behind it and ride this up to the start point then open the brown wall in the south-east corner so you can get outside again. Go to the south-east corner and head down the stairs to an area with several fences, then head east towards a brown wall which will open to reveal one or more spectres. Step through the wall then follow a passage south, past some alcoves containing a chaingun and several shotgun guys, to some platforms over nukage and step over them to a ledge with the yellow keycard which is guarded by a baron of Hell.

With the yellow key, drop into the nukage and head north up some steps, then turn left to confront one or more demons guarding a door requiring the red key. Go through it and step through the doorway on your left to enter a room with a dirt floor, then blow up the barrels in the dark south-west corner and step into it; this will open a wall in front of you revealing demons, but also reveal a switch in a room to the east. Go into this room and flip the newly-revealed switch on the north wall to raise a bridge over the nukage behind you, kill the cacodemons that are revealed on the opposite side then cross the bridge and pass through the exit door on your left. Flip the switch on your left to finish the level.

Other points of interest
Instead of stepping on the teleporter to the red key, step on the higher teleporter next to it to enter a small room with health bonuses. The teleporter in this room will send you to a passage in the west corner of the level leading to a chaingun.

After lowering the lift next to the red key, you can step past it to enter a room that holds a supercharge on ITYTD and HNTR.

There is a door near the stairs in the south-east corner of the level that requires the blue key, which you can acquire by pressing the skull switches in secrets #1 and #2. Go through the door to find a plasma gun on ITYTD and HNTR, or a rocket launcher on higher skill levels.

Secrets

 * 1) The room containing the blue key has two switches near the key. Press the one on the right to open the cell on the left side of the nearby room, which contains a medikit and a box of rockets. A switch in here raises a step up to the blue key platform. Make sure that when you press the right switch to open up the secret you do not press the left switch as well (this one opens secret #2), as if you have not reached secret #2 beforehand, then by entering this secret you will close off secret #2 permanently and subsequently secret #3 will be closed off as well. (sector 200)
 * 2) The room containing the blue key has two switches near the key. Press the one on the left to open the cell on the right side of the nearby room, which contains a medikit and an armor. A switch in here lowers the blue key platform. Make sure that when you press the left switch to open up the secret you do not press the right switch as well (this one opens secret #1), as if you have not reached secret #1 beforehand, then by entering this secret you will close off secret #1 permanently and subsequently secret #3 will be closed off as well. (sector 209)
 * 3) To get the blue key, you need to press the switches in secrets #1 and #2 to raise a step and lower the blue key platform. Read the instructions for secrets #1 and #2 to ensure you will not miss out on this secret. (sector 244)
 * 4) On the left-most side of the map, you may spot two boxes of bullets on a high ledge (plus a rocket launcher and a partial invisibility on ITYTD and HNTR). A switch near this high ledge opens a door above. Press this switch and press on the nearby wall with silver bars around it, which will reveal a demonic face. Now return up the step and back north, entering a vine-covered shack, then head up the steps to the new opening. By collecting the boxes of bullets, the demonic face opens up and the ledge lowers. The area behind the demonic face with monsters and a megaarmor counts as the secret. (sector 192)
 * 5) If you have the red key, open the door near secret #4 for a passage. (sector 91)
 * 6) If you have both the red and blue keys, follow the passage in secret #5 all the way to the room with two backpacks and a rocket. The northern marble wall is a blue door revealing more of a passage. (sector 290)
 * 7) If you have all three keys, continue down the passage mentioned in secret #6 to a room with two armor bonuses and a stimpack. In this room, open the wall here to reveal cacodemons (plus a baron on Ultra-Violence or higher), a computer area map, a plasma gun and a supercharge. Where the computer map is, you can walk through the wall with many faces to leave. (sector 286)
 * 8) Right next to the exit switch, you can lower the wall to the south and walk through the spine to find a berserk pack and a chainsaw. (sector 328)

Bugs
When lowering the wall with the candle next to it In the Eastern part of the map, the fireblu texture causes the game to crash on the unity port version.

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

Miscellaneous demos
This information was last verified in its entirety on August 5, 2021.

Player spawns
This level contains sixteen spawn points:
 * 1) facing south-east. (thing 373)
 * 2) facing south-east. (thing 374)
 * 3) facing south-west. (thing 375)
 * 4) facing west. (thing 376)
 * 5) facing east. (thing 377)
 * 6) facing west. (thing 378)
 * 7) facing west. (thing 379)
 * 8) facing north-west. (thing 380)
 * 9) facing north. (thing 381)
 * 10) facing west. (thing 382)
 * 11) facing east. (thing 383)
 * 12) facing north. (thing 384)
 * 13) facing north. (thing 385)
 * 14) facing north. (thing 386)
 * 15) facing north. (thing 387)
 * 16) facing east. (thing 388)

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