E1M4: The Guard Tower (Heretic)

E1M4: The Guard Tower is the fourth level in the City of the Damned episode of Heretic.

Essentials
From the starting point, turn left and go outside, then turn right and follow the platform to collect the Gauntlets of the Necromancer. Turn around and go through the passage on your right, then west until you find yourself between the yellow door and a building containing barrels. Go into the building and pull the switch there, then go straight from the northern exit. Collect the Dragon Claw and clear the yellow key platform of monsters. Quickly run across the bridges to collect the yellow key, triggering a crushing ceiling. At this point, you may wish to explore the other buildings in the area to collect supplies. Notably, you will find an Ethereal Crossbow on the upper floor of the northwestern building. When you are ready, return to the yellow door and pass through. Immediately turn right and head straight up the stairs until you are blocked by a wooden wall. Drop down to the ground on your left and head south to a short, darkened passage. Go through and collect the green key in the barrel-strewn area beyond. Backtrack and go up the stairs, then make a U-turn to the right. Pass through the green door and climb the stairs to the exit. When you open the exit door, you will see, by the first time, a disciple of D'Sparil.

Official

 * 1) From the starting area, turn left and head towards where the Gauntlets of the Necromancer are. Before you reach them, you will see a wall with a falcon insignia to your left. Press it and it will lower. Drop down into the space that is opened and walk through the teleport to reach a secret area. (sector 42)

Non-official
The following hidden area does not give credit as a secret:


 * 1) Immediately behind you from the starting point, there is a secret door marked with a falcon insignia. Open it to find a Tome of Power. Collecting it triggers an ambush.

Bugs

 * Linedefs 368 and 474 have their upper textures on the wrong side. This produces a HOM over the top walls of the linedefs. The height difference of the neighboring sectors is eight map units.
 * Sidedefs 711, 736, 1,021, 1,284, 1,288, 1,290 and 1,753 all lack lower textures. The problems occur on linedefs that are shared by sectors of which floor level difference is eight units.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on March 17, 2023.

Player spawns
This level contains four spawn points:
 * 1) facing south-west. (thing 44)
 * 2) facing north. (thing 45)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 46)
 * 4) facing north-east. (thing 47)

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