Chasm: The Rift - Secrets Guide

Screenshot assisted guide for locating all the secrets. Heavy on images.

The Story / Foreword

Humankind, in the process of evolution, has encountered a mysterious phenomenon - the destruction of the normal flow of time. From the past to the future, time rifts are forming in Earth's atmosphere. These rifts lead to different periods of history. Through them the most aggressive creatures from the past, present, and the future, have begun to infiltrate our time. These mutants, known as Timestrikers, have begun a complete and systemic eradication of all human life.
You are a specially trained commando who has been volunteered to investigate a recent attack by the Timestrikers. Utilizing an arsenal of devastating weapons and mysterious items from the past and the future, you have been authorized to terminate any mutant creatures that attempt to obstruct your investigation.
Each assignment gets you closer to the heart of your goal. A mission briefing gets you moving in the right direction, but it's up to you to carry out your orders. Grab your weapon and report to the Commander immediately!

The text above is copied from the official manual, as it is not supplied with the installation. For those interested, the manual can be found over at Replacement Docs.[www.replacementdocs.com]

Chasm: The Rift features a total of 20 secrets across its five episodes. Finding all of them grants the player 'Every Nook and Cranny' achievement. Since the secrets in question have separate trackers, it is possible to gather them over two or more runs - i.e. there is no need to find them all in a single, continuous run. Therefore it is advised to go through the game without the guide to not miss out the fun of discovering the secrets by yourself. Just make sure you make manual saves in different slots at the start of each level - this way you can utilize the guide for confirmation and quickly grab the ones you miss by returning to the relevant levels.

There is no 'in-HUD' (or per level) tracker for the secrets (à la Quake) but thankfully the devs behind the re-release implemented an 'overall' tracker with the first patch, that can be seen on the pause menu. Every secret that can be considered 'official' prints out a console message ('You found a secret area!'), yet the tracker is lost permanently once you get the related achievement.

This guide lists all 20 secrets that are required for the achievement, as well as 12 extras which can be considered 'points of interest', for lack of a better term. The screenshots within the guide are taken on Normal difficulty. Note that even though the enemy count and placement differ between difficulty levels, the actual secrets and the contents of them remain the same (yet some of the 'extras' are not available on Easy).

On another note, 7 of the levels (out of the 19, including the expansion pack) do not feature any discernible secrets thus they are not mentioned in the guide proper. In case you only want to know where to look for each secret, here is a run-down of all the levels as divided by episode:

Episode 1: The Condemnation            M01  The Power Station               01|02
 4 secrets                             M02  The Military Base               03|04
                                       M03  The Underground Base            -
                                       M04  The Pit of Sarcophagus          -
Episode 2: In Search of Inception      M05  Dead River                      -
 0 secrets                             M06  Underdune                       -
                                       M07  The Tomb of Death               -
                                       M08  The Curse of Pharaohs           -
Episode 3: The Shadow Zone             M09  The City of Dander              05|06|07|08|09
 6 secrets                             M10  The Fortress of Desolation      -
                                       M11  Subterranean Horror             -
                                       M12  Phantom's Keep                  10
Episode 4: The Stronghold of Evil      M13  The Weird Dimension             11|12
 8 secrets                             M14  Forsaken in Time                13|14|15
                                       M15  Abreast with Terror             16|17|18
                                       M16  Beyond Reality                  -
Episode 5: Expansion Pack              M17  Cold Trail                      -
 2 secrets                             M18  Castle Moidodyr                 19|20
                                       M19  Bonifaciy's Lair                -

* The levels that come with the expansion pack actually re-use the map slots 1 to 3.
  They are only titled M17 to M19 here for the sake of continuity within the guide.

Thanks to my pal Muckelchen for his help on discerning the 'official' secrets.

E1: The Condemnation

M01: THE POWER STATION

01 - Look for a barrel and an opening behind it near the helipad. Destroy the barrel or simply jump over it to reach the room with a double health in the middle.

02 - Following on from the previous secret, explore the tunnels further to find an armor suit.

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M02: THE MILITARY BASE

03 - Right after going through the gates, shoot the panel to the left to reveal an armor suit.

EX - In the room adjacent to the refrigerator, shoot the panels to the right to find a double health.

04 - Still in the same room, shoot the panels on the opposite side and continue to the area beyond. Shoot the two grates you come across as you follow the path to find an armor suit.

EX - Pick up the helmet as you backtrack through the blue-tinted corridor after you pull down the switch found at the other end.

EX - In the warehouse, make your way to the invisibility power-up tucked away on the corner by utilizing the nearby crates.

EX - Get the helmet from the newly-revealed compartment to the back of the elevator before exiting the level.

E2: In Search of Inception

M06: UNDERDUNE

EX - As you make your way back to the tomb after picking up the ankh, explore the tunnels thoroughly to find a double health and an armor suit.

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M07: THE TOMB OF DEATH

EX - Cross the lava pit, turn around and pull the switches found in the compartments on both sides. Return to the pit and collect the double health and the volcano ammo from the left alcove.

EX - Still in the pit, collect the grenader and the ammo found in the other alcove and pull down the lever within. Doing so lets you collect the otherwise unreachable reflector power-up that can be seen in another alcove in the following area.

EX - Before leaving the room with the hanging zombies, loot the nearby stash.

E3: The Shadow Zone

M09: THE CITY OF DANDER

05 - Jump through one of the two windows found in the abode near the starting point to reach a rather expansive side area. Battle it out to the building on the northwest that houses two wheels to turn. Shoot the rock-textured wall in the final room to reveal a hidden compartment with an armor suit, a bladegun and lots of ammo inside.

06 - Once you are in the inn, look for an armor suit on the lower floor. Destroy the already damaged part of the wall next to the stairs in the same room with your grenader to find a mega destroyer and some ammo.

07 - Look for a book to pull in the library to open up the stash found in the nearby tunnels.

08 - Just as above, look for another book to pull in the second library you come across to reveal a hidden compartment with a double health inside.

09 - Once in the temple, look for a crucifix in the same room with the key to the city gates. Press it allow access to the nearby armor suit.

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M10: THE FORTRESS OF DESOLATION

EX - As soon as you drop down to the waste tunnels, turn left and grab the double health.

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M11: SUBTERRANEAN HORROR

EX - After picking up the gold key, pull the lever found before the door that requires it and return to the adjacent room to pick up the now accessible mega destroyer and some ammo.

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M12: PHANTOM'S KEEP

10 - Just before passing the 'magical' bridge that leads to the boss, turn around and shoot the part of the wall between the two torches to reveal a hidden alcove.

E4: The Stronghold of Evil

M13: THE WEIRD DIMENSION

11 - The moment you step outside, you come across two switches on the opposite wall behind the glass. The left one opens up the next door. Shoot the right one first, return to the starting room and pick up the newly revealed double health.

12 - Following on from the previous secret, turn right at the next hall and shoot the panel at the end to reveal a reflector power-up.

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M14: FORSAKEN IN TIME

13 - Two mincers (one on Easy) come out of the closet behind it as you pick up the super shotgun near the starting area. Kill them and shoot the panel in the middle to reveal a stash of ammo.

14 - After making your way out of the red keycard maze, a nearby compartment with a double health inside becomes accessible.

15 - In the room with the circular pillar, shoot the panel next to the switch to reach the armor suit residing behind the fan.

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M15: ABREAST WITH TERROR

16 - In the hall with crates, jump over the barrels stashed in the corner and follow the path to find a hidden chojin mask power-up and a box of shells.

17 - Still in the same area, go through the crate filled hall once more after pulling the switch found in the central room. Shoot the newly revealed switch above the two crates at the very end. Return to the teleporter hub and step into the northeast one to reach a side area with an armor suit, a grenader and a health pack.

18 - Once more in the teleporter hub, this time go through the southeastern portal and stick to the right wall as you are sucked through the vacuum to reach a hidden stash.

E5: Expansion Pack

M18: CASTLE MOIDODYR

19 - As you traverse southeastern corridor, shoot the lit part of the wall to your right to reveal a hidden room with a chojin mask power-up and some ammo.

20 - As you ascend the stairs that lead to the red keycard, look for a switch to your right and shoot it to reveal a hidden compartment in which a mega destroyer resides.

Every Nook and Cranny
Find all the secret rooms and hidden items.

The achievement for finding all the secrets should unlock at this point.

EX - Picking up the red keycard triggers an ambush from behind. The closet in question also has an invisibility power-up within. Make your way back to the floor above and grab it.

EX - Before exiting the level, pull the lever in the same room once more and make your way back to the starting area through the northern halls. The stash that is otherwise barred by the door should now be accessible.

Afterword / Extras

Since I am not fond of how the default artwork and logo look on the game's library tab, I made a custom background from one of the hi-res artworks I stumbled upon Riot Pixels[en.riotpixels.com] and opted for the logo uploaded by Xxiom to SteamGridDB[www.steamgriddb.com]. If you like the look exampled by the above shot and would like to change yours, the package that contains both of the images is available for download here.[drive.google.com]

The original release of Chasm: The Rift features a CDDA soundtrack consisting of 9 tracks composed by Alex Kot. The Steam re-release preserves these tracks in .flac format. They can be found in the game's directory (..\data\music) and can be listened out of the game as long as one has a method for playing the tracks in the said format. For archival purposes however, I converted the tracks to 320kbps .mp3's, re-ordered them to in-game proper and added a full set of tags alongside embedded artwork. The package is available for download here.[drive.google.com]

As of October 2022, there are two user-made map packs already available for the game: Grim Borough by Jezzah_KP, a three-map set that keeps up with the medieval theme as seen in the original's E3, and Cursed Land by racx_00, a four-map set that tries its hand with all the available themes and goes for a more DOOM-like approach by setting the player against a greater number of enemies mixed together from different time periods. Both are enjoyable in their own right and together can provide up to 1.5 hours of extra Chasm fun.

Of the two, Cursed Land is already updated by its author to be playable under the re-release. Simply download it from its ModDB page found here and follow the instructions.

On the other hand, the initial version of Grim Borough offered on its ModDB page is not ready for the re-release and needs moving lots of files around, as well as making changes to its custom .inf file. To save those interested from the hassle, I prepared an unofficial repack for GB that is ready to play at an instant. The repack (which also includes the original package from the author) is available for download here.[drive.google.com] To play, simply unzip it to the game's installation directory, double click on the provided .bat file and confirm when Steam asks you in a pop-up about launching the game with the given parameters.

Fellow player Emotional Damage took the time to create another secrets guide that covers the ones found in Grim Borough and Cursed Land:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878036132

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'Is this the end... or just the beginning?'

[DiaBomb]

Small correction to the soundtrack: There isn't any data folder inside the game files. Probably got changed after this guide was written, as now all the data is inside the file called csm.bin. 7-zip can open this file and inside this bin file is, among many other folders, a music folder with the FLAC files inside. For anyone curious, the FLAC files are on average 550 kbit/s in 24 bits surprisingly.

[postmortem]

good guide

[Mostly Harmless]

Just got the achievement thanks to this guide, thanks, it was a big help.

[Rui]

Good job, thanks! I got only 11 on my 1st playthrough.

[Plasma SKX]

Nice

[SAmik37]

Thank you once again!..