The KZDOOM Series

THE KZDOOM SERIES
by Kurt Kesler

as featured in Serial Killing

KZDOOM1	KZDOOM2	KZDOOM3
KZDOOM4	KZDOOM5	KZDOOM6
	KZDOOM7

Kurt Kesler was a pretty prolific author who eagerly embraced several source port standards, cementing him as an early adopter and experimenter. Most of his levels were made for the original Doom and collected in KMEGA1 but he also horsed around with the Boom format as per KBOOM and, on a few occasions, source-port agnostic (limit-removing) as in KHILLS. KZDOOM is, you guessed it, his series of levels for Marisa Heit's ZDoom. This seven-level collection was published over a period of time spanning 1999 to 2001 with the unfinished scraps of KZDOOM8 released in his k-maps collection in 2003.

KZDOOM7: The Power Plant (KZDOOM7.WAD)

KZDOOM7

THE POWER PLANT

by Kurt Kesler

Kurt Kesler made a bunch of maps. The vast majority of them were released as single entries but he eventually gathered up all of his vanilla levels into a collection - KMEGA. The others had names as befits their target ports: KBOOM for Boom, of course; KZDOOM for ZDoom; and KHILLS for... limit-removing? KZDoom7, internally titled as "The Power Plant", is his final solo ZDoom release and a MAP01 replacement for Doom II. There was a number eight in the works but the author did not finish it at the time he released k-maps in 2003. This isn't the last level by Kurt; he continued to work on two larger projects, Frenzy DM and Ni'mRoD - IXNAY on the HOMBRE, before Still Kickin' in 2005.

KZDOOM6: Hidden Valley of the Aliens (KZDOOM6.WAD)

KZDOOM6
HIDDEN VALLEY OF
THE ALIENS
by Kurt Kesler

Boom appealed to Doom PWAD authors with several advanced features, like BEX, custom color maps, silent teleporters, and "limit removal". Kesler was one of many mappers that experimented with TNT's engine when it became available, producing his KBOOM series of maps in 1998. It was only natural that when the ZDoom engine came along with several more advancements, chief among them ACS scripting a la Hexen, Kesler would try it out, too. KZDOOM6 is the penultimate entry in the self-explanatory KZDOOM series, a MAP01 replacement released in 2000. While the valley setting is pretty much a commonality of his later works, the brick and mortar structures built into the landscape are not.

KZDOOM5: The Evil Place (KZDOOM5.WAD)

KZDOOM5
THE EVIL PLACE
by Kurt Kesler

If you're looking for Kurt Kesler's vanilla levels, they're all collected in KMEGA1. His Boom maps weren't, but they're neatly organized as the KBOOM series. There are also a few limit-removing maps as the short-lived KHILLS series, an attempt at source port agnostic levels from when Kesler got badgered into briefly abandoning Boom. They must have wailed during his final run of PWADs, since the KZDOOM series is even more selective than Boom insofar as what maps made for it will run in. KZDOOM5 aka "The Evil Place" is something of a return to form after KZDOOM4. The previous map was a brick and wood castle theme that Kesler rarely played with as he found it difficult to get in to. This one is a big ass industrial complex set in a giant lake of slag.

KZDOOM4: Castle of the Damned (KZDOOM4.WAD)

KZDOOM4
CASTLE OF THE DAMNED
by Kurt Kesler

After Kurt Kesler tackled the tricks of vanilla and Boom mapmaking, he moved on to the newest advanced source port in development - ZDoom. KZDOOM has seven entries spanning from 1999 to 2001; KZDOOM4 goes by "Castle of the Damned" and as such is part of an anomaly in Kesler's career. Kurt usually stuck to techbases and metal and the mountain wilderness that surrounds the UAC's isolated structures. This map belongs to the less-explored theme of wood and brick, including several small gothic outposts and a trip to the bowels of Hell. Kesler has opted not to give you any context for your adventure, leaving any justification to the player's imagination.

KZDOOM3: The Alien Water Theives (KZDOOM3.WAD)

KZDOOM3
THE ALIEN WATER THEIVES
by Kurt Kesler

Kurt Kesler made a lot of maps spanning from 1997 to 2000. The dude was pretty much a wizard when it came to Doom mapping, but was more of a single-release author; KMEGA1 only exists as something of a vanilla career retrospective, not that he stuck to any set of design specs for long enough to make a cohesive megaWAD. There are seven KZDOOM levels, all of which were made toward the end of his career, when he started earnestly polishing his maps before release. KZDOOM3 is, obviously enough, the third level in the series, released for Doom II in 2000 alongside KZDOOM4. This time, the demons - err, aliens - have set up some kind of a water pumping facility and it's up to you to shut it down.

KZDOOM2: Cacodemons Revenge (KZDOOM2.WAD)

KZDOOM2
CACODEMONS REVENGE
by Kurt Kesler

First, there were the vanilla Kesler maps, collected in KMEGA1. Then came the KBOOM levels, which Kesler almost discontinued due to bitching about his mapping for Boom, but wisely ignored. Finally, KZDOOM, where Kurt fudges around with ZDoom's advanced features. KZDOOM2 is - duh - the second of Kesler's experiments, this one with the unusual distinction of a title - "Cacodemons Revenge". There's actually a tiny intro and outro to this effect, plus a seemingly never-ending trickle of big red balls, so as far as story goes Kesler has absolutely delivered, with the exception that the cacodemons do not get their revenge. You're the fuckin' Doom marine, after all. If you played KZDOOM1 and had your stomach turn at some of the monster and sound changes, don't despair. The only real thing change here is the faster shotgun.