Master Levels and Speculation

John Romero released a boatload of dev shit for Doom and Doom II, furthering the already intimate understandings of Doom's development history into previously uncharted depths. A lot of this stuff is tangentially interesting to me, but I'm not someone to go gaga over the pornographic details of how Doom was made unless it turns up something Not Yet Seen, like those art assets. One of the things uncovered during this asset dump is a file that contains at the very least this list of .WAD and .TXT names, which shows an inarguable connection to the Master Levels For Doom II.

Maximum Doom

Doomed indeed. When id published the Master Levels for Doom II (release them as freeware already, you dicks!), they decided to do their own shovelware compilation, the now infamous Maximum Doom. The execution seems just as sloppy as any of the non-id PWAD scrapes, with missing .TXT files, Doom originals that were "converted" to Doom II via a cold, unfeeling utility, and amusing oversights like the inclusion of Heretic maps. I will say that it's a pretty good snapshot of what the user community was like at the time, a hot mess of sector savants and simpletons coming together in a blood tornado.

Since enough people have asked, I've decided to dip my toes in and see how the other half lives. I grabbed a copy of Maximum Doom and a utility by Matias Nahuel Carballo, called "Pick Me!". This won't be a regular thing, but I'm going to spin the wheel and write up the nine PWADs that come up. I won't be giving deathmatch levels proper reviews, and there's actually some overlap between the PWADs that I've already played and the stuff that's on Maximum Doom, so I'll give some brief summaries and link their reviews. Of invaluable worth is Funduke's Maximum Doom Reference guide. I'll be consulting it against every entry; some may consider the author to be the patron saint of /idgames dogshit, but I can't help but appreciate his stalwart chronicling of Doom's early days.

Also, while I'm sure it's an essential part of the Maximum Doom experience, I'm not going to play the shitty conversions unless I absolutely have to. Using Funduke's guide I've tracked down the originals, and that's what the reviews will be written on.

Anyway, on with the show!


Maximum Doom, Part 1: LEDGES2, SHADOWS2, BLT2, INFINITY, SQUID22, SPUNK, DEJAVU, ZEUS2, XENO112 (plus SQUID and TRENCH)

Black Tower (BLACKTWR.WAD)

BLACK TOWER
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

Black Tower is the final map of the Cabal series to be included in id's Master Levels for Doom II. In the storyline, you're nearing the end of your long journey, this time confronting the lord of the Black Tower, former friend and Cyberdemon Chagrin, who leads the forces of Hell you once commanded. All you have to do is climb the Tower, the nexus of all of Hell's black magic and supernatural forces, slay your buddy, and escape. It's a task easier said than done, of course, as the Black Tower is more fully staffed than any entrenchment of the Cabal to date (except maybe the Temple of Death).

Mephisto's Maosoleum (MEPHISTO.WAD)

MEPHISTO'S MAOSOLEUM
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

Mephisto's Maosoleum is another MAP07 replacement for id's Master Levels for Doom II by Sverre Andre Kvernmo. However, where the previous map (Bloodsea Keep) made no specific use of tag 666, this map (like "Dead Simple") is based around it. In the context of the Cabal series, the player (the previous ruler of Hell, ousted by his own advisers) wanders across the tomb of his old mentor, Mephisto, the head of the Cabal prior to the main character. Apparently, though Mephisto had been ousted and slain, his spirit still sat on the council, and he was in on your betrayal. Accordingly, when you happen upon his grave, you decide to exact revenge by laying both body and mind to rest.

Master Levels on Steam

Over the past few months you'll have noticed my focus on id's Master Levels for Doom II, consisting of 20 individual PWADs by six different authors. The maps enjoy a wide variety of difficulty and size as well as aesthetics as befits such a collection. I was preparing to write a full retrospective highlighting the package itself to flesh out its current page under the Features section of the blog, which intended to answer the question of whether these maps are worth your cold hard cash. And, uh, that's a tough question to answer. The package isn't available as an individual purchase on Steam, and in the two packs it's included in (the Doom Pack Complete and the id Super Pack) it's separately listed at $69.99 and $34.99, respectively, before package discounts.

I have no idea what's going on here. Is that a pricing gaffe? Is it supposed to be $6.99 and $3.49? I could have sworn that was the price range I saw it at back when I bought the id Super Pack a few years ago. Possible explanations:

• It is indeed a pricing gaffe, and it's supposed to be listed at a tenth of the estimated price. (plausible)
• It is not a pricing gaffe, but has legitimate reasons for being priced at $70 (ha!)
• It is not a pricing gaffe, and its unavailability outside of the packs suggests that its inflated listing price allows them to claim a greater discount (plausible, but shady)

I don't know the reality of the situation, only the appearance. That said, under current conditions I wouldn't recommend buying the Master Levels for Doom II. Even if you ignore the suspicious pricing, it's only available as part of a package deal. If you don't have any (or most) of the included games already, then yeah, go for it. The difference assuming reasonable pricing is a 50% deal as opposed to a 75% one, at least for the Doom Pack. 

The Express Elevator to Hell (TEETH.WAD)

THE EXPRESS ELEVATOR TO HELL
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

The Express Elevator to Hell is perhaps the most notorious map contained within id's Master Levels for Doom II, if not for its difficulty then for containing the only secret map which Kvernmo apparently snuck under the radar, judging by Shawn Green's comments. TEETH.WAD replaces MAP31 and 32; 31, of course, is the main event, the elevator ride. MAP32 is "Bad Dream", a fairly well-documented secret map that will be covered at the end of this review. The story so far: The Cabal has realized that you're a force to be reckoned with, human or not, and elects to ambush you on your elevator ride to the deepest pits of Hell.

Bloodsea Keep (BLOODSEA.WAD)

BLOODSEA KEEP
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

Sverre Kvernmo was a late addition to id's Master Levels for Doom II project. He sought out id and sent them a batch of maps for admission, and after one of the designers (still unknown) was let go, Kvernmo was in. All of his submissions came from a megaWAD he had in development, entitled The Cabal. The plot is simple. You were once the biggest and baddest Cyberdemon, the ruler of the Cabal, the organization that governed the underworld. They turned on you, though, ousting and dismantling you, finally transforming you into a human. In Bloodsea Keep, a MAP07 replacement for Doom II, you emerge from the sea into which you were cast, intent on exacting revenge on your treacherous brethren, beginning with the arch-vile, Veavitdpoh, who just so happens to rule the Keep.

Trapped on Titan (TTRAP.WAD)

TRAPPED ON TITAN
by Jim Flynn

Where Titan Manor was an example of an adventure based within a single, large structure, focusing on puzzle-oriented gameplay, Trapped on Titan is a longer, combat-oriented adventure through a number of settings. It's got some puzzles, to be sure, but they're more intuitive, with the enemies providing the real challenge. Jim Flynn gave the two Titan maps from id's Master Levels for Doom II no canonical order, but I'd like to believe that Titan Manor portrays the marine infiltrating Titan to steal the alien technology, while Trapped on Titan involves escaping the forces of Hell after succeeding. Like Titan Manor, it uses Anderson's starry sky to separate its setting from Doom II's setting.

Titan Manor (MANOR.WAD)

TITAN MANOR
by Jim Flynn

Jim Flynn has a grand total of two submissions in id's Master Levels for Doom II. They compose the beginning of his Titan series, a set of maps occurring on Saturn's moon. In Titan Manor, a MAP01 replacement, the marine is sent to an alien building on Titan with the intent of recovering some highly-advanced technology, with which the Federation (the nebulous organization for which the marine works) expects to make incredible scientific advancements. It's a smaller map than Flynn's usual fare, and has unprecedented unity in texturing themes, I'm guessing a product of working with id.

Vesperas (VESPERAS.WAD)

VESPERAS
by John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson

Vesperas is the final canto of Anderson's included in id's Master Levels for Doom II, a replacement for MAP09. The eighth canto, Chiron, found its way into id's Thy Flesh Consumed as E4M7, "And Hell Followed', and the final canto, Lethe, in which Dante would presumably have encountered Satan, remains unfinished. The only clue to which circle of Hell this level represents is its name, which Sleep notes in the text means "evening ceremony", alternatively vespers. It could in theory be the ninth circle of Hell, where the betrayers are punished, but it doesn't really resemble the freezing ruin of Cocytus. The only thing I can tie Vesperas to is the War of the Vespers, a civil war which occurred in Dante's lifetime (rebelling against French rule) and which figured heavily into his life experiences, indeed resulting in his eventual exile.

Geryon (GERYON.WAD)

GERYON
by John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson

Dante and Virgil appear to be moving at a more human pace. Where exactly this takes place isn't quite documented as Anderson has ditched the little asides of the travelers at this point. The eponymous character is Geryon, the embodiment of fraud, on whose back Dante and Virgil descend toward the eighth circle of Hell (Fraud). As such, this could be a journey to meet Geryon, or Dante's sojourn through the circle of Fraud after arriving. It's not altogether clear, though given that Anderson wanted to spend each of his "cantos" highlighting a specific portion of Hell leads me to believe that this is indeed the eighth.

Nessus (NESSUS.WAD)

NESSUS
by John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson

Having spent the past two cantos in the outer area of Dante's Inferno (the first and second circles of Limbo and Lust, respectively), Anderson fast-forwards to the seventh circle, Violence (passing Gluttony, Greed, Anger and Heresey). It's just as well, or the project would never have finished within the nine cantos Anderson restricted himself to (not that he actually ever finished!). The only hint as to where this takes place is its title and inclusion of Nessus, a centaur from mythology who in Alighieri's work guides Virgil and Dante down and across the Phlegethon (Dante's own Canto XII). Anderson's brief rendition of the event is rather humorous.

Minos' Judgement (MINOS.WAD)

MINOS' JUDGEMENT
by John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson

Minos' Judgement is the fourth canto in John Anderson's Inferno series, five maps of which were released as part of id's Master Levels for Doom II. Somewhat based on the first book of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, it follows Dante's journey through Hell in search of his love, Beatrice, with color commentary by Dante's friend, the poet, Virgil. It's merely a framework for the action of the maps, which don't really lend themselves to that kind of storytelling. It's appreciated, though, as it helps to firmly establish a sense of place for the activity of the levels.

Virgil's Lead (VIRGIL.WAD)

VIRGIL'S LEAD
by John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson

Prior to being contracted as a designer for id's Master Levels for Doom II, Anderson had two publicly released maps for Doom, Dante's Gate and Crossing Acheron. They are parts one and two of his Inferno series; cantos one and two, if you will. Thankfully, Anderson released cantos three through seven as part of the Master Levels. The series is loosely based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, if Dante were a space marine whose girlfriend disappeared during an attack by the forces of Hell, and Virgil was his Moorcock-esque drugged out space hippy sidekick. None of this really shows itself through the maps, but it's a cute concept.

Canyon (CANYON.WAD)

CANYON
by Tim Willits and Theresa Chasar

While Tim Willits’s sister, Theresa Chasar, helped out in design for ATTACK and CANYON for id’s Master Levels for Doom II, CANYON.WAD is the only Master Level where she gets that specific credit (considering she also helped design E4M5 of Ultimate Doom, I suppose this is her one official id credit). Canyon has no official story, but anyone can guess from its title that it involves a crevasse biting into a planet’s crust.

Attack (ATTACK.WAD)

ATTACK
by Tim Willits and Theresa Chasar

Tim Willits got id’s attention with the release of the Raven series, an episode for Doom II consisting of Doom maps that had been converted over as well as some created in tandem with his sister, Theresa Chasar. id contracted him to create some maps for their Master Levels for Doom II project, which he designed in tandem with his sibling. I don’t know if Willits has any Master Levels rejects floating around his hard drive; if some existed at any point, only Attack and Canyon remain. Attack is a small MAP01 replacement, a mixture of techbase and urbane brick themes to create a small fortress.

ParadoX (PARADOX.WAD)

PARADOX
by Tom Mustaine

Subterra (SUBTERRA.WAD)

SUBTERRA
by Christen David Klie

According to a post by the man himself on the Doomworld forums, Chris Klie's Subspace and Subterra were more or less two parts of a small series, with Subspace coming first and Subterra second. Both, of course, are maps from id's Master Levels for Doom II, and would have been joined by a third map, Subderma. Sadly, we have only the first two parts, the full trilogy itself less likely to materialize than Mordeth. As indicated by its name, the vast majority of Subterra takes place underground. The end result is a network of very brown caverns and tunnels.

Subspace (SUBSPACE.WAD)

SUBSPACE
by Christen David Klie

Most of Christen David Klie's submissions to id's Master Levels for Doom II use a pretty simple naming scheme, "The XXXX". Subspace is one of the few maps that breaks this trend. I'd like to think I know what you're saying right now. "Wow, this guy must be stretching to come up with different ways to start informative reviews for six levels with the same backstories." You're right! I am! And Klie made six more maps for the Master Levels that didn't even make it into the project! Whatever, dude / dudette. Subspace is in a techbase/outdoors style, mashing the two together, which creates alternating themes that help break up the scenery into more digestible pieces.

The Garrison (GARRISON.WAD)

THE GARRISON
by Christen David Klie

Of the 20 (21) maps present in id's Master Levels for Doom II, Christen David Klie submitted six, outnumbering any other contributor. Indeed, if one considers all of the Doom and Doom II maps created by each Master Levels author, Klie has been the most prolific of them all, with authors Jim Flynn and Tom Mustaine considerably far behind. Part of this is due to Klie's mapping style which favors smaller, less architecturally complex maps. The Garrison is one of his contracted works. It's more of a castle-themed level, using wood, stone and featuring lots of nukage and water in the lower portions.