Master Levels for Doom II

as featured in Super Serials

ATTACK	BLACKTWR	BLOODSEA	CANYON
CATWALK	COMBINE	FISTULA	GARRISON
GERYON	MANOR	MEPHISTO	MINOS
NESSUS	PARADOX	SUBSPACE	SUBTERRA
TEETH	TTRAP	VESPERAS	VIRGIL

ADDITIONAL WORKS OF THE MASTERS

Anderson	Flynn	Klie	Kvernmo	Mustaine	Willits
ACHERON	ANOMALY	BF_THUD!	ARENA	MM	DOOM
DANTE	ENIGMA	CDK_FURY	DERELICT	PERDGATE	KICKDM
DOOM	ETERNAL	CHRISK	ECHELON	TNT	RAVEN
RECANT	FARSIDE	DEVICE_1	ETERNAL	TWM01	STRIFE
	INTZONE	DMZ	FLOOD
	MINES	E_INSIDE	STORM
	ORACLE	HIVE	THE_EVIL
	SURROUND	SMUDGE	TODEATH
	TROUBLE	THE_CPU	WATCHTWR

This article serves as an index for my reviews of the Master Levels for Doom II as well as a brief overview of the relevant material as is my wont. Those wanting a far more thorough documentation of the Master Levels can find it here, containing interviews, walkthroughs, and other technical stuff. I'll try to hit the important notes. At least, I'll try to hit the notes that are important to me.

The Fistula (FISTULA.WAD)

THE FISTULA
by Christen David Klie

Of all the contributors to id's Master Levels for Doom II, Christen David Klie's are the most numerous, just barely edging out John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson and Sverre "Cranium" Kvernmo at a total of six. Like most of Klie's work, they're small levels, creating miniature adventures as opposed to large, performance-demanding landscapes. The Fistula is one of Klie's most constricting creations, only letting up on its claustrophobic sensibilities at the map's very end. It has a techbase texturing theme but its layout is fairly nonsensical, more like one of his earlier works.

The Combine (COMBINE.WAD)

THE COMBINE
by Christen David Klie

Christen David Klie had the good fortune to work on Blood as a contract designer with John "Dr. Sleep" Anderson early on in the project's history. When id contacted Anderson to contribute to their Master Levels for Doom II product, he made Klie aware of the situation, and I'm assuming Klie got in touch with id. While Klie made a grand total of twelve maps for inclusion, only six were accepted, The Combine numbering among them. It's a small, compact techbase-style level that show a marked improvement in mapping quality compared to Klie's earlier levels, showcased in CHRIS_K.WAD.

The Catwalk (CATWALK.WAD)

THE CATWALK
by Christen David Klie

Christen David Klie submitted twelve maps to be used in id's Master Levels for Doom II project. Six of these were accepted; the other six were released by Klie to Compuserve (and then later to the idgames archives). The Catwalk is one of the maps exclusive to the released product. It has no included story, but Klie never had any pretense of forming a barebones narrative beyond what's presented in the work. It's a small techbase-style level featuring a fairly symmetric layout, but it's a bit more nuanced than simple mirror images. The key feature of the map is, as the title implies, the eponymous catwalk, which spans a massive pit that dominates the center of the level.

Spire Complex (SPIREC.WAD)

Spire Complex is a nine-map replacement for Doom II by Callum Guy Oliver, aka Doomworld forum superstar phobosdeimos1. The .TXT asserts that the port is designed to work with any that supports extended DeHackEd patches. In reality, it's compatible with any Boom-compatible port, with one (somewhat major) caveat, but I'll get to that. It doesn't have much of a story, but from the sole intermission text, one can gather that the Spire Complex was breached by two demonic portals which the marine has been sent to shut down. Structurally, this divides the episode in to two sections. In MAP01-06, the marine fights his way through the base to shut down the first portal, battling its guardian, a powerful arachnotron. In MAP07-09, he is sent back in order to shut down the remaining gate.

Digon Base (DBASE.WAD)

Part two of Callum Guy Oliver's "Raw Action" series, Digon Base is a five map minisode for Doom II, designed for ZDoom. Like Oliver's Corebinder, the mapset features good ol' fashioned Doom II gameplay with sparing use of most of its monsters. Similarly, there's no given story, though the naming of the maps themselves suggest Doomguy's passage through various "provinces" before arriving at a gate. Are these sections of the eponymous Digon Base? Perhaps he's crashing a number of Hell-held outposts on the way to the base, his ultimate destination. Really, it's just speculation on my part. Let's get down to facts.

Corebinder (CBNDR.WAD)

Corebinder's subtitle is "Raw Action", and Callum Guy Oliver aka Doomworld forum superstar phobosdeimos1 delivers. This 4-map minisode for Doom II features some well-crafted map flow and gameplay. The biggest criticisms leveled at it are its lack of detail and substandard texturing. There are some misalignments, and Oliver uses the DOORTRAK texture in places I'm not used to seeing it, but Doom II's core gameplay remains, tightly packed into four small-to-medium-size maps. Granted, because of some goofs, it's a ZDoom-only WAD, but you aren't allergic to ZDoom, are you?

Doom Core (DCV.WAD)

Michael Jan Krizik (aka Doomworld forum superstar valkiriforce) made a bunch of Boom maps during 2010. He polished the results, stripped them down to vanilla, mixed in some rejects from other projects, and combined them into a megaWAD called Doom Core. Krizik makes no effort to hide his influences; he's a child of '95-'96 mapping sensibilities, drawing from such authors as Chris Klie and Jim Flynn. He claims it's done in the Doom II mapping style, and while that may be true in terms of gameplay, aesthetically it's in a bit of a different boat. It's also heartening that, while people were playtesting Doom Core, he continued to push out quality work. Reverie, a WAD explicitly patterned after '96-era community WADs, enjoyed a 2011 release as well. In this way, he also appears to channel that unrestrained enthusiasm present in '96-'97 mappers.