Master Levels for Doom II

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Master Levels for Doom II box.
Magazine advert for the Master Levels for Doom II.
Master Levels for Doom II CD, from the Depths of Doom collection.

The Master Levels for Doom II were released on December 26, 1995 by id Software as an expansion pack for Doom II. It was also included as a bonus on the Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Xbox game disc in 2005, and in Doom Classic Complete on PSN. The PlayStation version of Final Doom includes 13 levels from the Master Levels.

The CD contains twenty WAD files created by various authors under contract. The file TEETH.WAD contains a secret level, so there are a total of 21 levels. To ease playing these WADs, the collection also includes Doom-It, an application created by Chris Badger for id Software which allows the individual WADs to be loaded through a menu interface.

As a bonus, a poster and 1830 amateur PWAD files downloaded from the internet (collectively called Maximum Doom) were also included in the retail release. (The Maximum Doom levels are not included with the downloadable version found on Steam.) Also of note is that some of the contracted designers for the Master Levels had levels they had previously released on the Internet that were included in Maximum Doom.

The CD also included a digital catalog called id STUFF, which offered encrypted software for which an unlock code could be ordered, as well as mail order products such as T-shirts.

Motivation

It has been mentioned by John Romero, John Carmack, and several of the involved mappers that the primary motivation for the creation of the Master Levels was to "give the D!ZONE guys a run for their money," as id Software had become increasingly dissatisfied with other companies releasing various shovelware CDs full of Doom add-ons without any of the windfall reaching back to id. According to mapper Sverre Kvernmo, id was looking for skilled mappers who might have a lot of existing unreleased material that could be included. As a result, most of the Master Levels wads are parts of pre-existing series, some of the earlier installments of which had previously been released on the Internet.

Levels

John Anderson (Dr. Sleep)

Jim Flynn

Christen Klie

Sverre André Kvernmo (Cranium)

Tom Mustaine

Tim Willits

Master Levels Menu Interface

The Master Levels Menu Interface is a 2010 ZDoom WAD created by Zippy which is designed to replicate the menu functionality of Doom-It in-game and allow all 21 levels to be played without restarting the engine each time. Once the WADs are added, the Menu Interface can be loaded in ZDoom, and used to play each WAD at any skill level in whichever order the user wants; they will be returned to the menu each time they complete a level.

Notes

  • Completing a level takes the user back to the menu and adds an asterisk next to the level WAD file. However, starting a new game will reset the status of levels completed so it is possible for one to save the game right at the menu to avoid this happening. This allows one to load the game when wishing to come back later.
  • The secret level from TEETH.WAD (Bad Dream, also known as TEETH2 in this mod) is not listed under the menu hence it is secret. Completing it will not make it available to choose in the menu but it will overwrite stats from TEETH (The Express Elevator to Hell) if one chooses the secret level.
The Eternity Engine's Master Levels selection menu.

Native support

Recent versions of the Eternity Engine include native support for playing the Master Levels from within Doom 2 without use of command-line parameters or the need to exit the game to play other maps or the normal game. After configuring the directory in which the maps are stored (it will be automatically detected if installed via Steam or in the standard DOS install location), the menu pictured to the right can be used to start any of the maps. The secret level of TEETH.WAD is accessible by using the secret exit switch in the first map of that WAD file. After a level is completed, the menu reappears. A new map can be started, or escape can be pressed to return to the Doom 2 title screen.

Level progression

If there is no real level progression on the original PC release, the console releases have organized them in episodes, generally based simply on alphabetical order.

WAD name Map name PC slot PSX slot Xbox slot PSN slot
ATTACK.WAD Attack 1 1 1 1
CANYON.WAD Canyon 1 3 4 2
CATWALK.WAD The Catwalk 1 5 5 3
COMBINE.WAD The Combine 1 4 6 4
FISTULA.WAD The Fistula 1 6 7 5
GARRISON.WAD The Garrison 1 8 6
MANOR.WAD Titan Manor 1 10 7
PARADOX.WAD Paradox 1 10 8
SUBSPACE.WAD Subspace 1 11 12 9
SUBTERRA.WAD Subterra 1 12 13 10
TTRAP.WAD Trapped On Titan 1 16 11
VIRGIL.WAD Virgil's Lead 3 2 18 12
MINOS.WAD Minos' Judgement 5 8 13
BLOODSEA.WAD Bloodsea Keep 7 3 14
MEPHISTO.WAD Mephisto's Maosoleum 7 15
NESSUS.WAD Nessus 7 9 11 16
GERYON.WAD Geryon 8 7 9 17
VESPERAS.WAD Vesperas 9 13 17 18
BLACKTWR.WAD Black Tower 25 2 19
TEETH.WAD The Express Elevator To Hell 31 14 20
TEETH.WAD Bad Dream 32 15 21

Sources

See also

External links