Doom Wadarcheology - To dig, rediscover and enjoy the classics.

[Endless]

Logo by @Nikoxenos

 

So, what is Wadarcheology?

Wadarcheology, from WAD (Where is All the Data?) and Archeology (To dig up, hehe) is a discipline that specializes in the exploration of old archives, websites and forums, for the purpose or rediscovering classic WADs that have been either forgotten to time or completely lost among an ocean of content. In other words: To dig up for lost maps that have a relevant value and/or historic background.

 

First, we must stablish some factors as to what we would consider relevant and classic. Same way a real archeologist doesn’t go looking for dingo bones from 2019, a wadarcheologist don’t go looking for shitty autogenerated maps or Cacoward winners.

 

For a WAD to be considered, reviewed and studied, the wadarcheologist must consider this:

1. It must be from 1994 (year that PWADs came to life) to 2004.

2. It must have a low popularity or relatively unknown origin.

3. A not so well-known author or obscure maker.

4. Mostly forgotten or with very little citations, or just hard to find.

5. And it must have some sort of relevancy that is worth its rediscovery:

• It must be fun and/or;
• Innovative;
• Visually pleasing for its age;
• Worth playing or;
• All of the above.

 

If a WAD meets these prerequisites, then is more than worth it and should be dig up immediately. That’s wadarcheologist slang for reviewed.

 

The purpose of this is in a similar path to that of the ER/iWA, to explore, discover and enjoy these Doom works, but in this case, with a special focus on particularly obscure and old WADs that have been mostly left to dust during all these years. The 1994 to 2004 range gives us an entire decade to rediscover, with the 1994-1999 era being one particularly obscure one, as there was no such a thing as a central repository of reviews, or a public roundup of writers (like the /Newstuff Chronicles that only came into being in 2000), so chances are, we’ll find some good, worthy and fun pieces of work from those times. And who knows, maybe the author is still active and would smile greatly as he sees his or her work being rediscovered. Especial thanks to @Arrowhead for joining me in this amazing enterprise!

 

• How can I become a Wadarcheologist?

Easy, go and participate by following the rules stated above when digging up for WADs. Now, when it comes to reviewing, here’s some guidelines that I would strongly advice to follow correctly:

 

1. Use at least 100 words.

2. Use at least 2 screenshots for each review.

3. State year.

4. State the name of the author.

5. State the source-port you used.

 

As for some optional things you can also employ:

• If you know more about the context or background of the WAD and/or author, please share it.
• You can use videos if you want.
• Or a demo.
• Keep your own archive or spreadsheet of your discoveries to keep track of your work done.

 

So, if you’re interested in becoming a wadarcheologist, be my guest and join this enterprise!

 

» /// The Wadarcheology Museum /// «

 

Some places to look for old WADs:

• /idgames
• Doomshack
• WAD Archive
• Doom Level CD Collection
• Doomwiki PWADs by year
• /newstuff Chronicles
• Doom WAD Station
• Russian Community WAD List by @Dexiaz
• Multiple Old WADs Lists by @Catpho
• BIG Vanilla WAD Pack by @Doomkid
• Doom Shovelware CD Compilation by @xvertigox

• Wadmodder's Shovelware Compilation CD PWAD by @Wadmodder Shalton

Edited May 3, 2022 by Endless
Museum added & updated.

[Endless]

 

Some of my first finds, and main inspiration for creating this:

 

Villa of Pain

¹⁹⁹⁶

^{By Michael Reed}

^{Played on Doom Retro}

 

Villa of Pain, designed in 1996, is a medium sized map with a rather cozy and cute design. As the name suggests, it's a sort of villa in a setting without much detail, but the villa interiors are incredibly well structured (for 1996) and the layout of the map flows sweetly as if it were a simple Dungeons & Dragons dungeon. The use of textures, despite being super simple, is cohesive and non-intrusive, creating a fairly clean look that vanilla (and brown) lovers will find very positive. The map design is quite varied; despite not being gigantic it has multiple rooms and different areas that give it a refreshing feel without feeling too extroverted; hence why I compare it to a dungeon. Exploration is challenging, but it feels good.

 

And Villa of Pain, of course, has pain; this is a map that, I imagine, was solidly challenging for 1996. A huge crowd of enemies in tight areas and ambushes designed to surprise the player without crushing them unfairly. From hordes of shotgunners in columned rooms, to a fascinating box area with plenty of vertical combat and good variation. A marvel from start to finish; those little vanilla flavored gems that get lost in time, but from time to time are found for new appreciation.

 

Mayan Temple

¹⁹⁹⁴

^{By Paul Turnbull}

^{Played on Doom Retro}

 

Mayan Temple feels like one of those 1994 classics that remain in our memories as an exemplar of a good concept that is, technically, poorly executed, either due to a limit of tools and creativity, but at least you can say that the presentation here is that of a clear, fantastic idea that personally appeals to me.

 

As the name indicates, what we have here is a map that tries to recreate, in a somewhat arbritrary way, a Mayan architecture or at least visuals that give some idea of Mesoamerican culture. While it fails miserably in the architectural/geometric aspect, the map still possesses a certain charisma thanks to its simplicity and directness. We start on what appears to be a ball field (ancient Mayan game) with a few secret paths on either side of the map. The architecture is quite simple, even if the ''pyramids'' are not surprising, I think their very design is so cute that I can't help but smile. Considering it's 1994, I've seen worse examples out there.

 

Perhaps most surprising is the use of photorealistic textures, something that would be popularized by Trinity College. In fact, between Trinity and Mayan Temple there is only 4 months difference.

 

While its design is somewhat simple at first glance, it is creative and entertaining enough to offer about 10 minutes of clear nostalgic fun. The layout is simple, uncomplicated and follows a clear line of combat that gives us some sweet surprises for each encounter. From the awakening in the structure to the final fight in the middle of the field. It's fun, solid for what it is and something really worth trying just for its appealing concept.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Endless

[Roebloz]

I did find my dad's old 94 PWAD once. It's on the idgames along with a remake we made together if you wish to review it. https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/a-c/badv

[FEDEX]

Great! I love this idea! I'm sure a lot of old-lover wads (we are a lot) will follow this :)

Edited August 8, 2021 by FEDEX

[Arrowhead]

ENTRY.wad - 11/28/95 - Played via GZDOOM 4.1.2

 

Entry.wad is by Matt Bollier, a pwad author who published much of their work to CompuServe. Bollier has other WADs on the archive, but this very early one appears to be missing. Luckily, @thestarrover made an effort to preserve this, and uploaded it to the forums. Thanks for that! A bit scary to think this level was almost lost forever!

 

This is a small-sized 'intro' type level converted to Doom2. The author states in the readme that the file was at one point a Doom1 level. I can definitely see that in the map, as there are very few Doom2 monsters - you'll only come across the revenant, and the chaingunner from Doom2's roster.

 

There are under 40 monsters in this map - but that's not to say that this map is a push-over, as the author provided zero health pickups in the entire map. Often, this is a sign of poor design - but it really works here. Combat consists of peeking and dodging around corners to nail hitscanners before they hit you. There is a bit of back tracking once you find the final key. Normally, when backtracking in other maps, walls and traps will open in an attempt to surprise the player - this is not the case here. The long walk back to the final key door is completely without incident, the only main critique I have for this map.

 

Texturing is quite basic, but not poor - you will see a LOT of 'metal' textures, though. The author also makes use of skyhack in 2 locations, something a little unusual for a WAD dated '95. I also didn't notice any profound visual glitches or anomalies during my playthrough - everything seems competently put together.

 

Make sure you save before you pick up the key, or you'll be blasted by a plutonia-esque  chaingunner trap! I wasn't able to find the map's one secret, but I assume it holds some kind of health item - as there are no other health pickups in the map.

 

Overall, a great little map. If you go into this not expecting anything too grand or elaborate, you may really enjoy this. I certainly got a fun 5 minutes out of it. Give it a shot!
 

Spoiler

 

 

Download link: https://bit.ly/3s9pRIv

Edited August 8, 2021 by Arrowhead

[Argenteo]

Wasteland: Mountain of Fire - 1994 by Alberto Barsella

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Second in the Wasteland series. You start right inside the mountain, there's a lot of ammo and guns in the back that you will need right away.

What can I say? I love the fire rock theme. As you travel through the caves, you will find a hidden base, but the bridge is broken.

It's a big adventure trying to find what happened down there. There are puzzles and some backtracking. Don't be fooled with the ammo and health. Take care.

Invasion...Level 2 - The Upper Decks - 1994 by Andy Chen, Claude Martins

 

Spoiler

 

 

Epic and anachronistic map. I couldn't believe what I was seeing here. It's on the Top 25 Missed Cacowards and also on The Top 100 Most Memorable Wads.

A lot of special effects, a lovely midi and custom graphics. Your ship has been attacked and there's an onboard invasion of hellspawn all over the place.

Mind blowing, I don't know what to say. It's the sequel to Contamination. 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Argenteo

[Endless]

@Argenteo Some nice finds there. Invasion... Level 2 is on a rough spot, for one, I'm pretty sure is not a very well-known WAD, but since it was featured on two very famous articles, it probably has had it's spotlight already once again. But since it's still is a rare WAD to see pop-up, I guess it is fine to be feature here, but I would recommend to look for even rarer WADs.

[thestarrover]

Amazing idea @Endless! I am a super fan of 90s wads!

[Endless]

6 minutes ago, thestarrover said:

Amazing idea @Endless! I am a super fan of 90s wads!

Glad to hear that! If you feel like sharing your own knowledge and reviews from classic WADs, you're more than welcome please! :D We hope that in the long-term, this archive becomes an entire library of lost classics, hidden gems or underrated works.

[thestarrover]

9 minutes ago, Endless said:

Glad to hear that! If you feel like sharing your own knowledge and reviews from classic WADs, you're more than welcome please! :D We hope that in the long-term, this archive becomes an entire library of lost classics, hidden gems or underrated works.

Absolutely! Tomorrow or In the next few days I will write a review! :)

[Arrowhead]

Just now, thestarrover said:

Absolutely! Tomorrow or In the next few days I will write a review! :)

Awesome, glad to have you on board! :)

[thestarrover]

4 minutes ago, Arrowhead said:

Awesome, glad to have you on board! :)

Thanks a lot @Arrowhead!

[kalensar]

I'm not writing the review on this, but it is super worthy.

 

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Herian_2

[grrfield]

I advise you all to visit https://onemandoom.blogspot.com/

 

[Endless]

 

frstreet

¹⁹⁹⁴

^{By Jail}

^{Played on Doom Retro}

 

 

Oh man, I can't believe I found it with the help of the epic legend of @Grazza . This is a WAD that has always been in my memory as a distant feeling; a kind of mirage in a desert without knowledge. I only knew it was part of some kind of French shovelware CD from the 90s, but after that I knew nothing else. I didn't even believe it existed, as it's common for many shovelwares to use fake images in their backcovers, but not this one. Here it is and I have to admit that I wasn't disappointed at all; on the contrary, I loved it.

 

This is a medium-sized single map WAD, fairly simple in premise but executed masterfully well for 1994. The design is of a more realistic approach, recreating a small urban section in some city. The street gives the name to the WAD but the WAD makes the street. The style is felt in the veins, along with a visual appeal focused on classic 90s touches. The textures are, for the most part, repetitive, but they have a cohesive style and do their job. Typical errors of misaligned textures can be found in windows or towers, something common in the 90s, but after that, the truth is that this WAD is surprisingly effective in having no errors. The gameplay is explosive, with constant action and a high number of enemies scattered in different rooms. The variety of encounters is dynamic enough to keep progress fresh, simple and fun. Not to mention that the layout has a certain quality of complexity without being cryptic or unnecessarily lost. The classic 90s style dungeon crawler is present in a few sections, but the corridors are wide enough to give us a sense of it, and of course, the rooms offer enough space for good combat.

 

 

And that iconic tunnel, oh, not disappointed at all. It's much shinier than I thought it would be, but it's beautifully curvaceous, simplistic and exudes a palpable charisma. If this WAD had music (it has a few new sounds) it would be almost perfect for the 90s. It rivals other similar WADs like Galaxia or Doomsday of UAC. Those french guys have been masters of creating WADs since the beginning! I love it. A hidden gem.

 

The infamous ad that led me to this adventure.

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Endless

[Vorpal]

great idea, but as a debbie downer I am obliged to point out that Mike Reed was about as famous as a doom mapper could get at that time and various maps of his were on everybody's "top 10 wad" sites, and people still make Let's Play vids of his maps etc., pretty much violates all your rules ;-p

[Walter confetti]

Interesting idea!

[Endless]

7 hours ago, Vorpal said:

great idea, but as a debbie downer I am obliged to point out that Mike Reed was about as famous as a doom mapper could get at that time and various maps of his were on everybody's "top 10 wad" sites, and people still make Let's Play vids of his maps etc., pretty much violates all your rules ;-p

Interesting note! I didn't knew about it, as I tried to look for more info on the author, and there's no Doomwiki page and it's seems like he's mostly forgotten in current days.

[Arrowhead]

Haunted Space Ship - 12/15/94 - Played via LZDOOM local-splitscreen deathmatch

 

This is a very unique early deathmatch map created by Robert Fenske Jr. , and is definitely worthy of further recognition today. This map consists of a large square void, w/ a spaceship in the middle. The map is extremely technically sound for its time, and makes use of a few custom textures to add to the mood. The level certainly feels like a spaceship, and has the odd angles of a spaceship, too - this map also has a lot of symmetry - something you don't see nearly as much of nowadays.

 

Gameplay can be a bit cramped, some sections of the map will barely hold two players standing next to each other. Another thing to keep in mind, is that this is a deathmatch focused map that has some monsters in it. You will encounter the occasional lost soul, pinky, or caco, to keep you company on your fragging journey. This is again, a very unconventional thing to do in the modern era, but because of the charm of this map, it works. The enemies seem to add to the experience in this one, rather than detract from it.

 

The BFG and rocket launcher are hidden in a secret, but after a little bit of exploration, you should find the required teleport. As both weapons are in the same area, it is easy for a player to get over-powered - this makes the level a bit of a mad rush for that secret area. Some may like or dislike that, I happen to like it, as I love deathmatch maps w/ power-up cycles.

 

One complaint I have for this map, is that the outside void area is too large. This can make it difficult to find your opponent on occasion.

 

Texturing in this map is great - I don't think I noticed a single misalignment - there are also new 'space doors' that look like little airlock doors. There is also great use of transparent textures, something I don't think I've seen in a 1994 map. It seems like the author went on to develop some kind of Doom utility, but other than that, this seems like the only project they've released.

 

This is a great map for duel, or 3-4 person FFA.
 

Spoiler

 

Download link:

https://bit.ly/3jDwI9f

[Chris Hansen]

Doctor's Crypt - download

by Jani "Sir Robin" Saksa

1999

 

 

Let's deep dig into the bowels of strange man's mind circa 1999 and see what we can find. Jani "Sir Robin" Saksa might have been all but forgotten in 2021, but for quite a few of us that still remain from the ancient times of Doom's younger years he remains a warm and peculiar memory. Sir Robin was mostly known for short and at times salty reviews of levels submitted to his Doom Castle. For a newbie such as me it was always a thrill to see what he had to say when Netscape had finally finished loading his relatively big review site on my 56k connection.

 

But Sir Robin did more than just thrash our precious creations. He also made a number of levels, both solo and as a part of Team TNT. I guess he felt, that if the stuff submitted to his site was not up to par, he could always educate us. Enter "Doctor's Crypt"! A frontier in level design in his own words.

 

"Doctor's Crypt" was nothing short of the first level that introduced friendly marines that would help you combat the evil denizens of a somewhat advanced facility that featured pseudo 3d bridges, deep water and other fancy Boom/MBF effects. I have no idea if it's true that this is first of its kind, but I haven't found any evidence that suggests otherwise. Feel free to educate me in case I'm mistaken. For now, let's just take Sir Robin's word for it and go with the flow for the next couple of minutes.

 

The level, despite being very innovative and technically advanced for its time, is a mixed bag visually. It's clear that Sir Robin was probably better at an engineering level than anything else. A technical and capable nerd eager to show us exactly what could be done with idtech 1 and it's host of newly developed features. I played the level using Eternity Engine and I'm not sure it functioned 100% as intended. Either I should have loaded it using another port or the AI of the Marines are... somewhat lacking. They aren't easy to lead around the level, but when the monsters are in view they will do a lot of the dirty work for you. Just enough for you to fetch a cup of hot coffee and enjoy the show. It's cosy Dooming and I like it. Except when I got too lazy and was overwhelmed by Barons, Mancs and their evil Vile cousins! Ouch! ^{*IDDQD or bust*}

 

"Doctor's Crypt" was probably more a tech demo that an actual good level and still is today. There are a few gems to look at but they are sadly out shined - or overshadowed - by a dreary and relatively uninspired architecture that never really manages to draw you in. The textures and flats are your standard Doom II fair but are sometimes spiced up with interesting lighting effects or detailed structures. Add to that some sprinkles of new sounds, a fierce few combat scenarios and you've got yourself an edible cake after all.

 

"Doctor's Crypt" will always be a fond memory for me as I remember being impressed with the amount of technical advances on display here, but I will always remember Sir Robin better for his many years of faithful, frequent reviews at his cool site. And yes, it was cool! I mean, look at him and the psychedelic colors of his site and tell me it isn't fantastic! Ohh, and he had the obligatory counter and when it hit 20.000 by visitor DrCrypt he rewarded him with a level that when dug up in 2021 still has a few tricks up it's sleeve to show us here in Endless' endlessly awesome museum of cryptic Doom arts!

Edited August 9, 2021 by Chris Hansen

[Endless]

@Chris Hansen Glad to have a veteran such as yourself aboard! Doctor's Crypt looks fascinating, the idea of friendly AI in a 1999 WAD sounds like a true landmark. And that picture of him rocks, 90s nerd-style all the way baby.

[Arrowhead]

Deep Core 1 - 02/19/04 - played via GZDOOM 4.1.2

 

Deep Core 1 is an E1 styled map designed by Use3d. This is a large flowing nonlinear base, with many optional rooms and secret areas. The secrets in this map are very clever - there are some tricky ones to find. There is approximately 200 monsters in this map, and they are dispersed in a very dynamic way. Traps are commonplace in this map, but they never feel unfair. I did not die during my first run through the map, so the difficulty is really not too high.

 

The level is fairly long in length - it took me just under 15 minutes to UVMAX. This map is essentially an E1 style map set in Doom 2. This makes the map feel like an 'upgraded' version of Doom1, as chaingunners are plentiful in this WAD. Interestingly, the author chose not to include any other Doom2 monsters, other than the chaingunners.

 

The author states that this map was drawn and built in 1997 - it was originally going to be part of a portion of a megaWAD, but the author states that it didn't make the cut. I'm not sure how this didn't make 'the cut', as this is a pretty awesome E1 base map! Use3d is known mainly for the great 'Nilla Doom' mappack. I wouldn't normally select an author who is this well known, but I really wanted to draw some attention to this more obscure map in their collection.

 

Please check this one out, it is an absolute exploratory nonlinear joy! :)

 

Spoiler

 

Download link: https://bit.ly/2VJU0So

[Kristian Nebula]

I'll advertise DINNER.WAD by Damian Pawlukanis, and episode 2 replacement for Doom 1.2. Very ingenious for it's time and I enjoyed playing it multiple times, and that it had a cool use of boss monsters too on some levels, not to mention the barrel traps which inspired me for my experimental maps made on DeeP shareware on 20 Days in Hell.

 

Here is the link: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/d-f/dinner

 

 

[Arrowhead]

SUFFER - 04/01/97 - played via GZDOOM 4.1.2

 

SUFFER is a giant, winding map created by Jose Luis Gallardo. This is a largely experimental map - the map seems to open up as you go along, through the use of many complex linedef actions. You essentially follow a more or less linear path, as you progress through the level, but this doesn't really feel linear as you go through it - this is due to the interesting progression in this WAD. Great use of elevators, lowering floors, and other actions - each one compliments the other in this map.

 

The map also contains a pretty wicked title screen graphic, something very unusual for a single level WAD of this age. This is a blast to play through, though - if you don't mind playing something a little more experimental than the average WAD. The combat in this WAD is mostly confined to smaller rooms and corridors, but there is also a gigantic outdoors room in the middle of the map. This room, I feel, could have fit a lot more monsters than it did - I was hoping for something more slaughteresque - what's here in this central room is still fun, though. There are over 350 monsters in this map!

 

The map uses a MIDI of Metallica's 'Fade to Black' - I think the song fits well here.

 

The author also slightly altered the ENDOOM screen, another unusual trait about this map.

 

I look forward to checking out this author's other maps, as what's here is very peculiar - yet really well thought out.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Download link: https://bit.ly/3fMOfuK

Edited August 9, 2021 by Arrowhead

[thestarrover]

THE HUNT  12/22/1999  Gzdoom 4.6.1

The Hunt is a wad released by Sator (or Sator '72 in the ENDOOM screen) ( probably an Italian author) exclusively on his site, and I found it recently surfing the net. This is probably the only wad made by this author. I tried to find some info about him but I didn't have luck.

It is a 6 levels wad and replaces Map01 to map06 with new textures, new music tracks( mostly are midi version of rock songs), and a new TITLEPIC and ENDOOM screens.It is set in a space station, and you have to escape from your cell and make your way trough six medium-sized maps to reach a shuttle and leave the space station.

Sator seems to have borrowed some textures (and a bit of gameplay) from Duke Nukem 3D, because there are breakable (and fake) walls and air ducts, transparent platforms and even the mirrors hide some…surprises.In addition, to unlock particular doors or force fields you have to interact with the “devices” around you and not only with the classic keys and switches.

The first map is very small and simple but the difficulty level increases and the second map is already more difficult. The wad comes with a deh/bex patch and it changes the map’s names and, according to the author, it adds something at the end of the map06.

I like this wad and I like Sator’s attempt to communicate "the absence" of gravity in a couple of situations: at the beginning of the map01 when, in order to escape from the cell, you have to perform an EVA, and in a little room just at the beginning of the Map02.

In my modest and personal opinion this wad is well done with good detailed textures and a good music tracks

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

On the official site the wad is available in various packages. ( Anyway except for the wad itself and the deh/bex patches all the other files are optional)

THE HUNT site and download links HERE

Or if you have problems with the download links HERE

The “full” package comes with a wad luncher, but on dosbox, for me, it doesn’t work. Maybe it is corrupt or maybe  it requires a particular dos command and dosbox doesn’t recognize it.

 

 

 

[Arrowhead]

4 minutes ago, thestarrover said:

  Hide contents

Very cool find! I especially love this chunky spaceship! Very cool to hear how dynamic this WAD is. I will be adding it to my list to check out! :)

Edited August 9, 2021 by Arrowhead

[thestarrover]

Thanks @Arrowhead I hope you like it! :)

[Faceman2000]

On 8/8/2021 at 2:46 PM, Endless said:

Yo, are those the Carlsbad Cavern textures from TNT: Evilution, before they showed up in TNT??

[Endless]

14 minutes ago, Faceman2000 said:

Yo, are those the Carlsbad Cavern textures from TNT: Evilution, before they showed up in TNT??

Paul Turnbull worked with team TNT and made MAP23 of Evilution, so, it could be possible.

[OniriA]

7 hours ago, Chris Hansen said:

Jani "Sir Robin" Saksa

 

Oh, that name always brings back memories. Loved visiting his Doom wad's review site as a kid back in the day.

Sir Robin's Doom Castle is etched into my memory. 

 

I remember I found it really cool that he was Finnish aswell, for some reason. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by OniriA