Welcome to the Archive, Marine

Thirty years ago, id Software released Doom and Doom 2 to massive critical acclaim, and even today, these games still have a devoted fanbase. A large part of this continued popularity is their ability to let players create, run, and share their own levels - and as long as creative fans exist, there will be new experiences for everyone to enjoy.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, the popularity of these third party levels led to the creation of third party level packs. These CD-ROMs often advertised that they held hundreds (if not thousands) of new exciting levels for players to explore, but this was rarely the case. Many of these collections were created by simply grabbing existing files from the internet without giving their authors proper credit, and many more never bothered to check if the custom levels were playable.

These "shovelware" collections, as they became known, have mostly been forgotten by the Doom gaming community.

Some may even say this is for the best.

But I disagree: it's time for these forgotten files to be dug up, documented, and properly identified.

Undead Kilobytes is an analytical and forensic library of the Doom community's history. While you won't find the WADs themselves here, you will find detailed maps, statistics, and diagnostic information about what the community and various third parties have created. Perhaps you'll find some obscure levels you remember from long ago, or maybe you'll find something new to try.

Get your shovels. It's time to put our boots on the ground.

Current Progress

Error Reports