Levels

This is a sub-page of Development:Blood.

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: PLEASE investigate further! Add more maps from the vault and zip.

To do: Document the many .def files for the final episodes levels found in the dev_drop directory of the zip.

As is Night Dive tradition at this point, Blood: Refreshed Supply includes a whole bunch of levels from the game's development in the Vault (the levels specifically are stored in the files in VAULT.RFF), the levels playable in the remaster are versions fixed and converted to work in it. The original, untouched versions (along with a few maps not a part of the Vault) can be found in a simple zip file in the remaster's vault folder.

In addition to this, the batch of prototype content released in March 2026 also includes some levels loose and able to be played.

Note that this page will only cover levels not seen in any of the available prototypes. Please refer to their respective articles for more details. Also note that media of these maps here may use builds that predate/succeed the date when they were created, as such they may not be 100% accurate of what they would've been like back when they were made.

October 1996 Levels#

These levels are set up in the BAT file included with Refreshed Supply to load in specific builds of the game. Unless otherwise specified, they load in the January 11th, 1997 Prototype and screenshots/video are taken from.

CSHIP.MAP#

An early version of the ship setpiece from E2M1: Shipwrecked. Only a single enemy exists in the entire map - a shotgun-packing cultist in the large bedroom. The water surrounding the ship is solid, and sprinkled with Jump Boots to get back on the ship if you fall off. The letter C in the map's filename likely refers to its author, Craig Hubbard.

The ship is called "HMS ACHERON" instead of "HMS VICTOR". Pressing the switch at the back end of the ship will cause an iceberg placed far into the corner to slam into the front.

According to the Vault in Refreshed Supply, this was originally intended as a Bloodbath map.

This map matches with one seen in footage for Blood dated to November 1996.

CSHIP	Prerelease Footage

DEBUG.MAP#

This file corresponds to CSHIP.MAP as output from the game's map dump debug feature, which can be achieved by pressing F2. Its modification date is three days before CSHIP, suggesting a slightly earlier version. This debug feature is intended to inspect a map in the level editor, so playing it in-game will result in a buggy and broken experience. The sector-over-sector portals render as HOMs (they can still be passed through), some details are different or missing (the flooded hold lacks any props, for example, and any destroyable walls have yet to be set up and come pre-busted) and glowing-eyed skulls are scattered around the map. Also, for some reason, a clone of Caleb appears at the player's starting position. Attempting to damage it instantly crashes the game. Spooky!

This map is absent from the Vault in Refreshed Supply, likely due to CSHIP being present there.

JGRAVE.MAP#

An early version of E1M1: From Cradle to Grave. The rough layout is by and large the same, but many details, placements and secrets are missing. The letter J in the map's filename likely refers to its author, James Wilson.

This map matches with a version of Cradle to Grave seen in a promotional trailer for Blood.

JGRAVE	Promo Trailer

MAP25C.MAP#

An early version of E1M5: Hallowed Grounds.

STATION.MAP#

An early version of E1M2: Wrong Side of the Tracks. While a lot of geometry is present in rough form, the actual path taken through it is very different and odd.

This map is absent from the Vault in Refreshed Supply, likely due to OLDSTAT being present there.

TRAIN.MAP#

To do: Try to get this to run in the January 1997 build, as it is likely much closer to what this would've been like. Also get images here.

Runs in the April 6th, 1996 Prototype. An early version of E1M3: Phantom Express. A lot of texturing and features are rather broken likely due to changes to the ART files and the game's codebase after the April 1996 prototype was made, and the map not being built for this. The final room in particular's gimmick is broken due to the set up for the environmental explosions being busted. The code for scrolling the floor textures around the train is comically broken, changing speed and direction based on the player's viewing direction.

Attempting to play this level in the January 1997 build will cause it to crash as it tries looking for sounds that were removed.

The dining car at the end of the train includes a detail that was removed in the final, being a mirror. Mirrors are broken in the April 1996 prototype, so this will appear busted. This detail can be seen in prerelease footage from a late 1996 preview from Gameslice and was still present in the January 1997 build version of the level.

Vault Levels#

BLARME.MAP#

Dated June 11th, 1996. Has a corresponding .DEF file, where it is given the name "Pirate Ship" and credited to Jay Wilson. Early version of E6M4: Aqueducts from the Plasma Pak.

Named ~Blarme.map in the level archive.

KDABOO.MAP#

Dated March 7th, 1996.

According to the Vault in Refreshed Supply, this was intended as a Bloodbath map.

KRUINS.MAP#

Dated July 8th, 1996. An early version of E6M5: The Ruined Temple from the Plasma Pak.

OLDSTAT.MAP#

Dated January 1st, 1997. A more developed version of STATION.

Considering this was only ten days before the January 1997 prototype was compiled (which featured a more finalized version of the map), this level must've been changed very quickly.

SEABASE.MAP#

An abandoned idea for an aquatic base level, dated July 15th, 1996.

Named ~Seabase.map in the level archive.

SHOWDWN.MAP#

An abandoned idea for the finale, dated February 17th, 1996.

Named ~Showdown.map in the level archive.

Level Archive Exclusive#

Present in the level archive zip is a few maps absent from the Vault or any of the available prototypes. Whenever Night Dive had intended to implement these maps or not is uncertain, but either way they were added here.

BASES.MAP#

Dated April 3rd, 1997. An early version of BB6: Twin Fortress.

BASES2.MAP#

Ditto, but dated earlier to December 17th, 1996.

MONOLITH.MAP#

Dated December 20th, 1996. An early version of DM1: Monolith Building 11 from the Plasma Pak that, much like the final is a digital representation of Monolith Productions' offices back in the day.

There are several detail differences in this version; many of the office areas are empty and the upper ones have barely been started. This map was mentioned in the Blood Weekly Update for the week of December 16th, 1996.

Other Levels#

LIB264.MAP#

An early version of CP03: Gothic Library from the Cryptic Passage expansion pack. Runs in the final version of the game, naturally. This map is not present in the vault or level archive zip. This appears to currently be the only publicly available piece of early content from the development of Cryptic Passage.

Includes some stuff not seen in the final like a basement.

This map was originally shared (along with an early version of DUKEDC07: Brown Water from the Duke Nukem 3D addon Duke It Out in D.C) on November 12th, 2020, by community member MetHy in a conversation with former Sunstorm developer Shawn Swift. It was noted in an interview with Swift (included in the readme of the release) that this was one of the last versions, if not the last version, of the map by Shawn before Robert Travis took the map over and finished it in a day.