Important takeaways
- Dating back to 1997, the Diablo series pioneered the action RPG genre with ongoing sequels, adaptations, and expansions.
- The copy of Level Master 4 found in a fan's closet is an old Diablo third-party software guide essential to playing online.
- The software included in Level Master 4 allowed players to use IPX network emulators to connect, enhancing the multiplayer experience.
A Diablo fans digging through their closet found some interesting and outdated software for the original PC version of the game. The finding sparked debate among veterans Diablo fans about what it was like to play the game in its earliest days.
The Diablo franchise is an original gaming classic, with the very first game in the series launching back in 1997 on PC. Since then, the franchise has had multiple sequels, expansions, and ports across multiple console generations, while evolving along the way. Many people credit Diablo with the beginning of the action RPG genre, and parts of its gameplay are hugely influential to this day. Even now fans can play the current game, Diablo 4which has leaned on persistent online features and a live service environment for its community.

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But a fan who goes by CarverSindile10 on Reddit made a strange find while going through their closet: a copy of Level Master 4. The software is an unofficial strategy guide and third-party software for the original Diablo game, although it is no longer compatible with the current version of the Diablo available via Battle.Net.
Diablo Fan Find Old Unofficial Diablo Guide and Online Software
Published by Macmillan Digital Publishing, Level Master 4 was one of many “unofficial” strategy guides published for PC and console games that predated widespread use of the Internet. Such guides contained information that can be found in today's Diablo guide pages or hosted on a wiki maintained by a player or developer, such as lists of armor, weapons, spells, and quest solutions. Level Master 4 also included software designed to help players play Diablo on the Internet, such as a copy of AT&T's WorldNet and the now defunct Netscape Navigator browser, as well as a copy of Kali, a network emulator program. Interestingly, the packaging also trumpets a partnership between Macmillan and Happy Puppy, an online gaming news and guide publication that was once the most popular gaming site in the mid-to-late 1990s. Happy Puppy was discontinued in 2006.
As an older player in the comments explained, not only guides were like Level Master 4 popular with gamers at a time when internet access was less widespread and modern platforms and publishing hadn't taken over, but the included software was crucial to getting the original Diablo on-line. Although it seems almost unthinkable in a time like that Diablo 4 seasons come and go for the entire community, the original game could only play multiplayer on a local network. IPX network emulators like Kali were needed to translate Diablos local area network packet to the current TCP/IP internet protocol, enabling players to play with each other across the wider internet and Diablo experience much more closely how it is enjoyed now.

Diablo
- Formative years
- 1997
- Developer
- Blizzard Entertainment, NetEase Games
- Publisher
- Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment