[PsychoGoatee]

So I was playing some Doom add-ons, Brutal Doom, Master Levels for Doom 2 etc, and I realized I have not played any custom Duke stuff. Only played the official Duke stuff, it's crazy, but true. I was never big of the Sunsoft Duke add-ons, and while I know Build is popular I just haven't played any user content. I'm on a bit of a 90s shooter kick at the moment.

So that said, I'd love to play what are some of the standout fun well done single-player Duke 3D maps, mods, or map packs. There are lots of articles about the best Doom mods, but I'm not sure what to play for Duke 3D extra content.

Thanks! For me the levels being fun and well done is more important than if they have extra textures or anything like that.

[Loke]

Here's a good site for user created content. Scroll down a bit and you'll also see the highest rated maps and mods on the site. There's also Mikko's site here in case you want a second opinion.

[Jimmy]

Here's some good classic maps and mods. Most of these are late 90s and early 2000s, so while they're a bit dated I think they deserve a chance. There's plenty of great modern stuff too, but I feel like these guys get left out a lot more than they should just for being old or maybe people don't remember them or never played them in the first place. These are in no order and some are better than others. So just search and feel them out and see which you might like most.

Maps:

• Fruit Loops and Leaving L.A. by C3PO
  
• Needle Time (St. Duke Hospital) and _balley by Alias Conrad Coldwood
  
• Streets of Gotham City by Daniel Aashage
  
• Escape From An Unknown Street by Filip
  
• FbSp00* series by Geoffrey van Dijk/Fakir/FakirBaba
  
• Russian Missile Base by Jason Bredhauer
  
• Freedom by Kevin Cools
  
• The Restless Resort, MpPower, Waterworld, Suspicious Storage, and Crucial Conflict Episode by Maarten Pinxten
  
• Factory and New York Plaza by Michael and Robert Caraballo
  
• City of Screams by Nut Wrench
  
• The System: Opposing Facility by Ryan Rouse
  
• Anything by Salacius Crumb
  
• Jungle Factory by Semicharm
  
• Jungle Tour 3 by Stephano Lessa
  
• The Starlite Project by Stranger
  
• Dark Alley, Canyon City and City at Night by Vedran Jelenic
  
• Bobafett by Mike Beaulieu
  
• Condemned and Overkill by James Duncan
  
• ADG Episode and Blackened by Alejandro Glavic
  
• BobSP Series by Bob Averill
  
• Roch Series by Pascal Rouaud
  
• Anything by Billy Boy
  
• Docking Doom by Girl_Online
  
• Traffic Jam and Slums of L.A. by Olivier Boucher
  
• The Aztec Ruins by Peter Williams
  
• Nitefall by Gabriel Sheets
  
• Decay by Radon
  
• Daikarin episode by Gabriele R. Giaminardi
  
• Red series by Merlijn Oostrum
  
• 2121 A.D. by Bob Masters
  
• Extermination by Juha "Turpuli" Laaksonen
  
• Overtime and Anarchy City series by Aymeric Nocus/MRCK
  
• Tropical Alien Massacre by Rob Wijkstra/Highwire
  
• Sewers and Strippers by Rob Wijkstra/Highwire and Geoffrey Van Dijk/Fakir/FakirBaba

Mods:

• Last Reaction & Water Bases
  
• Starship Troopers
  
• Grins of Divinity
  
• God of War
  
• Alien Vs Predator TC
  
• Age of Evil
  
• Imagination World
  
• The Final Confrontation
  
• Pray Your Prayers 2000
  
• Extreme Justice

[PsychoGoatee]

Thanks! I'd give you reps but it doesn't work on my account for some reason. Anybody posting their favs would be appreciated, I'll try 'em.

(edit: The rep + button works for me now, maybe it's because I just hit 50 posts. (0.02 posts per day ))

[Paul B]

PsychoGoatee, on 29 July 2015 - 01:51 PM, said:

Thanks! I'd give you reps but it doesn't work on my account for some reason. Anybody posting their favs would be appreciated, I'll try 'em.

Some mapping genius obsessed with Polymer and TROR has created this master piece. https://dl.dropboxus...les/TheRock.zip

If the Polymer renderer does anything for you, this map plays well in single player. =) LOL

[Micky C]

Black Shuck, on 29 July 2015 - 01:28 PM, said:

Mods:

• Last Reaction & Water Bases
• Starship Troopers
• Grins of Divinity
• God of War
• Alien Vs Predator TC
• Age of Evil
• Imagination World
• The Final Confrontation
• Pray Your Prayers 2000
• Extreme Justice

You mentioned Imagination World but no the AMC TC

[Radar]

List of best maps ever made for Duke in my opinion:

1) It Lives by Gambini

2) Red series by Merlijn Oostrum (including the revised versions of map 1 and 2)

3) Roch series by Pascal


List of best mods ever made for Duke in my opinion:

1) AMC TC

2) WG Realms 2


Of course there's more than that but I think those are the pinnacle of Duke maps and mods.

[Jimmy]

Micky C, on 29 July 2015 - 05:41 PM, said:

You mentioned Imagination World but no the AMC TC

Read my post again. I only posted about old stuff because new stuff is definitely going to get recommended. No affront to you guys, I fucking love AMC TC.

[blizzart]

Sgt. Rarity, on 29 July 2015 - 05:58 PM, said:

List of best maps ever made for Duke in my opinion:

1) It Lives by Gambini

2) Red series by Merlijn Oostrum (including the revised versions of map 1 and 2)

3) Roch series by Pascal


List of best mods ever made for Duke in my opinion:

1) AMC TC

2) WG Realms 2


Of course there's more than that but I think those are the pinnacle of Duke maps and mods.

...and still my favourite: Fusion TC / Fusion Redux

and of course all maps by William Gee

[PsychoGoatee]

Black Shuck, on 29 July 2015 - 06:45 PM, said:

I only posted about old stuff because new stuff is definitely going to get recommended.

Right on, by the way would you be willing to pinpoint a few of your top favorites maps there? Not that I'm wussing out on the full list, the more recommendations the merrior, but it can be a bit daunting getting started. Maybe a top 5 maps or series out of that list or so? I'd play them, which is a guarantee.

[Radar]

blizzart, on 29 July 2015 - 06:51 PM, said:

...and still my favourite: Fusion TC / Fusion Redux

and of course all maps by William Gee

Heck yeah. WG City and the WG Space episode are among the best, but I didn't want to post too much stuff. And Fusion TC... for such an old mod, somehow it kept me captivated to the end. Just as good as Starship Troopers IMO.

[Micky C]

I'd recommend the DNF 2013 mod and its DLC. Most of the attention it got was from its association with the real DNF, however despite that it's still a very solid mod: http://www.moddb.com...e-nukem-forever

[PsychoGoatee]

I've downloaded Fusion Redux and AMCep2 mod so far, and a couple maps, just getting going.

A couple newbie questions, are all the maps and mods listed here compatible with eDuke32? I notice on one review site eDuke32 mods are listed seperately from Duke3D mods. Do all the older things also work on eDuke32?

My other question, involving 3D models, since it looks like some maps and mods such as Fusion use them. I generally turn off 3D models in eDuke32 since I prefer the sprites for enemies and Duke's hands. What happens if I disable models in a map or mod that was intended for custom 3D models? Do they always have sprites to replace them, or what happens there? Thanks.

(edit: Actually, if I just installed that mod into a folder which doesn't load the HRP, I guess that would take care of Duke's hands and enemy models. Though I do like those high res textures.)

[Radar]

My own shot at answering:


All these mods listed should be compatible with EDuke32 (I think???).

When a mod has 3D or high-res content (requires polymost or polymer), I just go with whatever added content they put but I never load the HRP.

[PsychoGoatee]

Sgt. Rarity, on 29 July 2015 - 09:49 PM, said:

My own shot at answering:All these mods listed should be compatible with EDuke32 (I think???).When a mod has 3D or high-res content (requires polymost or polymer), I just go with whatever added content they put but I never load the HRP.

Thanks, sounds good.

[Radar]

Black Shuck, on 29 July 2015 - 06:45 PM, said:

I fucking love AMC TC.

LOL I'm so glad you play AMC. It's so funny playing as Mikko. Quotes like "mechanism for natural selection" and "the weak shall know my feeeery" in his own voice make me laugh so hard. "We must do what we must do" I will drink the blood of the weak.

[NightFright]

You can also take a look at the EDuke32 addon compilation which is available on the HRP website. It contains a few, but ofc by far not all, popular Duke3D mods (among many rather unknown ones), and most of them have been optimized and bugfixed for EDuke32. I am aiming for an updated release by the end of the year, btw.

[MrFlibble]

There's been a similar thread a while ago, with some interesting suggestions as well.

[Mark]

PsychoGoatee, on 29 July 2015 - 09:31 PM, said:

What happens if I disable models in a map or mod that was intended for custom 3D models? Do they always have sprites to replace them, or what happens there? Thanks.

Some mods like my Graveyard one are useless without models because they are used for props, buildings, monsters, etc... They don't have 2D sprite replacements if you turn off models.

[PsychoGoatee]

NightFright, on 30 July 2015 - 05:25 AM, said:

You can also take a look at the EDuke32 addon compilation which is available on the HRP website. It contains a few, but ofc by far not all, popular Duke3D mods (among many rather unknown ones), and most of them have been optimized and bugfixed for EDuke32. I am aiming for an updated release by the end of the year, btw.

MrFlibble, on 30 July 2015 - 07:13 AM, said:

There's been a similar thread a while ago, with some interesting suggestions as well.

Thanks. Lots of cool looking mods, some even looking not much like Duke 3D, but I'm also looking for any good map packs for Duke3D? Sort of like the popular Doom wads or megawads, even say a set of five well done Duke levels connected into an episode. Or would that sort of thing by included under Mods/TCs for Duke?

By that I mean levels where you still generally are Duke with Duke's weapons and Duke3D style gameplay. I'm interested in total conversions too, but would love to see some more people's favorite maps or sets of maps.

[MetHy]

PsychoGoatee, on 30 July 2015 - 10:38 AM, said:

even say a set of five well done Duke levels connected into an episode.

Try Daikarin and WGRealms (1)

http://www.scent-88....in/daikarin.php

http://www.scent-88....s/W/wgr/wgr.php

[PsychoGoatee]

MetHy, on 30 July 2015 - 10:45 AM, said:

Try Daikarin and WGRealms (1)http://www.scent-88....s/W/wgr/wgr.php

I'll definitely give those a go, WGRealms 2 also looks cool (and crazy).

I see you've got various usermap playthroughs on youtube, do you have a few favorite user maps or just a few you really enjoy in particular too?

[Radar]

With all due respect to MetHy, I would not recommend WG Realms 1. It's a fantastic mod, but it was all just rolled in to WG Realms 2 with new enemies and weapons anyway.

Perhaps you should try WG Space. That's a really nice episode by WG that is mostly plain Duke based.


And btw, if you want to give the Red series a shot, I think the best way to play them is through AMC TC. They are included as EDF missions in the episode 2 selection screen. My favorite character to play them as is Sang.

[Jimmy]

If I had to pick a top 5 from each;

Maps:

• Fruit Loops by C3PO
  
• FbSp003: City Under Siege by Geoffrey van Dijk/Fakir/FakirBaba
  
• New York Plaza by Michael and Robert Caraballo
  
• Voices of Authority by Salacius Crumb
  
• Slums of L.A. by Olivier Boucher

Mods:

• Last Reaction & Water Bases
  
• Starship Troopers
  
• Grins of Divinity
  
• God of War
  
• Alien Vs Predator TC

[MetHy]

Sgt. Rarity, on 30 July 2015 - 11:09 AM, said:

With all due respect to MetHy, I would not recommend WG Realms 1. It's a fantastic mod, but it was all just rolled in to WG Realms 2 with new enemies and weapons anyway.

Perhaps you should try WG Space. That's a really nice episode by WG that is mostly plain Duke based.


And btw, if you want to give the Red series a shot, I think the best way to play them is through AMC TC. They are included as EDF missions in the episode 2 selection screen. My favorite character to play them as is Sang.

Personally I think WGRealms 1 is better played as WGR1 rather than within WGR2. It's a cool bonus to have it in WGR2 with new enemies and everything, but the it was first designed with Duke enemies in mind and I think it shows and plays better like that.
Plus he asked for a "5 level episode that's still very much like DN3D" so WGR1 fits that description perfectly.

[Micky C]

That depends on your definition of "like duke 3D". The level design in WGRealms is completely unlike that of traditional Duke maps.

[PsychoGoatee]

Micky C, on 31 July 2015 - 04:05 AM, said:

That depends on your definition of "like duke 3D". The level design in WGRealms is completely unlike that of traditional Duke maps.

His level design does look pretty unique, but I'm looking for everything that's good and fun. Just also noticed the most popular stuff seemed to be TCs really different from Duke3D, with different guns and stuff. Which is cool, but also cool to have some stuff that could feel like a Duke3D expansion too.

Not looking to narrow the recommendations, was just also wondering what the Duke3D equivalent of something like the popular Doom wads would be. Since the most popular Doom wads seem to mostly be Doom-ish levels in theme (even though more advanced), and using the standard guns, for example.

I've downloaded a ton of stuff so far. About 50 separate zips of maps and mods so far, plus that mod collection by NightFright.

[ck3D]

PsychoGoatee, on 31 July 2015 - 09:12 AM, said:

Not looking to narrow the recommendations, was just also wondering what the Duke3D equivalent of something like the popular Doom wads would be. Since the most popular Doom wads seem to mostly be Doom-ish levels in theme (even though more advanced), and using the standard guns, for example.

Look for 'Metropolitan Mayhem' & 'Duke Hard'

[NNC]

Duke Nukem Forever 2013 mod is the best (or at least my favourite) closely followed by Last Reaction and Water Bases episode 2 (the 1st episode starts clicking only around halftime, but it's solid too). These clearly reach commercial quality and are musts for all Duke fans. Mainly because the epic, progressively built levels and well thought out battles in both like what we saw in LA Meltdown just a bit more difficult. Also these two mods are very faithful to the original Duke using mostly original weapons, monsters, gfx etc., while added some new stuff which had been integrated very well to the gameplay.

My other personal favourite maps and mods:

The Dream - the first part... there are some wrong versions of it, hopefully you can find the proper versions... it's brilliant with a massive surprise in the middle of the level. Maybe you can try the trilogy, although the two sequels are a lot weaker, especially the 3rd one which isn't really Duke at all.

Red 3 - the other Reds are very fine too, but for me, this is the real thing, that spawned a lot of clones. Fantastic atmosphere.

X64-2 Alien Planet - an old classic by Maarten van Oostrum... weirdo leveldesign at its best

Nuke City 2 - I'm not sure you can find the original version where the Liztroops had been replaced by a dangerous enemy called... but if you can, play it. Great level.

Cosik - for the pipebomb puzzle and for that strange but very interesting elevator...

Reichskanzlei - my favourite level by Peter Kucera. If you like Duke it out in DC, try this one, very similar (but livelier) in style.

Daikarin episode - the first two levels are great than it gets a little worse, but the boss level looks cool as well.

Lost Highway episode - a great moving journey... don't miss the secret level. Play the version where the underwater section is fixed in level 3.

JJ Duke Nukem 3D episode - only for the 3rd episode, ignore the other two. It's a really good cityesque experience despite it's design flaw.

ADG episode - an episode with a great flow and well designed levels (except maybe the 1st one).

Sewer, Sweeney - old levels by Levelord, an original mapper (mostly made levels for episode 3). They are a bit of broken here and there, I made a custom upgrade for both, but that's not official.

[NNC]

Sgt. Rarity, on 29 July 2015 - 08:59 PM, said:

Heck yeah. WG City and the WG Space episode are among the best, but I didn't want to post too much stuff. And Fusion TC... for such an old mod, somehow it kept me captivated to the end. Just as good as Starship Troopers IMO.

Oh, I forgot WG City, that's an excellent map too. Also forgot Traffic Jam by Olivier Boucher, another favourite where LameDuke areas had been upgraded. Also try pipeline maps (Suburbia, Doomcity, Hell Station, Mothership - find the big secret place there!).