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[RELEASE] Pyratel (User map)  "Pyratel i.e., Pyramid-shaped Hotel"

User is offline   NY00123 

#1

UPDATE - Second release as of July 18 2023:

Page with download link for the last release: https://ny.duke4.net/files.html
A git repository covering map development history: https://gitlab.com/NY00123/pyratel

Note that if you want to use Vanilla Duke3D, PYRATEL3.*/PYRATEL5.* were renamed to PY_RL2_3.*/PY_RL2_5.*. The map file was also renamed to pyra_rl2.map.

Also, another way to start the map with the correct music in EDuke32 or other relevant source ports is as follows:
1. Drag-and-drop PYRA_RL2.ZIP into the executable (if supported, say on Windows). Alternatively, pass a full path to the ZIP file as a command-line argument.
2. Select the user map and desired difficulty from the menus.

The rest of this post, originally covering the map's initial release, remains unchanged. Certain details might be less relevant, like file names and the comment referring to EDuke32 SVN r7447. The original release's TXT file is further still quoted instead of the last's.
_______________________________________________________________

Happy april fools day/night! Sounds like a good and (un)expected time for a map.

Note for all readers: A specific section in the map, admittedly a hack, might be incompatible with the last version of EDuke32. r7447 should be compatible, along with DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5. PYRATEL.TXT references this as well.

In addition to the .MAP file itself, in order to play as "intended" (in quotes) with Bobby Prince's "Lord of L.A." track (from E3L8):
- DOS v1.3d: Unpack PYRATEL3.BAT+PYRATEL3.CON and use PYRATEL3.BAT.
- DOS v1.5: Use PYRATEL5.BAT+PYRATEL5.CON.
- EDuke32: Simply have PYRATEL.MID (renamed lordofla.mid file) ready.

I think that I'll simply quote PYRATEL.TXT:

Quote

Spoiler

Attached thumbnail(s)

  • Attached Image: DUKE0001.png
  • Attached Image: DUKE0012.png
  • Attached Image: DUKE0013.png
  • Attached Image: DUKE0021.png

13

User is offline   LeoD 

  • Duke4.net topic/3513

#2

Very well thought map! I've enjoyed it! 52min, 8 secrets. I like secrets, but I do not push every single wall for half an hour. So this felt quite right for me.
Even though you state that it's not compatible with the HRP, you've prepared it more in my favour than many. So I played using HRP/DukePlus/Z-Pack, and everything was just as fine as with any other cleanly designed map not specifically made for this setup.
I ran somewhat low on health while cleaning the outside area.
Some items/parts of the environment seem a little out of proportion, which appears quite common with less experienced mappers.
There is one thing you could do in favour of HRP users in future maps - place/rotate LIZTROOPONTOILET and his TOILET correctly, since this combination can't be handled by maphacks sufficiently. E.g. a 180° rotated trooper will fart projectiles in your general direction... :lol:
I should have maphacks ready within the next 24h.
Quite a solid first release. Hoping to see more from you.
2

User is offline   NY00123 

#3

Hey there, and thanks for checking the map out!

There were at least a few things I've actually wanted to say beforehand, but kinda forgotten, simply wanting to get this out, and quote PYRATEL.TXT for the sake of simplicity. So, here we go...

- First of all, and this should probably be discussed under spoiler tags: Anybody found this easter egg of sorts? :lol: Or at least one of these ways to a specific secret area?
- To LeoD: Thank you for your interest and support! On the less good news, though, I don't think that I'll make another map, especially of a similar scale, in the (near?) future. This was a kind of a one time event for me; I otherwise seem to go into realms like coding again.
- Admittedly, as I got closer to the end, I really wanted to be done with the work on this. I don't know if anybody has noticed that April 1st has essentially been a deadline that I've set for myself. Admittedly, Ion Maiden has probably had some impact again. But April 1st is also this date which we all like, and tends to occur just once per year...
- This was basically solo work, with no feedback from anyone else. Just 2 days before the release, I finally gave a few individuals the chance to check out the map. Naturally, though, this was not enough time, and most of them had greater priorities and/or interests. I really can't blame them; I also don't tend to beta-test others' gaming-related works as much.

Next, I'm going to respond to other queries from you, LeoD:

View PostLeoD, on 31 March 2019 - 05:19 PM, said:

Even though you state that it's not compatible with the HRP, you've prepared it more in my favour than many. So I played using HRP/DukePlus/Z-Pack, and everything was just as fine as with any other cleanly designed map not specifically made for this setup.


Nice, great to see it's working (mostly) well for you.

A few issues that I've spotted on my own are:
- The walking Duke statue.
- The ability to see a camera while using a viewscreen, at least in one instance.

Quote

I ran somewhat low on health while cleaning the outside area.


I can see the point. What I think that I've noticed more, is having somewhat less ammo. But this might just be the usual, and hopefully there are enough supplies in the map (although locating secret areas greatly assists).

Quote

Some items/parts of the environment seem a little out of proportion, which appears quite common with less experienced mappers.


Thanks for this feedback, it's important to let me know. I kinda hoped that I was better than simply doing oversized rooms and co. I also think that all swinging doors should have the same size, more-or-less. Going through the map itself, though, I think that I could spot some examples.

Generally speaking, one thing that wasn't favored by me, is quite large areas with a relatively a small amount of details. I tended to prefer more compact ones. The outside area was a bit of challenge, especially after getting almost all work on the map done, so I tried to add at least a few details, here and there.

Additionally, as stated in PYRATEL.TXT, there were these few instances in which I was forced to increase the sizes of certain sectors, due to the warping glitch. Examples of these are the broken elevator doors, the curtains in the penthouse and the games' tables (mostly their surroundings/borders). There was also one inverse example - the doors in the underground bathroom, originally made out of sectors, were replaced with sprites.

There were a few cases in which I kinda thought it made sense to make things look large, at least when (somewhat) compared to certain real life experiences that ones may have. This covers the hotel entrance, as well as the pinball tables.

Quote

There is one thing you could do in favour of HRP users in future maps - place/rotate LIZTROOPONTOILET and his TOILET correctly, since this combination can't be handled by maphacks sufficiently. E.g. a 180° rotated trooper will fart projectiles in your general direction... :lol:


Have I really missed this? How weird, haha. What's funny is that it looks a bit off even *without* the HRP, but... I guess that I can leave it as a weird joke of sorts. Thanks again for the report.

Quote

I should have maphacks ready within the next 24h.


Well, that's been fast, heh.

Quote

Quite a solid first release. Hoping to see more from you.


Thanks again for the feedback. Interestingly, though, I'm not sure if you got this from PYRATEL.TXT, but technically-wise, I'm not new into using Build/Mapster32 at all. Not that a lot was actually made publicly available.

You may find a couple of maps here: http://ny.duke4.net/files.html
NYSRace (well, the original revision) was released on April 2007. January of 2009 had this weird map of "What the...", which visually looks *significantly* worse. I guess that it was way more about having a few tricks/gimmicks than actual map design.

This post has been edited by NY00123: 01 April 2019 - 11:06 AM

1

User is offline   LeoD 

  • Duke4.net topic/3513

#4

View PostNY00123, on 01 April 2019 - 10:52 AM, said:

A few issues that I've spotted on my own are:
- The walking Duke statue.
- The ability to see a camera while using a viewscreen, at least in one instance.
All fixed. The latter might be due to widescreen vs. the game's original aspect ratio, at least partially. Quite a common issue.

View PostNY00123, on 01 April 2019 - 10:52 AM, said:

Have I really missed this? How weird, haha. What's funny is that it looks a bit off even *without* the HRP, but... I guess that I can leave it as a weird joke of sorts. Thanks again for the report.
No, you didn't miss it. I introduced this a few times in my early maphacking days when I barely knew what I was doing. And checking MHKs ingame with monsters enabled? Not really...

View PostNY00123, on 01 April 2019 - 10:52 AM, said:

Thanks again for the feedback. Interestingly, though, I'm not sure if you got this from PYRATEL.TXT, but technically-wise, I'm not new into using Build/Mapster32 at all. Not that a lot was actually made publicly available.
I simply did a quick check on the usual map lists from CGS, DNR and MSDN.

View PostNY00123, on 01 April 2019 - 10:52 AM, said:

Anybody found this easter egg of sorts?
Spoiler


This post has been edited by LeoD: 01 April 2019 - 12:18 PM

1

User is offline   NY00123 

#5

It is probably a good chance to mention some notes regarding compatibility with Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition, as well as Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.
- First of all, as hinted beforehand, this was made to be compatible with DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5 first. I've actually checked the map with the above two ports only tonight.
- While mostly compatible with the Megaton Edition, there are two hidden switches, for which the game will *crash* if you press on any of them. This includes a switch opening the way to a technically counted secret. I think that it's due to both of them having the hitag of -1 set, so they don't emit any sound effect on press.
- The above is not an issue in World Tour as of writing this. However, one secret area is technically revealed by true 3d rendering (but not the exact way to it), and another one is made clear with ambient occlusion. There are other instances in which any of these may have unintended consequences on the look and feel, including a misaligned exit sign's labels.

In fact, the last point kinda applies to the HRP as well, at least with regards to the way different textures are aligned with each other (but obviously also more than that).

View PostLeoD, on 01 April 2019 - 12:16 PM, said:

All fixed. The latter might be due to widescreen vs. the game's original aspect ratio, at least partially. Quite a common issue.


Nice, and interesting to see the possible cause for the latter (which makes sense).

Quote

Spoiler


Spoiler

0

User is online   ck3D 

#6

Sweet map. Took me 49 minutes, found 4 secrets; I think I spotted the entrance to a few of them (ie. there has to be something with those pinball machines), but couldn't find the corresponding switch or trigger, I didn't look too hard though.

I really enjoyed the scale of the map, a lot of people are going to tell you it's generally overscaled but I find that this type of environment works very well with the physics in the game. Duke runs super fast and can jump about everywhere, a freedom of movement only restricted by more confined, 'realistic' indoor locations; especially whilst fighting and requiring space to strafe around or jump to avoid rockets. Some of your rooms looked three stories tall, but I very much enjoyed the breath of fresh air it provided.

I haven't played a user map with gameplay this reminiscent of the original levels in a while, I really enjoyed the flow and difficulty with a general scarcity of ammo for the basic weapons. The Devastator provided that early on caught me off guard at first but then I realized how open the level was and thus how fun it was to use projectile weapons in such settings. A feeling only enhanced when I found the freezer then the shrinker just a little bit later. Out of habit though, I didn't use the Devastator until the very end; had I known I would be provided with so much ammo for it throughout the map (leading me to expect an overwhelming final fight that never quite came), I would have abused it as much as I did abuse the shrinker. I didn't find the RPG either (secret place is my guess, although a completely RPG-free map would actually be refreshing), but all those weapons probably work super well with the large corridors and open streets.

The layout was slick, I liked how interconnected everything was, although that reoccuring portion of the map with the collapsed floors in between evelators with the hurtrail texture drove me a bit crazy; those holes could just barely accomodate the player, making getting the hell out of the harmful sector (from sloped ground too) rather tedious. How cramped a few of the hotel rooms were I thought didn't go to well with the size and scale of everything else in the map; I got squished by one of those bathroom doors once, maybe doors shouldn't be set to auto-close in such settings (because then it will occasionally be on you).

The progression was quite natural as well, I did get lost a few times trying to remember where the hell those panels for two of the keys were, and then to actually find them again, but just long enough to have to scratch my head a little bit, which is good - that's a pretty old-school feeling of having no guidance but your brains to make do that I miss in games. The map was a bit hard to navigate because of its scale but looked coherent, and having so much space to cover I thought actually enhanced the feeling of exploration (especially as soon as one starts reaching the upper stories and experiencing the vertical axis), which again is very typical of the feel of the original levels (especially the more ambitious ones). The interconnected hotel rooms gave me some heavy Hotel Hell flashbacks, although that was obviously quite intended. I also loved the wise, quite traditional enemy selection, placement and ratio (as well as the weapon / item distribution), you stayed away from a lot of typical user map mistakes here. Also worth a mention: those flying Liztroops that spawned really, really high up (I guess at sky level, but in this map it's pretty high). Having to literally wait for them to come down all the while strafing and jumping around to avoid their lasers was quite fun and a rather fresh use for that enemy, again thanks to the big open space.

Also your aesthetics are something else. Some super uncommon texture picks, and a (harmless) scarcity of trimming in general, and shading as far as the outdoor area is concerned. I actually appreciated the bare bones look of the level and in many aspects did it remind me of the very amateur, stripped down look and feel of many user maps from 1996, which consequently I'm feeling some nostalgia for right now. Technically the map could use some more combing for detail, but it really doesn't need it as its relative lack in visual sophistication of it only makes it super functional. Sometimes I'd rather jump around in rooms with fifteen-feet-tall ceilings and maybe one crate, than in a box cluttered with stuff.

Congrats on releasing your map. I had a lot of fun with it and will check out your older ones sometimes.

Also how you're feeling right now after getting it out of the way is normal. I've been mapping for this game for 20 years but also always had other side interests, hobbies and occupations. I think every map I've ever released in the past ten years has supposedly been my 'last', partly because I was just so over obsessing the same little piece for hundreds of hours every time. So I can relate - sometimes I just get the bug back though.

This post has been edited by ck3D: 01 April 2019 - 06:02 PM

1

User is offline   NY00123 

#7

Thanks for trying out the map and for your feedback, ck3D.

I should say that I've updated my website, hosted by Duke4.net, so it has a copy of the map as originally released. Also took the chance to do other changes, like updating the "Links" page (in particular so it doesn't contain broken links).

See "Downloads" here, for Pyratel, the two older maps and other contents: http://ny.duke4.net/

Additionally:
- Asking again if anybody has found the aforementioned easter egg (which differs from the one that LeoD found)? I can say that there's a bit of a hint in the map, although the renderer you're using may have an impact. To make it a bit more "fair", I should remind that this map is designed with the classic renderer in mind (and in particular, DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5) first and foremost.
- btw, not only I eventually excluded any occurrence of the Steroids item (due to warps), but even earlier, I decided to not have any laser tripbomb. Reason is that when used, they may be invisible in sectors with sloped floors/ceilings.
- For documentation, I should probably write here a list of issues that I've found now, and which may be corrected, at least partially. Certain examples come from the posts of LeoD and ck3D. Not sure when/if I get to them, but then again, at least some of them shouldn't be difficult / time consuming to handle, and even trivial.

The list of issues itself:
Spoiler


View Postck3D, on 01 April 2019 - 05:56 PM, said:

I really enjoyed the scale of the map, a lot of people are going to tell you it's generally overscaled but I find that this type of environment works very well with the physics in the game. Duke runs super fast and can jump about everywhere, a freedom of movement only restricted by more confined, 'realistic' indoor locations; especially whilst fighting and requiring space to strafe around or jump to avoid rockets. Some of your rooms looked three stories tall, but I very much enjoyed the breath of fresh air it provided.


That's interesting to read. As previously stated by me, I've generally felt that large space with not more than a few details simply don't make it well for me. But I can see your point, and gameplay is not less important. I guess that eventually it's about figuring out the right balance.

Quote

I haven't played a user map with gameplay this reminiscent of the original levels in a while, I really enjoyed the flow and difficulty with a general scarcity of ammo for the basic weapons. The Devastator provided that early on caught me off guard at first but then I realized how open the level was and thus how fun it was to use projectile weapons in such settings. A feeling only enhanced when I found the freezer then the shrinker just a little bit later. Out of habit though, I didn't use the Devastator until the very end; had I known I would be provided with so much ammo for it throughout the map (leading me to expect an overwhelming final fight that never quite came), I would have abused it as much as I did abuse the shrinker. I didn't find the RPG either (secret place is my guess, although a completely RPG-free map would actually be refreshing), but all those weapons probably work super well with the large corridors and open streets.

The layout was slick, I liked how interconnected everything was, although that reoccuring portion of the map with the collapsed floors in between evelators with the hurtrail texture drove me a bit crazy; those holes could just barely accomodate the player, making getting the hell out of the harmful sector (from sloped ground too) rather tedious. How cramped a few of the hotel rooms were I thought didn't go to well with the size and scale of everything else in the map; I got squished by one of those bathroom doors once, maybe doors shouldn't be set to auto-close in such settings (because then it will occasionally be on you).


Thanks for the feedback; As mentioned in the above list of issues, maybe I can reduce the amount of ammunition in the penthouse, possibly making this depending on the difficulty.

Also, on the elevator, I think that I may concur. Again as mentioned in the same list, there used to be separate sectors connected to the elevator shaft with the inner sides of the doors, making it somewhat easier to get out of it. Due to the sectors being thin enough to potentially lead to warps, though, I got rid of them. Maybe I can bring them back, but make them larger.

Quote

Also your aesthetics are something else. Some super uncommon texture picks, and a (harmless) scarcity of trimming in general, and shading as far as the outdoor area is concerned. I actually appreciated the bare bones look of the level and in many aspects did it remind me of the very amateur, stripped down look and feel of many user maps from 1996, which consequently I'm feeling some nostalgia for right now. Technically the map could use some more combing for detail, but it really doesn't need it as its relative lack in visual sophistication of it only makes it super functional. Sometimes I'd rather jump around in rooms with fifteen-feet-tall ceilings and maybe one crate, than in a box cluttered with stuff.


Now, that's again interesting. Generally, I wanted it to feel somewhat similar to official Duke3D maps, albeit with my touches, and apart from certain few(?) cases of checking out original maps for stuff like texture choices, basically do things on my own.

As written in the list of issues, originally there were no lightstreets in the outdoor area, so it maybe made somewhat more sense to have the mostly uniform shading. I'm not sure what to do atm, since making things yellow-colored won't look that great, yet it does make some sense for the lights which are colored in this way.

Quote

Congrats on releasing your map. I had a lot of fun with it and will check out your older ones sometimes.

Also how you're feeling right now after getting it out of the way is normal. I've been mapping for this game for 20 years but also always had other side interests, hobbies and occupations. I think every map I've ever released in the past ten years has supposedly been my 'last', partly because I was just so over obsessing the same little piece for hundreds of hours every time. So I can relate - sometimes I just get the bug back though.


Thanks for playing the map! As previously stated, one of these older maps ("What the...") doesn't have that much details. And then the race map is intended to be a multiplayer map, although you may still explore it on your own, and it has at least one unusual secret hidden, in a way.
0

User is online   ck3D 

#8

View PostNY00123, on 04 April 2019 - 12:30 PM, said:

- Asking again if anybody has found the aforementioned easter egg (which differs from the one that LeoD found)? I can say that there's a bit of a hint in the map, although the renderer you're using may have an impact. To make it a bit more "fair", I should remind that this map is designed with the classic renderer in mind (and in particular, DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5) first and foremost.


I didn't find it. As far as secrets in general, as I was mentioning earlier I also found a few walls that sounded like they could be opened (since they didn't make a sound when 'used', meaning they were locked doors) but couldn't find the triggers for them. The one on the pinball machines confused me for a while until I gave up (but I'd still take a minute to look around again everytime I'd cross the room again). If I remember correctly I also did the opposite once, finding a trigger to something (I think a touchplate) but never understanding what it opened.

Quote

- The outer ATMs might be too large / tall.


I actually liked the ATM's. If they look out of place, it's probably because they are detailed with the attention you'd normally give to meticulous little objects and constructions in more enclosed, confined, usually indoor environments. The contrast probably comes from how here, such an object is placed in a very open location against a pretty uniform background, turning it into a main point of focus. But again, I actually liked that, the construction looked pretty unique (as well as all the arcade machines, pool tables etc.) and although they didn't necessarily resemble anything from the original levels (their design itself not looking very 'traditional'), they stood out for being inventive in a way that, to me, was reminiscent of first finding out about the pool table in E1L2 for instance. Funnily enough, I think those detailed ATM's against the plain building wall was one of my favorite sights in the map (as well as the whole main street section).

Quote

- Outside lighting: Originally, there were no streetlights. Given that this is night time, it *maybe* made some sense to have more-or-less uniform lighting (assuming we ignore the shades of the moon on earth, if the moon is the main source of light). But with the streetlights in use, it isn't as much, unless we count the examples from the beginnings of E4L4 and E4L6, and I'm not sure about the beginning of E3L8. Also, most of these look more orange (on purpose). Making sectors yellow-colored will probably not look that great, unless it's the kind of monochromatic light source which is in use.


I would too advise against using colored lights. By lighting I think I actually really meant the shading. For instance I spotted many instances of similarly-shaded adjacent walls (admittedly a pet peeve of mine). The original levels never had that and instead had variations in certain increments of shade for every wall at a different angle. For instance a square sector (i.e.. a crate) wouldn't be all uniform and instead have two opposite sides shaded differently from the other two (darker or brighter depending on how you look at it). Of course this varies a lot depending on how extreme the lighting of the settings are, i.e. a crate directly facing a light source would have one super bright side (the one facing the light), two neutral ones on the side and then its back should be much darker. The same logic should apply to any settings, even more neutral ones such as your main street area if only to enhance the tridimensional look of the map. Having adjacent walls shaded differently and coherently (it's always a good idea to pick a specific location or angle an imaginary source of light is supposedly emitting from, in order to shade everything in the level accordingly) actually adds a lot of depth even (and especially) to large open areas, and also makes them look more detailed even if decorative sprites are non-existent (and most of the time, the effect is even stronger).

Quote

- Also, a general note on lighting and more: It doesn't have to be 100% realistic, of course, especially in situations when it's difficult or (practically) impossible to do so (e.g., 3+ shades of light covering the same Build .MAP wall).


You can actually do that by breaking up the walls (adding vertices) to simulate gradient lighting, or if you want to do it horizontally you can add invisible sectors behind walls the same way you'd do to give one wall a double texture, except you give it the bottom wall the same texture as the top, align them so they look right and then give them different shade values. You can also play with masked walls (but I find those so annoying), and finally a very lazy way (my favorite) is to cheat by using non-blocking, wall-aligned sprites (any sprite with the right shape) with pal 4 and some degree of transparency (a technique that should be used wisely as it can cause some minor visual clipping).

Most of the 'issues' you listed don't sound like they're worth 'fixing', to be honest - I thought the map was perfect in its current state. Of course it's your creation and you should fine-tune it however you please until you're satisfied with it, but honestly from a player's standpoint I would much rather see you put that same time into a new map - even a less ambitious one. This one is actually much longer than the original levels when you think about it (not that they should always be a reference, but you seem to have appreciation for them). I know you said another map wasn't going to happen, though.

Big open environments are confusing to work with at first because one doesn't know where to start, so feeling comfortable making smaller scale rooms crammed with detail is completely normal. But I'll reiterate that I do think you did a great job with that main street area (combined with some well-balanced and -organized item / monster placement), so you shouldn't feel weird about it. If anything it reminded me a bit of the feel of Freeway which is one of my favorite levels in the original game.

Two things I forgot to address: why the need of the invisible walls around the hotel? To prevent warps? The architecture looks great over there and it's really tempting for the player to try and explore, only to get a bit frustrated when it turns out they can't. Also - was that one tree growing in the middle of the road? Do I remember that right? For some reason I remember noticing one tree that looked funny / out of place, but I played the map so late I might as well have been daydreaming in front of my screen.

This post has been edited by ck3D: 05 April 2019 - 12:14 PM

1

User is offline   NY00123 

#9

ok, time I reply to this after more than 4 years!

But first, I thought about recording a play-through that covers all secrets and then publishing the video, albeit I can maybe apply some fixes to the map first? See the end of the post for more details.

View Postck3D, on 05 April 2019 - 12:13 PM, said:

Two things I forgot to address: why the need of the invisible walls around the hotel? To prevent warps? The architecture looks great over there and it's really tempting for the player to try and explore, only to get a bit frustrated when it turns out they can't.


(Belated) Thanks for your comments about the architecture! The invisible walls are simply there due to the area not originally meant to be accessible. Albeit it might be worthy to make them one-way blocking, at the least, so the player can escape in case of warping to the top of the hotel from within.

Quote

Also - was that one tree growing in the middle of the road? Do I remember that right? For some reason I remember noticing one tree that looked funny / out of place, but I played the map so late I might as well have been daydreaming in front of my screen.


You're not wrong - wonder how have I missed this. The trees reside near the hotel, but they're otherwise on the paved road, with no pavement or shoulder at all. That's something to consider fixing.

So, back to the map fixing comments. There was a longer list posted earlier, but I can also make a shorter one here. So, the suggestions are:

Spoiler

1

User is offline   NY00123 

#10

ok, this took more than 4 years again, but I finally have an update for the map! This followed (at least in part) the feedbacks of LeoD and ck3D.
While it's still essentially the same map, the list of edits is technically a bit long, so a short sample is given further below. For a more detailed list, I've published a git repository covering all changes: https://gitlab.com/NY00123/pyratel/

In fact, I've had older revisions of the map, dating back to March-April 2018 and March 2019 (yes, I originally took a break of about a year). These were added to the git repository as separate git commits, along with other few contents, so you now have the chance to inspect the history of Pyratel's development!

Usually, it's mostly the same in basic structure, but for one minor example, did you know that the broken elevator was initially planned to be at the hotel's south-eastern corner? (btw, I imagine this corner as north-western. More generally, what Build/Mapster32's familiar 2D mode shows as "down" is north in my mind for this map.)

I've also uploaded a play-through covering all secrets (and a bit more):



To finish with the partial list of highlights:

Spoiler

2

User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#11

Will this map work with vanilla or other CONs, or does it require the code that it comes with?
0

User is offline   NY00123 

#12

View PostDanukem, on 18 July 2023 - 01:07 PM, said:

Will this map work with vanilla or other CONs, or does it require the code that it comes with?


The map is (still) compatible with DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5. The sole purpose of the included CON and BAT files is changing the user map's musical track to lordofla.mid (same as E3L8).

EDuke32, Rednukem, Raze and NetDuke32 don't need any of the CON files because they can make use of PYRA_RL2.MID, which is a renamed lordofla.mid.
1

User is online   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#13

View PostNY00123, on 19 July 2023 - 07:11 AM, said:

The map is (still) compatible with DOS versions 1.3d and 1.5. The sole purpose of the included CON and BAT files is changing the user map's musical track to lordofla.mid (same as E3L8).

EDuke32, Rednukem, Raze and NetDuke32 don't need any of the CON files because they can make use of PYRA_RL2.MID, which is a renamed lordofla.mid.


I took the liberty of updating your original post by appending it with your new post. The new github link is in the updated post. The old map is still attached to the old post -- should it be removed?
0

User is offline   NY00123 

#14

View PostDanukem, on 19 July 2023 - 08:08 PM, said:

I took the liberty of updating your original post by appending it with your new post. The new github link is in the updated post. The old map is still attached to the old post -- should it be removed?


Thanks for spending the time. I actually already emailed another forum admin with requests for post edits. Emailed again to notify about your editors, and I'll also PM you with more details.
0

User is offline   NY00123 

#15

So, I suspect there are people familiar with Pyratel but not aware of the following. Basically, I took a subset of the map and adapted it for the multiplayer mod TeamDUKE. If you're not familiar with TeamDUKE, this was originally a 2001 mod for EDuke 2.0 introducing new multiplayer modes. These covered Team Dukematch (before community-maintained source ports existed), as well as Flag-Tag, CTF and Enhanced Duke-Tag.

A year ago, I resurrected TeamDUKE and brought improvements to the mod. Even the mod's creator returned afterwards. For more details, check this thread: https://forums.duke4...-for-netduke32/

More recently, by the end of 2023, version 0.9 was released. This had new community maps, previously a part of a Build Bros map pack. Additionally, there's also a map contributed by me, which is the aforementioned subset of Pyratel. I decided to call it PyraZone.

As of writing this, there's still an ongoing 2vs2 CTF tournament initiated by Build Bros Discord staff and using TeamDUKE. Out of the covered matches, one of them turned out to occur in PyraZone. I'm linking to a video here.

Not everything is shown in the video, but to describe some changes:
Spoiler



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