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[RELEASE] Dark Seed  "Yet anonther experiemental map"

User is offline   Sanek 

#1

Dark Seed (no connection to the game of the same name) is short, story-driven map inspired by such movies as Alien 3 and The Thing, and my own desire to make a quest-like map, a map that relies on reading text instead of a firefights. Don't worry, you'll meet some enemies!
There's some kind of a story and 6 characters who play their parts, but the player come to the scene after the main course of events.I hope that someone will be interested in this sort of a map. :(

Download here: http://www.mediafire...Dark%20Seed.zip

Hot tip: You have to read a lot of text in order to finish the map, so check all the viewscreens you'll see.
I also suggest to turn Duke Talk off in the game menu.

Thanks to James and Mark for beta-testing.
And special thanks to James for helping me with a text.

Attached Image: duke0083.pngAttached Image: duke0084.png
Attached Image: duke0086.pngAttached Image: duke0087.png
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User is offline   blizzart 

#2

Very nice map, Sanek.
I really like the overall look of it and the big amount of spritework.

It wasn´t that hard to figure out, what to do and where to go.
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User is offline   Ninety-Six 

#3

A more story-driven Duke Map? Oh, certainly.


Right off the bat, the atmosphere is top-notch. The music instantly set the tone, and this is a part where D3D's milder focus on realism really enabled the map design and texture work to help sell that atmosphere. The little details here really added up.

It is amazing what a little bit of context can do. I knew the slimers were coming but it was still made them suddenly a bit creepier. Story was pretty good, short as it was. Though I will say there were a few points where what the switches unlocked wasn't very clear. The one in Patricia's room stood out in particular.

I can see why it was recommended to turn off the Duke talk. He sure is impatient...


Of course now I'm left wondering what exactly happens after the map ends. That doesn't seem like an easily escapable situation.
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User is offline   Loke 

#4

This is such a cool map. Whilst the setting isn't terribly original (abandoned space station) the story-driven element together with the more relaxed shooting is such a nice breath of fresh air. The only problem is that it's over far too soon as things are just starting to heat up.
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User is offline   Sanek 

#5

View PostLoke, on 13 May 2018 - 03:57 AM, said:

This is such a cool map. Whilst the setting isn't terribly original (abandoned space station) the story-driven element together with the more relaxed shooting is such a nice breath of fresh air. The only problem is that it's over far too soon as things are just starting to heat up.

Thank you! I was looking after your space/hi-tech maps extensively before making this one, so it's nice to hear that you like it! :(
Yeah, it's a short map, but hey - how big the space station like this can be? Besides, I presume that you'll spent most of the time reading messages, and the warehouse area is a perfect setting for the ending.
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#6

Excellent map! I enjoyed it very much. Having a story driven map is a great breath of fresh air.

This is one of the few maps where slimers actually posed a threat and were more than an annoyance--fighting the swarm was a great experience, and it was the only time I can remember feeling "oh crap" about the slimers (especially how they just appeared out of nowhere). Lighting and atmosphere were great.

Only nitpick is that there were a few places where lighting was a bit strange--the first room (donut shaped one) with the diagonal light fixture was casting a square shadow, for example. Everything else was excellent.

I agree about the switches being unclear--couldn't figure out to go back to the room with the yellow keycard for awhile. I kept trying to go back to the big door in the first warehouse.
0

#7

Played your map yesterday, it was pretty good, the tone and general atmosphere were neat.
One of your better works alongside with that winter map and the bridge map.
Being a negative nancy I do have a few things I didn't enjoy, first being lack of actual quests.
I think this map would have benefited greatly from having actual text puzzles to solve (like for example decrypting a message containig important code left by an insane crew member).
Ditch the button hunting, write some riddles or make mechanisms to work with and the added interactivity would make a lot more impact.
While spritework was actually pretty great (I especially like the lab room, which is once again a great place to have a puzzle), I think architecture of the level is still a bit squarish with worst offender being the boss room which just felt rushed.
But despite this, I think it's still pretty enjoyable little map.

Btw, if I told you that I had a similar story-driven map in development 4 years ago with strong The Thing and System Shock vibe, would you find it as ironic as I do?
Spoiler

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User is offline   Sanek 

#8

Thank you for playing.
Yeah, I know that it's a quest map in name only, but I was not going to make a puzzle-heavy map anyway. All I wanted to do is to make a map that will revolve around reading messages and gave you a feeling that there's some kind of a world that you're only a part of.

View PostMister Sinister, on 14 May 2018 - 04:41 AM, said:

Btw, if I told you that I had a similar story-driven map in development 4 years ago with strong The Thing and System Shock vibe, would you find it as ironic as I do?


It's interesting. I wonder how similar it actually is.
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#9

Well, the plot revoled around new war with race of shapeshifting aliens a few decades after events of DN3D. You were supposed to play as Duke's forgotten son working as an engineer on a monitoring station.
The war is going in favor of the aliens until the aforementioned station discovered a new mineral and took it for analysis, which is potentially can be used to craft new type of a very powerful weapon. Just upon discovery the station is infiltrated with a couple of shapeshifters wiping out almost everyone on the station except Nukem's son, the administator and a few other characters. Your goal is to prevent the information from going into the hands of aliens.
That was the general outline for the plot, it was supposed to be a story-driven and puzzle heavy map. I made a lot of preogress with the level (500 kbs) but none with the story, so it was never finished.
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User is offline   zykov eddy 

#10

I'm a sucker for horror maps, so I had to play this one. For what it's worth, it's pretty damn good, but it felt so short. Somebody pointed out the underwhelming ending, and I agree that it could be better. I'm still glad I played it and I really like the designs and details, and logs are a wonderful addition to a DN3D map. Also, I suspect you took inspiration from the film Life, which scared me shitless when I first saw it, especially the lab scene. If you didn't see it, I highly recommend it, it has many things in common with plot of the map.

Anyway, a great map, especially considering that horror maps are very rare nowadays. Also, a sequel would be great, or maybe a prequel, to explain more stuff about the plot and expand on it.
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User is offline   Sanek 

#11

Whoah. Didn't expect that happening! :(

View Postzykov eddy, on 15 May 2018 - 12:07 PM, said:

Somebody pointed out the underwhelming ending, and I agree that it could be better.

Сonsidering the plot of the map, it makes sense. However, I agree that the map is too short, and it could be larger and even better.

View Postzykov eddy, on 15 May 2018 - 12:07 PM, said:

Also, I suspect you took inspiration from the film Life, which scared me shitless when I first saw it, especially the lab scene. If you didn't see it, I highly recommend it, it has many things in common with plot of the map.

Yes, I saw Life, guess I should mention it the first post, instead of The Thing!


View Postzykov eddy, on 15 May 2018 - 12:07 PM, said:

Anyway, a great map, especially considering that horror maps are very rare nowadays. Also, a sequel would be great, or maybe a prequel, to explain more stuff about the plot and expand on it.

Yes, the story was written in such a way that it has the ground for a sequel or prequel. I'll think about it :P
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User is offline   Sanek 

#12

MSDN Review: http://msdn.duke4.net/hotdarkseed.php

Well, it's a fair review. I guess we all have the same opinion about the short nature of the map.
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User is offline   Forge 

  • Speaker of the Outhouse

#13

*bump*
Very good map with a lot of potential to be great, but it felt too short and constricted.

An opinion I wrote in the CGS forum ended up being used as the review:
http://www.scent-88....dseed/dseed.php
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