[Klaymen]

Hello! After 10 years I logged in here to ask for some assistance again

So I downloaded Eduke, managed to find the guide how make it run with world tour and tested it by putting the roland music pack in an autoload folder and it all seems to work. BUT! I´m super confused by all the mods. For example, the HRP doesn´t seem to have been updated since 2015 according to its site, yet by looking around here there seems to be activity going on in the thread. Is it still updated somewhere else?

So basically:

1. Is there any site which collects all the latest mods and mod guides and stuff, or do I have to scour the forums for all that info?

2. Is the HRP the nicest way to play the game today? I know it´s very subjective and in a way I´m thinking of playing the game as is, or at least turning off the 3d models. However I noticed there is an Ai upscaled pack which sounds like it could be exactly what I want, is that for all the textures/sprites in the game or is it still a wip?

3. Any other mods you guys recommend? Or if I have missed some mods, what would be the best keeping-it-real-but-a-bit-updated mods to get?

Anyhow, nice to see such activity still going with this old game and thanks to all you creators out there keeping this game very much alive!

[Danukem]

The HRP was a cool novelty back in the day because it made a 1996 shooter look kind of like a 2001 shooter. The HRP got a new lease on life in 2009 with the Polymer renderer that added dynamic lighting and other features, with the promise of bringing Duke closer to modern visual standards again. But Polymer was never finished and optimized, many problems cropped up and its developer left. Now the look of the HRP is itself retro, and not in a good way because its look isn't very consistent and doesn't go with the old levels very well. These days most of us have embraced the fact that Duke 3D is a retro shooter and we aren't trying to make it look modern. Most of the mods that we play and develop now make very little use of 3d models and instead focus on gameplay, new maps and new sprites.

My my most recently updated released mod is Alien Armageddon, and some of my other released mods are Attrition, Duke Forces, and DukePlus; also various smaller mods like Essential Duke that I start as experiments and don't maintain (typically I take things from them and port them to my bigger mods). Alien Armageddon is designed as an overhaul of Duke 3D that has all the old stuff and a ton of new, so I would recommend that. I'll let others chime in about their own mods or favorite mods.

[Jimmy]

The Voxel Pack looks better than the HRP.

[jkas789]

Klaymen, on 17 August 2020 - 09:29 AM, said:

Hello! After 10 years I logged in here to ask for some assistance again

So I downloaded Eduke, managed to find the guide how make it run with world tour and tested it by putting the roland music pack in an autoload folder and it all seems to work. BUT! I´m super confused by all the mods. For example, the HRP doesn´t seem to have been updated since 2015 according to its site, yet by looking around here there seems to be activity going on in the thread. Is it still updated somewhere else?

So basically:

1. Is there any site which collects all the latest mods and mod guides and stuff, or do I have to scour the forums for all that info?

2. Is the HRP the nicest way to play the game today? I know it´s very subjective and in a way I´m thinking of playing the game as is, or at least turning off the 3d models. However I noticed there is an Ai upscaled pack which sounds like it could be exactly what I want, is that for all the textures/sprites in the game or is it still a wip?

3. Any other mods you guys recommend? Or if I have missed some mods, what would be the best keeping-it-real-but-a-bit-updated mods to get?

Anyhow, nice to see such activity still going with this old game and thanks to all you creators out there keeping this game very much alive!

1.- AFAIK there is no specific site like the Nexus that collects all the latest and greatest Duke Nukem mods. The closest thing would be Moddb which has some popular mods (Alien Armageddon, DukePlus, some total conversions) but some of the hidden gem you will have to look around the forum threads here.

2.- IMO no. The 3d models I feels really clash with DN3D aesthetic. I much prefer the combination of vanilla sprites and the voxel pack. I also like the mod Brutal Duke however that is still in very early development and it admittedly is a bit ridiculous.

3.- Voxel pack, Roland 55 music pack, PSX sounds. I myself am looking around for more mods to add to my game and funnily enough yesterday I posted a thread asking the community what mods they use to play with, so you may be interested in looking at that. Also if you want to play the new episode Alien World Order I would recommend using the World Tour EDuke32 Compatibility Stopgap.

[Klaymen]

Ok, thanks for the input. Looks like I will go vanilla with voxel pack, then go with alien armageddon as it looks interesting.

HD texture packs generally clash with old poly counts, so that´s why I was a bit curious if the HRP had been replaced by a complete overhaul or something. I still think all build engine games still hold up in a way as they look detailed and crispy, so there is no issue replaying it as is really

Oh and just noticed your thread, gonna keep a look at it.

[Danukem]

Klaymen, on 18 August 2020 - 01:25 AM, said:

Ok, thanks for the input. Looks like I will go vanilla with voxel pack, then go with alien armageddon as it looks interesting.

AA is already integrated with (most of) the voxel pack so don't install one on top of the other; if you install AA you have the voxels as part of it already. I think the same is true of AMC TC and probably other mods.

[Phredreeke]

Klaymen, on 17 August 2020 - 09:29 AM, said:

However I noticed there is an Ai upscaled pack which sounds like it could be exactly what I want, is that for all the textures/sprites in the game or is it still a wip?

The upscale pack is a work in progress, it has all the enemies but not level textures other than some signs. Parts of it are used in Alien Armageddon as well.

[Klaymen]

Ok, good to know about AA. I guess this is what's a bit confusing to me, it all is a bit obscure. I know, always read the readme, but dn3d modding in general seems a bit confusing to me, it's like I can't get a clear picture of what's going on. Or more likely, I've just grown lazy with stuff like the workshop or nexus mod manager making everything one-click

And guess I'll wait with the ai upscale til next play through in 10 years then can't live with clashing textures.

And I noticed that the hrp page is actually updated which is very nice, it's just that when you drop in from Google you land on the download page with a "last updated 2015" on top, so it was mostly me and google who is to blame, the download page is an actual hub for the "top picks", I just assumed everything was from 2015 when I really should have just clicked around a bit :s