Time to wrap up the month's entries. I didn't play City Terror and the Deathmatch maps and I think I had enough, honestly. I will write up about Sunburn, C&C TC (unfinished) and DukeVR.
Sunburn
It includes a new map (Wet Dream) as the first level, while the previous Tropical Alien Massacre is the second level. I played through both maps (CGS skill as usual) and indeed TAM is easier with the arsenal from previous level but still a bit tricky at times. Having the medkit from previous level really helps!
I liked the various references to Alejandro's Mapping Center and its members (Oostrum Brothers, etc) that were mentioned in the map. I think it's pretty cool they made a tribute map to the Duke community at that time.
Gameplay wise, it's nice as well. I only wish the two armor pickups weren't given a bit late and also located close to another, I could have used some armor earlier, especially at beginning when I got down to 35 health and had to drink water from hydrant after I secured the area. I don't have much to say other than I really enjoyed this mini episode, it is a nice Caribbean inspired mini mod, though without the Caribbean stuff included obviously.
Command & Conquer TC (unfinished)
This is a pack of 9 maps from the unfinished C&C TC. 5 are SP levels, 4 are DM levels. Two maps are unfinished (an empty forest/jungle themed Deathmatch map and a SP map that has 10 or so enemies and no exit). They are simply played as user maps, though there exists a version included in the addon compilation which allows the finished levels to be played as an episode.
I will talk about each and how most of the SP levels were quite frustrating due to massive lack of health and also being a bit confusing at times. Note that the DM levels are C&C04-C&C07, while rest are SP levels with enemies.
C&C01 - The first level which doesn't seem very difficult, though I lost quite a bit of health near end due to my stupidity of breaking those barrels and thinking that dark vent (that seemed unreachable) might hold something inside but instead it was inaccessible and yes I had to lure a trooper which resulted in at least 30 or more damage and he often wouldn't cooperate. The other vent (accessible by climbing on stairs) holds the red card and in same room you can find a yellow card in a box (which took a while to hold). The blue card was hidden behind a pushable box in another room. All 3 cards are necessary to progress.
There are two secrets to find, first secret is easily found by crouching in a hole, second secret is hard to find and had to look in Mapster to find it. It is found in the room with lava. I died twice trying to access it by jumping into its place (though this happened after I initially finished the level without any deaths) which made me fall into inescapable lava and die until I realized you had to push to lower wall and then jump into it to enter the secret. The secret contained an atomic health and an RPG (which would have been handy for the trip mine), as well as those lava fountains that I could drink just to get my health to 100.
C&C02 - The second level which was a bit more difficult as health was a lot scarcer and it kept me on toes at times, ever since an enforcer ambushed me halfway through. I died twice near end before I reached the exit, as the last pig cop killed me when I had to swim through acid just with 22 HP (after looking in mapster for what I had to do next, as well as looking for the two secrets) and when I finally made it in and shot him, the damn pig cop kills me. Reloading save, I made it safely, kill the pig cop, saved and then try exploring in the acid to look for a small health kit that I saw in mapster but somehow in game it wasn't visible at all, I guess it got dragged away by the water currents and probably got outside of level or something. Not a huge loss since I had finished the level, though the exploration costed me another death.
There are two secrets to find, one is found at beginning (contains two shell boxes) by pressing on the nearby wall (after lowering the gate) and another is found halfway through (on the area with two enforcers) that all it contains is a pistol clip. I wonder why these secrets don't contain a lot of stuff?
C&C03 - The third level which was a lot longer and more difficult with really scarce health (even when I was provided with a portable medkit and some medkits in secret areas, they all got used fast), though somehow I did it without dying but it wasn't an easy task as I finished it with 12 HP and I had MANY moments where I just killed a pig cop just as he was about to shoot me. At the exit room with commanders and troopers, I was lucky one of the commanders shoot in wall/door and killed all those troopers in the room, so all was left is to take the last commander and the map was done! It was quite epic to survive the last rooms with just 12 HP (the armor doesn't count in this case, as a single trooper laser may have been enough to kill me) but it's not often you see this successful moment, especially on the original executable and with keyboard only controls. The map also contains 5 secrets, though I'm not going to write how and where to find each, you will most likely get them during gameplay. I just wish the armor was given earlier, as having full or almost full armor near end doesn't do much when your health is 50 or lower. The only thing that saved me was getting an early used armor (75 points) from a pig cop, which eventually ran out later in map. I can't imagine this map being possible if I wasn't given that random used armor, it would have most likely turned into save/load spam later in level until clearing rooms without damage, though thankfully that wasn't the case and with the fact I survived all the fights and had many close calls, I will be a bit more forgiving this time.
C&C04 - The first DM level, which is base themed and has 3 floors.
C&C05 - The second DM level and the only unfinished DM map, it is a forest themed map with no items placed.
C&C06 - The third DM level, which is a short map with a bridge in middle.
C&C07 - The fourth DM level, which is another base themed level.
C&C08 - The fourth SP level, which was very frustrating, I don't think I remember exact amount of deaths (probably 5 or so) but I remember how confusing and annoying it was. Even at beginning I got stuck, had to look in Mapster to find out there is a bush that hides the entrance to a vent that unlocks main gate. Minutes later, I get stuck again and must look in mapster to see I had to shoot at a button to disable that forcefield. Minutes later I get stuck again for another reason. Minutes later I get stuck yet again and find out I had to shoot ANOTHER switch, this time to raise the elevator with me into the vent. As for the gameplay, it was annoying from near beginning until near end. I spent most of time with low health once I entered the base and had to fight many red troopers and pig cops with just the pistol! Not fun! I eventually got a dropped shotgun and had like 1 HP left. I get killed once or twice by a pig cop and then twice by a trooper (what do you expect when you have just 1 health?) and eventually get health and make my way towards this hell of a level. Things start getting better later on but the constant interruptions make this map really tedious whenever I'm missing something and have to go back or check in mapster or something. There is a mini battlelord at end that can be killed with just the shotgun since there's so much shotgun ammo lying around, you won't have to worry about running out of ammo. There is also a helicopter waiting for you, so just jump carefully (and hope you have enough health because there is a fall that may damage you) and eventually you should make it!
There are 3 secrets to find, one is a large medkit in a vent, one is an atomic health with RPG (jump over fence when you reach the woods, at bottom of that building) and one is another large medkit while doing dangerous platforming. I found the last two after I finished the map with just 22 HP and had to backtrack. The extra health would have been nicer a bit earlier but at least the last part wasn't as bad as I thought.
C&C09 - The fifth SP level, which is also the unfinished one and contains no secrets. Thankfully this one wasn't painful at all (literally) since I took no damage and I even got an used armor (50) from a pig cop, which was nice, though useless this time around. There is also a protector drone to be found near end. Unfortunately, there is no exit, so once you reach the end, save and then quit. Congrats! You finished the unfinished C&C TC!
Overall, it was an interesting unfinished set of maps but nothing outstanding in my opinion and the lack of health made it a bit tougher than it should.
DukeVR
Alright, now comes the VERY painful mod, to conclude the month's series! It is a puzzle type of mod where Duke has to navigate various levels without triggering trip mines or avoiding mini battlelords and similar such challenges. There are some really great ideas and I especially liked some of its levels. But most levels (especially later on) weren't very fun and they turned into save/load spam and even saving on multiple slots to get past a frustrating spot. I know all levels have a way to restart (example by running into RESTART hole which kills you, in levels where you would get stuck) but I preferred to play continuous and carry over my health from previous level, which kinda affected some later levels but we will get that shortly.
There are 3 episodes (and a fourth one that isn't functional by default until you provide the levels yourself), each containing 6 levels and each episode is unique in that the first is Blue themed (Easy levels), the second is Green themed (Moderate levels) and third is Red themed (Hard levels). The mod doesn't have any difficulty settings and erases all difficulties besides the second (default) skill titled DUKE VR, though I played on third anyway.
The mod even comes with 3 gameplay demos (one for each episode) and I recommend watching them to get familiarized with the mod and understand what is happening. There are no secrets to be found at all and each level resets your inventory, only the health carries between levels, so I hope you have plenty of health as some later levels might become impossible or rely too much on luck. Finishing the last level of each episode will just restart the episode, so there's no ending cutscene or whatever. I will describe each level.
BLUE MISSIONS
B1. The first level is simple, though I still managed to die once or twice. You have to navigate through trip mines and also go through the vents. Eventually you will make your way to the exit.
B2. The second level is actually even more simple, though it requires you to time your shots so that the Recon car crashes into the tripmine and then opens the exit. If you fail (as it happened first two times), there is a RESTART "button" you run into to die and then restart. I did that but then I loaded my last save. Eventually I made it through after analyzing the recon's flying pattern since sometimes it flies over that hole you need to make it crash into.
B3. The third level was actually the easiest and one of the few I did without dying. The level is actually a modified starting area of E1L1: Hollywood Holocaust. Once I jumped over the canisters and reached exit, it made me ask: "That's it?"
B4. The fourth level is a bit more tricky, as you have to avoid a Mini Battlelord that stays in middle while activating THREE switches while hiding behind a rotating pillar that is provided for cover. Took a few tries, though it's not that difficult. Eventually I made it.
B5. The fifth level wasn't too bad, I think I did in first try. You have to simply lure pig cops into trip mines and kill remaining ones with shotgun or something. That's all! Though I think I didn't grab the shotgun and had to kick one remaining pig cop that followed me to beginning.
B6. The sixth level, which is a combination of the tests you did earlier in episode. It starts with the mini battlelord challenge mentioned earlier (you know what to do now) and avoiding trip mines until the end with fighting two pig cops.
GREEN MISSIONS
G1. The only difference is some tricky trip mine jump and the fact you have to kill a trooper before it activates the trip mine. I think his corpse landed on the trip mine and had to load the save after this bad luck moment. It was quite funny honestly.
G2. You have to avoid THREE mini battlelords! After you successfully make your way through (this took few attempts), you reached the exit!
G3. This is a simple one (and did in first try). You are given a Shrinker with some extra ammo, you see the mirror, you know what to do! The only tricky part is near end which took a while to figure how to shrink myself and land on the next platform. I did by jumping while the shrink ray was going to hit me and then landed on the last part. Funnily enough I ended the level while small, which doesn't have any side effects (as in original Duke3D, you start next level normal sized).
G4. Now it's time for the...really hard levels. I like the concept but I think it was quite punishing and it didn't help I started the level with only 57 health. You are given a shotgun and many shells, you must kill pig cops quickly while they get revealed and be careful to not hit any canisters, on top of killing them quickly before they cross tripmines AND survive their shots if they shoot. It took me like 20 attempts and it was quite frustrating and I had a backup save to restart level (with same health) once I messed up. I even wonder if this level is possible on Damn I'm Good? As I was planning to replay DukeVR on DIG at a later time. OK I eventually made it with 19 health, as the exit gets revealed after surviving the last door. I also didn't realize the doors were numbered, I just noticed that when I look in Mapster right now.
G5. Finally, things get easier. You have to lure ONE pig cop into the trip mine just like the 5th level of blue episode. First try done as well. That's all!
G6. And as previously, this level is combination of all previous levels of the episode, which includes a shrinking puzzle as well. Though this time there's no Mini Battlelords, instead it's a commander you have to lure to shoot a rocket into a cracked wall. Too bad I died once because of the rocket's explosion (that's what happens when you have low health), could have been done flawlessly. Ah well. At least the level wasn't difficult.
RED MISSIONS
R1. This is a simple map that just requires jumping, though the last jump requires strafe jumping. I didn't make the jumps halfway through and the last one, so I had to enter RESTART and die, then load the save since I realize I could have loaded save, but I prefer to keep it fair and let player dying in these cases. Other than that, this level isn't too bad. It's interesting to note it had no trip mines, just jumping.
R2. This is the infamous map with the pipebombs and stacking them on top of each other in order to blow up the barrel that opens the exit. This was reportedly broken in source ports recently (alongside difficulty names causing Rednukem to crash) and I'm not sure if there's source ports out there that play this mod perfectly, so this is why I played the mod in plain Atomic 1.5 executable in DOSBox. Anyway I had to look in mapster (the only map I had to look) just to see what's up with this map as I just didn't understand it at first and then realized I had to make pipebombs stack on top of each other, though it wouldn't always work, only sometimes if I didn't stay too close. It took a few attempts (if I used all pipebombs, I went to RESTART and then load save) but it wasn't too bad once you figure out.
R3. This was quite a hard one that combines avoiding tripmines with avoiding a trooper in middle of map (or else he activates the explosions) and even an underwater section that makes you hurry in order to avoid losing too much health from drowning. I'm not sure how you were supposed to do the last jump as I died a lot of times by barely touching that trip mine, other times I was successful but I had to be careful as you must rush to exit while trooper will finally wake up. It wasn't very fun to me honest, though I wish underwater puzzles were used in other levels as well. I succeeded with 88 health (just drown damage) after lots of saving/loading to try getting past that last part without damage.
R4. This was also quite tricky at times, especially avoiding the crushing platforms at beginning. After you successfully made in (took quite a bit of tries as well), avoid a bunch of trip mines and exit is right around corner!
R5. Similar to that one Green map, you have to kill a bunch of pig cops (11) quickly before they cross the trip mines. Easier said than done. Though it wasn't as difficult as the one from Green episode, it was still painful. There are two small health kits that helped a bit since I finished with just 31 health, I could have saved a bit more health but I was sick from the failed attempts so far.
R6. Very frustrating map! Thankfully it's the last map. As before, it is a combination of the tests from previous levels in the episode. There were some parts I found bullshit. There was a part at beginning that was very hard to not trigger trip mines until I eventually made it in. Then in next rooms (after the crushers part), you had to cross the trip mines quickly before they get activated once they are in your sight, after that you get stuck and I saved initially until I realized and had to reload an earlier save (thankfully before the crushers part) to redo this part. Eventually you will crawl through a vent and reach the last part of the level, which was complete bullshit with just 31 health. You are given an atomic health and a small medkit before that but the problem is that there are FOUR sentry drones that you have to make blow up in your face near a crack and take about 30 damage for each. There is a sentry drone you have to lure near one of three cracks (each contain a sentry drone and a switch you have to press) and explode in your face, while simply avoiding the last one. Problem is there isn't enough health and it took a few attempts until I eventually did with 6 health and the last sentry drone blew up around corners (probably did the same for middle crack). Without these tricks, the map is impossible to complete. I mean the puzzles in general were clever but they were quite frustrating.
Overall, I think the mod had a lot of good ideas but it could have been executed better. There are 3 (or 6?) user maps included with Army of Death TC that I should play someday, along with the Army of Death user map by Quakis and well the deathmatch levels, as well as the standalone City Terror TC. All of which I failed to finish in time, as to be quite honest, I had enough.
Conclusion: A lot of interesting ideas and many beautiful maps, I just wish the gameplay was better in most of them with more health available and less cheap tricks. I think most entries are worth playing at least once. My personal favorites and stuff that is definitely worth trying out:
Driving Home For Christmas - Nice Christmas theme, though note its midi may freeze the game depending on the port and settings used.
Sunburn - Nice summer theme, two-map mini episode.
Sewers and Strippers - Nice E3 styled map, just wish it had a bit more health and the rest arsenal included in SP as well, plus remove/rework that unreachable secret by normal means.
FBSP Series - Be sure to check out the second and third maps at least!
We Store Your Crap Remix - It's quite an interesting map, I should check out the original this was based on!
Duke Nukem VS The Army of Death - An interesting experiment and short TC with 3 levels, though it gets really repetitive later on and halfway through third level, you would wish it ends eventually.
DukeVR - Another interesting experiment, though the Red episode is a bit frustrating at times, including that Green episode map with the pig cops. Save often and use several slots in order to succeed!
See you on the Duke Hard topic!
Help
Duke4.net
DNF #1
Duke 3D #1
There is also a screenshot of where I died this time around, which is quite unusual as I don't usually post screenshots of how or where I died, this time I make an exception.
