[NNC]

That revised version wasn't very good. I will finish the new ones in the next couple of days and upload it here. The old revisions addressed some issues, but I didn't check a lot of problems properly.

In Sweeney the main bugs are:
1. There are three separate HOM effects. Two at the exit of the alien door, where the into your face explosion happened. One is generated by earthquake shifting (sector conflict) and another by a simple SOS glitch (looking back). The third HOM effect is worse in Mapster than in the game, but it's there, and it's in the other part of the main corridor, and it's also a simple SOS glitch.
2. Graphically the map had some bad texture choices, including the awful underwater texturing, the use of post-explosion textures at pre-explosion at the start of main corridor, and other minor stuff. Also there are other weird stuff like a wall-aligned octabrain, or waterdrop underwater.
3. The most notable sound glitch is the wrong tagging of the random ambient sounds (231, 10 instead of 231, 3). This generates random Duketalk and other unfitting sounds in the streets. Also there are many missing door sounds and a wrong tag of grind.voc in the blue key rotating door.
4. Gameplay-wise, octabrains are all over the place. Some of them (at the pre-blue key explosion site) don't even appear. Most enemies here are need to be changed. At least the skill tags are less problematic than in Sewer.
5. And of course, you can simply skip half of the level simply falling through the vent into the sewer. It's not a good gameplay experience, as you will find yourself overwhelmed with octabrains and even some commanders without sufficient ammo, but technically, this is a shortcut.

In Sewer, the bugs are less annoying, but more severe, I spent more time analysing the map:
1. Sprite placement in the level is often wrong. Some floor or ceiling aligned sprites (hydrant, fires, waterdrops) are placed incorrectly. This includes some ammo too, and you can see for example a shrinker ammo at the ceiling down in the sewer area. In addition, some sprites are using wrong bit numbers, ie. fires can be shot by simple shotgun shots, and you can shoot through transluscent wall with the water pumps. Also the electric poles at the end are not aligned correctly.
2. The sewer segment has incorrect ambient sound tags, many water bubbling sounds can't be heard, also the main grind can't be heard. The sewer segment is lacking door sounds completely. The city part has some door sounds that don't correspond to the GPSPEED well, also two random ambient sounds have been used on the same sector, generating an earrape.
3. The level can be broken more easily than in Sweeney with 3 different vents down to sewer from the street. That makes the street part completely irrelevant.
4. The city part, and in fact the entire level has a confusing, unfinished layout. As much as I love the concept, there is no clear path to use, the blue key is placed in the wrong point (it should have been placed at the point which generated pigcop spawns, but two touchplates used the same lo-tag). Some areas are unnecessary, especially the left segment of both the city and sewer areas (where the hydrant is found). I'm pretty sure George would have asked to remove the entire segment for a final release. However, I think it's a better idea to make these segments relevant, as the level is looking better with more streets and more areas to explore.
5. There are some unused C9s around the channel cover in the middle. It makes sense if the cover can be destroyed when you reach the jetpack area after the rotating platform section down in the sewers. However, this is particularly difficult to fix, not the explosion, but how to make it right. The vent covers can be be easily fixed (changing them to solid, unreachable bars), but I didn't want to block the player from falling in the main cover area. That makes mutliplayer so much more exciting. You, however have to keep the player away from falling in single player, but you can't generate a working masterswitch-generated explosion down without not allowing RPG/pipebomb-generated explosion from the top. Oasiz had some tips, but they didn't really work too well. It's interesting the cover sprite has hi-tag number, same as the C9's lo-tag numbers around.
6. Finally, the level is overwhelmed by pigcops. It also has 5 different skill tags, unlike in the original game, which mostly used 3 in Levelord's levels. Even in Piece of Cake, the pigcops are too abundant here, like the octabrains in Sweeney. Also, shotgun shells are too numerous, other weapons on the other hand are underused (devastator was missing, and freezer only appears at the end of the level).
7. Also the map had minor bugs like using water tag for solid ground, and not using water tug for the sewage area.

+1 both Sewer and Sweeney had some into your face explosions. In Sweeney, the worst offender is the explosion with the HOM effects. In Sewer, the biggest offender was the double explosion, which generated both ahead and behind you.

In that revised version, I didn't fix a lot of these things. I also found the control room with the rectangular corridors down at the start of the sewers to be much more interesting without the unnecessary solid wall to the left of the elevator. That part should be more 3D, although it's not a de facto bug.

[LakiSoft]

I have finished remaining levels of Shrapnel City.

Hotel Hell was well designed though also frustrating at times.
Freeway is good looking secret level, but full of frustrating challenging action though.
Stadium is nice quick boss level, though version from pre-release screens looked cooler though, at least in my opinion.

Duke Nukem 3D - Shrapnel City - Damn I'm Good - Part 3
You can watch gameplay video here: https://files.fm/f/apz9v56dj

Screenshots:



BTW, if you ask me, the 3D Realms crew ending screen looked better in v1.3D than the one in v1.4\v1.5 Atomic Edition.

[TheDragonLiner]

Stadium I agree looks strange given how there's not real stadium looking stuff apart from the terrain and the goals ....


Tiberius Station :

First of, I like how you can see the level's name right at the beginning. Just for lolsies. This level is another strange case as, it has unique bits to it, such as the room with the sludge and the platforms moving sideways, it's the most memorable part IMO. But on the other end, I don't/didn't see anything marking my memory ...
Even the fact that this is the first level set on the Moon's surface, with the new "sky texture" doesn't really make it stand out to me. Proof being, my kid's memories didn't register this level at all, yet I know my kid self had managed to reach the final corridor of the next level ... so see ?

What I like about this level, is the fact that, while it's very corridor-like, it feels like every Big Door opens on a different "challenge". To me it feels like the starting area is a "Welcome to" place, and then each section seperated by a Big Door is like a defense line you have to overcome. With the corridor with the bridge serving as a small intermission. Also, one more thing I like, and which I'm sure my kid self must have been afraid of, is the mirrors showing you the enemies behind the corner of the walls coming to you.
Actually, that's one more memorable thing to note it seems, it's just my kid memories didn't register that.
Lastly, I have the feeling that it is THIS level which rooted the whole "Slimes in the Vents" trope. Makes sense, don't get me wrong, it's just that this level's use of Slimes coming out of the vents (and staying in them too) feels like this.

Music wise, it's a repetitive track. Like the beginning of the second half of the music though. I think it would have been a bit better if the big drum sound had been slightly toned down. I don't know if it fits the level or not, since it doesn't have any real atmosphere to it IMO. However the name of the track, I find it to be fitting given the mood the track seems to convey.

Anyway, not the most memorable level IMO. At least its "sky texture" serves as a good way to tell the player you've made genuine progress towards the episode's objective.


Lunar Reactor :

We're almost reaching the end of where my child self was definitely defeated. The only thing I remembered from this level as a kid was the collapsing tunnel after the Yellow KeyCard, and then the Exploding Corridor at the end. Simply because I was easily impressionable at the time and these 2 traps were so sudden that my child self was petrified the first time I had gotten caught.

Anyway, that level is a lot more impressive and varied compared to the previous 2. A Locker Room, a Huge Chasm, Sewers of sort, and then the titular Reactor, with control rooms above it with blue lights for a change ... and also a level of detail that appears to me as a bit higher compared to the previous levels. Might be my short-term memory but still. It's an overall more impressive and more globally memorable level. Like I said, the Chasm, Collapsing Tunnel, the Reactor and the Exploding Corridor.
I find it funny how this is one of those supremely rare levels which you can clear without using a KeyCard (and without sequence breaking with the JetPack). Also impressive to see that many portions of the level are connected to the central corridor either with vents or with a blown up wall. Spares some potentially impractical and confusing backtrack when you think of the Chasm Area ...

I like the flow of the level, and the ammo we're given made me use pretty much every single weapon throughout the level. Yeah, even the Devastator and the TripBombs !

Music, I'm sure must be many people's favorite. I'll admit it is part of my favorites. I'm sure it must have encouraged me child self to persevere through the level with its more cheered up tone and rhythm. I got 5 variants of it after all.

Anyway, a globally memorable level, with an energizing music, and definitely one that will be ranked high.

[LakiSoft]

TheDragonLiner, on 07 April 2022 - 07:35 AM, said:

Stadium I agree looks strange given how there's not real stadium looking stuff apart from the terrain and the goals ....

Well yeah, in press-release screens it looked more polished and more realistic. But there's probably two main reason why this was "toned down" in final release. First one was that Cycloid would dumbly get stuck at "seat" sector and shoot his rockets until he suicides, making this boss battle even lamer and too easy. Second reason was probably due the performance reasons. Also when they still were working on the game, 486 Computers were more common than Pentiums at that time and therefor, too complex and detailed done Stadium would result in lags on 486 systems. So they decided to cut it down to what we have in Final version now.

[gibfrag]

The Watchtower, on 06 April 2022 - 11:54 PM, said:

That revised version wasn't very good. I will finish the new ones in the next couple of days and upload it here. The old revisions addressed some issues, but I didn't check a lot of problems properly.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with in your new versions. It will be interesting to see a more polished version of both of these levels. Honestly, I feel these levels would work better combined together in some way, perhaps with Sewer's street areas being the central area, with the sewers below, and the sewage company and crates could replace the bland areas that have no real purpose in Sewer.


So Sweeney is a bit harder than Sewer I'd say, but overall it is much smaller of a map. It doesn't really feel like a complete map almost. As I said earlier, I think the vast majority of this map being merged with Sewer in some way, would make for a far more interesting and complete experience, but it would require quite a bit of adjustments to make it flow well, and the placement of locked doors and keycards would have to be changed to fit the scale of something like that.

I think the explosions are quite impressive, since it pretty much opens holes all around the map. This is another level that probably wouldn't be too bad for Dukematch.

I can understand why both of these maps were cut, and I don't want to repeat myself a third time but really, both maps share a fairly similar theme. I think had the maps been merged together in some way, more polish given to them, and some more playtesting, a map like that could've easily fit into EP3 in some way, maybe as an additional secret level found via Freeway or Tier Drops, or even just placed in much like Faces of Death had been originally. Something like that would've made a great Dukematch map with the streets and sewers to battle in, while campers could hide in crates and on higher floors with windows.

[NNC]

Btw, I play Sewer with Lee Jackson's Dark Matter (a laid back track, and a good fit for this laid back level) and Sweeney with It's Green (an upbeat track, which resonates well with the map's fast paced style). I think they wouldn't work well in a single map, especially considering that Sewer is the third biggest official-esque level after Derelict and Dark Side. They have lots of similarities, and design narratives you don't see in other maps in the game (although Levelord came up with some reused ideas in Tour de Nukem), but the sense of place is still different. They work as a mini-episode, something that doesn't fit into any of the actual episodes (LA Meltdown is the closest in terms of atmosphere, despite the registered monsters/weapons), but still has that authentical Duke vibes. If Levelord has finished these maps properly, they would have been some of his greatest works for this game.

[Quacken]

Just finished up Lunar Apocalypse, time to post my thoughts about the first six maps. I managed to take only five deaths during my playthrough, with E2L4 taking three of them, E2L6 punishing me for being too cocky, and E2L11 catching me off guard with the surprise third Battlelord.

Spaceport: Decent starting map, though I think Hollywood Holocaust is much better. This map is notable for me personally for introducing the Enforcers. I find that they're really good at showing off the Freezethrower and the Shrinker (even though the former doesn't get introduced until next map). Enforcers make excellent targets for both of those guns as they're much more aggressive than Pig Cops and demand you act quickly to not take too much damage from their chaingun. As for the map itself, it's fine.

6.5/10.

Incubator: This map is some good stuff. The emergence of the alien vegetation covering the walls and floors of the space centre makes for a map that really sticks out visually in my opinion, especially the final area with the bed of water and greenery sprouting around everywhere. The start is a little bit annoying on a pistol start since I found that it's quite difficult to make it out into the corridors without eating an explosion from a Sentry Drone, but otherwise, the combat works pretty well. The Devastator is placed in a much more convenient spot in this map and Levelord gives you two good opportunities to really flex it by letting you blow up clumps of Octabrains.

I am however not a fan of the music. I think Space Storm is too loud and obnoxious, and I think it would have been better if Spaceport and Incubator's music tracks were swapped. Despite this, I think Incubator is an early stand-out for post-shareware maps.

7.5/10.

Warp Factor: I'm quite the fan of Warp Factor personally. This is the first map in Duke 3D in my opinion that really leans on its atmosphere, and the result is a really compelling, tense survival horror-esque experience. Probably what contributes to that the most is the music. Gut Wrencher is slow and unnerving, and with the whirls of Sentry Drones, extreme darkness, the relative lack of in-the-way resources compared to Incubator, the use of red, pulsating lighting and the roar of a Battlelord that gets dropped halfway through the map always manage to make me nervous about a possible Enforcer or Sentry Drone around the corner, ready to take 35 health off of me. The area after the yellow key does slow down a little though. I don't know if I missed it or I just forgot about it, but some Night Vision would have been much appreciated before you brighten up the room.

Warp Factor is an excellent map that succeeds in nearly everything it tries to do, and it's right up there with The Abyss for me in terms of quality.

8.5/10.

Fusion Station: I'm not sure about Fusion Station. Its emphasis on verticality is impressive, but it has a few questionable design choices. First of all is the inescapable pit at the bottom of the main centrepiece. Without a Jetpack carried over from a previous map there's no way to get out of here, which makes me think why Blum made this a hurt floor that slowly kills you. The doors are also a point of concern for me. Most of them stay open for too short of a time and then close in a fashion that looks like it'd crush me if I stood under it, which makes me quite nervous, especially when there's Sentry Drones I can't see behind them. After the first moving platform though, the map thankfully picks up again. Probably my favourite part of the map is the end, where you make a leap of faith for a jetpack, ride it up and shoot out some Assault Commanders from the sky. This map's just okay in my opinion.

5.5/10.

Occupied Territory: This is another map that deviates from the standard Duke 3D formula much like Warp Factor, but instead of the atmosphere being the focus, it's the emphasis on survival and rationing your resources. I quite like this map. It's probably the hardest map so far, in no small part thanks to its five Battlelords. There's the fight with three of them against you of course, and without a Shrinker it's actually quite difficult to kill all of them without taking lethal damage. Then there's the two Battlelords at the end, which will swallow all of your resources unless you try to hunt for the secret RPG. I like this map, I appreciate its hike in difficulty even if it's a little sudden.

7/10.

Spin Cycle: I recognise that Spin Cycle gets a lot of hate, but I honestly can't dislike it. It's a very goofy gimmick map that's a fun six minute distraction, and I think that's what a secret map should be. Have an interesting gimmick that wouldn't fit well for a main map. Not a whole lot to say here other than that double Battlelord drop in can really mess you up if you don't see it coming... and sometimes it will mess you up anyway if you don't get out of there fast enough.

6.5/10.

[TheDragonLiner]

Dark Side :

My child self was so excited about this level, instantly recognizing it as that of one of the demos when booting the game. Too bad my child self didn't go far into it, and never farther ...

I really like the structure of this level, revolving around 3 trams to take individually. I find it also makes the place kinda believable somehow. This is also one of the most memorable levels of the game IMO. Not only because it is that of one of the demos, but also because it's just unique in its structure and it boasts some memorable parts like the Dissection Room, the 2 Red Sludge Rooms, the Big Circular Platforms Room, and most obviously, the part where we walk on the Moon's surface and the monolith sending us into the Alien Ship. Too bad we can't see it from the outside ...

I like the flow and the gameplay of the level. It's generous enough on Atomic Health, and it also allows for some severe FreezeThrowing action ! And some Shrinking too. And the destinations of the trams are just all varied and memorable in their own rights. And they play differently, between the condensed enemy spawns in a vast room, same with tougher enemies in tighter rooms with a swarm of Drones in-between, and then the whole Moon's Surface part, with the strange tower curving above it ... This level just has it all !
I'd like to say more but what else ? This level just has it all IMO !

Music is also one of my favorites with its chill tone. Sometimes the action in the level kinda contradicts the feel of the music but in-between each phases, it works fine. It also fits a level called "Dark Side" which is supposed to be uncharted territory as far as the Moon is concerned (back then at least, not sure about nowadays ...). I got a whomping 8 variants in my collection !

One of the best levels in the episode, and the whole game as far as I'm concerned.


Lunatic Fringe :

Well, there's nothing much to say about this level in my opinion :/ It feels like the sole purpose of this level is to serve as a technical performance (and a good one that is for the time) of the Build Engine's capability of having 2 different rooms at the exact same coordinates. Although, I'll say that the architecture and texture work of this level are impressive. Given how condensed the level is, the countrary would have been a rip-off. Just for these 2 elements, it is worth the trouble of finding the level.

It's unique structure is unseen at this point as far as I know. No level made use of this ability so far. Also this level makes use of 2 sounds which aren't used anywhere else in the game as far as I can remember. It's kinda confusing me ... The level's 720° structure doesn't help with the confusion ^^ Especially when you can see the same place in 2 different versions from the small windows of the central room. People were saying that the designs of the levels in Ep2 sometimes felt abstract and outlandish, while I don't agree for the majority of the levels (Fusion Station I agree feels kinda outlandish) THIS level IS the one that feels the most outlandish ! Due to its strange structure and the "Lava Sky Texture". And it's not like there was any way to connect it to the previous and next level in any logical way. I like the idea of a small pocket dimension in the Alien Ship ...

Anyway, gameplay wise, this level is actually challenging, simply because of the many Enforcers and BattleLords. In the second phase of the levels, they can catch you off-guard as you can't necessarily tell where they are. Though, you may have a slight idea when you're feeling that you are bumping into something invisible because of the level's structure and the game's detecting a collision from elsewhere ... Good thing there are 3 Atomic Healths in the level in preparation for the next, but only 1 Armor and good amounts of ammo for 5, 7, 8 and 0th weapons.

Music is okay. It stands in the middle for me. I like it but not too much. It contributes to the outlandish feeling of the level, especially the intimidating tones and then the more moody part before the end of the loop. (hard to describe)

Regarldess, a level that's typicall your "Short but Interesting Experience" and which is worth the trouble not only for its unique and original design, but also for the simple demonstration of a technical performance for the time.

[TheDragonLiner]

End of Ep2. Onto the final episode, since FistMarine said we exclude Ep4.

OverLord :

This level is another one of the more visually striking of the game. The architecture and the texture work, and also the layout of certain rooms, sure make it stand the most out of the rest. Like the end of the previous level, it does capture that Alien Ship feeling, after being used to more grey and geometric looking places.

As a final level, it works fine. It's a good challenge, with a bit of everthing. Water, Assencion, Tall Vents ... Pretty much every single room of this level has something making it memorable. My favorite part being the First Room with the pool of water and the spinning pillar and the control room. It's also nice to see that the level is built all around that room. My only complaint is that it feels kinda unintuitive that you have to let yourself fall into the spining blade's hole while it sure doesn't look any safe to do that ...
Though, looking back at it, given how all the paths in the level bring you back to the beginning, there's no real alternative ... but still >_>
Nice bit of detail, the "cockpit" of the Ship with that sort of cannon firing Shrinker Blasts at Earth. Dunno if it means they're trying to shrink everybody, or it just stands for something else and they just didn't have the time to make a different projectile sprite ... Still a nice touch !

The music isn't part of my favorites, but it works well with the level. First, the beginning of the music, coupled with the beginning of the level underwater is a nice combo ! And then it has that sort of "I am looking for you" kinda feel as you're looking for the titular boss' lair.

I wish I could say more but, all-in-all, just like the previous level, this one has it all and nails everything perfectly.


Closing Thoughts :

I like this second episode more than the first, not only because it's longer (though it sometimes feel a tiny bit too long, hence why my child self never managed to make it all the way through) but also because it captures more that journey feeling than the previous episode. With the jumping from station to station all the way to the Moon and then an orbitting Alien Ship. Also it has some of the most atmospheric levels in the entire game IMO. And more visually striking visuals both in architecture and texture work. And for my child self, this was my very first game taking place in Space, and since I was very impressionable of course it marked my memory more than the others! Alongside all the scares I had and which I described.

If I were to rank the levels, which is a harder task here, I would say .... let's see ....1_Warp Factor, 2_OverLord, 3_Lunatic Fringe, 4_Dark Side, 5_Incubator, 6_Fusion Station, 7_Lunar Reactor,8_Occupied Territory, 9_Space Port, 10_Spin Cycle, 11_Tiberius Station.
Some levels may change position because it's very difficult to choose, but overall I think I'm satisfied with this ranking ... maybe ...

[Aleks]

Quote

Onto the final episode, since FistMarine said we exclude Ep4.

Oh we do exclude it? But why?

Anyway, I had pretty much the same idea as Ninety-Six, to mostly focus on my first impressions with each of the levels as I go. Disclaimer: I've started playing Duke in early 1997, I was 8 and this was the first more complex game that I got to play. That said, I kinda sucked at it and it wasn't until some guy at school told me what the cheats are until I really picked up. I loved what I was seeing when I looked at my siblings playing and was super eager to play that myself, but then I would get easily dropped anywhere besides Hollywood Holocaust before I learned the magic of DNCORNHOLIO. To be honest, I kinda got used to playing with godmode that I did that for a while, until I started playing Dukematches with my sister (who introduced me to Duke in the first place and was known as a good Dukematcher, as she played with her collegues at the univerisity) and realised I could easily kick her ass most of the time... Anyway, lately my sister told me that she and the other siblings (my brother and another sister, all of them are at least 10 years older than me) used to play Duke for a while before they showed it to me and tried to keep it hidden from me. I don't think it's true, since I remember quite well that the first time I saw them playing, they were still in Hollywood Holocaust and vividly remember when someone reached a new level, as it was quite an event! We've also had only a single PC and our time was mostly limited, especially for playing.

Hollywood Holocaust
It's hard to really say anything about this one that hasn't already been said for a 100 times. It's a great introduction map, there's plenty of secret places that are easy to find, so the player can kind of get an idea about them. I remember when we stumbled across a medkit and I was like "yeah this looks like a medkit, should replenish your health" and my sister said "what if it's a grenade?!" I've also always wondered if it would be possible to fly "out of the map" and into all that sparkling city lights - I think starting on the rooftop was a great idea, as it showcases the city skybox early on and makes a strong impression that the map is much bigger than the player area. I also remember how that orange/red light around the nukebutton was always such a strong message that this is where the goal is (which will also turn out to be an idea responsible for one of my biggest confusions in the game, which I will explain in a few more posts...). Either way, this is a map which made me fall in love with this game from the first sight. The first street and how "realistic" it all felt is probably the biggest reason for it. Also there's quite some verticality with flying troopers or the projector room in the cinema, which is neat. We've found the jetpack quite early here as well. Then there's also how strong the personality of the protagonist felt - I didn't understand English, but my sisters were translating some of the more memorable Duke quotes for me, we especially loved "What are you waiting for, Christmas?" and "Ahhh much better!" ones back then

As for the music, Stalker is a brilliant song and fits very well with the night theme of this map. Although I gotta say that my favourite version of this song is the one in World Tour's first level, Bullet Dam.

Score: 8/10

Red Light District
Now this is where the action really unfolds. The scary recon patrol vehicles, blowing up the building, the forbidden shop and finally the strip club, which was something on another level of being cool in a game. While at 8 I didn't really care for pixelated titties, the sheer interactivity of that place, with pool table, strippers, drink bottles, toilets just blew me away. There's also all the pig cop traps which work really well throughout the level, up until the final where they capture Duke. Even if the main street looks a bit too square and not as impressive/grim as the one in previous level, it's still some great fun. The map also works better in multiplayer I think, it's probably the best one from E1 in that aspect - I remember some wild stuff happening here. The interior of the Forbidden shop might not exactly be spectacular, but it's such a strong theme and texture combination, many year later when I watched Pulp Fiction I kinda linked Maynard's shop with this place. It's also something used in many early user maps, which always brings up a lot of nostalgia in my case. Another funny trope are the aliens spawning after killing the strippers - we were always like "wait, so the strippers were just aliens in disguise all along?!"

Unfortunately, Deathtoll is probably my least favourite track in the game - maybe because I've heard it way too many times in user maps, and also it's quite boring. Lee's Abandonement works much better IMO as a replacement for it, covering the bleak feeling to a larger extent and not being that repetitive.

Score: 8.5/10

Death Row
This level took us a while to figure out back in 1997, as it is much less straightforward. It's also the first time we get to swim and a nice showcase of other themes than city. While I don't remember struggling too much with finding the secret tunnel behind the poster, the red key rotating room did puzzle me quite a bit, then also figuring out how the multiswitches worked for prison cell doors. Also the opening of the level has always been quite hectic. Nevertheless, I always really liked this level - at first for how genuinely adventurous it felt even on its own, but then also for how solid the design here was and how it did manage to sell the place so well. It's also significantly more challenging, especially the outside part with quite chaotic fight against turrets and RPVs.

Music is just great - City Streets is one of the most memorable tracks from Duke, very upbeat and catchy.

Score: 8.5/10

[Ninety-Six]

Yeah, skyboxes (or in this case, sky textures) were always a source of me pointlessly trying to go out of bounds to fruitlessly try to explore them too, even if they were just a projected 2D image. But as a kid, I didn't know the difference (the lower resolutions of games at the time didn't help, since it made it harder to tell the 2D drawn image apart from the pixellated surroundings).

Honestly, that habit sort of stuck with me into my teens. Sure, at this point I understood that you can't explore 2D images (even if sometimes I really want to) and that 3D skyboxes were limited, but I still wanted to check them out and see what was there.

Then I played Half-Life 2 and learned the Citadel was tiny and had my world shattered and heart broken. Kinda stopped being interested in out of bounds stuff after that so as to avoid that kind of disappointment (minus one or two things that made me really curious).

[gibfrag]

Until we're certain EP4 isn't up for discussion this month, I'll hold off on it. For now, I've got a handful of levels left to discuss that existed before V1.3D became outdated.

For these three videos I decided to test out NetDuke32's DukeBots. I am aware that these bots are considered unfair and have pretty lame AI, but for these three levels specifically that didn't seem to cause too much of a problem.

Here's the playlist of these three maps. The goal was to get at least 13 kills without dying, and once I died I quit the map.

E1L8 - User Map:
This is a very small arena map with each weapon, some ammo, and most of the inventory items. At first glance, this may seem like a rather bland and boring map, but I think for quick 1v1 it isn't that bad. For larger player counts I'd think this would be far too small of a map that it would get boring quick. The DukeBot seemed quite capable of navigating this map without any major hiccups, as there are no doors or areas for it to get stuck.
Chuckles:
I added 2 bots to this map, and they did OK, but seemed to get confused over the teleporters. This is a pretty good map for DukeMatch, despite the bland texture choices. I think it would work well for 4-8 players. It's a bit too large for 1v1, but 3 seemed decent enough. The bots seemed to navigate the map a bit randomly, but were fairly predictable in this map.
Cigam:
I added 3 bots to this map, and they seemed to function quite well on Cigam. This is a good DM map that honestly should've been included in the final game, perhaps with a bit more refined texture choices. The combat is quite intense, even just against bots. I also like the effect here that is similar to the one used in Tier Drops. It adds a unique aspect to this deathmatch level that I really found enjoyable.

Now, another few maps I thought I'd mention.

Here's the playlist of these three maps.

_SE.MAP - Sector Effector & _ST.MAP - Sector Tag:
These are demonstration maps that show how different sector effectors and tags work. The levels themselves are boring from a gameplay perspective, but are useful to research and study for making maps of your own. There's no way to exit these maps, so I found the best way to commit suicide in each for the videos. Both maps are built upon the same map, so there's only difference in the focus of the map, not so much the layout.
_ZOO.MAP - Zoo:
This is a fun map to test out new stuff for mods, and you can also seem some of the unused assets such as the donuts and spacesuit. You can also see alcohol, which may have originally been some sort of item for Duke before it was made to just be a prop. The empty section here always made me curious. I assume it could've had the keycards placed there, or other items that were cut like the force field.


I'm not sure what other maps to discuss this month, but I will return frequently to engage in the conversation. I love the discussion thus far and everyone who has contributed is very, very, good at getting the details and information out there. You all should definitely keep up the writing, because it is clear you all have the talent!

[Ninety-Six]

How do you activate the bots?

[gibfrag]

Ninety-Six, on 09 April 2022 - 06:04 PM, said:

How do you activate the bots?

This is how I did it with NetDuke32-

Create a text file (txt) with Notepad and type the following:

Quote

@netduke32.exe -qX -a

Replace the X with a number 2-8.

So for example, 4 players:

Quote

@netduke32.exe -q4 -a

3 bots will join the game.

Then, click file, save as, and where it says "save as type" change that to "All Files (*.*)" and then rename the text file, removing the .txt and replacing it with a .bat.

Then, run the batch file and select new game. The bots will spawn in the map you select.

[LakiSoft]

Quote

Oh we do exclude it? But why?

@Aleks, yeah i was confused about Episode 4 too, but in our private conversation @FistMarine urged me not to post about The Birth in this topic, as he mostly made the main 3 episodes the essential subject of this topic. The problem is that i already started playing The Birth and recording videos of it. In fact i reached Pigsty so far. I was still thinking eventually to still post my playthought here after i finish the episode. But that is still yet for me to decide!


Additionally, I have decided to explore E1L7 and E1L8 on Damn I'm Good skill setting, just for fun, when while i am at it.

E1L7 was not bad, not too perfect either. It's obviously Multiplayer oriented map, but still it could make nice Secret Level if changed from Episode 1 to Episode 2 slot. Heaps of Mini Battlelords makes it good Single Player challenge though.

E1L8 was just an basic Multiplayer map that probably couldn't work well with more than 4 players present.

Gameplay videos:

E1L7 Footage: https://files.fm/f/4sqz7rgwh

E1L8 Footage: https://files.fm/f/vjvvtf85n

Screenshots:

[TheDragonLiner]

Raw Meat :

I'll stop mentioning my child self because Ep3 was the episode I remembered the most as a kid, not only because I had completed it, but also because it was my favorite, and the one that scared me the least.

Anyway, my favorite part of this level are the visuals. I like the combination of stones and white panels and then the Oriental theme of the restaurant, even though it's not that flagrant ... If you don't find any secret, that level can be a rough start. The Starting Area already is tricky, as ammo is quite tight if you play on skill 3 or 4/5. But that's what I like about this level gameplay wise, I don't have the feeling that I am given too much ammo for what is expected. I find the trick of having to dive into the sink to be kinda ... questionable regarding immersion (pun pun, lol lol).
Somebody's gonna have to tell me what's the deal with all the Teleporters from the Cash Register ? I can see a use for it in MultiPlayer but maybe not that much ... apart from the slight shortcut within the Karaoke thing of course.

Music, I like it. Especially the second half of it. It feels fitting with the lonely feeling the level gives. And the second half gives a feeling of urgency to proceed further. That music is almost part of my favorites.

All in all, a good looking and well challenging first level with enough supplies to get you started on the final journey (excluding Ep4 of course).


Bank Roll :

I don't know what to say about this level, other than the fact it is one of the more enjoyable, upbeat levels to go through, especially due to the music. Originality with the Bank setting. Kinda caricatural to have the building with huge columns like that. Now, given how it's supposed to be within a city, you are left to wonder where the roads are, and how you get in or out of this place O_o

Anyway, this level is kind of a breeze to go through IMO. Only tricky parts being the bureau atop the garage and the Vault. As a kid, that vault scared the hell out of me because of the BattleLord(s) and the sudden tons of explosions and the strange red semi-horrific textures in it. Truly the most memorable part of the level ! Alongside the Cogs Puzzle. Not complicated but it's still a creative idea. Not realistic though ... however, gotta point out the attention to details with the switches to unlock doors being hidden behind the desks, like I'm sure they are in real life.
Lastly, it's always kinda funny to have the end of the level very close to the beginning, and all you've done was just close the circle.

Music, I'm sure it's many people's favorite, and it sure is part of mines. I got 5 variations, including one with some added notes on top of the main theme (wonder where it came from ...),

Anyway, a memorable for its original setting, its flow and its music.

[TheDragonLiner]

Second in the same day exceptionally, because they're some of my faves ^^


Flood Zone :

One of the more unique levels of the game with its heavy emphasis on water and a good chunk of verticality. One of my favorite levels of the episode for sure.

If you have the JetPack, you can just tackle this level in so many ways thanks to it, a rare trait shared with the next level. My favorite part of the level has to be the underwater section after using the Yellow KeyCard. There's a bit of tension due to the darkness, and also the fact that my Scuba Gear always has less than 20% use left. This level is the only one in the entire game where my Scuba Gear gets thoroughly consumed and runs out. I also like the final area, it stands out to me.
Lastly, gotta mention the 2 BattleLords being battled from the opposing building and always with a good height differential.
I don't have much more to say, it's just one of the most memorable levels in the episode, and in the game due to its creative layout and gameplay.

Music however ... the theme is good and it kinda fits the level somehow, but some of the music's portions are kinda annoying to me >_> Doesn't help that the theme just keeps intensifying more and more ... Not a fan.

Don't have any concluding phrase, and I don't have any worthy wet joke ^^


LA Rumble :

Another one of the more unique levels of the game with its heavy emphasis on verticality. Also it's one of the few very atmospheric levels of the episode IMO. Well served by its relatively dark ambiance and its discrete music.

While it can be frustrating to have enemies from long range on opposing buildings, shooting at you while you can't always hear them do so, I find that this is stimulating. And the level has some indoors sections to keep you covered. I like how the outside area is basically the center of the level and you just keep going through it albeit at increasingly higher altitudes. And it makes being on the roof tops, and its platforming all the more stimulating IMO. And, more than the previous level, this is another level where the JetPack has some genuine use, perhaps even the one where it's got the most potential use out of the whole game (Ep4 included) !
For lolsies, it's the second level so far which you can finish without using a KeyCard, the Blue one this time >_>
For the memorable aspects, the layout and ambiance alone don't suffice, there is that strange clinic, which I never understood until I read the DN3D Wiki countless years later, and then the East Town Tower with the screen, perhaps THE landmark of that level.

Music is good, part of my favorites with its discrete nature and it's got kind of a swing to it, like somebody was snapping its finger in rhythm you see. For lolsies, I like the variant with the Metro Sounds you can easily find on YT.

Definitely one of my favorite levels of the episode and the whole game.

[Aleks]

After writing my post yesterday, I decided to give my DIG playthrough of L.A. Meltdown another shot, and finished the episode. In fact, after coming home late at night, I also started a DIG playthrough of Shrapnel City, so probably I'll skip E2 in my posts for a bit until I clear these 2 here

Death Row was probably the most difficult level on DIG, taking into account E1 and E2. Especially the first part is really hectic, until you get a hold of some guns - that is before the blue key door, which can kind of seal the rest of the level. The way I play is no intermediate saves in the levels and all secrets have to be found, which is partially why this part is tricky - getting the 2 secrets in the chapel requires to be really fast, as the troopers will start to respawn and they can deal quite heavy damage when they appear behind you. Also there's a lot of quite dickish spawns, like the crouching trooper in the dark corner of a cell. Then there's the cogs, which is a tricky part to get it done before the troopers downstairs respawn and not fall down. As for the outside part, I just ran through it to get the keycard and 2 secrets, one of them has 3 atomic healths, so the enemies can be pretty much ignored. After that, it's quite easy.

Toxic Dump
This is one of my favourite levels, similarly to the previous one it feels like an adventure of its own, but it also has probably the most creative use of different kinds of puzzles in the original levels, all of which are somehow believably fit into the map's theme. I remember when my brother discovered this level when we were kids, it felt so long and complex. There's the crane puzzle, then all the conveyor belts, shrinking yourself and watching out not to get stomped, raising the water level, getting through the cogs (which I remember was the part that I was always nervous about as a kid, as the timing there seemed pretty tight), then shooting the switch to get across the crusher at the end. The factory theme works great and I love how the level is interconnected in ways I barely noticed before, like the waste from the main part of the factory goes into the water towards the end, etc.

My DIG playthrough on it was quite cool, there's 14 secrets to find and you have to be quite focused to get 11 of them before the point of no return. There was some fun with the shrinker, as some troopers respawned and followed me there, then kept getting shrunk until I stomped them. I completely ignored the first underwater part here (besides the way to one of the secrets), then cleared the 2nd underwater part with RPG, as it has to be revisited anyway. Took me a while to get the rocky part where the water is raised cleared, I always forget about the exact locations of the 2 secrets there (not the triple one with cracks), so had to find them. The final part was quite fun, although I gotta admit I headed straight to the secret exit after getting in the sewer.

The music nicely fits the level, it might not be my favourite track alone, but it's definitely very good and works well both with the water part and the puzzles. BTW, Ninety-Six, as to how the submarine got in there - I always figured there was some underwater passage that Duke used to get in, but once the submarine exploded, the rocks collapsed and trapped him there.

Score: 9/10

Launch Facility
The premise of the level is super interesting and always sparkled my imagination as a child, also I remember we found this level quite late - I was well after finishing The Abyss when my brother found it and boasted that the whole goal of Duke's mission was to blow this rocket here all along. Nevertheless, the level itself is probably the weakest one of the first episode - besides the room with the rocket, it doesn't really sell the place, as there's plenty of sewers or other random rooms. The texturing and some more abstract settings (like the room with green bricks and sloped ramps) generally reminds me of Doom or some generally even older FPS level design tribute. Gotta say I much prefer Brullov's recent reimagination of this level on basically all aspects. Also I gotta admit I was quite disappointed to see the rocket is just blown rather than launched to space - now to address someone's comment about Duke deliberately destroying the rocket with the 2 cocooned ladies inside, what if Duke's idea was to set the rocket into space, but the aliens sabotaged it and hence it got destroyed? There's no clear instructions whatsoever about what you are doing, it can be either launch or destruction button there (maybe the only indication is the red light, but it doesn't point really strong in either way). Anyway, I can see why this level was made a secret one - both as it's the weakest entry in the episode and kinda more abstract than the rest, but also for having that "secondary objective" kind of thing going on here.

On DIG, the level was fairly easy. A lot of areas could be sealed with forcefields to block the backspawning enemies. The central hub room was probably the most tricky one due to its verticality and all the turrets/troopers attacking from many sides.

The music is one of my least favourite pieces in the game, it's just completely not memorable IMO.

Score: 7/10

The Abyss
One of the most memorable levels for the kid-me and also one where I probably spent the most time in. Playing with godmode was sort of a bad idea here, as with jetpack it was easy to miss some of the touchplates and end up with very confusing progression. Nevertheless, I remember being the first out of my siblings that got as far as to boss the first time, I remember getting my screen all red and was like "how the hell did he kill me with godmode?!", then my sister who watched me playing suggested to take a few steps back and there I was alive again. Didn't save though and then I couldn't get past the red rocks later on, I remember it took me a long while before I figured out what's going on there and just wasted a lot of time pointlessly wandering around that volcano area. Despite all that confusion, it's always been one of my favourite levels. It took me a while to understand and fully appreciate the more sophisticated puzzles there and what's the San Andreas Fault thing anyway, but the visuals and immersiveness of the level are just marvelous, the broken wooden bridge, the caves with this ominous chanting, fires just barely brightening the dark corridors in the weird catacombs - this has always felt so atmospheric and eerie... Then the final part with the alien ship carved into the volcanic rocks, use of textures and their combinations - this is the stuff I grew to appreciate more as I started designing levels myself, how great the 3D feeling is made there and how that climb has this feeling of progression. The inside of the ship is also cool, especially the "door" right into the heart of the abyss where you just have to fall in. Brilliant level!

Paythrough on DIG was mostly tricky in the first part, once again. The key was clearing the octabrains and most of the bodies in the central, more tight section of the map, after reaching the "puebla". The boss felt kinda weak, he died faster than I expected from my rockets.

The music is not the most memorable one in my opinion, it's good but not great - but then I think it fits this level really well. I think I prefer the Electricity variation from Lee's last album and also the version that Merlijn used in one of his Shaky Grounds levels.

Score: 9.5/10

[TheDragonLiner]

Half-way through. Meanwhile I've just finished the "penultimate" level, but I forgot to write about it so oopsies ^^

Movie Set :

Yet another original setting for a level. This is why Ep3 used to be my favorite episode for a long time. Kinda cheap to take fall damage right off the bat though ... unless JetPack of course.

Apart from the original setting, and the architecture of the level, there's nothing much to it. To me it serves as a sort of easter egg of the previous episode. It's nice to see the movie settings with the rails and the cameras and all, but IMO, apart from the beginning with the Sea King crashing into a tower, these are the only thing worth noting about this level. And the poster too. And the collapsing tunnel at the end.
To me, this level would have benifitted from having a bit more studios and movie settings. Gameplay wise, a bit too much ammo for 3rd weapon IMO, apart from that, it fairly ballanced and I like the fact some monsters open the studio doors from outside. And a BattleLord as a sort of final boss for the level.
I remember my child self having been freaked out by the collapsing tunnel at the end, it's so sudden. And right after having been forced to beat my fear of BattleLords ....

Music is okay, it captures that "imposing force" you've fighting against feeling. Though I'm not too much a fan of the 3rd part where it's too intensified IMO, but that's just taste and colors.

A short and memorable level for its original setting and decent exploitation of it.


Tier Drops :

Not much to say about this level. It's a similar case to Lunatic Fringe except it's even more of a technical performance, just having 4 whole rooms coexisting at the same coordinates. And every one of them offers a challenge in their own right. The Grey room (not moon one) is definitely the hardest IMO.

And it's all worth the trouble since there's a whomping 5 Atomic Healths and enough ammo and items to have you leave with almost (or completely) 100% of everything !

Music I like it. Sometimes it feels that the notes are played kinda randomly but still. In the middle.

Not much else to say. It's a less interesting level to play than Lunatic Fringe beyond the technical performance.

[Aleks]

Moving on to Shrapnel City now, Lunar Apocalypse I will save as the last one for my personal convenience really.

Raw Meat
This is a very strong starting level to the episode. It might feel a bit small, but stingy and there's definitely a difficulty spike right from the beginning. I remember first time playing this one, finding devastator right at the start and being amazed by how cool that gun is, then seeing all the crazy exotic textures and places. Now this is basically what my mind imagines when I hear "sushi joint", despite I really like sushi and have been to quite a few of such places since playing it back as a kid Another very remarkable spot is the karaoke and Duke singing "Born to be wild!", I remember we used to find it hilarious. Don't remember the map ever giving us too much trouble, also it's always been one of my favourite Dukematch levels - due to how relatively small, yet full of surprises it is, it's quite easy to get properly equipped for a fight and find your opponent, yet the level isn't really open at all and there's these teleporters which are a great way of escaping your opponent when low on health - or even trap him and get a teleporter kill!

Playing on DIG, this one was quite hectic - especially the beginning, where I died once. As someone mentioned already, this is quite stingy with ammo, also having troopers and sentry drone in quite a restricted place is mean, especially since escaping them means running into either enforcers or octabrains and slimers. First time around, I managed to clear this place, but then got killed by the troopers right inside the joint. The 2nd take was smoother and I managed to finish the map without too much trouble - the key was getting rid of the pig cops and enforcers around the arcade/kitchen place, and running from mostly everything underwater.

The music in this level is quite fitting as well - I personally prefer the original version from Gut Rumble. The tension building up can be sensed from the track, which goes well with how fast paced this level is.

Score: 8.5/10

Bank Roll
For some reason kinda underappreciated, this one might be my favourite "typical city" map from original Duke. While it might not stand out that much on its own (maybe besides, well, the bank and the valve puzzles), I'd gamble this is the level which shaped how the city user maps look like the most, even more than Red Light District, Hollywood Holocaust or L.A. Rumble. This of course might just be a personal feeling and not something I'd really go and try to prove. My first memories of this one are from some of my siblings playing this - it felt so busy with all the enforcers and pig cops, then of course there was the titular Assault Commander on the street. Getting inside the bank at first also felt great, kind of like an achievement of its own. I'm also something of a fan of the valve puzzle in this one, the idea is genuinely cool and while back in the day I barely had an idea on how to navigate it, it does make perfect logical sense. The level is a blast in Dukematch - probably one of the best ones in the entire game for this. The valve part is a good place to hide and stock up on some items, since there's the jetpack, while most of the action takes place on the street. The level also very neatly loops back on itself, so once everything is activated, it's practically a full circle to run around and shoot. Gameplay wise, I also really like how the octabrains kinda invade the place towards the end and how this links with the next level's start.

This time, I also died while playing on DIG and unfortunately almost at the very end, during the double Battlelords face-off. I shrunk one of them, but the 2nd was right behind, so Duke trying to stomp him just took all the heat on himself. At the beginning of the level - before getting to the bank at least - the ammo is still quite stingy, so you gotta be fast and plan a bit ahead which areas need more explosive clearing and which can be just blasted through. Nevertheless, the level was real fun to play on DIG.

The music is, along with Aliens, Say Your Prayers, my favourite piece in Duke 3D. Also it's something I vividly remember from playing this for the first few times as a kid. The title just fits so perfectly - there's the tension with the piano notes, then bass for the clumsy moves of the fat commander. And of course a wild drum solo, which I simply love.

Score: 9.5/10

Flood Zone
To put it simple, this is just my favourite level from the base game and perhaps the most memorable one. It's just perfect in every damn way. I clearly remember seeing it for the first time and being absolutely amazed by its large scale and openness, how immersive this looked. There's been a large flood in Poland in the summer of 1997, so "Hey look, just like Flood Zone!" has become a running joke between me and my sister back then. The level is super memorable and even when I got my sister to play Duke again a year ago after like 15 years break, she instantly was super keen to play this one and loved it all over again. There's nice bits of everything - swimming, flying, exploring. When looking at the layout, the map might not feel that large, but due to all the verticality and room for exploration, it does feel enormous, and the fact that we can get on the roofs of some buildings, then also swim inside them, gives it kind of an extra dimension. The level plays great in Dukematch as well - it's larger than the previous two ones and it's quite easy to stack on a lot of stuff, but the fights in land, sea and air are all the more exciting. I remember when I used to play a lot of DM over LAN with a friend and in this map, it was all about the shrinker - we both still played with keyboard only, so it was kinda easy to shrink the other player and without the steroids, you were dead in the water, so to say. Then I discovered there are steroids hidden in the broken elevator and had a great advantage over him... Now besides the whole complex, yet so neatly put layout of this level, my favourite spot is probably the yellow key building and especially the sequence with the windows opening and casting light inside the lobby, and more octabrains and sharks invading. Design wise, also the finish is cool, with the broken sewer pipes that lead very naturally in the next level. Also the secrets are nicely scattered around the map, with the mysterious empty one with the maskwall in the rocks. My sister said she used it to fight the Battlelord and apparently he couldn't see her, but not sure if that's how it works.

DIG playthrough made me appreciate the combat in this map all over again. It didn't feel difficult at all, just nicely challenging with great monster positioning - especially the 2 Battlelord fights that are fought all across the map, with many commanders getting in the way, were great fun. I did have jetpack, but tried to avoid using it, so also the ascension part was a bit tricky with first troopers, then sentry drones and commander causing me to lose quite some HP. Clearing the underwater was fun, as I've had enough devastator to deal with octabrains and it's always fun how easily they blow, especially when you get 2 of them lined up and pop them with the double rocket shot. Gameplay is another thing that's pretty much perfect in this map.

And the music - I really like it, it's damn catchy and upbeat, works well with the fast pace of the level and somehow always felt appropriate for this rocky surroundings.

Score: 10/10

[ck3D]

Re: dethtoll.mid, that's actually one of my favorite tracks in the whole game, to this day still. It just never got old to me, ever.

[NNC]

I think I will never understand the popularity of Bank Roll and Hotel Hell. I found both levels highly problematic. I wrote about Hotel Hell some months ago, the progression after the yellow keycard doesn't make sense, and lots of areas (like the window-less hotel rooms or the main street) look trashy to me. I also don't like Bank Roll, it's just a very short 4 minute map with an empty street and some weird puzzles before finishing in that corrupted deposit area. I want to see the map's cut parts through, it was clear (from the unused respawns and the red key tag) that the map was originally bigger, and was nerfed for better performance (many other maps in episode 3 had similar fate).

IMHO Flood Zone, LA Rumble and Freeway are the episode's three true highlights, the latter two are the only true urban styled levels in the episode with great and innovative layout in both (LA Rumble use height variation the best in the entire game, while Freeway had a typical Blum style concept with the two streets and the tunnel). Flood Zone is also amazing, not exactly an urban map, but another one with a great layout/concept, very clever use of monsters, the height variation is also well made, and it's one of the two levels (the other is of course, Toxic Dump), which highlights the game's strong underwater presence very well.

I'm not exactly a big fan of Raw Meat's sense of place (although it has some clever spots, and opens up very nicely due to the interconnected nature), but it has probably the best gameplay flow in the entire game. The whole level with the In Hiding track feels like a musical piece, it's not a coincidence Bazinga Nukem used this one to show the gag of the mod. I think Raw Meat's design could have been better with a slightly more ambitious opening and closing street area (the outdoor parts are usually the Achilles heels of most Levelord city maps).

[TheDragonLiner]

I'm curious to see the cut parts of the levels WatchTower mentioned o_o

Antepenultimate entry.


Rabid Transit :

This level was another one I remembered from my childhood, namely because it had taken me a long time to clear it because of the surprise BattleLord in the back having scared the hell out of me, and also because having gotten crushed once by the Trams made me highly afraid of stepping onto the way.

Yet another original level in its setting, and also, because it's been a long while, a showcase of another thing the Build Engine can do with the Trams stopping and going all the time. That level, it may look like much, but it's one of the more challenging levels in the episode IMO, kinda why I like it that much ^^
Not only because there are many many enemies around the place, especially behind the Blue KeyCard Door, but also because there are lots of spawns. And that BattleLord in the back I mentioned, it's never easy to find a way to trigger it without loosing much health and without relying on luck :/
No wonder why my child self had struggled, and having to fly up to that Red Spot with Enforcers for the key with the menace of the Trams ...

Not gonna stretch it. Music is one of the better tracks in the game IMO. Especially variations that don't have the very loud buzzing sound at the beginning (hard to describe but surely you see what I mean). I got 8 in my collection after all ^^

One of the best levels in the episode I'd say, and probably in the whole game.


Farenheit :

Well, I won't say much because, of all the levels in the episode, this one is my least favorite. Simply because, while it's got a unique identity with its Fire Station and its Radio Building, among other things, it is the least memorable one in my opinion :/
Also the fact it happens quite late in the episode means it's got to push more in order to leave a mark, and in my case, it doesn't. My child self didn't register this level much, it's a similar case to Tiberius Station.

If we exclude the Crates Area, and the Final Room, I'd say this level is less challenging, maybe as a way to have a small break before the next 1 or 2 levels ? Also, I find we're given a bit too much ammo for 3rd and 4th weaopns, and I never like it when I'm getting this feeling.

Music is part of my least favorites too. It captures well the feeling that there's a fire somewhere and you should hurry up, but then it would have been more fitting to the level if the Fire Station had been a bit more proeminent. I remember, when I used to play the game with my collection of tracks of the game, I tended to replace 233 Celsius (for this level) by 303 from the PS1 version.

Anyway, it's not a bad level by any means, and it still manages to have its own identity, it's just that there isn't this little thing that leaves a mark to me. The Final Room comes close to doing that but not enough.

[Quacken]

Gonna post my thoughts on the latter half of Lunar Apocalypse before I move on to Shrapnel City, so here goes.

Tiberius Station: Meh. This map always blended in together with the other space stations in this episode. I think part of that is because I really don't like the music in this map. Pissed is just not the kind of track that should be playing in a space station, it honestly should have been swapped out for one of the tracks in Shrapnel City, where I think it would have fit better. The only other thing worth mentioning is that this map managed to kill me once for being too cocky with my health. This map's fine, but I have no strong feelings about it one way or the other.

6/10.

Lunar Reactor: Now we're talking! Lunar Reactor is adventurous, lightning fast and full of action at every turn. Admittedly this is mostly because of the music. Aliens, Say Your Prayers really sells this map's premise. But besides the music, Lunar Reactor has excellent close-quarters combat and it has some very tense moments for someone not trying to choke and get sent back to the start, such as the Battlelord encounters, the explosion sequence immediately after picking up the yellow key and the end of the map after blowing up the reactor. I'd also like to point out the visuals too; the space station interiors are finely detailed and balanced well with light and darkness, and I'm always a sucker for mountains and natural landscapes, so I also really like the lunar cavern that you have to make a jump through. Lunar Reactor is an excellent map and a high watermark of the original three episodes.

9/10.

Dark Side: I really love this map. If there's one thing I like more than natural landscapes, it's a long adventure map. Dark Side is exactly that: A great stroll through the biggest moon base of the episode. The thing that strikes me the most about this map is the music, Plasma. Dark Side is the only map of the Atomic Edition that I can say is relaxing. There's something soothing about hitching a ride on one of the trains in this map and losing yourself in the calming atmosphere. Dark Side's no slouch on the combat either. With a Shrinker I was able to find and the map's generally slower pace it's not quite as tense nor difficult as Lunar Reactor, but it still manages to have a good amount of memorable fights, such as the Enforcers in the exploding room near the beginning, the cloud of Sentry Drones, the following Shrinker spam shootout in the moon gorge, and the Octabrains in the alien lair right at the end. Dark Side is a fantastic map, and definitely my favourite of the first three episodes.

10/10.

Lunatic Fringe: This is a gimmick map that's not quite as charming as Spin Cycle. I can definitely appreciate the gimmick Levelord was going for, but it's honestly quite buggy and it's very easy to get lost in the spiral. I was stuck on how to exit this map for the longest time, until I figured out the map gimmick was preventing me from seeing the exit door and I had to move around to the correct half of the map to see it. Sure. This was the final map that killed me in Lunar Apocalypse. The surprise third Battlelord killed me as I was running to the exit. I think on a better day I'd like this map a little more, but I think the map gimmick is a little too much, and it's not long enough to really let the idea be utilised to its fullest potential. Or maybe that's a good thing.

4/10.

Overlord: I like this map. Another type of map I like a lot are the suspenseful thrillers. You can do a lot with darkness in this game as long as it's not too overbearing like in Fusion Station, and Overlord is a good way of illustrating this point. It's not very challenging, but the spooky music, lighting and texture work make this map stick in my head for quite a bit after I've played it. The titular Overlord is of course a joke. The Devastator in the water pool to your left makes short work of him. Still though, this isn't a bad way to end out an episode.

7.5/10.

Closing thoughts: Lunar Apocalypse is overall very solid work. L.A. Meltdown is more consistent in its map quality, but E2L2, E2L3, E2L7, E2L8 and E2L9 are much more memorable and consistently enjoyable than most of what L.A. Meltdown has to offer. I also find the gimmicks that the two secret maps try to pull off are admirable, even if they are occasionally flawed in their execution. Final score: 8/10.

[Aleks]

The Watchtower, on 11 April 2022 - 11:23 PM, said:

I think I will never understand the popularity of Bank Roll and Hotel Hell. I found both levels highly problematic. I wrote about Hotel Hell some months ago, the progression after the yellow keycard doesn't make sense, and lots of areas (like the window-less hotel rooms or the main street) look trashy to me. I also don't like Bank Roll, it's just a very short 4 minute map with an empty street and some weird puzzles before finishing in that corrupted deposit area. I want to see the map's cut parts through, it was clear (from the unused respawns and the red key tag) that the map was originally bigger, and was nerfed for better performance (many other maps in episode 3 had similar fate).

I'm pretty sure we've already had this discussion at least once, but yeah, to be honest I've never noticed/been bothered by the rooms with no windows in Hotel Hell, putting them on the other side of the corridor would pretty much ruin the layout anyway. It's just something you take with Duke levels, they are pseudo-realistic and believable to some degree, but they are still first and foremost an FPS levels, so no windows in hotel rooms (or any other rooms for that matter, like pretty much whole bank, shop in Red Light District etc.) are to me on the same level of "I'll let it pass" as streets with two dead ends, buildings without doors or buildings that seemingly have no access to the upper 10 floors because of no elevator/stairs etc. Bank Roll really always felt much more natural in the "two dead ends" aspect because how it opens towards the end and loops back on the beginning, also coming from the building in Raw Meat and having the trash cans on one end, then bank on the other end never triggered me asking "why" there really.

BTW, forgot to mention, something I've never noticed before, but it's interesting how there's no Pig Cops in Flood Zone.


Anyway, continuing on my mini-reviews:

L.A. Rumble
This level's always been super memorable - there's all the skyscrapers, especially the landmark with the winking lady, flying around the map (it wasn't until much later till I realised the "intended" progression in this level is by leap of faith on the atomic healths, then climbing the broken terrace), final sequence with the helicopter (took me a while to find the "secret" room with red key lock, I was super proud of myself when I found it as a kid!). Unfortunately, the level is an absolute mess in multiplayer, with all the respawn points scattered around the ground area, which makes it just a spammy fragfest instead of an interesting flying fight it could have been. Well, a lot of stuff has been already said about why this level is so great, one more thing I'd like to mention is the elaborate secret at the beginning that not only has a lot of goodies and respawning enemies, but lets you nicely traverse around pretty much the whole central field of the map.

On DIG, it was the best map for combat along with Flood Zone, so much fun shooting RPGs at all the respawning enemies on the other side of the ledge, then going all the way up by the elevator and fighting in the air or sniping the enforcers near the winking lady. Gotta admit I've never realised how fun this level could be just being trigger happy like this.

Music is kinda forgettable here, but it never gets in the way, so I don't mind it.

Score: 9/10

Movie Set
Always liked it for it's original theme and creative use of assets, it was very memorable from my first playthrough and I remember being like "what, so Lunar Apocalypse was just a movie?!". Design in this level is cool with lots of details, however the gameplay is a lot easier this time around - playing on DIG, I barely lost any HP at all, even with Battlelord encounter. One nice touch here is how the enemies are invading from the outside and sometimes opening the doors to the studio. The level plays great in Dukematch, with its compact design, relatively easy to obtain weapons and lots of hiding places/alternative routes through the vents. The finish with collapsing stairway is also quite spectacular.

Invader is a great track, very catchy even if a bit repetitive. I also really like Lee's Marsch, which is strongly based on it and has a more "imminent danger" kind of tone.

Score: 8/10

Tier Drops
I've never found this one as a kid, only few years later when I was more able to look into Duke's secrets. It's nothing special really - I admit I was quite fascinated clearing it for the first time, as it was something new, even before I realised its gimmick with 4 rooms one over another. Having alternate routes through the wells between all of these places is a nice touch. The design is a bit sloppy here and there, of course all the layout is strongly abstract, but some areas could use more details, a lot of stuff looks very "early user mappish". Playing on DIG, it was once again a walk in the park, even with summoning the Battlelords by killing pod girls (which I admit is a nice idea). My favourite area to clear is the rock/desert one with octabrains, there's touchplates for their respawns on most of the separate sloped sectors, so it's fun to just summon them all, then massacre everything with devastator.

The music is nothing special, I've never cared much for it. Also, is there a dog barking or what that is?!

Score: 6,5/10

[TheDragonLiner]

Penultimate. Also, I don't react to the reactions to the level's strange architectural flaws on the par of realism, because this entry was written in advance ^^


Hotel Hell :

That's more like it. I really like this level because of it's more believable architecture and setting. Also I've always liked Hotel themed levels. Though the one problematic thing about this hotel is how there are only 2 rooms >_>
Anyway, like the small scene with the tons of rats escaping the explosion in the toilets (gotta wonder what caused it), and of course my favorite part has to be the top level with the pool and the bar. And the destructible walls for some spectacle.

For gameplay, it's a better challenge regarding enemy types, placement and spawns. And some good opportunities for using TripBombs, at least I was left with 1 at the end, dunno how many I had in the first place ... Too much 3rd weapon ammo again, and almost too much 8th but since I almost never use it, it doesn't bother me.

Music, it's similar case to Taking Names, as the music can sometimes feel a bit annoying to me due to how it's intensifying, but since it then comes back down like City Streets and since I like the theme better, it's ranked higher in my list. I have 5 variations of each in my collection but if I had been more picky, I would have had more LA than Names.

Anyway, for a "penultimate" level, given how the final level isn't a real level IMO, I find it does the job. 4 BattleLords on skill3, many enemies of various types, good placements, good architecture, good flow, good music, Top Floor which stands out to me ... not gonna stretch it but it's one of the better levels of the game hands down.


Freeway :

Glad to see they kept 2 memorable levels for the end. To me, this level feels as a more final level than Hotel Hell IMO. Because, while it's slightly less challenging despite having 3 BattleLords out in the open, and quite the bunch of Aerial Patrol Vehicles, I find its collapsed building, the atmosphere of the level, and its music to be a more effective way to raise the tension for the final boss. It has that mood where it feels like something is at stake. I don't know, it just clicks to me.

Similarly to previous levels, somebody's gonna have to explain how you're supposed to get here since the roads lead to walls. Though, unlike previous levels, you can have a semblant of answer with the collapsed building ... Also, how does it make sense to have a Pressing Facility in the same building as a Stadium ? For more gameplay/location/visual variety ? Legit, legit.
If the level is handled well, you're basically all set for the final boss. You could say the same about the previous level, but since the level is more open, the challenge is more manageable and thus works better in that regards. I wish I could say more ...

Music, I like it. It's kind of the same as Dethtoll IMO but with a more efficient theme and tone to it.

In the end, I was going to say it's one of my faves, but since I gotta think of a ranking soon, I'm not so sure anymore ^^

[Aleks]

Finishing the write-up for Shrapnel City.

Rabit Transit
As much as I've always found the premise for the level with moving train genuinely cool, I've never really like this map - my first impressions of it are really being scared of getting smashed by the trains and having some trauma to work on regarding the trains in user maps later on. Nevertheless, the map is a bit disappointing IMO. The design of both stations and the central library (?) is nice, but everything feels quite small and restricted, Metro Mayhem for example pulled the subway concept much better I'd say. The backspawning battlelord is always challenging indeed, but it's kinda dickish trap, and the general darkness of the train tracks is kinda meh when it comes to gameplay. This is why it's probably my least favourite map of the episode, besides Tier Drops. On DIG the only challenging part was the double Battlelord situation really, also it took me a while to find the last secret (crack near the devastator compartment) and I was still kinda nervous not to get smashed by the train...

As for music, Gotham is one of the best tracks in the game, hands down. It works perfectly with the level's atmosphere and is in my opinion one of its strongest aspects really.

Score: 7/10

Fahrenheit
I've been kinda surprised how much criticism this level is getting. Sure it might not be creme de la creme of the episode, but I definitely always found it quite distinctive with the fire truck and large red brick walled building really standing out from the general grey and brown/beige colouring of most places in Duke. Also despite not being too elaborate, the fire station always sold the place for me (and I hated how they made the building larger in DN64 due to how sloppy the new rooms looked), same with the KTIT always being recognisable as a radio/TV station. There's some weird stuff like the red key being inside a secret place (making it the second mandatory secret place in the game I think, after the vent in Red Light District) and the cargo area with boxes I'm not too fond of because how it relies on turrets and sentry drones and generally isn't too fun to clear. The level is great in Dukematch though, being compact and fun to navigate with a few tighter connections. Not much to say about how it played on DIG, other than the fact the final battlelords killed some of the enforcers around them and I forgot to blow all of the bodies, having a surprise respawn there.

Music works well with the level and I generally like it, it has a strong sense of tension similarly to In Hiding, I sometimes play it in user maps as well.

Score: 7.5/10

Hotel Hell
Now for one of the more iconic levels of Duke 3D, despite what The Watchtower says (although I kinda agree that the progression is kinda weird towards the end - as a kid, the default exit for me was always behind the waterfall that leads to Freeway, it's been a while since I found out it's not the primarily intended one and that Freeway was actually a secret level) - but then also finding out how the intended way to the main exit worked, I kinda appreciated it as something different and requiring some more climbing around the building. Anyway, questionable architectural and functional layout decisions aside, this level is pretty epic and always felt this way for me. Even when I was told what the name of the level means as a kid (and how nicely it rolled off of the tongue together), with being one of the last levels of the game, it always only enhanced the feel of the level. The gameplay is packed as well - pig cops and enforcers coming in packs, few tricky battlelord encounters (especially the ones in the lobby), the explosive ending allowing for large part of the hotel blowing up... Also as a kid I remember when me and my friends found out this level can be kinda skipped by a skillful pipebomb throw right at the start and were making contests on who can manage it in fewer seconds. Gameplay on DIG was once again a killer, especially the first area with pig cops coming from all sides and heights costed me quite some HP, another one that was more challenging was the entrance to the second floor.

Lord of LA is another of my favourite songs in the game and fits this level perfectly, adding even more to its epicness. It's so heavy and badass, since I've learned the name of the song I always imagined this to be a song about Duke reclaiming Los Angeles from the aliens for himself, the rightful king. I also really appreciate how Lee made his Ike2 song for this level, turning this into even heavier metal piece without losing the identity of the original song. I probably prefer Lord of LA for the sake of hearing it thousands of times, but Ike2 is a great song on its own as well.

Score: 9.5/10

Freeway
This one comes kind of more naturally as a penultimate level, however I personally think Hotel Hell works better in this aspect. Anyway, I remember me and my sister always loving this level for how vast it felt, the collapsed sloped building and the cop car probably being the highlights for me. It wasn't until much later before I realized the gimmick here of two overlapping SOS streets crossing, then again it took me a while to realize how abstract this layout really is, which might be why this was made a secret level in the end. Nevertheless, this is definitely the best secret level in Duke (besides Area 51 of course). I can still see a lot of things that deserve some criticism here, like how the sentry drones at the beginning tend to leave the sewer part through the tight slots in the wall, the stupidly dark area right after entering the street and how it's gimmick is really buried and hard to recognise from casual play. I always liked the level for Dukematch as well, last time I played it with Arzca and some other guys they all hated it though due to it generally taking a while to get a hold of any proper gun and the level being practically divided in two. Playing on DIG, I died here once by stupidly firing an RPG into enforcer standing right in front of me, towards the very end of the level after opening that part of the factory which has a bunch of enforcers waiting. Was kind of stupid, as 2 enforcers dodged/slided from my first rockets, transporting them right into my face. Also took some heavy beating from the Battlelords before that, on my second playthrough my shrinker made a short work of them though. Clearing the first area felt a bit tedious due to all the recon patrol vehicles getting stuck into ground enemies. Not sure about it now, but this might be the only level in the game not utilising assault troopers/captains at all.

The music this time is weaker and not that memorable, not much to say about it.

Score: 8/10

Stadium
I remember my brother managed to finish Freeway before any of us and got to the boss, only to be turned into minced meat seconds after - without saving and just saying "fuck that" and quitting afterwards. Stadium was one of the first levels I managed to finish without godmode after learning that you can basically just fly straight up and spam devastator on the boss until he dies Another thing I remember from my childhood is finding out with my friends about the Duff Beer dirigible which can rain some items after destroying it. While the settings/premise here are quite promising here, the fact the whole level is basically just a square is really underwhelming, as a lot had said already. The boss also is the one that I've always found the easiest, although he probably gives the most options for user maps (e.g. Shaky Grounds) and is the one that can be controlled the best due to the lotag 3 thing. Not much to say about playing this on DIG, as it's basically the same as on any other skill, however when I played DN64 few months ago, there was quite strong difficulty spike here and I got my ass handled to me the first few times, which is a good thing. Never liked Dukematching in this one, as it usually turns to pistol spam rather than anything more fun.

Music is great, very appropriate for the grand finale of the game - or maybe because I've first heard it used here, I kinda assumed this type of music works well for an epic ending? Either way, Urban Jungle works well either here or for more packed city user maps. I remember putting it on while playing Warz by Andras Piroska (recently re-reviewed by Mikko BTW) few months ago.

Score: 6/10

To conclude, Shrapnel City is probably my favourite episode of the base game. It has the best gameplay and a little bit of everything, with more distinctive locations in general than LA Meltdown. Gonna move to Lunar Apocalypse with my next post - which is also a great episode.

[ck3D]

Coincidentally, new video upload from someone who appears to share your opinion on Hotel Hell:



Timing is funny.

[TheDragonLiner]

Le hasard fait bien les choses, dit-on.

Stadium :

Final Boss. Well, as somebody hinted at earlier, I believe it was Gingis Khan but I'm not sure ... this level is kind of a downer >_> Let's start with the positives. When I was a kid, I didn't give a damn about how empty the level is, and I didn't understand a single bit of the "bonus" at the end either. I was too focused on fighting an exclusive behemoth. Nowadays, this fight is supposed to be "easy" because of how it's only a projectile boss, but it's actually harder than the Overlord simply because it shoots rockets left and right, 2 by 2.

Because of that, I tend to sometimes get a random rocket fly in mah face and also, I sometimes just don't see THE ONE coming ... Also, there is the support of a few enemies, despite how anecdotic they are. Lastly, it's just a super cool (and kinda funny) detail to be able to blow up the Blimp for ammo. When I was a kid, I sure as hell didn't know that. Not that it makes much of a difference anyway >_> Unless Pistol Start of course.
As for the negatives, like hinted at earlier, it's just freaking empty ! Architecturally speaking, it's the bare minimum ! A few cheerleaders, a few pipes put up into goals ET VOILA ! Only originality being the elevator at the center, that's a special effort IMO. Otherwise, the fact there's no spectator thing, it makes the stadium look like its a football terrain on top of a sky scraper with no barrier nor grate X_X
Some may say the FMV doesn't help but, I'd say we should leave it alone because the developers assumed of the very questionable design and went for coherence with the FMV.

Music, that's typically Yes in-game, No out-game. No more, no less. And I can't find any variation that's satisfying. The World Tour version maybe but still ...


Closing Thoughts : If we exclude ep 4, the third episode was my favorite for the longest time. Though, now that I've revisited the levels in GDX (for a change), I'm wondering if I may not prefer Ep2 since it's got more levels for which I have an increased liking ... a tough choice x_x Also, Ep2 I never managed to beat it as a kid, so of course I got a slight bias towards 3 ^^ I don't think I can add much to what has already been said throughout the topic :/
Now to my personal ranking ... the severely difficult task >_>
I'd say ... maybe ... 1_ La Rumble, 2_ Flood Zone, 3_ Rabid Transit, 4_ FreeWay, 5_ Raw Meat, 6_ Hotel Hell, 7_ Bank Roll, 8_ Movie Set, 9_ Farenheit, 10_ Tier Drops, 11_ Stadium.

[NNC]

My personal scores of Shrapnel City maps:

Raw Meat 8
Bank Roll 6
Flood Zone 9
LA Rumble 10
Movie Set 5
Tier Drops 5
Rabid Transit 6
Fahrenheit 5
Hotel Hell 7
Freeway 9
Stadium 3