[FistMarine]

What's this thing?
We play through a set of maps/mods during the month, and use this thread to discuss it as we're still all fresh with our comments/opinions/feelings about the maps.

What's the purpose?
Basically, there are 4 purposes:

• Showcasing some of the older mods/maps to wider public - they definitely deserve the attention!
• Getting more people to actually enjoy and appreciate the user content - because let's be honest, over the past 26 years this was really what kept Duke alive after all.
• ...and while we're at it - keeping Duke alive by still enjoying it, as there's no new games in the franchise on the horizon (and let's be honest, they wouldn't be as good as some of this stuff!).
• Having a more structured discussion on maps than what's going in "Last map you played" thread - which is great, but it's basically a monologue most of the time.

Can I join?
Sure, as long as you find some spare time during the month to play the stuff that's on the table!

Why a month?
Because people have lives, jobs or other stuff to do (like mapping). For smaller maps, this could be shorter time - it's all up to debate in the future!

What port should I use? Are mods allowed? Where to get the maps?
It's entirely up to you how you play the game, so you can use whatever port or mod allowed - it would be cool to state in your posts what you're using too, as there might be some slight differences between the ports! As for the maps, they should be always linked within the first post.

How should I play the maps or post about them?
Again, it's up to you. You can finish them all in one go or play them one by one whenever you feel like. On Doom forums, there's a rule that you should keep the pace by not posting about a map that has a higher number than the day of the month, so e.g. on 6th you shouldn't post about map 7 etc. I think that might be a good practice if there's a large interest in this, but first let's see how active the thread is for a start - so if there's nothing going on, feel free to post about whatever map you want to.

Previous editions:

Spoiler

June 2022 - Maps by Billy Boy + Maps by Bob Masters
May 2022 - Duke It Out In D.C. + Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach + Penthouse Paradise
April 2022 - Duke Nukem 3D
March 2022 - Last Reaction & Water Bases + Chimera
February 2022 - DaikariN + Operation Blitzkrieg
January 2022 - ADG Episode + Maps by Alejandro Glavic
December 2021 - Lost Highway + Maps by Peter Kucera and Lukas Cerovsky
November 2021 - Maps by various authors
October 2021 - Maps by Taivo Maripuu
September 2021 - Duke Hard
August 2021 - Maps by Rob Wijkstra (Highwire) and Geoffrey van Dijk (FakirBaba)
July 2021 - Maps by Maarten Pinxten
June 2021 - Roch Series

For this month, the entire Community Build Project series have been chosen!

For those who aren't familiar with the concept of the Community Build Project, the CBPs are community efforts which depend on the project rules. The early installments focused on building a single map with different areas provided by each mapper involved. Other installments had rules with each mapper being allowed only one hour to contribute to the map and then pass to the next mapper to continue working on the map. I may be wrong about the definition/examples given, so people (especially those who contributed to CBPs), feel free to correct me.

I made sure to include not only the original CBP series but also spinoffs like 1-Hour CBPs, Beach CBP, Jonof CBP, Russian CBP, Suburban Hive, Duke is Ten and many more!

Initially, I wasn't sure if to include the Duke is Ten episode, since there are already plenty of maps chosen for this month but ultimately I decided to include it as an optional choice.

Duke Hard, which was already chosen and played back in September last year, is also referred to as a CBP. It makes no sense to include it again and I think having Duke is Ten episode in its place is a nice compromise, though it could have been saved for later for coupling it with a different entry. Which is why I insist that Duke is Ten is optional for now and the main attraction are the various CBPs released all over the years.

Speaking of which, here is the rundown with all the entries for this month, ordered in a somewhat logical progression from one to another (sorted by series and chronologically):

Blackjack's Build Museum (aka BJShrine)
Community Build Project 2
Community Build Project 3
Community Build Project 4
Community Build Project 5
Community Build Project 6
Community Build Project 7
Community Build Project 8: Metropolitan Starlight
Community Build Project 9: Halloween 2020

Duke is Ten (episode)

Jonof's Port Community Build Project 1
Jonof's Port Community Build Project 2

Russian Community Build Project
Russian Community Build Project 2

Duke Plus Community Build Project

1 Hour CBP
1 Hour CBP 2
2 Hour CBP
1.5 Hour CBP

Suburban Hive
Suburban Hive II: Crimson Moon

Newbie Community Build Project
Beach Community Build Project
20 Sector Challenge Community Build Project
Duke Mansion

Kosmos CBP
CBP - Timberland

I have also added direct download links for all maps above. Most are from Dukeworld (one map was only found at Dukeworld, besides the Steam workshop link), while rest of the newer CBPs have the original release thread link attached. Two maps added at the end can only be downloaded from Steam (you can use Steam Workshop Downloader to download them if you don't own Megaton Edition).

You can also download the CBP maps from the following links:

Duke Repository - https://dnr.duke4.ne...2-Hour_CBP.html
MSDN - https://msdn.duke4.net/hot.php
Scent 88 - http://www.scent-88....our/1.5hour.php
Steam Workshop - https://steamcommuni...s/?id=239326916

There is no link that includes all CBP series in one place, so if wishing to download from other places, for Duke Repository and Scent 88, try looking at other people's works to find the rest maps listed, while at MSDN try sorting by the author and look at all maps created by The Community.

MSDN has the richest selection with 24 CBP reviews. For the others that aren't reviewed, check the other links. Or just use the direct links above to download the maps.

DPCBP can also be found bundled with the DukePlus mod since the older versions (don't know which is the first version that includes it). You can download DukePlus from the following links:
Old versions (there is also a separate "maps" folder, which also includes DPCBP) at Dukeworld: https://dukeworld.du.../Mods/Dukeplus/
Newer versions of DukePlus can be downloaded from ModDB: https://www.moddb.co...-plus/downloads

If downloading DukePlus from Moddb, I recommend either 2.11 or 2.14 because they are more stable or the latest 2.501 which uses a newer eduke32 build, though the latest version is quite buggy.

Alternatively, if you aren't happy with any of the versions listed above, you can try downloading DukePlus 2.40 from the original website: https://fissile.duke...e_dukeplus.html
DP 240 should be more stable than DP 2501, though it might have other bugs. It's up to you to find which version of DukePlus works better.

Notes:
-I wanted this month to focus on ALL CBP maps released so far and while it might seem overwhelming at first (about 30 maps in total, some may take a short time to complete and others may take a long time to complete), I'd suggest to just play whichever maps you feel more comfortable with.
-I think doing the main CBP maps and the Duke is Ten episode is a great start for the series, though it's up to you to decide.
-All maps are made for the Atomic Edition and most (at least newer entries) require EDuke32 to run. The older entries may be playable in JFDuke3D or even original Duke3D v1.5 executable. I only recommend the DOS Duke3D executable for BJShrine and CBP2-CBP7 (maybe also SCBP1 and SCBP2), as well as JFDuke3D for the Duke is Ten episode and Jonof CBPs (obviously), possibly few others as well. Rest maps (around 2009 and newer) are recommended to be played in EDuke32.
-Related to the above, I will try playing the maps that way and I will confirm which ones are playable in which ports, though obviously EDuke32 is the best and most recommended choice.
-Some of the CBPs may have extra files in them, so be careful how you install some of the maps!

Additionally, the main CBP series, as well as Duke is Ten episode, are included in the EDuke32 Addon Compilation. No idea if other entries are included in the package.

And also I apologize if this message seems a bit rushed, it's because of the reasons I mentioned in the previous club topic that I will be away for a few days in a trip and I won't be around to check/respond for the replies. I tried to gather all CBPs released so far, even ones that weren't widely known. Some of them I wasn't even aware of their existence until recently. If I am missing one, please let me know!

Have fun and have a nice weekend!

[Ninety-Six]

My favorites are CBP5, 9, Mansion, and Crimson Moon.


I really like horror-themed Duke maps and I wish there were more of 'em.

[Quacken]

Another month, another spot of Duke to play. Since there's enough maps here to fill out an entire month, I'm going to try and play one map a day, doing two if I happen to miss one. I'll also definitely try out Duke is Ten as well. With that being said, since I didn't play anything on the 1st of July, here's a double feature:

Blackjack's Build Museum

Blackjack's Build Museum is a short, quiet stroll that's extremely modest and linear, but is good for some innocent fun nonetheless. I don't really get any of the references here, so I'm a bit lost on identifying the significance of these maps, but thankfully, this map's pretty okay in terms of its combat. It's nothing groundbreaking, but I do like the Devastator shootout as you step into the orange rock section, and the Protector Drone fight in the dark would have the potential to make a devilish encounter if expanded upon in another map. Sometimes it does feel a little too underpopulated though; there's only a handful of goons on the pirate ship, and the research lab could have used some more monsters stalking the halls. My biggest nitpick with this map though is that the pirate ship's cannon keeps blowing up even once you've left the room it resides in, and that occasionally gets a little annoying. Blackjack's Build Museum isn't anything particularly special, but it's not a bad start.

6/10.

CBP2

CBP2 is relatively similar to BJShrine in that it's a linear gauntlet with under 100 monsters, only this time it features about three mappers I know the names of. It's certainly more difficult - the section by the Oostrums in particular is the most tricky, the pop-up Battlelord will whittle your health down if you don't play very carefully and aim all your Devastator rockets correctly, leaving you with not too many supplies to defend yourself in the following sections. There's honestly not too much to say here. CBP2 is short and fun as a 10 minute distraction, but it's not too much more than that.

6.5/10.

[Quacken]

Checking in with today's CBP. What do we have today?

CBP3

CBP3 is definitely a lot longer and more difficult than the previous two maps, with a much higher count and generally higher monster density. The extra challenge is definitely appreciated, but this comes at a cost of the progression being very cryptic. For such tiny spaces, some of these mappers damn near tried their hardest to make you spend more time fumbling about in them. There's the yellow key hidden in pitch darkness, a button that you press and the doors to a random truck unlocks, another button that's partially invisible, and graffiti of a stripper that you just... touch and a door opens? It all doesn't really flow very well, which sours the decent parts of the map being the tougher-than-usual combat and nicely constructed areas. I'm not really a fan of this map, it's decent at its best and boring at worst.

4.5/10.

[Aleks]

I've played Blackjack's Build Museum, CBP 2-6 (with CBP 3 & 4 being my very first Duke-related things released, even before AlexCity), CBP 9 and 2-hour CBP, so I will use this topic more as a way to just catch up on the remaining ones. If anyone's interested, here's my review of CBP 9: http://www.scent-88....C/cbp9/cbp9.php

Last night I played CBP 7 and liked it. It seems for the first time to follow a single theme throughout the whole level, also it's a very "early 2000s" kind of design, despite being released in 2006 I think. The theme is base/hi-tech which is quite typical and it shows. I only recognised which part was Mikko's due to his quite characteristic style and Stef's who put a signature on a flashlight, also I could guess the beginning was done by SuperTanker.

Besides the single theme which is apparently a thing that only started with this CBP, it was still kind of a show-off to the prowess in meticulous detailing and effects that would be normally too resource-consuming for a regular map, and with only 5 or so authors it's a lot easier to make a more cohesive part. I particularly liked the elevator ride with lights on the sides of the shaft that would only lighten up the inside of the elevator for as long as they are between its floor and ceiling, with a very good synchro between the lighting effects and elevator speed (even if the effect itself did overstay its welcome a bit as it took quite a while to complete the ride). The gameplay is also your typical 2000s kind of narrow corridors (in some parts too narrow, so you just have to tank some enemies), with only the finale being more open as we leave the facility and take on a bunch of Battlelords in an open, explosive environment. Nevertheless, it was a fun and pretty straightforward 20 or so minutes.

BTW, would anyone be so kind to download and upload here the 2 maps that are only available through the Steam workshop, so that everyone could be able to play these?

[Quacken]

Back for more CBP action. I'm going away for two days so I won't be able to write anything until then. You get a break from me.

CBP4

CBP4 is definitely the best map so far. It features fewer mappers compared to the last few maps, but the fact they stuck to a consistent aesthetic and didn't abuse teleporters to take you to new sections makes the whole map feel a lot more cohesive and memorable. The combat was also majorly improved on, the fights in this map feel a lot more intense and challenging, sans the final fight courtesy of William Gee which is admittedly a total clusterfuck. Aesthetically speaking, it's also much more sound. The marine base and the sewers both look very crisp. I like the addition of the transparent monsters and there being more general willingness to throw Battlelords in your way. None of it was extremely difficult, but it was never a pushover either (again, sans the final fight). For its greater challenge, better visual cohesion and a general upgrade in quality and attention to detail, CBP4 is a map I wouldn't mind going back to one day.

7.5/10.

[TheDragonLiner]

I am surprised to see certain names in there O_o

Many maps I know from Attrition, I never expected them to be community projects, like Suburban Hive and Crimson moon for instance. I think I'm going to do the DukePlus map, not only in order to not skip yet another month, but also because it seems to me that it's one of the older ones of the list, and possibly the least remembered one. At least that's the impression I am having when thinking about it, because of DukePlus being "dead" for countless time now ...

[Sanek]

These CBP's is super interesting right now, from the historical point of view.

I bet it's going to be very nostalgic from those who contributed to these maps years ago.

But i feel more ashamed than nostalgic when it comes to my own efforts.

I'm glad that i'm actually the one who organzied the whole russian-speaking part of community way back in 2008, become of the leader of the first RCBP and basically met with all the cool guys like Eddy and Lezing. But despite all of this, both parts of mine in RCBP I and II was utter, horrendous pieces of crap, it looks so bad.

My part in Suburban Hive is slighlty better, but not so good when it comes to other parts of the map. I also remember there was a big shitstorm back then, since so many guys was angry and against me being involved in the project (like "do we really let this jerk Sanek in? Do we accept him as one of our own?"). It's more like a historical oddity than anything else by now...

[Aleks]

BTW, when we're at historical anecdotes, one reason why CBP 3 is mostly disconnected/not-cohesive is because most of the guys were kind of newbies and everyone was free to do their own theme, but also, despite the limited resources (like 100 sectors per person), people built their parts in advance and then hastly slapped it together. I remember getting a screenshot from Chris Coleman (who made the part with the stripper button IIRC) from the ending of his map being some hi-tech door when I asked on how to connect my part with it, so all I could come up with was a teleporter to my already pre-made part inside a mine (also I didn't know about panning/auto-aligning textures back then I think, so my part was a mess in this regard ). With CBP 4 it went much smoother as my part was 3rd I think and its harbour theme fit nicely both with Steph's industrial part that was before it and then descent into James' underwater base. Then for CBP 6 I built the final part and despite having a clear concept of what I want there, I only built it when I got the map so it interconnected with the rest quite reasonably as well (although the execution was kinda clumsy with the boss being stuck in the helipad - which at the time I thought was a proper solution...).

[Merlijn]

It's kinda funny how the CBP's developped. The first one was literally some sort of museum, it's parts of existing maps stitched together. Like some sort of 'best of' album. Then the next few were all original content but every mapper just did whatever the hell they wanted. So as a result it still just a bunch of sections being stitched together.

Around CBP4 things finally got a bit more coherent (I even attempted to tie everything together with a long ass back-story for that one ). Then CBP5 is the first one with a true central theme, being set in a creepy, snowy city. I remember those 2 being a lot of fun to participate in.

My personal favorites are probably CBP5,8,9 and Crimson moon.

[Forge]

 Sanek, on 04 July 2022 - 04:47 AM, said:

My part in Suburban Hive is slighlty better, but not so good when it comes to other parts of the map. I also remember there was a big shitstorm back then, since so many guys was angry and against me being involved in the project (like "do we really let this jerk Sanek in? Do we accept him as one of our own?"). It's more like a historical oddity than anything else by now...

i think 'shitstorm' is a bit of an exaggeration. One person being an ass does not make for a 'shitstorm'. There might have been a couple other people questioning the quality of what you could produce because your portfolio was limited at the time, but pretty much the majority weren't concerned about your participation.

Your part being 'not so good' compared to others?
C'mon. The 'others' being the likes of ck3d, maarten, merlijn, mikko, gambini, and a few other notables.

Those are top-tier mappers. My part is 'not so good' compared to that crowd either.
Didn't matter. I was just happy to come along for the ride.

[ck3D]

I remember starting CBP 6 on DN-R in 2004 for the sake of starting a CBP on DN-R, being a teenager, using up all my walls on a tiny forest section then the next sections the level received were Mikko's and Devastator's with the functional volcano, really funny how I was in over my head at the time in retrospect. Maybe it's nostalgia but that era of mapping in general feels pretty cute in a way I think that map can exemplify pretty well. For some reason, I have great memories of the synergy when working on Crimson Moon (and also the 20-sector challenge, although my contributions to that one really sucked and I was still learning a lot). Maybe because those were some of the later bursts of collective mapping frenzy on AMC (weren't they?).

[Sanek]

 Forge, on 06 July 2022 - 06:19 AM, said:

Your part being 'not so good' compared to others?
C'mon. The 'others' being the likes of ck3d, maarten, merlijn, mikko, gambini, and a few other notables.

Those are top-tier mappers. My part is 'not so good' compared to that crowd either.

I'd say that part is not good compared to other parts, no matter who designed them. If I was a random player who played it without any knowledge of who's doing what, I'd say that that part is the lowest part of the map.

[Forge]

 Sanek, on 06 July 2022 - 07:15 AM, said:

I'd say that part is not good compared to other parts, no matter who designed them. If I was a random player who played it without any knowledge of who's doing what, I'd say that that part is the lowest part of the map.

my opinion, your section blended in well with the sections around it.
maybe i had blinders on, or didn't pay enough attention to feedback, but i don't recall anyone posting that they loved the map "except for this one section which is worse than the rest" (and specified your part). Most people that complained mentioned the boss fight - which was my bit. Some liked it, some hated it. None of the other mappers or beta-testers told me to redo it, or have it removed, so it was 'good enough' to be included. I'm glad that I could participate.

[Quacken]

Hello! I'm back, and it is time for more CBP reviews. 5, 6 and 7 are up next.

CBP5

CBP4 walked so CBP5 could run. CBP5 is the first genuinely great level of the lot so far. First thing to talk about is the visuals - there is a much greater emphasis on detail, lighting and horror imagery, and it pays off incredibly well. With the unsettling Blood MIDI playing, there's actually a surprising amount of dread and suspense in this map, especially when Battlelords teleport around you, and their shrieking roars echo the sky. Additionally, there's a good amount of variety in this map, from the main streets, to a dance club, to the junk yard, and then finally in the blue caves, which look quite visually pleasing. In terms of combat, this map is downright merciless when compared to the previous four. Not only is there much less ammo on average, there are also many "Pro-spectre Drones" running around aiming to claw at you (which makes me think Merlijn was responsible for most of the combat, considering his section in CBP4 was the only one to feature Prospectre Drones). My favourite fight in the map probably goes to the tight squeeze of two Battlelords and a few Assault Troopers in the junk yard. There's not a lot of space to shrink the Battlelords which makes them trickier than usual to take them out. CBP5 is gripping, immersive and challenging, and it is definitely my favourite map out of these so far.

9/10.

CBP6

And just as the Community Projects were starting to get their shoes on, one of them immediately falls off. CBP6 is, by comparison, a sluggish, dark and kinda aggravating map to play. Everything up to the first key is pretty okay, if a little basic, but everything falls apart as soon as you go through the blue door. The volcano section is loud and obnoxious, and everything about it is not really fun at all. The nuclear bunker is extremely dark and cramped, and the yellow key is in an unmarked corner of the spinning gear room. And why are there spinning objects in this room anyway? All they do is just make jumping to the window much more difficult. And then the final room is just... ugh. You're locked in a small room with a rotating Boss Battlelord and just barely enough ammo to kill it. Everything about this just bothers me; why do I have to kill a Boss to exit the map? Why are there not more rockets here? Why does the secret require you hit about 12 different switches just for a room that barely rewards you? It's strange and confusing, and I'm just glad I had enough ammo to finish the map. Easily the worst map by far.

2.5/10.

CBP7

CBP7 is... perfectly average. I don't really have much to say honestly, this is just a generic space station map that relies on backtracking through the same tight hallways, fighting hitscanners, and collecting one too many blue keys. The only part of the map that didn't have me snoring was the end, with the Nuke Button fakeout and the five Battlelords standing in your way, all of which get neutralised by the Shrinker. CBP7 is unimpressive and too long for what you actually do in the map, and I forgot about it as soon as I played it.

4/10.

[Aleks]

Played JFCBP 1 and it was quite a mixed bag. The starting snowy-Quakish area was nicely detailed with trimming and shadows, even if a bit unpractical to play due to super narrow corridors. Nevertheless, I liked how it set up the snowy theme that was prevalent throughout the rest of the map. The 2nd part was fairly simple, but effective - it was just a bunch of corridors with randomly flickering lights and design that screamed copy-pasting, looking very clean and modern. Also they were wide enough to accomodate about 5-6 Battlelords and enough room to fight them without much cover or health (in general, the map kinda lacked in health, which made it more challenging than usually, but that might also be due to my reluctance to ever use the portable medkit unless that's the whole premise of the map or I'm really pinned down). I liked the challenge there. It lead smoothly (contrary to the teleporters between the first two parts, which probably might have been done a bit better) to the outside part of the map, courtesy of Mikko (which didn't really need his signature as it was very much what you'd expect of a Mikko map). This part was a bit short and had the weird pal12 floors that made enemies flicker depending on which sector they were on. It led to Quakis' (I think?) part inside a dark and a bit random restaurant, only to open up back into the cold with some dark caves and an elevator that spawned a Battlelord in close quarters. This elevator led to what I believe was van Oostrum's part, and despite some characteristic elements, it was probably the least vanoostrumish thing they produced. The details were all over the place, but the part felt a bit cramped again, there's also been a vent that looked like the right way to get in, but seemed blocked at first due to clipping changes, but when I somehow managed to slide inside, it turned out it's just a dead end and softlock Turned out it wasn't necessary to visit it anyway, so I proceeded and entered WG part, which was a definite highlight of the level. It was big enough to accomodate 4 keycards (OK, maybe it wasn't and the keycards seemed a bit confusing over this small space, but that's my only nitpick here), made great use of moving sectors, underwater stuff and a mix of cave with industrial theme. It was also boldly populated with explosions and respawns, which all made the gameplay much more dynamic. Add a bunch of Battlelords and it all summed up to a real blast to play through! The map's finale, however, was a bit disappointing: the sewer part was a major drop in quality and a bit of an abuse of the underwater theme, turning all the creative stuff from WG's part (which drained my scuba almost completely) to dark tunnels that felt almost labrenthine. The map finishes with some out of the blue concert hall and an Overlord boss fight - while the design on the street where this final encounter takes place is kinda meh and the invisible walls can be treacherous as hell, I liked the premise of fighting this particular boss in complete darkness and a very longitudinal kind of area, where there's little room for dodging or escaping him.

This seemed quite like a typical CBP, just longer than usual - in fact it did take me about 35 minutes to complete. Also it quite nicely marks this period when people have already discovered the joys of extended limits, but instead of changing the scale radically, used them all up for more detailing

[Quacken]

I'm skipping CBP8 because it involves a few too many steps to play properly for my brain to comprehend. So, let's jump to CBP9...

CBP9

With 800 monsters and a run time of about an hour, CBP9 is quite a swallow. Coming from having to sit through Deadfall, I was admittedly a little skeptical - but I'm very happy to report that CBP9 blows its CBP competition out of the water. While I still think the map is extremely long and could have probably had a section cut to reduce the run time, I think CBP9 more than earns it. Not only are there six very visually distinct areas, including the hub area, but there are also a metric ton of highly crowded and involved fights. This ensures that there's always something to pick a fight with, and the map's general linearity means that new action is never far away.

The four Portals all have quite interesting concepts. My favourite is probably the gray portal. The abstraction is on point here, with the flipped office room, the miniature still life of a city-scape, the two blank white rooms, and the staircase of Presidents. There's so much to find and look at here that I was beginning to think that there wouldn't be an end to it. Interestingly though, I never really got lost here. Nothing is blocked behind keys, and everything sticks out so much from each other, so you always know which pathways lead to where. And of course, interspersed in the loopy corridors is a great shootout atop room over room sectors with many flying foes. The orange portal is definitely my next favourite section. The bright greens, blues, oranges and yellows create a surprisingly interesting and colourful backdrop, and it also contains probably the most chaotic fights in the map. For fun, I set off all of the triggers in the first outdoors fight and watched everything kill each other, stepping in to squash shrunken monsters when necessary. The second outdoor fight is apocalyptic - a Battlelord, many Octabrains and Assault Commanders raining down shrapnel from above, and a bunch of Assault Commanders to distract you as you try to juggle everything else.

The other two portals aren't quite as great. The green portal is mostly flat, doesn't have a lot of lighting variation and a lot of fights are won by firing rockets in the general direction of the monsters. By the point I was at, I was maxed out on rockets, so each of the fights here were quite easy-going. The blue portal fares a little better. The best fight in the blue portal is the "oh shit" moment when the huge door to the storage room opens up and Enforcers jump up to your level, but otherwise, it's a lot of running to the multi-switch and back, which doesn't really gel well with the rest of the map's progression. The MIDI is another point of contention for me. It's nice most of the time, but it does occasionally get a bit repetitive. The final part of the map after inserting the keys, the climactic hike up the blood-red valley, is quite entertaining, and the following Cycloid Emperor fight is quite tricky. It took me quite a few tries to kill him because I kept getting stuck on the debris and allowing myself to get blown up.

CBP9 is a great send off to the anthology of Community Build Projects. It's challenging, very entertaining, highly creative, and never boring, although some parts of the map excel better than this at some points. It's a little tricky to rank, since it feels like a 9.25 rather than a 9 or 9.5, but...

9/10.

[FistMarine]

Hey everyone! I'm back from the trip since the past two days and I'm very happy to see this topic active!

Anyway, since most people are playing through the main CBP series, I decided to start this month with playing the Duke is Ten episode (replaces E2), because it's an episode I have finished a few times in the past. I think I played it as early as 2009-2010.

This time, I have played the episode in JFDuke3D on CGS skill and obviously got all kills and secrets. Only one of the maps contains a secret, while the rest have no secrets at all, so you don't need to go secret hunting. Just make sure to kill all the enemies and survive.

The only general advice I can give is that most levels have no difficulty settings implemented and even if some levels have, most of the enemies you fight are ones that get spawned in the level, which means they are unaffected by the skill settings. Therefore, it is recommended to do it on CGS difficulty to fully get the intended experience.

Some levels also have no way of backtracking when getting further into the level, so make sure to grab everything before the points of no return, which are specified when reviewing the levels. With all that said, let's start the review!

DUKE IS TEN

Keep on Surviving
by Geoffrey van Dijk

The first level has you dealing with quite a large amount of enemies in somewhat cramped corridors. It is recommended to grab the armor and shotgun as soon as possible, after grabbing the nearby shells in the vent. You will fight various Duke3D enemies, ranging from troopers to pig cops to enforcers to octabrains to commanders, a couple slimers and even a few Mini Battlelords behind two forcefields. Deactivating a forcefield results in some extra pig cops spawning, so keep that in mind. Some of them may spawn inside walls and it will take a while before they get unstuck, so if you have an enemy missing, go back and try finding that enemy, maybe he has gotten unstuck.

Besides the pistol, your other weapons available are the shotgun and the RPG. Ammo supplies are plentiful, there are shotgun shells everywhere that you shouldn't have problems with the ammo, as long as you don't mind having to shotgun stronger enemies such as the commanders, while saving the rockets for the mini bosses. Health comes in decent amounts as well, with various large medkits placed on the crates. I got lucky with the drops from the pig cops (many used armors and used shotguns containing 4 shells), though armor isn't an issue as there is an extra armor pickup in another vent and the armor you get at beginning should keep you alive in the entire level. Well as long as you don't get hit too often.

Overall, not a bad start! The next level should be better.


Attack!
by Maarten van Oostrum

This level is a bit shorter than the previous one but it's also very action packed, especially in the second half of the map.
At the beginning, you fight a couple of pig cops and enforcers. I was lucky that the first enforcer dropped the chaingun, although there is already a chaingun just on the next street. I always find funny when I get a dropped chaingun just before finding the actual one placed in the level.

The pig cops did a bit of damage to me (I got down to 44 health at one point) but thankfully I got rid of them in time and then decided to drink water to recover health because I rather save the portable medkit (which is given in the starting area) for later. Anyway, I recommend grabbing everything (health, armor, ammo) before stepping on the green teleporter as there is NO WAY back! And also check if you have killed everyone, as some pig cops may be hiding on top of the building.

On the second part of the level, you will fight against a bunch of diverse aliens and the best tactic is to circle strafe as they will rarely hit you if you are moving at all times. Just be careful of the spawning monsters on the central part of the area with the orange 10 logo. And when approaching the nuke button, be careful of the surprise Mini Battlelord that will spawn!

There's 3 atomic healths present in the last area, just grab the one at the end of the street and save the two for the end of the level. And that's it, level complete.

Overall, this was another interesting level and worth checking out.


The Lair of the Witch
by Iggy

This is the shortest level in the whole episode. It can be easy or hard, depending how you handle the encounters. I recommend luring the first two commanders without the Mini Battlelord seeing you. Then after you take care of the first two commanders, take out the mini battlelord and watch out for a group of enforcers suddenly spawning when approaching one of the sides with the crates. They can cause a bit of trouble if you aren't careful, especially when multiple ones are attacking at the same time. After taking them out, prepare to take out the last 4 commanders, grab all the goodies and the map is over!

Not much else to say. The level may be a bit disappointing due to how short it is but I think it turned out alright in the end.


JSDuke10th
by James Stanfield

This is the only map to contain a secret area. The secret is found inside the vent. Press on the darker side of the vent to reveal an atomic health. You can also find two more atomic healths in the corners of the large orange area.

There are a few things to keep in mind about this map. There are a few points that contain spawning monsters (including two mini battlelords, one will get spawned in the starting corridor, the other will get spawned on top of some ledge). Then when you are climbing the building, there will be a few more troopers/drones/commanders that will suddenly appear. So always look out for some unexpected guests appearing.

There isn't much else to say, as the map should be pretty straightforward. Overall, the map was fairly interesting.


Lucky 13
by Iggy

This map has 3 separate sections and there is no way to backtrack after stepping on the teleporter, so grab everything before teleporting to the next area! Though it may be weird to collect armor when you don't need it, there is one armor pickup in each of the section, so it's not too bad if you pick up a new armor while the current one is at 90 or so.

At the beginning, shoot the switch and don't stand too close to the wall as you will get hurt by the explosions. Try standing in a way to minimize the damage. You can't avoid all the damage, unfortunately. Anyway, this setup is done so you can evade from the starting room, as apparently Duke was captured, although you get to keep your weapons this time.

The first section features slimer eggs and a few other enemies. Grab everything before stepping into the teleporter.

The second section features a couple enemies (mostly enforcers and octabrains) on top of some rocks. In this room you will find the first Freezethrower, Jetpack and other goodies, so don't miss them. Though the jetpack is not necessary for progression and you don't get another one later on. I think it was given to help with climbing back up if you fall down but you can already get back up by jumping on top of the crates. Once you grabbed everything, step into the teleporter.

The third section features an island and a bunch of tougher enemies (a few mini battlelords will spawn when approaching the center leading to the exits) but there are also many supplies given, so don't miss them!

Once you clear this section, I recommend at least grabbing the two atomic healths for the next level, as soon you will learn why. Oh and it doesn't matter which of the four exits you choose, they all send you to the next level. Overall, this was another interesting map.


WG10
by William Gee

This map starts you without weapons and I hope you finished the last level with 200 health, as it's the only thing that gets transferred between the levels! While this map does have a decent supply of health (there are at least 5 atomic healths present), there are NO armor pickups at all, besides whatever pig cops drop for you. I got one used armor drop (50 armor) from a pig cop but it was eventually gone from all the damage I took later on (though I never had problems with health in this level). Hope you are prepared for what's coming because there are many spawning monsters, ranging from mini battlelords on top of buildings to groups of troopers, drones, commanders, octabrains and other nasties!

To give an idea what to do at beginning, get out of the starting sector (which hurts you) and jump into water. Grab the shotgun, kill the octabrains and eventually you will come across the pistol and other useful supplies. There is also a scuba gear you can find underwater, it will be a great help later on!

Your first objective is finding a blue card which you get to activate underwater to disable the forcefield. Once done, you will be rewarded with many weapons and ammo but also a bunch of monsters spawned. I recommend using RPG for the Battlelords (which are sometimes spawned on top of buildings, hope you've got autoaim to help you!), Shrinker for the commanders and the Devastator for the octabrains. The solution for the button puzzle underwater is in the screenshot I took which seems I managed to guess the code in first try. And yes you also need to press on that lone button as well.

Eventually you will have to climb and reach higher points of the map, fight more mini battlelords, fight many sentry drones and make your way to the exit! You will be given a lot of ammo, especially many Freezethrowers spawned for some reason (too bad I rarely used this weapon). Once you are done, grab whatever stuff (ammo, health) you left behind and then prepare for the final level!

I had one funny thing happen while playing, one of the Mini Battlelords got stuck during the dying animation until I approached its corpse and then finished the dying animation. You can see this in one of the screenshots. I think it's the second time this happened (the first time was back in January with Alejandro's maps).

Overall, this was another interesting and action packed map. Will the final level be even more epic?



Work on the Shop!
by Merlijn van Oostrum

Final level time! Kill all the alien bastards standing in your way before facing the OVERLORD, who is guarded by two mini battlelords. Before getting there, I highly suggest to grab the armor at the beginning, carefully make your way through the store and eventually you will get to the alien teleporter leading to the final area!

You are given lots of ammo for the RPG and Devastator, as well as an atomic health in the room. There is another atomic health located inside the store, jump on top of the shelf to find it. Now once you are done collecting all the supplies, it's time to prepare for the final battle!

After successfully taking out the Overlord and his guards, congratulations! You have finished the episode!

Overall, this map wrapped up the episode very nicely.



Conclusion: even if some of the maps are a bit underwhelming and quite short, I had a blast revisiting this episode! I've finished Duke is Ten at least 3 times before and since each map is short/average sized, you can finish the whole thing in just an hour (or two hours with a few short breaks in-between some maps)

Soon, I will get to revisit the main CBP series. I remember playing/finishing most of the entries many years ago. I'm looking forward to revisit them.

Have a nice weekend!

[Merlijn]

I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of 'Duke is 10' maps are actually shaped like a 10 if you look at the 2D map. In my map, the city section is a giant '1' while the boss area is a giant '0'.
Another fun fact: those were all speed maps, I think we got a week to finish them (but could be remembering wrong).

[Forge]

 Merlijn, on 09 July 2022 - 07:46 AM, said:

I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of 'Duke is 10' maps are actually shaped like a 10 if you look at the 2D map. In my map, the city section is a giant '1' while the boss area is a giant '0'.
Another fun fact: those were all speed maps, I think we got a week to finish them (but could be remembering wrong).

'Officially' each mapper was given 3 days to complete their level

[Quacken]

Missed two days, so now I'm obligated to play the next two maps. Time to start work on Duke is Ten!

Keep On Surviving

Keep On Surviving is a relatively standard and unassuming starting map. The Battlelord jumpscares can take you by surprise the first time around. You can cheese the second gate by standing in a way so that one Battlelord shoots his buddy in the back continuously, letting you conserve rockets for the first gate at the start of the map. I'm not wild about the combat of this map. A corridor simulator where your only weapon you can afford to use is the Shotgun isn't the most appealing thing in the world, especially when some of your competition are Assault Commanders and Octabrains. At least the MIDI is nice and upbeat. Not a bad starting map at all.

6/10.

Attack!

Attack has just 36 monsters, but despite its short length it still boasts quite a good fight. The first wave of teleporting foes in the town square is quite a painful shock, and if you got unlucky like I did it's surprisingly easy to let a Protector Drone stomp on you. Fortunately, you're a lot more armed this time around, with Chaingun ammo and a Devastator to help you defend yourself. I like this map's aesthetics better than Keep On Surviving also. I think the tiny town look is a lot more appealing than a bunch of grey corridors with the Duke 3D logo smeared on them. Even if it's essentially just two fights and not much else, I still like it more than the first map.

7/10.

[Merlijn]

I started playing through the CBP's as well, since it's another nice trip to memory lane.

CBP 1
As mentioned before, this is the "greatest hits" CBP. Parts from existing maps are stitched together to form a build museum. Or as the authors would say it: "the very best parts of the very best maps from the very best mappers". Ahem. Modesty wasn't their strongest point. To be fair, I think this does provide a nice selection of late 90's mapping. So if you're curious about that era but don't have time to play through a whole bunch of maps, this is a pretty good summary.
As a map, it's playable but nothing to write home about. There's not much you can expect from a museum styled map, you'll just move through every 'exhibition' in linear fashion. There's not much action, except for Mikko's part but that almost feels like over-compensation. He does say in the txt-file that he added a ton of monsters because the rest of the map was lacking them, but as a result the gameplay becomes pretty uneven.

Design-wise, most parts held up pretty well. I especially dig the pirate ship (although you may want to blow up that damn cannon before you move on!). Docking doom got a raw deal though,
only one small room was left which doesn't do the map justice. Also, the final section is pretty anti-climactic but at that point they ran out of sectors. As a whole, it's impossible to rate this like a regular map.
Nice for those who are curious about the 'elite mappers' from that era, but don't want to do a deep dive just yet.

Rating: N/A

CBP 2
The first CBP I participated in myself. At that time people like me, William Gee and Alejandro were the newcomers, while Pascal, Bob Averill etc were the veterans. Probably very hard to believe in 2022
I must say the map is more coherent than I remembered. Of course the mapping styles sometimes change dramatically from 1 part to the next. But quality wise it stays pretty consistent. Also, the 'EDF base' theme is maintained throughout the map, with only a couple of departures like the underwater base from James (and even that could simply be a different part of the same base). Gameplay is actually a bit challenging at times, ammo and health aren't that abundant.Especially the section that was made by me and Maarten throws some heavy opposition in the mix.

I can tell I made that part during the same time as red 3, I recognize a couple of similar stylistic choises. This goes for most authors, everyone used their signature style instead of trying to blend together. As a result it still doesn't feel like a 'real' map. The ending is again a bit anti-climactic, it kinda just ends. My favorite bits are the part where you have to turn off a vent to progress (pretty cool idea) and the outdoor area from Mikko.

Rating: 7/10

CBP 3
This one is a lot more incoherent, each section has its own theme and plays as its own 'mini-map'. And most of them are connected via teleporters, which makes everything feel even more disconnected. Also, quality is a bit more of a mixed bag this time around. As Quacken rightfully pointed out, there are some annoying gameplay issues like weirdly hidden buttons and keycards that are hard to find. Also putting commanders in cramped indoor locations is never a good idea.
Despite that, I had fun with Williams opening section. The hot start worked very well IMO, with a pretty lethal battlelord dominating the scene until you find the RPG. Also, we get a more satisfying final battle here, with a nice setting (a fountain on a rooftop) and well placed foes to deal with. Also fun to see early work from Aleks, I think his section is well done despite the obscure button placement. Sang was still in his 'supa 2' phase so his part is pretty rough, but thankfully it's pretty short James had an obsession with underwater bases back then, but in his defense they do look nice.

Overall a mixed bag but a couple of cool sections make it worth playing.

Rating: 6/10

[Quacken]

Well I don't have anything to do in my afternoons besides school work - so I finished off the rest of Duke is Ten.

Lair of the Witch

Yeah, uh... this isn't too exciting, isn't it? Lair of the Witch is a paltry 17 monsters and two fights in octagons for which you get rockets to clear everything out, and if you don't mind taking damage, a Shrinker to make mince meat of the Battlelord and his entourage. If you told me map author Iggy made this map in under four hours instead of three days, I still probably wouldn't believe you. Skip this one.

1/10.

JSDuke10th

"JS" is a whole lot better compared to Lair of the Witch, but I still don't really have a lot of anything to say about it. The biggest draw of the map is the bright red mountainous sections, soaked under a backdrop of pure darkness, and in the middle of the area is the huge tower decked with lights and many lifts. It's a pretty cool setpiece for sure, but trying to use the Chaingun on the Assault soldiers flying in the sky makes my eyes hurt, and the map just kinda ends without anything happening. You look at a billboard and step on a black cushion and everything just stops, sure... JS is mostly just really mediocre. Aside from the outdoor area the map feels really repetitive. Climbing the tower is nothing but taking lifts and going to the opposite side to take more lifts, and the main fight in the indoor base could really just go either way for me.

5/10.

Lucky 13

Lucky 13 is short and still very simple, but it does try to be a lot more involved than JS. It's definitely short on detailing, but the hilly layout and many Enforcers shooting at you makes for some decent combat... if you fall down to the lower level of course. The island section could have been a pretty enjoyable arena if all of the monsters didn't decide to have a fiesta in their houses, turning this entire section into just running around and blowing up whoever's home. Lucky 13 had potential, but combat that requires you to purposefully mess it up to be engaging isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

5/10.

WG10

WG10's 109 monsters and a lot more Battlelords makes for a pretty solid map, all things considered. There's quite a lot more to do in this map compared to the others, and it even has a key which unlocks a brutally overpowered supply cache of Devastator missiles and rockets which will help you coast towards the exit. I appreciate William Gee's greater emphasis on combat and small-scale fights, it makes this map feel a whole lot more memorable. The following fight with the armada of Drones is pretty okay too. There's enough different monsters piling in to not make this fight completely irritating. There's also many more Battlelords in this map, but none of them are really up close, and there's enough rockets and Shrinker ammo to make sure that they aren't extremely overbearing. Despite not being anything groundbreaking, WG10's extra difficulty manages to make for probably the best map in the entire set.

7.5/10.

Work on The Shop!

Work on The Shop is a pretty decent way to end off the set. The tight and consistent visuals courtesy of Merlijn, along with the good MIDI really help to make this map appeal to me, and despite still being really short it's still fast-paced enough to keep the map from being boring, making it the good kind of short map rather than the bad kind, one that has a couple of alright fights back to back. I wish the final arena with the Overlord was more populated though. The giant hole in the middle would have been perfect for a cloud of Assault Commanders or Octabrains to fly over, but whatever. Work on The Shop's tight visuals and solid pacing make it not too bad to end off the set.

7/10.

Overall, I'm not an extremely huge fan of Duke is Ten. It's very inoffensive, and besides Lair of the Witch I don't dislike any of these maps, but as a large-scale community project I think Duke Hard took the idea and made a much better map set out of it. Duke is Ten meanwhile just doesn't have the same charm or replay value to me. It's definitely not awful by any means though, just kinda average and not really my taste.

Final score: 5.5/10.

[Quacken]

Back to Duke tonight! I'm still going down the list, so the next map on the list is...

JFCBP1

JFCBP1 feels quite mixed to me. For starters, I appreciate the aesthetics a lot. The pure grey sky gives off the feeling to me that this is some kind of Arctic research base and you're in the middle of a blizzard, which is quite of a unique concept to me, and I like it a lot. Some of the sections like the William Gee caverns and the Oostrum Facility also look genuinely great. Aesthetics are definitely this map's strongest suit.

However, the progression makes this map fall quite flat. There are a ton of keys in this map, and while the aesthetics hold me over enough to not make me extremely agitated, each of this map's individual segments feel extremely disconnected from each other, like the earlier CBPs. Some of the decisions in these maps feel like they were made by their respective mappers with the intent that other sections would capitalise off of them. There's a Devastator early on but you get no ammo for it except for the fight against the Overlord... where there's another Devastator there anyway. You get Pipe Bombs 20 minutes into the map when they would have been really nice earlier on as there's lots of hit scanners in small rooms that would have been both fun and optimal to blow up. And again, the amount of keys makes me suspect some of these sections were just short solo maps that were re-textured and slapped in here. I don't like to point fingers in my reviews, but William Gee's section is definitely the biggest offender of this. There's like 4 or 5 keys in his section alone that probably don't need to be here, and as a result it feels really drawn out. And finally, the Overlord fight just feels really clunky. It's a decent idea on paper to force you to shoot down the heckling infantry while a big Overlord is behind you the entire time, but it's pretty messy in practice. The Battlelord really doesn't need to be here, and the Overlord's continuous stream of rockets makes me nervous.

I love JFCBP1's visuals, and its combat is pretty decent for the most part, but it feels disconnected from itself, and not all of its ideas really work out very well.

7.5/10.

[Aleks]

Started playing Duke is Ten. Never played it before and it's kinda crazy to think Duke's 26 now, almost as looking through your childhood album after finishing the university


Keep on Surviving

Very Fakir map. Not a fan of the narrow corridors filled with monsters to the brim. The strategy at the beginning was to utilise the slimers to eat some of the monsters, which was a nice touch, although later on it got too sluggish to use it anymore, also they barely wanted to munch on commanders anyway. The map is a pretty challenging 5-7 minutes romp. I also liked the double Battlelords encounters, as I could indeed check if RPG does more damage when hitting on both at once - it seems to work. Also laughed at that pop song playing here, even with how short this map was it managed to get annoying already!

Attack!

Another attack part 0.1. Now this one scream Maarten all over it, even if the design is more simplistic (obviously) than his usual maps. I liked the idea of basign the whole gameplay pretty much on respawn ambushes. The final fight wasn't all that challenging even with protector drones jumping over the hedges, but I liked it anyway.

Lair of the Witch

Now this one ended before it really started for good, actually I wonder if it would be possible to speedrun it without killing the monsters (perhaps grabbing the shrinker to put the Battlelord to sleep along the way, although he didn't seem to pose too much of a threat). I have to give it the vibe of a cheaper 90s Lego set from the Kingdom series and that's perhaps it.

[Quacken]

Duke time! Two maps tonight. What's next?

JBCP2

JBCP2 manages to be a step up from its predecessor in just about every way. The custom MIDI is great for starters, and a way better sound for my ears than Taking the Death Toll. The combat is more built around long corridors and narrow corridors, which makes it a little repetitive I suppose, but there's also enough open sections to where the combat doesn't get too stale. Ammo is also a lot more dicey. You don't get the Chaingun for quite a while, so unless you keep a keen eye for lockers and secrets you might have to go around kicking some Assault Troopers until they beg for mercy. The visuals aren't quite as unique as JBCP1, but they are just as tight and a lot more consistent, with sections by mappers seamlessly blending in with one another. The layout is also a lot more fun to explore, with three keys this time around, and many different Lunar Apocalypse-esque sights to see. I think my favourite part is the lunar crater with the broken bridge, and its fragments laying on the floor. JBCP2 is a very good map, and a great upgrade over the original. It took my grievances I had with the first and improved upon them dramatically, leading to me genuinely enjoying this map the entire way through.

8.5/10.

RBCP1

RBCP1 is quite divisive and feels a hell of a lot more amateurish, probably more so than any of the other CBPs built by people who I knew were beginners. I didn't like the first half of this map at all; it's a bunch of dark, tight corridors choked with water and Octabrains, and the two new monsters got on my nerves pretty quickly. Especially the "Mouse Droids" I'll call them, the Duke line that plays every time you kill them without fail got very irritating by the end. But I do think the ideas in the second half of the map, right after the two big doors you have to open, are quite interesting. The sudden darkness, snow particles and an orange cityscape in the background made this section quite visually striking. The conveyor belt puzzle where you have to lure a painting of Abraham Lincoln to fire into an explosive you set-up was very janky but definitely required me to think on where was the best place to stand and rebound my shot, and the unexpected cloud of Assault Troopers that drop in when you go back to the train was both a nice surprise and very satisfying to mow down with the Chaingun. Then there was the room of frozen Protozoids who like to nibble on you for constant damage. Without a way to see them, it got my nerves up as I constantly moved around, firing shots at the Octabrains and navigating to the next door to close it. I wouldn't call RBCP1 a good map, but I appreciate its unique and funny ideas it brings to the table. If you've got a janky mess on your hands, I'd prefer for it to be a creative and janky mess.

4.5/10.

[FistMarine]

 Merlijn, on 09 July 2022 - 07:46 AM, said:

I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of 'Duke is 10' maps are actually shaped like a 10 if you look at the 2D map. In my map, the city section is a giant '1' while the boss area is a giant '0'.
Another fun fact: those were all speed maps, I think we got a week to finish them (but could be remembering wrong).

I actually noticed that the number "10" was referenced in most maps in the episode. I forgot to point out before. Thanks for reminding me, Merlijn.

 Aleks, on 04 July 2022 - 02:03 AM, said:

BTW, would anyone be so kind to download and upload here the 2 maps that are only available through the Steam workshop, so that everyone could be able to play these?

I forgot to reply earlier. I will upload them as soon as I get to review those two particular maps. As far as I can tell, one map is DM only and the other is for SP/Coop. I think they are a nice bonus to have but we should rather focus first on the main entries of this month before getting to them.

Anyway, today I am going to review the first 7 CBP maps, which were all played in DOSBox 0.74-3 on CGS skill. All the maps (including SCBP1 and SCBP2, though they will be reviewed later) are playable in the DOS version 1.5 without any problems. You can get all kills and secrets and not run into any progression stoppers. Some maps may also work in just version 1.3D as the readme mentioned in one of the maps but I wouldn't recommend trying that. I stuck with the Atomic Edition in this month, considering pretty much all entries are made for that version and there is no actual reason to use 1.3D for only those 1-2 maps, not to mention they may not work right.

I will also mention where to find the secrets (if available) and some advices for some parts, some unofficial secrets, etc. Although most of the maps have no secrets at all, so you shouldn't expect to find a map full of secrets anyway.

I have played all these maps (alongside Duke is Ten) back in 2010-2011 or so, which means I remembered a few parts from some of the maps but unlike that time when I played them in EDuke32, this time I went for the DOS Duke3D 1.5, considering that half of them were released before source ports existed, so I decided to experience them as they were intended. Now for the actual reviews:

Blackjack's Build Museum

Not a bad start to the CBP series. The first section is obviously taken from the original E1L1: Hollywood Holocaust with you already beginning to fall from the vent. After the first section, you start visiting various different sections provided by each mapper. The part with the pirate ship stands out as one of the memorable parts and it's inspired by Babe Land or rather, the Piracy deathmatch map from Duke Nukem 64.

Something important to note in that part is that the cannon can be destroyed, as the readme file mentions, so you don't have to listen to the cannon's explosions in the whole map. Not to mention the cannon counts as a kill (I think?) and once you destroy the cannon and the gunpowder barrels, you get some hidden goodies (RPG + ammo) inside the pirate ship. Oh and DON'T forget to collect the armor on the ship, you will need it! You may also look underwater for a few more goodies as well. Once you are ready, grab the jetpack and fly to the next section.

At the part with the Mini Battlelord, you just need to quickly activate a switch near him and then go back to press that switch to create a bunch of explosions that will kill him.

At the part where you must blow up the door, be sure to first press on the door to put the explosives or else the detonator won't start the explosion. Then stand back and watch how the door gets destroyed. The last part ends a bit abruptly (after the epic fight against a couple protector drones) due to the sector limit reached. Jump into the destroyed wall to finish the map...and get sent to the original Hollywood Holocaust.

There is a red card you can collect on the Billy Boy's section of the map but there doesn't seem to be any place where you can use it, so I ended up with it unused when I finished the map.

The only two secrets you can find are at the beginning. The RPG secret in the first section that everyone knows about and the second secret (Shrinker/Expander ammo) can be found in the Arcade section with the Duke Burger, press on the ORDER HERE button to open the nearby window containing the ammo.

Overall, the map was fine. Hope the next maps get even better.

Community Build Project 2

Not much to say about this one. It's definitely harder than the previous map. Whereas in the previous map you could maintain your health above 100 and wearing armor and never really get close to dying, this one had the health/armor supplies a bit scarce at times. In fact, I had to use the two portable medkits early on and the first medkit saved my life because of the remaining health, I used it just before the pig cop shot me and I ended up with those 24 hp left after getting rid of him. I very rarely had this happen to me. More often than not I end up dying in the same moment as using the medkit but this time around I managed to have the medkit save my ass. And then came upon another medkit just in time.

With that said, there aren't any armor pickups early on (there is one in the halfway that you are forced to pick up in a narrow corridor) and I was lucky to get an used one from a pig cop just in the section where I was struggling with health. After that, the difficulty of the map got easier as there was enough health and armor to get you by.

There are no secrets to find and just like the previous map, it is linear and there are points of no return. I recommend grabbing everything before proceeding. Have a backup save just in case something goes wrong.

Overall, just like the previous map, it was decent.

Community Build Project 3

While the quality of this map is still decent, there are some weird progression decisions, mostly near the end of the map. Quacken already mentioned the biggest offenders which also had me stuck for a couple minutes. Those being the partially invisible switch with the partially invisible blue card slot. And that picture of a stripper near the end which confused me why wouldn't Duke insert the blue card into the slot, instead after a small peek in Mapster, it turned out that the key slot was a different color and I was supposed to press on that stripper on wall in the previous room. Why? I don't understand why couldn't that picture of a stripper be put near the door and remove the card slot entirely.

As for the beginning of the map, it's actually quite challenging but thankfully nothing too crazy. Health seems provided in decent amounts but the armor isn't available until after you are getting teleported in that underwater section, it's before you surface to fight some pig cops. Look for the armor pickup as you will need it! After that, there are a few challenging parts and some puzzles to solve but nothing too bad. Other than those parts near end that I mentioned, which kinda dragged down the map.

I liked how in the last part of the map, the mapper tried to tell you to save your game now. I got lucky at the next section as staying crouched avoids the laser trip mine when you open the door (three doors are like that, the other two contain goodies inside, RPG/Devastator + ammo). Then all you have to do is close the door while stepping back, the trip mine will get detonated without hurting you. The last room features two commanders and two mini battlelords. You can take them out with the RPG from a distance, the door will stay open and you won't have to worry about it closing in your face.

There are no secrets to find in this map. Overall, the map was decent. But what about the next one?

Community Build Project 4

I have to say that the design has greatly improved and the map was also a lot harder compared to the previous ones. In fact, it was the first map this month where I managed to die. Five times in fact. First time I got killed near beginning with the part where you get Chaingun and NVG (due to the nearby spawned monsters), second time I got killed by a combination of being reckless (firing the RPG while crouched which hit the panel in front of me and got finished off by a Commander's rocket), the third time I got killed after I inserted the blue card, which caused two pig cops to spawn near me (complete bullshit, since I was also low on health at that time), fourth time I got killed near the end with mini battlelords firing at me from far away and the fifth and final time I got killed in the last room until I decided to carefully clear one enemy by one (one commander and mini battlelord at a time).

The final boss of this map is the Cycloid Emperor that spawns upon activating the two switches. You are given so much health and ammo that this fight is easy to win. Just watch out for those spawned troopers, though they should be no problem to deal with other than distracting you. I recommend standing in a safe place and waiting for them to show up, then just focus on the Emperor alone.

Overall, despite this map being much better than all entries so far, I didn't have as much of a good time as I was hoping, with a combination between the lack of armor (I only found one armor pick up and another luckily dropped by a pig cop that rewarded me with 75 points but they both got consumed by the end with how much damage I took overall) and cheap traps (mostly spawned enemies at the worst possible moments). There is enough health in this map to make it through and enough portable medkits to save your life at times that you aren't really missing water fountains for emergency situations but still there are a few parts (mostly by the time you will reach the graveyard) you will find yourself with low health and need to rely on luck (hope that enemy won't hit you) in order to win the map.

There are no secrets to find. Good map and looking forward to the next map.

Community Build Project 5

Pretty good map. I liked the challenge it offered and the design, as well as the spooky atmosphere at some points of the map. The beginning has scarce supplies but eventually you will start getting enough resources that you will be prepared for the rest of the map. Died 3 times this time around. First death was caused by those invisible protectors, got shrunk and stepped on. Second time, I died at the explosion trap when grabbing the atomic healths (next time I tried, I survived with a slight health loss compared to the amount of health I had before, so there was no benefit in grabbing them) and finally my third death was from the mini battlelords at junkyard due to their rather tricky placement. I found the best to rush to the street and pick them off with the RPG.

At the end, you get the choice between ending the map with the nuke button or defeating the Battlelord boss. I did both choices to get the complete experience. There are no secrets in this map.

Overall, I liked it and consider it the best CBP so far. But will the next map be better or worse?

Community Build Project 6

Jesus Christ! This was the worst map by far, as Quacken rightly pointed out. First, the map filename is weird, !CBP_6!.MAP instead of the expected CBP6.MAP. Yes I know I can rename the map file myself but still, I don't see why it had to be named like that because it looks weird when you put it next to the other CBPs. Well I admit I didn't make a single folder for playing all maps, I created two folders, one that had first 4 CBPs and the other that had the rest CBPs, due to CBP4 and CBP5 having their own midi and didn't want to be any conflict in the folder. So I actually ended up with the CBP4 midi playing in the first half of maps and the CBP5 midi (which seems to be from Blood, as Quacken mentioned) playing in the second half of the maps.

Second, the map was just unbalanced and annoying. There are sections that feature little to no health at all (the volcano section and the next few ones are the worst), armor is nearly non-existent (only one armor pickup in the middle of the map, at the section that reminds me of E1L7: Faces of Death), enemies are abundant and there is that stupid Battlelord boss that you MUST avoid! Although I managed to take him out eventually (after I reached the map's normal ending), I really recommend skipping him altogether because at this point you barely have enough ammo to kill him. Oh and some sections require you to lose health, usually by falling (though one section gave you two atomic healths but even that extra health you were given, didn't last very long), there are some dark areas (most notably the part you had to jump on rotating gears to reach the yellow card, which is where I struggled a lot due to being very low on health and the enemies not giving me a break, although you get a water fountain to refill health but only for this section), some hidden switches to progress through the map (one switch inside the only secret available in the map) and so on. After getting through these sections, you get a few extra sections until you get to the end, where there is a cool section with the helicopter that is shooting rockets at you and having to kill the Overlord to finish the map. But unfortunately the epic ending couldn't save this awful map.

Just had a miserable time throughout this map. Mostly because I died so many damn times in this map I lost the count, though most of them were from trying to kill that Battlelord (after I finished the map the intended way), because my save from before the teleporter that advances to the next section of the map (without any way back), had only 41 health left and I had to save-scum (in a separate slot) to win the fight against the great boss standing on that stupid rotating platform. And of course I ran into scenarios where I ran out of ammo completely, so I had to load the other backup save and try the fight again (for the record I had lots of ammo for shotgun, chaingun and freezer). Eventually I did succeed at defeating him (with the pipebombs of all things) but it probably took me around 30 minutes to win the fight. It was painful. Oh and the other part I found frustrating (which also had me killed many times) was that dark room because the pig cops were almost always doing full damage to me. One time I got an armor dropped from the pig cop but the enforcer finished me off at my last 5 health. Was pretty pissed, since that armor would have been a lifesaver for the next sections before getting to the actual armor pickup placed by the map designer. Too bad about that!

Without making it longer, I will say I didn't like this map at all, other than a few sections towards the end (and maybe the very beginning part wasn't too bad with exception of having no health pickups at all). Avoid it!

Community Build Project 7

Personally, I liked this one. I didn't see anything wrong with it. The gameplay was mostly on the good side. There weren't any frustrating sections and the ending against those mini battlelords was epic.

This time I died twice but not because of any of the enemies. Instead, I somehow got squished by the sectors in the dark sewers room (which was also my least favorite part due to barely seeing what I'm doing). I had no idea WTF happened but it looks like the sector was too narrow to go through and Duke decided to die randomly. Too bad because the map was almost beaten without dying. At least I'm glad I save often and use multiple save slots. So I can get over this.

There is only one secret to find. In the room where you acquire the Freezethrower, go behind some crates and collect the Atomic Health on the elevator. As I mentioned above, the ending battle with the couple mini battlelords was epic. The map wasn't very long and I found it mostly enjoyable.

Overall, a nice, fitting finale to the "vanilla" CBP series. The main CBPs don't end here as there is still CBP8 and CBP9 to do at one point. Although, next time I will play through JFCBP maps and review them alongside the SCBP maps which I have done recently. Might also add the RCBP maps to the mix in the next review when I get around them.

I will attach the screenshots in a single zip file, for each map contained in its own folder. There are also solutions to the puzzles such as the button combinations. Have a nice weekend!

[Quacken]

This next map took quite a while, but I sure did it. Up next...

RCBP2

RCBP2 leads off with quite a strong impression. The music, the "splash screen" you have to press a key to get past, and the calm rain ambience lead me to believe I was in for a nice, quaint session of Duke 3D. The ambience is definitely RCBP2's strongest aspect. A few sections of this map are quite comfy to just stand in and take in if you need to take a break from the action.

That being said, I still don't like this map at all. When you're not bobbing and weaving out of the way of many, many hitscanners, you'll be having to put up with non-negotiable corridors of pitch black darkness, stupid damaging floors, agonizing resource starvation in the first half of the map, and enough keys to make me sick to my stomach. The new monsters are also quite frankly a pain in the ass; the green-skinned Assault Trooper and red-skinned Enforcer are both tiny and pepper you with extremely aggressive pellets, the proto Pig Cop Tanks are either unbearably annoying or a non-issue, and don't get me started on the Protector Drone variants. Screw both of these; the blue ones have a melee attack that does quick damage and has tons of range, plus a terrible hitbox, and the small brown Protectors aren't used often, but when they are, it'll be done to score cheap hits on you and deprive you of your dwindling health supplies. There might be more keys here than JCBP1, and a lot of them are genuinely used awfully. It essentially boils down to you just clearing a tiny room, finding a key and then just finding the door for it. Why even have the key at all? Why not just make it a switch? All this does is just serve to draw out the run time to be longer than it already is. I'm gonna stop my rant here. If I talk about this map any longer I'm gonna convince myself to give it a 1. RCBP2 definitely has good ideas, but it's just too clunky and boring to effectively execute them in a half-decent way.

2/10.

[Aleks]

Finished Duke Is Ten and for the last 4 maps, I generally agree with what Quacken had to say.

JSDuke10th

I liked the visuals on the "Mars" part here, even though the scale could have been a little bit bigger to make the impression better. The central tower looked good, even if the gameplay there was a bit too repetitive indeed with climbing up the lifts and having some flying monsters spawn around (also I'm never a huge fan of dodging commanders' rockets while balancing on a tiny ledge). The interior was also decent with quite classic design.

Lucky 13

This map felt a bit like taken out of Duke Caribbean, without the new textures of course. The map indeed felt a bit underdetailed and just cheap at the copy-pasted around island houses towards the end that literally had even the same rocks behind them. Nevertheless, I kinda liked that final area with the central island that required a climb and fight against a bunch of Battlelords.

WG10

Definitely one of the highlights of the episode, with strong and very WG kind of visual design, larger scale and some interesting layout stuff thrown in (especially the underwater part). Also killing the monsters that spawned in bunch was just satisfying, whether these were octabrains, troopers or commanders. My only issue here were the last few Battlelords which were placed so high up the sky that some of the rockets just flew right through them, although I'm not sure if it's not some EDuke behaviour that wasn't present in the original.

Work on the Shop!

Another short and nice map, very straightforward and with just enough opposition to make the playthrough engaging without having to stay on your toes all the time. The design was sure made quite hastily, but it's still very clean and sells the theme. I liked the abundance of explosives in this map that made most of the fights go a little faster than the usual grinding monsters with shotgun/chaingun. The final fight was cool, having to take the Battlelords out first as they did more damage than the boss himself, while still keeping the Overlord at bay not to get hit by his barrage. Maybe some of the Battlelords throughout the maps should have been made non-stayput though for a bit of an extra challenge.

Well, I kinda liked Duke Is Ten for what it was - a short episode of short maps, despite their various quality, that didn't require much thinking and exploring at all.

[Merlijn]

It's cool to see Duke is 10 from the perspective of people without nostalgia goggles - it was rather hastily thrown together but I think that's part of its charm. I think it only took a week to finish the whole thing (my map only took 2 days for example), which is quite unique for a community project haha. If you bother to read through the txt.files, you'll notice that most CBP's had some behind the scenes drama. There's always at least 1 project member who stalled the whole thing for months (and gets called out for it in the txt.file, that's how professional we were ). As for my map for Duke is 10, I'm glad you guys were a bit kind to it. The title must be the worst pun I ever came up with (it's a direct translation of a Dutch figure of speech, meaning as much as "There's work to do" ). I personally do like the city parts, considering how quickly it was made and how all the rooms together form a giant '1' while still selling the location. The boss fight is pretty underwhelming though, should have thrown in some more monsters to make it at least a bit challenging. Oh well.

I've played through CBP 4 to 7, I'll post my thoughts later (when I have more time)