[FistMarine]

Pardon for bumping an old topic but earlier this week I played and finished both Beach CBP and 20 Sector Challenge CBP. Didn't play Newbie CBP (I just realized recently that the MSDN download link for that CBP is dead, oops), CBP9 and Duke Mansion (maybe others as well, don't remember right now). I guess I will do them another time. I will review what I played now, before hosting the new September 2022 topic. But first:

Aleks, on 03 August 2022 - 03:44 AM, said:

This might be a stupid advice, but have you tried pressing "use" like the instruction tells you?

Yes, I tried that (until the messages went away) and even waited for 2-3 minutes in the starting room. Nothing happened. I suspect it was an unfortunate rare case where an old EDuke32 map/mod is broken in newer builds, despite the fact I used an older 2015 build (r5498) to play the majority of older EDuke32 CBP maps (those released until 2015) and not the latest EDuke32 build or whichever one is available, as I am aware that EDuke32 is in constant development, which is why I no longer use the very latest build for everything, I only use one specific EDuke32 build for each year (2015-present). I always try to be careful when playing older maps/mods and use the recommended executable/port, though it won't cover all the releases and sometimes I come across maps that seem to not work as intended, though thankfully this should rarely happen and if it does, in most cases it will be just visual glitches.

Anyway, I will now review the two maps I mentioned above, though this time I won't talk too much about the maps themselves, I will still offer secrets guide and some tips. I played Beach CBP in EDuke32 r5498 (latest 2015 build) and 20 Sector CBP in EDuke32 r6576 (latest 2017 build). Both maps worked fine and could be finished 100%.

Beach Community Build Project

Nice map. I enjoyed revisiting this one after all these years. The design was good for the most part and the gameplay is also very good. You are given plenty of supplies (a lot of armor pickups early on, more than you will ever need) that you shouldn't have trouble. Health, armor and ammo are all in good numbers.

The puzzles are kept minimal (there is one huge button you have to shoot to open an underwater hatch, I will show one screenshot to expose its location if people get stuck at this point) and there is at least one point of no return halfway in the map (after using the blue card and getting on the train, when you get below the waterfall, there is no way back!), so I will mention this when talking about the secrets, for people who prefer getting all secrets and collecting everything before that point.

There is also a shrinking puzzle (which follows after the part with the button, where you eventually get the Shrinker inside that building) where you must fire at the mirror on the truck and then run through the hole. The mirror uses a different texture, usually this one doesn't reflect shots in most user maps. Just make a save before figuring out which of the mirror is reflective (it's the front of the truck).

Later in the map, you fight waves of spawning enemies but they shouldn't be too difficult to handle due to Duke's mobility and usually being well stocked at this point. You should also have no problems fighting the Battlelord boss on the dam!

Now for the secrets (8 in total, first 5 can be collected before the point of no return!):
-At the beginning, when you enter inside the building and take out the aliens, where you collect the chaingun on the shelf, look for a hidden button. Press it and it will lower the cola machine to reveal a vent. Inside, you will eventually collect Freezethrower + ammo (they will not be initially present in SP mode but they will immediately spawn in the map upon entering the sector).
-After getting to the outside area surrounded by water, when you open the gate that allows backtracking, jump on the fence to reach an Atomic Health on top of those buildings. You can also find other stuff and a hidden message.
-Around the same place, go around the ledge to collect RPG and Armor.
-Inside the building where you place the blue card, destroy the fire extinguisher to access the secret, kill the Octabrain, destroy the trash can (contains shotgun shells) and collect the Devastator.
-Jump on top of the building (located between Duke-Burger and Shop-N-Bag), press on the box that contains Armor, it will move and allow you access to enter inside the store. It contains various goodies (atomic health, devastator, holoduke, expander ammo).
-At the last part of the map, near the hotel, jump on the bloody window, inside you will meet a red trooper, two bathing ladies, a toilet, Portable Medkit and Devastator Ammo.
-In the right building, once you unlock the doors, you will come across a room with 3 posters. Go through the Pinball poster (the one in the right) to collect Holoduke and RPG ammo.
-Inside the office containing RPG and Portable Medkit, as well as a switch near the viewscreen, press on the map to reveal RPG ammo.

Overall, cool map! I hope to see a sequel to this map one day.


20 Sector Challenge Community Project

I never played this one before, so I will say that the map was very well designed but the high amount of puzzles (some of which got me stuck for several minutes and even had to consult mapster at a few points) kinda dragged this map down and it slowed the action. In general I liked the design and how creative are the puzzles, as well as the gameplay balance but I only wish the puzzles were a bit more clear. I remember by the time I got to the part with the yellow key (where there is a point of no return), I had to stop playing and left for the next day, which turned out to be a better idea because I checked in Mapster, loaded an earlier save before dropping down that hole and explored to find another 2 or so secrets I hadn't found to that point (and also found a few inactive Commanders in some nearby places), otherwise I wouldn't have 100% completion.

And yeah you get the Devastator at the very end in the water (in the boss room). Not sure if there was another Devastator I've missed earlier but I know I found ammo for it (the last secret also contained ammo for it) and made wonder where is it until I found it right at end. Oh and one time, the Overlord actually submerged into water. Then I decided to redo the fight on land, by being a bit faster in collecting the Devastator.

As for the actual map, design wise was very good. I really liked the tank design (it was done with just Duke3D assets!) and how you had to use it twice to blow up some holes to progress through the map. And the various items you grab and place at some points was also cool, including the cannon and ammo you use to activate the tank!

Gameplay wise was also very well balanced. I died once due to my stupidity, when I saw the vents were closed from aliens' attacks, I thought that I had to jump down to progress but hit an invisible wall and fell into inescapable lava (then used RPG to suicide, as I didn't have jetpack to escape). Did not see the exit that opened nearby, on my right side. Silly me!

Although I will say the invisible walls are annoying and impossible to tell in advance but I guess that was done to prevent sequence-breaking, as otherwise I would have just climbed and skipped half of the map by the time I visited this area first time. Other than that, there are a few times that the map drags on with puzzle after puzzle and by the end I wanted the map to be over. But I won't be too harsh on that. I will also offer a few helpful hints:
1) You have to find 4 switches to activate, they are different looking than the usual Duke3D switches and will help progressing through the map.
2) When you get to that part with the elemental rock (?), look on ground and press all those 4 switches (they are all present here too) to open the gate with the Mini Battlelord (after that, it's the point of NO RETURN).
3) When you get to the part with the message saying not using explosives to feed the monster, you MUST throw a pipebomb and detonate it on the conveyor to advance the map (once done, inside you can find one of those 4 switches that are required to advance the map further)

You still have to figure out most puzzles by yourself and right now I am not in the mood to offer a walkthrough for this map, as it would take me the whole day to write. Sorry about that! What I can offer instead is the secrets guide (7 secrets to find):

-On the room with orange tubes (before taking the elevator that leads to a red area with switch puzzle), drop down to find a hidden RPG.
-Inside the studio, press on the computer to lower the bookshelf. Inside the secret you will find various goodies (ammo, armor and boots).
-In the frozen town, climb on top of the ledges (jump on the arcade sign to reach it), you will eventually reach a ledge containing Freezethrower + ammo + armor.
-On the place you find Atomic Health in the fire, jump above the fire to reach a small secret room containing ANOTHER Atomic Health!
-In the room with the tank, jump on top of the boxes until you eventually collect the tank cannon. On the right side of that small room, crouch and you will reach the secret room that doesn't reward you with anything other than the ladies from XXX-Stacy, a Teddy Bear and other non-important stuff.
-After blowing up the first hole with the tank, you will reach an elevator. You will notice a broken switch or whatever near the elevator. You will notice pressing on that will send the elevator in a different direction. Press it while you run in the elevator and you will get sent to a secret room that contains a trip mine (weapon) and portable medkit.
-After you dropped down (point of no return), after using the yellow card, you will get into a room with green water, forcefield and Octabrain. Press on the left side to open compartment containing Devastator ammo (3 ammo packs).

Non-secret: Inside the last secret, nearby you will temporary open a window that contains RPG ammo. If you miss it, jump inside the secret again and then hurry up to grab the ammo.

Overall, this was definitely a great map that I wish wasn't that heavy on puzzles but it's still worth checking out!


This should hopefully wrap up this topic for real (I don't think I will bump the topic at a later time if I ever get to play CBP9 and Duke Mansion) and I will host the new September topic later today. With this occasion, I will not only attach the full album of these two maps but also the screenshots from both Suburban Hive maps that I couldn't attach last time (due to 20 MB limit). Barely managed to fit them this time just slightly below 20 MB. And if anyone is wondering about the EDuke32 screenshots why they are a bit dark, they don't seem to save the gamma (I play on gamma 2.00) when taking screenshots. No idea why. Maybe newer EDuke32 versions don't have this problem.