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Duke Map/Mod of the Month Club - August 2022  "The Lost Duke Episodes 2.0"

User is offline   FistMarine 

#1

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:


For this month, The Lost Duke Episodes have been chosen!

For those who aren't familiar with the mod, this was released back in August 1997 (around same time Shadow Warrior 1.2 was released). It is considered one of the most interesting older Duke3D TCs from the 90s and includes FOUR NEW EPISODES! The level design may not be as good as you might expect and the levels have no difficulty settings implemented (the first 3 skill settings are identical in this case, meaning you either play on CGS or DIG) but the levels are creative enough to make the TC worth playing at least once. The story of the mod is that it apparently takes place before the events of first Duke Nukem game, with Duke still working for CIA and the aliens that are attacking are the same ones that would attack later in Duke Nukem 3D.

Additionally, the mod includes a couple new things: a cool new soundtrack, a couple new variants of existing enemies (they should only appear on E3 and E4), a new type of barrel that can either spawn an item/weapon or explode violently and even three new intro demos to watch, the latter case if you choose to use the original DOS version to play the mod. Speaking of which, the mod is made for the Atomic Edition. If you prefer to play this mod in DOS Duke3D v1.5, make a copy of your ATOMIC folder, rename it to LOSTDUKE, delete the old demos, extract the zip file into your LOSTDUKE directory and run the batch file. Also included in the download is a strategy guide by the author himself, Mark Hadley.

Download links:

Gamers.org
The Lost Duke Episodes 2.0
Strategy Guide

Dukeworld
The Lost Duke Episodes 2.0
Strategy Guide

The mod is also included as part of the EDuke32 Addon Compilation. If playing on modern source ports, it is recommended to use that version instead.

Have fun!
5

User is online   Quacken 

#2

Alright, it's time for another Mod of the Month Club. Four episodes of content is quite the chew through, but I'm hoping it'll suffice for the entirety of August. FistMarine didn't point this out in his original post, but the author of this map set is one Mark Hadley. Wherever he is in life, I wish him well. I wasn't planning on doing Episode 1 in its entirety, but I finished it in 20 minutes, so...

Headquarters

Headquarters is a nice scene setter. The relaxing MIDI helps to calm your nerves for the trials and tribulations ahead. There's really nothing else to say about this map, though. It's just an ambience map with no monsters.

6/10.

Cliff Drop

The first proper map of Episode One, Cliff Drop is a simple research base that's about as modest as you can get. The 32 monsters in this map are nothing but Assault Troopers, Captains and Sentry Drones, none of which are any match for your Pistol, or God forbid, your Shotgun. I do have to point out the music again, which is shaping up to be the best part of this map set so far. It's quiet and easy-going, perfectly complementing this map which is no challenge at all. The secret exit is essentially free. Use the Jetpack to fly up to a ledge which some Assault Captains are camping on, and there's the button. Cliff Drop is a perfectly serviceable "opener".

5/10.

Slam Tilt

Slam Tilt is 17 monsters in and surrounding an admittedly nice-looking bar and arcade. It's over in less than a minute, which makes me question why Hadley even bothered to put a secret map in Episode One. A good MIDI just barely saves this level from a 1.

1.5/10.

Command Center

Command Center is the best map in Episode One (that has monsters in it). A rocking MIDI accompanies a decently in-depth romp over treacherous instant-death pits, and in fights against groups of hitscanners. Command Center's visuals aren't its strong suit, for sure. Some of these rooms are ugly even for 1997, and compared to Slam Tilt and Cliff Drop. Enforcers and Pig Cops make themselves known in this map, with the former being more annoying. The small skirmish up an elevator which involves an up close Pig Cop, two Troopers, a Captain and an Enforcer was unexpectedly annoying, as I didn't have a lot of health or hitscan ammo to kill the Pig Cop. The rest of the map beyond this point is easily cleaned up with the RPG. Command Center is yet another flash in the pan.

5.5/10.

Security Tunnels

I think Hadley deliberatly made this map to mock whoever played it. Security Tunnels asks you to weave your way around trip mines in a series of grayscale boxes, accompanied by Duke's self aware (and frankly self-deprecating) one-liners. Security Tunnels is supremely annoying, and it doesn't even have a good MIDI to save its own skin this time around.

1/10.

Central Outpost

Central Outpost is repetitive and bland, and coming from Security Tunnels the blandness of this map really sticks out like a sore thumb. Like a really bad Scooby-Doo hallway of doors gag, Central Outpost is a central of eight doors that all look exactly the same and contain either pointless clumps of monsters to blow up, or supplies you don't need, because the only monster that matters in this map is the Boss Battlelord at the end, and even for that, you get a Devastator at the beginning of the map to make quick work of him. The MIDI is also another miss. It just sounds really strange; it should have been another relaxing MIDI like Cliff Drop's.

2/10.
4

User is offline   Aleks 

#3

 FistMarine, on 01 August 2022 - 02:10 AM, said:

Also included in the download is a strategy guide by the author himself, Mark Hadley.

 Quacken, on 01 August 2022 - 03:52 AM, said:

FistMarine didn't point this out in his original post, but the author of this map set is one Mark Hadley.

Posted Image
1

User is offline   Ninety-Six 

#4

I love the soundtrack for this thing. The final boss music is one of my favorites ever, and the composer also did the music for another old TC called Murder: The EDF Conspiracy. One particular song of his is what started my journey on doing MIDI covers.


Don't really care for the levels though (of either, come to think of it). I'd actually love to see a modern remake of this pack, taking the same core and inventive ideas seen throughout the game, but building much better levels around them.
2

User is online   Quacken 

#5

 Aleks, on 01 August 2022 - 04:07 AM, said:

Posted Image

Exposed again! I really need to read between the lines more...
2

User is offline   oasiz 

  • Dr. Effector

#6

Might have to jump in on this one, I have a lot of fond memories about Lostduke.
It's far from perfect but things like the time travel map or the portal on a boat really felt amazing at the time.
There are a lot of lazier filler maps from what I can remember but some great ones too.
2

User is online   Quacken 

#7

It's Duke Time again. I've played through both Episode Two and Three, but this review will be of the former.

Storefront

Storefront has a nice MIDI, and the titular store is quite nice-looking, but... that's just it! There's like 11 monsters in this entire map, and the only other thing worth mentioning is an underwater tunnel filled with Trip Mines that will instantly kill you. This is a common occurrence with a lot of these maps, as you'll soon see.

2.5/10.

Headquarters

Get ready to see this map every episode! I'm gonna give this map a 1, not because it's a bad hub map, but because I'm personally attacking Hadley's lack of creativity. Why does the code change every episode, though? Does the CIA suffer a breach between each episode, so they have to change the password of their precious door?

1/10.

Beach Landing

Oh noes! The Island of Terror! Rest assured I'm taking this map set very seriously.

If your idea of "terror" is hideously textured and tiled foliage, rocky corridors that literally contain only share one texture between their walls and flats, a fake floor you have to go through, switch puzzles above damaging floors, and no combat other than 35 Protozoids, you might as well stop reading this review and go do something peaceful, like Solitaire. I can't tell if Beach Landing is a really bad shitpost or the mark of pure incompetence.

1/10.

Bottomless Pit

Well it's in the name, folks: There's a bottomless pit in this map. Literally, there's a bottomless pit. The big pit that the map is named after has a teleport trigger to send you back up to the top. Bottomless Pit is just bafflingly designed. The yellow key boxes you into a rocky tomb if you're not quick to get out of its room fast enough, it's not obvious at all to back track to a mandatory key door (I'm not even sure if you can do it without bringing a Jetpack from a previous map, if you can even do that), and another grating MIDI acompanies you for your 5 minute romp. Good lord.

1/10.

Riverside

It's cool that this MIDI album comes with a free Duke 3D map set. Riverside is less grating than anything else in Island of Terror, but not by much. The "river" isn't really a river so much as it is a great big gorge you still need the Jetpack for. Hadley attempts to do some texture variation this time around, but the map still feels flat, uninspired and is now devoid of any kind of lighting variation. If this episode didn't take me 35 minutes in total, I'd be much more disappointed by the end of it.

3/10.

Too Small Keep

Too Small Keep is debatably the best map so far. While still being really tiny and having its own batch of issues, such as the Commanders stuffed in trash cans and a repetitive MIDI, the action and inoffensive design of the castle make this map pretty tolerable compared to the rest of the offerings in this entire set. The groups of Troopers and Captains flying around are quite annoying, but not completely infuriating, and there's at least a Battlelord to spice things up at the end. Too Small Keep is decent, but I'll take something playable at the rate this episode is going.

6/10.

Commando Operation

Playing this map and listening to this MIDI feels like I'm tumbling down in a car that's just driven off a cliff. I genuinely hate this map; it's way too open, ammo is quite tight on a pistol start, and the only place that has somewhere to fight in has three cracked surfaces that don't do anything if you blow them up. Just... why? The only two things keeping this from being my least favourite Duke 3D map is that it was released before Duke it Out in DC and it lasts 5 minutes. Let me tell you though, that's 5 minutes I'm not getting back.

1/10.

Command Tower

Command Tower is forgettable. It's unexpectedly cramped and a little light on ammo. I think the combat is okay, honestly. I could take or leave the Trooper jamboree in the cave with the RPG, but the higher kill count means the map has a higher chance to stick in my head. Even if it's incredibly simple still, the added challenge is a nice change of pace. I've ran out of things to say for this map, so it's a good time to mention that I didn't find either of the secret maps for this episode, or Episode 3 for that matter. I ended up just warping to Episode 2's secret maps, and I plan on doing the same for Episode 3 when I get around to it.

4/10.

Bunker

I can see what Hadley was trying to do with Bunker. Break in through the conveniently placed back vent that leads to a room that's closed off from everywhere else in the bunker, disable the force field and bust in. I still don't like this map though. The big door you enter the bunker in shreds my eardrums to ribbons, and when you're done recovering from the audio equivalent of two gun shots, you blow a hole into a flat, gray computer base that has no lighting variation, and is connected by a broken elevator. I'd like to find the in-universe architect for this map and check his license. Don't care for this map at all, it's entirely forgettable. Forget the Overlord's two bodyguards and just pump Devastator missiles into him. It's not worth it to waste your time on the Battlelords in the arena.

4/10.

Shrunken City

Perhaps the first diorama in Duke 3D, predating Smithsonian Terror, Shrunken City is put simply just a cute and fun gimmick map. I was kinda surprised too. In an abundance of boring, miserable-looking offerings, Shrunken City stands out as one of the highlights of this entire map set. It's very bumpy, and the red switch is in a fairly hard to find place, but the amount of surface area you have to search through is, ironically enough, thankfully quite small. For its concept and creativity alone, I'm putting Shrunken City at the top.

7/10.

Circuit Breaker

Stop the presses! Back to back fun maps in TLDE! In a very novel concept, you are shrunk down onto a circuit board and tasked with hunting down 46 Captains. This is genuinely a pretty fun and creative map. I was honestly quite surprised with this. While the map's meat and potatoes essentially just boil down to a cramped maze, I really like the features of the circuit board. The primitive sector work carries that rough-hewn charm that I've come to appreciate from 90s Doom WADs. I genuinely like this map, if only because the theming and surprising attention to detail sold me. Top of the list once more.

7.5/10.
4

User is offline   Aleks 

#8

Quote

Circuit Breaker

Stop the presses! Back to back fun maps in TLDE! In a very novel concept, you are shrunk down onto a circuit board and tasked with hunting down 46 Captains. This is genuinely a pretty fun and creative map. I was honestly quite surprised with this. While the map's meat and potatoes essentially just boil down to a cramped maze, I really like the features of the circuit board. The primitive sector work carries that rough-hewn charm that I've come to appreciate from 90s Doom WADs. I genuinely like this map, if only because the theming and surprising attention to detail sold me. Top of the list once more.

Hey, I think this one was actually released as a standalone user map. I don't think I've ever played TLDE, but I distinctly remember a map named Circuit that was just like that, fighting assault captains in a giant maze of a motherboard or something. In fact I was trying to find this map a few months ago, but only ended up stumbling across a DM only map named Circuit on the Dukeworld archives, so I gave up. Considering how short these episodes seem to be, I might give them a spin after all in the end when I get back from my vacation, if nothing else then only to see if something else rings the nostalgia bell like this.
2

User is offline   oasiz 

  • Dr. Effector

#9

Quick version comaptible with DH64's the useraddons setup.
Extract this to useraddons for in-game compatibility.

EDIT: Completed the campaign now (skill3), didn't get the secret maps.
I do remember playing this AGES ago like 2003 last time perhaps if not earlier.
Going through this again with a fresh pair of eyes and loads of nostalgia made for an interesting trip.
Overall you really feel like this is close to what I would feel when trying to explain tekwar to someone (Thankfully Duke's gameplay is still there!).
It's chock full of interesting ideas but stuffed in levels that have clear flaws, barely any shading and extremely rushed areas.
Some times you have these flashses of brilliance but then it's all wrapped in corridors that share the same texture.
One map might be very creative and leave you wanting more and the next map will just be a stub of identical doors and boxy copypaste rooms.

Since I'm lazy, I'll copypaste from user.con for the ones I checked/remember/completed.
Scores are mostly normalized, an 9/10 won't mean it's going to compete with the big boys.

HEADQUARTERS        5   Your main hubmap, serviceable but considering it's re-use, it could've been worked on a bit more to reach the standards of the other maps.
CLIFF DROP          5+  First real map, interesting premise of infiltration but kind of runs out of ideas and runs into corridor re-use.
COMMAND CENTER      4+  The usual "four quadrants" design, aside from the interesting intro it's pretty much a stretched out switch hunt. Lack of a strong theme kills most of the potential.
SECURITY TUNNELS    4   Has some interesting ideas to spice up about four key areas where you dodge tripmines. It's never going to be a 10/10 map but the repetitive visuals don't do it any favors. Short and not too frustrating.
CENTRAL OUTPOST     3   Very lazy copypasting of rooms and loads of beginner map tropes. Doesn't have any interesting themes to redeem it.

STOREFRONT          5   Short introductionary map, plays somewhat on the strengths and keeps things short. It's not a great map but as a stub it does it's tricks.
HEADQUARTERS        4   Loses a point here since it's just a lazy recycle and at this point it should've received a bit more mapping attention due to being a central map
BEACH LANDING       7   Another interesting map conceptually. You land on a beach and reach an abandoned facility/base. Premise reminds of CLIFF DROP but this one follows through the concept to the end.
BOTTOMLESS PIT      7   One of the more ambitious maps, however it feels like it could have used more time to expand on some of the ideas. Heavy Duke D.C. smithsonian vibes for some reason.
RIVERSIDE           5+  Close to a five but the thematic concept saves it. There are few areas that try to vary the theme but indoors are rather uninspired corridors otherwise. Needs more polish.
TOOSMALL KEEP       4+  Saved by the theme, however it's an one trick pony and it doesn't really do much with it. Unnecessary switch puzzles combined with forced backtracking is never too nice.
COMMANDO OPERATION  5   Great concept and not too bad of an execution. However the engine isn't too suited for this style of combat. A bit more content and perhaps an indoors segment like RA would've put this higher. Still one I remember fondly.
COMMAND TOWER       5+  Another forgettable generic map, however it plays more to the strengths of the engine and thus keeps it a bit more enjoyable.
BUNKER              3+  What could've been a 5 was ruined by cheap copypaste design and somewhat lazy enemy placement. Concept was fine but the execution fell apart at the second half. Even 30min of work would elevate this to an 4.
SHRUNKEN CITY       8+  Very cool concept and I feel something like this could've existed in the original game/expansions almost. The mapping isn't top notch again but it's a novel idea. and detail density is about right.
CIRCUIT BREAKER     7+  Again a really cool idea but some of the texture work and readability is quite challenging. One of the better executed thematic bits.

HEADQUARTERS        3   Loses yet another point, by now it starts to overstay it's welcome despite the mellow tune. Due to having more or less the same effort as the average map here, it should at least receive some more attention by now.
DOCKING SWITCH      4   Rather short and uninspiring map that introduces some of the custom enemies. Few instances of copypaste and needless backtracking.
MOON ORBIT 5        7   Has some visually interesting areas combined with more generic ones. Overall it flows quite nicely with things looping gracefully back to the next destination and clearly borrows concepts from stock EP2.
ZERO GEE            4+  Much like SECURITY TUNNELS but in a different way. Interesting idea to stretch a single game mechanic but this game mechanic is not really the most enjoyable one. Could've been more interesting with slightly more details and polish instead of fully lit corridors.
STATION X           7+  What feels like a very cool EP2 like map does have some navigational issues. But I do like the overall layout, design and details. There are some pretty cool shadows for example.
TYCHO ARRAY         3+  It's barely OK. Button backtrack hunt 3000 at it's best. Very uninspired corridors and texture work combined with lazy game play is never a good thing. Another case where even 30min of work would elevate this to an 4.
BIGASS LASER        4   Mostly another miss, boring office complex coupled with TRIPLE keycard locks and A-B-A forced backtracking in a large hangar with spawning enemies, forcing combat on you. At least it has some thematic ideas and texture work
TERMINUS            6+  A very short map that acts more as a set piece. Combat could be slightly more interesting, however the late effects make things work well. I used to be amazed of the sequence seen here and tried to replicate it.
SPACEWALK           9+  Probably the best detail-density in this package. Simple, idea is interesting and execution ain't bad either. It's a rather refreshing and interesting spin on the cycloid despite being quite easy.
MARTIAN PLATFORM    5+  Interesting idea, extremely short and ends before it even gets to have a chance.

HEADQUARTERS        4   Going back up... However things are not too well balanced and the combat feels a bit forced. Enemies could use creative ways to spawn instead of teleporting, such as falling from the ceiling like E1L2 pre-bar area.
ALTERED COURSE      4+  Interesting first half, build engine jank in play. I remember being mesmerized by this bit. However after the intro bit it gets quite boring with lazy texture work and rather generic challenges.
VR SPACE            4+  Interesting concept again but execution about as interesting as tekwar's matrix stuff. You swim around large areas and try to survive in this fever nightmare style area
ENVIRO-POD          7   It's this game's tier drops. Flows quite well and only really lacking in more polish to the areas themselves. You have four environments to comb through and try to progress.
TEMPORAL INSANITY   9   This is what I remembered the most about lostduke. Concept is very interesting and probably required quite a bit of planning. It's not perfect but a definite stand out in terms of creativity and some story telling too. I wish it would be developed more. Has a bit of build magic that kept me mystified back in the day.
RIGHTSIDE DOWN      7   Interesting concept again but it could've used more distinct areas. After the intro bit things kind of fall apart and it becomes quite generic looking. Props for the (satellite?) dish area. This is the cool stuff you want to see.
UNDERSEA BASE       6   Visually not bad but thematically doesn't do much with the game play. Instead it's another TRIPLE keycard hunt map with the usual combo-switch stuff
TWISTED             5+  Interesting ideas, lazy execution in places. It's mostly a mazey corridor funhouse with the intent to maximize build jank.
GUARDIAN            5   It's ok. But this is like the inverse of the cycloid fight and instead you mostly get exactly what you'd expect. The boss is a sponge and does the shock attacks. Barely retaliates. Plus points for not being underwater I guess.
CASINO DUKE         5   Interesting idea but flatshaded boredom mostly. It's kind of like the other store maps but with another theme altogether.
SIGNATURE           3   This was never going to be fun to play.

Attached File(s)


2

User is offline   juvenite 

#10

Played thru it. I only recently started playing through community content, and I end up liking a lot of the old janky stuff. They hit a niche soft spot for me.

My opinion on DLE is similar to what people have already said in this thread to be honest: needs mad polishing, some levels are just kind of pointless rushed fillers (or so they feel like), but there is clearly some effort and creativity put into it. Yes, the architecture is amateur-iish and some level design choices are a bit questionable (specially textures) but man, it's from 97. It certainly is a product of its time but, for the time, there were a lot of novel ideas presented in it.

I know I am a bit biased as I love the (unforced) old janky stuff, but I still appreciate it for what it was. I think it's worth giving it a shot if you're curious about Duke 3D history.

Quick reviews on some noticeable maps (not in order):

Spoiler

2

User is offline   oasiz 

  • Dr. Effector

#11

Forgot to link this after processing, but my playthrough is here:

~2hrs of rambling and some comments. Mostly random nostalgia and some live feedback.

I did end up cheesing a couple of levels as I couldn't be bothered to try to play then legitimately.

Loads of savescumming if you love that sort of stuff
4

User is online   Quacken 

#12

Hello again. I've been busy finishing up some assignments and overall just taking a short break from Duke. I've been kinda dreading going back to these maps, which is why I've procrastinated on these for quite a while. Anyway...

Headquarters

See my review of Headquarters in Episode 2. Nothing new to say here.

1/10.

Docking Switch

I have so little to say about these maps, good god... even when judging these maps relatively, most of them in these first three episodes make me wish I was doing something else. Docking Switch is about a minute and a half long, features numbered doors for no reason and is also impossible to obtain 100% kills on a pistol start. Well, unless you're an established kickboxer who can bludgeon reptiles with miniguns.

2/10.

Moon Orbit 5
Confusing map title aside, this map is at least more involved than Docking Station, but only just barely. Did this map need three keys? You use the blue key to escape the random jail cell you teleport into, and you need to awkwardly squirm behind a computer panel to get the yellow key. It's awkward and finnicky, and it either takes me one try or at least six attempts of me bashing my head into the wall. There's also the giant fan that will instantly kill you. Not only does this clearly not need to be here, Hadley put duplicates of all three keys behind it just to mock you. This map is a mindnumbing piece of work.

2.5/10.

Zero Gee

I played all of these maps beforehand, so I'm running through them again on pistol starts. When I got to Zero Gee, I typed DNSCOTTY305 as fast as I could. In the first of two times that Hadley will try to fool you into believing that you are, in fact, in zero gravity, he thrusts you into a cluttered research base that's entirely two textures, possibly the worst MIDI I've ever heard, and zero visual chops whatsoever. What in the hell was Hadley thinking? Zero Gee is draining, debilitating and lowers my IQ by about 45. By far the worst map in a map set that I already regret voting for.

1/10.

Station X

Station X is fortunately (or unfortunately) the best map in Episode 3 thus far. It's a big circle with no visual differences on each of the map's rungs, which not only makes me feel like these were lazily copy-pasted four times, but it also makes it really easy to get lost on. The doors to the warehouse have an awful ear-shredding opening sound that I don't think I mentioned in Episode 2, but the exact sound is in one of that episode's maps too. My sound volume is on 40% and it still hits me like I turned my computer's volume to max. I guess this map is fine in a vacuum, but it's really nothing special at all.

3.5/10.

Tycho Array

Really, what is there to say that hasn't already been said? These maps somehow both blend together and stand apart from each other by looking and playing abhorrently in their own unique way. What is Tycho Array's claim to fame? Well, there's corridors that turn in 90 degree intervals, the floor and the ceiling have the same exact texture, the walls are one texture and there's switches that don't do anything. This is the introduction of the grey trash cans, too. You could either get a mission critical item from them or they could violently explode, killing you instantly but not doing significant damage to monsters. Also introduced are the infuriating Shotgun Turrets. They do way too much damage, have the same health as regular Turrets and constantly fire at you through walls. I get that this map set is from 1997, but my patience with that excuse is wearing extremely thin.

1/10.

Bigass Laser

In this map, Hadley does his best to spring as many death traps on you as possible. This is where he goes really overboard with trash cans. It seems like there's a table of items these can drop for you, ranging from items that make surviving easier like Atomic Healths, RPGs and Shrinkers, to violent explosions that are way bigger in radius than any other explosion in the game. There's an awful fight where you drop into a board meeting with a couple Enforcers of the standard and red varieties and a Commander that's almost guaranteed to take your Medkit away, but I would have liked that aggression be used in the room with the laser instead, which is a total gutterball. Avoid this map at all costs.

1/10.

Terminus

Terminus is short and painless. The escape sequence is fairly interesting even if you have to put up with more Shotgun Turrets, and thankfully once you've blown up the big computer you're done. While it's even shorter than the previous two maps, I'd take this one over those in a heartbeat. It's an okay level when comparing this to the other Episode 3 maps.

4/10.

Spacewalk

Get your sports shoes and your faux space suit ready, for you've got a date with a Cycloid Emperor that can't move off of its stupid rock, and you can't swim fast enough to dodge his stream of missiles. What a wimpy ending to a miserable episode. Just circle-swim around the Cycloid, hold M1 and hope you kill him before he kills you. Not even the Cycloid in Stadium put up this little of a fight.

1/10.

Martian Platform

Martian Platform is one fight above a network of blood red platforms, and that's about all I have to say about this map. I don't know why this map is called what it is, why there's buildings floating in deep space, or why there's so much dead air. It's the kind of abstraction that isn't charming at all and instead just comes off as amateurish.

2/10.

Drop Tubes

In which Hadley does his best impression of Tier Drops. Drop Tubes would have been more interesting if it wasn't essentially the same room copy-pasted three times with a different skybox and coloured lighting. As it stands, it's really just an eyesore that has none of the qualities that its inspiration has.

3.5/10.

This post has been edited by Quacken: 14 August 2022 - 04:08 PM

5

User is offline   juvenite 

#13

 oasiz, on 13 August 2022 - 12:11 PM, said:

Forgot to link this after processing, but my playthrough is here:
https://www.youtube....h?v=UW3DKYiDuTc
~2hrs of rambling and some comments. Mostly random nostalgia and some live feedback.

I did end up cheesing a couple of levels as I couldn't be bothered to try to play then legitimately.

Loads of savescumming if you love that sort of stuff


Subscribed. Saw your short about how build manages looking up/down, really neat stuff! Blew my mind.
1

User is offline   NNC 

#14

Although the month is far from over, I recommend Jason Bredhauer and Jonathon Fowler for september. Including JJ Duke 3D.
2

User is offline   Merlijn 

#15

Wow Quacken, you're really tearing this mod a new one!
I never played this but I watched a chunk of Oasiz's footage, and it all looks quite janky and primitive indeed.

Still, gotta admire the dedication to create four entire new episodes and have some kind of story progression in place.
Starting each episode in HQ for a mission briefing is pretty cool IMO (in fact, I considered doing something similar for Shaky Grounds before ultimately deciding against it)

There's a couple of cool ideas here in and there, and a couple of terrible ideas as well (shotgun turrets really are a HORRIBLE idea, the originals are annoying enough as it is).
Oh and the "sliding doors" that are functioning like curtains are just cute :D
3

User is offline   Aleks 

#16

Played through the first episode, I don't think there's a need to go through each of the maps separately, as in the end they all blend together.

It seems to have started with some kind of central lore/storyline, but diverted from it pretty quickly. The first episode is supposed to be mountain fortress and perhaps the first level or 2 seem to suggest so, but then it's just random hi-tech/base kinda stuff. I didn't mind the Security Tunnels level, even if the traps were as repetitive as it gets, it sometimes required a bit of planning to know where to stand/jump and not land on a crossing tripmine laser. The texturing and design is bland even for a 1997 release though, which is not a good thing. Cliff Drop probably looks the best and most focused from the levels. I like the premise of having the same (?) Headquarters level as the beginning map of each episode, it's something I remember thinking of doing back in my childhood and probably even before I really started to tinker with Build, making kind of a hub thing where Duke would get his stuff and go on a mission - but I'd definitely make it much larger and not just few empty corridors. Overall, this is probably not something anyone here would be playing if it wasn't the theme for this month, as aside from nostalgia, this is below average even considering 1997 standard.

If anyone's wondering why the Author created so much levels/episodes for this, it might be because the readme file states that it's his college project for computer science and/or music composition. I have to admit it's kinda cool if he was able to do that kinda stuff on his college :P
1

User is offline   juvenite 

#17

Gotta admire the hustle he went through too. Made 4 full episodes, complete with new soundtrack and everything, and still presented some novel ideas. Props to him tbh, it's far from perfect but I can respect the dedication.
1

User is offline   ck3D 

#18

 Aleks, on 16 August 2022 - 03:09 PM, said:

If anyone's wondering why the Author created so much levels/episodes for this, it might be because the readme file states that it's his college project for computer science and/or music composition. I have to admit it's kinda cool if he was able to do that kinda stuff on his college :P


Ha, no way, that's great. Cool is the word indeed.
1

User is offline   Ninety-Six 

#19

 juvenite, on 16 August 2022 - 03:47 PM, said:

Gotta admire the hustle he went through too. Made 4 full episodes, complete with new soundtrack and everything, and still presented some novel ideas. Props to him tbh, it's far from perfect but I can respect the dedication.


If I recall, the music came first as a college assignment and it had to be attached to some kind of other medium, in this case, a full 4-episode replacement mod.
3

User is offline   Aleks 

#20

Played through the 2nd episode and it's much better than the 1st one, largely due to the 2 cool secret levels. I've also started to appreciate the music here, which makes this whole thing a lot more playable. The theme was stronger in this one and there was at least some vague consistence between the levels. Bottomless Pit indeed reminded me of Duke DC a bit, but more in vein of the Aztec part in the secret level rather than Smithsonian. Another good one was Commando Operation where the author has really experimented with the whole gameplay, making it more akin to some older games like, well... the old arcade Commando game, or even some levels from Duke 2. Shrunken City was another nice one, even if kinda underdeveloped (and largely undershaded), the theme was unique and something that should have been done more often. Circuit Breaker even moreso, and this is definitely the map I remember playing as a kid - it's kinda funny that the 2 absolutely best levels here are the secret ones. I didn't even mind the labrenthine design, it just felt so funny and the fact that only enemies were assault captains who keep on teleporting around made it even funnier. I know this concept was also recreated in some newer map that's reviewed on MSDN, but other than that it's quite pristine. The final map was unfortunately a return to boring and bland design, which sucks even after Command Tower which had some nice stuff (noticed the sloped windows right after going down the elevator?). At least the gameplay was quite solid, once again the final part was packed with assault captains and the 2 extra Battlelords along the boss were an extra challenge (especially with me trying to shrink and stomp them without getting hit by Overlord's missiles). Definitely a step up and lots of interesting ideas and concepts that made it worthwhile, I hope the 3rd episode is even more progress.

Quote

Commando Operation

Playing this map and listening to this MIDI feels like I'm tumbling down in a car that's just driven off a cliff. I genuinely hate this map; it's way too open, ammo is quite tight on a pistol start, and the only place that has somewhere to fight in has three cracked surfaces that don't do anything if you blow them up. Just... why? The only two things keeping this from being my least favourite Duke 3D map is that it was released before Duke it Out in DC and it lasts 5 minutes. Let me tell you though, that's 5 minutes I'm not getting back.
1/10.

Blowing up the 3 cracks in the alien's research facility opens up the way to the exit, so that's why you have to blow them. Also honestly, I loved the midi in this one, felt very Duke 2ish and fit with the theme.
1

User is online   Quacken 

#21

Well I've got nothing to do for the rest of tonight, so let's finish off TLDE with Episode Four: Paradox. I'm gonna stop when I get too tired, so I'm definitely not going to get all the maps done in this one post.

Headquarters

Oh noes! There are ayyliens in here! Frankly I'm not sure why Hadley didn't double down on the idea that the same map you visit repeatedly would be populated by monsters. While at the end of the day this is still just Headquarters again, I'm not going to give it a 1, as Hadley actually tried to set this map apart from the other Headquarters. Headquarti?

4/10.

Altered Course

Altered Course's repetitive visuals actually kind of work in its favour for once, but I'm not wild about the combat or the pacing at all. The room filled with Sentry Drones is a major headache, and the out of place portal death trap that will kill you if you step inside by virtue of you taking lethal fall damage is neither funny, nor is it obvious that standing in it is suicide. This map introduces the "Acidic Protector", I'll call it. This bright green Protector Drone will do the highest amount of damaging floor damage just by standing next to it. Or by standing next to its corpse, which means killing it in the wrong spot sets up a toll that you have to pay for with your life force. Word of advice for anyone is to kill these Acidic Protectors in a corner. I like this map more than anything in Episode Three, but that's about all I can really say.

4/10.

VR Space

You know, if this map was just a little bit longer and cut out the fight where you're floating with a bunch of Octabrains in the dark, we could have had something actually pretty fun. VR Space throws you back into the circuit board skybox for a romp through what people thought VR would be like in 1997. The cool blue lighting accompanied with the bright red walls and pulsating blue lights genuinely looks pretty cool (or at least, cool when compared to the looks of Episodes Two and Three). I wouldn't call the combat great, but some striking visuals and a fitting, albeit repetitive MIDI is enough of a calling card for me to be able to bump this map up the rankings.

5/10.

Enviro-Pod

Damn, I actually like this map quite a bit. Enviro-Pod is four compact but surprisingly intelligent arenas, complimented by a rocking MIDI that gets your blood pressure going for about three and a half minutes. Hadley gets quite creative with his combat here. He uses a wide range of monsters of both custom and regular origins, and he puts them in some interesting scenarios, such as the cage fight where about 12 Assault Troopers surround you from all sides, dropping in Enforcers so they've got the height advantage on you, and Pig Cops on spinning platforms. Enviro-Pod is thus far the best display of maturity I've seen thus far in TLDE, and it's definitely the best map so far.

7.5/10.

Temporal Insanity

Temporal Insanity is quite a map. The gimmick in this map is impressive for the time. Traverse a flat research base that has a time machine randomly sitting in it, and use it to travel five hours or five years into the future to solve basic puzzles. I think the time travel gimmick was handled a lot better than DC's Top Secret. It's incorporated much more intelligently, and the fun of seeing how this base has gone to hell even five hours later is quite rewarding. It definitely helps that the puzzles are never overly complicated. It's not always obvious on what you have to do, but they're also not incredibly insulting as puzzles, and Hadley does a good job balancing out you needing to go to each of the time periods. What's also interesting is the kill count. With a relatively impressive 145 kills, it's by far the longest and most challenging map in the set (even if a good majority of the monsters are Protozoids). At the time of writing this, I've yet to beat Twisted, but I'd wager that neither it or the other maps in Episode Four hold a candle to this map.

There are of course some of the TLDE grievances that are unfortunately normalities, rather than abnormalities. The Present time period has no height variation and is flatly lit, and having to flick two switches every time you need to use the time machine got on my nerves. It ended up stretching the map's run time a decent amount. On the whole though, I have to say that Temporal Insanity is by far the most thoughtfully-designed map out of everything I've played thus far. It demonstrates an undeniable amount of ambition, and it ends up translating to the best experience of TLDE.

8/10.
3

User is offline   Aleks 

#22

Finished the 3rd episode, which was remarkably shorter than the 2nd one and also a quality drop (I'd place it higher than E1 but lower than E2 in this pack). Once again, there's no point to go through every map, as an hour after playing a lot of stuff has already blended together. There's been once again some interesting ideas and some terrible execution. I probably liked Station X the most as a map, even though it didn't really implement anything new. The new shrinker trooper variant can be quite challenging and this map probably uses him the best in the hub room, where he's accompanied by other enemies and his teleporting abilities might get a bit annoying. Bigass Laser was also pretty cool, I liked the "mission" kind of feel to this level and the combat was pretty good (I liked the "conference room" actually, worked really neat with pipebombs!) and the final fight was pretty good. This time around, both secret levels failed to impress me by a landslide and were perhaps the weakest ones in the episode, maybe besides the awkwardly stupid Tycho Array. I liked how they were accessible though, especially the placement of the secret switch in Moon Orbit 5 was creative. I found Zero Gee to be quite cool, at least conceptually, and it played pretty well with "get the next scuba" kind of feeling - although the looks indeed left a lot more to be expected. Destruction sequence in Terminus was pretty nice as well, but the level was quite meh with just the most annoying enemies (shotgun turrets). The final battle was cool though, even if very easy.
2

User is offline   juvenite 

#23

 The Watchtower, on 16 August 2022 - 10:52 AM, said:

Although the month is far from over, I recommend Jason Bredhauer and Jonathon Fowler for september. Including JJ Duke 3D.


Also I second that. JJ Duke 3D month would be cool imo.
1

User is online   Quacken 

#24

Second half of Episode Four. Let's get this over with.

Rightside Down

Rightside Down has a unique concept, but I think it could have been better if it followed the route Temporal Insanity took, and it was also a little longer. As it stands, Rightside Down is an interesting idea that barely even gets followed up on its in own map. The computer room barely looks distinguishable from how it'd look if the map was actually oriented correctly. Same with the final fight, which isn't difficult at all, but is really tedious if you want to get by without taking a ton of damage. This map's forgettable.

5/10.

Undersea Base

Hadley must have thought he was really funny by making you wait for 17 seconds in a box at the start, huh? Undersea Base breaks the streak of averageness with a map I don't like. Too many Enforcers of all colours to hack through. The room with about 5 Green Enforcers and two Acidic Protectors behind a door can go make love to a cactus, and the following underwater sequence where you enter through the underside of a crate in the middle of the water pool to end up in a different location on the left makes no sense at all. I don't hate this map, I suppose, but it is thoroughly unenjoyable, and it spoils what could have been an original idea at the time.

Twisted

Well. This happened. Like one last stab to both of your eyeballs before Hadley decides you've had enough of this map set, Twisted is a cacophony of bullshit that defines common sense, architectural design and what should qualify as something worth releasing. Hadley has such little disregard for the way his silent portals fold into the map that it's almost admirable. The path to the Red Key forces you to trudge through an electric floor, fight four Sentry Drones on a network of conveyor belts, and switch between unnecessary water sections and dry land. The yellow key forces you to swim through sand to get to it, and you're greeted by a whole bunch of mice that will get in your way and annoy the hell out of you. When getting the key, just book it for the door back to the room with the mice and let them come to you. It's pitch black in there and the monsters have night vision. The blue key is the least painful thankfully, there's admittedly not much to say about it. Twisted gave me the same level of mental anguish in 4 minutes that Last Reaction's Khaki Space did in 80 minutes, and for that fact I don't know whether to kiss Hadley or give him a 4000 word long lecture.

1/10.

Guardian

If you remember to look behind you at the start, Guardian is short and painless. You've got a Devastator and all the ammo you'll need to rain hellfire on the red Alien Queen. I'll take a short ending level any day of the week as long as it doesn't include fake walls.

4/10.

Casino Duke

I actually don't mind this map. You get way more supplies than you'll need to dispatch 20 monsters, but the casino is actually pretty well decorated. I like the shuffleboard table and the mini bar a lot. The MIDI is also pretty decent too, even if it's not very long and can loop even on a map that's this short. Casino Duke is cute, and at this rate I'll take it.

5/10.

Signature

This map is fine. I wouldn't call it incredible by any means, but I like the concept enough to which my enjoyment of this map lasted for a decent while. The only part I don't really like is the section where you're forced to scramble through purple sludge just to get to the next letter of Hadley's name. It seems designed to eat your Protective Boots up, when you just got the Boots in the previous section. Overall though, it's a fittingly simple and flat conclusion to a very simple and flat map set.

5/10.

Final Thoughts

After reading other peoples' comments about Hadley making a set of MIDIs for a college project and attaching a Duke 3D map set to it, it explains why the MIDIs are for the most part pretty decent, and most of the actual gameplay here is worth about as much as a wet tissue. It's not quite the worst thing I've ever played for Duke 3D, far from it I'd say, but The Lost Duke Episodes is a thoroughly unimpressive project that's unabashedly ugly, sloppy and all over the place in terms of its combat. It gets put to shame by both Duke it Out in DC and Duke Caribbean, two map sets that have more thematic consistency and are generally of a much higher quality. Only Episode Two's secret maps and a small selection of maps from Episode Four are worth playing. For every other map, they are either completely forgettable or completely horrible. I admire the ambition of replacing every single map in the Atomic Edition, but the length of some of these maps being under a minute really makes me consider if it was necessary. It's good for a single playthrough just to hear Hadley's music, but you should steer clear of it otherwise. My final rating for The Lost Duke Episodes is a 3/10. I can only hope that Hadley got a good result for his college project.
3

User is offline   Aleks 

#25

I've played the final episode and must say it's definitely the best one in the whole pack. Even if the design is still rather sloppy (sigh), some of the concepts here are just brilliant and perhaps even inspired some more ambitious/talented mappers. Once again, not gonna go through each level separately, even though this time around it would probably be more valid. Temporal Insanity is definitely the best map in this episode and probably the best in the whole pack, mostly for the idea and general execution - of course it gets a bit tedious since you can basically clear all of the 3 "timezones" at the start in like 3 minutes, then spend the next 10 minutes wandering back and forth and opening things to fight a few monsters every once in a while. I also really liked Rightside Down, I'd say this level made the most out of its concept all things considered, and by that I meant the general feel of the levels here. VR Space is also quite interesting, even if only for the 90s projection on how a virtual reality would look like nostalgia, but I'd still say this map has pretty pleasant visuals to it. Enviro-Pod has an OK gameplay, same with Undersea Base (which is kinda underwhelming otherwise). Casino Duke ended before it really started and it was difficult to tell if it was really casino considering we only get to visit something of a lobby really. Signature was quite an ego-trip on the part of the author, but had probably the most challenging gameplay so far, so I kinda liked it, also the idea to look at the map in Tab view was nice, too bad some of the doors never unlocked even after gaining access to the letters they'd lead to from other sides. The final level was probably the easiest Queen fight I've ever encountered due to how slow she is on the land (and also for some reason she rather used her electrocuting attacks than spawning more aliens, which made her an easy target without much distractions). I appreciate though how the Author addressed the issue of her electrocuting working outside of water in the text file.

Then there's Twisted... Which is a crazy level, that's for sure. It's not really silent teleporters as Quacken mentioned, but lots of SOS stacked into non-Euclidean geometry in ways that would be striking to the eye that makes most of this level. Nevertheless, it's definitely annoying - I didn't mind the conveyor belt room with sentry drones, but going through a non-blocked wall into a large room with 2 shotgun turrets eating your health rapidly hidden in the upper corners was kinda dickish, same with the pitch-black room (though it wasn't that difficult really with pipebombs). On the other hand, the level had Miceâ„¢, which definitely alleviates most of the frustrations I could have with it. There's even one super tiny mouse that spawns in the trashcan room (which is a cool idea as well, with monsters spawning from the trashcans and destroying more of them, spawning more monsters... Just not really well executed here). All in all, I like the bizarrish concept, just the crappy execution typical to this mod makes it a pain in the ass.
2

User is offline   juvenite 

#26

That room with the trashcans is so amusingly crappy.
Twisted, Zero Gee, Commando Operation and Cycloid's level perfectly encapsulate all there's wrong with the level design choices in this mod. I even took a screenshot after I blew everything up in that trashcan room, it was accidentally perfect. Even used it for my channel header.

Posted Image

DLE is good, but mostly for the wrong reasons. IMO it falls into so bad it's good territory.
2

User is offline   FistMarine 

#27

Hey everyone! Thank you for your comments so far. It was fun to read your thoughts on The Lost Duke Episodes and watching oasiz' video. I have first played TLDE back in 2010-2011 when downloading some random Duke3D addons/mods and I even remember confusing this with Duke Zone II for some reason. I think at that time I only remember finishing first two episodes. Then later in years 2014 and 2015 I replayed the whole mod and in all cases, I played in EDuke32 source port.

This time around, on 18th and on 19th, I decided to revisit the mod for its 25th anniversary (LOSTDUKE.GRP is dated 18/08/1997, though the TC was released on 27/08/1997). I went ahead and replayed the entire thing (with ALL kills and secrets found! Yes there's a few secrets to find in only 3 or so maps, as I will specify below) in Duke3D v1.5 in DOSBox 0.74-3. I played on CGS skill and I intend to replay the mod later on DIG skill.

I will not go into big details with the levels, since everyone else has done an excellent job in talking about the levels, so I will mostly talk about tips/tricks/secret areas and some notes about the levels. There's also a hidden level that no one has mentioned it so far. It's in the E1L7 slot and only accessible with command line parameters (or User Map option in source ports). Or DNSCOTTY107 I guess (though I don't think the DNSCOTTY107 and DNSCOTTY108 cheats work on original DOS version, hence the requirement to use parameters to access the extra levels).

I will also copy-paste the Secret Levels guide from the Addon Compilation's hints text file (written by NightFright) which should help you in finding them.

Quote

+ Episode 1: In "Cliff Drop", get the jetpack from the crack that blows open near the
exit when you approach the Nuke button. With it, go to the hangar with the
teleporters and fly into the control room above.
+ Episode 2: In "Riverside", push a wall in the prison cell that holds the red keycard.
"Command Tower" has a hidden wall to the right of the exit button.
+ Episode 3: In "Moon Orbit 5", shoot the button of a distant shuttle while riding the
transporter to the other side of the structure towards the exit).
At the end of "Bigass Laser", push the button on top of the laser.
+ Episode 4: Push one of the walls to the left of the exit button in "VR Space".
Near the exit boat of "Water", push/enter a hidden corridor through one
of the walls of that room.


Just note that by level titled "Water", he probably meant "Undersea Base". And since the levels' filenames aren't the usual E#L# format, I will refer to the actual map filenames in parentheses as well, to further help which level is which. I will also include some gameplay screenshots for some levels as well (the full album can be downloaded in a zip file at the end of the post). I will only post a screenshot for each episode in the main post, as I don't want to clutter the topic with screenshots.

With that said, let's begin the reviewing!
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_EPISODES.png

Mountain Fortress

Headquarters (HQ.MAP)

This is the hub level that Duke starts in each episode and is usually the first level (except in second episode where it is the second level). It is usually devoid of any enemies, with an exception later on in E4. You just go for the Mission Briefing and get the code to unlock the door. Not much else to say other than it makes for a nice intro level.
Oh and this is shown in the first demo (assuming you watched the 3 intro demos in the original executable or vanilla port of your choice, BTW all 3 demos end with player finishing the level). Which shows what you have to do. The code changes in each episode and it is shown on the monitor, so you don't have to guess the code by yourself.

Cliff Drop (CLIFF.MAP)

The first proper level with a very nice MIDI song (which is reused later in the first secret level of E2). Most of the enemies encountered are troopers, enforcers and sentry drones. You will find a few extra supplies if you explore the room with the crates (contains many small medkits and an armor pickup).
To access the secret room, go up the elevator (in the final room, containing the reactor in the middle) and blow up the crack in the left side of the room. This will give you the jetpack needed to reach the secret exit in a nearby room (where you saw two red troopers).

Slam Tilt (ARCADE.MAP)

A short secret level. Kill a couple of enemies inside the store (and the pig cops and enforcers that teleport later on upon grabbing the blue key) and that's it. The only health in the level you find is an atomic health, which should have been a great reward if it weren't for the damage I took from a couple enemies, as I ended up with slightly less than 100 health.

Command Center (COMMAND.MAP)

A decent map that has some good action going on. Starts you in the middle surrounded by a bunch of troopers (kinda wish the health pack wasn't placed directly at start as I had nearly 100 health when I finished the previous map, so I got it for nothing). Assuming you found the hidden jetpack in Cliff Drop, you will not have to worry about falling down in lava as you can fly back up, though ideally you shouldn't fall anyway. Some enemies might fall into lava and you can just throw pipebombs at them or fly and kill them with RPG or whatever.
The map ends while falling into a hole, so make sure you grab everything before leaving or at the very least make sure you have full health because of the next level...

Security Tunnels (TRIPWIRE.MAP)

The infamous E1 map. Duke starts without any gear (which is intended for obvious reasons, also don't stay too long at the beginning or you take damage from the electrified floor) and he has to avoid the trip mines. Most of them can be easily avoided. I only struggled with one room halfway in the map (before the narrow corridors part which is before the water section at the end) which killed me a couple of times but otherwise it wasn't as bad as years ago (and it was the only E1 map that killed me), despite playing with DOS only controls. I suppose I paid more attention to the layout of the trip mines and it paid off. Of course I still saved often and used like 2-3 save slots just in case...

Central Outpost (OUTPOST.MAP)

The last E1 map (at least progression-wise), you have to build up the arsenal and face off the Battlelord boss. I was lucky to survive the first rooms (killing the pig cops with the pistol was a bit tricky but after that I was offered a bunch of goodies) and there are rooms that have many troopers in them but otherwise the level is generous with health (though sadly no armor). Just be careful with the Battlelord boss in the cramped final room. And have a backup save just in case. Oh and this applies for all episodes, there are no new cutscenes or anything like that.
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_E1L5.png

Ballpark (STADIUM.MAP)

This is a hidden DM-only map, in the E1L7 slot. Accessible with the following command line parameters in the DOS version: DUKE3D.EXE /XLDGAME.CON /GLOSTDUKE.GRP /V1 /L7 /S3
Or in EDuke32, go to User Map and you will find it as STADIUM.MAP.
It is a short arena with a couple weapons and a blimp in the middle that you can destroy with explosives. And that's it with the first episode!
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_E1L7.png

Island of Terror

Storefront (STORE.MAP)

Interestingly, this episode begins with a regular level, though you return to the headquarters after finishing this level. There isn't much to say other than fighting a couple troopers and pig cops. Although I did get to the end of level safely (and obviously saved), I remembered this dickish underwater tripmine trap that kills you instantly and not only that but the way the sector was created, it has a chance to squish you upon submerging if you aren't in the center of it.

I suffered about 3 deaths from this and another 3 from tripmines, trying to blow them up with my explosives. I suppose this was done because this tunnel connects the starting and ending place. You should find a hidden RPG underwater (in the corner of the map) and a stray pipebomb somewhere which will help dealing with this.
Funnily enough, I definitely remember this map and the underwater trap back in 2010, meaning that I can confirm I played TLDE back in 2010, which I kept confusing with Duke Zone II and thinking if it's an unofficial (or semi-official) addon or something.

Too bad back then I didn't do episodes 3 and 4, meaning that in years 2014 and 2015 it was the first time I played through the whole mod properly. Must have been after watching someone play through it on YouTube. Not much else to say.

Headquarters (HQ2.MAP)

Not much to say. You return to the Headquarters and find out the next mission.

Beach Landing (BEACH.MAP)

As Quacken mentioned, the only enemies in this map are slimers. Just hold the quick kick button and that's it. There is a simple switch puzzle to solve in a room with damaging floor (you are given another pair of boots for this, so I recommend first using the one you got at the headquarters and then grab the new one once you solve the puzzle) and that's the only thing I can say about this map.

Bottomless Pit (BPIT.MAP)

The map reminded me a bit of DukeDC's secret map (the later part of the map when you time travel), as others have already pointed out. Which is funny as I was replaying DC earlier that day (though a different version called the Waffle Edition) and I found this map similar to Top Secret from DukeDC.

So how does this map fare? Well, it has a few interesting traps and I admit the yellow key trap got me once as I was looking for enemies to spawn when entering the room, only to react slowly and missed picking up the card somehow, until it was too late and I stayed still until the ceiling crushed me.

And I'm pretty sure I found the jetpack in this map, so I could backtrack to the earlier point of the map, as you need to collect a card later on to backtrack to the beginning. I don't think there's any jetpack in the prior E2 maps to this one.

Riverside (RIVER.MAP)

This is the first map in the whole TC that has an actual secret place to find! In the room with the bookshelf, just press on it to reveal a secret room containing a portable medkit, armor, steroids and chaingun ammo.

Oh and don't forget to find the secret exit (not counted as a secret!) in the prison cells. Other than that, just make sure to kill the assault captain (that will approach you) early on before he becomes invisible and falls off the bridge. If you wait too long, he might not come back and you will end up with a missing kill. It didn't happen to me but it's not out of the question to happen to others, especially as they have a habit to never come back if they teleport near ledges surrounded by water.

Shrunken City (BIGCITY.MAP)

Probably one of the best and most memorable maps in the whole TC (it shares the same MIDI used in Cliff Drop). It has an absolutely GREAT concept and it's something I wish I have seen more often in custom Duke3D maps.

The only thing to note is that although you will fight a bunch of troopers at beginning, when you grab and use the red card, there will be a few more monsters teleporting in (pig cops, enforcers and a commander) that can take you out by surprise if you aren't careful.

Oh and don't forget to explore the top of some buildings to collect a bunch of goodies, such as weapons, atomic health, medkit and steroids (the last two bundled together).
The red card switch may be difficult to spot, so I recommend checking carefully each building to find it. Once you activate it, you will unlock the nuke button inside the building.
Definitely a great map and one of the best in the entire TC!

Too Small Keep (KEEP.MAP)

An interesting map that takes place around a castle. You have to be careful as most trash cans contain enemies inside them. One of the cans contains a Shrinker. You are also given a portable medkit and an armor pickup on the two sides.

Your objective is getting the jetpack in the middle and fly to activate two switches and unlock the exit. Although you can just use the jetpack you acquired in past couple of levels and collect the new one when you are finished with the map, so if playing continuous, you can do that if you want. There is a Mini Battlelord and two commanders guarding the exit, which makes for a nice finale.

Commando Operation (C&C.MAP)

Since you start this map without weapons, it is recommended to conserve your ammo since all the stuff you get at the beginning are all you get until near the end of map when you are given the Devastator, more pipebombs and an extra medkit. So grab EVERYTHING at the start and move on.

DON'T waste the pipebombs, as you will need all 3 to blow up the cracks in that large area (with the giant orange fist) where you fight the Mini Battlelord and a few other enemies.
Blowing up the 3 cracks will reveal the exit area at the other side of the map. Oh and you need to get closer to the enemies to consistently hit them with your hitscan weapons, otherwise the shots will hit an invisible wall (not sure why this happens but I have observed this behavior in other maps and I am only guessing is to also prevent other hitscanners from sniping you).

Command Tower (TOWER.MAP)

This map is quite action packed. Unfortunately there isn't as much health as you'd think and I don't think there was any armor present, unless I missed it somewhere.
I found this map a bit confusing at times and I admit I consulted Mapster one time because I missed the part to unlock the exit room, while swimming in acid, I was supposed to surface above the sign but I ended up wandering for 5-10 minutes before taking a break and when I came back and found what I had to do, I was a bit disappointed I didn't find my way. I thought the door glitched, considering that room with the exit door and the trap room (with the fake blue card switch) did make me wonder if I was missing something, a hidden switch somewhere. Then I figured out that surfacing from that acid area leads into the room with more troopers and the switch puzzle that unlocks the exit room with the enforcers (and secret exit).

Before moving on to the next map, I must mention that this is another map that contains secret areas, in fact there's three secrets to find:
-Fall down the vent at beginning to reach a cave surrounded by many troopers, you will get rewarded with a jetpack (to escape) and other stuff. Make sure to stay in the middle to land on water or if you start moving while falling, you will land on a hard surface and die (ouch! this actually happened to me once)
-In the second vent (in the underground section), use the jetpack and fly up the vent to collect an atomic health
-In the exit room, press on the wall in the right side of room to reveal the SECRET EXIT!

Circuit Breaker (CIRCUIT.MAP)

Another fun and creative secret map, this one has you hunt down a bunch of assault captains (the only one enemy you fight in this map) on a circuit board and once you do that, find the 3 cards to disable the forcefields.

You are given two atomic healths at the beginning and a couple more ammo/health packs around the map, as well as an armor pickup (that you shouldn't ignore!). Not much else to say, though I got to say that Aleks inspired me to look up for the standalone version of the map. As soon as I will find it, I will let him know. :P

Bunker (BUNKER.MAP)

While not very impressive visually, I enjoyed how the map was action packed. I had no trouble taking down the Overlord and his two guards, though first time I finished off just the boss himself, then I loaded save and got rid of the mini battlelords first and found out I still had enough Devastator missiles (70+) for the Overlord himself. I didn't bother using Shrinker as due to autoaim of DOS version, it's incredibly risky to pull it off (especially when dealing with another Mini Battlelord and the Overlord at same time), so you are better off just killing them with RPG and Devastator. I only recommend shrinking Mini Battlelords when dealing with them around corners, as a well placed Shrinker shot will be enough. But in this case I don't recommend when you are under the pressure of other monsters. Just use the RPG and Devastator instead. You are given enough ammo to deal with them all!
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_E2L9.png

Orbital Onslaught

Headquarters (HQ3.MAP)

Same as in the previous cases, you just revisit the hub for the new mission.

Docking Switch (DOCK.MAP)

Short map that ends faster than you expect. It introduces the Shrink Troopers, so be careful to not get hit by them!

Moon Orbit 5 (SPIN.MAP)

There's two important things to remember about this map. First, it has the three cards placed behind the fan that YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO GRAB! As the fan will kill you. I learned that years ago on my previous playthroughs.

Second of all, there is a hidden button that leads to the first secret exit. IT IS VERY EASY TO MISS AND I ACTUALLY MISSED IT THE FIRST TIME AROUND! I made it to the Bigass Laser and found the second secret exit, until I realized I missed the first secret level when I read Level: 11 in the save menu. Granted, I did wonder for a while where is that first secret exit and then I realized I missed it and loaded the saved game from the end of this map and replayed next 5 or so maps.

Anyway, to get to secret exit, you must shoot a far away switch while traveling with the shuttle. It is the hardest secret level to find, IMO and not just because I missed it the first time around. Anyway, when you shoot it, you will open the first secret level of E3. Other than that, not much else to say.

Martian Platform (MARVIN.MAP)

Short secret map that takes place above a few platforms. There is only one fight involving troopers and one commander that are spawned into the level. Not much else to say.

Zero Gee (ZERO_G.MAP)

A great concept that could have been executed better. You just have to "swim" through areas infested with Octabrains and a few Commanders. You will also find the first Devastator in this map. Not much else to say.

Station X (STATIONX.MAP)

Not much to say, I think the map was alright. You might want to be careful when you grab the Shrinker behind the door at the beginning of the map, so you don't fall into space. :P

Tycho Array (ARRAY.MAP)

This map is just a couple bland corridors and most enemies you fight are troopers and enforcers. Oh and there's a trap with shotgun turrets in the middle of the corridor. You also have to be careful with the room with fans and troopers spawning. I think touching the fans will kill you, though again I try to judge from the older playthroughs because Episode 3 is the only one I've beaten without dying. :P

Oh and the rubber cans at beginning, I recommend staying far away and behind cover when breaking them, so they don't explode in your face. You should be getting a couple useful weapons and/or Atomic Health if you are lucky.

Bigass Laser (BALAZ.MAP)

This map has a bunch of annoying traps but you can overcome the challenge by hoping the trash cans will drop atomic healths to you. That cramped room with enforcers, green pig cop and the commander stands out as the hardest part of the map. You will take a ton of damage unless you are prepared or you get lucky with enemies not hitting you.
There is a hidden switch on top of the spaceship at the end of the map, activating it will unlock the nearby secret exit!
Oh and to nitpick one thing, the map filename could have been BIGLASER.MAP. :P

Drop Tubes (DROPTUBE.MAP)

Obviously inspired by E3L11: Tier Drops from the original game, this is just a poorer version of that level. The visuals are ugly and you only encounter a couple enemies in all 3 rooms. Again, like with the original, you don't have to drop down the tubes, just walk around the level. Eventually you will find the exit.

Terminus (TERMINUS.MAP)

This map is shown in the second demo. You have to kill the enemies (mostly enforcers, the ones at start are some upgraded variants, so be careful), blow up the barrels to collect the supplies and eventually escape the sequence of the map collapsing. There is a trick (also shown in the demo) where you can throw pipebombs and kill the turrets behind the forcefields. That way you save health, since I was at around 40 health at that time and needed to save the medkit because the final room gives you two large medkits anyway. Learned this from watching the demo player who uses the medkit just as he is escaping. Though it's not like it matters much.

Once you press the switch, run as fast as you can to the beginning of the map and avoid the spawned enforcers. Once you are done, run to the door and you will reach the spaceship. The nuke button reveals behind you alongside two medkits. It's time to fight the E3 boss!

Spacewalk (SPCWALK.MAP)

A boss fight against the Cycloid Emperor in SPACE! Despite what others said, I liked traveling in space and the Cycloid isn't too difficult to take down due to his rockets being slower and giving you more time to dodge (you can just move up/down instead of left/right, this will avoid his rockets better) but at same time I wish Mark Hadley implemented the Space Suit and used in these type of maps. It would have made more sense than making underwater sectors and using the Scuba Gear. :P
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_E3L9.png

Paradox

Headquarters (HQ4.MAP)

This time, the aliens are back and unexpectedly have arrived at your Headquarters! I admit I died once (and remember having a bit of a hard time with this map years ago) due to not being prepared. There is an explosion happening right as soon as you leave the elevator which is guaranteed to leave you with low health or even kill you. First time it left me with low health and eventually got killed by the two enforcers in the armory. On second attempt I managed to avoid the explosion but still took a bit of damage from some enemies, as I finished with only 41 health. Oh and there's a Pig Cop Tank in the cramped corridors as well. Then a few more enemies leading to the exit of the map.
I will admit it was an unexpected twist, as most people probably expected this to be just like the rest Headquarters maps. I appreciate the author's attempt at trying something different, at the very least.

Altered Course (ALTERED.MAP)

This map is shown in the third demo (funnily enough, the player even gets shrunk once by the new Protector Drone variant). It is another creative map but unfortunately the visuals in the second half aren't that great, they are quite repetitive. You will have to put up with various original and modified enemies and do some platforming to reach the blue card (the room full of sentry drones) and eventually unlock the exit which again requires some careful platforming.

VR Space (VRSPACE.MAP)

Although the map was quite dark at times, I enjoyed some parts of it. Oh and don't forget to find the secret exit near the normal exit! Which also counts as the map's only secret place!

Casino Duke (CASINO.MAP)

An interesting secret map. There are a couple of troopers, pig cops and enforcers, some of them being the upgraded variants but you should be able to do it just fine. Although there are no secrets in this map (as is the case with most maps in the entire package), there are some hidden supplies that you will receive upon jumping on the Duke statue. You should be given powerups like Atomic Health, Armor, Medkit and Jetpack. So don't miss the opportunity to get these powerups! They will greatly help you later on! At least on the next map...

Enviro-Pod (ARENAS.MAP)

An interesting map that has four large rooms. I won't repeat what Quacken said, so I will say that the next map starts you without weapons, so anything you grabbed before that will be gone. Just make sure to grab all the health you can, so you can end up with 100 health at least. There is no point in grabbing armor and ammo because they won't carry to the next map. ;)

Temporal Insanity (TIMETRAV.MAP)

Perhaps the best map in the entire TC, this has the time traveling concept executed very well. You have to backtrack and visit the areas a couple of times, such as shutting down the forcefields in the past and then visiting the future to progress through the map. At least what I assume is Past, Present and Future. Or Present, Near-Future and Far-Future. Whatever.
Most of the enemies you face are Slimers/Eggs but there are also Troopers (of all variants) and other enemies you face later on, so be careful when dealing with them.
Truly one of the highlights of the entire TC and perhaps the most memorable map as well.

Rightside Down (BACKGRAV.MAP)

An interesting gimmick map with stuff turned upside down. It's got a couple interesting fights (some of which may give you a bit of trouble, like the part at end with enforcers, though thankfully wasn't as bad as I thought) but otherwise it was alright.

Undersea Base (WATER.MAP)

The start makes you wait a couple seconds, so be patient. And most of enemies in this map you fight are Enforcers of varying colors. You have to find 3 cards until you unlock the last couple areas. What's funny is due to a vanilla Duke3D glitch, you can activate all 3 slots with just 1 or 2 cards if you mash the open button (SPACE or E by default, depending on the executable you use) while you are jumping. Of course I did the intended way, as you are meant to collect all 3 cards and use them normally. I only remembered this trick that I once done in my past playthroughs (whether it was done by accident or not).

Anyway, don't forget to find the second secret exit for this episode (yes there are two secret exits for E4 as well) which also counts as the map's only secret.
Near the exit room with the mini ship, go to the right side and you should find yourself in a corridor leading to an underwater area. Just don't get confused by the addon compilation's hints text file, it appears the level is mistakenly called "Water", probably because of its filename. Also it looks like Quacken forgot to assign a rating for this map. :P

Signature (MARK.MAP)

Not much to say, other than be careful with the parts involving toxic acid that rapidly eats your boots/health. The map is shaped around the author's name (each room for one letter), which you will realize if you look in Mapster or in the automap (if you zoom out far away).

Twisted (TWISTED.MAP)

Yeah, this map is one I also remembered from Lost Duke and unfortunately it's not that great. The yellow room (with the trash cans) is probably the part I remembered the most. It's visually very ugly and annoying. Initially I had an enemy missing but it turned out to be a trooper from the dark room earlier (that contains the yellow access card, BTW to deal with that room, you are better off grabbing the card and running and waiting for troopers in front of door). With this occasion I also ended up with another annoying mouse sitting there. No idea why they sometimes glitch through the walls but it's not the first time I witnessed this happening. Clearing a room full of annoying mice, coming back later and finding another one that appeared suddenly.
And finally, don't forget to make a backup save before pressing the nuke button. ;)

Guardian (GUARDIAN.MAP)

The final level time! Before you begin, make sure to QUICKLY RUN TO THE NEXT AREA as the room will collapse and explode. I remembered this from my past playthroughs as well. And well, you've got the Devastator and Medkit ready because you are about to take down the ALIEN QUEEN! At least some mini boss variant (pal 21?) that is identical to the real Alien Queen. I guess this was done because in the original game, the mini alien queen existed as a duplicate of the original one (same health and same behavior, unlike the other mini bosses). Oh wait, I realized this one spawns the acidic protector drones instead of the regular ones. I think.

However, you will also realize that the Queen is smaller and harder to hit. To make sure your shots connect, you have to get closer to her but not too close. That assumes you are using Devastator, if you are using the RPG, take a bit of a distance and aim at her. Make sure you are not missing! And also make sure to grab those two atomic healths. I managed this time to defeat her in such a short time that she only managed to spawn only one acidic protector drone. I remember the fight was longer in past but then again, I improved my skills and know to make my shots count, since the Queen will mostly be walking around the area and the missiles will get dodged if you fire from far away.
Attached Image: LOSTDUKE_E4L9_1.pngAttached Image: LOSTDUKE_E4L9_2.pngAttached Image: LOSTDUKE_E4L9_3.png

Overall, The Lost Duke Episodes was an ambitious college project done by a single person. It is a mixed bag after all (So Bad It's Good, as said by Juvenite) but I still enjoyed my time revisiting this TC, especially doing it in the original DOS version of Atomic Edition v1.5. It feels a lot like a typical 90s TC and if it weren't for some very interesting and unique maps, the excellent soundtrack and the custom enemies introduced in episodes 3 and 4 (and the new barrel that can either explode or spawn something useful), this TC would have been a very forgettable experience. Which is a shame because back in 2010-2011, I almost thought this was an official (or semi-official) addon and decided to check it out. I kept confusing it with Duke Zone II because I downloaded and played it at around the same time and some maps were similar in both addons.

I only recommend checking LostDuke for historical purposes. There are some maps that shouldn't be skipped but at same time you should avoid at least half of the maps, as they are your typical 1996-1997 map quality.

Since today is 25th, which is also the 25th anniversary of Shadow Warrior Registered version (Happy 25th Birthday Shadow Warrior! Also happy 25th The Lost Duke Episodes!), it is time to vote for next month's choices. ;)

JJ Duke Nukem 3D
Mikko Sandt's Maps + Duke Tournament + MSSP Episode + The Brave New World
Secrets of the Acropolis + Twin Dragon +
WGRealms + WGSpace Episode

I decided to get rid of the Map packs suggestion as it stayed for several months without being chosen. It can be re-added later if anyone wants to nominate various map packs. And well, unfortunately, Shadow Warrior and Wanton Destruction has to go as well because they had one chance to win.

HOWEVER, to make up for that, in their place we get the nomination above by The Watchtower (I was actually planning to nominate JJDuke in November, I swear!) and another new nomination by me. My nomination represents two mods created by the same company (Level Infinity), one old TC for Duke3D and one official addon for SW. This gives Shadow Warrior another chance to win (albeit, only its addon). This is also to mix up things a bit more and to have another Build engine game being chosen for first time.

I decided to vote for the new option (I would have voted for JJDuke if it were November and because I don't feel like playing another multi-episode TC so soon after this month), which is highlighted in bold (with an extra + added) to show the vote. Don't forget to vote until next week and the new September 2022 topic will be up at that time with the winner decided by the majority, unless a tie occurs in which the winner will be chosen randomly.

Have a nice day and hope to see you on the new September topic! In the meantime, I am considering bumping up the previous July topic if I decide to catch up and play more CBPs.
With that said, I am excited for the upcoming months and what will win next. I especially can't wait for the October nominations.
3

User is online   Quacken 

#28

Happy 25th to my "favourite" Build game. (In quotations because I'm genuinely not sure if I like SW or Blood more, I think I like them equally.)

JJ Duke Nukem 3D
Mikko Sandt's Maps + Duke Tournament + MSSP Episode + The Brave New World
Secrets of the Acropolis + Twin Dragon +
WGRealms + WGSpace Episode

Twin Dragon is probably the most interesting Shadow Warrior map set packaged with Classic Redux, I'd be happy to replay it. Though I'm still not sure if it was officially licensed or it was a community project thrown in to Redux as a bonus... I'm also quite interested in Secrets of the Acropolis, so cast my vote on this selection. Speaking of Blood though, by chance is it on your radar for a future Mod of the Month Club?

This post has been edited by Quacken: 25 August 2022 - 02:22 AM

2

User is offline   juvenite 

#29

JJ Duke Nukem 3D
Mikko Sandt's Maps + Duke Tournament + MSSP Episode + The Brave New World
Secrets of the Acropolis + Twin Dragon +
WGRealms + WGSpace Episode

I was a bit undecisive as I was playing JJDuke now and it would be nice to have a month for it, but it is true that we just did a multi-episode mod, so to refresh things a bit my vote goes for SW.
1

User is offline   Aleks 

#30

JJ Duke Nukem 3D
Mikko Sandt's Maps + Duke Tournament + MSSP Episode + The Brave New World
Secrets of the Acropolis + Twin Dragon ++++
WGRealms + WGSpace Episode

My vote doesn't matter anyway, because seems everyone's voting for the new and interesting combo that FistMarine introduced, so just summing up the votes and adding one more for it. I've been meaning to try out Twin Dragon for a while now (well, since last year when I first played SW and Wanton Destruction), so it might be a good opportunity to do it. As for SOTA, it's one of the first TCs I've ever played back in like 1998 and it totally blew my mind for how amazing it looked compared to other user made content, including really fitting new graphics. Also it can be quite interesting to see the drastic change of quality between SOTA and TLDE, considering they're apparently released a day apart (at least from the dates of the files - and also both will be indeed turning 25 soon, as FistMarine mentioned, on 27th and 28th August, respectively). SOTA itself is pretty short with 6 levels + a secret level, but surely worth it. I've played it a few years ago, dunno if I will find the time to replay it as I literally have like 1-2 weeks in September when I won't be away and the work's gonna be pretty hectic, but we'll see.
1

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