[UltravoxSapphire]

Coming never I mean soon (yeah right) from Slap McBald (aka. Plasmatic Software Entertainment):



This here is going to be a thread for me to post some interesting screenshots as well as information on certain stuff in this mod.

Before doing that, however, I'd like to give you all a basic idea of what this whole thing is about and what it has. Of course, I don't have everything about it written down here.


Goal of the project

Spoiler

This bit from my design document says it best:

"The goal of Metal Future 3D: Fall of Darkstar is to emulate the appearance of the unreleased prototypes of Duke Nukem 3D from 1995 while still having some degree of originality and freshness. The reason for the latter part is that too many prototype-inspired modifications take either very little (in an attempt to precisely replicate the prototypes based on the limited screenshots and information available, often with little success) or too many creative liberties (these projects have a tendency to stray too far from reference material, and consequently stop looking like what they are aiming to be).

Metal Future needs to be balanced – some liberties must be taken, but not too many, or else it will fail at its ultimate goal."

Backstory

Spoiler

In 2099, the Darkstar Army came here. They told us their home planet, Abysson, was destroyed by a meteor shower two years previously, and that they were in desperate need of a new home. Although very hesitant at first, we welcomed them, and allowed them to take over the Eastern Hemisphere, which was in left in shambles after World War IV, the details of which are best left classified. There, they set up a brutal dictatorship, with their leader, Lord Darkstar, watching over all.

FLASH FORWARD TO TODAY: DISASTER STRIKES

In August, 2102, the New World Order embassy in the Darkstar Territory is bombed by the Army, killing 4 NWO diplomats and injuring 17 others. The government issues an ultimatum to the Territory, stating if they do not pay for the damage done to the embassy building and the deaths of the diplomats, there will be war.

Lord Darkstar refuses to make the payment, saying:

“If you really want to, we can settle this the violent way.

…

Let's see if you're worthy of this planet.”

The Man Standing in Their Way

Spoiler

We all know who this guy is. The legendary Duke Nukem. After weeks of fighting in space, he's finally getting the vacation he deserves.

...Or is he?

Nope, he's not. There's yet another mess he needs to clean up, and it's an ugly one.

His Mission

Spoiler

Duke's mission is very simple: fight the hostiles, destroy their operation for world domination from the inside out, put a permanent end to their leader, and restore peace. Easier said than done, however. These guys don't mess around - they are organized, vicious, and VERY tough.

With some of that info out of the way, let's discuss what's in the actual mod:


Episodes and Levels

Spoiler

Some of these maps are modified from ones in Lameduke, while others are original. I won't give many details to prevent spoilers, but here are the episodes, their locations, and very vague summaries:

E1 - Cosmic Combat - Moonbase and space station - Duke returns only to discover something horrible. He must find a way to disable a forcefield around the planet.
E2 - Genocide City Siege - Los Angeles - L.A. was the first city in NWO territory to fall, and it will be the first to be liberated. With the help of two renegades, Duke must infiltrate the city and destroy the hostiles' resources.
E3 - Aquatic Armageddon - Pacific Ocean - Time to get wet. After escaping a prison, Duke must infiltrate a Darkstar stronghold nicknamed "Aqua City."
E4 - ??? - ??? - Duke and his allies will descend into darkness and uncover the most horrible secrets.

Weapons (subject to change)

Spoiler

Some of the weapons as of right now aren't exactly the way I want them thanks to the fact coding for Duke is not easy. Here's what is desired:

Laser Sword (slot 1) - Probably won't be used until late in the game. It'd be nice if it could deflect bullets or whatever.

Kick (slot 1) - Basically the same.

Pistol (slot 2) - It does pistol things. Acts the same way.

Shotgun - I really wanna get rid of this.

Plasma Rifle (In, but quite clearly hackish. I want this in slot 3) - Basically, it's just the ripper reskinned. I had to come up with some idea and explanation for it to make up for the fact it's clearly not the Lameduke plasma rifle (made it an... infrared cannon or something). It's sad, I know.

RPG (wanted in slot 4) - Nothing new.

Pipebombs (wanted in slot 5) - You get the idea

Shrinker (wanted in slot 6) - Yup

Expander (wanted in slot 7) - Should be its own separate thing with unique sprites. Should have projectile like shrinker's except red.

Microwave Assault Cannon (wanted in slot 8) - Basically acts like the weird ass flamethrower from 0.99.

Laser Tripbombs (wanted in slot 9) - Could have an alternate thing with moving lasers like in that one beta video.

I'll leave enemies for another time because I'm not entirely sure what I want.


Screenshots

Nothing here is final.
















Credits

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF THESE GUYS:
3D Realms (the original guys, not the poseurs in charge of it nowadays)
Cage (for creating beta-styled assets)
TerminX (for posting legit pieces of beta assets on the Duke4 discord and giving me some ideas for the mod)
Hendricks266 (for also posting a few bits)
KingaAss (for inspiring me to start this project)
Jimmy (for ripping hud stuff from beta screenshots)
Triaxis (i might have used something he made. i can't remember that well cuz i've lost track of some stuff)
Oasiz (i think his analyses on lameduke might have inspired me in some way. again, can't remember)
Aleks, Sangman, Futuretime23, and several others on the Duke4 Discord (for being very supportive of the project)
Phredreeke (plz stop sending me ai generated garbage)
Lezing (creator of extclut)
Lunick (for putting bits of prototype content on his tumblr blog, duke3dmaps.tumblr.com)
Jet Nick (he ripped something from a beta screenshot and now i'm making use of it)

NO THANKS TO:
Warrenkprince92 (STOP STEALING MY SHIT)
BRYAN2000
Frederik Schreiber

No, I'm not putting Gearbox on that list. That would be cliche.


Stay tuned. There is more information to come... I hope.

[Danukem]

Unless you are one of those people with rock solid and consistent internal motivation and work ethic, I recommend that you do periodic releases at development milestones, with each one being playable and including a new map. 95% of announcement like this end up being unfinished and unreleased (or end up with a partial release many years later with the developer admitting they will never finish it).

[UltravoxSapphire]

Danukem, on 04 September 2022 - 01:07 PM, said:

Unless you are one of those people with rock solid and consistent internal motivation and work ethic, I recommend that you do periodic releases at development milestones, with each one being playable and including a new map. 95% of announcement like this end up being unfinished and unreleased (or end up with a partial release many years later with the developer admitting they will never finish it).

I might consider releasing a one-map demo. Then, with each update, a new map is added (or perhaps, an existing one is updated if i'm disappointed with something). Not sure how well that will go, but it's worth a try.

[Danukem]

Grinman Gore, on 04 September 2022 - 01:15 PM, said:

I might consider releasing a one-map demo. Then, with each update, a new map is added (or perhaps, an existing one is updated if i'm disappointed with something). Not sure how well that will go, but it's worth a try.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Most of your motivation needs to be internal, but getting some feedback along the way is crucial when you are going it alone. Unless, of course, you are one of those freaks who can just work alone for a long time and keep motivated. They do exist.

[Mike Norvak]

Danukem, on 04 September 2022 - 01:07 PM, said:

Unless you are one of those people with rock solid and consistent internal motivation and work ethic, I recommend that you do periodic releases at development milestones, with each one being playable and including a new map. 95% of announcement like this end up being unfinished and unreleased (or end up with a partial release many years later with the developer admitting they will never finish it).

🙋🏻‍♂️

[Phredreeke]

Grinman Gore, on 04 September 2022 - 10:05 AM, said:

Phredreeke (plz stop sending me ai generated garbage)'

[OpenMaw]

This just makes me think of all the conversions from 20 years ago that never saw the light of day.

I actually miss those days quite a bit. Everyone was young and so full of naive enthusiasm to make the "biggest bestest thing evarrrr"

[Phredreeke]

Which episode will have "Femboy Harem" as its secret level?

[UltravoxSapphire]

Phredreeke, on 14 September 2022 - 03:07 PM, said:

Which episode will have "Femboy Harem" as its secret level?

Episode 5... which doesn't exist and never will :dukinuki:

[UltravoxSapphire]

I didn't want to make this post here but I'm not too keen on getting harassed by psychos over prototypes I don't have. By the way, go fuck yourself for that, Mark Kaminari. Fuckin psycho.

Earlier today, the aforementioned Kaminari dude accused me of having all the Duke prototypes from 94 and 95. Thing is, I fucking don't. His "evidence" was a website that's not even mine (IT'S BETA BRYAN'S OLD WEBSITE) and this thread... or well, shitty phone screenshots of it. Later on, he went onto the Discord server of Hidden Palace and said shit about me and the "betas" I apparently own (bullshit), and in fear of getting potentially fucked in the ass royally over the net (maybe getting blacklisted by hidden palace, eh, idk), I went in there and called him a liar.

Another thing worth noting... one of the goals of this project is to recreate the inaccessible prototypes. If they were made accessible years ago when nu3DR were doing their thing, then this project wouldn't exist in the exact same form.

Moral of the story, don't be like him.

[VGames]

Dang Mark K gets around lol

[UltravoxSapphire]

UPDATE AFTER SEVEN CENTURIES

At this point I'm not really sure where this mod's going. Development's slow (because i'm an unmotivated retard); it happens in short bursts... a lot has changed in said bursts though. I'm using Marcolino's Legacy Mod as a base, and I'm going for the rawest art direction I can think of: A mix of April, October, and late December 1994. Why? There's a certain charm to it. Not the best, but it's something kinda refreshing in a way, especially since most beta mods I know of are horrid bastardizations of May 95 in some way Hi mark kaminari and warren k prince, your mods fucking suck.







Wow, I can't wait to see how this stuff looks in seven more centuries!

[NightFright]

Release a demo ASAP, that's my advice. The praise you'll undoubtedly receive for it is going to give you a motivation boost. And if reviews are rather critical, at least you know what needs to be adjusted before you take it too far.

Personally I still believe the concept of this project is pretty cool. Always wanted to play some sort of Lame Duke in a way that's actually enjoyable.

[UltravoxSapphire]

NightFright, on 11 July 2023 - 02:30 PM, said:

Release a demo ASAP, that's my advice. The praise you'll undoubtedly receive for it is going to give you a motivation boost. And if reviews are rather critical, at least you know what needs to be adjusted before you take it too far.

Personally I still believe the concept of this project is pretty cool. Always wanted to play some sort of Lame Duke in a way that's actually enjoyable.

I'm not quite sure if there's enough to make a demo of some sort. And even if there was, I'm rather worried about putting it online because of people like Warren K. Prince, who has repeatedly stolen content from an earlier incarnation of the mod I put online and later regretted.

Still, I'll consider it.

[Aleks]

Beware of Frandy Notcum, on 12 July 2023 - 12:12 AM, said:

I'm not quite sure if there's enough to make a demo of some sort. And even if there was, I'm rather worried about putting it online because of people like Warren K. Prince, who has repeatedly stolen content from an earlier incarnation of the mod I put online and later regretted.

Still, I'll consider it.

In this case, you could probably share it with some people for beta-testing instead of a public release, to get some idea on where you are.

[UltravoxSapphire]

Small progress report: Textures in M1, one of two levels in the upcoming demo, are almost fully Alt-C'd. No working enemies yet.

[UltravoxSapphire]

Uhh... oh dear, what's happened to the project now?

[UltravoxSapphire]

For once, there's some actual functionality to speak of instead of something hackish. It cost the project some of its authenticity, but eh.

Spoiler

[NightFright]

That statusbar is definitely something. Digging the minimalistic style!

[MrFlibble]

Beware of Frandy Notcum, on 18 March 2024 - 04:25 PM, said:

Screenshot_Doom_20240318_201936.png

For once, there's some actual functionality to speak of instead of something hackish. It cost the project some of its authenticity, but eh.

That screenshot looks good as a whole too, could be quite at home among the actual pre-release shots from 1995.

[UltravoxSapphire]

It's beta, but is it betta? Hard to say.

[UltravoxSapphire]

Come get some keycards.

[Ninety-Six]

So why the engine switch?

[UltravoxSapphire]

There's a lot that I wanted in the original Build version that I just couldn't add without it being incredibly hackish. I wanted a more straightforward developing experience, and though GZDoom suffers from its own quirks I could seriously do without (Fuck you Graf, by the way), it's been doing a good job at providing that for the most part.

All that being said, I still don't feel too good about compromising on the project's authenticity like this. It wasn't an easy decision.

[Perro Seco]

DevoNukem, on 18 April 2024 - 02:12 PM, said:

There's a lot that I wanted in the original Build version that I just couldn't add without it being incredibly hackish. I wanted a more straightforward developing experience, and though GZDoom suffers from its own quirks I could seriously do without (Fuck you Graf, by the way), it's been doing a good job at providing that for the most part.

All that being said, I still don't feel too good about compromising on the project's authenticity like this. It wasn't an easy decision.

Will it work on ZDoom too?

Yeah, a bit sad to leave Build aside, even more when the screenshots, despite looking better and better, don't seem to show nothing really difficult to implement within EDuke32. Which tools do you use to make your Doom mod? I've been always curious to know how easier is to make these things in Doom compared with Duke 3D.

[Ninety-Six]

DevoNukem, on 18 April 2024 - 02:12 PM, said:

There's a lot that I wanted in the original Build version that I just couldn't add without it being incredibly hackish. I wanted a more straightforward developing experience, and though GZDoom suffers from its own quirks I could seriously do without (Fuck you Graf, by the way), it's been doing a good job at providing that for the most part.

Fair enough.

[eniojr]

Your project is very interesting and seems very loyal to the beta context. Keep this up! I'm also using Marcolino's Legacy mod as a base, but not to make an independent mod. Instead, my goal is to make an addon compatible with Legacy mod, with many additions (levels, textures, music, sounds and maybe new interactions with textures, sector effects and non enemy actors too). The only thing I know for now is to add new textures and making maps with basic effects. I'm still starting to learn about modding (dealing with textures, sounds, effects and coding). My goal is to make, inside Legacy mod, my vision of what Duke Nukem 3D should have been in an addon, as a sub-mod.

Is there any source where I can learn about adding new sounds, effects (climbing ladders from Naferia, vacuum and closing when shooting glass from Lameduke), new colors for access cards, interactions and functions for textures and new actors?

Here is my project: https://forums.duke4...684#entry381684

[UltravoxSapphire]

Progress Report: ... what the fuck?



It's morphing so much that I'm not sure this can be even partially classified as a beta recreation anymore. Am I on the right track?

[UltravoxSapphire]

More details on this major direction shift are to come. For now, here's some screenshots of how things are going.











This place looks rather gray.

[UltravoxSapphire]

General rundown of the changes done - I originally wrote down a dramatic and cool plot to post here, but I didn't feel like potentially making a fool of myself:

- Three extra playable characters (who have their own pros and cons. Duke's still here, don't worry.)
- In general, I'm shifting away from the beta remake (Lameduke, etc.) approach due to how insufferable and unfun it really is as an overall direction. I'm starting to think Beta ain't really Betta at this point. More on that later.
- As such, the art direction is shifting to something on the more unique side, while maintaining bits and bobs of its roots. It's not changing completely, just enough that I'm satisfied.
- The basic backstory is that the main characters (which includes Duke) are the next generation of a four-piece special ops team called the Metal Force, which all their parents were a part of. Since half of the old generation died, and the other vanished without a trace, their offspring has to continue the team's legacy. There's a lot more than that, but I'm too tired to write it out right now. (it's almost farkin' 5 in the mornin', roight?)
- Guns are about the same, but their sprites have been edited to reflect the new changes.

I think I covered everything, so I'm going to go over my rationale for these big changes:

- Overall, I've grown disillusioned with the concept of beta recreations. They're alright when they cover Doom or Rise of the Triad and all that stuff cause you have actual design documents to go off of, even if they are somewhat vague - you can kinda use what you've got. With many games, including DN3D, you've got nothing.

- Sure, DN3D has had pieces of beta content drip-fed to the community over the years (including Lameduke), but it has been largely insufficient in giving an idea of what they wanted to go for at the time. After a while it just becomes really frustrating to work with due to the unbelievable amount of gaps present.

- Anywho, the beta recreation sphere as a whole also carries, in my mind, what I consider a highly negative reputation on the internet. The reason for this I have observed is that so many amateurs and idiots have tried and tried and tried to remake betas of games, and they either die and never come out, or come out and completely suck balls with inaccuracies up the ass and generally poor quality. Just take one look at the mountains and mountains of Sonic 1 beta remakes and you'll see what I mean.

- I have also noted that some in the sphere have a tendency to be rather hostile and unreceptive to criticism. Mark Kaminari and Blake Songne both come to mind with regard to DN3D betas. Fuck both of you guys if you're reading this, by the way, you drooling retards. Excuse me. I'll move on now.

- What's even the point in recreating a beta of a game anyway? In many cases, being 1:1 is basically impossible because you don't have a frame of reference at all. And if you had the actual beta to go off of, what would be the point in remaking it then? You've got it already. It's not the same as trying to finish a beta (a la DNF 2001 Restoration Project), mind you. What goal does one achieve through recreating a beta outside of receiving cheap internet points from strangers?

Simply put, Metal Future doesn't need that reputation attached to it. I have good enough skill that I can make it super duper different and unique if I want to. So that's what I decided to do, and that's why it's the way it is today. I'm sorry if these big changes disappoint or annoy some, or even compromise the authenticity of this mod, but to be blunt, I'm fucking sick of modding Lameduke and recreating May 1995 over and over again, so it's time for the project to change and never go back.