[quakis]

https://taw.duke4.net/

Thought I'd have a simple thread to cross-post any updates on my site, due partly to the infrequent uploads and as a convenient heads up for anyone interested.

I'll try to keep a focus on posting Duke3D content here, but may also mention review uploads for other games should they happen. Site updates will remain infrequent since I don't exactly plan them anymore, they just happen when inspired to write one but otherwise tend to focus my time and efforts elsewhere these days. There's still plenty of releases I'd love to cover eventually and rewrite several pre-2007 reviews that remain in dire quality, so I'm not throwing in the towel just yet.

To start this thread off officially, I have two updates for you:

TAW2022 Theme
Firstly an updated design based off a more recent version of the theme I've been using and streamlined to be a less busy reading experience. The review list has been moved to a separate page to keep things concise. Another bonus is that TAW should now (at least I hope so) have a proper viewing experience on tablet/mobile devices, something that's been on my todo list for a very long time. Credit primarily goes to the existing theme template I modified, Tracks by CompleteThemes. Minor additions are still to be done, such as bringing back those header images for each game section, otherwise the bulk of work is complete.

Reviews
Secondly, my revisted reviews for the ROCH series is now complete and uploaded. Links below. Started out during the earliest DMOTM, finished 16 months later... Burn out is real folks and if there's one thing I've learnt while writing these particular reviews, variety is absolutely important to keep a healthy balanced mindset to not hate the very act of writing itself. ROCH levels don't change a great deal between later releases, so falling into the trap of repetition was difficult to avoid. In time it seemed like I was forcing the words out, couldn't quite get what I wanted to say that stands out in each level on their own merits and quickly grew to dislike looking at my drafts entirely. Still better late than never I suppose, but the next time any focus in put onto reviewing a series of similar works, it'll need to be staggered between different project types and choices of game for my own sake.

Without further delay, the reviews themselves:

ROCH5 Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...1/duke3d/roch5/
ROCH6 Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...1/duke3d/roch6/
ROCH7 Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...1/duke3d/roch7/
ROCH8 Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...1/duke3d/roch8/

Until the next update, which might be Half Life related.

[Mark]

I did a quick scroll thru the first 10 pages. Wow, lots of maps I either never saw or don't remember that look good. I didn't know that the "They Hunger" mod for HL was a trilogy.

[quakis]

That Half Life related review is still coming somewhere down the line, just haven't got around to it as of late.

Instead, here's a new review for BattleDuke. It's late hours, so I'll probably notice some errors later: https://taw.duke4.ne...e3d/battleduke/

[Sanek]

Thank you very much for a review, quakis! It was a fascinating read! Though it's mostly a repeat of your posts in a episode's thread, I like how you described everything that this release have, and even negative points doesn't sound too bad when you write about it.

Speaking about TAW itself, it was always considered as "the other review site" of the scene; it's there, but people don't give it enough credit imo. Tbh I visitited this website mainly because I thought that ''qshockwave'' title sounds cool lol. But I also thought that there should be something more than just some reviews (but can't think of anything right now). However, I still appreciate that you cover content for various games there, including the games that don't have much user content to begin with, like Prey or RR.


I liked the previous design though, with labels on the left side.

[quakis]

Sanek, on 19 March 2023 - 02:47 AM, said:

Though it's mostly a repeat of your posts in a episode's thread

Yeah, they were a handy basis to work and extend from, I actually enjoyed writing this review from start to finish with those initial notes guiding me along the way.

Sanek, on 19 March 2023 - 02:47 AM, said:

Tbh I visitited this website mainly because I thought that ''qshockwave'' title sounds cool lol.

Man, those were the days, such an edgy title too. Think I still have the old geocities qshockwave version of the website sitting on a burnt disc somewhere. If I ever decide to go through those discs again and find it, I'll be sure to post some screenshots for nostalgia!

Sanek, on 19 March 2023 - 02:47 AM, said:

I liked the previous design though, with labels on the left side.

I can kind of relate to that. I primarily moved that sidebar and tweaked the overall design for various reasons, the main one was clutter. The links were very distracting with so much text on screen with it being alongside the reviews themselves, reading my own site was honestly straining my eyes. Second was that my old implementation of the sidebar using the Tracks theme broke a lot of things, especially for mobile device browsing, so I didn't bother re-adding it when starting over using the latest version (at the time) of Tracks. Thirdly, mostly personal reasons because there wasn't that much content in all those other sections, it felt off flaunting a big list like that when it's a surface level scope of what's available for reading at best. Maybe when each section has a minimum of 10 reviews I might feel different about it all, haha.

I'll keep your feedback in mind though, if I can re-add the sidebar for desktop browsing without breaking stuff elsewhere and not create clutter I may consider it, but no promises sadly. I'm always making very slight changes now and then, just little things to add flavour to the reading experience. I do miss having the old banner though, or atleast something colourful up the top there...

[quakis]

quakis, on 18 March 2023 - 07:12 PM, said:

That Half Life related review is still coming somewhere down the line, just haven't got around to it as of late.

And here it is, finally. I've become blind to my own writing so there may be some errors I'll clean up later. This marks the last work-in-progress draft from my backlog as complete. That's a massive weight off my shoulders, been wanting to get this one finished for a long time since writing my They Hunger review.

Heart of Evil Review (Half Life): https://taw.duke4.ne.../heart-of-evil/

I'm aiming for new Duke reviews in the upcoming updates, stay tuned.

[quakis]

Here's one of those Duke reviews I had planned to do, but only recently got around to start writing it out. I'd like to do more coverage of some "recent" releases, we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I've conveyed my thoughts on this one clearly.

Submachine Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...e3d/submachine/

[Aleks]

quakis, on 20 November 2023 - 03:51 PM, said:

Here's one of those Duke reviews I had planned to do, but only recently got around to start writing it out. I'd like to do more coverage of some "recent" releases, we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I've conveyed my thoughts on this one clearly.

Submachine Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...e3d/submachine/

Great, thanks a lot for the review! Always a pleasure to read your in-depth analyses of maps.

[quakis]

Another "recent" level off my todo list, this time I wanted to focus a bit on the shift in style going from something like Poison Heart (the last ck3d release I reviewed) to his follow up releases. Salvage Title seemed like the perfect place to segway into that should I eventually get around to reviewing later work, but there's still plenty of older stuff I'd like to cover too.

Salvage Title Review: https://taw.duke4.ne.../salvage-title/

[ck3D]

Wow thank you that is neat, wasn't expecting that. Appreciate the in-depth appreciation of the style so much, I'm glad it worked on you but honestly also am not exactly surprised given your level of Build/Duke 3D level design literacy. Was especially pleased to see you mention the distinct features and functions of the various rooms and elements, and that you liked piecing the theme(s) and scraps together. Cheers!

[quakis]

About a month ago I went back and finished my playthrough for The Gate. I started my initial run of it during an unbearable sweaty summer for the Duke Map/Mod of the Month and had to put it aside because playing games at the time just wasn't any fun. It was left as unfinished business, finally beat the other two episodes and have been writing this piece on and off during December. Was hoping to get this out as the last review for 2023 but oh well, first review of 2024 instead I guess.

After taking my eyes off it for a while I'll very likely come back to touch it up no doubt, but for now here it is:

The Gate Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...uke3d/the-gate/

[quakis]

Recently uploaded two Doom wad reviews for anyone interested:

Caldera of Wretchedness (for PsyDoom): https://taw.duke4.ne...om2/caldera-ow/

Mudman (for Doom 2): https://taw.duke4.ne...1/doom2/mudman/

[quakis]

An update of reviews since the last post here. I've also got several write-ups in the pipeline and hoping to introduce new categories this year, but all in due time. For now:

Escape from Phobos (DOOM2): https://taw.duke4.ne...4/01/doom2/efp/
Escape from Deimos (DOOM2): https://taw.duke4.ne...4/01/doom2/efd/
Escape from Natas (DOOM2): https://taw.duke4.ne...4/01/doom2/efn/
Nuclear Plant 2024 (Duke3D): https://taw.duke4.ne...learplant-2024/

[quakis]

Two new reviews, no time for jokes today.

Outpost 13 is a DOOM2 level created by Brullov, who also brought you Fallout Freeze for Duke3D
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...oom2/outpost13/

Showndown in Suzhou is for Shadow Warrior created by Methy. It's been 20 years since the last SW review and I even promised to check this level out and review it back in 2016. Better late than never..?
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...4/04/sw/suzhou/

[quakis]

I've wanted to check out and eventually open up a Tomb Raider section on my site for years, just hadn't taken the plunge until now. It's a little daunting doing reviews because the game plays unlike Duke, Doom or even Thief, so this is experimental until I get more experience how to continue writing these. This section will also likely open up to the sequels (TR2 up to TR5), with TR4 being where most of the community releases reside, but for now I'm keeping things simple by sticking with TR1 for the time being.

Ruins of the Lost City review: https://taw.duke4.ne...-the-lost-city/
Oasis review: https://taw.duke4.ne...05/tomb1/oasis/

I've still got one more section I wish to add this year, we'll see how that goes.

[quakis]

Been a while... I've had to make some changes on the backend to accomodate things for future posts I have in mind and thus the formatting on older posts is a little broken, so I'm working on touching those up. Luckily the fixes are quick to make. Give me a shout if something doesn't look right that I've definitely missed, might be browser specific.

Review uploads since the last update:

Fear of the Dark (Duke3D) - I forgot to mention this one prior, probably because I already linked it in the main thread at the time.
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...ar-of-the-dark/

Eraser (DOOM 2) - Specifically for version 2, the author is currently working on a version 3 update which makes various changes/additions. I'll consider either reviewing that one separately or adding an update addendum to this when it releases.
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...5/doom2/eraser/

The Secret Path (DOOM 2) - A curious little oldie at the tail end of '96.
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne.../doom2/thepath/

Murder TC (Duke3D) - If you've read my posts during the DMOTM, there won't be too much different here. I've expanded on some thoughts however and then compiled everything into a new write up for this review.
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...uke3d/murdertc/

[quakis]

Time for another summary. Needed a break from reviewing to spend that time doing other things, output might slow down going forward as I'm still focused working on other projects. There's much I wish to cover and may even give other sections some attention for a change of pace.

Review uploads since the last update:

Levels covered during July's MOTM, will eventually get around to the others I missed down the road.

• Holiday Holocaust: https://taw.duke4.ne...iday-holocaust/
  
• Jailbird: https://taw.duke4.ne...uke3d/jailbird/
  
• One to Zero: https://taw.duke4.ne...uke3d/one2zero/
  
• Leaving LA: https://taw.duke4.ne...ke3d/leavingla/

Hollywood Holocaust by J S Graham (DOOM 2): Curious conversion of Duke's level into Doom, seeing the compromises made to contain the layout and progression within the games limits, while adding a few extra surprises.
Review: https://taw.duke4.ne...wood-holocaust/

Zaero: Episode 1 (DOOM 2): The latest review revisits one of the earliest wads I played back in 2005, which never did see a sequel.
https://taw.duke4.ne...9/doom2/zaero1/

[quakis]

One last update and summary for the year:

Two horror themed Quake maps focused on mood pieces over action;

• Hell in a Can: https://taw.duke4.ne.../hell-in-a-can/
  
• A Day Like No Other: https://taw.duke4.ne...-like-no-other/

Latest review posted today is SIKHL for Duke3D: https://taw.duke4.ne...2/duke3d/sikhl/


Sadly I missed out on getting some other reviews out the door because they didn't feel ready and took time away from the Nov and Dec updates. I overthink these writeups... Aiming to have those ready for next year instead.

2024 went fairly well considering I put more focus on writing reviews mainly as a break from other priorities and didn't like seeing TAW being neglected. I doubt I'll stop anytime soon, but updates might continue to be slow going.
24 uploads & 56 individual map reviews, the most I've written in a year since 2013. The years following were infrequent dribs and drabs. Now whether or not this year has been a quantity over quality case I'm not yet certain but I don't dislike the results so far.

Hope 2025 proves to be just as productive, I'd like to cover more classic Duke3D releases along with bulking out the other BUILD game sections.

[quakis]

Been working on this one for a short while, but glad to finally feel satisfied enough to upload it. Latest review is my own write up for DOOM2's MyHouse, mostly going into spoiler territory: https://taw.duke4.ne...doom2/my-house/

[quakis]

Almost a decade late, but I got around to talking about the mini episode for Powerslave, RETURN TO RUINS: https://taw.duke4.ne...eturn-to-ruins/

I was hoping the elusive extra map would one day pop up, yet in time the release left my mind and only in recent years decided I should get around to writing about this project eventually. At the time of writing there should be another three singleplayer releases for Powerslave to check out.

Excuse the lack of updates so far, but I do have some drafts being worked on and been figuring out a different writing methodology that suits me better. In truth however I haven't been playing nearly as many maps/mods recently, been focusing more on playing through games both old and new. With that in mind I have also been considering bringing back the game review section; Part of me wants a venue to talk about these experiences whether they're short form articles or go indepth depends on how much I have to say, yet another part of me doesn't want the focus on TAW to shift too far away from the mapping/modding side of things. The thought lingers in the air for now, especially how I'd want to present them, just needed to speak aloud to see if it helps me make a decision.

[quakis]

After all these years I haven't talked about the original BOBSP trilogy on TAW, had fun writing this piece looking back on BOBSP1 from my perspective and its influence on mapping across the years
https://taw.duke4.ne.../duke3d/bobsp1/

I've learnt my lesson while reviewing the ROCH series, so I'll be spreading out discussing the sequels in between other reviews. Glad to at least have something written for a map that influenced my earliest BUILD efforts.