Thanks for joining in NY00123! Also nice videos Radar and many thanks for playing Salvage Title in DOS Duke3D v1.3D! I'm quite shocked it actually works, well aside from a couple visual glitches, some may be caused by running the game at higher resolution like the weapon flickering (I play the DOS versions of Duke3D with keyboard only controls on default resolution of 320x200 and runs quite smooth, never had the weapon/HUD flickering glitch happening to me). I was initially under impression Salvage Title wouldn't run well in DOS and I still find odd how Overtime didn't work at all in 1.3D (despite being made within DOS limits, though it works in v1.5 at least) but the newer Salvage Title map from 2021-2022 seems to be playable in DOS Duke3D 1.3D more or less.
After watching the DOS Duke video, here are some things to clarify for those who aren't as familiar with some Duke behaviors seen in Radar's video:
1) The original DOS version of Duke Nukem 3D 1.3D starts user maps on Piece of Cake difficulty by default when selected from SETUP.EXE, while Atomic Edition 1.4/1.5 have the maps start on Let's Rock difficulty by default, so you need to use command line parameters to set the skill when the map is loading. As a result, Radar played the map on POC skill, which meant he had to deal with 50 less enemies (I got 186 kills, he got 136 kills). Not that it's a bad thing, though it doesn't seem that huge of a difference if you ask me, considering many enemies are spawned into the level anyway.
2) As I have said many times before, difficulty settings only affect enemies present at the start of the level, plus some monsters like slimer eggs are unaffected by skill settings. Monsters spawned during the level (inside trash cans, touching a sector, killing a babe, etc) are also unaffected by skill levels. Damage dealt/taken is identical across all skills, although on the N64 version of the game, Duke takes only 50% damage on POC skill but again like the Armor, it doesn't protect from fatal shots that would normally kill Duke but still, this is an improvement that should have been present in the original DOS version, probably if there had been five skill levels implemented (I still don't know why they removed "Skill 0" in the final game anyway, though you can access it with command line parameters).
3) Protozoid Slimers latched on the face are immune to mighty boot in 1.3D, however they can still be killed by selecting the pistol (or any other weapon besides pipebombs and tripmines) and "firing" it even when out of ammo or during the raising animation.
A few more clarifications about my earlier reviews because I forgot to mention the following things:
1)
Wide Awake has adequate amount of health/armor pickups, as well as plenty of water fountains (fire hydrants and toilets) that were very handy when low on health, so after the tough beginning parts, the rest of the map is pretty standard duke3d user map stuff, outside of the annoying boss at end.
2)
Siebenpolis has a couple Mini Battlelords at the end that both me and Radar apparently missed. There was an extra area that was available when the Overlord shows up and the nearby building starts exploding. Most likely those Mini Battlelords didn't activate and were easily missed. I already deleted the saves but if I will replay the map in future, I will keep this in mind.
3)
The End of the World Part 1 is the last of the ck3D maps that I have already played previously, even if it was done long time ago. All the maps starting with Poison Heart are completely blind playthroughs, so the experience will be fresh.
Anyway, this is probably the last review of the month to wrap up everything for now. I might follow with two more maps reviewed (Turnpike and Red Light Rumble) later this week and that's it. Either way, what was reviewed so far is still very good and I'm sure ck3D will appreciate all these reviews, seeing as it was an incredibly busy month.
The following maps are reviewed for today: MRCK Spiegul, Roch Island, AMC Pleaser, endoftheworld001LEV1BRIGHTNESSintended, endoftheworld001LEV2BRIGHTNESSincreased, poisonheart, salvage.
The two maps listed above with long names are just the different versions of the same map, as you will see below. No, I don't understand why ck3D named some of the maps like that with very long names.
And yes, I know that I should have grouped the review of Spiegul Contest, Roch Island and AMC Pleaser with Happy Hangover and Meatball Sub Makin', since they are all JFDuke3D compatible but ended up forgetting about them and mixing the order of maps when reviewing them. Warning: LONG POST AHEAD!
The Spiegul Contest
I played this map pack for first time in late 2009-2010 or so and then replayed in JFDuke3D back in 2021.
The Spiegul Contest consists of three maps made in 2004 for a contest created by Merlijn, which is about using the start of the map and use as base for creating a map. The result was three maps by three different mappers: Taivo, MRCK (aka ck3D) and Devastator. MRCK and Taivo were both awarded 8 points, while Devastator's map only scored 2 points. Don't worry, Dev's map is still worth checking out but MRCK's and Taivo's maps are the main highlight of the pack.
I'm only going to talk a bit about ck3D's map. It is the most challenging of the pack, as it features plenty of Mini Battlelords and Pig Cop Tanks but there are also plenty of supplies to deal with them. If you are struggling with the health, you can always just retreat to the nearest water fountain. Interestingly, despite being the hardest of the bunch, it was the only map I beat without dying because in the other two I died by randomly getting squished in some sectors if I remember correctly.
Overall, this was an interesting map and a pretty good package. Would like to see a similar contest in the future.
Roch Island
Much like with the Spiegul Contest, I first played this map a long time ago and then replayed this map back in 2021. And much like with the Meatball Sub Makin' review, there is no point to repeat myself in re-reviewing it, so I will just copy my review from the June 2021 topic (the first edition of the map/mod club where we played through Roch series):
Quote
The tribute to Roch series. A fairly large map that can take you up to TWO hours to complete! It is also very action packed. I unfortunately don't have time to make a walkthrough, so I will let others write a walkthrough and the highlights of the map (Aleks already did that in meantime while I'm editing and finalizing the message). I finished it a few weeks ago as I happened to have it installed at that time.
I will say that I highly enjoyed this map due to its open ended nature but I also have two major issues that felt they could have been fixed before:
First, there is no jetpack in this map at all! I even searched with Mapster and there was none, unless it's supposed to spawn somewhere from something. One of the secrets early required a jetpack to reach it as it was too high for Duke to reach it (the one with the hidden bathroom and an enforcer inside), unless I wasn't supposed to break the fire hydrant and jump on it? The way I reached it was luring a trooper and jumping on its head, which was a bit tricky to do. Then I could reach the secret. I don't know, I feel a jetpack somewhere in a secret area would have been very useful to navigate the map due to high verticality. (Note added that I got a confirmation from Aleks in last PM that you were supposed to reach that secret by jumping on fire hydrant, I just happened to break it before I thought about using it and regretted it but then I saved anyway since I was using multiple slots and eventually I lured a trooper to reach it, at least that way I'm not using cheats)
Second, there were a couple of monsters that were missed at end of level, despite visiting everything and finding every secret. I don't know if they spawned outside the map or whatever. Besides searching in Mapster for anything hidden, in-game I only searched with cheats DNKROZ & DNCLIP (after I finished the map without cheats, obviously) and I was only able to see two mini battlelords that never noticed me in last area on rooftops and I couldn't get them notice me at all (due to lack of jetpack in normal gameplay), plus shooting with rockets at them results in wasted ammo, as they won't react at all until they see you for first time.
The Battlelord boss isn't too bad since you are given a shit-ton of ammo (RPG/Devastator pickups) and atomic health. It's more about surviving that horde you fight when you enter last part of the level, before cleaning the mess and fighting Battlelord that doesn't notice you immediately. This last part of map (and parts of some ck3D/MRCK's older maps) are slightly modified and featured in the last boss level of Metropolitan Mayhem. I think I may remember few missing monsters in that map as well or I was able to get all kills? I don't remember well (though I remember other boss map had a problem with the missing enemies) and I still don't know where I could have missed those 6 enemies, other than those Mini Battlelords on buildings.
The map has two versions released. One is from February 2009 and the other is from March 2009. I will focus on the more common and updated version that is linked in the OP. The older version is still available at Dukeworld for those who want to check out the initial release, though I don't know what were the changes between the two versions. I replayed this map in JFDuke3D for fun and to refresh my memory because I remember it being a great map. And I remembered correctly!
Design wise, it's pretty nice and feels like a classic city styled map. Gameplay wise, it is not too difficult early on and only becomes challenging towards the end, when the Mini Battlelords start showing up. Afterwards, upon flying to the building, you have the option between hitting the Nuke Button or fighting the Battlelord (or you can do both at once if you press the nuke button during the Battlelord's death animation). Obviously, I recommend going for the Battlelord boss, after all not only it is more fun to fight him but also he is not difficult to take down, since you will be well stocked on supplies and he won't drop down the building, so all you do is spam RPG/Devastator at him and he is dead in like 10 seconds.
Fun fact: The message seen near the nuke button (DON'T LEAVE YET! THERE IS A DEMON AROUND THE CORNER!) is a reference to one of the quitting texts in classic DOOM games!
There are also EIGHT secrets to find but unfortunately I'm not in the mood of writing a guide, as I have a hard time to describe the locations, though most secrets are easy to find and the last two are available by using the Jetpack to go on top of the buildings.
Overall, this was a fun classic map that's still worth revisiting in 2023.
The End of the World Part 1
Played using EDuke32 r5498 (latest 2015 build). The map version is dated 09/07/2015 from the original topic. The rar archive contains TWO versions of the map, one which is made with Level 1 Brightness (Intended) and the other one is made with Level 2 Brightness (Increased) in mind. I played both versions under the Gamma 2.0 setting and only noticed the second version with increased brightness is slightly brighter (obviously) but outside of that, I couldn't find anything different between the two.
I remember playing this map once when it came out in July 2015. I have fond memories of this map simply because it was the first map I've played after I graduated high school and the final exams in late June/early July 2015. When I came back to Duke3D and checked a couple "new" releases, I saw this one and decided to check it out. I was very impressed by the design and now I decided to revisit it with all kills/secrets to give it the proper conclusion. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I played through the map through twice (first the intended brightness version, then the increased brightness version).
I only remembered the beginning and end sections of the map, so it was very fun to revisit this map. Design wise, it is very nice and easily the best ck3D map so far. Gameplay wise, it is challenging at times but not too difficult. The fights with the alien hordes are pretty epic. You are given plenty of supplies to deal with them, especially health, armor and Devastator ammo. Which I must mention that while Duke starts weaponless, he will slowly come across upon the Devastator and 30 ammo, enough to deal with the first Mini Battlelord and various protectors/troopers, then each weapon (besides Trip Mines) will be slowly collected over time.
Since this map has a couple points of no return, it is recommended to advance cautiously and grab everything before dropping down the points of no return. The map gives plenty of Jetpacks and can allow backtracking from some sections but not all of them are possible to backtrack, for instance it is impossible to backtrack from very last room due to Duke not fitting through the vent while flying. I won't nitpick about the points of no return but I will say there were a few annoying instances of explosions happening in your face, though you are given plenty of supplies that it's not going to be a big issue if you lose 20-30 hp or so after you were already given an atomic health.
Secrets:
1) When entering the 7-Eleven store, press on any of the three cash registers to open the fridge. Behind the fridge, you can find a Freezethrower.
2) When reaching the subway area, enter the bookstore and press on the laptop to open a nearby window that reads "HOT HOT HOT". Inside, you can collect RPG ammo.
3) When reaching the subway area, near the ticket machine, blow up the crack. Jump inside to collect a Large Medkit.
Secrets #2 and #3 are found at short distance from each other. Also the first screenshot is from the dark version of the map, while the second and third are from the bright version of the map.
Overall, the design of this map is simply fantastic and the gameplay is very fun that will provide 40-45 minutes of entertainment. Easily the BEST ck3D map so far!
Poison Heart
Played using EDuke32 r8494 (latest 2019 build). The map version is dated 26/02/2019 from the original topic, aka the version numbered 1.01.
A Christmas themed map bought to you by Santa Nocus. This is a very challenging map that's also very fun and action packed.
Design wise, it's truly amazing. You can see all the details and the atmosphere this map brings to the player. Already you know you are in for a good time.
Gameplay wise, the map is mostly challenging and there are some truly difficult parts but I will admit there were also a few frustrating parts that I simply didn't enjoy, such as the parts with the turrets in the market before getting the Yellow Card.
I died at least three times in that part alone in the market, I felt that was quite bullshit because the turrets can't be hurt directly, while they can happily drain your health/armor in seconds and you don't realize until later when the correct solution was to simply throw a pipebomb or RPG at the bloody windows and have them getting teleported, so that the turrets will finally die and hopefully fast before they finish you off.
Now, I don't know if it was an issue with my EDuke32 build (especially had problems with autoaim later in the map where it would autoaim at tiny slimers/eggs that were behind wall instead of hitting a serious enemy) but in many cases the pipebomb/RPG got teleported through the window and the turrets took multiple shots to take down even when the teleporting projectiles hit them.
Likewise, some pig cops had a habit to survive one or two explosions from the pipebombs that were detonated near them, especially when they were crouching, it looks like the damage got nullified. I died once more because of that in the room with yellow card and had me get a bit frustrated at the various bad luck I had, especially another death following afterwards from a Commander's rocket coming out of nowhere that took my last 30 or so health instantly, while the armor didn't do shit to save me.
Yes, I absolutely HATE this armor glitch so much that plagues Duke3D and all games based on it, since you die so easily when your health drops below 50, that the armor does nothing to protect you in the case of a fatal hit, which is a serious issue that should have been fixed in the original game, at least in later versions of the game (for the record, none of the versions/source ports fix this annoying glitch). The glitch is most likely caused because the game first checks the player's health and if isn't enough to survive an attack (that is equal or higher than player's health), then the player dies, regardless of how much armor they have currently.
Furthermore, there are various annoyances in the form of some green squished/tiny Newbeasts/Protectors that are hard to hit, though you quickly get the hang of killing them with Pipebombs or if you are crazy enough, you can kick them to death. And those tiny eggs sometimes had the habit to screw your autoaim, especially in the area with that giant slimer shooting RPG/Mortar at you, there was a Mini Battlelord I couldn't hit because the autoaim would aim at those tiny eggs/slimers that weren't even visible on the screen! Oh and the Mini Battlelord inside a building (after having done a shrinking puzzle) also gave me a bit of a trouble because I was out of RPG ammo and didn't realize that all I had to do was destroy the fire extinguisher to generate explosions that killed him, as I ended up approaching and throwing Pipebombs at him while taking massive damage in return, leaving me confused for a while what am I supposed to do (no, the hitscan shots didn't affect him, Shrinker/Expander didn't affect him and so on).
Luckily, ck3D gives us plenty of supplies to make through the map and also water fountains in desperate moments, though this time I didn't have much patience to sit to refill my health except maybe once or twice when low on health, plus I had exhausted about 4-5 armor pickups and portable medkits (without taking into account exhausting most of the regular health supplies, even though they were all carefully grabbed) due to the excessive amount of damage I took at some points. Despite that, I don't think I died more than five times, though some parts were getting a bit on my nerves, maybe I wasn't in a very good mood to spend two hours on a large map like this.
On the note of armor supplies, there are plenty of armor pickups found early on (some of them even at short distance from one another) that will come very handy at later times in the map, as the armor pickups become scarcer the more you progress and you will be backtracking to previous places in hope to find a new armor replacement. Seriously, I advice the readers to just grab the armor pickups carefully (grab a new pickup when at 20 or lower), don't grab them randomly, so you don't end up without any armor later on. Armor may suck when you are low on health but it is a lifesaver when you have plenty of health available.
Fortunately, the final fights are very well done and I enjoyed them a lot, including taking down the Cycloid Emperor situated on top of that building or whatever. Although I had to look up an YouTube video once to see how access the final battle (didn't see the tiny button on the microwave) and see where the rest secrets were located, though note that some secrets require the Jetpack, so don't waste the fuel for nothing, even though you get extra jetpacks during the last fights. But outside of that confusing part with the microwave (yes I know the hint was on the fridge but it still confused me), progression is pretty clear and there are even clever shrinking puzzles, as well as climbing on roofs while progressing and fighting the monsters that are suddenly appearing.
Secrets:
1) When you reach the room with the hanging jury that drops Expander Ammo upon death, there is a red reflective window. Shrink yourself and go through the tiny vent to access the secret room containing the NVGs. After you collect them, wait for the shrink ray shooter to shrink you and go back to the previous room.
2) Inside the condemned building, press on the exit door to temporary open a nearby window. Quickly jump inside to collect the Atomic Health.
3) At the big area with the giant Protozoid Slimer (that shoots RPG and Mortars until it can be turned off), there is an Atomic Health in a corner that can be reached by carefully walking on ledge or just using the Jetpack.
4) At the big area with the giant Protozoid Slimer, after taking the elevator, go to the boxes and try to climb on the ledges until you reach the top, where you can find various goodies but also a few Octabrains.
5) At the north side of the map, near the DUKE NUKEM MUST DIE sign, carefully climb on the wires and go to the destroyed building in flames to collect the RPG and Portable Medkit.
6) At the north side of the map, near the DUKE NUKEM MUST DIE sign, fly with the jetpack on top of the tall pillar to collect an Atomic Health.
Fun fact: All three ways of shrinking are present in the map (mirror, shrink ray shooter, protector drone). Also, some secrets are located at short distance from each other.
Overall, the map is very well designed, as well as action packed, challenging and epic with plenty of interesting ideas. However, despite all that, I didn't find this map as much fun as I was hoping (at least some of the middle parts) thanks to some frustrating parts that slightly dragged down the map's quality for me. But other than that, the map is absolutely worth checking out. Easily the best of Aymeric's maps so far in terms of design, although gameplay-wise and overall rating, I found
The End of the World Part 1 to be the best of his maps in striking a sweet balance between the excellent level design and fun factor.
Salvage Title
Played using EDuke32 r9887 (latest 2021 build). The map version is dated 30/12/2021 from the original topic. Note that I played the initial version from the map released at end of 2021, will play the updated 2022 versions with latest 2022 EDuke32 build at a later time.
I played this map directly after finishing Poison Heart in the evening and finished it just before the bed time. It was okay but while the design in some parts looked cool (especially the very last outdoor area), the overall design was quite a downgrade from what we've seen so far, even though this was a speedmap, so I can forgive some of the design choices.
Gameplay is only slightly challenging in some parts but not very difficult overall, after you get past the beginning parts with the Octabrains where the ammo will be a problem. Initially, the supplies may be a bit scarce and force you to rely on Pipebombs and Tripmines (bad choices to fight Octabrains, they die instantly to rockets but survive multiple explosions) but afterwards, there's more than enough ammo to deal with the opposition, including yet another Cycloid Emperor at the end of the level.
The only difficult part is the one with the crusher that killed me twice. And my third and final death was a weird one, as when I got stuck for a bit not being sure what to do, I decided to shrink myself and tried to go to the previous room looking for a crack and Duke died upon resuming to normal size while being below some debris or some weird shit that I didn't notice in time. It happened in the ugly room with the four flamethrowers in the middle if anyone's curious about that.
On that note, the shrink ray shooter's purpose is only to access the Shrinker secret (go figure) and seems to fire from thin air instead of near the flashing wall. Might have been fixed in the updated versions of the map but I decided to point this out anyway.
Oh yeah, there is a softlock glitch in that area with the cars, just before you get the Red Card. Normally, you simply have to jump over the fence to progress but if you jump down in the corner from the car, you get softlocked with no way up. Happened to me once but then I just loaded the saved game, as I happened to save just a little bit earlier, so no progress was lost. Good thing that Radar didn't fall down in the corner at 6:45, as otherwise he would have been softlocked too. Yes, I had to mention the softlock, as it's a serious issue that can spoil the map's fun if you play without saving.
Secrets:
1) In the room with the giant crusher, quickly jump on the vent in left side and turn off the crusher to activate a shrink ray shooter. Go to the other side where the hole is located and wait to get shrunk. Run until you reach the Shrinker.
2) In the room with the Commander hologram, press on the laptop to lower the nearby shelf. Go through the vent and take the elevator to collect an Atomic Health and Shrinker ammo.
3) In the last area, there is an elevator with an explosive barrel on it. Take the elevator to collect the RPG at the top.
Unofficial secret: In the last area, near the third secret, where it says NUKEM (near the GUILTY sign), there is a Jetpack and 2x Atomic Health. The goodies become available as soon as using the Yellow Card to summon the boss.
Overall, the map is okay, with some clever bits like the Commander hologram in the room where you find second secret, as well as the boss fight at end was quite cool but then there's some weird abstract rooms with random textures on them that look really ugly, which isn't fair to say that, as ck3D has made some absolutely epic maps as of lately. Even if this map might seem a bit disappointing after the previous epic maps, it was still okay in the end and worth checking out at least once.
As the month is pretty much over, here are the results of the nominations for November 2023:
Duke It's Zero Hour + Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66 ++
Back in Business + The Conundrum + Maps by Aleks Pistol (aka Ledsbourne) +
I have added TheDragonLiner's vote. Thanks for voting and for deciding the winner for the next month. And big thanks to everyone for the participation, especially to ck3D for his "developer commentary" about the maps! I really hope to get around playing Turnpike and Red Light Rumble, they should be reviewed one day. I don't think I will get around to playing the 2023 maps any time soon but I will definitely check them out in the future.
The new topic will be up tomorrow and I will see everyone over there. Have a nice day and a spooky Halloween!
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