[StarNukem]

First day back on Duke4. Here's to a new beginning!

After three years of off and on work due to personal tragedy, I'm happy as hell to finally release Nuclear Plant 2024 (DooM: E1M2 Reimagined)! The zip included comes with the promo picture, the map itself, OGG file of the level music (Imp's Song Remake by Andrew Hulshult), and the README. I'd like to just say thank you to all of you in the Duke community that have supported me over these years, despite not being able to post here for.. more than obvious reasons.. but I'm delighted to make one of these posts again after all this time. I hope you enjoy this happy little 20 minute map!

Testers:
ck3d
Sixty Four
bullerbuller7
The Duke Returns

Level Overview:
Single Player: Yes
Deathmatch: Yes
Co-op: Yes

Piece of Cake/Let's Rock/Come Get Some: All fair
Damn I'm Good: Uncomfortably unfair

Eduke32 Compatible: REQUIRED (Latest build recommended)
Megaton Compatible: No (Crashes game)
hDuke Compatible: Absolutely not
World Tour Compatible: I don't know and I don't care

There is around 100-200 enemies and five secrets, including one SUPER SECRET that can be found by pressing five marked buttons in the map that will open a random teleporter spot somewhere else in the level. Good luck and happy hunting! Also feel free to do some noclipping, if you're one of those explorers. Hope you all enjoy this fun little recreation of arguably one of Doom's most under appreciated level.

Attached File(s)

•  NuclearPlant2024.zip (3.63MB)
  Number of downloads: 454

[ck3D]

This is a pretty great map, my test run took me forty minutes despite reaching the last gate in ten because it was so tempting to keep looking around, pressing random stuff looking for hidden switches. Design style is original with some traces of Red 5 for spritework, Submachine for the enclosed feel and most prominently DooM both in terms of gameplay style and scale but with the layout really works. A nice mix of cool detail and clever ideas for simple puzzles, was some fresh air to traverse. Only found one secret and two switches. Combat can get a bit tough if one lets it but there always is enough interesting space to use at the player's advantage even if one finds some of the main guns late like I did, challenge I thought was really fun. Appreciated the attention to shading. Congrats on release.

[Ninety-Six]

Is this the follow-up to a Hangar remake? I know that's not very specific as every single game with modding capabilities has had Hangar remade in it (several times), but I remember a distinctly high quality one that I came across in the Megaton workshop eons ago. I think there was a helicopter in the exit room?

[StarNukem]

Ninety-Six, on 27 February 2024 - 08:45 PM, said:

Is this the follow-up to a Hangar remake? I know that's not very specific as every single game with modding capabilities has had Hangar remade in it (several times), but I remember a distinctly high quality one that I came across in the Megaton workshop eons ago. I think there was a helicopter in the exit room?

Ayy! You played my earlier remaster of E1M1 yeah! I did one of E1M9 as well. This one is not a continuation of that tho lol, but I did consider it at one point.

[Ninety-Six]

StarNukem, on 27 February 2024 - 09:12 PM, said:

Ayy! You played my earlier remaster of E1M1 yeah! I did one of E1M9 as well. This one is not a continuation of that tho lol, but I did consider it at one point.

Ooh, wasn't aware of the E1M9 one. Is that on the workshop too? I think I want to play all three.

[StarNukem]

Ninety-Six, on 27 February 2024 - 11:08 PM, said:

Ooh, wasn't aware of the E1M9 one. Is that on the workshop too? I think I want to play all three.

Yup! They're all on Steam. Just search Doom E1M9 remastered on the workshop. Enjoy!

[William Gee]

Passed it, brilliant level, loved the details and design, at first I thought it needed more shade and mood, but the second half did get darker and moodyer.
Your level of detail is brilliant and very fun.

Thanks!
Loved the chainsaw btw!
Looking forward to the doom nukem 3D $14:99 pack + TAX
Also I'm a noob. wahahaha.

Attached thumbnail(s)

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[StarNukem]

William Gee, on 28 February 2024 - 12:44 AM, said:

Passed it, brilliant level, loved the details and design, at first I thought it needed more shade and mood, but the second half did get darker and moodyer.
Your level of detail is brilliant and very fun.

Thanks!
Loved the chainsaw btw!
Looking forward to the doom nukem 3D $14:99 pack + TAX
Also I'm a noob. wahahaha.

Thank you so much for playing through! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Don’t worry though, you don’t actually have to pay to get through that door.

[Merlijn]

Great map, I really enjoyed it! I found 3 secrets, of course knowing the secrets in the OG level helped a lot haha. I can see where the Submachine comparison is coming from, it has a similar level of insane detailling and great looking techbase areas. I was also reminded of Doom 3 in certain places, especially the darker maze area. I didn't recognize E1M2 from the screenshots on discord, but I definitely recognized the layout while playing it. The outdoor area with the crashed monorail was great as well, loved it. The toxic area with the octo's nearly killed me, thanks to the bastards ganging up on me and the superlava destroying my protective boots. Also some funny messages throughout the map (poor Dave probably got his ass fired ). Thanks for this!

[slacker1]

Excellent map! Just an incredible amount of detail in every single inch of the map, even places at angles you have to go out of your way to see. I didn't manage to get all the switches to unlock the 'super secret' yet but I did get all the marked secrets and all the kills. I'll have to go back and try to get that.

Really great job. Thanks for sharing.

[Martin Howe]

As an OG Doom player from the 90s I really like the architecture, the detailing is insanely good, and the music do-over is absolutely the best thing about this, it is awesome.

However, even knowing the secrets on the OG level, I found it very hard to progress into the spicier areas of the map and there seem to be several secret doors that have no keys or don't open even if you cheat to get keys; in one such area, it even says so I'm not a fan of mandatory secrets for level progression in any case, but will have to try again another day.

[quakis]

StarNukem, on 27 February 2024 - 11:36 PM, said:

Yup! They're all on Steam. Just search Doom E1M9 remastered on the workshop. Enjoy!

Do you have any non-steam workshop download mirrors for some of these releases?

[Radar]

My video is up. Map was fun with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

[ck3D]

^ I was just coming on here to post that playthrough. Watching it amused me and ridiculed me at the same time because it made me realize that as a literal beta tester, I really only ever found about half the map. That is just to speak about the type of level this is if one lets it be that, reminds me a bit of Naked Dash in that regard.

[StarNukem]

Martin Howe, on 01 March 2024 - 03:22 PM, said:

As an OG Doom player from the 90s I really like the architecture, the detailing is insanely good, and the music do-over is absolutely the best thing about this, it is awesome.

However, even knowing the secrets on the OG level, I found it very hard to progress into the spicier areas of the map and there seem to be several secret doors that have no keys or don't open even if you cheat to get keys; in one such area, it even says so I'm not a fan of mandatory secrets for level progression in any case, but will have to try again another day.

Thank you very much for your feedback! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the visuals and music! Might I ask though, could you elaborate a bit more on what made things difficult to progress? I'm just a bit confused because there aren't any secrets or key elements of the level that require a player to cheat for progression (just fun developer secrets) and the level can be beaten without any secrets acquired. Not saying you're a noob or anything lol, just wondering what you're talking about cuz I've read your post about 15 times now and still can't pinpoint exactly what you're talking about XD. Sorry friend

quakis, on 02 March 2024 - 01:22 AM, said:

Do you have any non-steam workshop download mirrors for some of these releases?

Here you are my friend! I've compiled every map I've released on Megaton into a folder, including the Doom levels. Enjoy! https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

Radar, on 04 March 2024 - 08:03 AM, said:

My video is up. Map was fun with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

Epic playthrough! I've left a comment on the video and a like! Next time, be sure to nuke those slimers in the EDF room (I should've changed the door texture like ck3d suggested -.-)

[Martin Howe]

StarNukem, on 04 March 2024 - 09:14 AM, said:

Thank you very much for your feedback! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the visuals and music! Might I ask though, could you elaborate a bit more on what made things difficult to progress? I'm just a bit confused because there aren't any secrets or key elements of the level that require a player to cheat for progression (just fun developer secrets) and the level can be beaten without any secrets acquired. Not saying you're a noob or anything lol, just wondering what you're talking about cuz I've read your post about 15 times now and still can't pinpoint exactly what you're talking about XD. Sorry friend

SPOILERS AHEAD
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No problem; I'm not a Doom (or Duke 3D) god, so I expected it to be difficult, but I could figure out how to get through the forcefield behind the red key door; when I viewed the video above and found out how you do it, I was really surprised; reaching through a broken window and "round a corner" to flick a switch isn't something I've ever seen in Doom before and it's been too long since playing Duke 3D to remember if that ever happened in the original game; to me it was totally non-obvious, I was looking for a secret that gave a way into the room in order to flick the switch.

Now that I know that secret ( well it feels like a secret ) I'll give the map another try.

[StarNukem]

Martin Howe, on 04 March 2024 - 10:20 AM, said:

SPOILERS AHEAD
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No problem; I'm not a Doom (or Duke 3D) god, so I expected it to be difficult, but I could figure out how to get through the forcefield behind the red key door; when I viewed the video above and found out how you do it, I was really surprised; reaching through a broken window and "round a corner" to flick a switch isn't something I've ever seen in Doom before and it's been too long since playing Duke 3D to remember if that ever happened in the original game; to me it was totally non-obvious, I was looking for a secret that gave a way into the room in order to flick the switch.

Now that I know that secret ( well it feels like a secret ) I'll give the map another try.

Ohhh I see now, no problem at all haha. I added subtle things to make the level a bit longer and feel more impactful than the original. In hindsight, I could’ve definitely made something more noticeable to tell the player that “hey, this is the button to get through the forcefield.” Thank you for your feedback though, it helps me grow so any qualms you have, let me know!

[Ninety-Six]

I played it, and Hangar (Steam was giving me trouble with the E1M9 remake for whatever reason. I was able to retrieve Hangar just fine but it didn't want to download that one. I see now you posted a zip of your maps so I'll be checking that out in a bit).

I really liked it. I feel like I've really come to enjoy the high-tech facilities the community produces. EDF facilities have just a certain feel to them that seems to come naturally to most Duke mappers these days. This was no different. In fact, this, just like Hangar (and I'm sure Military Base as well) also gave me what I have come to call the "Stowaway Effect," named after the first map that made me really wish I could explore the other places seen just outside the bounds of the level. Something about the immense detail kicks my brain into overdrive trying to image what lies just out of reach behind that door or around that corner. Not that that's a reasonable expectation or anything. Just that's kind of a rare effect, at least for me anyway.

Honestly I'd love to see all of Doom rendered into this hyper-detailed Build engine style, but I know that's not happening for many justified reasons. Still, a man can dream. On that note, there were numerous places where I was reminded of the same level in Knee-Deep in zDoom. Which, while maybe an insult from some people, is a compliment from me because I really liked how that level came out in that mod. The maze area especially reminded me of that.


Found all the secrets. The first button took me a while, mostly because I wasn't sure if the switch that revealed the message counted towards it or not. Yeah it was a different style of switch but depending on the mechanism used that might not matter. What really took the longest time was actually trying to find what those switches opened. I had even been up in that area before but nothing registered as odd to me, so it took me quite a while to get back there.

Spoiler

I'm sorry about your mother, by the way.

I also really enjoyed the combat here. Not that I didn't in Hangar, but in Hangar the combat was very...faithful, I think is the most accurate word, with differences in the balancing boiling down to just the difference between the two games. This level looked to start like that, but then quickly went off in a different direction by adding in a much higher monster variety and monster count. Which I think was for the best. Had some good spicy moments but nothing unreasonable; I was able to do this saveless with no problem (though definitely had a few close calls).

The ending was also a highlight, when you

Spoiler

had the opportunity to fire off the Devastator 10K. I was wondering what that was while I was in the outdoor area, and seeing not only what it was supposed to do but then being able to fire it and watch a random building get hit with it was awesome. Needlessly destructive, but that's Duke 3D for you, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

All in all a good time. I give it a 10, as I don't really see any true downsides here worth knocking a point off over.

[ck3D]

MSDN review by Mikko: https://msdn.duke4.n...arplant2024.php

[zykov eddy]

Just played it, and, in my opinion, this is one of the best DN3D user maps in years. The detail is just insane, and it reminded how fun Duke 3D mapping can actually be. There are so many details, it made my head spin. So much interesting stuff to look at. I especially like the unreachable areas that the player can see through windows and glass. Stuff like this intrigued me as a kid.

This is what a remake should be. I never knew I needed another Doom level remake, but boy, this one is just so good. Please make more.

[quakis]

Here's my review: https://taw.duke4.ne...learplant-2024/

Hopefully I've made my thoughts clear, it's mostly positive with some additional personal insights on the design side of things.