[zykov eddy]

Hello everyone!

I wanted to surprise you with my new level, which, as you might've guessed, takes inspiration from the classic Duke 3D maps. I was feeling very nostalgic lately, and this level is very much inspired by that distant feeling! It features some cool places, such as Irish Pub and Pharmacy, which are done in low-fi, oldscool 90's style. I think, this style of mapping is very innocent and pure in its nature, and hopefully, my level reflects that. Some of the areas are sampled from original Duke 3D maps. Can you guess which ones?

To make it more interesting, I added some new graphics and gameplay items, which spice up the action somewhat. Level is pretty short, but I hope you'll get a kick from some of these gimmicks. Especially the new Bonus Backpack, which gives you random items that you might need to finish the map!

I'll have to warn you, though. Due to my long absence from DN3D mapping scene, my memories of the level editor have become rusty. So, there could be bugs, bad balancing and misaligned textures on this level. God knows, I can't seem to figure out how to fix some of these. If you find them, please post your findings in this thread and, if you can, add your suggestions on how to fix them. Any help is very much appreciated!! I just wanna go back.

"Let's Rock" recommended for first playthrough.
Don't play with Polymer!
This map can be challenging! Do multiple saves or you won't get far.


DOWNLOAD (Latest EDuke32 required!)

[Dr.Panico]

Just finished now. Took me a little longer than I anticipated and I still missed 4 secrets.

It's good to see you back. I really enjoyed playing all your mods back in the day (that maze on A.Dream Trilogy still haunts my nightmares from time to time), so I couldn't help but feel a little ecstatic when you came back like that; even with such an unassuming, conservative type of map.


Sometimes you just gotta return to your roots, I guess...

Spoiler

But in all seriousness, this mod is AMAZING! I was kinda expecting it to go dark at some point, but I'm still surprised at just how creepy and intense things got. Now I know why I had to install a fresh copy of Eduke32 to play this (my usual copy wouldn't run due to a full cache)
This and that 'Sorry' mod are the closest things to a Duke3D map that looks straight out of a creepypasta (a good one, not the HYPERREALISTIC BLOOD N' LOUD NOIZE!!!!111 type). I could taste a hint of liminal spaces and...Skinamarink?

Haven't found the keys for the theater room though. I wonder if they are supposed to be found or they are just to throw the player off?

[zykov eddy]

Dr.Panico, on 26 March 2024 - 12:00 PM, said:

Just finished now. Took me a little longer than I anticipated and I still missed 4 secrets.

It's good to see you back. I really enjoyed playing all your mods back in the day (that maze on A.Dream Trilogy still haunts my nightmares from time to time), so I couldn't help but feel a little ecstatic when you came back like that; even with such an unassuming, conservative type of map.


Sometimes you just gotta return to your roots, I guess...

Spoiler

But in all seriousness, this mod is AMAZING! I was kinda expecting it to go dark at some point, but I'm still surprised at just how creepy and intense things got. Now I know why I had to install a fresh copy of Eduke32 to play this (my usual copy wouldn't run due to a full cache)
This and that 'Sorry' mod are the closest things to a Duke3D map that looks straight out of a creepypasta (a good one, not the HYPERREALISTIC BLOOD N' LOUD NOIZE!!!!111 type). I could taste a hint of liminal spaces and...Skinamarink?

Haven't found the keys for the theater room though. I wonder if they are supposed to be found or they are just to throw the player off?

Thank you very much for the feedback! Did you find any bugs? Can you send me screens in PM if you happen to find any?

Spoiler

You'll need the keys for the new outcome. Look extensively through the map. There are clues.

[Radar]

Is this a bug? It eventually spawns too many sprites and crashes the game. I'm using EDuke32 Mar 16 2024.

[zykov eddy]

Radar, on 26 March 2024 - 01:51 PM, said:

Is this a bug? It eventually spawns too many sprites and crashes the game. I'm using EDuke32 Mar 16 2024.

Doesn't happen on my playthrough. It spawns a single RPG, I take it and go to a previous room, everything's fine.
Can you restart the level and see if it happens again? Thanks in advance, sorry for inconvenience.

[Dr.Panico]

It spawns multiple RPGs on my end too (also Mar 16 build). Thought it was a feature, since it didn't cause any crashes on me.

[formerlyTodd]

Just fyi, getting the same rpg OOS issue with EDuke32 r10564-0bc78c53d (Mar 16 2024) and tried the 32bit Mar 5 release as well. This is on Windows 10 x64 with the latest & greatest patches.

I used DNSTUFF to get the rpg that way instead, but the crack in the previous room didn't blow up. Then tried DNCLIP past that wall, and things got pretty ugly going down the hallway, haha! Interestingly, eduke32 restarts after the rpg respawn/OOS issue, and still runs but in an unstable/unuseable state (edit: this isn't always the case)

Humorously the OOS message box also says "Memory Overflow".

If you want help bisecting, please let me know.

[zykov eddy]

I don't recommend cheating in this map.

[formerlyTodd]

zykov eddy, on 26 March 2024 - 04:12 PM, said:

I don't recommend cheating in this map.

Only in the name of debugging. I did use DNKEYS to try out the previous eduke32 release though.

[zykov eddy]

Vagan, on 26 March 2024 - 04:15 PM, said:

Only in the name of debugging. I did use DNKEYS to try out the previous eduke32 release though.

I looked into the problem further. Download the updated link and tell me if that helps.

[formerlyTodd]

Downloaded it :20 ago and gave the update a runthrough from scratch, with no cheats I used the 32bit eduke version from March 5 2024 since it was already in place, fwiw.

It reacted the same. When the rpg backpack is interacted with, a waterfall of rpgs happens, then the too many sprites/memory overflow message appears. I tried to take a screen of this but wasn't successful, but I'm guessing printscreen doesn't work in this context (just get a blank black box - guessing i can use a proper screen grab to capture this message).

What I find interesting is that I'm still in eduke after the rpg waterfall happens. The door in the previous room doesn't work, and the wall crack graphic is no longer there.

Love your work and glad to test iterations. Please let me know if dnkeys is ok to use (or not) because it saves time. Or maybe put the yellow key somewhere easy to get to, haha!

[Radar]

Tried it again. Same behavior still. I'm also having the same problem where blowing up the crack in that room doesn't do anything.

Here's my log before the crash if it helps any (I'm able to exit the game properly even after the "too many sprites" error message appears):

Spoiler

runtime src|
0.0508s INFO| Started at 2024-03-26 22:53:16.168
0.0519s INFO| EDuke32 r10564-0bc78c53d
0.0525s INFO| Built Mar 16 2024 00:42:44, GCC 13.0.0, 64-bit
0.0535s INFO| Application parameters: /gmemories.grp /xmemogame.con
0.0539s INFO| Using CON file memogame.con
0.0576s INFO| OS: Windows 10 (build 10.0.22631)
0.0588s INFO| CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz
0.0598s INFO| Initializing SDL 2.28.5 (SDL-release-2.28.5-0-g15ead9a40)
0.4282s GFX| Detecting video modes for display 0 (VG240Y P)...
0.4463s INFO| Searching for game data...
1.0078s INFO| Using duke3d.grp as main data file.
1.0087s INFO| Loaded memories.grp
1.0114s CON| Compiling: memogame.con (174609 bytes)
1.0159s CON| Including: DEFS.CON (35992 bytes)
1.0177s CON| Including: MEMOUSER.CON (54255 bytes)
1.0306s WARN| MEMOUSER.CON:798: overwriting existing definition for sound #261 (hydro43.voc)
1.0320s WARN| MEMOUSER.CON:827: overwriting existing definition for sound #323 (aisle402.voc)
1.0401s CON| Including: MESCREEN.CON (43822 bytes)
1.0418s CON| memogame.con: In actor 'ORGANTIC':
1.0422s WARN| memogame.con:4700: found 'else' with no 'if'
1.0431s CON| memogame.con: In state 'pigshootenemystate':
1.0435s WARN| memogame.con:6686: found 'else' with no 'if'
1.0445s CON| Including: MEMEXTRA.CON (158946 bytes)
1.0473s WARN| Found 4 warning(s), 0 error(s).
1.0505s CON| Compiled 460160 bytes in 38ms
1.1090s INFO| Initialized 256.0M cache
1.1101s INFO| Loading duke3d.def
1.1121s INFO| Definitions file 'duke3d.def' loaded in 2 ms.
1.2267s INFO| Initializing console...
1.2713s INPT| No game controllers found.
1.2722s INFO| Executing settings.cfg
1.2889s GFX| Setting video mode 1920x1080 (32-bpp windowed).
1.3196s GFX| OpenGL driver: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER/PCIe/SSE2 4.6.0 NVIDIA 551.23
1.3196s GFX| OpenGL context: version 4.6
1.3196s GFX| Refresh rate: 143.55Hz.
1.3907s INFO| Opened texturecache as cache file.
1.3909s ASS| Initializing Apogee Sound System
1.4873s ASS| Using SDL WASAPI driver on 2- Volt 4
1.4874s ASS| Initialized sound at 48.0 KHz stereo with 64 voices
1.4874s ASS| Initializing MIDI driver: Windows MME
1.4875s INFO| : [2] 2- Volt 4
4.1635s INFO| Cache time: 13ms.
5.2764s INFO| RPG!
17.5770s INFO| Wrote eduke32.cfg
17.5771s INFO| Wrote settings.cfg

[zykov eddy]

You're describing something very new and interesting, because it's impossible to still be in EDuke32 after such errors. Almost like the game glitched in the craziest way possible.

What other changes are there after the error message? The wall graphics disappearing and door closing is weird, but are there other things of note? We might ask EDuke32 developers to get involved. I doubt this scenario has ever happened in this game before.

It needs to be studied and observed. Please look around and describe what you can find. I'm very curious.

[zykov eddy]

Radar, please get involved in studying this phenomenon, as other players have reported normal behaviour.

You two seem to have the most interesting scenario possible. I can't replicate that no matter what I do. Such errors are one in a million. So please document every change in the game after the error.

[Radar]

No problem. Here's a video clip of it.

[zykov eddy]

This is insanity. I thought it only affected the room with the RPG backpack. Now there's an entire Hollywood Holocaust that's corrupted? Even the monsters are disappearing.

This clip has made me agitated, because there's no way the players could even access E1L1 from my user level.

I'll be trying to replicate that myself tomorrow, as I'm kind of jealous of your findings. Please describe the way Hollywood Holocaust plays, how corrupted is this area actually? Can you even finish it conventionally?

[Radar]

Currently checking the rest of it out. It's quite badly corrupted. I'll post another clip shortly...

[formerlyTodd]

Exploring further, I also saw the game put the player into E1L1. I saw a message about eduke32 restarting as part of that. I've never seen that behavior in the past either - every time "too many sprites" has happened, it was a crash to the desktop.

Edit with an update after another test run. Everything Radar is seeing I'm encountering in the same way.

The sprite/memory error message looks a little different than the one I've seen in the past. I'll try to qualify the difference, but just to say it looks "off" for now.

I ran another runthrough using the eduke32.exe that comes with the latest version of Dukeplus (251) and again with a fresh install using the latest 64 bit eduke release, with the same results each time.

At least it's repeatable by more than one person

[Sangman]

Lol

[High Treason]

 zykov eddy, on 26 March 2024 - 04:12 PM, said:

I don't recommend cheating in this map.

A viable alternative in these situations is using the spawn command in the console -
spawn RPGSPRITE

Technically it's still cheating, but may be a temporary solution until either the map or port are fixed.

Good to see you back. I can't play this, nor anyone else's releases, but it at least has my nod of approval for existing at all, if that's worth anything.

[zykov eddy]

 High Treason, on 27 March 2024 - 09:30 AM, said:

A viable alternative in these situations is using the spawn command in the console -
spawn RPGSPRITE

Technically it's still cheating, but may be a temporary solution until either the map or port are fixed.

Good to see you back. I can't play this, nor anyone else's releases, but it at least has my nod of approval for existing at all, if that's worth anything.

I'm glad to see you too!

Any console manipulation at this point is also a bad idea IMO. We're dealing with a new kind of error/corruption, that, at least to my knowledge, has never happened in EDuke32 before. Even though, judging from my PMs, most people opened the backpack fine, I still wanna know what the hell is happening with a few players that experienced unlimited RPG spawning and weird game restarts to E1L1.

I refuse to manipulate the area or remove it, as it's a very unique situation that needs to be inspected by the community. In short, this has never happened before. So I say, corrupt the hell out of this game. Let's see what we can find out about Eduke32 and the map itself.

[formerlyTodd]

I'm looking through the eduke32 source for the exact verbiage/format of the two messages we're encountering (the OOS as well as the restart message).

While I do that, I just wanted to mention that my duke3d.grp is the one that Allen posted to Mediafire over a decade ago, rather than pulling it from my Plutonium Pack CD, which is buried in storage. Everything else is brand new, shiny and fresh

I'll also try this on another computer and report back. It will be different hardware, but the same rev of 64 bit Win 10.

When I originally saw the cascade of rpgs, I thought "damn this is gonna be a crazy boss battle", haha!

[Reaper_Man]

The reason it spawns multiple RPGs is because of this block of code in MEMEXTRA.CON, edited here for readability.

ifaction AITEMBAG1 {
    spawn RPGSPRITE
    ifactioncount 60 {
        [. . .]
        action AITEMBAG2
        [. . .]
    }
}

I don't understand why you spawn RPGs for 60 animation frames. If the object is meant to only spawn one RPG, then why not immediately execute the rest of the code? What's the purpose of the delay?

I have bugfixed a number of your mods and they are consistently filled with very odd quirks and decisions that seem completely illogical.

[zykov eddy]

MAJOR UPDATE!

Thanks to the generous help of community members, and especially Reaper_Man's post, the game-corrupting bug have finally been FIXED!

Download link in the first post updated!

If you haven't played past the RPG spawning error, you missed about 50% of the map. So, please give it another shot and tell me what you think! Feedback will be very much appreciated. You can use spoiler tag for the feedback if you're shy. I'm dying here.
Grap your copy now and chew some gums, kick alien ass! Duke Nukem 3D is a fun game, after all. And fun is infinite.

[Mister Sinister]

Congrats on release, Eddy.

I know you've worked hard on this map and I think despite you falling out of the loop with mapping the map is a total beast to play.
A must for anybody wanting some classic E1 inspired action from one of the few active long-standing members of the community keeping the game alive.
The map was thoroughly tested and no game-breaking errors were found. You guys are ridiculous.

[Aleks]

Played a bit, the map/mod seems really fine. Unfortunately, I got stuck after the vehicle section, the car/driving mechanics and animations are working really well, but I can't exit the car after reaching what seems to be my destination...

[zykov eddy]

Aleks, on 28 March 2024 - 03:28 AM, said:

Played a bit, the map/mod seems really fine. Unfortunately, I got stuck after the vehicle section, the car/driving mechanics and animations are working really well, but I can't exit the car after reaching what seems to be my destination...

This whole project, in a way, is like an old, run-down car that has a mind of its own and barely works. Therefore, I perfectly understand your confusion.
Try every action button.

[Tekedon]

Wow.. what a map! I finished it, but how do you get the keys for those locks in the cinema room, is it even possible or just there to tease the player?

[zykov eddy]

Tekedon, on 28 March 2024 - 08:43 AM, said:

Wow.. what a map! I finished it, but how do you get the keys for those locks in the cinema room, is it even possible or just there to tease the player?

Spoiler

Keys unlock the second ending. Look carefully through the map, they are hidden in secrets. There are also clues on where to find them.

[slacker1]

What an insanely awesome map! Really amazing work done there that I'm not even going to try to understand how you did it.

So far, I've only found 2 of the cinema keys... have to replay again and find the rest.

Spoiler

There's also a third 'ending' if you count the octabrain in the hallway with the nuke button after as an ending.

Also one other thing I noticed...

Spoiler

I downloaded the map the first day it was released and played that version.. Then I noticed another version was uploaded and then I think a third version. Is there any big differences between these? I suppose I should do my next reply with the latest one...

The bathhouse stumped me for way longer than I would like to admit.