Hey everyone, thank you for your comments so far! Glad to see this topic active with many people participating. I wish I had joined earlier but my grandmother passed away two weeks ago, so I really wasn't in the mood of playing/reviewing maps for a while. TheDragonLiner knows about that because we were talking about FMX series and Oblivion TC at that time and I let him know when that happened. RIP Grandma.
Anyway, since Duke Nukem 3D's 28th anniversary was last Friday (Happy Birthday to Duke3D Full Version!), I decided that day to spend playing through the original game once more in DOSBox 0.74-3 but this time on Damn I'm Good difficulty with a very cool twist! I actually ended up doing just FM1X (the first episode of FMX series) and the first episode of Duke Nukem 3D but maybe I should have stuck to my original plan of just doing the original levels that day, then maybe I would have done all three episodes in a single day, like I did back in 2022. Though yesterday I did FM2X (the second episode of FMX series) but that will get reviewed next time. The FM3X version (contained inside FM4X-FULL.ZIP) I'm playing is from the shared Microsoft One Drive folder, which is supposedly the latest/most recent version of the FMX series from late 2021, based on the date of some files in the directory. The one available on MEGA is dated early 2020 (according to when the files were uploaded), so I hope this clears some confusion.
So, what was the twist for this playthrough? The twist being: Everything Respawning! This FM3X/FM4X launcher taught me recently of a command I never knew before in Duke3D! The option to respawn everything as if it was a Multiplayer game. This includes Weapons, Inventory Items, Ammo, Armor, Health, Keys and All Enemies (enemies already respawn on DIG) in Single Player mode. And yes this persists even between the levels, quitting the game and coming back later to resume a saved game, etc.
The only things that don't respawn are: Duke himself, stuff dropped by enemies and stuff contained inside trash cans. Also when the Atomic Health respawns, it seems to hang a bit in air (maybe a bug in version 1.3D) but other than that, I haven't noticed any other side effects. Oh and single Pipebombs will respawn as long as they aren't blown up (if they are picked up, then it is safe to use explosives around their respawn point until they eventually respawn).
The option/parameter is /TX and can be used as the following (warps you at the beginning of each episode on DIG difficulty with Everything Respawning ON).
DUKE3D.EXE /V1 /L1 /S4 /TX
DUKE3D.EXE /V2 /L1 /S4 /TX
DUKE3D.EXE /V3 /L1 /S4 /TX
These are the parameters I used for the original game to start on DIG with Everything Respawning option. I have finished Duke3D on CGS countless times before (as well as FM1X and FM2X, though FM3X I only finished two times) but never on DIG (which is ironic as I have beaten RR, Blood and SW on their fourth skill setting in last couple years) and I wanted to do a DIG playthrough while also being able to get rid of all enemy corpses in the level. I did this mostly because of limited explosives in first episode of Duke3D. And I know I can speedrun through the game and only go for secrets but where's the fun in that? Also if you look at my screenshots and notice still having cards in inventory, that is because I picked up respawned cards at some point after using them.
Before I start reviewing
FM1X: New York Rebellion, here are a couple replies (mostly focusing on those related to first episode, though Forge already clarified some of them):
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Adding to FistMarine's post, I think it's worth mentioning that some maps might be broken in current EDuke32, as per NightFright
Thanks Aleks, I forgot to mention that there are game-breaking bugs in the newer EDuke32 builds. I have read NightFright's post in that FM4X topic before I made the topic and I forgot to mention this important thing. At this point I'd advise to either use an older EDuke32 build (latest 2020 build might work better? not sure) or just use RedNukem as per Aleks' recommendation. I recommend using it with FM4X.GRP from inside the FM4XATOM folder. Or maybe it also works well with fm4x.grp from the Addon Compilation folder.
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OK either all the maps I've played so far got completely mixed in my memory, I took care of the Battlelords so easily and automatically that I don't even remember it or we play different versions of the maps, but I'm pretty sure I haven't encountered any battlelords at all until the first secret level... Anyway, continuing on
Mini Battlelords used to appear as early as the second level. In newer versions of FM3X/FM4X, the Mini Battlelords were removed completely from the early levels and they are only present in FM1X05, FM1X06 and FM1X07 when comes to the appearances in the first episode of the FMX series.
There were also enemies removed from the first episode which spawned upon entering many secret places, though unfortunately this still seems to be heavily present in the second episode where almost every secret causes one or more enemies to spawn nearby, which I just find unnecessary. Though it did have some good changes, like various softlocks being fixed in a couple levels and the way you progress in FM2X03, you just need to blow up a cracked pillar and escape (or just detonate the pipebomb while waiting in a different room) instead of also quickly shooting the revealed switch while explosions were happening in the background.
I guess Quacken is playing the Addon Compilation version but I don't know if it's the latest 3.14 or the pre-release 4.00 version of the compilation and even then I have no idea what version of FM3X/FM4X is included in the package, as there are so many FMX versions available on plenty of Duke map review websites that it's impossible to tell. It's also not helped by the Fake Date thing on the game files (FM3X is dated 29th September 1998 and FM4X is dated 12th August 1999), though at least I know the initial release of FM3X was dated 25th May 2015 (probably the one still available at MSDN), so it's only a problem when comes to identifying newer FM3X and FM4X versions which have their date set to late 90s. Even those in the OP (official download links at MEGA and OneDrive) are different from each other from what I remember when I compared the files, yet they have the same modified date. Maybe when Fernando will visit this topic one day, he can explain further for everyone to understand.
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Had to check in Mapster, apparently there's a multiplayer-only switch that opens the first door to this area, there's also a non-functional teleporter inside as the player would get locked in judging from the setup and a nukebutton - but despite the room saying "secret level", the nukebutton apparently still takes you to The Lava Reef.
Interesting find. I had no idea there was another nuke button inside FM1X06, though it might be only accessible in multiplayer and it wasn't included in single player because of game limitations that might have been caused by entering a secret level while already inside a secret level. I also found while looking in Mapster another nuke button in FM1X05 (inside the Battlelord's lair) but that one is most likely a callback to The Abyss, seeing as the map is already heavily inspired from it. Might also be meant to be accessible in multiplayer.
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Though the beginning can be an easy stump. I remember not being able to do it long ago until FistMarine actually told me how to get the Blue KeyCard.
Glad to have helped you locate the Blue Card.
Also for the complaints about darkness and explosions, they seemed to be much more common in the second episode. I agree they are annoying and dragging down the quality of the levels, including the occasional confusing parts/puzzles but I think the levels themselves are mostly well done.
Anyway, here is the review of the entire first episode, including kill count, secret guide and inspirations for each level (mostly mentioning the level it is mostly inspired by).
And a screenshot for the launcher because why not.
NEW YORK REBELLION
Sweeney Slime Refinery
Kills: 63
Secrets: 8
This map is mostly inspired by Toxic Dump with bits of Red Light District (sewer section), Freeway (street section) and Sweeney (one of Levelord's cut maps).
Combat is not too difficult and you get a Freezethrower right off the bat with some extra ammo (in older versions I don't think it was there or if it was, then there was less ammo and/or the shotgun wasn't given immediately), which is a great help on Damn I'm Good difficulty, as you face some decent opposition too, though most of the enemies you face are troopers and pig cops.
Secrets:
1) At the very beginning, go left, open the window and jump through to collect an RPG.
2) In the room with the crane, jump on the green crate to the right and open the wall to access a dark room containing Devastator and 2x Small Medkit.
3) After getting picked up and dropped by the crane, kill the Pig Cop in the control room and open a panel, then jump through to collect Armor.
4) On the conveyor belt, there is a blue section filled with slime. Press the wall in right to access Protective Boots.
5) In the control room guarded by Troopers, you will find the Blue Card in left compartment. In right compartment, there is Armor and if you go inside, you can find a hidden Holoduke that can be reached by jumping.
6) In the next room filled with many Barrels and Troopers (where you insert Blue Card), go behind the barrels through a fake wall to collect 2x Atomic Health and 2x Devastator Ammo.
7) Inside the warehouse, where you find the Red Card, go to the corner at opposite side of the Atomic Health and press on the wall to access a Portable Medkit.
8) Inside the sewers infested with Octabrains, there is a bright wall that when opened, it reveals Chaingun + ammo.
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Dark Palm Hotel
Kills: 92
Secrets: 5
This map is mainly inspired by Hotel Hell. Progression is mostly clear and the balance is pretty good.
Fun fact: In earlier versions, Mini Battlelords were present in this map (at least two in the Reception room, might have been another one inside of the hotel rooms), so the map was much harder.
Secrets:
1) After taking the elevator behind you at the very beginning, kill the enemies and press on the cash register to open a nearby compartment with Chaingun + ammo.
2) Inside room 202, there is one compartment you can open to reveal the Blue Card. However, if you look closely, there is a red handprint that when pressed, reveals a Freezethrower.
3) Inside room 105, blow up the crack to reveal a secret infested room with a bunch of Octabrains and Slimer Eggs. Inside, you can also find Shrinker and Atomic Health.
4) In the reception room guarded by four pig cops (in older versions, there used to be two Mini Battlelords), press on the wall to reveal RPG and 2x Atomic Health.
5) Inside the men's bathroom, after taking out the pig cops and troopers sitting on toilet, there is a rubber can that needs to be destroyed, as you may notice a small tunnel. I recommend using the Devastator to carefully destroy the rubber can without destroying the mirror, then shrink yourself and go through the tunnel to reach the small room containing a box of Pipebombs and 2x Chaingun ammo. Wait until returning to normal size, collect the goodies, then press on the button to start the Shrink Ray Shooter to get out of the room.
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Lonely Street
Kills: 92
Secrets: 4
This map is mostly inspired by Hollywood Holocaust and Red Light District. Balance is again pretty good but progression can be pretty confusing on a first playthrough.
Your objective is to visit four buildings, each presenting a different challenge/puzzle, which unlocks one room (guarded by one commander and two pig cops) inside the building, containing a switch that will open one of the four gates that lead to the exit, as well as spawn two enforcers into the streets.
Arcade -> Push four arcade machines to lower them and to reveal switches. Press/Shoot all the switches to unlock the door.
Bookstore -> You will see three switches with the first one already pressed. You just need to press on the third switch to unlock the door.
Cinema -> Press on the two switches above the movie projectors to unlock the door.
Club -> You will see four switches on two speakers, one switch already pressed on the right speaker. Press on that switch #3 (upper right) to turn it off, then press on switches #1 (upper left) and #4 (lower right) to turn them on and unlock the door.
After all the switches have been pressed, go back to the streets, jump over the fence, kill the drones/turrets and the exit will be revealed upon approaching the wall.
Fun fact: In earlier versions of the map, there were Mini Battlelords present in the map. One was located inside the theater, two more were spawned on the streets upon completing two switch puzzles. Luckily, Fernando has rebalanced the map to get rid of them, so that in their place you fight two spawned enforcers to make it consistent with the other two switch puzzles. Also in earlier versions of the map, the Arcade Machines (the ones required for progression) were differently colored. Now they are using darker colors.
Secrets:
1) Inside the club, go upstairs, take out the pig cops and press on the EXOTICA poster to collect Steroids.
2) Inside the cinema, jump on top of a video projector (in the room with 2x Shrinker Ammo) to temporary open a small compartment containing a Jetpack. Don't worry if you don't get in time, you can retry as many times as you want.
3) Inside the bookstore, push the left cash register to unlock a shelf containing 2x Large Medkit.
4) Inside the arcade room, press on that gray door and go downstairs into a very dark arcade room guarded by two pig cops. Inside, you can find a Pistol and 2x Atomic Health.
Unofficial:
-Get the Jetpack mentioned above (or use the one you got from the first level), go inside the club and fly with the Jetpack inside a vent to collect 2x Atomic Health and Portable Medkit.
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Sewer Confines
Kills: 84 (88 in Normal Exit)
Secrets: 6
This map is mostly inspired by Sewer (one of Levelord's cut maps). Note that the map is very dark, so you are encouraged to use the NVGs when navigating and spotting the enemies in the dark.
Hint: To safely jump on those moving platforms, you need to shoot some switches with your pistol to create some extra platforms (those are safe to stand on). Be careful of those moving platforms, as they can squish you even in air and even the monsters can get squished which can prevent you from getting all the kills (at least in DOS version and older EDuke32 versions), not that kills are important on DIG difficulty and the fact four kills are inaccessible if going on the secret exit path. If you want to easily complete the puzzle, use the Jetpack (acquired in the previous levels) to fly over the platforms.
Secrets:
1) Inside the control room, before getting the Blue Card, open the middle panel and jump inside to collect Portable Medkit.
2) Right where you pick up the Shrinker, crouch and press on a hidden switch to temporary lower the panel ahead, which contains 2x Shrinker ammo.
3) Shortly afterwards, you will get to those weird moving platforms that you need to jump on top of them. Before you do that, turn around and press on the brightened wall to access a secret room containing RPG, Steroids and a Multi-Switch to open those lockers (only one can be opened at a time) that contain various goodies.
4) After doing the platforming sequence, you will step on some block that will cause an explosion in the middle of the map. Jump through the nearby bright wall in your right to collect a Holoduke.
5) Right where you find the Red Card, press on the wall behind it to reveal the secret exit room with two troopers guarding it. You can also find a Freezethrower inside.
6) After using the Red Card to unlock the elevator and riding it up, kill the Pig Cops and press on the Fire Extinguisher sign. This will open a nearby secret that contains a Commander, as well as 2x Trip Mines (weapon) and a box of Pipebombs.
Secret Exit: See Secret #5
Note: It is impossible to achieve 100% kills if going for the secret exit. The reason is that the normal exit ends in the same type of sector as the one from Red Light District, with Duke getting captured by FOUR Pig Cops.
If pistol starting and going for maximum kills and secrets, then going for the normal exit is the better solution. But if playing continuously, then it is recommended to take the secret exit at the cost of not getting the four kills.
If playing on Damn I'm Good difficulty, you don't have to worry about missing kills since the Enemies Left counter reads N/A at the results screen.
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Launch Center
Kills: 83
Secrets: 6
This map is mainly inspired by Launch Facility. There are some tricky puzzles to solve and the Blue Card requires you to be quick to get it but you should be able to find your way in the level. Once you destroy the rocket, you go back to the beginning, find a blown up wall, get rid of one or more Octabrains and the exit will be there.
Secrets:
1) In the main corridor at beginning of the map, go left and press on the wall to reveal a small room guarded by an Enforcer. Inside, you will find Devastator Ammo.
2) In the main corridor at beginning of the map, go at the opposite side and press on the wall to reveal a small room guarded by a Pig Cop. Inside, you will find Freezethrower.
3) Inside the vents, there are various slimers and eggs. Get rid of them and break the vent from one of the sides with your kicks, you will find an Atomic Health standing on some vents. This will also spawn two slimers nearby. Be very careful to not break those vents where the item is standing, as you will fall to your death and not even the Jetpack will let you escape because Duke won't fit through the vent anymore!
4) Inside the control room, where you press a switch to go quickly reach the Blue Card, press on the wall in the right to collect an Atomic Health.
5) After deactivating the OFFICERS forcefield, take out the Mini Battlelord and open the door, then solve a 4-button puzzle. Press on the picture to reveal a Chaingun Cannon.
6) After deactivating the REACTOR CORE forcefield, take out the Mini Battlelord and open the door, then solve a 4-button puzzle. Press on the picture to reveal a Shrinker.
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The Lava Reef
Kills: 15 (I'm guessing about 270 in total)
Secrets: 13
This map is mainly inspired by The Abyss, basically a bigger and meaner version of E1L5 with lots of epic battles that await towards the end. In fact, there's tons of enemies that the original DOS version has trouble counting when the kill count exceeds 255. And it's not the only level to contain this amount of enemies (there's at least two more in FM2X and possibly FM3X as well that exceed 255 enemies).
Interestingly, Duke doesn't lose his arsenal if he got captured previously by Pig Cops at end of FM1X04 (similar to how first level ended and second level started in Duke Caribbean), making me think canonically Duke takes the secret exit and avoids the ambush at end of FM1X04.
For completionists, I must point out that when entering Battlelord's lair, there is NO WAY BACK to the canyon areas of the level, so keep that in mind! Even the platforming part just before cannot be backtracked unless having a Jetpack to go back to the main canyon area. And this map also contains 13 SECRETS! They are all located before entering Battlelord's lair, so make sure you have found every secret in advance (in DOS version you have to double check if you got every secret due to lack of in-game stats).
Once you are ready, you have to clear two big rooms filled with many baddies, mostly Commanders and Mini Battlelords with a few other aliens thrown in the mix, as well as one room filled with many slimer eggs. Then once you insert the Red Card in the second room, you go back to the first room to see the Battlelord has spawned, as well as a couple troopers.
Also, if playing in any of the original DOS versions of Duke Nukem 3D, then as mentioned above, the kill count will be mostly glitched because there are about 270 enemies in total and once the kill count exceeds 255, then it goes back to 0. You will also not be able to tell how many enemies you missed because that counter will also be glitched (irrelevant on DIG difficulty as it reads N/A anyway on Enemies Missed). Source ports don't have this problem and will show the correct kill count.
Secrets:
1) At the very beginning, go along the water current and jump through the wall to the right to find a Portable Medkit guarded by a trooper.
2) After the lava area, there is an octabrain just before reaching the cave. Jump through the lava wall to find a secret room filled with 2x Captured Babes, Slimer Eggs and Devastator. Killing each babe will result in two Octabrains spawning nearby.
3) Inside the cave with the water fountain, jump through the waterfall to collect 2x Pipebombs.
4) In the next room, you will arrive in a cave filled with water and guarded by the first Mini Battlelord. Jump through the waterfall to collect a Scuba Gear.
5) In the same room, after taking out the Mini Battlelord, there is a box of Pipebombs. Press on the panel to reveal a small room containing 3x Trip Mines (weapon).
6) Inside the circular corridor you have to climb, just before collecting the Shrinker, there is a wall you can press that reveals an RPG.
7) Inside the room with THREE Mini Battlelords, jump through the red waterfall (on left side of the room) to collect the HoloDuke.
8) Afterwards, you will reach another circular corridor and fight a couple more enemies. The secret is activated by pressing on the fire, which will open a nearby wall. Inside, you can find Chaingun + 2x ammo, an Octabrain and two Captured Babes. Note that killing the babes will spawn a couple nearby troopers.
9) In the room filled with many troopers and Yellow Card, press on the monitor in left to reach a small room containing Armor, 2x Pistol ammo and 4x Small medkit.
10) After using the Yellow Card, jump on top of elevator and look for 2x Devastator ammo in a corner. You can also collect an Armor pickup.
11) In the room where you press the switches to blow up the canyon and reach the last part of the level, press on the right side of the monitor to reveal a nearby room containing 2x Atomic Health, as well as Freezethrower + 2x ammo.
12) Just before going downstairs leading to elevator, there is a hidden switch you can press on those pipes, which will lower the nearby wall. Inside, you can find 3x eggs, 2x Chaingun ammo and Shotgun ammo.
13) Inside the above secret, blow up the crack, then follow along the corridor to register the final secret.
Hints:
-In the room with the three mini battlelords standing on the pillars, jump on the pillars containing atomic health in order to lower those three bars.
-In the room with the many troopers present, there is one trooper corpse that holds the Yellow Card. Be sure to carefully look around, so you won't miss it.
-In the last two rooms, make sure to kill the babes to reveal switches and various goodies, including the Red Card. Just note that each babe killed will cause one or more troopers/octabrains to spawn nearby.
Damned Space Life
Kills: 58
Secrets: 4
This map is an unique take on Faces of Death but feels more similar to an E2 style map and can be completed, which leads to FM1X08. In order to reach this map, you have to:
-Use command line parameters to warp to the map (can also be done directly through the FM3X/FM4X launcher)
-Play it loaded as an User Map
-Use DNCLIP and go through walls in The Lava Reef to find a hidden regular Nuke Button inside the Battlelord's Lair. This should work similar to the hidden nuke button in The Abyss. Note that I have NOT tested this to confirm but I imagine the behavior should be just like the nuke button in The Abyss.
If choosing the first two options, you have to pistol start it, which might make the beginning a bit harder. It wasn't too bad even on DIG, since after killing the troopers, I rushed to find the box of Pipebombs to get rid of all corpses and afterwards it went pretty smooth.
Secrets:
1) On the first floor, kill the enforcers and between those two switches, go through the wall to collect an Atomic Health.
2) On the first floor, kill the sentry drones and between those two switches, go through the wall to collect Night Vision Goggles.
3) On the second floor, kill the sentry drones and between those three switches, go through the wall to collect RPG.
4) On the second floor, kill the enforcers and between those three switches, go through the wall to collect Freezethrower.
Hints:
-Press all the switches you come across to unlock the next areas.
-On the last floor, collect the Red Card and use it to unlock the exit.
User Map
This map is obviously inspired by User Map (E1L8) but it is bigger and is made for Dukematch. The map can also be reached by finishing Damned Space Life (FM1X07).
ClipArt Gallery
An original map for Dukematch with a couple rooms containing a bunch of pictures from Fernando's family members, pets, as well as various cartoons, movies, music bands/singers and TV shows.
While the art style doesn't match the original Duke3d art style and the pictures would be distracting during a Dukematch game, the map is still fun to explore in Single Player and looking at the various pictures.
The funny thing is I clearly remember an older version of the map (included up until older versions of FM3X I guess) that had some different pictures showcased in some places. This can be quickly checked by playing the version available at Duke Repository for instance.
Spinning Rooms
Another original map for Dukematch, with two different floors. The gimmick here being the spinning rooms that can make you a bit dizzy.
The only notable thing is grabbing the RPG on the top floor will sink the spinning sector into the ground.
Skyscrapers
Another original map for Dukematch, with the action taking place inside the various buildings that are inspired by the one found in L.A. Rumble.
There are two jetpacks located at the bottom and they can only be reached using the Trip Mine Glitch to negate the falling damage, then they can be safely collected and used to go back to the offices (about 25% fuel required for the trip back). Otherwise, you will die if you fall off the building.
Overall,
New York Rebellion may be a bit too similar to the original levels and some parts feel like they may have been directly copy-pasted but I still had plenty of fun revisiting this episode, as I have fond memories of the FMX series. I don't have a favorite level and I enjoyed pretty much every level in the episode, yes even
Sewer Confines which is a sewer map and may be the weakest of the episode with how dark it is and being a bit confusing at times but I would still put it above the similarly themed RR map because in that one you fought against a single enemy type while easily getting lost. On FM1X04 you face multiple enemy types, you can at least tell where you are and where to go next (even if it's quite dark) and you have a great song playing in the background.
I even find
Damned Space Life superior to the original
Faces of Death but mostly in terms of balance because you fight various types of enemies instead of just SEVEN Mini Battlelords that have no difficulty setting applied to them! Plus the fact that FM1X07 can be finished, while the original version of E1L7 cannot be finished and I'm not counting the modified version included in Total Meltdown and World Tour (WT was released even after FM3X was already out).
When comes to the Deathmatch levels,
User Map (FM1X08) is a great alternative to the original
User Map (E1L8), while
ClipArt Gallery (FM1X09) is interesting but feels a bit gimmicky with the custom art that you will not be able to appreciate during a match against other players or even DukeBots (if playing Atomic because DukeBots aren't supported in v1.3D), so the map is actually best experienced in Single Player.
Spinning Rooms (FM1X10) definitely feels gimmicky but would probably work well with a 4-player Dukematch, while
Skyscrapers (FM1X11) is the best of the exclusive Dukematch maps and would be probably the most fun of the bunch, especially with more players. Also all these DM maps contain Expander Ammo if playing in the Atomic Edition. I'm pretty sure even FM3X has the expander ammo included in the maps but doesn't cause any issues when playing the maps in Duke3D 1.3D.
I haven't mentioned the bonus map FM1X00 in my review, which is an early version of FM1X01 with a very different layout but I will save it for the end, probably if I make a separate post for the extra DM episode (including the overall conclusion) because I remember that one not being that great, as it's quite unbalanced, especially at the beginning and it's not part of the main episode, so it can only be played as an user map.
And while I'm here, I'm posting the only nomination for next month:
Merc 2 + Murder: The EDF Conspiracy + Pray Your Prayers 2000
I've got quite a busy week/month and just in case I won't make a new post on the 25th, then I might as well post this in advance, so people can start voting on the 25th. I don't have any new nominations for next month and I will most likely vote for this option which consists of three TCs from late 90s/early 2000s. I also hope to get FM2X reviewed before the weekend comes and then FM3X before the month ends.
Have a nice day everyone!
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FistMarine, on 23 April 2024 - 04:45 AM, said:
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