[FistMarine]

What's this thing?
We play through a set of maps/mods during the month, and use this thread to discuss it as we're still all fresh with our comments/opinions/feelings about the maps.

What's the purpose?
Basically, there are 4 purposes:

• Showcasing some of the older mods/maps to wider public - they definitely deserve the attention!
• Getting more people to actually enjoy and appreciate the user content - because let's be honest, over the past 28 years this was really what kept Duke alive after all.
• ...and while we're at it - keeping Duke alive by still enjoying it, as there's no new games in the franchise on the horizon (and let's be honest, they wouldn't be as good as some of this stuff!).
• Having a more structured discussion on maps than what's going in "Last map you played" thread - which is great, but it's basically a monologue most of the time.

Can I join?
Sure, as long as you find some spare time during the month to play the stuff that's on the table!

Why a month?
Because people have lives, jobs or other stuff to do (like mapping). For smaller maps, this could be shorter time - it's all up to debate in the future!

What port should I use? Are mods allowed? Where to get the maps?
It's entirely up to you how you play the game, so you can use whatever port or mod allowed - it would be cool to state in your posts what you're using too, as there might be some slight differences between the ports! As for the maps, they should be always linked within the first post.

How should I play the maps or post about them?
Again, it's up to you. You can finish them all in one go or play them one by one whenever you feel like. On Doom forums, there's a rule that you should keep the pace by not posting about a map that has a higher number than the day of the month, so e.g. on 6th you shouldn't post about map 7 etc. I think that might be a good practice if there's a large interest in this, but first let's see how active the thread is for a start - so if there's nothing going on, feel free to post about whatever map you want to.

Previous 2024 Editions

Spoiler

September 2024 - Pray Your Prayers 2000 + The Realms of Grune
August 2024 - Shadow Warrior
July 2024 - Maps by Alan Page + Maps by Daniel Aashage + Maps by Magnar Jenssen
June 2024 - N/A (Continuation of May 2024 Edition)
May 2024 - Merc: Fatal Reality + Merc 2 + Murder: The EDF Conspiracy
April 2024 - FM1X: New York Rebellion + FM2X: Orbital Oblivion + FM3X: Anarchy Village
March 2024 - Redneck Rampage Rides Again + Wanton Destruction
February 2024 - Duke!Zone II
January 2024 - Back in Business + The Conundrum + Maps by Alex Pistol (Ledsbourne)

Previous 2023 Editions

Spoiler

December 2023 - Maps by Jason Bredhauer (Overlord) + Maps by Juha Laaksonen (Turpuli) + Maps by Kevin Cools (Kuffi)
November 2023 - Duke, It's Zero Hour! + Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66
October 2023 - Maps by Aymeric Nocus (CK3D/MRCK)
September 2023 - Maps by Reginukem + Maps by Stephano Lessa
August 2023 - One Unit: Whole Blood (Part 2)
July 2023 - One Unit: Whole Blood (Part 1)
June 2023 - The Gate
May 2023 - Maps by Maarten van Oostrum + Maps by Merlijn van Oostrum
April 2023 - Redneck Rampage
March 2023 - Metropolitan Mayhem
February 2023 - WGRealms + WGSpace Episode + Maps by William Gee
January 2023 - Future + Fight the Future + Duke Tournament + MSSP Episode + The Brave New World + Maps by Mikko Sandt

Previous 2022 Editions

Spoiler

December 2022 - Countdown to Christmas + Duke: Nuclear Winter + Duke's Snowy Adventure II: Stolen Weapons + The Christmas Project + Xmas 1997
November 2022 - JJ Duke Nukem 3D
October 2022 - Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition + Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour
September 2022 - Secrets of the Acropolis + Twin Dragon
August 2022 - The Lost Duke Episodes
July 2022 - Community Build Project Series
June 2022 - Maps by Billy Boy + Maps by Bob Masters
May 2022 - Duke It Out In D.C. + Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach + Penthouse Paradise
April 2022 - Duke Nukem 3D
March 2022 - Last Reaction & Water Bases + Chimera
February 2022 - DaikariN + Operation Blitzkrieg
January 2022 - ADG Episode + Maps by Alejandro Glavic

Previous 2021 Editions

Spoiler

December 2021 - Lost Highway + Maps by Lukas Cerovsky + Maps by Peter Kucera
November 2021 - Maps by Various Authors
October 2021 - Maps by Taivo Maripuu
September 2021 - Duke Hard
August 2021 - Maps by Geoffrey van Dijk (FakirBaba) + Maps by Rob Wijkstra (Highwire)
July 2021 - Maps by Maarten Pinxten
June 2021 - Roch Series

For this month, Fernando Marquez' two more recent releases (FM4X and FM7X) have been chosen!

FM4X: The Uprising is Fernando's own take on The Birth. It was released back in March 2020. This release also included updated versions of the previous three episodes.

FM5X: DukeMatch Bonus is a Dukematch episode, included as bonus in the package since FM3X & FM4X. 8 maps are available for all versions, 3 maps are only for the Atomic Edition.

FM6X: FlashBack Bonus is another Dukematch episode, this time the included 11 levels are reinterpretations of the campaign levels, with further changes to make them better suited for multiplayer. Just like the above episode, 8 maps are available for all versions, 3 maps are only for the Atomic Edition.

FM7X: Continental Odyssey is Fernando's own take on Alien World Order. It was released in June 2024. Unlike the actual AWO episode, this 7-level episode is fully playable in the DOS version of Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition! Additionally, 4 multiplayer levels made for Duke-Tag are included as bonus.

As already mentioned, FM5X and FM6X are bonus episodes made for multiplayer, they aren't required to be played and reviewed for this month but feel free to take a look at them if you want.

As bonus, the first three episodes (FM1X, FM2X and FM3X) are also included in this whole package with further bug-fixes compared to the previous releases. So if it's your first time playing these series, you can just download FM7X and start playing!

And as if that wasn't enough, the whole package is compatible with all DOS versions of Duke Nukem 3D! Though due to the game's hardcoded episode limit (3 episodes in v1.3D, 4 episodes in v1.4/v1.5), you have to load up the mod separately using the extra batch files to get the FM5X-FM7X episodes displayed in the main menu! This means starting up the FM5Y-SP.BAT or FM7Y-SP.BAT, depending on what version of the game you have. Otherwise, if you want to just play the first 3-4 episodes, use FM5X-SP.BAT or FM7X-SP.BAT file. See the installation instructions for more information!

But if for some reason you don't want to play this mod in DOS, then good news! This mod is also fully playable in source ports such as EDuke32! It is up to you to decide what version of the game to use to play this mod!

What are you waiting for? Download the FM7X mod right here at the following links:

Downloads

FM7X (Latest Version) (Last Updated 17th June 2024)

OneDrive https://1drv.ms/f/s!...AKPao_?e=8LuwPW
MEGA https://mega.nz/fold...DZdsLnvQ_zeF6Gw
OneDrive requires to log in your Microsoft Account in order to download the mod, so just choose the MEGA mirror for the best experience.

Note that if you want to get the whole package in a single download, all you have to do is only download FM7X. All the previous releases, from FM1X to FM4X, are included in the package with further bug-fixes. However, if you want to experience the initial release of FM4X, then you can download it from the MSDN link below. That version uploaded is compatible with EDuke32, so if you are interested in an old DOS compatible version of FM4X, well that version is no longer available since last summer! But if you happened to download FM4X while it was still available, then you can keep that version for historical purposes.

As bonus, here are the original release topics for FM4X and FM7X respectively:
https://forums.duke4...x-the-uprising/
https://forums.duke4...el-balled-pack/

Mikko Sandt's reviews for FM4X and FM7X:
https://msdn.duke4.net/revfm4x.php
https://msdn.duke4.net/revfm7x.php

Installation Instructions

The mod comes with its own README file if you want to read about the exact steps you have to follow, so I will supply a quick and easy way to install the mod in the original DOS versions of Duke Nukem 3D. Please follow the steps carefully!

1) Go to the MEGA link above and download the FM7X-FULL.ZIP package. This is the complete package and is the one that always worked for me the best.

2) Make a copy of your clean install of the DUKE3D folder. If you are interested in only playing the first three episodes (and maybe checking the bonus episodes), then you can use the original Registered 1.3D release, as FM4X and FM7X are ONLY for the Atomic Edition. If you are interested in the complete package, then use the Atomic Edition 1.5 for the best experience, which is the recommended way to play this FM7X package.

3) After you made a copy of your DUKE3D folder, rename it to FM7X for now and delete the included demos (DEMO1.DMO, DEMO2.DMO, etc) so that the new demos will playback instead. Also see below for the exact folder names that the Duke folder should be renamed, if you want to have multiple Duke versions installed.

4) Depending on the version of the game, copy and paste the contents of the correct folder into your directory. For example, if you have Duke3D 1.3D, then copy and paste the contents of FM5XREG folder into your directory and if you have Duke3D 1.5, then copy and paste the contents of FM7XATOM folder into your directory.

5) Before starting the mod, select all the FMX files, right click on them, select Properties, then uncheck the Read-Only attributes of all the FMX files in the directory and apply. For some reason, the mod won't start if the files are set to Read Only, which they are by default.

6) Load up DOSBox and select the proper batch file (FM7X for the first four episodes, FM7Y for the rest episodes). When the game starts, you should see a couple new demos playing in the background. This means the mod has loaded correctly. Don't worry if the demo doesn't make sense while the later episodes are loaded, no new demos are included for those additional episodes. And don't worry if episode names are not replaced in 1.3D, they are hardcoded into the executable!

The episode selection should look like this if you are playing in the Atomic Edition:

NEW YORK REBELLION
ORBITAL OBLIVION
ANARCHY VILLAGE
THE UPRISING

This means the mod has loaded correctly and you are playing the main package. If you have loaded the additional episodes using FM7Y batch file, then the episode selection will look like this:

CONTINENTAL ODYSSEY
FLASHBACK BONUS
DUKEMATCH BONUS
NULL

Ignore the "Null" placeholder episode and don't bother with the multiplayer episodes if you don't play Dukematch, the main highlight of this selection is the Continental Odyssey episode!

Also, if you aren't sure what to rename your new DUKE3D folder to, then use the same name as the folders included in the FM7X package, depending of the version of the game:
Duke Nukem 3D v1.3D -> FM5XREG
Duke Nukem 3D v1.4 -> FM7XPLUT
Duke Nukem 3D v1.5 -> FM7XATOM

This should make the installation more clear. And if you have every version of Duke Nukem 3D installed, you can have all these three folders inside one called FM7X. This mod should keep you busy for a while!

Additionally, FM4X & FM7X are included in the pre-release 4.00 version of the EDuke32 Addon Compilation. So if you want to play the mod in a source port, then use the addon compilation version!

Have fun!

[Aleks]

I'll be honest - I have completed FM4X few months ago when we played through the 3 first episodes and already pre-prepared the write-ups, so will be now consequently dropping them by to keep the thread active, few at a time. I also played FM7X not long after its release and my reviews, level by level, can be found here. The two other episodes don't interest me that much as they're multiplayed oriented.

Mountain Pass

Area 51 and It's Impossible mixed together with a lot of extra flair and more pronounced outside locations. It's a very good starting level for an episode with how gradually it introduces tougher enemies and better guns, provides enough ammo not to run around kicking things all the while starting with some more tricky encounters. The layout is nicely interconnected and easy to follow, although there is some minor length padding at the beginning with the blue keycard. Design is solid, I'd say this map is to FMX what The Birth levels are to original maps, so something made with more attention to details. The highlight might be the blue key room where the cyclers start cycling and alarm goes off after using the correct combination. Combat is engaging throughout, especially some commanders are delightfully placed to show their strengths, there's also the bigger battle when entering the lake area after two huge doors. The level is pretty long, took me about 35 mins (along with heavy wall-humping looking for secrets, which in the end are usually fairly easy to find). Music is great, definitely worth pointing out - has a strong Duke Nukem II vibe to it IMO, which I like a lot.

Rating: 86/100

Nature Valley

This is the most typical city level we've seen since FMX1. Duke will mostly traverse around some buildings over the streets once again exposed to heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms, only this time they are surrounded by rocks. The level is very competently designed - the overwhelming darkness and cheap monster ambushes seem to be gone (although going down the penultimate elevator to face a commander and a protector drone in a very cramped room was a bit dickish), the gameplay is pretty straightforward and the pacing is marked with clear more intense moments to keep you in the rhytm. I liked the fights on the rooftops in particular, also there were a few spots where you were able to ambush some monsters from above. The underwater maze/puzzle was probably my least favourite part of the map, while the area with yellow and red key doors was the best. The design is solid - once again showing more inspiration towards The Birth, which might not be just the use of new textures, but also the structure itself. However, the map is 100% original work, which I'm glad it is. It will also take a while to finish, once again it's in the 30-40 minute range.

Rating: 85/100

[Aleks]

I will be out for a week, so please excuse the double post - hopefully the thread will gain some momentum! Meanwhile, one of the best FMX levels gets its write-up below...

Rainforest

This is a pretty good level that reminds me a bit of Shadow Warrior's "Redwood Forest" level. The beginning is quite mazey and it's really easy to get lost there for no particular reason (might be also because I played quite late in the night), for a while I've missed the path that led to the blue keycard. However, it picks up in the 2nd part - there is some spectacular use of verticality in the tree trunks connected by hanging bridges, which is by far the most memorable part of the level. Then there are two small quests to complete - earthquake puzzles to get the red keycard and some industrial plant where you get the yellow one. Both of these are solid and I like the small "non-linearity" these parallel missions introduce. The combat is fair - the beginning might be a bit more difficult due to the amount of hitscanners and the general layout, but again this gets better later on. There's also plenty of ammo for various guns so Duke can really go to town with more powerful weapons.

Rating: 83/100

Frosty Grotto

I didn't have too high expectations for a level with such a name, dreading it would be a monotone maze of icy caverns. Surprisingly, it turned out to be the best level in the whole FMX so far, with amazing flow and lots of really cool, innovative effects. We start with a battle cruiser submerged in ice (which might be a bit too inspired on the bridge part of Derelict...) which is used to blow up a wall of ice and reveal a hidden base. There are some cool effects like the large drill/turbine in the purple lava, but the highlight is, obviously, the power generators puzzle where we have to restore the power to light some dark tunnels, but it only last for a bit. This is genuinely great effect-wise and works surprisingly well as a gameplay element here! There are more lighting tricks, as the dark corridor where we get locked up and have enemy closets open - I loved how this could be tackled with NVG by just carefully taking out the ambushing enemies before they even noticed you. The two battlelord fights are fair and challenging, in fact the monster placement in this map is just brilliant, my only nitpick would be some too cramped rooms around the beginning of the map. With how the layout is interconnected, there are usually multiple approaches to each room and thus many ways to clear it. Design wise, it's very solid, although there are some corridors that could use more detail and there's the one barracks room with bunks and posters on the walls that looks completely out of place. Still, a great level.

Rating: 93/100

[Quacken]

Going to do the FM4X reviews in a block of five. I just played Mountain Pass and I could barely keep my eyes open, so that's definitely a bad sign.

[Aleks]

Pipe Dreams

Another very good level, I really like how in this 4th episode Fernando starts more experimenting with more complex and innovative effects and implements them flawlessly. Of course, in this one, blowing up the giant tank and flooding the room with water takes the shiny spot, which is done and works perfectly well. There are also some more plays with powering up the machinery and lighting tricks, what I like is that in this episode, we don't get obscured in pitch black darkness, unless it's for a good reason. The industrial design is very solid with some flair, I particularly like the red textures from 1.4 tilesets added here and there. Every room looks like it has some purpose and the huge amount of moving and flickering objects adds a lot of life to the plant we are exploring. Only some hallways and the two large rooms behind the yellow key door could definitely use some (well, any) detailing, as they feel vastly empty. The level is pretty long, but the progression always seemed clear despite sometimes having many different routes to take. The combat may seem intense, but feels a bit pedestrian, I don't think I've ever went below 120-130 HP throughout the map - the most challenging room was the one where you get the red key. I liked the puzzles at the end that led to the secret exit, they were definitely better presented than in E3L5 and E3L8, yet still required some legwork around the final area.

Rating: 91/100

Ultrapower!

This is probably the longest and largest level in the whole FMX, at least so far. It has parts/plot elements clearly taken from Area 51, but with quite a unique flair. It's also ridden with puzzles, some of which I liked more than others. In fact, the beginning, which is dark as all hell, took me a bit to figure out only because I didn't notice a crucial door which happened to be behind some obstacle and tried to "solve" something that wasn't meant to be solved. Further down the road it gets a lot better. There are some points at which steroids really came in handy (like diving into the purple lava), quite a few actually challenging fights (probably this is the most difficult level so far in this aspect) and at least one trap that is bound to fuck you up (after picking up the yellow keycard, just duck - and even after disabling the gate, you won't be able to escape this room scratchless as the gate will block your crawling...). The ambush with 5 new beasts in a small room was quite neat (and again, this is where another pack of steroids was used), while the battle that ensues after picking up the red keycard was my favourite bit of the level, as it really tested your skills. Ambush in the hub room with 3 commanders behind the windows was conceptually cool, but kinda missed the point due to how they tend to just lose their way (one of them also got squished in a parallaxed "wall"). There are some quite innovative ideas used around in this one, in particular the moving "slide door" blocks which travel through some quite weird paths (they also didn't glitch out of the room during my 1-hour gameplay, which is remarkable) - although I just flew up there to grab the blue keycard. Design is solid, but there isn't anything with a "wow" effect, although the interconnection between the base was much welcome as it saved a lot of legwork while backtracking between the locations. In the end, the level overstayed its welcome a bit in my opinion considering what it had to offer, but it was a good one nevertheless.

Rating: 85/100

Castle in the Winds

This level has a pretty unique theme with a castle located in some icy mountains. Such theme could pose two major dangers: mazey layout and monotone/repetitive locations with boring texturing. Luckily, neither is the case here - the level is once again pretty long (about 30 mins) and filled with enemies, yet the textures and layout doesn't get boring or drag the experience in any way. There is potential for a lot of backtracking, but usually we can open shortcuts to previous areas that would help us back along our journey. The combat is once again pretty intensive, with the final area with bridges being the most demanding. I like how the level also emphasizes on the use of freezer as one of the go-to guns, with plenty of ammo around and how the enemies are paired. The few puzzles along the way are welcomed, as they are rather direct. The design is good, especially how there is a lot of consequence in the architecture without it being boring and how some natural destruction is incorporated into the castle's structure. The music, however, doesn't fit the level too much - I would expect something slower and more bleak rather than a fast and distracting piece here.

Rating: 90/100

[Aleks]

Welp, not much activity this month, time to wrap it up...

Fun Fair

This level is pretty much an extended version of Babe Land, with a little bit of Shop'N'Bag also mixed in. It does have some interesting puzzles and some new locations that are probably the most interesting part of the level (the circus area with trapezes where you walk on the wires was pretty neat, could be enhanced by spawning some extra enemies for that part though). Other than that, the combat feels a bit like a breather (besides the pirate ship area which just spams you with a giant battle) and the pacing is a bit slow, also due to long and empty corridors between each of the "attractions". However, I like the general progression idea and how the layout is interconnected, with plenty of insta-backtracking opportunities. The design of most of the map feels a bit bland (the parts inspirted by The Birth maps), but it gets a lot better when Fernando tries something more original on his own. It's still a decent level. I hate the music - but it fits stupidly well with the theme, so it's 100% justified.

Rating: 84/100

Sanatorium

A solid level that takes place inside a hospital. The corridors loop around so whichever way you go, you will eventually reach your destination. There are some cool ideas like a working X-ray machine. I like how pretty much every room in this map is accessible, even if it contains just some minor goodies or is copy-pasted from one another (like the 3 patient rooms on the upper floor). It took me a while to locate the blue keycard, but in retrospect, maybe it wasn't that well hidden actually. The combat is pretty much what the last few levels were all about, so not too challenging, but enough to keep you busy. The disco room probably had the most intense fights. The secrets were pretty easy to find. I liked how the upper floor was also interconnected through a massive system of vents, even if it ended with a nasty surprise by running into a battlelord in the morgue from the wrong approach. I have no idea how a fast food joint or disco fit into a hospital, but I guess it's Duke so everything is justifiable.

Rating: 86/100

Temple Manor

Pretty interesting level that takes place in what might be a country retreat of some zelots' cult that apparently serves as a gateway into the alien tech. The design is good - I like how it seems to keep track of the sun's location with the light coming through the windows. The layout is very interconnected (similar to the previous level - almost too interconnected!), but it does have some rougher edges. Some rarer effects are also used, like turning on/off the pulsating lights and how the wall in the barn is unlocked. The combat is fine, with some more heated battles... What's most interesting, though, is that after we pretty much think it's finished, we have to go through another quest in the alien realm of the level, which is pretty long and has some less than obvious puzzles (which I liked, as they were just my kind of difficult puzzles without overstretching it), so the whole map takes about 40-50 minutes. The alien area has some annoying placements of turrets and the switches you have to press can be hidden in weird places, but it's certainly doable. I liked the "alien Bank Roll" puzzle the most I think, but the final room with the sprite 2-way trains was pretty nice too. The music was a bit too "complex" for a smooth loop and distracting in my opinion.

Rating: 88/100

Birth Cradle

Well, not that much to say about this map - it's basically The Queen, but with a much weaker design. Even the symmetrical green/brown parts are present, down to some of the specific tricks used in original E4L10, but the design and layout just look far less "organic" which was the key part of the original level... There are a lot of button puzzles, though - mostly related to just pressing buttons fast enough. This gets a bit too stretched towards the end, especially when you have to do it once more right before the final boss fight. The changes are made to the two underwater traps/puzzles and I'd say I like them better in this map, especially the one with the sliding blocks (although it's just too easy). The finish is a bit different too - after passing through the purple lava, the room is opened and there's another section which I suppose is done to "feed" the Queen down in her cave, I liked how the walls opened revealing monster ambushes in this part. Last but not least, the final plays completely different and due to the amount of protector drones present and the fact that the boss herself can hide in various corners, is much more difficult and "claustrophobic". I liked that twist and the difficulty spike in general, don't have much else to criticise about this map besides being once again just too similar to one of the original game levels.

Rating: 84/100

[Quacken]

Did I say five maps? I meant two maps.

Mountain Pass
I might need to start playing Duke 3D at an earlier time. Mountain Pass is It’s Impossible if it was double the length and was worse in every way but the ammo situation. This map just keeps going and it has no right to do so. It peddles peanut-sized ambushes at you and makes you run around in circles until you figure out exactly what map author Fernando Marquez wants you to do. It looks more complicated than it actually is. Marquez is obsessed with switches that don’t do anything and buttons that require you to use the Pistol’s god-awful accuracy to shoot down. He does a decent job of signposting, but it still took me quite a while to realise that the Yellow Switch raises another switch right in front of you without a sound cue, and you need to flip that to proceed. Why does this room strobe blue again? The MIDI really started to grate. The guitar is too loud and obnoxious even though I had my sound player at 22 volume, and it’s too short for a map that took me 17 minutes to beat. There’s some alright stuff in here though – the ammo and health situation are handled much better here compared to It’s Impossible and I do like that you can use the Jetpack to skip the awful crate jungle gym in the dark by going around the mountain. Mountain Pass is uninspired and unholily padded.

5.5/10.

Nature Valley
Rugged, grey and brown, Nature Valley offers a much more laid back experience. After how frustrating Mountain Pass was, it’s nice to play something that’s more relaxing. Most of that is due to the MIDI. I don’t know if Marquez made “Cold Wave” or if he got it from somewhere else, but if it’s the latter, I’m gonna have to know who made it so I can use it for a Doom map and then properly credit them. Preferably by December 20th. The only real sour point I can find is that getting the Yellow Key is stupid and I hate it. You have to navigate an underwater tunnel in the dark, and only a double team of Night Vision Goggles and Scuba Gear will be able to get you through without a major migraine. You’ll only come out with a small one. I got the secret Devastator here and then assumed I was done with this section. Then I couldn’t find the Yellow Key, which is why it took three weeks to get these reviews out. The colour palette and visuals are also generally more appealing. The rain isn’t too loud, there’s again a lot of spots to use the Jetpack to get crucial items such as a Shrinker and to get to the two Battlelords, only one of which can actually hurt you. I also like the dark greys and blacks. Nature Valley is a surprising hit!

8.5/10.

[Quacken]

I would have done three maps tonight, but Frosty Grotto put me off.

Rainforest
Rainforest will take you less time to finish than Nature Valley but is much more sparsely populated than that map. This doesn’t really look like a rainforest honestly, but I do like the gimmick of running inside of carved out trees. The main sequence of trees and bridges have fires that will chip a little bit of health off of you when you climb the stairs though. Progression is surprisingly clear here, with the only sore point being a five button sequence that you have to solve to flip two switches that unlock the two branching paths. Apogee literally admitted they programmed the switch sequences to pad out the runtime of their commercial maps. Why are we still putting these in modern maps? Marquez is also generous with health and ammo in this map, and he encourages exploration by rewarding you with a convenient Shrinker and lots of shells and Chaingun bullets. The Yellow Key factory has rather pleasant atmosphere and makes good use of the Night Vision Goggles. It’s probably my favourite part of the map. The Red Key waterfall on the other hand is uncomfortable and finnicky to climb up, and so is trying to make a jump to one of the rocks. My theory is that this is also padding. The MIDI is also not very interesting. It’s short and has no real drive unlike Nature Valley’s MIDI. Rainforest is pretty decent but suffers from a lot of little issues.

6.5/10.

Frosty Grotto
Frosty Grotto has decent visuals, but Marquez’ weakness of building long tracks and making the monsters an afterthought is exemplified here. You’ll probably be wondering where everyone is half of the time. First thing I have to point out is the MIDI. It sounds pretty dopey to me and I don’t really like it. What I also don’t like is the opening, which requires you throw yourself onto a frustrating Derelict impostor that has Sentry Drones around it using only a Pistol and two explosive weapons you can’t actually fire, and also requiring you solve a switch sequence you have to use the Pistol on. FistMarine’s hint card he DMed me came in clutch on this map. Actually, the only section that’s any fun to play here is near the end. The Unreal Gold lights out trap with Enforcers and Troopers could have been a rush if there were Protector Drones and/or it was more than just a hallway with more fodder monsters. The two Battlelords are no trouble at all to kill if you can find a Shrinker and the crashed helicopter makes for an awfully big obstacle that blocks your hitscan. This map makes my eyes sag.

4/10.

[Quacken]

I'll do better tomorrow, I promise.

Pipe Dreams

Pipe Dreams is big, long, complicated and underpopulated. This is another map that I would have been hopeless at if it weren't for FistMarine's guide, so I thank him once again. The bad news is that even while rigorously following the cheat sheet, I finished this map in 19 minutes. This map has a few good things going for it - the visuals were definitely given special attention and the MIDI does a good job at getting you pumped, but it feels like you could cut two or three sections from this map and you'd just have a better experience. Marquez did a decent job of telling you where to go in the previous maps (except when he didn't), but here you are given many less clues on where to go, and the insistence on dark places makes it hard to spot fine details. He also really overuses switches and buttons in cubbyholes, and often times these buttons open out of sight and not in places where you would think to look.

The switch in the A and B tanks is the worst offender. You have to go on a goose chase for two buttons just to open the damn thing up (which doesn't have a sound cue), and after flipping the switch hidden in the tanks, you have to surface up and go back to where you came from to find a button you have to shoot with the Pistol (which also doesn't have a sound cue). Then you have to know the "emergency override" switch actually opens up the underwater doors near the C and D tanks, and that the tanks themselves are a red herring. Just how many "emergency overrides" do you need, anyway? Pipe Dreams features two Battlelords, but an early Shrinker makes them no trouble at all. The hardest fight here is clearing out the watchtower with two Protector Drones and a bunch of Turrets near the end. The only other fight worth mentioning is the Turret quartet near the Red Key, which is a good use of the Night Vision Goggles. Marquez' ambition may have gotten the best of him in this map.

6/10.

[Quacken]

I'm sorry I didn't do better. It's taken me two nights to beat Ultrapower now and I don't even have the Red Key. And I can't wait to be done with it.

[Quacken]

UGHHHHHHHH

Ultrapower!

A secret map not due to its gimmick but because it’s the one map Marquez never wanted you to play, Ultrapower is a sobering Herculean labour that isn’t fun at all to play and absolutely does not deserve a 30 minute run time. If Pipe Dreams could get two or three sections removed, this map can get 15 minutes cut off. Marquez simply does not know when to end this map and seems to actively delight in padding it out like a Thanksgiving turkey. Riding two long subway trains is one thing, but there is also barely any health and armor here, making reloading saves inevitable. I entered the spinning gear room with Octabrains and pop-up Protector Drones with 30 health and it took me about 20 attempts to get into the next room alive. The nightmarish setpiece up ahead with Pig Cop window dressing is about as fun as trying to peel a cactus with your teeth, and so is the Protector Drone quintuplet after the Yellow Door. Yeah, real funny to put the Shrinker behind them, the only weapon that doesn’t affect Protector Drones.

I was lucky to get the Yellow Key on my first try, but surrounding you with tripmines is stupid and really only a trap to kill unsuspecting players the first time around. The Red Key only took me four attempts to get its ambush right, but it felt like it took way more. This absolute bushwhack has Turrets, Troopers, Enforcers, Sentry Drones, two Pig Cop Tanks who will immediately fall into the death pit and render 100% kills impossible and two Commanders. It’s a highly RNG-based clusterfuck. You either rocket the Commanders quickly and throw hail mary Pipe Bombs into the Enforcers or you’ll get hosed by the Turrets. Not to mention there’s a Battlelord who softens you up before entering, and I only found the Portable Medkit that is behind the door you blew up, tucked into a corner. This map is a travesty and I hope I never have to play it ever again.

1/10…

[FistMarine]

Hey everyone! Thank you very much Aleks and Quacken for keeping the topic alive while I was away during that time! Even if this topic wasn't very active, I still appreciate all the contributions so far! And for the walkthrough guide, you're welcome Quacken. We can thank NightFright for providing the guide in his addon compilation pack.

I also apologize for my absence and being so late this time around but I had to deal with plenty of real life issues as of lately. Besides being busy and my gaming time was quite limited (or stolen by other games/mods in addition to FMX series), I had gotten sick earlier this month (I'm almost fully recovered at the moment) and my old PC's power supply also fell off during the first few days of this month. Luckily, the data was not affected, so I didn't lose anything. Don't worry about that, as I back up my data often since the 2022 September incident! Plus that PC got fixed quickly.

So anyway, I had started to write the FMX reviews since late October but only like 20% of review was finished by early November and didn't feel like posting until I've got at least 3 levels fully reviewed. I just prefer to have something to show off instead of having a very short reply but that's just me.

As I have told Aleks and Quacken in a PM, I have decided to silently extend this edition at least until late November, to cover FM7X as well because at the moment of speaking, I had only played through FM4X in late October, from 21st to 31st, the reason being 21st October marks the 28th anniversary of Duke3D Atomic v1.4! What better time than to celebrate Plutonium Pak's anniversary with FM4X?

Though I finished the final FM4X map on 1st November, so I was already quite late this time and felt exhausted after finishing the episode. And I still have to do FM7X at some point...maybe on my Birthday, which comes later this month. So expect a FM7X review (split into 2-3 parts) before the end of the month. FM5X and FM6X (and the multiplayer FM7X maps) might get briefly mentioned/reviewed, if there is still time to fit in another review before the month ends...or maybe in early December.

What is worth noting is that I had NEVER played FM4X and FM7X before, despite being a huge fan of FMX series by Fernando Marquez since back in late 2000s when I first played through the FM2X release at Duke Repository. FM4X was on my to-play list since a long time ago (it was released all the way back in March 2020) and then FM7X was released just a couple months ago. So I knew that October should be the perfect month when I play through these for the first time, which is also the month when the official Duke3d expansions (Plutonium Pak and World Tour) originally came out.

But even though it was a blind playthrough done in DOSBox with the usual settings, I still did just fine most of the time, besides the rare time I got stuck and looked up in the NightFright's hints text file from the Addon Compilation 4.00 pre-release. I also shared the hints with Quacken in one of the PMs, to help him complete the episode because I knew some parts would be too confusing. Though the balance is pretty much spot on and very enjoyable throughout the episode, only the secret level I found quite frustrating at times, plus it felt like playing 2-3 levels into one! More on that next time when the secret level gets covered.

And a fair warning, most levels in FM4X are pretty long too. I rarely finished a level with less than an hour in-game time and even when that was the case (about 50 minutes took me to complete a few maps), after backtracking for minutes to collect goodies and missed secrets, the timer exceeded the hour. It's also important to note that DOS Duke3D only has level stats shown at the level completion screen and it does not show more than an hour in-game time, nor it shows more than 255 kills, they reset to 0 upon exceeding the stat and the latter can screw up the enemies left stat too. Oddly enough, NONE of the FM4X maps exceed 255 kills, despite there being a few maps in past episodes which exceeded 255 kills. Even the original Duke3D's E4L9: Derelict exceeded 255 kills.

Without further ado, here is the review of first four maps of FM4X. I used the latest FM7X version downloaded from MEGA, to have the best experience.

As usual, I used DOSBox 0.74-3, Duke3D Atomic v1.5, CGS difficulty, all kills and secrets, frequent saves, keyboard only controls.

I will also note the amount of kills and secrets for each level. However, this time around I will NOT do the secrets guide. I gave up trying to describe each secret when most levels have plenty of secrets.

This is one of the factors that delayed my reviews and instead of spending extra hours trying to describe all the secrets in FM4X, I decided to give up on this aspect. This of course did not affect finding the secrets in my playthrough, I just find it exhausting to describe the exact place where you find the secret. So I recommend using Mapster to find the missing secrets or look on YouTube, I am sure there will be full playthroughs of the episode at some point in the future.

Let's begin the long awaited review! FM4X01-FM4X04 are the maps covered here!


Mountain Pass

Kills: 132
Secrets: 7

The first level of FM4X doesn't disappoint. As Aleks said, it is basically a mix of It's Impossible and Area 51 into one level. Nicely designed and answers the question what if you mixed E4L1 and E4L11 into one level.

Your main threat in this map will actually be the lightning strikes. Luckily, Duke only got hit once or twice and not much health was lost. Enemies shouldn't pose too much threat if handled carefully.

The beginning is a bit tricky until you will find weapons and armor but you should be able to do fine (especially if Enforcers drop ammo), as health is plentiful and there are also toilets you can use for restoring your health. Be also careful with a few ambushes, such as the one at the end with Protector Drones. Quite neat and a nice callback to the original E4L1.

As is the case with most of Fernando's maps, the balance is quite spot on. Not too easy and not too hard. Very enjoyable gameplay that will keep you on your toes at times. Especially the traps toward the end.

Progression is mostly straightforward, though a few parts confused me a bit until I figured out the path forward. I believe I had trouble finding the place where to insert one of the cards and the solution was following the bloody footsteps and jumping through those curtains to access a room, which eventually led to the access card slot.

Found only two secrets by myself, one of which was the Jetpack and the other contained ammo for Shrinker/Expander if I remember correctly.

Overall, this was a nice intro map. Looking forward to the next one!
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Nature Valley

Kills: 162
Secrets: 11

A nice city styled map that is very enjoyable with some references to classic Duke Atomic maps. Has some good action and the eventual long awaited fights against the THREE Mini Battlelords. Funny as I was wondering when the Mini Battlelord will appear and then two of them showed up immediately after on some buildings.

Just be careful with that last Mini Battlelord behind some tripmines. Don't blindly rush to shrink him or you will fall into the trap. Besides, if playing in DOS, shrinking the Mini Bosses can be tricky due to forced autoaim. Choose your weapon wisely!

And of course, once again be cautious with the lightning strikes, though this time around they are mostly placed in the middle of the street and much easier to avoid them that you shouldn't have much trouble.

I would say the only "low point" of the map is the underwater maze/tunnel with the Octabrains where you need to get the Yellow Card and even then I didn't actually mind that while playing, as while navigation can be tiring after a while, you are given a Scuba Gear in advance to not drown (in case you exhausted the one from the previous level) and the Octabrains can be easily removed with Devastator, though you should use the Shrinker if you don't want risk taking splash damage in those cramped corridors. Or you can use the Shotgun/Chaingun, these weapons are also very efficient in killing them quickly.

Managed to only find three secrets by myself. As you can tell, there are plenty of secrets to uncover in these maps. Keep an eye for those secrets, they are very rewarding! Some of them will spawn a few enemies when you get them, be careful!

Overall, this map was very nice.
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Rainforest

Kills: 120
Secrets: 4

When I saw the title of the map, I got reminded of the Rainforest levels in Oblivion TC. While those levels looked pretty good, their gameplay wasn't that great, as they had terrible navigation and annoying gameplay, at least in my opinion. I still have a soft spot for the first episode of Oblivion TC, even though I first played it back in October 2020. I suppose it has to do with the feelings I had when I first experienced that mod.

Anyway, back to the map, Fernando manages to make a good looking map and pretty enjoyable in terms of gameplay. Map reminded me a lot of two levels from the FM3X episode, such as FM3X03: Boiler Cliff and FM3X06: Ghost House. At least in terms of design they seemed similar.

Some parts seemed a bit confusing but I was able to figure out those puzzles eventually. There is even that five-switch puzzle that I figured out by myself. I was ready to look on hints (or Mapster) for help but managed to solve it on my own without too much trouble. The solution is to press all switches except the middle one.

The only thing I need to mention is that at the end, after getting rid of the Mini Battlelord and two troopers, you drop down into that hole and there is NO WAY BACK! If you have acquired the Jetpack in the previous levels, you can go back thankfully. In case you want to backtrack for goodies and such.

Anyway, at the very end, you just fight a few protector drones and that's it. Use the Jetpack to backtrack or if you don't have it, hope you have an earlier save to get everything in advance before dropping down.

Found two secrets by myself if I remember correctly.

Overall, this was another nice map.
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Frosty Grotto

Kills: 141
Secrets: 5

Really cool level involving some very unique sections. Highlights include: Derelict on ice, a driller situated on purple lava that you have to time correctly and jump through and a very clever puzzle involving turning on lights for a short while before it goes back to the darkness and have to wait a certain amount of time in order to activate the lights again. And of course, there are plenty of interesting ambushes in general.

The level can be quite a challenge at times but it's not terribly difficult and once again you get the option to drink water from fountains if you want. The NVGs will also come in handy to deal with monsters hidden in those dark corridors. Just watch out their battery, to not run out of the NVGs at the worst possible time.

Found only two secrets by myself if I remember correctly.

Overall, this was a very solid map. Looking forward to what comes next!
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Have a nice weekend everyone!

[Quacken]

I could have done this map in 16 minutes but I finished it in 26. Thanks, Marquez!

Castle in the Winds

A map with oddball texture usage, Castle in the Winds is ambitious, flows fairly well and has some decent ammo and health balance on a Pistol start, but is often foiled by Marquez' own trappings. I'm all for interconnected layouts, but this map takes things way too excessively. There's so many shortcuts and holes you can blow open with explosives that I feel like I'm stumbling around drunk in a grocery store by the end of it. This map is also quite ugly, has repetitive texture usage, constant elevators you have to take, useless areas and switches that don't go anywhere, and features more spots to take unnecessary damage, like guaranteed fall damage near the start as well as a round of explosions to take half of your health off, the two torches on the staircase down to the Red Key, the lethal candles on the dining table, and the mandatory platforming you have to do over super lava with no Protective Boots. It's not good, people. The only area that gets a good kick out of me is the final section with the bridges, Commander and Sentry Drones. The Battlelord at the end is unnecessary and only feels included because one has to be there. This map is good on paper, but it's again held back by a lack of willingness to scale down.

6.5/10.

[Quacken]

"First enemy is a Protector Drone, good sign. Second enemy is also a Protector Drone, also a good sign."

Fun Fair

Fun Fair's groovy MIDI and the use of underrated textures thankfully save another map that's far longer than it needs to be. Fun Fair is a motley union of two different maps from The Birth that don't really have much in common and are stitched together tenuously at best. It's crowded, low on health and high on flashing lights, which is not the thing that I should see while suffering from a flu. If you blocked Ultrapower out of your mind like I did, Fun Fair has the highest kill count so far and Marquez actually does a decent job of flowing fights together this time around. That being said, the double pirate outposts really spoil this map. The first one sends you in on a boat at an awkward angle and forces you to take potshots from hitscanners and rockets from Commanders, not to mention the towering Battlelord on the ship. It's such a shitshow here that if you aren't already dead, you won't have enough health for the second ship which has two more Battlelords and more cannons to make you reload your last save. Did you know you can kick the cannons to make them face you? I only found that out tonight. That would make for a great puzzle map, someone needs to get on that. This is a better option for a fun fair instead of planning a trip 25 miles out of Hickston, but maybe bring a boombox with you.

6.5/10.

[Quacken]

"This is not padding. This is ADVANCED padding. Oh, and he put one (timed door with a tiny switch) behind you too, the bloody [Aussie Swear Word]."

Sanatorium

Oh my god, I still have to play two more maps after this. I don't really have anything to say on Sanatorium that I haven't already said about the previous eight maps. Long corridors, underpopulation, random monster placement and extreme darkness everywhere? Bingo! This map has a lot of optional content which makes trying to go for 100% kills a drag. I'm glad Marquez only used the small left, middle and right cubicle set once with the one Trooper because I would be rating this map much lower if he used it more than that. This map has a lot of Protector Drones and nearly every single room requires a light switch to be turned on to see anything, which adds a lot of aggravating padding. This was another map I could definitely finish in about 15 minutes if it weren't for that and all of the optional rooms. Besides the Protector Drones, monster placement seems entirely random and there aren't any real fights. Not even the Battlelords are interesting because you get handed a Shrinker at the start. Sanatorium is average and not worth this many lines on the review.

5/10.

Temple Manor

It really amazes me how even in the year 2020, we still don't design maps for Pistol Starts. I get I'm in the minority here, but is it really so hard to give the player a workhorse weapon at the start? Either of them? You wanted a Shotgun to handle the eight hitscanners, two Enforcers, two Sentry Drones and about four Troopers in this maze full of tight corridors, 30 health and 10 shells? You stupid fucking cretin! Here's a Shrinker and nothing else. As in, the one weapon that kills monsters without dropping their items. Hope your 48 Pistol clips can pass the Pig Cop RNG check, or else you have to restart. You brought this arbitrary challenge that mappers have been designing around since 1993 on yourself, pal! I didn't find the real Shotgun until two and a half minutes in and it was by complete accident. In my winning attempt out of the start, I got a Shotgun from one of the Pig Cops in the dining room, which you have no choice but to spend your clips on as that has the Shrinker in it. It doesn't get any better once you get the real Shotgun. The switch that opens four timed doors in the arcade is stupid padding and has an indestructible bar chair blocking your way, the barn after the Red Door is ugly and has a very easy softlock in it, and I wish I didn't have to talk about the final area and the miserable three trials you have to sit through. This feels like an entirely separate map that got scrapped and was tacked onto the end of this one to make this longer. The crushers are basically luck to squeeze past since hugging the crushers don't work, the turrets in the spinning column puzzle can take a swan dive onto a bed of spikes, and the moving platforms in the third trial with the button you have to shoot don't work properly and require you to make awkward and risky jumps, and the MIDI is so unbearable I had to swap it out for a TNT Evilution song halfway through. Temple Manor is 30 minutes of my life terribly spent.

1/10...