[quakis]

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 29 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 2025 Editions

Spoiler

April 2025 - Bob Averill

Previous 2024 Editions

Spoiler

December 2024 - Duke Nukem 64 + Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
November 2024 - N/A (Continuation of October Edition)
October 2024 - FM4X: The Uprising + FM7X: Continental Odyssey
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 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

Just to change up the formula a bit from author specific events and episodes, I've made a selection of levels each going for different themes and styles. To be honest I had trouble keeping this list short, so there's always another time for the others I couldn't fit in here if desired! This month we've got 15 levels, many of these I haven't played in years and others probably haven't been under the spotlight much at all. Some levels are shorter experiences while a couple might keep you busy. Don't feel obliged to play all of them! Hopefully we'll have more time this month for a community vote for June's event.

Hamilton Pool by David B.

Download: MSDN / Scent88

The Prison Campus by Waddah M. I. Abdu

Download: arrovfnukem / Scent88

Voices of Authority by SalaciusCrumb

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Red Rock by Markus 'Suppressor' Schopf

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Bobafett by Mike Beaulieu

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Elements by NerdKoopa

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Insurance Overload by Alias Conrad Coldwood

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Hostile Waters by James Duncan

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Castle of the Damned by Andras Piroska

Download: MSDN / Scent88

The Last Train to Marsville by reflex17

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Dracula's Castle by James 'Jblade35' Stanfield

Download: MSDN / Scent88

FactoryX by Nick 'Vector' Farrow

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Daemonus by Stranger

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Docking Doom by Lanna 'Girl_Online' Deones

Download: MSDN / Scent88

Post Logic by Bryant Arnett

Download: Scent88

[NNC]

I remember enjoying Factory X and Hostile Waters.

[quakis]

To get the discussion rolling, here's some older reviews from TAW I'm still happy with, the latter two I spruced up to the current format with a few minor touch ups. Other older reviews (most before 2006) I'd like to revisit and rewrite down the line.

Post Logic: https://taw.duke4.ne...e3d/post-logic/
Insureance Overload: https://taw.duke4.ne...rance-overload/
Docking Doom: https://taw.duke4.ne...d/docking-doom/
Elements: https://taw.duke4.ne...uke3d/elements/

I've been looking forward to giving FactoryX and Red Rock another spin, so might bump those two as priorities.

[slacker1]

It's been a while since I participated. Hopefully I'll have more time during the month to play some of the other maps.

Hamilton Pool

When I saw the screen shot, I was pretty sure I played this map before. After loading it up, I knew that I did. It's been a long time though. It's always interesting when loading a map you haven't played for 5-10 (or more!) years and a whole bunch of it comes flooding back. For example, in this map, I pretty much fully remembered the whole first floor's layout as soon as I walked into the building. Wild. Anyway....

I liked the map's detailing and styling. Everything was polished and the layouts of all the floors made sense and were easy to navigate. The only thing I noticed is that the scaling of areas was just ever so slightly leaning towards the smaller than normal side. For example, I felt some hallways and doorways were just a little tight.

Weapons, enemies, and health placement I felt was very balanced and fair. I liked that I didn't always have a ton of ammo and though health was pretty abundant, its mostly in the form of the 10+ packs so that also wasn't overdone. Granted, there are a bunch of toilets you use or break and drink if absolutely needed to. Enemy ambushes and spawning was also nicely done. The only one that almost got me that maybe is a little unfair was the final small ambush in the hallway. I ended up backing up into a tripmine and dropping to 18 health while getting chaingunned by an inforcer.

The ending sort of felt a little unfinished. I feel like in the final room, if the computer screens would have opened up as you entered or flipped a switch and a miniboss (or boss) came that would have been cool. Two pig cops and a nuke button just seemed unfinished.

All in all, it's a good level. I was happy to replay it and had fun doing so.

Rating: B+

[Aleks]

In order not to write all these reviews "to a drawer" and to keep my motivation for a more quality output a bit higher, from now on I'm going to upload the reviews on DukeMaps.net. Here's the first one - for Voices of Authority, which I'm pretty sure I've played before, but didn't remember all that well...
https://www.dukemaps...s-of-authority/

[quakis]

Thought about taking a different approach to this. I'm too caught up on wanting to write a review for everything that I'll just never write about anything for a long time. So I'm going to try playing and leaving some initial thoughts I can then use later as brief notes for an eventual review to go more indepth if applicable. At least serve as an experiment for me to be more active as part of these events where possible.

Played four levels today:

• Red Rock has a very striking design you won't see its full potential until a little further into the map, but the titular red canyon has a unique look boasting some intense sunlight hitting the rocks and large scale environments where neat structures like a crane and broken bridge are part of the navigation. Also love how Schopf embraces colour, especially as we get deeper into the EDF base with intense reds and blues cutting through the low level lighting. Some other fun gimmicks include a repairable tank and electrified water that'll instakill you. Neat experience to replay, shame they never stuck around for a sequel or such, I'll have to check out their earlier release soon.
  
  
• Daemonus feels like an elaborate DM level which Stranger made a bunch of, then given a singleplayer treatment. I'm a sucker for these themes and designs though probably more suited for Doom of Quake, but after so many cities, facilities and detours into space, I love a good fantastical setting in Duke now and them. These textures are more than apt for it as showcased here along side a ton of geometrical shapes that make up a multilayered structure squeezed into a small space. You can get lost in these halls as they loop amongst themselves.
  
  
• Voices of Authority offers a nice showcase of SalaciusCrumb's base design that has always appealed to me, the smooth metallic texture is something I attribute to their style and while, yes, is mostly a monotonous grey palette, something about the clean look with complex structure still stands out. Gameplay is mission structured, involves some backtracking using slow elevators, neat concept that could have been tightened up a bit more to match the perceived time sensitive intensity. Little disappointed the final weapon firing didn't do much as the mothership was still encroaching while I could exit, maybe something went wrong or it was always like this. Will speedrun through it later to be certain.
  
  
• Bobafett was a cute combination of moon rock and cold metallic bases, with some minor Star Wars references and neat constructions. The level is a simple romp that packs a bit of variety within its linear format, some underwater segments and a blend of indoor and outdoor sections. Enemy palettes to make their skin blue do make the environment feel a bit colder than usual, which itself has solid design made up of mostly whites and greys. First keycard location being on top of the hallway structures flowing through the cave system was a nice touch. Had trouble seeing where the blue keycard was, the sound cue threw me off the trail but maybe I was just being blind. Ending involves a typical BOSS that's super easy to dispatch, the ship structure makes up for it though.

[quakis]

Played another two today:

• Hamilton Pool has a strict focus on its primary theme, a small and clean looking swimming centre with an offshoot bar and basement level. Short and sweet level that involves some mild combat and a fully explorable layout to make up its intended location. Texture use and shading is meticulous to define its structure and design, very particular in David B's works. The main pool areas are well lit, while descending into the basement is suitably darker, especially what you'll find there. In fact one of the secrets is incredibly sleazy, shifting the whole tone of the map, perhaps already hinted at with the whole bar section. Simple keycard hunting level, except for the blue which can be tracked down at any point but needed at the end. Ending is a bit anticlimatic though and there were some minor mapping errors noted. Great little map if you’re looking to play for a short burst.
  
  
• Dracula's Castle was originally designed for a dead community project. James had the right idea releasing this one as a standalone work. Makes use of a unique custom tileset taking place around a massive castle, more so in terms of scale than your time spent here. You get full run of the castle grounds, interior, basement levels and the whole moat has an underwater layer. There's also a jetpack to reach places otherwise inaccessible for a few trinkets, just watch out for the surrounding rock barrier as you can get stuck there without noclipping out. Another simple romp this one, lots of moment to moment combat and a basic keycard hunt right up until the end, which does have a nice setup to what otherwise could have been a follow up level during the initial project. As a standalone work its serves as a nice change from the usual themes and doesn't expect too much time commitment, while giving you a typical Duke3D experience with tons of secrets and caches to hunt down. The new textures are a little unpolished, but I do like the style going on here which fills in a lot of the gaps in larger spaces. The dining hall was a pretty looking area too. Octabrain and Pigcop replacements fit the tone, which leans on being more playful horror thanks to the included music.

[quakis]

Voting Time
Selection voting for JUNE! Carrying over last months options, suggestions are welcomed. If no votes are cast, I'll default to the first choice and try to have the new thread up around Sunday;

• High Treason's levels, possibly focusing on their 8 singular releases for now.
  
• KaiseR's levels, 9 singular releases
  
• Other?

[NNC]

Aqua series should find its way to this soon.

But I think, based on responses, this can roll on for another month.

[quakis]

 NNC, on 01 June 2025 - 12:39 PM, said:

Aqua series should find its way to this soon.

But I think, based on responses, this can roll on for another month.

The Aqua series definitely needs a spotlight somewhere down the road, I'm at least keeping it in mind for when the map count might seem low one month as it's only 3 levels.

And yes, perhaps I should have also considered just rolling this one on for another month as an option, seeing as the usual folk were busy. I've already got the new thread up however wanting to meet my promised target, still getting the hang of how to best handle these events. Either way, this thread will still be around should anyone want to play and comment on this particular selection of levels, better late than never I'd say.

June thread is up: https://forums.duke4...club-june-2025/

[NNC]

quakis, on 01 June 2025 - 12:51 PM, said:

The Aqua series definitely needs a spotlight somewhere down the road, I'm at least keeping it in mind for when the map count might seem low one month as it's only 3 levels.

And yes, perhaps I should have also considered just rolling this one on for another month as an option, seeing as the usual folk were busy. I've already got the new thread up however wanting to meet my promised target, still getting the hang of how to best handle these events. Either way, this thread will still be around should anyone want to play and comment on this particular selection of levels, better late than never I'd say.

June thread is up: https://forums.duke4...club-june-2025/

I also recommend The Boxes and Doors series, I saw a 3rd installment was released few days ago. I only remember the first one, I played that during my offtime time during my Blast Radius play. I need to play more recent maps, barely saw anything after 2015 or so.

[Aleks]

I've played Hamilton Pool a couple weeks ago already and thought I've given it a small write-up here, but aparently I didn't. Played two more from the list today and I gotta commend Quakis for the picks, they are all very fine maps!

Hamilton Pool

A very short map indeed and probably what I needed at the time since I only had very short while to play it. I was a bit surprised at how focused it was on the theme, the pool was exactly just that and fell kinda pale in comparison to e.g. Roch 6 or that Taivo's map which IIRC also had a pool. The "dark twist" of the plot towards the end reminded me a bit Shocking Twist by C3PO (which of course came out later). Nothing too engaging or memorable here.

Rating: 85/100

Hostile Waters

It can be a bit labrenthine and dark, with the scuba air kinda limited for how much time we're spending underwater - but then that's kind of what you wanna invoke while making a nuclear submarine map and this one felt probably the most claustrophobic out of all the submarine maps I've played - without restricting combat and gameplay. The beginning was a bit unclear in where to go (how to board the ship!) as there was an iceberg obscuring part of the water. The ending had plenty of cool effects and the structure of the layout really makes this one work. Some rooms like mess hall and barracks looked a bit "simpler" than the rest of the map. There were several traps/puzzles that required something extra, but nothing too challenging. Probably my favourite James Duncan map (he made several) and what I could call a defining piece on DN3D submarine maps.

Rating: 92/100

Daemonus

I can't believe this one flew under the radar for me - it's a masterpiece, despite being clearly adapted to SP after its primary design as a DM map. It also does feel a bit mazey at times and the beginning can be crazy due to rooms filled with monsters, but once you find some guns (pipe bombs), then you're settled. It also seemed the yellow keycard was not really required for progression. As Quakis mentioned, the texture set really works to convey a medieval castle theme here (although doors sharing textures with generic walls may not have been the best option), but what I really liked was the structure of the whole thing that creates a coherent castle/fortress with stunning outside, partly on a cliff and with a "working" moat - rather than just a bunch of corridors slapped together, which is how these maps often tend to end up. Even the use of enemies seemed kind of themed - and the cherry on top are the two "invisible" newbeasts in the final room, I didn't know someone made them before ck3d used the "technique"!

Rating: 93/100

[NNC]

I realized Insurance Overload is part of this group. I remember that one as well, MetHy said it is the best classic style Duke map ever made. While disagree, the map is clearly lacking the epic moment, that should be part of every "best ever" map, but it has strong design and good flow. Coldwood's arts should be part of every Duke map.

[NNC]

Played both Hamilton Pool (never played this before) and Insurance Overload, and while loved the visual style of both, great corridors, texturing and shading (also Insurance has some remarkable new art), the gameplay is pedestrian in both without any interesting moments. Just the usual generic key finding and random enemy hunting, and call it a day. Voices of Authority, I remember that one, once again, clean design and eye candy, and really forgettable gameplay.

Will try Hostile Waters and Factory X later on, because I remember enjoying both back then. The rest should be tried as well, if time allows.

[Aleks]

Post Logic

Played this one already a couple of days ago. It's an old map and pretty good for when it was conceived, but then nothing revolutionary. This is one of these "I really want to recreate this particular location in Duke" kind of maps, with the text file actually explaining that the first take was done in Doom II, then they moved to DN3D. There are plenty of new textures which are better than what you'd expect of a 1997 release and used quite consistently throughout the level. The layout, clearly based to some point around an actual office building, is probably the highlight of the map. Unfortunately, this also means that gameplay seems to be a bit of an afterthought in many parts. The problem is that there are many rooms that don't serve any clear purpose (besides recreating the layout) and are just randomly filled with a bunch of low-tier enemies (then again, it can be fun to see how many you can blow up at once with a single pipe bomb throw). The progression seemed a bit confusing before finding the first keycard. I was fairly impressed with the lift shaft where you can fly to three different levels by a clever use of silent "fall" teleporters. It's solid and worth playing for its "historic" value, but nothing mindblowing.

Rating: 74/100