[pepsodent]

Hi, I'm pepsodent, but some call me peps. I'm proud to say that after 6 hard months of learning mapster I finally released my 1st map, Weather Report. The setting is cliche after 30 years of duke mapping but I'm sure everyone made a strip club and slums when making 1st map. Map is a bit open with different paths there and there so you are very likely to get lost for a bit but I made sure everything is as connected as possible and easy to loop around. Honestly don't know what else to say, go play the map and tell me your thoughts about it. How interesting it was, what you liked/disliked, was the combat good or not. Maybe you found super secret? All important info is in .txt file of course

The journey was very fun and I'm very grateful to all the pro mappers that helped me out to get the map done. I discovered this engine and janky but fantastic games on it few years ago and been in love with it since. Always wanted to make something myself but was very intimidated by the tools but gotta say mapster is pretty cool, it really does 'get good when you get used to it', maybe its just Stockholm syndrome who knows but I like it and already got tons of ideas to make more maps.

map link:
https://www.moddb.co.../weather-report

[ck3D]

One of the most solid maps of the recent times and an amazing first release. Fascinating combo of traditional layout connections and dynamics, modern EDuke capabilities and urban aesthetics with a subtle touch of Shaky Grounds inspiration. Perfect lighting/shading and some really cool creative set pieces. Do not miss.

[Aleks]

So that's what the white smoke in Vatican was all about...

I'll try to play it during the weekend and write a review for DukeMaps.

[Dr.Panico]

Congrats on your first release!

This map took me 35 minutes and I still missed half of the secrets. Very well designed and fun to play. That hologram globe at the TV station is a nice effect!
I'd like to report one minor glitch in the sewers: at the air pocket (or whatever it's called), the emerging effect is a little broken. Duke doesn't do his gasping sound and the screen is still blue. But like I said, it's minor and it doesn't affect gameplay.

[pepsodent]

Quote

minor glitch in the sewers: at the air pocket (or whatever it's called), the emerging effect is a little broken

something to do with TROR, dunno how to fix it. Glad you liked the map, thanks for playing!

[ck3D]

pepsodent, on 08 May 2025 - 11:29 AM, said:

something to do with TROR, dunno how to fix it. Glad you liked the map, thanks for playing!

Didn't notice that when testing so a bit late but that must have to do with needing to make both sides of the TROR water portal blocked and hittable.

[zykov eddy]

Oh boy, this was a wild ride. This is, without a doubt, the best debut DN3D user map ever. I can't think of a better example. The level of detail is astounding, and the build engine is pushed to its absolute limits. Tons of cool tricks that surprised me, especially with rotating sectors. Love all the small secrets and easter eggs. Action is never boring, gameplay is close to perfect. If I had to nitpick, I'd say that a lot of the areas are kinda dark, which makes it harder to see enemies and details. End fight felt kinda easy, especially considering that cycloid emperor is a total push over, but the arena itself is very cool looking, especially the buildings outside. There are some areas where the player can break out of bounds by jumping on spritework, but I always loved it in games, to break the rules. Otherwise, it's close to perfection, just what you want from a Duke 3D level. I wasn't actually expecting it to be this good, because screenshots don't do this map justice.

Best map of the year by far, don't know how anyone can surpass it.

[pepsodent]

zykov eddy, on 09 May 2025 - 12:59 PM, said:

Oh boy, this was a wild ride. This is, without a doubt, the best debut DN3D user map ever. I can't think of a better example. The level of detail is astounding, and the build engine is pushed to its absolute limits. Tons of cool tricks that surprised me, especially with rotating sectors. Love all the small secrets and easter eggs. Action is never boring, gameplay is close to perfect. If I had to nitpick, I'd say that a lot of the areas are kinda dark, which makes it harder to see enemies and details. End fight felt kinda easy, especially considering that cycloid emperor is a total push over, but the arena itself is very cool looking, especially the buildings outside. There are some areas where the player can break out of bounds by jumping on spritework, but I always loved it in games, to break the rules. Otherwise, it's close to perfection, just what you want from a Duke 3D level. I wasn't actually expecting it to be this good, because screenshots don't do this map justice.

Best map of the year by far, don't know how anyone can surpass it.

Oh wow, I really didn't expect this much praise for my first project. Thank you! It was very much the intention to use all the tricks of the engine to make something that can't be easily replicated in some other 2.5D engines, like GZD for example. It was also a good reason to learn advanced stuff like ROR and TROR, many areas of the map is me learning and figuring out different tricks and also trying to make it somehow good looking and playable. It's not perfect, some areas clearly got more love than others, and I also had to scale down my plans due to wall limit (thats also why final fight at the roof is very underwhelming).

[stillTodd]

So I'm probably the one guy around here that uses DukePlus and keyboard only (so lots of jumping and savegaming, haha!). I have a question about weapons placement, and maybe a possible keycard-bypassing bug that could well be a DukePlus eduke version thing.

There is plenty of the Devastator ammo lying around, but I haven't found the actual weapon (multiples) until late in the map. It's very useful against octabrains and a couple of other nasty enemies. Is there one of these earlier on, say, before opening the red gate? If so, please send some kind of a hint

Will PM on the potential bug.

[pepsodent]

stillTodd, on 09 May 2025 - 04:19 PM, said:

There is plenty of the Devastator ammo lying around, but I haven't found the actual weapon (multiples) until late in the map. It's very useful against octabrains and a couple of other nasty enemies. Is there one of these earlier on, say, before opening the red gate? If so, please send some kind of a hint

there is a secret devastator somewhere at the start of the map, tricky to get to it but I tried to hint at it.

[stillTodd]

pepsodent, on 09 May 2025 - 05:01 PM, said:

there is a secret devastator somewhere at the start of the map, tricky to get to it but I tried to hint at it.

Found it and I had wondered what that particular switch did! Thank you!

[William Gee]

The map is excellent thank you, just replayed it and it played really well.
The first time I was able to pass without going into the room with that rotating lamp art thing, not sure how, I think I also died alot just cause of livestream.

Anyways thanks, detail is superb, lighting is also, gameplay is very good. there were a few "WOW" moments for sure, like seeing the sprite globe.
Cant wait to see what comes from you next. Effects were really well done and the details were interesting, encounters were well placed and interesting too.

You already know how to do more things than alot of mappers.

[pepsodent]

William Gee, on 09 May 2025 - 05:51 PM, said:

The first time I was able to pass without going into the room with that rotating lamp art thing, not sure how

thats because it's one of the possible ways of progression. Thanks for playing, your ROR selection video was very helpful when making this mess.

[pepsodent]

Map got a small update. Removed a huge skip thanks to stillTodd reporting it, added hitdetection flag to some windows that were missing it, fixed TROR water and slightly adjusted one secret encounter in Motel

[stillTodd]

Quick question: is there a jetpack somewhere? Trying to figure out access to a small number of places

[pepsodent]

stillTodd, on 10 May 2025 - 05:14 PM, said:

Quick question: is there a jetpack somewhere? Trying to figure out access to a small number of places

there is no jetpack

[quakis]

Excellent debut release, here's my review: https://taw.duke4.ne...weather-report/

[pepsodent]

quakis, on 11 May 2025 - 12:53 PM, said:

Excellent debut release, here's my review: https://taw.duke4.ne...weather-report/

Holy shit thanks for review, it's a really weird feeling reading this as I never thought my map would be THAT much liked by people. Really appreciate and agree with all the criticism too, feedback is really what I need right now as I figure out ideas for future projects

[slacker1]

Just finished playing through the level. Took me about 48 min and found a little more than half the secrets.

That was fantastic! I enjoyed every minute of it. The set pieces throughout the level were always fresh and looked great. The fights were all fair and a good challenge. I liked having to rely on some of the weapons I don't usually use as often like the expander and the freeze thrower (I always forget how good that weapon actually is...) due to trying to conserve ammo on the more 'conventional' weapons. The way the level interconnected to itself was also nicely done and made sense.

I did find two potential soft locks though:

Spoiler

In the underwater sewer section, I accidentally hit the switch twice as it was going down turning it back off. After the switch went back into the panel, I wasn't able to press it again to turn it back on.

In the TV studio, you're able to jump behind the weather report screen with a jump and duck but I wasn't able to get back out. I might have just needed some more patience with that one though.

All in all, really great map. Thanks for sharing!

[pepsodent]

slacker1, on 12 May 2025 - 09:16 PM, said:

Just finished playing through the level. Took me about 48 min and found a little more than half the secrets.

That was fantastic! I enjoyed every minute of it. The set pieces throughout the level were always fresh and looked great. The fights were all fair and a good challenge. I liked having to rely on some of the weapons I don't usually use as often like the expander and the freeze thrower (I always forget how good that weapon actually is...) due to trying to conserve ammo on the more 'conventional' weapons. The way the level interconnected to itself was also nicely done and made sense.

I did find two potential soft locks though:

Spoiler

In the underwater sewer section, I accidentally hit the switch twice as it was going down turning it back off. After the switch went back into the panel, I wasn't able to press it again to turn it back on.

In the TV studio, you're able to jump behind the weather report screen with a jump and duck but I wasn't able to get back out. I might have just needed some more patience with that one though.

All in all, really great map. Thanks for sharing!

glad you liked it, thanks for playing! Now, about those softlocks:

Spoiler

underwater sewer switch goes bellow the panel because I didn't want players to use it again due to how some stuff is built in that area, but it backfired. I'll see if I can fix it, for now have to reload a save. TV studio softlock is not that big of an issue, a simple blocking flag should fix it, or maybe I could try hiding something behind it and have easier way out of there. Thanks for reports

[pepsodent]

another update already on moddb.

Spoiler

fixed softlock in TV station, reported by slacker1. Tried to fix other possible softlock in sewers by making button go down faster, as I couldn't find a better solution.

Red room after sewers is now mirrored, so players that enter it can spot the key easier

[lllllllllllllll]

Spoiler

The doom guy corpse street area secret's gate being blocked without anything visually impeding you from jumping it makes it feel like an exploit to hop in from the corner

[pepsodent]

lllllllllllllll, on 15 May 2025 - 10:10 AM, said:

Spoiler

The doom guy corpse street area secret's gate being blocked without anything visually impeding you from jumping it makes it feel like an exploit to hop in from the corner

Spoiler

don't disagree, its a dumb logic in there, just that gate is blocked but the rest is free to go. Its a remnant of my early layout plans, I should probably change it

[Aleks]

pepsodent, on 14 May 2025 - 03:39 PM, said:

another update already on moddb.

Spoiler

fixed softlock in TV station, reported by slacker1. Tried to fix other possible softlock in sewers by making button go down faster, as I couldn't find a better solution.

Red room after sewers is now mirrored, so players that enter it can spot the key easier

duke0457.png

A good way to temporary block a switch from being flipped again is to link it to a dummy sector with extremely slow SE31 - hell, with some calculations, you can even block the switch for exactly as long as you plan (see the overly elaborate elevator in the hotel in Simpler Times where this was used to make sure the players can't push random buttons at the elevator and screw up the effect).

[pepsodent]

Aleks, on 15 May 2025 - 02:31 PM, said:

A good way to temporary block a switch from being flipped again is to link it to a dummy sector with extremely slow SE31 - hell, with some calculations, you can even block the switch for exactly as long as you plan (see the overly elaborate elevator in the hotel in Simpler Times where this was used to make sure the players can't push random buttons at the elevator and screw up the effect).

thats a good trick to know, thanks. With that switch though I want it to never be used again hence why I lower it down bellow the panel

[Rorschach]

This is a wonderful map. Thank you.

Excellent design in terms of both eye-candy and playability. I'll be replaying this pretty soon - if only to find the 5000+ alien b@$t@rd$ I seem to have missed the first time!

[Merlijn]

Great map, like others said it's probably the best debut ever. I had a lot of fun traversing and playing it, design is consistently moody and great. I love the worn down, decayed look of the city and the great usage of lightning and shadows. I also really like the way you composed the fights - they're not unfair but definitely keep you on the move thanks to the well timed waves. There's some room for improvement when it comes to scale and spriteworks - especially the multitiered building with the night club felt a bit cramped and difficult to move in due to all the intricate spritework. But most of us have been there (Red4 has the same issues, for example).

I absolutely loved that final area, the city backdrop looked like it came straight out of Blade Runner
Also don't agree that the Cycloid Emperor was a pushover here. If anything he's much more dangerous here than in the original game, thanks to the smaller scale of the rooftop. He got me couple of times thanks to the splash damage

Congrats on your map, and it's nice to see it getting such a warm reception!

[Jan Satcitananda]

Congratulations on your first released map! Looks like a solid level with a bit of Ion Fury vibes, also reminding me of some old Duke city maps, although done with better attention to detail and lighting. To my taste, the gameplay was a bit too combat focused, but there definitely are some spaces to explore, and I appreciate all the visual quicks you put into it. I'm only not a fan of flat decorative doors or thin sprite bridges and staircases (with some buggy clipping). Maybe a TROR would better fit such a location, as you have shown some effective use of it in other places. Alternatively, I would consider using more blocking walls to reduce clipping glitches and prevent jumps between floors for a better management of level progression. But all of this depends on which style of gameplay you choose. I suppose you're coming up with your own style. Any plans or ideas on your next level?

[pepsodent]

Quote

To my taste, the gameplay was a bit too combat focused, but there definitely are some spaces to explore, and I appreciate all the visual quicks you put into it. I'm only not a fan of flat decorative doors or thin sprite bridges and staircases (with some buggy clipping). Maybe a TROR would better fit such a location, as you have shown some effective use of it in other places. Alternatively, I would consider using more blocking walls to reduce clipping glitches and prevent jumps between floors for a better management of level progression.

fully agree about the issues here. The Hotel section was build as a alternative path to bar bellow so its cramped and full of sprites for some detailing, I could use TROR yes, but that would be very costly on my walls. And those sprite bridges were made have jumps between floors, some vertical combat you know? Its not perfect. Sprite doors I tried to keep at minimum, even picked 1 door texture specifically for doors that have nothing behind them.
Some lessons with this map learned and hopefully I will do some work on not making same mistakes next time, but I do still work out my type of mapping design. I also agree that combat might be a bit too much, but I was worried that map would be boring and quick to finish so I placed enemies everywhere I could.

I did start work on my next project yes, it will be a few maps in episode and now I'm working on one of the maps for it. I can't promise anything as I'm very slow with my mapping but it was a big dream of mine so I will release it at some point in the future. Right now I can show this cool TROR train I'm working on:

[stillTodd]

I might perhaps be an outlier, but I liked the difficulty for precisely the reasons you mention