Ah that's nice the water teleport thing is intended, was hoping it would stay as even if it were accidental is one of those things that indirectly adds a lot of timeless charm to a map or game.
About the train ceiling bug, assuming the train car is a free-floating sector (island in the middle of a larger one), what happens if you lower the parallaxed sky of that sector to the height of the sprite ceiling, wouldn't just that be see-through and block any taller collision altogether, and then you could declutter the map of the invisible sprites. Might be worth considering trying if you ever update the file, or keeping in mind for the next similar set-up. Again I didn't even try to break that part, it just kept happening with that Commander spontaneously pressing me against the stuff, but I did try and replicate it on purpose after that and noticed it wasn't so easy by just jumping.
I have quite a bit to say about this one, it's difficult to hold my thoughts for until I've gone back to the boss but in general I think it's a brillant map, I love the way the TROR is used in a practical way serving layout and not just to show off as though we would be on a timeline where Quake never existed. I have some minor issues with collision but not so much the scale, most likely will expand on that later. You are underselling your placement of the enemies and weapons - it is all super well done until the last part that is just mayhem, but the pool trick remaining in indeed is a huge relief when one figures it out, and whilst I would have been hoped for less chaotic combat as climax (maybe more oriented around the features of the terrain being affected by the passage of time similarly to what happens to the crops) it's also a valid step-up from the difficulty of the first phase, makes sense to go out hard. I think I would have been warier with enemy type diversity though; the first half of the map does it well with specific types reserved to distinct areas, and some clever spots too, for instance those two Enforcers on the train that can hitscan you from across the map are awesome and a real threat if low on HP. Goes well with the world building throughout that the level establishes but then at the end suddenly is fireworks cacophony, maybe could have done with one or two less enemy types (phase two tanks for instance felt a bit redundant and foreign and could have been replaced with another enemy in greater numbers).
It is interesting seeing you mention inspiration from Spacetronic - to me it feels a lot more like a BobSP map (which invented the 'motherboard' trick), or Domino (which I wouldn't be surprised to also be Bob's works seeing as it's now been established he uses aliases). Another oldie that instantly came to mind is Dave City 2
https://msdn.duke4.n...otdavecity2.php because of the general vibes of the environment but also the relatively narrow scale. Welp I guess this is the perfect transition so might as well mention the scale now actually; I've noticed you seem to enjoy building on what I would call the L.A. Meltdown scale that would be realistic to Duke's sprite dimensions (relative to doorways etc.), but from experience this works better paired with a smaller enemy count like the original maps themselves were designed to hold. Otherwise generally works better to inflate things a little, especially width of things if one is going to throw swarms of strong enemies in. Now, in this map that actually was never a problem outdoors at all because it isn't just open, but really well optimized for all of the quick footwork and jumps the player has to improvise in order to make it to the guns (because yes I didn't find most weapons including the shotgun for a little while but really enjoy when levels do that). It is indoors or in narrower nooks and crannies that now instead of decorating space, all of the detail sort of closes in on the player. Hotel in Weather Report had the same issue, and I remember people complaining about that in Locked and Loaded too (can't believe it is so many months old already) although personally it didn't bother me in that map, maybe because I expected narrow settings from the theme. Maybe gradually getting used to say making your interiors 20% the scale you currently make them would help playability all the while allowing you to keep all of your fine detail. I keep mentioning it these days but maybe you would enjoy and be inspired playing Mister Sinister's Death Drive episode for its efficient way of articulating tons of enemies:
https://msdn.duke4.net/hotddrive.php
Design is excellent by the way, bar for the scale thing. You have a cool way of using fogpals that is the polar opposite from a lot of people's (from mine at least), which may be why you think they clash with the rest of the base palette, they are designed to be applied to whole regions of map with large scale dynamics but instead you use them in very fine ways to come up with precise color touches, not that no one's ever tried that before but I think most everyone who did promptly gave up (and went back to reserving them to big blocks, or not using them at all) and so that is an interesting particularity of your style.
Guess I'll get the collision complaint out of the way too; there are a couple of places where you can blow holes into walls but then can't throw pipebombs through those as the TROR seems to block the trajectory, and since those spots have enemies around that can be a bit frustrating. It really just ties back to the scale thing honestly, as in if the holes were higher and didn't look in reach of pipebomb then it wouldn't be a problem. Merely just noting that because it made me realize that that was a thing and I should be on the look out for it when making my own maps; would suck to design a whole complex puzzle around the idea if it may not work. Also never a fan of plain invisiwalls to block unreachable areas (adding a little barrier, signage or justification never hurts) but only that one end of the road got me. Some of the roofs blocked my jumps but somehow I still haven't found one secret so it is all the more intriguing where they might be.
Done rambling for now but might keep going later, it really is a fun, fresh map, nice work and thanks for sharing.
edit - oh yeah, progression was rather straightforward, didn't remember the plot from that specific Simpsons episode and so the screen actually helped. I was a bit confused about where to insert the green tube at first, the machine is complex and originally I was trying to use the wrong sector for it (off memory, the one where the '!' marker is; if that's the right one, then a different one that looks like it could also be it). The power sign on the page also confused me because there is that one back alley with the same signage and broken switch and so for a second I went back there wondering if it would be relevant. Maybe it was and I didn't realize I activated something there? I did notice the electrical sounds, wasn't sure if ambient or cue.
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ck3D, on 02 March 2026 - 07:45 AM, said:
Could be due to the TROR layers, the intricate amount of details or a combination of both. But mostly just my laptop being old :\
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