Which old mappers would you love to see returning?

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Which old mappers would you love to see returning?

NNC

#1 Posted Yesterday, 12:31 AM

Out of the mappers who didn't release anything of the past 10+ years, who are the ones you would love to see returning? I mean to the level you would pay for their work? Other than the obvious answers of "Allen Blum and Levelord", or the lame answer "all of'em"?

My personal picks:

Pipeline - I would even pay to see his Day After maps somehow lost in the multiverse (if they exist in full form), but also would love to see new maps by him. I think his style was pretty strong for an official episode, a bit of novelty here and there, that's what they need, but in terms of aging, they still look fresh, like the original maps, because of their clean design.

Ben Roffelsen - another obvious pick... would love to see his Aqua series continue, but in a more polished form with new Mapster elements. I thought his work back in 1996 was a level above in that era, and also has a commercial quality feel to it even with the shortcomings of the maps.

George Bernard - his legendary LRWB series probably didn't age that well, yet, I think the effort put in the second episode was amazing, seeing more of that (with some polish and less dick-ish gameplay elements) would be awesome.

Ian Boffin - he was a semi-commercial mapper with the creation of Plug and Pray. Out of these addon mappers, he would be extremely interesting IMHO. The PnP maps have their flaws, but bear in mind, he had to build them with limitations of the PSX console which included limited texture choices etc. The way he created mini-worlds with unique themes like Wipeut racetrack or Resident Evil mansion was awesome, also with the clever use of cyclers and shading.

Robert Travis - kinda cheater pick, because he was another semi-commercial author, but would be gorgeous to see his unique mapping style with Atomic Edition elements and more details here and there. I always felt that Travis managed to create the ultimate spinoff to classic Blum-esque mapping with his massive hallways and giant buildings.

Bloodhaeven

#2 Posted Yesterday, 12:53 AM

Roch for sure

blizzart

#3 Posted Yesterday, 02:59 AM

Maarten Pinxten
Kevin "Kef Nukem" Cools
Billy Boy - would be interesting what insanity he would create with new sector limits and features like TROR

Aleks

#4 Posted Yesterday, 05:48 AM

Well the only one I would be inclined to actually pay for would be Pascal, it would be extremely interesting to see what he would come up with given EDuke/TROR and the passage of time.

Also Kuffi and Alejandro Glavic (I remember Alejandro showing some neat screenshots years ago that never come to fruition).

BillyBoy is someone I'd like to see new stuff from, but also feel that whatever map he creates with extended limits and TROR would be taking players days to complete...

Danukem

Duke Plus Developer

#5 Posted Yesterday, 12:25 PM

Aleks, on 14 March 2026 - 05:48 AM, said:

Alejandro Glavic would be my vote if I'm voting on just one person. Although he may have released a map slightly less than 10 years ago (I don't feel like looking it up) -- but that's an outlier and every other map was way before that.

ck3D

#6 Posted Yesterday, 02:14 PM

I typed a whole post just a few hours earlier and the website ate it, now a lot of my picks have been mentioned. Long story short Billy Boy also would be one of mine although it is unlikely to happen I am pretty sure. Ben Roffelsen would blow my mind. KuFFi/Kev Cools would be great, also released maps that formerly were classics but now seem completely slept on. Geoffrey/Fakirbaba logged in a few years back to post unfinished map scraps and I always figured someone (maybe familiar with his style or who used to work with him) would Frankenstein some kind of monster out of that at some point but it hasn't happened. In a parallel universe where I would have infinite time that would be my kind of thing to get into, but realistically I am way too busy with my current projects. There even is someone else's map I have been meaning to help finish for years but I have been just out of focus as them it turns out.

Maarten Pinxten is another author I've been thinking about lately that didn't make my favorite levels, but had a cool eye for fresh ways to progress and micro detail and so I would put him in the same boat as Ale who had a similar style. Still I think authors with a more conceptual approach to TROR than detail-oriented would be the ones who would really milk out of what is possible with it. I do lament that Ale's never finished Rio map is gone and so are all released screenshots of it, it looked fantastic.

It did the scene a lot of good a few years back when WG returned (perfect transition with my former point about TROR strengths it just so happens). Oostrum 1 & Oostrum 2 are back in business as OGBBait worked, Taivo last I heard is shaking off the rust and experimenting with TROR. Lots of new faces and fresh blood that learns everything about the level editor and engine within months if not weeks because it is this much more accessible now via EDuke32. C3P0 came back to release a level a few years back, I see tons of old names just casually still hanging around but now instead making random YouTube accounts and Facebook comments. BobSP still undercover, lezing and Eddy still at it, dannyfromneworleans being discreet but efficient, High Treason releasing episodes. jimbob, dandouglas, MC84, Leon for IF for examples of WIP Build projects stacking up. Lots of randos timidly popping up in Nacho/TLOD's streams chats and engaging about Build projects of their own, sometimes single maps, sometimes large TC's. Things are pretty cool. Just scattered including between platforms and so it is natural to get lost wherever you aren't paying so much attention. Personally it is shit like Steam I never check out but I know from YouTube there are some exclusive maps and even authors on there. On ModDB too. Dear Konotori Labs person who deleted their history out of embarrassment, we also miss you. But it isn't like the classic times back when websites actually held weight and Dukeworld, AMC, DN-R, MSDN were mandatory references. Nowadays people most commonly search Reddit and sometimes catch the one thread that isn't about a meme but a user map they will play (and sometimes the map is a meme). Systemically they are conditioned to and so it is not so much a generational thing. It is still (timelessly) important that the websites exist.

quakis I think would be sweet to see a map from sometime. Even (especially?) if constructed within constraints. Heck I am curious what a speed map episode by the author would look like, might sound random but it exactly would be the change in comfort zone that tends to be interesting.

Also (more) maps by normally-not-mappers like NNC or dnskill. Get in. We will teach you everything and you spontaneously will pick up on more than you expect. (But maybe you know it and that is why you're scared, honestly very justified, more so than fear of being incapable of results)

How about LAW, Rusty Nails, people who used to make levels solely for TC's (those seemed to be an entire subset for a while, maybe to this day). Or Mikko coming back to D3D mapping and releasing an MSSPX map.

This post has been edited by ck3D: Yesterday, 03:39 PM

Perro Seco

#7 Posted Yesterday, 08:29 PM

Eye del Cul, known for making almost one hundred maps for games like Duke, Doom, Quake, Unreal or Blood, and also for creating a website with more than a thousand of commented maps for those games, including an old episode he did for Duke around 1996-2001, which is not as good as his later maps Shock Mortal or CyberDuke, but it's still interesting.

Arrovf, who said his map Cathedral was going to be the beginning of an episode that I'm still waiting for. He also created other cool maps, like Subsuelo or Rescate en Kazakhstan, and his own website filled with Duke maps, which I'm using here for the links.

Jean-Marc Gruninger, who only made two maps in 1996: City (the first user map I ever played) and City II. In my opinion they deserve some credit considering they are pretty decent and were made only some months after the game's release.

ck3D

#8 Posted Yesterday, 10:39 PM

Perro Seco, on 14 March 2026 - 08:29 PM, said:

Jean-Marc Gruninger

One of those names I was including in those who still lurk, out of plenty of other ones that I also know do but won't list out of decency. But I would say out of all people who ever released a Duke map, it is a very small minority that no longer looks at the game at all, even if they haven't launched it, or Build, in 30 years. They are all over Duke Facebook pages, YouTube comments, Reddit threads etc... and down to interact for those who know who they are or can connect the dots, most are still around in some more or less distant capacity (I literally exchanged comments with J.M. just last month; honestly blew me away too), including most former Duke4 'mappers of the month'. It is crazy, maybe scary how once this game and engine have informed you, there universally seems to be no coming back when in reality it is such a frivolous hobby and preoccupation. It reminds me of the compulsive nature of mice that drives them to instinctually gnaw, rip, dig and bury stuff as soon as given the opportunity and material to, except we make virtual nests and showcase them on the Internet instead of investing in housing with no mice. Whoever tries sector-over-sector once automatically becomes floorboard gang like Midas' touch but turning your social life into Enforcer feces.

City II is a classic and does a lot of things better than most people's first maps to this day (scale...). Closest thing to a user map release to LameDuke L6 we ever got in terms of concept/execution, I actually studied it a little whilst making some of the later (on dev timeline terms) BR open city maps (SF, Norilsk).

How about papamonos? Strange, strange brand of level design, very old school but made it kind of work.

You want to hear one of my crazy brainfart theories even I just laugh about? Sometimes I suspect Blum actually is active and among us, just under an alias or maybe a few. (If correct, that would be a coincidence; just so I don't risk blowing it. No specifics except it's a way history has demonstrated the human brain can work.)

This post has been edited by ck3D: Yesterday, 11:50 PM

Merlijn

#9 Posted Today, 01:54 AM

I agree with a lot of these picks, but I'm surprised that Gambini hasn't been mentioned yet. Perhaps "It lives" still feels like a modern map, but it's actually 10+ years old

I think he could do a lot of cool stuff with TROR, sloped sprites etc. Although we now do have mappers inspired by his style, like pepsodent.

Quote

Arrovf, who said his map Cathedral was going to be the beginning of an episode that I'm still waiting for. He also created other cool maps, like Subsuelo or Rescate en Kazakhstan, and his own website filled with Duke maps, which I'm using here for the links.

Good shout out, I loved Cathedral!

Quote

You want to hear one of my crazy brainfart theories even I just laugh about? Sometimes I suspect Blum actually is active and among us, just under an alias or maybe a few. (If correct, that would be a coincidence; just so I don't risk blowing it. No specifics except it's a way history has demonstrated the human brain can work.)

Ha, that would be pretty crazy. We do know Bob Averill uses an alias (even released stuff under an alias) so you never know..

Quote

Oostrum 1 & Oostrum 2 are back in business as OGBBait worked

EDIT: I missed this quote

I suppose there is some truth in it, altough the earliest version of Cliffs of Dover is older than OGBB2

This post has been edited by Merlijn: Today, 03:10 AM

Aleks

#10 Posted Today, 05:24 AM

ck3D, on 14 March 2026 - 02:14 PM, said:

I typed a whole post just a few hours earlier and the website ate it, now a lot of my picks have been mentioned.

...and you still did manage to write an essay on the state of Duke's mapping!

I mostly mentioned people who seem to be completely out of loop now, hence no mentions of Gambini (who I do see from time to time), Mikko, Quakis or Forge (I'm yet to play his levels, but from what I've seen they do seem quite particular... and now thinking of it, I haven't seen Forge in a while either!).

It's interesting that Ben Roffelsen gets mentioned a lot - I've never found Aqua series to be something particularly great (they were good for 1996 standards, but also not what I would count as "outstanding"). I could probably pick about a dozen of 1996(ish) authors which I would rather see, but considering they are 1996ish, they kind of missed several eras of Duke mapping really... Matt Harris, Robert Carter, Chris Muir, John Mooney, Bud Drakir, Patrick Clemons, Greg Hoyer, Mike Beaulieu or Enric Alvarez (apparently an industry pro now) all made extremely cool maps back in 1996 (and most of them continued for a couple more years as well).

ck3D

#11 Posted Today, 08:02 AM

Aleks, on 15 March 2026 - 05:24 AM, said:

...and you still did manage to write an essay on the state of Duke's mapping!

Ha yeah I just ended up retyping most of it then adding more ideas on top.

I think Ben R. gets bonus points (justifiably I would say) not just for being early onto clean design and thoughtful SP layout (1996 most user maps still were made with DM in mind), but also for being one of the first to make an actual numbered series out of his levels, for some reason it seems like people love seeing instances of (project title) 2, 3, 4 etc., maybe because it anchors a continuity and so gives them something particular to look forward to/remember, I don't know, anyway it is its own brand of attention grabbing by implying storytelling. Robert Carter also did a series before (or after? can't be arsed to double check) moving onto just single user maps, he used to be one of my favorite mappers for years during which I had no idea Beam Me Up Scotty even existed, I only knew of the 'Bob' maps. Either way yes, plenty of other 1996-1998 names would be worth a mention, for instance the Caraballo bros., Piroska (still lurks), Ivan P. came back a few years back, it looks like most everyone is still gravitating and potentially mapping if the stars just want to align. It is funny trying to think of comebacks that would be absolute wildcards if they happened, e.g.. surprise new map by Brett Gmoser or Kevin Farnfield. Or if eras do not matter then I don't know, Corey Eddy.

Oh and I still see new streams or playthroughs of Mr. Zero's Azneer Building pop up in my Youtube news feed regularly, people still play it a lot.

How about the Bug Team? Psychose?

This post has been edited by ck3D: Today, 10:09 AM

pepsodent

#12 Posted Today, 09:33 AM

Merlijn, on 15 March 2026 - 01:54 AM, said:

I agree with a lot of these picks, but I'm surprised that Gambini hasn't been mentioned yet. Perhaps "It lives" still feels like a modern map, but it's actually 10+ years old

I think he could do a lot of cool stuff with TROR, sloped sprites etc. Although we now do have mappers inspired by his style, like pepsodent.

Gambini worked on Aftershock, which released.. 3 years ago now. damn. Utilized all the fancy new features as well as those scripts that are made for Ion Fury specifically. One of those maps is my top favourite in all of Build mapping.