[MrFlibble]

 Fox, on 28 May 2012 - 07:06 PM, said:

I once asked William Beacham (aka Bill Beacham) about it, and he answered that they did it because it looks better.

Also note that the gradient sky you see in the N64 version is also an image (tile #3979 in the Rom). So I am very sure they could have used a paralaxed sky if they wanted.

Ahh, I didn't know that. I think I've read in some FAQ (possibly at GameFAQs) that the lack of parallaxed skies in the N64 version was due to a technological limitation of the port's engine. Since it seemed a sound explanation to me, I never questioned it.

Today I've been looking through the pre-release shots from the official 3D Realms' preview packages for Duke3D, and what caught my attention is that even though in most of the old shots where the HUD has red lights/buttons on the sides those lights are "on", there's one shot where they're both "off", and another one where only one light is "on". Is there any reliable information as of what purpose did they actually serve? I almost thought that it could be some kind of damage direction indicator, or enemy indicator, but those are just wild (and probably incorrect) guesses.

[Fox]

An explanation to why they choose not to use the paralaxed sky is because N64 uses a true 3D rendered engine, just like Polymer. It's not impossible to render the paralaxed skies in a 3D engine, but it will never look perfect.

[KareBear]

Hendricks266, on 29 May 2012 - 10:54 AM, said:

No, Duke 64 definitely uses BUILD, but probably not the original classic renderer. Where did you find this information so it can be corrected?

http://ie.ign64.ign....0/150085p1.html

Quote

true 3D polygon engine

http://www.jonof.id....picseen#msg8123

Quote

The N64 port does not use the Build Engine. I was not involved with it.

[Jimmy]

I wouldn't be surprised if Zero Hour used the same engine as Duke64. I read something a while ago where someone said they hacked the BUILD editor for use in their engine.

[Fox]

A while ago I asked William Beacham if they used Build editor for Duke Nukem 64, and this was his answer:

We used Build to make the maps, yes. (We actually used it to make maps for Duke Nukem: Zero Hour too, although with custom functionality added by our coders).

[MrFlibble]

Fox, on 01 June 2012 - 02:54 AM, said:

A while ago I asked William Beacham if they used Build editor for Duke Nukem 64, and this was his answer:

We used Build to make the maps, yes. (We actually used it to make maps for Duke Nukem: Zero Hour too, although with custom functionality added by our coders).

So they converted the Build maps for use with the true 3D DN64 engine? Or was it already outfitted with the Build map format compatibility option?

[Fox]

As far I can tell it's something like Polymer renderer.

[Fox]

Not sure how many people are aware of it, but the code for switches is a little more elaborated than you may expect. Actually you can use switches as wall textures instead of flat sprites and it works perfectly (expect that you can't set it only for multiplayer) and it works even for access switches. The only existing map that uses a wall switch is Dark Side before you enter in the open space area.

Also if you set the lo-tag of a switch to -1 it works as a Nukebutton, just like setting the lo-tag of the sector to -1 ends the level.

[OpenMaw]

Fox, on 17 June 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Not sure how many people are aware of it, but the code for switches is a little more elaborated than you may expect. Actually you can use switches as wall textures instead of flat sprites and it works perfectly (expect that you can't set it only for multiplayer) and it works even for access switches. The only existing map that uses a wall switch is Dark Side before you enter in the open space area.

Also if you set the lo-tag of a switch to -1 it works as a Nukebutton, just like setting the lo-tag of the sector to -1 ends the level.

Huh, I never knew that. So all that time I was typing 65535, I could have typed -1?

That's pretty cool, actually. Allows for many different ways to end the level (as long as you make it obvious enough for the player to interact with something)


Something I always found interesting about the Mighty Foot are the changes it went through between various versions. In Duke 0.99 the quick kick lowered your current weapon to kick, taking extra time. But then in Duke 3D 1.3 they made it much, erm, quicker. So quick that if you have the kick selected and use the quick kick at the same time Duke will kick with both feet, and then later they finally fixed it so that only one foot would kick at a time.

It'd be interesting to know if they experimented with any other melee functionality after LameDuke but before 0.99. At one point it looks like the Pistol was going to have unlimited ammo, so perhaps not.

[Fox]

Yes, initially the Freezathrower/Flamethrower would be a "Laser Chainsaw". But I guess you would pick-up that later similar to the Chainsaw in Doom?

[Jimmy]

The unlimited ammo in old huds referred to the kick.

[MrFlibble]

There's some info about the Laser Chainsaw in the Duke Nukem wiki, including the concept art. As for Doom chainsaw analogies, I'm guessing that like with the Shrink Ray being a sort of BFG reference, the Laser Chainsaw could also have been intended for a different role (not just and upgraded close-range weapon.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I remember there's a level in LameDuke where you can find the Sonic Resonator in a secret room but you can't pick it up.

[OpenMaw]

Captain Awesome, on 24 June 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

The unlimited ammo in old huds referred to the kick.

In some of the shots the pistol is selected when the Unlimited Ammo is highlighted.

[Come On And Slam]

MrFlibble, on 25 June 2012 - 07:09 AM, said:

On a somewhat unrelated note, I remember there's a level in LameDuke where you can find the Sonic Resonator in a secret room but you can't pick it up.

Yeah, it acts like a wall and you can't pass through it or pick it up. I think it was in the fourth episode, but I can't remember what level it was on.

[MrFlibble]

Slippy_Pig, on 25 June 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

Yeah, it acts like a wall and you can't pass through it or pick it up. I think it was in the fourth episode, but I can't remember what level it was on.

IIRC tt's the same level as the one this screenshot comes from (don't remember the title though):


The level itself is one of my favourites

[NNC]

OK, I don't know where to post this, and I'm not sure if this is really legal or ethical, but since I couldn't make any contact with Levelord, I did it by myself.

This link consists of the two unfinished levelord levels, Sweeney and Sewer, finalized by me. Fixed many bugs, including corrupted or missing sounds, a few graphical glitches, badly functioning door in Sweeney etc etc... But the main difference is the redone gameplay, enemy and weapon placement is like what we used to see in the original game. The formerly released versions have wrong skill settings as well, as you start with Let's Rock, you really get the Come Get Some setting.

 levelordextra.rar (58.46K)
Number of downloads: 1025

Sorry for those who dislike the idea, but I think it's kinda fun to play these levels really finished.

[Mikko]

I always considered them finished, even if a bit on the hard side.

[zykov eddy]

Just finished the sewerplus.map and noticed two important bugs that hasn't been fixed. First is the glass that you can shoot through (This bug always annoyed me). Second is the weird elevator in the sewer.

[NNC]

zykov eddy, on 24 July 2012 - 10:14 AM, said:

Just finished the sewerplus.map and noticed two important bugs that hasn't been fixed. First is the glass that you can shoot through (This bug always annoyed me). Second is the weird elevator in the sewer.

I haven't discovered that glass glitch, really never ever tried to shoot through them , but fixed it. However I don't know which elevator do you refer to? The one with the yellow key door or the one that triggers an explosion to the red key area? I think they are fine.

I don't know if this worth further uploads as these levels are not my maps by any means, my only goal was to fix the bugs and add better gameplay to the levels. Any report is welcome though.

[zykov eddy]

Nancsi, on 24 July 2012 - 01:24 PM, said:

. However I don't know which elevator do you refer to? The one with the yellow key door or the one that triggers an explosion to the red key area? I think they are fine.

I used the elevator again and this time it worked fine. When I used it the first time, it got stuck on the top. Weird

[NNC]

Just keep it on the topic of Sewer and Sweeney maps, did anyone else get the impression that these maps are not entirely levelordish, and they are both different to the standard city maps of E3?? Something tells me there are some Allen H Blum in both maps, and that is more evident in the superior Sewer.

There are a couple of things you don't see in Levelord's city maps:

- keyslot 1 (which have been used in E1 and E4)
- automatically moving sectors (that is very typical AHB, and you have many of them in these two)
- sprites like fire hydrants, toilets, rubber cans, fire etinguishers with fire sign next to them (toilets aside you can find all of these in Sewer)
- sewers actually, there are none of it in E3
- earthquakes with spawned jibs (well, actually you can see that in the helicopter crash, and in the "quake site", but not with random explosions, again it's more AHB-esque)
- in Build, the monster size is generally 48:40 in Levelord maps, but these has 40:40.

Also, both maps, and especially Sewer have the atmosphere of E1. The level is more realistic looking, and has more ambience. Levelord's levels are about brute force, and intense gameplay.

With that said the levels still has some levelordish style as well, like trashcans with items and enemies in them, Cola and Snacks machines, elevators protected by slide doors etc. Inmy opinion these 2 unreleased levels were cooperatively done by both authors. Maybe that's the reason they have been left in the cold.

[LeoD]

Nancsi, on 29 July 2012 - 01:47 AM, said:

Something tells me there are some Allen H Blum in both maps

Something tells me no AHB stuff is contained: sewer.txt and sweeney.txt. Why would Levelord omit crediting him?
Your maps played fine, btw. I couldn't remember serious flaws in the originals tbh., but I'm quite lenient towards little shortcomings.

[Jimmy]

Yeah, and Levelord had to ask 3DR to release these maps.

[Hendricks266]

Nancsi, on 29 July 2012 - 01:47 AM, said:

- sewers actually, there are none of it in E3

Not even Flood Zone --> LA Rumble?

[Fox]

Bank Roll, Freeway...

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Quote

Something tells me there are some Allen H Blum in both maps ... With that said the levels still has some levelordish style as well

It would be fair to say that, when developing the levels for the original game, Levelord and Allen Blum had practically identical styles.

[NNC]

Hendricks266, on 29 July 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

Not even Flood Zone --> LA Rumble?

I meant green, hurtful sewers. The flow in Flood Zone is just normal water. The Bank Roll stuff is electricity.

Anyway, this was mostly speculation. We all know the E4 controversy, so this can happen anytime. No matter what, Sewer is a map fits much more to the E1 style than to the E3 style.

[Fox]

I disagree. Their style are clearly of Episode 3 for me. And Levelord created maps with waste, like The Abyss or Critical Mass.

[NNC]

Fox, on 30 July 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

I disagree. Their style are clearly of Episode 3 for me. And Levelord created maps with waste, like The Abyss or Critical Mass.

It doesn't really matter, just a shame these stuff were left out of the game.

[Fox]

If anyone want to know, it seems based on 0.99 demo that Sewers and Sweeney actual titles are "The Sewers Below" and "Sewage Company" respectively.

Also Sweeney would come after Bank Roll, and followed by Sewers, which would lead you to what probably is Rabid Transit.

definelevelname 2 1 E3L2.map 00:00 S.P.E.R.M. BANK
definelevelname 2 2 E3L3.map 00:00 SEWAGE COMPANY
definelevelname 2 3 E3L4.map 00:00 THE SEWERS BELOW
definelevelname 2 4 E3L5.map 00:00 RTD SUBWAY