[alias conrad coldwood]

Wow, I can't believe my account is still up. Anyway, here's a Single Player map I started about three weeks ago, just finished it (wait no, that's not it: "I'm fed up with it, so I just decided to release it as is"). Uses a few custom textures and an extra CON file (instructions about that in the readme if anyone out here isn't used to that). Also, anyone knows what happened to the guys who were running the Duke Nukem Repository?





EDIT: Super easy installation
- Download EDFBureauGRP.rar
- Decompress the content in its own directory in EDuke32
- In the launcher, under "custom game content directory", select the new folder
- Start a new game: it's the only episode available.
Note: I think it should be possible to add the GRP with the vanilla version of the game and JonoF's port too. I might be wrong though.

EDIT: Fixed vanilla compatibility issues. I hate myself.

Attached File(s)

•  _EDFBureau.rar (1.65MB)
  Number of downloads: 285

[Micky C]

Screenshots look ok.

They moved over to this site:
http://www.scent-88.com/index.php

[MetHy]

Oh cool, you're the mapper who made Needle Time. I vividly remember really enjoying that map. Can't believe either that it's been 9 years since.

Edit : just played the map, took me 15mins and I enjoyed it a lot. Feels very classic in many aspects. The mix of stock and new textures work well and in fact, the way it's done and the theme and layout of the map, it feels like it could belong in Duke It Out In DC (it's kinda like the FBI bureau in Duke It Out).

I didn't notice any difference with the new con (I did write "include ACC.con" in game.com like stated), perhaps it makes enemies deal more dmg? not sure.

Now as far as nitpicking goes, I have a few regrets. First of all, I think the medipack was not necessary, especially early on. I played on CGS and didn't need it, but the fact that I had it since the beginning all the way through, make me feel safe all the time. Ammo balance was however spot on on CGS as long as you look around.

The 2nd regret is the BLord fight, it was very predictable as soon as I saw the RPG. The only cool twist was the 2nd BLord which only triggered after the first, and the fact that I had to look around for more RPG rockets, sadly I found them in a couple of seconds so it made the point kind of moot. The destructrible environment in the fight area was cool too, though I feel that the maps "ACB Studios" and "Construction Destruction" did a better execution with that idea (not sure if you got inspired by those maps for this detail).

Also, to me it felt odd that it wasn't possible to shoot through the "security bars". It looked as if it would be possible to shoot, and I felt frustrated not to be able to do so (it's always fun to shoot baddies through bars or holes, Doom style).

And finally, I would have enjoyed to find at least one other weapon, like a few pipebombs, or shrinker/freezer with a bit of ammo. I felt a bit restricted with only the 3 basic weapons. Perhaps in a secret place? (though I didn't find the secret place).

But anyway those are just nitpicking. I enjoyed the map a lot, so in conclusion, the map is nothing we haven't seen before, but it's well executed. I hope to see more maps from you and hopefully before another 9 years!

P.S : I just noticed that your TXT file of Needle Time says that you made maps for Blood and Shadow Warrior. Do you haves links to those?

[brullov]

Great map! I love the style of mapping: texturing, design, placing of monsters/ammo etc. I expected some outdoor area, but the map is awesome even without it. Keep mapping! Looking forward for your next works!

P.S. I should play your old one

[zykov eddy]

Here's an updated CON file. No installation needed - simply put this in your EDuke 32 folder and enjoy the map.

Attached File(s)

•  EDUKE.CON (2.46K)
  Number of downloads: 243

[MetHy]

Oh, you made _Balley.map too, though it's a bit short I LOVE that map.

Also did you make the new textures yourself? (and what about Needle Time?)

BTW you should upload your map on Megaton's workshop. I think it's possible to use custom textures somehow. The only difference is that you won't be able to include the modified con but its use is minimal.

[FistMarine]

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[alias conrad coldwood]

Thanks for the feedbacks everyone!

@Micky C: Thanks, I will update my bookmarks then.

@MetHy: There's only one thing included in the CON file: it's the shades from the meeting room (so you can break them and you can also use the light switch nearby to reveal the view to the hallway).
I'm not proud of the RPG fight either (having the air duct to skip it probably says a lot).
And you're right: I should probably have stripped the hitscan bit for the security gates, I can't explain why I didn't.
As for the maps, I'm no able to find them and I wouldn't bet on ever getting them back: I think they are on my old hard drivers which are both IDE, might be able to find some external case or something... I don't know. To tell the truth I forgot about _Balley.map, and have no backup of this one... Most recently I did some things for Kingpin, Doom and Quake III Arena, but I'm not pointing that out anymore...
The textures are home made.

@FistMarine: Even if it hurts your ego, play the map in an easier mode and carefully look around: I play test my maps wasting the ammo the enemies drop, so even if you're unlucky it should still be possible. Ammo are scattered in non obvious places (check in dead angles) and you MUST know where they are if you play in Come Get Some.

Just curious: has anyone of you searched the book shelves?

[MetHy]

alias conrad coldwood, on 05 September 2014 - 08:51 AM, said:

Just curious: has anyone of you searched the book shelves?

Yeah no worries. I think Fistmarine missed the first shotgun (perhaps even the pistol on the right?)

If you remember the names of your old SW and Blood maps, we might be able to find them. I'm interested, unless you tell me they were absolute shit in which case I won't bother.

You can download Back Alley at MSDN (2nd download link), and while you're on that site you'll want to check Mikko's review of your map.

Those are some nice textures considering you made them yourself btw. There is 'style' to some of them (like the security door) which make them stand out a little from the stock textures, but I enjoy their style anyway and overall I think they fit really well.

[alias conrad coldwood]

MetHy, on 05 September 2014 - 09:00 AM, said:

You can download Back Alley at MSDN (2nd download link), and while you're on that site you'll want to check Mikko's review of your map.

Huge thanks for this by the way: I totally forgot about this one, so I played it again... and it felt weird. I think there's a bit of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis going on there (tight alleys designed like rooms)

[FistMarine]

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[brullov]

Book shelves are cool! Also got scared in WC

[alias conrad coldwood]

@FistMarine: I never meant to get on your nerves, I'm just surprised. That said I should probably remove all the random drops instructions from the CONs to make sure I actually got nothing. Then I sometimes go overly protective on ammo (like one shotgun shot followed by a couple of pistols shots to finish the job), and it's something I shouldn't do (I'm just scared to provide too much ammo and have the player complete the game with only one weapon)...
I'm not a pro player, but does the distance actually impact on the damage? I think feel like point-blank deals more damage with the pistol... I think... I might be wrong though.

[FistMarine]

edit

[Paul B]

I love the detail and look of those screenshots! This map looks juicy and I can't wait to play it.

Coming from a fellow mapper known for maps like: Showcase, Parkade, Atomic Arena & Entrapped who was a mapper of the month over at Scent-88.com twice removed and still secretly working on maps in my basement until such time the wife finds out and no, I don't have an ego.

Seriously speaking though, its nice to see fresh blood on the forums with a unique style. Very classic look coupled with awesome sprite detail. Love it and welcome back to the community! You better stick around or else... =)

[LeoD]

What a nice Friday evening surprise. Again, MetHy has summed up my comments in advance ... except:

MetHy, on 05 September 2014 - 04:22 AM, said:

I think the medipack was not necessary, especially early on.

Um, I needed that! (Against DukePlus AI)
Anyone who wants to play this map with DukePlus should include ACC.CON at the end of USER.CON, because DP doesn't use GAME.CON.
Hoping there's more to come...

[MetHy]

Yeah I actually replayed the map and needed the medipack a little bit this time so I take that back; however my point is that I'm personally against giving medipacks so early in maps (it may work in some types of maps, like boss maps, really long maps, etc though). It makes the player feel safe and secure no matter what and takes away some of the interest of the first few fights kind as well as a part of the supplies hunt.

But again, that's nitpicking.

[Forge]

i also needed the medkit a little bit - mostly due to outside distractions of a wife with a vacuum cleaner - i got shot in the face by a fat commander. Regardless, the supplies were spread pretty thin and it was nice to have just in case.

I really didn't find any issues with the balance. There wasn't too little or too much. This would have been a good map to drop a few boxes of those shotgun shells and gave the player an alternate weapon like the freezer though.

[alias conrad coldwood]

MetHy, on 05 September 2014 - 12:04 PM, said:

I'm personally against giving medipacks so early in maps (...) It makes the player feel safe and secure no matter what and takes away some of the interest of the first few fights kind as well as a part of the supplies hunt.

I know why I wanted to provide a portable medkit *there* (sometimes the pigcops would stay behind the gates and would give you a pretty hard time), but I overlooked it was so early in the level. I think you're right about that.

If anyone's interested, I uploaded another archive of this map right here. It contains several building stages of the level, from start to finish; Incidentally, it shows why it took me so long to complete (bad planning, heavy modifications on the layout and too early monster placement)...

[Paul B]

I will personally demo this map on my popular you tube channel this weekend and i'll post a link here once its up. Nothing like a real time video Duke review. =)

Now guys don't get any ideas about me giving free demo reviews. After the first video there will be a flat rate.

[Micky C]

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the number of replies in this thread. I thought that it would've been neglected a bit due to the extra installation effort of con and art files.

[Paul B]

If I could build a perfect classic Duke map this is the way i'd want it to turn out. 10/10

Here's my video play through:

http://youtu.be/gdd7zrsKfQ4 (PART 1)

http://youtu.be/W4WvW2ZSSkI (PART 2)


Still uploading the videos. My video recorder actually split the file into two files because it took me so damn long to finish the map but I was totally hung up on the visual layout and eye candy. I didn't want to miss a thing on my first play through. This map will sit in my Top 10 list of favorite maps of all time. I can't think of anything that could be improved upon. It was interesting the weapon choices that were used for the map, a pretty simplistic gun selection. I'm not sure if adding additional weapons would make it better or not. In any case I liked your choices.

[FistMarine]

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[alias conrad coldwood]

I swore to myself I wouldn't do it but on the other hand, there IS room for improvement and after watching Paul's playthrough and reading all of yours feedback, I thought it would be a good idea to fix a few things here and there. The slightly modified version of the map:

- Should you decide to clean the place as you go, it IS possible to run out ammo before reaching the restrooms (tried again with modified CON files, my bad FistMarine; it shouldn't happen anymore, you can save some more ammo if you use a less obvious path), also added a few slime eggs in the entryway.
- The underwater area is easier to navigate.
- The portable medkit is no longer located behind the metal detector gates.
- Added a pipebomb supply so it's less tedious to kill enemies waiting for you outside air ducts.
- The pack of pigcop in one of the locked area no longer get stuck behind the filling cabinets.
- Switched elevators start position (you don't have to wait for them anymore).
- Blocked some sector seams (computers in walls).
- Added three secret places.

There are two major things I'm not going to fix: the shoot-through security gates and the server room; it would require more time than I'm willing to spend... that and I have reach the sector count limit for vanilla Duke (I never go beyond).

[Jan Satcitananda]

Wow, that's the kind of maps I love, pretty much like classic Duke with all those exploding walls, walking through the ducts and occasional diving into water, with some original ideas thrown in. A bit tough in the beginning, still pretty entertaining. The design is a bit repetitive, but constistent and really appealing to me, also the custom art fits very well, where is it from? It doesn't look like you've drawn everything by hand =P

Big thanks! I wish it was easier to install though, it's not much of a problem for me, but you could get more players for this gem (a gamedir or zip version would be nice to have). Is it really to have that CON file describing a single actor? It's a nice touch, but having to launch the game with additional scripts... normal players do not have their CON files just hanging in the root folder. =)

[alias conrad coldwood]

CraigFatman, on 07 September 2014 - 04:26 PM, said:

Big thanks! I wish it was easier to install though

Just uploaded a ready-to-play grp file, available in the first post.

[FistMarine]

edit

[MetHy]

Great changes and additions! Makes the map even better, the secrets are cool and add to the 'classic' feel and the pipebombs and the few enemy placement you changed also make gameplay more varied. Oh, and the medipack placement couldn't be any better now.

Still missing one secret though

[LeoD]

MetHy, on 08 September 2014 - 08:58 AM, said:

Still missing one secret though

Perhaps the one near the new medkit location...?

[Helixhorned]

I played the initial version a while ago and second most of MetHy's praise and criticism. The workmanship of this map is nearly perfect; layout is sufficiently nonlinear, texturing is spot-on and the additional art nicely fits in with everything else. I have to disagree about the difficulty: IMO it is on the brink on being playable at times; fail to find one weapon (such as the first underwater shotgun) and you can be forced to confront your enemies with the mighty boot later on! If the map wasn't so good in the other departments, this is the kind of thing that would have made me quit early. Haven't checked out the amended version, though. Another problem I found is that you're not really forced to battle the BLords -- some way I managed to snatch the red keycard and find my way to the exit even if I wanted to fight them in the Matrix-inspired area. I simply thought that I would be able to return later, but since I already posessed the card...

All in all, an easy 10/10 indeed. About the installation: you can name ART files like mapname_00.art, mapname_01.art, and so on, an they will be loaded together with mapname.map and unloaded on the appropriate occasion. The CON file was no problem since it was independent from the rest, so you can load it as a mutator ('-mx' switch). I didn't notice the custom actor in-game though.

If you'll allow one more shameless plug: The fact that I kept dying so often and didn't want to hear the default music every time that happened inspired me to these...

Quote

------------------------------------------------------------------------
r4589 | helixhorned | 2014-09-07 11:10:15 -0700 (Sun, 07 Sep 2014) | 4 lines

For usermaps, save and restore currently playing music index with savegames.

The volume and level number for the music are stored in the last two bytes
of the board file name array. No version bump is required.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
r4587 | helixhorned | 2014-09-07 11:10:13 -0700 (Sun, 07 Sep 2014) | 3 lines

Allow DEFining music for which there is no CON music; Add 'music' OSD command.

The OSD command is invoked like "music E5L3" (case insensitively).