[brullov]

I do not like new levels. Comparing them with original, I just can't believe they were made by the same people.

[CatNapDreams]

Frog, on 20 November 2016 - 04:15 AM, said:

I do not like new levels. Comparing them with original, I just can't believe they were made by the same people.

Have you heard Axle Rose of Guns and Roses sing in the last few years? Compare his early stuff to his attempts now... the skill is lost.
I haven't played it, but I do read this thread. While someone like me won't likely notice all of these things that seem to be drops in quality from Duke 3D of the 90s, I still would not expect the same mappers to produce the same quality now.

CatNapDreams

[NNC]

The original levels and episodes have different qualities and styles as well. For example, the deathmatch arenas of E3 are a lot different to the E1 and E2 styled missions. Even as a kid, I noticed it was not the same atmosphere. E4 made even more drastic changes. Levels especially by Randy are far cries to what we used to see in the first 3 episodes, but not for the worse.

E5 is more detailed, sometimes even too detailed, although the authors' style can be very well seen in some of the levels. The mentioned Golden Carnage for example wouldn't be out of place from the Birth episode, it clearly has the same vibes as Derelict, and Blum's style is easy to spot. Tour de Nukem is another level where the original vibes can be seen, especially in the metro/sewer/alien base part, which is a great mix of The Abyss and Sewer. The pyramid and the space parts of Mirage Barrage are crying for Blum style as well.

The level that looks the least classic to me is Bloody Hell (probably because it has a Randy touch), although that strange teleport puzzle in the basement looks clearly Levelord.

[Tekedon]

Let me ask you guys something. How come this game runs like shit? I have well over the recommended specs. (well it's a laptop but still)

Specs:

i7 4710hq (2,5 ghz to 3,5 ghz) quadcore
Nvidia Geforce GTX 850m 2gb ddr3 (overclocked)
8 gb system ram
Win 10

When using "real 3d rendering" in full-hd I get around 15 - 30 fps max. Seems like this is worse optimized than Polymer. How come then recommended specs are a GTX 610? I would not have expected a game from 1996 to run this crappy, sure it's updated but still. Even without "real 3d rendering" I get drops below 60 fps sometimes. UNACCEPTABLE.

[PsychoGoatee]

I think Alien World Order is incredible, personally I think it's as solid a choice for best Duke episode as anything else, having just replayed the originals. I like Levelord's maps here better than his from Duke 3D before, and those were great as well. Also these levels generally take longer, really dig the layouts too.

No matter what the levels were, they wouldn't please everybody. If Duke 3D was released today it wouldn't please all Duke 3D fans (bear with the time paradox on this example). Way too many subjective variables, it's all personal experience with some interactive entertainment. That said, I think it's pretty out there to say Allen and Levelord don't still have it.

[PikaCommando]

I dig Alien World Order because the level layouts are pretty simple. I'm really not a fan of The Abyss/Lunar Apocalypse/Derelict-style levels.

[Kawa]

To each their own I guess. At least concerning the maps.

[NNC]

To each his own, I guess. Without levels like The Abyss, Dark Side and Derelict I wouldn't be here (well, enough reason to hate them for some ). They look sooo awesome for me compared to a generic and linear city or hi-tech level.

[HulkNukem]

Abyss is my least favorite Episode 1 map by far.
Looks cool, boring and confusing to play.

[Fox]

Agree. It may not be a big deal for someone familiarized with the game, but the first time it was very hard to get through it.

[Hank]

The Abyss gave me a sense of accomplishment.

Sure, it was not your 'normal' look for a key, go through that door, go find the next key and go through that gate and shot everything in sight type of level. Personally, Abyss is the map that earned my deep respect for Mr. Gray aka Levelord. Lot's of magic imagination embedded in this map.

But, that's just me.

[Tea Monster]

No it isn't just you. Creeping around that underground maze with the lava, when just minutes before you had triggered an earthquake. Then finding the underground spaceship. That is still my favorite level of pretty much any game. It was one of the few to give me an actual sense of adventure to explore it and find out what was going on.

[Hendricks266]

I recall being more stumped by the Shawshank Redemption poster in E1L3, and being bummed that I couldn't unlock the big door in the courtyard with DNUNLOCK because I was playing the shareware at the time. By the time I figured out how to get past that, I don't recall any trouble with the rest of E1.

[NNC]

I had troubles with the red key in E1L2. It seemed so hidden back in those days.

E1L3 was a bitch, not only that the first pigcop easily killed me, but it had to encounter many traps. I fell down in the gear area, had troubles with the tripwires in the yellow key room, and while managed to get past the poster easily, I haven't realised that those cracks can be blown.

E1L4 was first problematic with the shrinker, then it had those gears and I couldn't figure out what to do.

E1L5 was hard, because I didn't trigger the earthquake and the shrinker, so I wandered aimlessly for an hour or so.

So many good memories.

I'm not sure if I had any serious issues with the registered maps though. Critical Mass gave me goosebumps with those booby traps. Derelict and The Queen were quite difficult back then.

[PikaCommando]

I really disliked those alien-infested levels like Fusion Station and The Queen. Not only because I prefer Duke to play around in urban/sci-fi environments, but also because most of them are pretty painful to get through. Ironic, because my favorite moment in DN3D is the monolith in Dark Side.


Also, I never really got the "storytelling via level design" stuff, like what Tea Monster described with The Abyss. I've never thought too deep about the lava and the alien ship (didn't realize it was a spaceship until someone here pointed it out) or other stuff like whether Fusion Station is a human space station turned alien or alien in origin because I just brushed them off as wacky 90s level design.

[axl]

Hendricks266, on 22 November 2016 - 12:20 AM, said:

I recall being more stumped by the Shawshank Redemption poster in E1L3, and being bummed that I couldn't unlock the big door in the courtyard with DNUNLOCK because I was playing the shareware at the time. By the time I figured out how to get past that, I don't recall any trouble with the rest of E1.

Same here. I hadn't seen the Shawshank Redemption yet and I didn't have access to the internet at that time. So I was really stuck in Death Row.

I also got stuck in Fusion Station... where you had to shoot the little button in the pipeline... These are the only 2 levels that gave me problems. Good times :-D

[----]

axl, on 22 November 2016 - 04:53 AM, said:

Same here. I hadn't seen the Shawshank Redemption yet and I didn't have access to the internet at that time.

That's why they point you towards that cell in the prison's overview (right next to the room with the Cycloid's hologram).

[Sledgehammer]

The only place I was stuck in was the first level of Plug 'N' Pray episode until I accidentally fell of the bridge. Took me several days to figure that out

[axl]

Sledgehammer, on 22 November 2016 - 07:11 AM, said:

The only place I was stuck in was the first level of Plug 'N' Pray episode until I accidentally fell of the bridge. Took me several days to figure that out

Ah yes, if we include the plug N Pray episode, yes, then I would also mention Nightmare Zone and Faces of Death (the nuke button was extremely hard to find).

Anyway, back on topic...one last thing I also noticed in the new world tour episode, is that the secrets were much simpler than those in the original 4 episodes... often, they are just "cracks" in a wall with an item behind them (examples being in Red Ruckus, Golden Carnage, Hollywood Inferno, ...). Maybe I'm too harsh, but I remember the secrets in the original duke episodes being a lot more clever.

[NNC]

Most of the original game's secrets were just as simple. I can't think of more than 10 really great secret places, and most of them belong to E1. The best secrets I found in E5 were Tour de Nukem's waterfall room and Bloody Hell's union jack in the top of the London Tower.

[Striker]

Tekedon, on 21 November 2016 - 02:41 PM, said:

Let me ask you guys something. How come this game runs like shit? I have well over the recommended specs. (well it's a laptop but still)

Specs:

i7 4710hq (2,5 ghz to 3,5 ghz) quadcore
Nvidia Geforce GTX 850m 2gb ddr3 (overclocked)
8 gb system ram
Win 10

When using "real 3d rendering" in full-hd I get around 15 - 30 fps max. Seems like this is worse optimized than Polymer. How come then recommended specs are a GTX 610? I would not have expected a game from 1996 to run this crappy, sure it's updated but still. Even without "real 3d rendering" I get drops below 60 fps sometimes. UNACCEPTABLE.

If it's like most laptops, the game might be using the Intel Integrated Graphics instead of your discrete GPU. Add World Tour's EXE to the NVidia Control Panel's Manage 3D Settings -> Program Settings page, then make sure to set it to use the NVidia GPU instead of onboard.

[Tekedon]

Striker, on 22 November 2016 - 03:59 PM, said:

If it's like most laptops, the game might be using the Intel Integrated Graphics instead of your discrete GPU. Add World Tour's EXE to the NVidia Control Panel's Manage 3D Settings -> Program Settings page, then make sure to set it to use the NVidia GPU instead of onboard.

Thank you sir! You've just solved the problem for me. Difference is night and day. Strangely all other games use gtx850m automatically. I also realized I've been running Polymer with Intel HD 4600.. and I have been complaining that it's poorly optimized, also runs extremely well now. Big thanks!

[Striker]

Generally games not already existing in NVidia's profiles will use the Intel GPU, which is the default. Usually that ends up being non-AAA or homebrew titles.

[TerminX]

Looks like World Tour is on sale for $13.99 currently. Might be a good price point to pick it up at for some of the people who were on the edge about purchasing it. More patches are also forthcoming, though I can't say for certain what they'll contain or when they'll drop.

[axl]

TerminX, on 23 November 2016 - 01:49 PM, said:

Looks like World Tour is on sale for $13.99 currently. Might be a good price point to pick it up at for some of the people who were on the edge about purchasing it. More patches are also forthcoming, though I can't say for certain what they'll contain or when they'll drop.

More patches? That's great news!!

[xMobilemux]

TerminX, on 23 November 2016 - 01:49 PM, said:

Looks like World Tour is on sale for $13.99 currently. Might be a good price point to pick it up at for some of the people who were on the edge about purchasing it. More patches are also forthcoming, though I can't say for certain what they'll contain or when they'll drop.

Glad I waited!

Now I'll be able to finally see what this is like.

[Steve 64]

Well shit I pay for it full price 3 time on steam and 2 for xbox one $100 out the ass fuck me .

[HiPolyBash]

TerminX, on 23 November 2016 - 01:49 PM, said:

Looks like World Tour is on sale for $13.99 currently. Might be a good price point to pick it up at for some of the people who were on the edge about purchasing it. More patches are also forthcoming, though I can't say for certain what they'll contain or when they'll drop.

It should have launched at $13.99. I don't understand developers and publishers who gouge the prices of their games and then complain when they don't sell. Another example would be the launch of Bombshell when the game was close to the price of a full AAA release for a top-down shooter, in a genre populated largely by titles that sell for $9.99 while being a new unknown franchise that had a shaky development which resulted in it launching in a clearly unpolished state. A game like Bombshell should have launched at $15 or $20. Yet another re-release of Duke Nukem 3D missing third party content with a few new additions should be $10 or at the most $15 considering all the past releases of it and with the game having been given away for free in the past.

Maybe the developers don't think they'll make as much money but if that's how they think then they're completely ignorant to the fact that a consumer is more likely to purchase something out of interest if it's priced lower especially when it comes to a game they haven't heard of from a small or unknown developer.

Gearbox also seems to be planning to announce something Duke related in December?

[Micky C]

TerminX, on 23 November 2016 - 01:49 PM, said:

Looks like World Tour is on sale for $13.99 currently. Might be a good price point to pick it up at for some of the people who were on the edge about purchasing it. More patches are also forthcoming, though I can't say for certain what they'll contain or when they'll drop.

Good to hear more patches are coming. I'll wait for a bigger sale though, since with the Australian dollar exchange rate I'd be paying close to the original $20 anyway. Plus I'd feel more confident if the patches had already come out before my purchase, i.e that final boss...

Duke Legacy is Dead, on 23 November 2016 - 08:37 PM, said:

Well shit I pay for it full price 3 time on steam and 2 for xbox one $100 out the ass fuck me .

Yeah who would have thought the game would go on sale eventually

Edit:
Who wants to speculate what the announcement will be about? A new Duke game? A crossover? Or perhaps just more content for Duke 3D, i.e some kind of Duke Collection that includes all the third party expansions (plus the other stuff like Duke 64/Plug n Prey).

[xMobilemux]

HiPolyBash, on 23 November 2016 - 08:50 PM, said:

Gearbox also seems to be planning to announce something Duke related in December?

Let's hope he doesn't disappoint.......again.