[geomancien]

Hello everyone, my last VOD on the 13th episode of Duke Nukem mod and finally out,
come discover with me this level of hell and support me with a little like and a subscription,
I'll tell you right away friends .
https://youtu.be/AGOJOVJP5VI

[geomancien]

Hi there. I present to you the 14th VOD of my channel on Duke Nukem and these 4 mods from hell.
Come and discover this new level with an absolutely crazy level of difficulty, don't hesitate to subscribe to support my channel.
I say see you soon friends

https://youtu.be/mxSJICvV0ao

[geomancien]

Hello gamers and gamers, here is the 8th episode of the Duke Nukem Forever 2001 series,
this time let's kick the ass of these aliens who are blocking our way to the Hoover Dam.
https://youtu.be/z94HQkPF7po

[geomancien]

Hello to the whole community, come with me and let's enter the Hoover Dam where great danger awaits us, in this fabulous VOD exploration DNF 2001.
Remember to support the channel by subscribing so you don't miss anything in the future.
https://youtu.be/wJlSwcAjq0M

[Aleks]

Since I kind of finished testing the Blast Radius maps that have gameplay implemented and felt like playing something over the weekend, decided to try out some apparent classics that I haven't played before. Each of these took about 15-25 minutes to complete.

Red Rock by Markus Schopf scored an astonishing 97 on MSDN and I can kind of see why. I realised I actually did play this map, but probably as a part of some episode (I'm thinking DN:WMD), nevertheless the map is quite impressive. The use of palettes and very meticulous detailing make the visuals look super original, yet not out of place. It has some of the best uses of verticality, with great terrain design and spriteworks that blend into sectors (with some SOS as well) so seamlessly that it creates a very immerse feeling of an actual 3D environment. There's also some puzzles to solve along the way that are presented clearly enough to understand and that end up in some nice effects (e.g. repairing a tank at the beginning to subsequently shoot at a cabin). Finally, the combat is not overwhelming, but has very clever placement of enemies with some tricky encounters - I particularly liked platforming through a broken bridge while some commanders and octabrain spawned behind me and the battlelord fight with one of the most aggressive battlelords ever that would rush at me like crazy and dodge a bunch of rockets. The locations of secrets seems fair as well, they reward the exploring without being in some bullshit places. And with the ammo being pretty stingy in this one - at least until the final keycard - these rewards feel actually very satisfying.

Score: 94/100

Decay by Cal Kveder seems to be quite popular around here, as I've seen it mentioned a couple of times, but never played it myself before. The map is off to a hectic start, where basically everywhere you go, you trigger new monsters and the ammo/weapons is super scarce. However, this fits very well with the map's theme of ruin and destruction, this first part feels almost like kind of a puzzle where you have to figure out the optimal route to get the supplies without getting too fucked. In fact, the whole map follows this strong survival horror trope and with lots of darkness and sentry drones (which work amazing in this map), it manages to pull it off very well. The aesthetics are strong, with focus on the monochromatic greyish bricks, concrete and metal part, with most of the detailing made by the good use of lighting and shadows. There's a lot of consistency in the small details, the only problem with that is navigation being a bit confusing as almost everything looks the same, but on the other hand, it adds to the overall claustrophobic vibe. Placement of weapons and ammo in this one is a masterpiece, once again it feels very rewarding to explore and find something new and with how scarce the ammo is, you really have to make every shot count. One downside is some invisible blocked walls, which make sense from the perspective of progression, but sometimes lead to weird stuff like falling down a giant chasm after bouncing off of them.

Score: 93/100

Ballroom by Jason Bredhauer is, similar to Decay actually, a map that was originally intended for an abandoned TC. I've played Passenger Jet by this author before, which might have been the most nightmarishly cramped map ever. This one is much better in this aspect, leaving enough room for cover and dodging bullets most of the time, despite the fact he packs armies of enemies into every room here. The map takes place at some mansion/palace/museum (as there's a gift shop) and sells the location quite well. There's a number of sloppy swing doors that look a bit off when opened or have annoying auto-close tagged in. The balance in this one makes it a lot easier than the previous 2 maps in terms of having more guns to easily fight off the enemies. One thing that could definitely be better though is the layout in terms of interconnections, as basically every new keycard means going back and forth through a large part of the level. There's some clever use of textures, but some places could definitely use better detailing.

Score: 84/100

Shade by Bliss, once again this is a map that I see mentioned often. Although I haven't played it before, it seems one might think The Conundrum was inspired by it, as it's a castle type of map with lots of beige textures and strong focus on shadows rather than other details. The map was made in 1997, yet feels like the author understood all the good level design practices well - there's plenty of verticality that feels fun to play with, interconnections or showing further parts of the level through windows/bars etc. Also there's clever use of standard mechanics that makes some effects look far more impressive than they really are, for example the "elevator room" or the descending staircase. Combat-wise, it's pretty standard without much tough encounters, but just enough to keep the player entertained - and plenty of weapons to find around. Manages to squeeze a lot of a seemingly "generic" castle/medieval theme.

Score: 90/100

[geomancien]

Hello everyone, I present you a big video on my channel with this amazing mod of Duke Nukem 3D Legacy edition, come and discover this great mod with me. please thank you.
https://youtu.be/3X9bngnULnA

[geomancien]

Good evening everyone Here is level 2 of this fantastic mod which is Duke Nukem legacy edition, come and see this nugget

https://youtu.be/dvA1gWNKQzg

[jkas789]

Hmmm, maybe I should make a playthrough of a user map. Everyone and their mother seem to be doing it.

[geomancien]

Hi everyone, we are escaping from the prison of hell on Duke Nukem Legacy Edition. Come rediscover this crazy level with me.

https://youtu.be/zWUgB5xFM4Y

[geomancien]

Hello everyone, we have finally reached the last level of the first episode of Duke Nukem Legacy Edition and we will face our first boss, the battleLord: https://youtu.be/YX6-s0gMS08

[geomancien]

Hello today in this VOD of Duke Nukem: Legacy Edition we are going to clear the space outpost Polaris which is crawling with Alien https://youtu.be/R-al2AQWGRA

[geomancien]

hello to all, VOD available on my channel on Duke Nukem Legacy edition, where we continue to crush the aliens under our boots,
come join the team so you don't miss any future VOD and live see you soon friends: https://youtu.be/5aGQpC6Et7I

[geomancien]

Hello everyone, let's go to clean up the fusion station in Duke Nukem Legacy edition, come and discover this tough level with me, and don't hesitate to join the team, have a nice weekend. https://youtu.be/jiK0pHfPDts

[geomancien]

good evening everyone, I present to you the last two videos of my channel, the first the secret level Spin Cycle and the second the Tiberius Space Station. come see it's two Fantastic levels of this completely demonic mod.
-Spin Cycle: https://youtu.be/cGks5nHLC2M
-Tiberius Space Station: https://youtu.be/M8inHvPVzm4

[geomancien]

Hey everyone, VOD tonight on Duke Nukem Legacy Edition and we're going to clean up the secret level, Come and rediscover this awesome experience with me. and remember to subscribe to make this channel more visible. thank you
https://youtu.be/pXl5p7ABRdk

[gibfrag]

I recently played through a map known as Eye of the Storm (Eyestorm.map) by Finnish mapper Aaro Ruohonen. It seems it was primarily designed to be a Dukematch level, but it can be completed on SP as well, though it is quite difficult.


I'll have to take a look at Ruohonen's other three maps he released in 03 and 04.

[Arzca]

DNSKILL5, on 11 December 2022 - 01:01 PM, said:

I'll have to take a look at Ruohonen's other three maps he released in 03 and 04.

It always makes me die inside a bit when I'm reacting to someone playing my ancient crap from 20+ years ago lol (because of how terrible those levels were). Anyways, I do remember making the starting area of that map. It was also created with a ridicilously small grid setting, which really shows. I think that map (might) have been the "last" level I did for Duke 3d before moving on to Doom mapping. Some Doomy design choices were already made there from what I remember, such as the ridicilous difficulty and some bizarre secrets. Still, I think I've always designed levels for Duke 3d that have had their share of abstract areas or whatever, but fortunately I've shaken off my old habits, such as occasional over the top difficulty, cheap traps and cramped areas to name a few.

And yet there is still a part in me that wants to create very challenging levels for Duke 3d but with my more recent releases, I've tried to emphasise fun over challenge.

[gibfrag]

Ah, so it is your map, Arzca. I didn't realize! I hope you make more maps soon. Eyestorm was quite difficult, though from the text file it's clear multiplayer play was the main purpose of the level. I had attempted to beat this level in a no-save/no-death manner for quite some time now, and was taken by surprise to finally realize there's a room I could access and make somewhat of a "bunker" to finish off the boss with. With only 16HP left, it felt great to finally see it completed.

[Aleks]

Played a bunch of relatively recent maps during previous week, here's some general thoughts on them:

Magdalene by DannyFromNewOrleans:

It's quite a long and quite linear city map filled with puzzles and some quite smart gameplay tricks, which is probably a trademark from Danny, at least from what I've played so far by him. The design is mostly classic, there's a rain falling at the outside part of the map, but since there's no heavy rain ambient, it isn't that noticable. There are some shortcoming in the terms of visuals here and there and I don't think there's anything that would make me go "wow" in this aspect. There's plenty of monsters and a couple of challenging fights, but overall I'm not a big fan of Danny's gameplay being done like that, i.e. stuffing each room with a lot of monsters that mostly act like bullet sponges rather than giving the combat some more dynamics, as it gets pretty tedious, especially in such a long map. There's one puzzle that I hated - with jumping around some spinning gears that are increasingly faster, towards the end it was just trial & error rather than something requiring any skill and the spinning almost made me puke. The other one I liked more, as it was pretty clever - having to open a number of gates to get access to a small dancer, which then had to be shot to spawn monsters and trigger tripmines to blow out the door (by that time, you had no explosives). One of the more common guns here was the freezer, which I liked.

Rating: 82/100

Block Mind by DannyFromNewOrleans:

Continuing with Danny's maps, this one is more abstract, as it follows Duke on a drunken trip - which is, unfortunately, nothing like what we experience in Happy Hangover. There are 3 paths that has to be taken and a fuckton of keycards to collect along the way. There's some puzzles, but nothing really out of the box. And there's about 1100 enemies in total, although the map doesn't feel like it has all these enemies. Design is quite uneven - there's some parts which I liked (in part C), but also some more lazy rectangular rooms with seemingly uninspired texturing in other parts. About 200 or so of these enemies are octabrains which only spawn to instantly get squished at the underwater crusher puzzles, another few hundreds are being squished in one of the rooms in part C, there's also plenty of pig cops behind some glass in one part that can easily get blown to pieces. And then there's the final, which is pretty cool, but it's a typical "slaughter" map where you just spam your devastator against horders of commanders and captains, then some other larger monsters. This was probably my least favourite of Danny's maps so far.

Rating: 75/100

Null Moon by DannyFromNewOrleans:

Now it finally looks like Danny's found his style - and it's all snowy and icy. This one also has hordes of enemies, but notably more dynamic and entertaining gameplay. It's pretty linear, but doesn't really feel this way, as we're being teased with what's about to happen through many holes and peeking windows around the map, which loops back and forth on itself. It's also finally oriented around a single theme and objective rather than being seemingly what the author just felt like building at the time. The design is more solid and planned, with not only the classic style, but also some nice combinations and uses of textures and some rather early 2000s kind of spriteworks, which always look nice. The final, with lots of respawns, is probably the funniest part of the map. Definitely a step up from the previous two maps!

Rating: 86/100

Spacetronic by Maarten van Oostrum:

Finally decided to play this one, the last of Maarten's maps which I still haven't played before - and it was great! It's quite funny how we both used the "collect some elements to build a machine" thing, here and in Submachine, without getting inspiration from one another - although here it was the main and mandatory objective of the map and not some side-quest. I like how it's done - even if some of the elements you have to collect kind of blend in with the environment (took me a while to realise I already had the generic pole thing, so I kept wandering around that infested area for quite a bit, also no idea where the 2nd connector was, besides the one in the toilet, but guess I must have picked it up along the way). I liked how the objectives could have been done in any order, it added some true non-linearity to the map and let me play it kind of on my own rules, which I liked - I'd usually do some stuff in one area, then move to another if I didn't feel like continue there or got stuck with something. The space station was design marvelously, just love to see such an original take on the theme, yet still heavily playing on the strengths of the original Lunar Apocalypse levels. The objectives were handed clearly, although some switches were quite difficult to find due to being too built-in into the design. I especially liked the generator which you had to override. The combat was wonderful too - there was enough room for chill exploration, but also some of the fights were quite a challenge - especially in the alien infested part, where you had some quite tricky platforming to do along with dodging the commander rockets. There's also a nice plot twist towards the end, when you finally assemble the machine - a completely new path opens along the map, which lets you experience it again, but in a fresh way, this is implemented just perfectly. It's an awesome map, but then I wouldn't expect anything less from either of the van Oostrums, so glad that I've finally took my time and played it.

Rating: 95/100

[geomancien]

Hello everyone, let's go to clean up this flooded neighborhood in Duke Nukem Legacy Edition, don't hesitate to subscribe and comment on your feedback: https://youtu.be/NEU5hp4hQx0

[geomancien]

For this beginning of the year I have made available a big VOD on Duke Nukem 3D Reloaded yet another unexpected leak,
so I invite you to come and give me your opinion and of course to subscribe as well, wishing you all a happy new year . https://youtu.be/cYig3Sy8xBk

[geomancien]

Let's kick the cycloid emperor's ass now:

[Arzca]

Dukematch vs Bots: Duke Nukem 64-style. This time it is the Duke Nukem 64 TC which can now be played through Striker's awesome NetDuke.

Striker's NetDuke [thread]: https://forums.duke4...duke3d-netplay/

As someone who grew up playing Duke Nukem 64, this DM game on E3L8 was a pretty good nostalgia trip and a reminder of how serisously overpowered some of the weapons really were (even back then). The OG Duke Nukem 64 bots weren't the smartest guys around, and would only use any other weapons if they ran out of all ammo, which mostly reduced them to being generic 100% accuracy Pistol spammers. However, I think it was possible to 'nerf' the bots a bit by turning certain players' auto-aim off (og Duke Nukem 64). The pistol spamming was caused largely because the OG Duke Nukem 64 didn't have 'switch to a new weapon' after pickup feature, nor it was toggleable. In other words - you would only be able to 'autoswitch' to a new weapon after picking it up after running out of all ammo. This is how things were back then.

However, with NetDuke it is way better, because the bots can pick up Grenade Launchers, Missile Launchers, Pipebombs, Shrinkers, etc. The bots have also been improved in other areas as well. They aren't 100% accurate with their hitscan, and I think I saw a bot using a Jetpack on E3L2 once (wasn't recording at the time though). In general they were a bit more challenging that the OG Duke Nukem 64 bots, but in a more reasonable and 'human-like' way, instead of being 100% accurate hitscan spammers that also have ridiculous supernatural-like evasive maneuvers preventing any attempts to shrink them, or preventing potential Missile Laucher kills (maybe excluding Heat Seekers).

As for this short 4-player game, I was mostly relying on Grenade Launcher and Explosive Shotgun Shells, which are among the most OP weapons in the game. I wasn't able to match the bots' overall hitscan accuracy with the SMGs, so I used the SMGs and Pistol only when I had no choice. I was also positively surprised to see a bot using the Plasma Cannon's charge shot feature. Some dudes even used the Grenade Launcher, although in the case of the Grenade Launcher, the bots would end up just picking a weapon dropped by someone instead of actually getting the Grenade Launcher from the bathroom (1st floor of the hotel). However, they often went and picked up other weapons, like Shotgun, SMGs, Plasma Cannons and even the Missile Launcher. All in-all, these Dukebot-games are pretty fun on certain maps as well.

Anyway here's the Dukematch game: https://youtu.be/A0kHmc56nMA

In an opportunity presents itself, I'll try to persuade my Dukematch-buddy to play some co-op with me (we played the crap out of Duke Nukem 64 back then).

[Ninety-Six]

Yeah I had a lot of fun with the bots as well. Especially on DN64, since I never had the chance to see the MP-only areas of Bank Roll or Stadium, and my only experience with the exclusive DM levels was that DN64 Revisited mod (though that is a worthy level pack). It was really surprising to learn just how accurate that mod was to the original level designs (even if the health/ammo changes were kinda random as opposed to matching either DN64 itself or the base game). I was also able to appreciate the gimmicks of every DM level, because they didn't translate as well into an SP scenario (not through any fault of DN64R just a natural result of how the levels were built).

Dukenstein's somewhat obvious gimmick was the extreme darkness, but what I didn't realize before playing ND32 was that it turns all the NVG spawns into hotly contested zones, where your ability to survive is dictated by your ability to see through the darkness with the NVGs.

Piracy didn't have much of a gimmick, though being based off of Babe Land's final area it makes some sense. Just a fairly normal DM arena with most of the typical Duke 3D stage elements.

Shaft's gimmick is...hard to put to words. It's more than just water combat, though that certainly plays a major part in it. It's the way it criss-crosses itself across the titular shaft, with multiple routes that paradoxically also create multiple choke points.

And then Noctis has the interesting gimmick of featuring solely energy weapons. I'll tell you one thing, I finally understand why the Expander is so weak in the base game. It's already OP as it is in DM.


Similarly I finally got to experience Caribbean's DM levels for real instead of just as a "tourist" so to speak. Though that said, the weaknesses of the bots definitely show a lot more there, particularly in the first two maps. You really learn to not get into a hitscan duel with a bot.

Apparently, Striker's own mod, StrikerDM, provides much more fair bots, and I intend to look at it at some point. I also plan to go online and play against real players, because I just never had that opportunity before.

[Arzca]

Ninety-Six, on 13 February 2023 - 04:04 PM, said:

Dukenstein's somewhat obvious gimmick was the extreme darkness, but what I didn't realize before playing ND32 was that it turns all the NVG spawns into hotly contested zones, where your ability to survive is dictated by your ability to see through the darkness with the NVGs.

Piracy didn't have much of a gimmick, though being based off of Babe Land's final area it makes some sense. Just a fairly normal DM arena with most of the typical Duke 3D stage elements.

Shaft's gimmick is...hard to put to words. It's more than just water combat, though that certainly plays a major part in it. It's the way it criss-crosses itself across the titular shaft, with multiple routes that paradoxically also create multiple choke points.

And then Noctis has the interesting gimmick of featuring solely energy weapons. I'll tell you one thing, I finally understand why the Expander is so weak in the base game. It's already OP as it is in DM.

We never properly played those DM-only maps back in the day. For some reason they just never 'felt right'. It seemed that there was always somekind of an inconvience or other element getting in the way of the fun. Back then, me and my friends mostly played 2-4 player Split-screen DM on smaller maps (primarily E1 or E3 maps) where you could just 'get on with it' instead of having to navigate or learn any gimmicks, backtrack or open up certain sections of the level, or whatever. Perhaps I should give those levels DM-only maps another chance now, because it has been probably more than 20 years since the last time I played any of them lol.

However, in some cases the expanded map layouts do not work, like in the case of E3L2. I think there were player 2 spawns that were really far away from the city area where most of the action takes place. Spawning from either of these 2 spawns required repeated usage of timed doors, opening sections of the level and (I think?) it wasn't possible to get out of the watery area near the Nukebutton without Jetpack. It was really a chore to start from either of those two, not only because it completely threw you off the game to begin with, but also when you finally managed to crawl your way back to the streets, you could get instantly killed be someone, only to spawn from there again. Starting from the "back alley" was always a total buzzkill in a split-screen game.

If there's a map that clearly benefits from being different, it would probably be E3L9, thanks to the interior area and some actual cover.

And yeah, Expander was truly a force to reckon with, not only because of its 100%ish accuracy but also it made your friends' screen red as hell, plus it had a humor element when playing against friends in person via split-screen. xD.

[Ninety-Six]

Arzca, on 13 February 2023 - 05:15 PM, said:

However, in some cases the expanded map layouts do not work, like in the case of E3L2. I think there were player 2 spawns that were really far away from the city area where most of the action takes place. Spawning from either of these 2 spawns required repeated usage of timed doors, opening sections of the level and (I think?) it wasn't possible to get out of the watery area near the Nukebutton without Jetpack. It was really a chore to start from either of those two, not only because it completely threw you off the game to begin with, but also when you finally managed to crawl your way back to the streets, you could get instantly killed be someone, only to spawn from there again. Starting from the "back alley" was always a total buzzkill in a split-screen game.

Yeah you have to open up the whole bank before you can start fighting, detonation included. It's not so bad with 3 or 4 players but in a duel it just sucks.

Arzca, on 13 February 2023 - 05:15 PM, said:

And yeah, Expander was truly a force to reckon with, not only because of its 100%ish accuracy

Autoaim did a lot of heavy lifting back in the day, since you couldn't turn it off. It makes for a tough problem to solve when it comes to the present day because the weapons were built with autoaim in mind, which is why the Expander is such a terror. Most people play without it now, but that does throw the weapon balancing out of wack since you lose your long-range options. In some cases it could be for the best, in others it's a nightmare.

[Arzca]

Ninety-Six, on 13 February 2023 - 08:50 PM, said:

Autoaim did a lot of heavy lifting back in the day, since you couldn't turn it off. It makes for a tough problem to solve when it comes to the present day because the weapons were built with autoaim in mind, which is why the Expander is such a terror. Most people play without it now, but that does throw the weapon balancing out of wack since you lose your long-range options. In some cases it could be for the best, in others it's a nightmare.

I guess I'll try DM without autoaim next time. Given how little hitscan me and my friend use in our LAN games to begin with, I honestly don't think it'll make massive difference on maps like E2L6 or E3L2 which we primarily play on and both of these maps have their share of fireworks available.

[geomancien]

Hi my future subscribers hehe. I come to present to you my latest VOD on Duke Nukem 3D and its demonic mods which make the dificulter totally extreme,
come and give me your opinion on this secret level which is lunatic Fringe. see you soon. https://youtu.be/bvATQuX1Rmg

[geomancien]

Hello everyone, come and discover with me the first two episodes of the Duke Nukem 3D Savior of Babes mod:

[geomancien]

Hello I come to present to you a video of Duke Nukem 3D attrition, on the splendid BABE LAND level, I invite you all to come and subscribe en masse, thank you all https://youtu.be/EZ-_oH0OHC0