[...] Quick Easter egg reveal: take a look at the first seven notes of the guitar line in BulletDam. Compare them to the first seven notes of the opening guitar line in Grabbag. Notice a similarity in the note pattern ? (The intervals, not the rhythm or the key.) That same pattern shows up in the bass line of the song.
I also noticed the Russian national anthem playing in the background of "Dukelinka". It adds quite a bit to the atmosphere of the level. BTW Lee, any idea why your track "Pluck You Part 2" wasn't used? It was supposed to be for another level that wasn't made or it was simply an alternate track for the same level which didn't make it into the game?
This post has been edited by NightFright: 19 October 2016 - 04:38 AM
They could have taken a look at Oblivion or Starship Troopers TC for example, it's not like it hasn't been done before. But then again, switching the music in E5L7 when the boss actually appears isn't really worth it. This would have been more adequate to be played during the boss fight to reflect the challenge (I hope Lee won't feel offended, it's supposed to be for the lulz, anyway )...
This post has been edited by NightFright: 19 October 2016 - 05:07 AM
One way to do it would be to cut the final map into two maps (it could perfectly be split at the "maintenance transportation" telepoter) but that would be really cheap and only make the map feel even smaller.
I just fixed something else in my review that I got wrong : at the start of Godlen Carnage, the building behind the player isn't accessible at the start and the way only opens later on. Still an odd choice though.
Has TotalBiscuit played Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour yet? He always praised Duke Nukem 3D for its level design, so it would be interesting to see what he thought of the new levels.
BTW Lee, any idea why your track "Pluck You Part 2" wasn't used? It was supposed to be for another level that wasn't made or it was simply an alternate track for the same level which didn't make it into the game?
I don't know how much I can say about that, contractually speaking. Honestly, though, I don't know who made what decision. I'm just glad the track is there for people to hear outside of the game.
- Sound quality is trash.
- JSJ didn't do such great job. Some of his lines were good but most sounded wrong. He would emphasis the wrong word, change the tone of the phrase too much or over emphasise the whole thing (silly dramatic grunts).
- New episode was alright but a little unpolished.
- I sort of liked the new enemy (firefly) but the new weapon was just dumb. It's poorly drawn and doesn't look very Duke-ish (the gauge on it looks really out of place). It's animation is poorly done. It's also not that fun to use. Kind of pointless.
- The new lighting's alright.
- Not worth 20 bucks.
If they just brought back the old sound, released life's a beach and Duke it out in DC with improved lighting and re-recorded Duke talk (if it isn't as poorly done as it was for the initial episodes) as a free patch I could pass it off as alright.
I'm a bit late to the party, but here are some of my thoughts.
First of all, I personally didn't regret buying this version. I never bought the megaton edition and the new content was just about worth it.
Still, removing the megaton version and charging 20 bucks for this edition is pretty shady.
Biggest negatives for me are the muffled sounds and the coding for the new episode (or shocking lack thereoff).
I think Gearbox did a solid job on the new renderer, although it's a bit weird to see sprite enemies in the fully 3D environment.
Then again, the same can be said for many custom eduke mods (including Thje Imperium ).
The coders really dropped the ball on the new episode though. The new boss is the most obvious flaw, I wonder if they even tested it?
Having mini Overlords and Cycloid Emperors is cool, but the Cycloids often end up killing themselves before you even come close. Should have been fixed.
And as Methy said, all the new sprites are static. This might seem like nit picking, but the interactivity of Duke has always been a big draw.
Even the new computer screens are static (can't be destroyed). Since the new maps use both old and new assets, it makes them feel inconsistent.
As for the firefly: it has potential, but in this state he isn't very fun to fight.
I did really enjoy the new levels, they range from very good to excellent. Also, the new art was very good overall and really helped to bring each new location to life.
And, everyone already said it but it's worth repeating, the new music is very good!
I'll add a few thoughts on each level. Methy already made excellent points in his breakdown, I'll try to not repeat him too much and keep it short.
High times
Spoiler
I'll immidiately admit I'm baised here: I have lived in Amsterdam for several years and still visit the city on a frequent basis.
(no, not for the reasons Duke goes to visit there, you sick perverts! )
Seeing it brought to life inside the build engine was simply wonderful. And as far as I'm concerned, they pretty much nailed it!
Great job by the mapper and artists on the street/canal area!
Objectively, it's not the best map of the pack. Street area and coffeeshop are both good, the drug trip is weird but amusing, but then the level just ends.
I felt like it lacked some final area, perhaps Duke should have obtained a keycard during his trip to unlock the stripbar across the Streets.
Still, really appreciated the effort to recreate Amsterdam in the build engine.
Red Ruckus
Spoiler
I don't have much to say about this map actually. I think the street area could have been expanded a bit more (perhaps a few more nooks and crannies to explore).
But the gameplay of this map is very good, great flow and selection of enemies from start to finish. I especially enjoyed the last half, inside the secret soviet bunker.
Also contains one of my favorite new music tracks.
This map introduces a running theme through these maps: I almost get the idea that they're all separate missions, where you have to infiltrate some kind of stronghold and
take out the source. This happens in nearly all of them, I wonder if it was intentional.
It does add replay value IMO, since each map switches through different locations, scenes and combat situations. They never get dull.
Bloody Hell
Spoiler
This is where the episode really start rolling IMO. The map is bigger, more expansive and has some much needed unlinearity. Really liked the theatre at the start, this felt
like a classic location. Although it's a missed opportunity to add a few pseudo-shakespearean one-liners. "To bleed or not to bleed, that's the question" or something like that.
There were some mics back stage, so it could have been easily done. Castle looked good, again neat job by the artists.
As for the final fight, the best way to handle it is to get out of the house of commons, move to the back to the room, and use the 3 pillars there as cover.
You create some distance between you and the cycloid and it doesn't feel like cheating.
Mirage Barrage
Spoiler
Nothing to add here, this map is fucking excellent in every way. Loved the music and appreciated the short trip into space.
Tour de Nukem
Spoiler
Very similar to Red Ruckus, but as a whole it felt more dynamic and more challenging.
I thought the slimy/alienated theme added some extra depth to the map. You even encounter rivers of slime underneath the city, which is amusing.
Did these aliens watch Ghostbusters a few too many times?
This map has some rough edges though. Some areas feel too crampled, and the secret in the slime area simply shouldn't have been there.
Overall, it's still an excellent map with several cool twists and turns.
BTW you could easily base an entire episode on Paris, and include some of those famous landmarks.
If there ever was a "Duke it out in Paris" expansion, I would totally play it. Ck3d, are you reading this?
Golden Carnage
Spoiler
Again, awesome map from start to finish, little to add here.
Didn't realize I could blow up a battlelord with a torpedo until my second playthrough. That's just epic.
Also has the coolest final arena.
Hollywood Inferno
Spoiler
Appreciated the skybox here, added some much needed context to the level. The straight forward romp in the beginning is amusing enough.
The fact that you can see your final destination from the start was a nice touch.
The cycloids killed themselves, and as we all know that last boss was a joke. I don't blame the mapper, the arena has potential and the fact that
you can blow up the Hollywood sign is fun. Actually, blowing up the sign turned out to be more entertaining than fighting the boss.
Prima Arena
Spoiler
I enjoyed this map a lot more the second time around. Well designed map with multiple paths you can follow.
Still, it's really easy to break the intended gameplay if you carry over the weapons from the last level.
I understand that's part of the charm, but it kinda kills the gameplay in this map. When played as intended, this map offers a lot of fun though.
This map introduces a running theme through these maps: I almost get the idea that they're all separate missions, where you have to infiltrate some kind of stronghold and
take out the source. This happens in nearly all of them, I wonder if it was intentional.
Yes, I hinted to it several times in my review but didn't speak of it on its own: most maps follow the same progression pattern: 2 main seperate areas + a third final boss area. Only Prima Arena is different and it's a nice change of pace.
Well that pattern isn't exactly too obvious, and it always work, I would still have liked to see more different things, for originality and diversity.
Quote
BTW you could easily base an entire episode on Paris, and include some of those famous landmarks.
If there ever was a "Duke it out in Paris" expansion, I would totally play it. Ck3d, are you reading this?
I went to Paris last week for a couple of days. I (re)visited the Louvres and the Arc de Triomphe, taken lot's of photos.
The Louvres could be an amazing thing to see in Build, Smithsonnian style, but it would be a HUGE undertaking, even just making a part of it.
The Arc on the other hand seems much more "do-able". I'll keep thinking about it when I'm done with my current projects.
I went to Paris last week for a couple of days. I (re)visited the Louvres and the Arc de Triomphe, taken lot's of photos.
The Louvres could be an amazing thing to see in Build, Smithsonnian style, but it would be a HUGE undertaking, even just making a part of it.
The Arc on the other hand seems much more "do-able". I'll keep thinking about it when I'm done with my current projects.
Yeah, you could have like Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. Maybe the Catacombs as the secret level filled with maze-like underground corridors and secret areas.
The Eiffel tower seems pretty much impossible without TROR. I just can't see a way to pull it off convincingly with sectors.
They got away with it on Golden Carnage by letting the bridge collapse (and this actually made the level more interesting).
But I don't think something similar can be pulled off with the Eiffel tower.
Notre dame could be epic.
BTW I think "Tour de Nukem" is simply a play on "Tour de France". Of course I could be wrong.
Have you seen the Eiffel Tower up close? I can tell you that it would be impossible to transpose it well into Build, even with TROR.
Notre Dames, Catacombs, Arc de Triomphe or the Louvres could be nice.
Although something on the level of The Saboteur which also has Eiffel tower would be great in Duke, isn't it possible to make the tower destroyed or something like that? Could add some kind of backstory as well. Or it's possible to make unreachable areas too.
Blum actually did pretty good job with San Fran bridge which I think is pretty massive too (in real life).
This post has been edited by Sledgehammer: 28 October 2016 - 03:49 AM
I'm sorry but no matter how I think about it I don't think the Eiffel tower could work well in Build. Even if you used TROR (a lot of it, probably more than the game can handle) and mixed it heavily with specially made "sloped" sprites, it would be terrible. Everything is either in diagonal or curved, and honestly, it is HUGE, really huge. The heavy use of TROR and sprites would be a lot more than the game can handle, really.
All the "hard" stuff to do in Build was taken out of Golden Carnage under the "destroyed" excuse/scenario, but if you do the same with the Eiffel Tower, nothing's left.
I think perhaps only the sickests of minds like Billy Bob could pull something off.
This post has been edited by MetHy: 28 October 2016 - 08:11 AM
I'm sorry but no matter how I think about it I don't think the Eiffel tower could work well in Build. Even if you used TROR (a lot of it, probably more than the game can handle) and mixed it heavily with specially made "sloped" sprites, it would be terrible. Everything is either in diagonal or curved, and honestly, it is HUGE, really huge. The heavy use of TROR and sprites would be a lot more than the game can handle, really.
All the "hard" stuff to do in Build was taken out of Golden Carnage under the "destroyed" excuse/scenario, but if you do the same with the Eiffel Tower, nothing's left.
I think perhaps only the sickests of minds like Billy Bob could pull something off.
Have three huge sectors for it, maybe? Bottom, Middle, and Top of Eiffel Tower?
Eiffel Tower could be done if it was collapsed, laying completely horizontal, so instead of having lots of rooms over rooms the floors are actually just walls; you also wouldn't need to be allowed to walk around the entire thing, maybe just walk through a part of it to get to the other side.
That might be a little too much for the actual theme, though. The aliens take over Earth, capture and kill humans, and they take over bits of the planet, but they don't seem hellbent on just destroying everything.
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Lee Jackson, on 18 October 2016 - 03:16 PM, said:
That same pattern shows up in the bass line of the song.
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