Duke Nukem IV Re-released (v1.2)

Started by Gingis Khan, 06 July 2014, 19:04:23

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Gingis Khan

Duke Nukem IV is mini-game (mod) made by me Gingis Khan (known also as LakiSoft) This is version v1.2. Version 1.0/1.1 you could see released on Duke4.net. In this version not only maps have are more detailed but also behavior of some monsters and weapons are different. Duke Nukem IV is short 10-level direct sequel to Duke Nukem 3D storyline.Duke was sent to South L.A. sector to clean up any remaining aliens after defeating Alien Queen, but also to things be even worse, U.S. Marines are sent to South L.A. to kill anything alive in order to take a control of South L.A. They hate not only Aliens, but also Duke! Later Duke figure out who sent Marines. His old nemesis Chuck Norris did that. Norris and Duke start hate each other somewhere between Duke Nukem 1 and Duke Nukem 2, after defeating Proton and before Riglentains. Chuck Norris then order Marines to Duke became primary target. Duke from Tranmissions radios during game got messages from Chuck Norris, but also from General Graves who know in which kind of
trouble Duke are in, and he are trying to help him giving instructions. The whole mod are inspired by similarities between Doom 1 and Doom 2. Like Doom 2 to Doom 1, DN4 to DN3D adds new monsters and removes episode selection. In Doom 2 Super Shotgun are add, in DN4 Sparky are add, the alien weapon by new upcoming Race X aliens.

Some maps have bloody details in order to present Soldiers' genocide on living beings both alien and human origin. Unlike last version, this (v1.2) have more detailed maps and new GAME.CON file! GAME.CON file is made by my friend FistMarine who helped me making version v1.2 of Duke Nukem IV mod. Big credits to him.

CREDITS:

Duke Nukem IV Guy aka LakiSoft aka Gingis Khan
- for making levels
- for USER.CON editing
- for Artwork editing

FistMarine
- for GAME.CON editing

OTHER CREDITS:
- Valve, Sierra and Gearbox for Half-Life and Opposing Force
- ID Software
- 3D Realms/Apogee

BUG FIXES:
- Chuck Norris and James Bond shoots Rockets instead of Morters
- Now Marines and Race X Aliens can be shrunk without a problem
- Maps are more detailed
- Some sounds are fixed.
- Race X now shoot hurtable shrinkers


2013/2014.

Download Link: http://www.2shared.com/file/_PvAnoVI/duke4.html
Download Screenshots: http://www.2shared.com/file/29UrJani/DN4scrns.html (to take a look to screens before playing)

Micky C

Are those screens from the updated version or the original?
Wall whore.

Sanek

Gingis Khan, please, go away and come back after 2 years or smthn, when you improve your mapping skills

Forge

Quote from: Sanek on  07 July 2014, 15:58:33
Gingis Khan, please, go away and come back after 2 years or smthn, when you improve your mapping skills
how about being a little more constructive with your criticism and explain where those skills need to be improved?

we all had to start somewhere. remember?
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Gingis Khan

@Micky C the screens from new release thought it have some differnces of released version but it very small differences.

@Sanek sorry if i insulted you on anyway.

@Forge well thanks for support, i just added some deatils and lighting in the maps, and GAME.CON fix nothing more. When i make v1.3 version of this i will try make it more better. :)

Micky C

#5
Well I had a look through it, and didn't see any improvements over the previous version. Remember when I said "when you start to improve your skills, you should abandon your earlier projects"? Well this is definitely something that should be abandoned. I know you put a lot of time and effort into it, but the fact is, I could remake the entire episode within a single day from scratch, and a lot of other people can too. So if you're worried about lost time, then don't, because in the future you'll be able to very quickly recreate something like this and make up for lost time.

Other than that, to be brutally honest, the mod simply isn't worth playing. The levels are incredibly small, highly under-detailed, completely unshaded, ridiculously oversized (architecture, details, and enemies included). The levels don't make any sense or have any flow; in my guide, I mentioned that every location needs to have a purpose and have that purpose be recognizable, while the entire episode is just a collection of arbitrary, random empty rooms. Gameplay is incredibly simple and repetitive: enter this area, kill all these enemies. In short it has absolutely nothing going for it; it looks bad and doesn't play well either. Based on this, and the fact that many mappers can quite easily make what you've done in a very short amount of time, is why you should abandon it.
The new enemies or art don't add any value to the mod and are pretty much the dictionary definition of "gimmick". Even if you did continue to polish it up, the whole thing will still be quite unoriginal in terms of gameplay (stuff we've seen a million times before). IMO it'd be easier and faster to create a better product by starting something new from scratch rather than polishing something old :)

Now I'm sorry, I'm not trying to hurt you or anything, I'm just stating the facts. As others and myself have said previously, you really need to slow down, plan out your levels and take your time laying them out and detailing them. Several months for each level at the very least, especially at your current level of ability.
Once again I'd strongly recommend reading my guide before you make anything else; it's not just a collection of random stuff which "if you use it properly might make my map good but I'm pretty sure it'll still be good without all that". Pretty much all the best maps (including those in the 1996 style) do ALL the things mentioned in the guide. It's not just my point of view either, I made sure to make the advice general and widely applicable, and several mappers read the guide and confirmed that's the case.
Don't forget that there's thousands of other user maps and mods out there which people can play just as easily. To a certain extent you need to have sufficient quality and polish to justify people playing your mod instead of the others.
Wall whore.

Forge

#6
^everything Micky said.

if you're concerned about this project, drop it for a few years while you continue to improve your skills. When you get near your peak performance you can look back on this project and either drop it, or re-make the entire thing the way it should be done.

you can also re-play the duke3d episodes and instead of blazing a bloody trail through the aliens, actually walk around and look at how everything was built, detailed, shaded, sounds, effects, etc.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Gingis Khan

well lighting i added on MAP 2 and MAP 9, MAP 8 got some new monitors and force fields and some CON programming. I know levels are quite short. Anyway i understand this not enough for good map and need more polishing, thank for your all reviews. But personally i am simply not fan of new maps that have too much lighting and details etc.. I more like 1996 levels style, that is my personal thought :) And of course Micky C i will play the maps you gave me and read your guide soon. I will learn more from them. But problem is that english is not my native and it's bit harder to read your guide, but if i want to became at least "Middle rank" mapper i should try that. Thanx

Micky C

I completely agree that maps don't need to have lots of details to look good, (or to play well for that matter). However you'll find that 1996 style maps actually have really good shading. Not so much realistic shadows everywhere, however they have strong contrast between bright and dark areas. Strong shading can make even the blandest/emptiest areas look good (you still need a minimum amount of details and trimming though, and make sure things aren't too big).
Wall whore.

Gingis Khan

Thanx for another advice Micky C. Oh and i played Metro Mayhem, it helped me alot thanks. Oh and also i will not give up of this project i have better idea. I started to working new maps from scratch and added lot of shadow in very first rooms. I will make only 2 or 3 more deatiled maps rather than 10 short and when this finish i will uploaded as version 1.3. I will not reject the storyline just make MAP 1-4 to MAP1, MAP 5,6,7 to MAP2, i will delete MAP8 storyline part since it's actually non sense to go to space so it will be

MAP1 (old map1,2,3,4)
MAP2 (old map5,6,7)
MAP3 (old map9,10)

And of course each will be recreated from scratch. Thanx for Metro Mayhem again  :)

Micky C

Don't forget to make the enemies a lot smaller as well, they're twice as big as they should be. And remember it's not just about the details; the gameplay needs to be good too. It shouldn't just be encountering rooms full of enemies and needing to kill them all before moving on; you need to have some variety, as well as perhaps a slight increase in difficulty as the episode progresses.
As long as you take your time with the maps, the new episode should be notably better than the old one.
Wall whore.

Gingis Khan

#11
Yes, gameplay is more important. Don't worry i will not change storyline that much but i will change some dialogues on radios, i will make Duke Nukem get messages from General Graves first then later he encounter these Marine guys. In old version storyline was going to fast because of short maps. Now i will not change that much but i will make more proper storyline. Also i will use slopes while mapping this time. Maps will be bit different but keep the storyline  ;) Storyline is important thing of term of gameplay.  And yes i will resize the sprites and will make enemies don't appears in large groups like in Serious Sam  :D This time i will try to be at least "Fake Pro Mapper"  :)