Last map you played

Started by Puritan, 02 December 2011, 08:14:26

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Quote from: Puritan on  24 April 2018, 18:29:17
You're keeping me busy, sir  ;D
Much appreciated.
summer means summer things outside, so I'll eventually give you a break.  8)
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#781
Dukeski2 Spaced Out
Steve Wiggins (T Wigs)
19 June 1997

An EDF space station styled map.

Duke arrives via earth shuttle and must make his way to the alien's shuttle craft to commandeer it. The premise of the map is to search until the yellow key is found, then search until the yellow lock is found. It's an open floor plan, so depending on the direction the player chooses, either the majority of the station, or barely any of it, will be explored before the two matching yellow objectives are located. Most of the optional areas have the weapons and supplies Duke needs in order to survive the journey, which means they're not a waste of time to explore. There is a blue key, which isn't really necessary. It unlocks an armory, but the rest of the station has generous amounts of weapons and health, so not gaining access to that room doesn't really matter. The red key is in a nook directly across the hall from the red lock, making it only a matter of going through the motions of grabbing it then turning around and using it. Otherwise, with the exception of a couple of switches that drop nearby barriers, everything is accesible without any puzzles.
The design is decent, but there are some odd flaws. Mostly to do with non-hittable, but blocking glass and invisible exterior viewports. Having aliens shoot at you from different sections of the space station through windows and ports is a bit silly, but at least Duke can shoot them back. There are also instances of the expander being presented instead of the shrinker. The expander is not a collectable weapon.
Aesthetically the visible exterior portions are a bit flat and plain, but the interior sections are decently constructed, shaded, and detailed. A few odd texture and sprite choices are used, like pay phones on a space station, but generally it's done well. Some ambient sounds and a few lighting effects help give the whole thing some depth.
Quite a few aliens are generously sprinkled throughout the level, along with some rather random respawns. It keeps the action constant and encounters unexpected. It will only get dull if you like to run up and down the same corrifdors multiple times. More fun than a game of Marco Polo in the ocean.

Overall I'd give it an 81
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#782
Go Duke Go!
Arjen Schouten
19 July 1996

It's an alien-looking DukeMatch level with a nice 'control-center'(find out for yourself!)
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#783
Dukeski 3
Steve Wiggins (T Wigs)
17 August 1997

An EDF moonbase that's been taken over by aliens.

The aliens have converted a large portion of an old lunar base to suit their native habitat, but left a few sections un-morphed. Mostly the computer consoles, some control rooms, and a terran garden habitat are left untouched. Aside from those earthly human amenities, the map is full of colorful glowing walls and alien-esque browns and greens. The kaleidoscope of colors, and the strong shading in most areas, allow for players to easily be immersed in the atmosphere. The only oddities seems to be random ambient sounds and Duke talk that feel slightly out of place.
Game play is a straight forward key card hunt. The blue key isn't really necessary, as it opens up a small armory, but the supplies are pretty helpful at that early stage of the map. The red and yellow keys are needed to advance deeper into the base and are collected easily enough. The only curve ball might involve taking the wrong branch at a fork in the road, then having to backtrack. It's not a huge distance, so it's not too bad. There are also a few optional side rooms and paths that aren't necessary to complete the map, but they usually hold rewards for the player's effort to clear them.
Aliens and supplies are pretty consistent and constant. The level has a lot of fighting, but it's not unfair, and Duke is adequately armed; even if the non-collectable expander is provided instead of the shrinker. There are some weird respawn triggers that might have you wondering why at certain locations and not at others. Not exactly where you'd expect them to be, so that's probably why.
The only downside is the boss fight at the end. The battle is okay, but it's set up wrong and with some effort it can be messed up. The boss is supposed to be in a pit that rises to a pedestal after the player gets close enough. The way it's made, it works in the opposite direction as intended, so the boss will actually sink into a pit if it doesn't wake up and walk off of it beforehand. This also triggers a ceiling door farther back in the map to drop. Technically the player can prematurely wake the boss, lure back into the map, then return to the pedestal room and make the door drop, thus separating the player from the boss, and now the map can't be finished. But like I said, you have to work at it to make that happen. More fun than crochet.

Overall I'd give it an 84
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

anvil

Played "Army Campaign", a 4 level pack by Olipro, and enjoyed it: good gameplay and design, lots of action.

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#785
Dukington International
Spaghett
8 October 2016

An airport styled map.

A pretty large and extensive level with areas ranging from control rooms, to security cells, to terminals, to shops and restaurants, to mail and package facilities. Aside from weak shading in some areas and a bit of over-sizing with some of the construction, the level is fairly well designed and detailed. A few locations may seem to be a bit too wide and large, but that's usually to accommodate the significant amount of aliens occupying the site and to allow the player the ability to move around without getting pinned in a corner.
Game play is a key card hunt. The layout usually loops back on itself providing a logical and convenient linear path which deposits the player next to the lock after they've collected the matching key. This may hardly be noticed considering the constant and persistent amount of aliens around every corner and repopulating areas already cleared. There's a good amount of health items and a variety to the weaponry, but ammunition for each gun fluctuates causing the player to switch often. More fun than a six hour layover in Newark, New Jersey.

Overall I'd give it an 88
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#786
Vinyard
Eric Carl (asbestos)
4 January 1998

I was bored one day and said, "Hmm...I think I'll try my hand a Dukematch map." So, I did. My usual dukematch maps consist of...a room. That's about it, usually with some little trinkets here and there to spruce it up. So, I decided to try a map that was a bit more complex, and actually had some thought in it. This one is mainly in a kind of gothic/church setting. My first time trying one like this.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#787
THE YARD 3
Marc Wagner
29 October 1998

This is Levelplex's 8th map. Designed for DM play on the net and modem with 2 or more people
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Puritan

Bitter words mean little to me. Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time, when they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine, and the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

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#789
Indiana Duke
Mr.Flibble
24 September 2011

An underground cave system with an alien hive.

The level contains two primary sections; caverns with an occasional mine-shaft element, like support beams, and an alien base with hive elements, such as a human woman processing room and an egg hatchery. Other than some sector-over-sector hall-of-mirrors glitches in the main large cavern the map looks pretty good. The texturing and shading are done well, and the architecture is nicely constructed.
The layout and design are decent for the most part. The primary method is to present the player a forked path; one direction dead-ends, the other holds a switch to open up said dead-end. The distances are fairly short so the hassle of back-tracking isn't that much of an issue, but some respawns could have helped keep the action going a bit more consistently. The only hitch in progression is noticing the semi-transparent bridge to cross the top of the large cavern to get to an opened door.
The map's balance is tipped in Duke's favor as he's given some pretty heavy firepower in relation to the number of enemies in the level, and there's more than enough healing items provided throughout. The aliens that are present are well placed and it's still a good bit of entertainment clearing out each section. More fun than a case of black-lung.

Overall I'd give it an 83
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#790
3dcity
Steven Hagg (Albin Andersson)
11 October 1999

Dukematch city level whith a statue, a bank and some shops. 2 or 3 players recommended.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#791
Bunker-X
David Sorensen
7 December 1999

An underground EDF rocket launching facility.

There's nothing too fancy or over the top in this map. It's pretty minimal with its texturing, detailing, and architecture. It may be a bit basic in the aesthetics, but it is pretty clean in its construction, and the author makes use of ambient sounds. The only real down-sides are the short length and the abrupt ending.
Game play is a straight forward key card and button hunt. Nothing's hidden or out of the way, and the only hitch in flow is figuring out which door in the main hallway unlocked. Since the doors are fairly close and half of them have colored locks, it's not rocket science finding the opened portal. Duke starts out minimally armed and has to fight a few enemies until the armory room is achieved, afterwards the balanced is tipped in Duke's direction. Especially if the secrets are found.
There are only a few kinds of aliens present to put up resistance, but they're well placed, and the few spawns compliment them instead of being annoying ambushes. More fun than carbon monoxide poisoning.

Overall I'd give it a 78
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#792
BOYARD
16 December 1998
Peter Kucera

An island prison styled map.

The map consists of a divided courtyard, a sewer system, and a terrace with multiple doors. It's a basic map in detail and design; pretty much just a series of single rooms around a large hub. It has a few sounds, simple wall shading, and minimal amounts of architecture. It's not completely devoid of ambience, but there's not a lot to give it depth either.
The draw of the level is the puzzles. Each room has it's own unique puzzle to solve, whether it be a math problem, weaving through a maze of tripmines, or just simply figuring out where it's safe to walk. The reward is a switch which opens the next room and the next puzzle. Keep an eye out for other clues along the way which provide a letter to the huge alphabet button puzzle at the end. If you get stuck, the name of the map is the final clue. More fun than algebra.

Overall I'd give it a 79
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

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#793
NEW DUKE CITY
Dennis Collins (starcraftzerg)
19 June 2014

An earth city styled map.

The architecture and detailing are very well done, but the shading is pretty weak in most places and there's hardly an ambient sound. Those few extra touches could have made the level very atmospheric and immersive instead of feeling a bit too washed and vacant. The design and various locations do help give it depth though.
Duke starts out in an airport and must figure out several clues to unlock the Mission Impossible Building in order to kill the alien boss hiding within it. Not a very easy task.
The player starts out barely armed and the map is packed from one end to the other with aliens. A ridiculous amount of aliens. So run a few laps around the ciy to wake them all up and give chase to Duke. Eventually enough of them will shoot each other to thin the numbers to a manageable amount, provide enough ammo drops in order to be able to fight back, and give enough breathing room to open the 8 button puzzle to the gun store. Stop by the burger joint in the airport to replenish health and also search the rest of the facility for the clue to opening the weapons shop if you haven't found it yet. After this issue is dealt with it just a matter of surviving through the large respawns that frequent primary locations throughout the level. There are plenty of weapons, ammo, and health to survive it all, just don't get caught in any cross-fires.
The map itself is an open world and it's premise is to wander around randomly until key cards, buttons, and switches are found. Most large button puzzles have clues somewhere. Most keys, buttons, and switches serve some purpose. Though not everything is obvious as to what it does. More fun than a flea infestation.

Overall I'd give it an 81
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Puritan

^ Man, what a mayhem....200 liztroopers or so in the welcome party  :o
Bitter words mean little to me. Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time, when they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine, and the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise