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Messages - Loke

#1
General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday thread
16 April 2016, 12:06:08
Tack. ;D
#3
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
19 April 2015, 15:51:29
Your nuts are safe. ;D
#4
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
19 April 2015, 12:46:28
Pretty sure that's EmericaSkater since it uses the same review template for Retaliation.
#5
General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday thread
16 April 2015, 16:25:49
Jag tackar och bugar. :)
#6
I played through it without the HRP and it was fine. There were just some minor stuff like vent grates, pipes and switches being face-aligned instead of wall-aligned. Otherwise it looked fine. Great map btw, took me 29 minutes to finish. The Zen Garden part was awesome because it was a nice change from the cold and dark steel corridors.
#7
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
03 January 2014, 16:42:31
Thanks. I got another one from Piroska. :)

QuoteUnderground Base is a canyon/hi-tech-themed map by Andras Piroska. The basic premise revolves around an underground base that has lost contact with the outside world and it's up to Duke Nukem to figure out what happened.

Underground Base isn't particularly ambitious nor great but what it do offer is a solid 15 minute romp through a decently constructed hi-tech base. The shading is occasionally a bit wonky; some areas look good while others seem to lack any form of shading at all. Texturing leaves a lot to be desired with a lot of odd texture choices (using a hi-tech crate texture for walls, really?) but overall it does a good enough job of depicting some sort of base.

Unfortunately, one of the weaker aspects of the map is also the combat. You'll be granted a big arsenal of weapons and explosives early on from one of the supply rooms which is almost enough to stomp through the map with minimal effort. On the bright side you do get a lot of different colored enemies but sadly they're quickly eradicated by Duke's explosive armament.
Ultimately, you pick up the Devastator weapon and from there on out you're pretty much unstoppable which also, towards the end, makes short work of the big guy waiting for you.

Underground Base is a bit uneven especially when compared to Piroska's clearly superior release "Mega Plaza Shopping Center". It's not a bad map, definitely not, but it's also not great. You might enjoy it, who knows. I just expected a bit more.

Score: 65
#8
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
02 January 2014, 20:09:47
Another map called Mega Plaza Shopping Center. Thought it was a great map. Actually played it before in the Duke Attrition mod but this is the first time I tried it in vanilla.

QuoteMega Plaza Shopping Center is a large city-themed level built entirely by Andras Piroska. It focuses on a shopping center located in the city of Los Angeles which was recently overrun by aliens and it's up to Duke to clean up the place and then get the hell out of there before it blows up in a fiery blaze.

Mega Plaza focuses a lot on its non-linear gameplay which relies heavily on finding well hidden key cards. Finding the first one is actually the tricky part and definitely my favorite moment in the map. The areas a very well constructed in a sense that you can very easily see the key cards but they're either hidden behind an indestructible glass window or a fence blocking your path, a "so near and yet so far" moment if there ever was one.
Scouring the map for cards isn't the only highlight of the map. Exploring the map for every nook and cranny is another great moment that the map has to offer. Cleaning up every room isn't necessary however, but it's definitely recommended and very rewarding since they house a lot of goodies that will help you along the way.

Starting off Mega Plaza can be a bit challenging since ammo is a bit scarce and you have to look around for it. Nonetheless, with that said, it's not a particularly hard map despite the hectic brief introduction and a few nasty but well designed ambushes mostly due to the abundance of health packs.

If there was something that I'd criticize it'd be that while the map certainly looks good the shading leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, a lot of areas look a bit drab due to the lack of good shading resulting in a very bright environment. One would might argue that of course it's bright, it's a shopping center and yeah, you're right, but this is also a building that's been overrun by aliens. Think of sections of the building with poorly lit rooms or hallways with aliens lurking around corners. I'd preferred if the author could've experimented a bit more with the shading but I also understand the style that he went with. Don't get me wrong, it's not a major issue just a bit unfortunate when the rest of the map is so solid.

Overall Mega Plaza Shopping Center is an excellent map well worth your valuable time. Piroska pretty much nailed everything that makes a Duke Nukem 3D map good, be that the well balanced combat or non-linear design that isn't overwhelming. Definitely check it out or Duke will go medieval on your sorry ass.

Score: 85
#9
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
26 December 2013, 18:34:51
Quote from: Forge on  26 December 2013, 15:59:41
What does DavoX do?
iirc he is (was) in that industry or something related to it

Level designer I believe.
#10
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
25 December 2013, 18:42:24
Alright, as promised, here is Dark Gate. It's the sequel to Hexhouse. Don't know if the author did any more after this.

QuoteDark Gate is the sequel to Aaron Barber's first release which went by the name Hexhouse. Dark House follows its predecessor in a similar fashion with large rooms and a lack of enemies, however, rather unfortunate, it also replaces the non-linear design that was very prominent in Hexhouse for a more standard linear type of progression. In a way it's less impressive but also a bit more interesting due to its more varying locations.

While it is more linear compared to Hexhouse, Dark Gate still manages to offer a solid experience with its interesting form of progression. While early on it's basically your usual wading on through huge corridors and big open spaces while killing enemies later on you'll come across two locked doors which need to be opened after finding their corresponding key card. Finding these key cards however is the fun part of it as they're both located in these strange and illusive places.

As with Hexhouse, however, Dark Gate is not without its problems. Texturing is sloppy like its predecessor with some odd texture placements. Furthermore, for some reason, most of the sectors which use the water texture aren't actually tagged as water sectors so they behave like a piece of solid ground. I don't know if this was just an oversight of the author or if he actually thought it was a good idea. So think twice before actually making a leap of faith into what you think is a pool of water.
Sadly, Dark Gate also manages to be even easier than Hexhouse with only about 70 enemies to boot on a fairly large map with lots of ammo. Also, don't expect any difference between the difficulty settings as the enemy count is the exact same across all of them. But to put some light into it enemy variation is good as you will combat most of the enemies that the game has to offer including mini-battlelords and a mini-overlord.

Unfortunately, Dark Gate is a bit lacking due to getting rid of the big open non-linear design from Hexhouse and for being just too easy. There's just not enough "oomph" to say the least. But still it's worth checking out on a boring and rainy day when you got nothing better to do.

Score: 70
#11
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
25 December 2013, 00:15:11
Quote from: Puritan on  25 December 2013, 00:04:56
Thanks a lot and a Merry Christmas, Loke  :)

Likewise!
#12
Classic Duke 3D / Re: Reviews and Submissions
24 December 2013, 21:25:37
Another review I did today after finishing my recent map projects. I'll probably do the sequel tomorrow or something. Screenshots are in the .zip file.

QuoteHexhouse is the first map made by author Aaron Barber released back in '96. It's quite a large level, on par with The Abyss from the original game, and offer quite a decent amount of playtime.

Hexhouse isn't something you'd normally expect from someone who's never released anything prior to it, i.e. it's not a complete pile of shit. As mentioned the level is large with a lot of hidden passages and secret rooms for the player to discover. One path leading to another is occasionally broken up with multiple passageways giving the level a much more non-linear progression. Rooms aren't built just for the sake of it but actually contain value items so exploration is a very rewarding experience.
The map, however, isn't much of a challenge even for the lesser experienced Duke player. Even with around a hundred enemies to kill you will pretty much blast through it in about half an hour with most of that time spent exploring the map and finding your way through the canyon and comically large house.

While Hexhouse generally look good there are a few oddities regarding texturing which is a bit sloopy from time to time with either unaligned textures or questionable placement of textures that look really out of place for such an environment.

Hexhouse is a fine example that not every first release is a complete waste of time. If you're a sucker for canyon-themed maps this one is definitely worth checking out.

Score: 75
#13
Great map. Pretty hard though; lots of hitscan enemies in a large open terrain. I found it evenly balanced though.
Though I don't understand how you're supposed to get off the cliff with the button at the left side of the bridge? The only solution I found was to jump on one of the trooper's head and then jump back up. Obviously that's not the way you're supposed to do it, right?
#14
General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday thread
14 April 2013, 19:52:56
'ppreciate it.  ;D
#15
Thanks guys. Door just became thinner.

Quote from: Forge on  12 April 2013, 16:05:33
are you still going with an earlier idea and make it a kind of exploration map devoid of enemy?

Yeah, it's completely devoid of enemies. I debated wherever to have any or not but the vanilla Duke3D enemies just didn't fit in the end. The slimers could probably fit but they present zero challenge unfortunately.

I don't know if this is a bad idea or not. Some people just want to blow shit up but this isn't really your standard Duke map either. It's more or less a dedication to John Carpenter and the film.