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Nice, solid in-depth review, Merlijn!

The word on the whole city being visible at once instantly reminded me of Perro Seco's Doom map Planisphere 2 which is a recreation of New York City https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Planisphere_2 I don't even play Doom anymore and haven't in a long while but the execution is insane and the result a genuine piece of art IMO. When I first found out about it I couldn't believe it and was obsessed with it for a good minute.

Very rare are Duke 3D user maps so chockfull of surprises that the mere act of writing a simple review risks instantly slipping into spoiler category. And Shaky Grounds Pt. 3: Epicenter just so happens to be one of those (urban-themed) pieces that tells its own story - or its own chapter of the story more specifically here - as written by longtime Build engine narration legend from the Netherlands, Merlijn Van Oostrum.

The author not only lives up to his legacy here with more stellar design, clever texture applications and good taste as far as general visuals, but also pushes it even further in terms of gameplay flow - navigation is made clear from the beginning to the end of the level, ensuring you'll never get stuck despite the existence of a constructed plot, but also dotted with moments of build up then release. It's hard to think of any map since Red 4 and Red 5 (not coincidentally also by Merlijn) with such a progressive sense of immersion - here your whole ride will be punctuated by atmospheric moments of tension and bouts of all possible kinds of action, including some particularly ambitious explosive surprises (jack-in-the-box style - except your brain will be the box).

Just like the previous installments in the series, Shaky Grounds Pt. 3: Epicenter is a magnificently-crafted city map but also and most importantly, one of the evolutive kind that's only too rarely seen. Here you can literally expect the urban landscape to move around you as you go, and lots of thinking and technical effort has been put into the implementation of a ridiculous amount of effects to make sure your time in this map will feel so coherent and live, with some surreal props thrown in for good measure; for brief moments you won't be sure on which side of the screen you belong: 'here you go weird' as a certain saying goes, but only the best kind of.

If around the time of its release, Duke 3D was popularly regarded as a more interactive Doom, then the whole Shaky Grounds series so far can similarly be viewed as a more dynamic Roch. If ever needed, with that map set, Merlijn reminds us all that pseudo-realistic, complex (or Kompleks?) environments don't have to be static, and discourage authors from using terrain effects that originally made a lot of the strength of the Build engine - if anything, they may in fact make for just as many opportunities to push them, thereby inviting the exploration of new dimensions in Duke 3D mapping as opposed to repeating old tropes. Each and every installment is a piece of art and instant classic.

Score: 98

I'm not certain you should consult anyone prior to making such a move because reviews are by definition subjective, so always tied to the reviewer's personal opinion and I think that kind of goes without saying; so, if you like a map to the point where you think it's worth a 100, you should rate it a honest 100, it's your website and your judgement.

That being said, I would never rate a map 100 just on the basis that perfection doesn't exist and to always leave leeway for improvement. The Duke 3D community history is a long one now that's spanned for long enough to witness different trends in mapping but also overall evolution; remember how some people were Roch map fanatics in the early to mid 00's, at the time I'm sure many would have loved to rate them 100 thinking the quality would never be topped and now here we are two decades later and most every new map coming out is better than Roch, meaning perfect scores don't age well. Just a quick glance at the MSDN top 5 makes the problem apparent, there has been zero rotation in the past 15 years (and barely any in the past 20) although a lot of arguably better maps have been released in the meantime - heck that list even comprises novelty levels Mikko overrated around the time he was stoked on Dukeplus. What if the next Shaky Grounds ends up blowing even this new one out of the water because of a revolutionary concept, for instance? Would it have to get a 101%?

Things like this are why I believe that in general, harsher scores are better suited for map reviews, although once you've established a standard on your platform it would ruin everything and create inconsistencies to break away from it, so it's not exactly easy. Everyone has their style, too - for instance Kim at DN-R used to be overly generous with high scores and praise and the platform was low-key notorious for that too; Mikko at MSDN was always more reasonable and fair (except for the Dukeplus stuff), so getting a high rating there always felt like a bigger challenge; etc.

So eventually, you're the one drawing the line. The one fundamental issue with reviews and scores is usually when they're out, they never get looked back on with perspective and updated (understandably as that would be a pain in the ass), so it's better to try and adopt the perspective before finalizing the move. If you think you have it and still feel like scoring a map 100, though, then sure as heck go for it. Only means more downloads for the map and in the case of SG3 it's a good representation of a great Duke map.

I think the problem really is something else; mappers in general have gotten so good, with plenty of new blood having gotten injected into the scene with all the recent ports of the game on mainstream console systems (from my observations of trends on YouTube and Duke4) that soon enough, every map coming out will be pretty much perfect in design and warrant a very high score. SG3 will probably raise the standards for mappers too. In a way, I feel like mappers are slowly starting to overgrow the historical scale of ratings these days which is actually fantastic (it just doesn't make the reviewers' task easy).

Are you looking for a review for this one too, Puritan?

Fully gotcha on Facebook, too. All my social media would be long gone if I didn't need it for work so much.

New Shaky Grounds 3 by mrline released: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/11353-release-shaky-grounds-pt3-epicenter/page__pid__347912#entry347912

If you're into sandbox type of levels - a style not many Duke user mappers really dare to tackle - then Dukebot's newest piece "Lost World", regarded by the author himself as a new start in his mapping career, should be right up your alley. Name of the level is an accurate representation of the basic plot as in "Lost World", Duke finds himself stranded in just that and as the player, you're obviously the one to have to pick up on its navigation.

Great care was put towards crafting a credible (on Duke 3D's standards), immersive location with a certain attention to detail that - quite surprisingly given how that typically tends to result in cluttered and unpractical levels - never gets in the way of the gameplay here, nor of the scale of the map at all. Quite to the contrary, the feel of exploration is amazing, the impression of an alternate world to explore with different lands to take over is really there, and built in a way that originally takes some time for the player to grasp but then becomes a very simple layout to master, thanks to some clear landmarks, and visual touches that really convey the idea of said lost world being broken down into different lands with their inhabitants and specific intricacies.

The map is large indeed, and the firefights are very much shooting gallery style but in fact, because of how varied the terrain is and how crazy the encounters can get, a million of scenarios can happen with every fight, encouraging the player to develop strategies such as using the variations in landscape to retreat or trap monsters - when you're not the one getting overwhelmed due to bad decision making, that is. One of many other strategies one can develop is aligning themselves with the vegetation to block some of the shots and rockets, all the while firing back - basically the whole battle arena functions as such very well. The map's dynamic in general is super explosive, and its design makes for a lot of different ways every scenario can play out, including monster respawns, ensuring lots of replay value.

The ending does come up a bit abruptly, but not after keeping Duke on his toes with one particularly memorable, frenetic, hard-earned battle that essentially consists in conquering a whole portion of the map.

With "Lost World", Dukebot really reinvents himself all the while suggesting a fresh take on the game that mostly brilliantly breaks away from some of its most established conventions. An inherently well-designed map that really functions as an alternative way of seeing and playing Duke 3D.

Score: 92

Yeah it's a pretty intense level. If you want me to come up with a review I'm short on time too but I could probably piece one together rather quickly from cuts from the beta test report I sent Dukebot a while back, just let me know and I can post something like that.

Dukebot just released his new epic: "Lost World" https://forums.duke4.net/topic/11317-release-lost-world/

I beta-tested the map a few months back and it was already amazing, and I trust the author has ironed out most of the little flaws it used to have. Big scale level, expect at least one hour on a first playthrough. Enjoy!

Some really cool screenshots posted in this thread! No update for over a year, I hope those projects haven't died in the meantime!

I've been working on an episode called Blast Radius since last summer. I have two maps ready so far and am currently on the third. All the maps push the sector/wall etc. limits to their fullest, and I want roughly 10 of them so it's pretty ambitious work. Probably won't be out in a year if not two. I posted a few WIP screenshots of map 3 last night on Duke4 here: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/1093-what-are-you-working-on-for-duke-right-now/page__view__findpost__p__346556 and some from the previous maps are peppered here and there throughout that same thread. Will start an official WIP thread on here and Duke4 sometime, it's not ready enough yet to warrant one, but close enough.

You're a better man than I am!

Ha! Yeah, lately I've been finding myself finding a lot of user map playthroughs on YouTube (it's one way to kill time while eating lunch all the while gathering inspiration I guess), I usually filter them per date to find the more recent ones and occasionally I'll run into people using the platform to advertise their maps that they don't really showcase anywhere else, it's funny. Like there's a new generation of creators who don't really know about the traditional route. Or old mappers getting the bug again and making showcase video clips with or without dev commentary. I suspect a lot of this newfound hype has to do with the recent World Tour ports such as the one on the Switch. For specific instances, I've been sharing some interesting findings in this thread: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/8858-what-have-you-been-playing-posting-about-duke-3d-maps/page__st__30 in the case of potentially unreleased stuff (such as this guy's who's making 'sequels' to Alejandro's maps), I reckon you could always get in touch with the authors for some (at least temporary) exclusivity.

Thank you very much for your kind words and heads-up about Maartens latest addition.
I'm on vacation right now....and now it seems that alien scumbags are screwing it up! 

I'll try to upload Maartens map tomorrow.

Take care!

My pleasure! And thanks,

Just reporting another level,

I haven't played it yet, but I just found this map from 1999 just now seeing the light of the day, apparently the author has three more of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlO3n7wUqzU

There's a download link in the description, too. Map looks good in parts, it's obviously been shown some care and it has some interesting stuff, although it also has its share of areas with poorer design and typical beginner mapper mistakes (explosions in your face, etc.).

Hope you had a great holiday!

edit - my bad - looks like that map was already released before, along with the others, with the author going by the name Cyrell at the time. They're all on Arrovf's website. I don't think he even suspects that the community has been keeping those old maps of his in a drawer or two somewhere, that's pretty cool.

Hey Puritan!

Maybe I don't need to, but I felt like notifying you of Maarten Van Oostrum's latest epic called Woudrichem War: https://msdn.duke4.net/hotwoudrichem.php

Great job on all the recent uploads, you've been finding some gems it looks like. Can't wait to play a lot of those maps, most of them I don't think I ever knew about.

People on Duke4 have been bringing up those boards again as an example of a strong ongoing site that's important to the community yet not openly celebrated enough. I hope all is well. Paul B's Dukemaps website just went down, too.

I've been working on an episode for the past year with two and a half maps completed so far. It's most likely not coming out anytime soon, but when the time comes to create a WIP thread on forums I'll make sure to start one on here as well. Good luck and keep it up!

I'm very happy you liked it so much Puritan!

I linked to the CGS page of the map and took the liberty to re-use your screenshots in the Duke4 thread, please don't hesitate to tell me if that's any problem for you and I can remove them first thing anytime upon request - they were just a lot better than mine, and I wanted the Duke4 crowd to be able to catch a good, direct glimpse of the level from the thread, I obviously mentioned the source and links but if for whatever reason we aren't on the same page as far as this is concerned please just tell me and we'll easily get along. My logic was that the screenshots might duly redirect some extra attention towards CGS too, your site is a great effort and should be brought up more often: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/10479-release-poison-heart/page__gopid__316038#entry316038

I also mentioned a quick something about similarities I could feel between this map and some of yours such as Twin Creeks which you might dig.

Thanks for not just the feedback but also keeping this website running after all these years, that's a true champion's act and I'm sure the community doesn't make it sound obvious enough to you how much its presence on the internet is appreciated. (that also goes out to Forge's reviewing efforts)

Hey, here's my new map. Poison Heart is a snowy city / Xmas-themed / hi-tech level that should last you about 50 mins on your first playthrough. See the .txt file for details! Hope you enjoy.

Download link here






CGS - review/download

Imma leave this here:

so fucking cool !