Age : 32 (2013)
Location : Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada
Occupation : IT server admin of network operations and domain services.
CGS : When did you first get in touch with Build/Mapster?
Paul Bolduc : I remember printing the entire Build how to help manual on my Microsoft Windows 95(a) NEC 486 DX4/100 mhz computer back in 1997. It was the largest print job I’ve ever done on my little Canon BJC-4000. I toyed around with Build for 2 years while I was in high school and I became severely addicted. I ran my own website hosted at the now deceased GeoCities.com domain where I would post custom user maps/ratings/reviews and my own personal maps. Between 1997 and 1999 I created a total of 36 custom user maps. All of which I still have on my hard-drive backed up but definitely not worth sharing.
I mapped back when Legion maps were popular and I use to converge with Asbestos and Pascal Rouaud before he established a name for himself. I remember Pascal started mapping for his little brother and I was already well into mapping myself and I thought oh my skills are so much better than his. HA! We use to trade maps through my 9600 baud external USR Compu-serve dial up internet connection and post them on each others personal Geocities fan pages.
Then one day Pascal got so good at mapping I couldn’t compare my maps to his any more. People like him inspire me when I map because they help provide me ideas and I that I can learn from and I can appreciate their techniques and effort. Anyway, I got busy in my personal life and had to put Duke aside like what happened to most people back then. It was only after browsing the internet one day in 2010 for old games I came across the Eduke website which surprised me to see it was still going strong. After seeing the duke4.net website I had a complete case of nostalgia and I was curious to know if I could remember the shortcut keys and the sector tags for creating effects. Well, it didn’t take me long to pick right back up where I left off.
I believe the content I have released in the last two years has been the best stuff I’ve ever come out with. Of course these maps take much longer to make. A typical user map back in the old days would take me a week to a month to make at the most. Now days I’m lucky if I can pump out a map a year. The Duke community has really evolved and newer higher quality standards have become the defacto to creating successful user maps.
CGS : What was your first map, released or unreleased?
Paul Bolduc : My very first map I created was called PaulZ.map which was created on Oct. 10 of 1997 according to the file creation date on my hard-drive. The majority of the maps I built were for Duke Death match. I didn’t really have any interest in creating any other type of map other than maps that could be played with others in V.S mode.
CGS : What is your favourite among your own maps?
Paul Bolduc : My latest map called Entrapped would have to be my favourite map at this point.
CGS : How many maps have you done?
Paul Bolduc : In total: 41 user maps.
CGS : Where do you get inspiration from?
Paul Bolduc : My inspiration comes from city architecture and just blueprints of buildings. I am also very much influenced by people like Micky C, David B, Undertaker, Loke, Amyeric Nocus, Mike Norvak, Gambini. and many more fantastic mappers that I idolize daily.
CGS : Do you listen to music whilst mapping? If so, what did you listen to?
Paul Bolduc : I don’t listen to any music when I map. The quieter the better. I need to focus!
CGS : Do you see mapping as competitive?
Paul Bolduc : Yes I do, I think it’s great to be competitive but not to the point of arrogance. Being competitive is a good thing when it pushes people to try their best and take their time to release quality maps. The entire community benefits because we all get to play a fun map and learn from it as well.
CGS : Do you still touch Build/Mapster?
Paul Bolduc : I spend way too much time mapping. But yes, I use Mapster as my preferred map editor. Just for the sake of being able to undo something in Maspter is a life saver.
CGS : Are you playing any DN3D maps these days?
Paul Bolduc : On occasion I try and keep up with the recent released user maps. I’d like to consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to getting around Mapster, so I like to play custom user maps to see how people are pushing the boundaries of the game by creating unique and original maps ideas. I’m amazed to this day there are still unique never seen before tricks that keep popping out from time to time and it just blows me away the creativity of the master minds behind these maps. It’s awesome!
CGS : What's your favourite map of all time?
Paul Bolduc : My favourite map of all time, believe it or not, is a very basic map. It’s a death match map called Mansion and if memory serves me correctly I think the original Author’s name in the Readme.txt was Tempest. Probably my first custom user map I was exposed to and the reason why I was dragged into map making.
CGS : What are your opinion about the HRP and Polymer projects?
Paul Bolduc : I am very happy to see such a large fan base and community surrounding Duke. It has provided me with countless hours of cheap entertainment. I’m all for Polymer and HRP. My renderer of choice is Polymer because it provides me with all the functionalities I wish Build had back in the old dos days. The HRP is a nice touch without it I couldn’t align textures to save my soul. So I hope to see these projects keep growing and hopefully one day it’s just included as part of the game from a vanilla install.
CGS : What other games do you fancy?
Paul Bolduc : Well I just recently purchased FarCry 3! Probably my favourite game of 2012 and for 2013 I’m really looking forward to trying GTA5.
CGS : Finally, is it something you'd like to say to the DN3D community?
Paul Bolduc : Thanks for giving me a web presence / taking the time to review and play my custom user maps and assisting me along the way with any problems I’ve encountered. It’s a great community of resourceful people and I hope it continues to flourish because Duke is a classic & ageless game that should be appreciated for many more years to come. Thank you for the spotlight! Take care all and map on!
Entrapped
Released: 2013-08-24
Score: 95
Mode: SP, DM, COOP
Review: Entrapped
The Division
Released: 2021-03-01
Score: 0
Mode: SP, DM, COOP
Review: The Division
Atomic Arena
Breakin in then out
Brooklyn Bridge
Entrapped
Ghetto
Piracy
RCPD Finale
The Division
The Rock
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