| October 28, 2004: Rural Nightmare! |
The US elections are only a few days away and many non-US people consider these elections to be
more important than any election within their own borders. Only shows how the US policy affects
the whole world.
I really don't mind if Bush stays at the White House but at least I want some people to admit that
he's not even nearly as good president as some Evangelists might want to think. While he has done
a bunch of good things there's no way you can ever compare him to great men such as Reagan or
Clinton.
As for the debt/deficit thing - I don't know how much longer the US can maintain its steady growth
in economy if the deficit just keeps growing. At least Kerry offered a rational way to solve the
problem.
Another thing I'd like to know is what both candidates think about the fact that the oil is going
to hit its peak within a few decades and what they're going to do to prevent mankind from sinking
into chaos once that happens because if we want to do something about the future we should start
doing it now that we still have money.
As for religion - unfortunately both candidates are religious but at least Kerry isn't going to
let his religious beliefs to be turned into laws.
So - If you are an American who can vote I hope you consider yourself an Independent voter and then think who to vote for - and not vote for according to some lame party-lines because such behavior is for those who're unable to think for themselves.
A few Duke3D related items today: MRCK released his 'Rural Nightmare' a few days ago and it totally rocks. This red/roch -inspired level scored 94 and you can grab it at 'Hot Maps'.
MRCK also started a new Duke3D levelreview/forum site (forum board based). All fans should register and post to keep on fighting for our cause (and that is to keep Duke3D alive): Aymeric Nocus Duke3D Site
A new Liztroop 3d-model was released a few days ago and boy it kicks ass. It looks very smooth, it behaves the way a liztroop should and its skin is loyal to the original - LINK:
As for Nader - Do not vote for Republican -supported leftiehippies:
(Dunno where I got that from but thanks and copyright belongs to whoever owns it)
| October 18, 2004: TWO hotties! |
At the moment MSDN is your ONLY source for Duke3D levels - The Rep Bloke is on vacation and AMC is down due to some malfunction in Gamespy's Dynamic server. So - better start worshipping...
Autumn is getting darker & darker but worry not - Devastator & Fernando will bring life & destruction through their new levels - Check Dev's "Aquatic Hive" (95 points) & Fernando's "Damned Space Life" - bot Hotties.
| October 10, 2004: Antarctica: Outpost 31! |
AMC's Stef completed his first Duke3D level a few days ago and it's not bad at all. Check Stef's "Antarctica: Outpost 31" - it's a hottie with a score of 87.
Sorry for the small lack of updates but there's been very little releases lately. I still have some maps on my HD which are in a queue and will be reviewed one day. A bunch of mods & TCs are under construction and hopefully on their way to your HDs asap (hahaa - you wish). Actually time went pretty fast last week - I got a job as a school assistant at a local elementary school and I love it. Now I can shape these kids into an army of little Mikkos;)
I also uploaded Premium Edition TC to Fileplanet since Gangster is going remove it from his site. Check 'Premium' review to get the file.
But anyways - keep duking. There's a new level coming from me. I completed 80% of it within four days. Now I'm waiting for a Build spree to finish the rest. It's a city level and surprise - it's named MSSP8:D
| September 30, 2004: A lot of stuff you couldn't care less about! |
This might come a bit late - but this month's (September) issue of PC Zone (UK) has a nice six-page article about Duke Nukem Forever. It's pretty much 100% speculations and things we already know. The cover CD comes with a bunch of standard Duke stuff - shareware episode, Duke Nukem 2, Manhattan Project Demo and both E3 videos (and damn - even the old video looks cool). The most interesting thing about the magazine and about the article must be Jon ST. John's interview - The voice of Duke Nukem. So check out the 'latest' PC Zone issue if you can find it.
"'I do a lot of voiceover work and every time I meet a new client, they look at my CV and ask, 'Are you Duke Nukem?' I reply in a Duke voice and they start screaming: 'Oh my God, you are!'" -Jon St. John
Anyways you must've checked some news at AMC telling that Pascal Rouaud ain't doing any more Duke3D maps.
The most popular mapper ever quits as a result of that fight over 'DogVille'. Do NOT blame Taivo Maripuu (Dogville's
author) for this - this was 100% Pascal's own decision and blaming it on Taivo seems more like an excuse.
The fact is that Pascal has helped the community to grow a lot by inspiring a bunch of newbies who often
imitate Pascal's style - and if we all had followed Pascal's advice and wishes that wouldn't have happened.
Although he clearly states in his level description text files that he doesn't want anyone to borrow his
ideas and wants people to come up with their own ideas it's still a very irrational request. Not everyone
has the ability to invent something new (most people don't have the kind of a creative mind Pascal has) -
not to mention how much it'd take time if we started thinking how to make each room in our maps original -
the Duke3D mapping scene would simply die that way. Pascal's effect on Duke3D mapping scene could be compared
to Bob Averill's effect. After BobSP1 people started adding massive amounts of details to their levels
and using textures they didn't before - just because Bob had found new and innovative ways to use Duke3D
textures. And where did it lead to? A lot - Alejandro Glavic become one of the most popular mappers within
a few months due to his BobSP style levels and this popularity partly led to Alejandro's Mapping Center - a
big community site which now promotes our cause. This might have not happened if Bob had started firebombing
all those who had borrowed his ideas.
So we all thank Pascal for his service and work and hope
to hear from him again in the future. Download Roch, Roch 2, Roch 3, Roch 4, Roch 5, Roch 6, Roch 7, Roch 8
and Roch Secret 1 (download links for Roch & Roch 2 are broken because they used
to be in my MSDN directory on Planetduke - not on Fileplanet - so if you wish to have them you have to ask me).
Oh and that PC Zone cover disk has a VERY cool video of the new Unreal Engine.
| September 21, 2004: Stuff! |
A bunch of 'New York Rebellion' -episode levels have been available at Duke Repository for a while now. Since I received the levels a few days ago I'm going to start reviewing them now - most likely the way I have been reviewing MRCK's maps (one level at a time - every once in a while). The first one to be reviewed is the fourth part - the latest part of the episode called 'Sewer Confines'. Check 'Hot Maps'.
And just to prove that 'Game Reviews' section still exists there are two new game reviews now. It seems that I wrote a review for Unreal 2 back in February while having a vacaction from the army - but forgot to mention it on the main page. Anyways Game Reviews section has been updated now with two reviews - "Unreal 2 - The Awakening" & "Doom 3". Check them out!
| September 15, 2004: Oblivion TC Demo Reviewed! |
'Oblivion TC' Demo was released here about two months ago. First I had some technical difficulties running it and then I got stuck repeatedly. But now - I have finally completed the pack and in case you haven't yet decided whether this one's worth your time or not check MSDN's "Oblivion TC Demo" review.
| September 6, 2004: Maps! |
Wow it has been almost two weeks since the last update. Sorry for that but it feels as if I had been in a coma for the past few days. I've been working on a Doom 3 level which should be quite ready soon (although I will be gone most of this week).
Once again I went to visit the Duke3D Map Graveyard and dug up a few things - 'Invasion of Aliran' is a level
which was submitted to this site years ago but that was the kind of time when I received new levels daily so this one
got lost in the middle of all that. Anyways Check Aliran now since it's a hottie with a score of 85.
Another present for you today is MRCK's 'Mega-CGR v2.0' which is one of his early works. Check 'Maps' to get it.
Here are two pictures from my army days about four months ago. It was May and it snowed on that day in northern Finland - and we expected that it'd be relatively warm & sunny all the time. It wasn't fun.
| August 25, 2004: Stuff! |
Okay here we go: There's a new DukeRoch version out. The version number is 3.5 and this new one features a bunch of new functions such as support for numerous different languages. Download the new version HERE (the link has been added to MSDN level review indexes as well).
A new TC review added - this time it's another 'out of the grave' release called 'Brute Force TC' (demo). This TC died some time ago (along with Dukeworld I guess) so all we have is one level of it with a bunch of new features. Check the review of the demo here.
A new preview has been added to our 'Upcoming Maps' section. It's Sang's latest project - 'Battlefield 3'. Check it out!
| August 19, 2004: Jungle Factory! |
Sorry but due to some 'copyright' issues I had to remove 'Dogville' (reviewed last week). That's why the download link hasn't been working. If you still wish to have the level you have to ask it from me or directly from Taivo (download some of his older levels to get his email address - I'm too lazy to do that).
Also I noticed some time ago that the very oldest Hot Maps are no longer available for download (the files which were never stored at Fileplanet) - that means we have a bunch of broken links. However these levels are still on my hard-drive so if you want any of them just ask me.
Finally - I have one level for you which was released at AMC forums some months ago. It's finally available here as well - it's a hottie with 85 points. Check 'Jungle Factory'.
| August 13, 2004: Dogville! |
A quick update since I'm going to get my head full within an hour (for the first time in six months) and help
my friend to install a new hard-drive.
'Dogville" is the name of the game this time. You could call it Roch 9 if Pascal
had died and given his place to Taivo - but that never happened so let's call this one 'Dogville'. It scored 94
and is available for all of you Roch maniacs in 'Hot Maps' section.
I also updated 'Upcoming Maps' section by removing AvP, adding Dark Place 5 & updating
the shot for my upcoming level (still scheduled for summer -04).
Here are two pictures of our barracks which I left a month ago (more coming some day) - other batteries have a bit bigger barracks:
| August 9, 2004: Njadda njadda, Anarchy City & Dukerminator 3D! |
Since from time to time MSDN goes political here's something I want to bring to your attention - particularly if you're a supporter of Greenpeace or a citizen of some European country:
Once again I have learned more wicked stuff about one particular leftist-group called Greenpeace. Greenpeace causes the death of thousands of African people every year (among many other bad things they do) by boycoting, threatening, scaring and bribing third world governments & people not to use GM (genetically manipulated) food. This food is locked away from the people - The US offered product could save thousands - maybe millions. Thanks Greenpeace - thanks a lot for nothing. I say we should place Greenpeace on that list of terrorist organizations because they sure ain't far away from the definition of terrorism (="the threat or use of violence, often against the civilian population, to achieve political or social ends")
GM food is nearly all good - so far. It food has a lot to offer - More food, bigger crops, more vitamins, less pesticides and less dieases. We know for a fact that gm foods have a better resistance toward diseases, they include more vital vitamins and don't need pesticides the way 'natural' -crops do. But all we hear from Greenpeace & other hippies is a bunch of unscientific rumours influenced by their nature-over-human (although they don't even know what nature really means - or the way it works) views.
Nothing is completely riskless - And if this one has risks I believe those risks are the kind of we can control. Besides - what are these 'unwanted effects' or 'side effects' Greenpeace is talking about? Maybe a third arm or an extra pair of eyes? Americans have been chewing these products for about twenty years. So far there has been ZERO side-effects.
Sure Greenpeace has done some good things involving the environment - but isn't it pretty obvious that when you shoot all around you in a dark you hit at least something?
And don't forget to download 'WGRealms', 'Oblivion TC Demo' & 'Alien Versus Predator TC'.
| August 2, 2004: WGRealms Episode & Stadium 2! |
Okay people it seems that this summer is exceptionally good for Duke3D. First we get a few hotties, then comes 'AvP', then 'Oblivion' (which still won't run on my system) demo and now Gee's "WGRealms Episode". It took a bit over one year for William Gee to complete his baby project (which is likely to have a sequel) which is a respectable achievement. Check the review either at 'TC Reviews' or at 'Hot Maps' (under 'Special Releases') and DOWNLOAD the mini-mod.
I have something else for you as well. Miles the Fox is the name behind this new Dukematch level called 'DN3D - Stadium 2'. It's pretty ok Dukematch level but can be played in single-player mode as well as a boss-fight with the Emperor. Check 'DM Maps'.
And the poll ain't going anywhere. So live with it!
