I added better looking "nuke" rating symbols for game reviews. Alice: Madness Returns reviewed. New Duke3D maps on the way as well as a review for AMC TC.

Here's Parkade, mentioned in the previous update. Read the review before playing (as you should always do!) though so as not to be surprised by the level's performance.

It's been a while since someone put out a new space map but here's one, Cherenkov Station by Supertanker.

You might also want to check out Parkade at Duke4.net but it's recommended that your computer has an NVIDIA GPU.

A bit of time to reflect on the past once again. Here's how the year 2011 stands in comparison to the preceding seven years, once again solely in terms of "new maps/mods released at MSDN".

2004: 50 new releases
2005: 36 new releases
2006: 30 new releases
2007: 21 new releases
2008: 40 new releases
2009: 34 new releases
2010: 26 new releases
2011: 21 new releases

In other words, 2011 was the worst year since 2007. We hit a slump with the release of Duke Nukem Forever, a game that disappointed everyone. But luckily we've been picking up speed lately, culminating in the release of the AMC TC (see previous update), the best TC in the history of Duke3D.

Here's a map that was released last year: CyberDuke. Since the map was released last year and since I had every intention of reviewing it then, this release counts toward the 2011 release count. In other words, there are no new maps for the year 2012 yet. But 2-3 projects are just around the corner so this January/February should see a couple of new releases. Keep an eye on this space!

After years of blood, sweat and tears the AMC Total Conversion is finally done! Not only am I featured as a playable character in the TC but I also contributed one map and worked on several others. At the moment the TC consists of "only" one episode but there's such richness in this TC that one AMC TC map alone can beat feature- and design-wise an entire 4-episode TC. All of the maps have been designed exclusively by the old AMC (Alejandro's Mapping Center) guard: James Stanfield, HighWire, Fakir (Geoffrey), Sang, Rusty Nails and me! (There's also an extra episode that consists of classic usermaps by various authors.) Storytelling in a mod based on the old Duke3D Build engine has never before reached such heights. Btw, the mod is standalone so you don't even need Duke3D.grp to run it!

Download the TC: https://msdn.duke4.net/AMC_THE_TC_V1.05.zip

Read (and post!) comments here and here.

Edit: First review available at Scent-88!

Oh, and:

Just letting you guys know that we're very close to releasing a brand-new Duke3D episode that consists of 14 or 15 small-to-medium-size maps.

On top of that, the AMC TC is about one testing phase from the finishing line as well. So, lots of goodies on the way!

Also, check a trailer I just made for my Half-Life mod, Fate Reversal.

Here's a review of STALKER: Call of Pripyat.

Here's Loke's latest: Retaliation, a map that utilizes the new room-over-room EDuke32 effect.

Amazing, we have a brand new Duke3D map release! Forge is back with Duke 12:12, a sequel to Duke 6:8. Do not miss this 95-point map!

Wohoo, some activity. RCPD has been updated so grab the new version today.

Seeing how it's Halloween, it's fitting to put out another "Out of the Grave" map, this time Aliens by Peter Kucera.

Frank Black & the cursed pumpkin:

I'm very pumped up for tomorrow (the 27th) as that's when Battlefield 3 hits the store shelves here in Finland! Since you guys left Duke3D, you've left me with no choice but to keep posting reviews of other games. Here's Rage.

I'll try to get some old & forgotten levels reviewed for Halloween unless you can come up with something better.

We've had only five new releases since Duke Nukem Forever was released back in June. That's not bad, but it's not good either. And with big, multi-year projects having finally made their way to the public (Imagination World 2, WGRealms 2, Imperium), it does appear that things are going to slow down.
One of those multi-year projects is the AMC TC, which has finally entered the beta phase and we're expecting to see it get released later this year. All the maps are done and it's playable from start to finish.
Also, If you scroll down all the way to last November's update, you see two screenshots. This "secret" project is also nearing the finish line; at the moment only one and a half small maps need to be done.

So, good things are on the way - Duke3D is going out with a bang, not a whimper!

Hopefully the release of CrackDown, a minimod, is a sign that you guys are finally waking up from coma or something.

Time for a new poll. Let us know how do you feel about Duke Nukem Forever.

The previous poll question was "Your weapon of choice" and here's how you responded:
Out of 194 voters, 73% voted for Shotgun, 18% voted for Chaingun and 9% felt that neither of these two is their favorite weapon.

Mass Effect reviewed. Btw, for the first time in many years, my Steam library is empty of games I haven't played!

Another summer is behind, and this one left us with Duke Nukem Forever and several new Duke3D releases (RCPD, The Wall, Quake TC demo and Imperium). So, feel free to go through them in case you missed any.

Anyways, here's Nuke City from 1996. If you guys kept making new maps, I wouldn't have to review old ones. (Not that it's a bad thing to give these old maps some exposure.)

And here's a review of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

Check Zykov Eddy's Quake TC demo, a nice little technical curiosity!

Singularity (the game) also reviewed.

After being under construction for several years, Imperium is finally here. This 8-map episode features maps by a very talented group of mappers including the Oostrum brothers (who also contributed a fully custom-made soundtrack). Reviewed here.

RCPD Finale has been updated with some considerable cosmetic changes so its rating has been increased accordingly. See the review!

Also, Far Cry 2 & Medal of Honor reviewed.

They finally updated Duke Nukem Forever with adjustable FoV with which the game can be made to look like a PC game instead of a console game. Below are some comparisons between the original FoV (70) and the new FoV (90):

Attrition mod reviewed, finally!

My Episodes section has been improved a bit. Among other improvements, you can now actually download the episodes!

Hi! A buttonlink has been added to Zykov Eddy's site. I've got nothing else to say.

Another new Hot Map, this time by a new guy, RCPD Finale is a semi-vanilla Duke3D city map.

Also check out my review of Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

Here's the first new usermap of the post-DNF epoch; Zykov Eddy's The Wall: An Interactive Rock Opera.

Welcome to the post-DNF epoch! We'll start this exciting new epoch with an Out of the Grave map, Watergun.

A review of Duke Nukem Forever.

Duke Nukem 3D: still A-number-One!

Since it's sixteen minutes past midnight Duke Nukem Forever would technically be available but I've got an exam tomorrow morning so no gaming for me until I'm done with school stuff. So, I still have to endure a bit over twelve hours. The rest of you can start having fun now, at least if you live in Finland or to the east of Finland.

I've been playing some games recently, as my recent game review spree indicates, which should help get some perspective when I finally get to play DNF. I expect it to be a good game with some unnecessary console concessions (the two-weapon limit, health regen). Anything short of a three-nuke rating would count as a disappointment. But we'll see tomorrow (technically today).

Anyways, here are reviews of Mirror's Edge and Wolfenstein.

Here's Mister Sinister's Preparing for Christmas, a map that was released last Christmas. It's a puzzle map so you might want to take a look at it; there aren't too many such maps around.

Anyways, the talk of the day is of course that Duke Nukem Forever is only four days away. Those of you who've played the demo have already exprienced a tiny bit of this historical event; the rest of us have to wait till Friday (except for North Americans who have to wait a little longer). I'll try to squeeze in one more update before the game hits the stores.

Two important Polymer projects (i.e., projects that utilize the realistic lighting system in EDuke32) were released a few days ago.
First, DanM's Duke Nukem Eternity now consists of a 6-level episode and tons of other stuff that make Eternity a worthy competitor to any modern game and the closest thing you can get to DNF at the moment (two more weeks!). Some cool gameplay videos available here and here. The mod is available at ModDB.
Then we have Overkill, a 4-level episode that too is available at ModDB. Like Eternity, Overkill looks more like a modern game than a Duke3D episode.

However, if you wish to get a decent performance out of these projects, you need a good PC with an Nvidia-based GPU so that leaves me out.

Anyways, Bioshock & Bioshock 2 have been reviewed. I've been pushing myself to play some games that've been piling up lately, to get some playing done before Duke Nukem Forever is out.

Done & Dusted (see previous update) has now been reviewed thanks to Forge! (This is historical in the sense that this is the first time in 12 years that a map gets reviewed here by someone other than me.)

I said I'd make up for missing the 12th anniversary update. Done & Dusted is a new brilliant map by made by Quakis & me. Years ago Quakis built tons of scraps that obviously never saw the light of day. Two weeks ago I ended up putting some of these scraps together. After a week of some extensive polishing by Quakis the map is finally done. Use the link above to download yours!

'Nuff said:

While waiting for Alexander's next single-player map (see the 24th of April update), you might as well take a look at his Dukematch map, Bak Manufactory.

Anyways, I failed to post news concerning ReDUKED last fall so here it goes. Mike Norvak, who debuted here with Nightshade Army, released a 10-track interpretation of some of the finest Duke3D songs. In his own words: ReDuked is a ten track project with revisited versions of Duke Nukem 3D soundtrack by Lee Jackson on various stlyles... This work borns from my passion for music and fanaticism for Duke Nukem game. It took me about 3/4 months, since conception, song selection, to production and art design. I choose the most atractive songs, and put them together in an epic musical travel throught DN Universe.

Get yours here and check Norvak's Youtube channel. My favorite songs from the album: Alien Reactor, Pissed Office Box & Departure.

May Day is almost over and I'm still sober but that's about to change once I'm done with this update. Here's a new (well, a remake of something you have probably never even heard of) five-level episode, Operation Blitzkrieg. Fans of The Birth episode (the Atomic Edition episode) should immediately rank this as one of their favorites. These days new episodes are hard to come by (in fact, good episodes have always been hard to come by) so don't miss this opportunity!

Yeah, it's well past the anniversary day, but I'm out of town at the moment so this update is pretty much all I can give you. I'll try to make up for this travesty in May. Anyways, here are two preview shots from a sequel to Anarxiticalcity:

Our hot streak of new releases seems to have come to an end so here's another Out of the Grave map from a list provided by LAW. 4th Sector is a borderline Hot Map from 1997.

Anyways, it's playoff time! Go Ducks!

To commemorate the 1-week anniversary of Gambini's It Lives, here's his Duke Nukem Ex Mortum from 2001.

As promised, here's Gambini's awesome It Lives, which also enters our top 5 at no. 2, wiping Project Zero off the list in the process. So, with two maps by Gambini and two by Merlijn van Oostrum, our top 5 consists of five maps by only three mappers.

I'll have Gambini's new map reviewed tomorrow (a review has already been written but the map still needs some tiny fixes) so consider this update an ouverture. Here's a review of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay & Assault on Dark Athena and here's a new Dukematch map, UDM3Map4 (haven't reviewed these for a while).

Here's the first-ever Newbie Community Build Project. It's quite a diverse seven-map pack so there should be something for everyone.

About a week ago WGRealms 2 Total Conversion got patched with eight new levels. A massive patch like this is certainly worth its own review so check one here.

Also, F.E.A.R. 2 finally reviewed.

I'm a bit late with this; Duke Plus Community Build Project was released a year and a half ago but I kinda forgot to review it. A review is now available.

Since we're getting closer to playing DNF, it's about time I took its competitors under scrutiny. Here are reviews of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Rusty Nails, having worked years on tons of Duke3D maps and mods, has had trouble actually releasing stuff. His debut usermap is Of Pigs and Men, a hottie that utilizes both Polymer and Attrition.

Here's Ethanol Fever, a map that's been sitting on its author's hard drive for a few months now. It's a small city map, short but fun.

That makes four new maps in just two weeks and believe me more is on the way!

Zykov Eddy's series of dream-themed horror maps just got a third part, turning the series into a trilogy. Check A.dream trilogy for some scares and zombies!

As usual, it took a while to get rid of the latest poll, which got old pretty quickly. The question was "3DRealms is gone" (inquired in the wake of 3DRealm's demise) and here's how you responded (478 votes):
Yes, and so is DNF, 34%
Yes, but DNF is not, 30%
No; DNF is about to be released, 18%
No, 18%

So, a third of you thought that both 3DRealms and DNF were gone.

I probably should have closed the poll ages ago to get a better picture but the results should be more or less accurate. Anyways, a new poll is up!

MRCK will be gone for a few months but his departure provided an incentive to finish a map he had been working on lately. So, go check out Anorak City!

As promised, here's a review of LOST.

A quick update, here's LOST, a new map based on Lost, the tv series. The map will be reviewed tomorrow!

Sorry folks, I really haven't got a good excuse for not updating. There are a few new releases floating around some Duke forums so they should be here soon as well. Meanwhile, Call of Duty 4 has been reviewed.

We'll open 2011 with Sanek's Dayz of Our Lives. More fine maps are on the way!

It's more than two hours past midnight but this update will be a 2010 update nonetheless, and as such the two maps "released" today will count toward the 2010 mapcount as well. So, here's how 2010 looked relative to the past six years in terms of "new maps/mods released at MSDN".

2004: 50 new releases
2005: 36 new releases
2006: 30 new releases
2007: 21 new releases
2008: 40 new releases
2009: 34 new releases
2010: 26 new releases

So, we hit a few bumps on the road but in terms of quality we had tons of awesome releases this year, including AvP 2, Imagination World 2 and Duke Eternity. Duke Nukem Forever was revealed to be back on track in September and it might be out in 2011, maybe even in the first quarter. It'll be interesting to see how the eventual release of DNF affects us here in the Duke3D community, the best community in the world.

But hey, this site is about Duke3D maps so here's Desert Storm by Loke. The map scored a respectable 97 so waste no time reading this and download the map immediately. You might also want to check out Sanek's Dayz of Our Lives, which will be reviewed later.

Anyways, happy New Year! I'm off to watch (on tv, that is) the US junior hockey team beat the shit out of Switzerland so you might as well take this opportunity to start working on a new map. Keep Duke3D alive!

Ho ho ho, it appears that at least someone cares enough about Christmas to release a new Duke3D map, so check out School, a hottie of 85 points.

No "traditional" Christmas movie screencap today because traditions are there to be broken!

And don't forget to check out Steam Xmas sales, tons of interesting titles floating around at negligible prices.

Merry (hopefully non-Christian) Christmas!

Uh, come on guys, get something done for Christmas! A Christmas without new Duke3D maps is a Christmas not worth having.

Anyways, here's a review of Aliens vs. Predator (the 2010 game).

In preparation for the release of Duke Nukem Forever (among other games), I finally bought a new computer (pity the fools who bought a new computer just for DNF years ago), details of which can be seen on my XFire profile. So, that's taken a bit of my time lately but it's not like we have had many Duke3D releases during my "absence".

Anyways, check Micky C's Libraryl. Curiously, the map runs worse (in Polymer) on this brand new computer than it did on my old computer:(

Wow, we have a snow/hi-tech map streak going on! Supply Depot, EmericaSkater's first public release, scored a respectable 90 points so take a look.

Enjoy a brand new hottie by Nexus, 47 Fornax!

I'm finally done writing a 20-page paper for school. It's taken pretty much all of my free time for the past week or so. Anyways, here are some shots to make you drool:

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