April 2, 2004: A new release by Quakis! |
The list of to-be-reviewed levels is growing fast and I can't wait getting out of the military. I have a few standard levels on my list plus one good one by Devastator & Sang's new level. Just be patient - maybe some day (and don't you dare blaming me for not reviewing enough stuff these days).
Anyways this day is the day of Quakis - a new level by him is finally out - finished - not abandoned. It's called "The System: Opposing Facility" and it's a hottie with 93 points. Get it from 'Hot Maps'.
Sorry for not updating last weekend but I wasn't home - I had normal holiday but I was visiting my grandparents so I had no time to update.
March 21, 2004: Again - two new levels! |
Okay two more weeks are over and snow is finally melting away - which is a good thing since running in a snowy forest with your gear & weapon is not fun.
Community Build Project saga continues with its fifth release - 'CBP5' - which is so far the best CBP level. CBP5 introduces us to a very spooky city - check it out!
Another one comes from Stephano Lessa who released his Industrial Complex Episode a few months ago. Stephano
made a sequel to his Jungle Tour level and logically named this new one as 'Jungle Tour 2'. Check it out as well!
Both CBP5 & JT2 are hotties so don't waste any more of your valuable time reading this shit - get 'em.
I'll be back next weekend - Dunno if I have time then but I'll try to review something.
March 7, 2004: Two new releases! |
First of all I'd like to apologize those who have sent me levels during the past two months and are still waiting for reviews. The reviews will be done some day but I simply can't review all of them during my army period. The most hyped releases and top-quality levels tend to be priorities but I'll try to review other releases as well every now and then. So don't panic - your level is on the list.
At least Fakir is doing his part in keeping Duke alive by releasing new stuff every now and them. Now it's time for a new release called "Duke Nukem Vs the Army of Death". This one's a small mini-mod with three levels & lots of skeletons. Check it out - you can find this interesting pack at 'TC Reviews' section with a download link.
Today's Hot Map comes from Phoenix. It's called "Munasta Part 1" and it's a pretty good space level which scored 89. Check it out at 'Hot Maps'.
As for the next update: Once again I'm not going to be back next weekend. And two weeks from now I'll be visiting some of my relatives during my weekend holiday so that means the next update will be possible on the 21st day. However it might be that I don't have much time then - only a few hours. But I'll do my best to update then.
March 1, 2004: Dark Side: Moonbase Mayhem! |
We took an oath (well I took that some other thing - whatever you call it in English - since I'm not a Christian anymore) and now I'm not a recruit anymore - Now it's time to work with artilleries;)
Anyways I'm in a hurry now so here's just one Hot Map for you: 'Dark Side: Moonbase Mayhem' from Aaro Ruohonen (check his latest hotties 'ARSP1' & 'Dead Meat'). This level is a lot inspired by E2L8 so if you like E2 levels then get this one (get it in any case since it's a hottie as well). Check 'Hot Maps'.
February 22, 2004: MS-Subway! |
Well it was hell out there in the woods - it was cold and we had to dig those damned fox holes - You have any idea how hard it's to dig those holes when the ground is covered with ice & snow? And guess what's very fun - When you're sleeping in your tent and someone from your team (the one who's on guard duty at the moment) comes in the middle of a night to wake up the whole team screaming 'ALARM!' which means you have to gather your gear, your weapon and run to your fox hole - in the middle of a night when it's freezing out there.
Okay I got one map for you - It's from Mike Von Skellington who works for City Crackdown TC. This one has been lying on Mike's hard-drive for years and now it's finally available to you. Check 'Hot Maps' section to get 'MS-Subway'.
More levels coming - I just received a new level from Devastator. It's one bizarre creation and I wanted to release it today but got stuck so badly that I couldn't. Some other time maybe;)
Anyways check City Crackdown TC homepage. They have updated the site with some fresh shots - they all look VERY good. This TC has been in development since 1999 so it's nice to see that it's still on its way to our hard-drives. I just wish the day of arrival would be here soon.
LAW's AvP TC is also getting closer to its release. These days LAW hangs out at AMC forums so catch the latest AvP news there. This TC has been in progress for a few years already so I guess it's about time for its release;)
I'll be back next Friday.
February 15, 2004: Stuff! |
Two more weeks have passed in the army. I was sick the last week (from last Monday to Thursday) so all I did was getting bored at the barracks while the others were getting bored somewhere else;)
I got two levels for you. I found 'XXX' from Repository (check the site - they have a lot of new stuff there including
new episodes) and decided that it's worth entering the HOT section here. Check Hot Maps to get XXX.
Another one for today is 'Unwanted Answers' which was dug up from the grave by Stef at AMC. This one's here mostly
for nostalgic reasons. Check 'Maps' section.
Red Sun review updated: The author's real name was replaced with his "mapping" name Vanx. Check Red Sun if you didn't.
Okay and today it's once again time to get back there - I'll be gone the next five days so I'll be back next Friday. The next week is going to be a bit hard since we're going to spend the whole week in a forest - imagine that.
Bye!
February 1, 2004: Industrial Complex Episode! |
Another week passed in the army. We're in the woods practicing all sorts of combat & bombing situations (that was a very tough Tuesday - six hours of that shite), we're at the shooting range (I shot pretty well) and we did some other stuff. Anyways enough of that for now - let's get to Duke3D.
The release of the week is of course Stephano Lessa's "Industrial Complex Episode". Stephano is mostly known from AMC forums but you might also remember him from "Jungle Tour" level (if not then get it). "I.C.E" is a pretty well designed and fun but too repetitive episode - and one you don't want to miss. It's available in 'Hot Maps' section under 'Special Releases'.
Anyways that's it for now - I do have more maps in queue but I just don't have the time to release many at once now when I'm in the army. Anyways I'll be gone the next two weeks so bye for a while.
January 24, 2004: Alive - and home-sick! |
Two weeks went already? The first two days in the army were awful but then I got used to it. We got weapons (7,62 RK 62) and we played with some fake grenades & such. Lots of marching, eating & standing still outside in a freezing temperature. Lot's of shouting and commands but you must not take any of that shite too seriously - it's all just a circus. We had three hours of free time every day from 6pm to 9pm. We went to bed at 10pm & woke up at 6am. No tv, no computer - no privacy. But it was okay. Too bad I have to be there tomorrow again - two days at home is not enough after twelve days of that.
Well I'm digging some levels out of the grave - I have some new ones in a queue and I'll review them later. But here
comes:
"Operation Devil's Dance" - a usermap for SST TC by SalaciusCrumb - released years ago
"Red Sun" - found this one from BugTeam years ago and now it's here - and it's a Hot Map
That's it for now. It's Saturday night now and I'll be watching tv (my dad recorded lots of stuff while I was gone) the rest of the night. Tomorrow I'll return to army and I should return home next Friday - see you then! And keep Duking!
January 12, 2004: Bye Bye! |
Yeah yeah so all things come to an end. Well in fact nothing is coming to an end. So fuck it. I'll just say bye for a while. Read the previous update. I'll leave to army today and I'll be there either six or twelve months. BUT I will be home ALMOST every weekend (excluding the first weekend). So the next MSDN update will be two weeks from now. We have computers there but there are like a thousand guys there waiting in a queue to get their dirty hands on those computers.
But anyways here are some reviews: "Driving Home For Christmas" (Hottie with 86 points), "City Suicide" (Mappie with 81 points) and "The Realms Of Grune" TC (a very old one which is now finally available here as well).
I'll see you later.
Malcolm says BYE!:
January 6, 2004: Eye Of The Storm & The Christmas Project! |
Okay a few things first: I'll go to army on 12th day - that's next Monday. I'll be there either six months or one year. HOWEVER MSDN WILL NOT BE CLOSED! Normally we should have holiday every weekend - from Friday night to Sunday night. However sometimes we have to spend whole weekend there - like the first two weeks. MSDN will normally be updated weekly so there's no reason to panic.
"The Brave New World" (which according to PC Zone - "Makes all other things in life useless") has been reviewed at two Duke3D sites: Check the reviews at Duke3D Repository & AMC.
Two new releases: "Eye Of The Storm" is a usermap for SST TC by SalaciusCrumb who made "Before The Storm". Before
you can play this level you have to get SST TC (check the review for the link).
Another release is from Rusty Nails & Mblackwell - it's their Christmas project called "The Christmas Project" (d'oh!).
It's a two-level-mini-mod (although I'd call it a technology demo) with some nice stuff - check 'TC Reviews' section.
There will be one more update before I'll go to army - Then I'll review at least HighWire's Christmas level & an old TC.
January 1, 2004: "The Brave New World" Released! |
Happy New Year!
At last - my mini-mod (five levels) has been released! I have been working on this one since last spring. Download is available here (1.80Mb) and check 'Brave New World' section (for screenshots). YOU MUST READ THE README FILE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON!
December 24, 2003: "It's Christmas time again"! |
So - Merry Christmas once again! My computer works and I'm able to deliver some presents for you:
"Roch 8" by Pascal Rouaud - The new king with 99 points
"Just Another Christmas" by Taivo Maripuu - with 93 points
I was also going to release my new mini-mod - "The Brave New World" today but only about one hour ago my Build stopped working. Reinstall & restart didn't work. Too bad - the mod was 99.99% finished when this happened. I only had a few things left to do (in fact just one door & one texture). Oh well - maybe with the next update.
Duke Repository reviewed my MSSP Episode a few weeks ago. Check their review here and check the site as well since it has been updated quite a lot during the past few weeks.
And once again - Merry Christmas!
Now it's time to watch the traditional every-Christmas "Home Alone";)
December 22, 2003: Doomsday?! |
Right now I'm fighting for my own survival. But I can't do this alone - I might need your help.
On Saturday we had a LAN party at my friend's house - There were seven of us. A few hours after I had connected
my computer to our LAN network it started restarting by itself - this kept happening all night and it continued
the day after and even when I got home. The computer just suddenly restarts - the screen goes black and it restarts.
Sometimes it can restart during booting a few times before it finally reaches Windows desktop. If I do nothing nothing
happens - But if I start downloading, playing games or if I just have used this computer actively the past minutes
(on the internet for example) it restarts - without a warning. I heard there was a virus which caused something similar
but that virus is not the case here since this virus doesn't infect Millennium Edition systems and my anti-virus program
couldn't find anything.
I'm not even going to try to reinstall ME since it takes too long which means that the computer is going to restart during
the installation process. I also tried to open the whole thing (the box, the tower or whatever it's called in English) but since
I'm not an expert in these things ('inside-the-box-things') there wasn't much I could do - The wires seemed to be okay
and everything was in place. And this problem is not internet-based since it can occur when I'm offline.
Restart: Here we go again - The system restarted while I was writing this. However this time I
noticed something - while I was writing this before the crash the system said that I can't write anymore (seemed to apply
to this particular document only) because I have ran out of memory and that I'd have to 'free' some memory to write more.
This has never happened before - Sure there's a limit which prevents you from writing too much in Notepad (where I'm writing
this) but there's still quite a lot of space left in this document before I have to add some of the news to 'Autumn 2003'
folder. Besides - after the last restart I can now write again in this document.
I have no idea what the fuck is going on so if you have any suggestions then please help.
MSDN will have a Christmas update but it's likely that it's not exactly the kind of an update I had planned. This problem occurs in Duke3D as well - I was able to play three levels two days ago and then it restarted.
Nice pre-Christmas present Santa - hope you have something better for me next year.
December 14, 2003: AlexCity 1 & Jurassic Park! |
Two new levels - 'AlexCity 1' is a hottie with 92 points & 'Jurassic Park - Chaos Theory' is a mappie with 78 points. Both are worth your expensive time.
"Roch 8" is knocking on my door - be prepared since it won't take long until he reaches yours.
December 8, 2003: News! |
I really wanted to review 'AlexCity' today but I got stuck in it a couple of times so badly (yes - I'm a total n00b) that I didn't have time to write down a review. And now I have to leave - I'll be back next Saturday.
December 6, 2003: News! |
I downloaded Rancidmeat's Win32 port for Duke3D meaning I can now play Duke3D properly without fucking up my computer and screenshots. Check his port here: http://www.rancidmeat.com/project.php3?id=1
I got two levels for you today: 'Phantasm' is Zaxtor's latest. MSDN missed his previous level but I will dig it up some time so don't worry. As for now - download Phantasm from 'Hot Maps'. Then we have an old level from -96 called 'LVStadium'. It's far from today's standards but you can still check it out at 'DM Maps' section.
November 30, 2003: News! |
I finally got a new computer last Thursday (after waiting for it for a month) and although new games work fine I'm having difficulties with Duke3D. Operating system is still Millennium Edition so it's not those common XP issues. Taking screenshots doesn't work properly - shots have strange colors and whenever I quit Duke3D or Build the screen starts showing issues related to colors - Mouse cursor disappears, images & videos can't be viewed properly etc. I'll try to work with this issue. I have a few maps in queue waiting for a review.
Here are two screenshots from my mini-mod. It'll have five new levels (one is O'Boy), some art, two new weapon models and some other minor changes. Nothing big:
November 23, 2003: Taamalus & Night and Day! |
I have two interesting levels for you today. First one comes from Phoenix - The level is named 'Taamalus' (meaning whatever) and it offers some nice shadows and it comes with a very enjoyable gameplay ('Hot Maps'). Second one comes from our friend Fakir and once again - it's Dukematch - with a brand new effect. 'Night and Day' has a neat effect where a beautiful day turns into a dark & bloody night. Even if you don't play dukematch levels at least try this one to see this cool effect.
November 14, 2003: West Alien Train! |
Today I'll turn 19 and instead of getting presents I'm actually GIVING presents (right-wing people can be VERY generous at times). That's right - 'West Alien Train' is a very good level which uses The Moving Train effect. It scored 93 and can be downloaded from 'Hot Maps'.
More stuff coming! The release date for my mini-mod has been set and will be released on - Well maybe next time. Fakir's new(/old) dukematch level should be out next week and maybe I'll even have you a TC review - and a new hot map.
November 11, 2003: Alien Space Station (A.S.S.) & SUPA 3! |
Okay okay calm down - Try to control yourself but today I have TWO hot levels for you - by FOUR authors! 'SUPA 3' scored 88 and earned its place in Hot Maps section. Same happened to 'Alien Space Station' - a new level by Devastator which scored 93.
More coming - Such as Zaxtor's new level
November 6, 2003: WGAlien & Speedtrax Racing! |
'WGAlien' is William Gee's latest single player level (and surely won't be the last). It has both killer design & gameplay and it scored no less than 97! So get it from 'Hot Maps'.
And finally a new Total Conversion review. 'Speedtrax Racing' was released about three years ago. It's mainly for multiplayer but single players can check out the review at least. Plus with the review I'm also giving & taking a peek at Fakir's usermap pack for Speedtrax. So check them both at 'TC Reviews'.