So what's up with all the Build games re-releases?

[673fb9f9ed176Jules]

Seeing as some of you seem to be fans of Build engine games, would you have any recommendations for a polished, mostly vanilla full-episode-length mappack for Duke3D? I'm thinking of something akin to Death Wish for Blood (a must play, BTW) or Arcane Dimensions for Quake - multiple levels, lots of polish and detail (I'm spoiled), but still within the confines of the vanilla game with at most just a very limited selection of additions (no TCs, basically). Single episodes are easy enough to find but for some reason I haven't been able to find any full episodes that tickled my fancy.

[673fb9f9ed313voodoo47]

didn't they release an additional official episode? yes they did, see Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.

[673fb9f9ed5bfJules]

voodoo47That's pretty much the kind of episode I had in mind, and I have been looking to play it for a while, but isn't it only available to those who own the 20th Anniversary edition and only playable on that specific version of the game? I don't really have any plans to buy that version of the game right about now as I'm happy enough with running the original game files on eDuke32. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind playing it at all...

[673fb9f9ed6b8voodoo47]

the Raze port does support it, it seems. but yeah, that one is not free if that's what you had in mind. or is it? up to you I suppose.

[673fb9f9eda61JDoran]

By far the best DN3D mod I have played is Alien Armageddon, which includes three new single player campaigns, plus upgraded/improved versions of the four original DN3D episodes and expansion packs (Duke it out in D.C, and Life's a Bitch), you can now play as either Duke Nukem or two other characters (with their own weapons, upgrades, etc), and you play the game co-op with either a human or an A.I. controlled companion, and the mod adds new weapons, weapon upgrades, perks, interactive NPCs, new options, etc.

Download it from:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-alien-armageddon/downloads/alien-armageddon-467

and also the patch from:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-alien-armageddon/downloads/code-updates-read-below

You don't need any files from Duke Nukem 3D or anything, just unarchive the Alien Armageddon 4.67 .7z file to a folder on your hard drive (say C:\Alien Armageddon, or whatever), unarchive the patch file into that, overwriting the files when prompted, then run the included 'eduke32.exe' file.


For other suggestions for DN3D mods and episodes, have a look at:


https://altarofgaming.com/best-duke-nukem-3d-mods/


https://forums.duke4.net/topic/10815-what-unofficial-modsfan-made-projects-can-be-considered-real-standalone-duke-games/page__p__331342


https://www.nitro404.com/mods/duke_nukem_3d.php?view=list&filter=none&group=none&sort=rating

https://forums.duke4.net/topic/10903-what-are-the-best-single-player-dn3d-maps-that-dont-need-eduke32-etc/page__p__333989


https://forums.duke4.net/topic/5555-best-mods-point-me-towards-them/page__p__132486__hl__recommended__fromsearch__1#entry132486

https://msdn.duke4.net/index.php

[673fb9f9ede6fJules]

JDoranThanks for the links. Some of the forum threads you've included contains exactly the kind of stuff I had in mind.

As for Alien Armageddon, yeah, that's a name I've heard mentioned around a lot. I have very little experience with Duke3D mods (so far I've only played the DNF 2013 campaign), so I'll probably start with some smaller vanilla mappacks. It's still something I'm likely to play sometime in the future, however.

[673fb9f9ee142voodoo47]

so, Powerslave Exhumed is out, but I'll definitely wait for a 50% discount

the time is now - only took 2 years. probably 2 more until I get to actually playing it.

[673fb9f9ee4ccJDoran]

Regarding other released or soon to be released games:

The sort of sequel to the brilliant Ion Fury, Phantom Fury was released a few weeks ago, and it's really divided the opinions of gamers, some people think it's a huge disappointment. Of the three first person shooter reviewers on Youtube that I watch, Civvie 11 refuses to even review it, because he found it so disappointing, and both GmanLives and Jarek the Gaming Dragon were very underwhelmed. Others find it OK, and some say it's really good, so it's not a total loss for everyone, at least.

Personally, I've only played the first couple of levels, on a mate's PC, and I found it to be uninteresting, and I've not felt the urge to continue with it, Mind you, maybe it does get better later on, and I might still buy it, especially if it's makers decide to improve the game significantly via patches. Or if I just hit another dry spot where no new games on the horizon attract me and I just want to buy something.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1733240/Phantom_Fury/




Of course, if you like Ion Fury, then the official expansion pack, Ion Fury: Aftershock, which well worth playing, it's really enjoyable.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1588720/Ion_Fury_Aftershock/




And the really promising Selaco is released on the 31st May, I'm hoping that one really does live up to our expectations, because it might well be phenominal:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592280/Selaco/




And, at last, System Shock Remake is released on consoles on May the 21st! Less than a week to go 





And not a first person shooter, but a 2D platformer/puzzle game where you have various time control powers, but the remaster of Braid has been released at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/499180/Braid_Anniversary_Edition/%60

if anyone hasn't already played this classic game already,

[673fb9f9ee81esarge945]

The only modern "Build Engine" game worth playing is Ashes 2063 (and Afterglow). Technically it's a GZDoom mod, not a build engine game, but it very much looks and plays like a build-engine game and has a lot of the design considerations of build-engine games.

I highly recommend playing both.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/ashes-2063

[673fb9f9ee986JDoran]

Ashes 2063 and the expansion pack are really, really good, yes. I would say good enough to sell, but nowadays it's so easy to make a (bad) game that Steam etc are drowning in bad games that cost money to buy. But Ashes 2063 + Afterglow are must plays for old school first person shooter fans.

I don't know about the 'only modern "Build Engine" game worth playing', though. I don't follow any mod scenes at the moment, so I don't know, but surely there have been some mods/Total Conversions released in the past few years. If nothing else I'd suggest Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon, though I don't know how long ago it first came out, so maybe you're not including it due to it's age or something.

[673fb9f9eeafafox]

I have just started playing Ashes: 2063 & Afterglow. Pretty cool indeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5_zJoJhbOM

[673fb9f9eedd5JDoran]

I finally around to playing Selaco yesterday (I've been playing System Shock Remake on the Playstation 4 until now), and so far Selaco seems to be what we were all hoping for. A game designed to be fun, remember those? It's an 'old-school' first person shooter, where 'old-school' means only good things; i.e. it's 'old-school' as in fast but not too fast* good and enjoyable gunplay, you need to use a little brain-power to find your way to the objectives, the graphics are good (not AAA good, but it's an indie game, made with the GZDoom engine), and so far I really enjoyed it, so much so that I hated having to turn it off and go to bed, as I had to get up today for work (I am age 53 now, so now I think everyone should retire at 50).

I only played through the first couple of levels (I spent too much time looking for secrets, as I've heard that each level can have dozens of secrets, and I was hoping to find more powerful weapons hidden away), so it's possible the game could start to go really bad later on, but I really doubt it. This game just 'feels' right.

* I hate modern 'old-school' shooters that deliberately make the game almost too fast to play, so that you need Spider-Man's levels of agility and reflexes to get anywhere in the game. If any FPS from the 'classic' years (maybe 1993 to 2003) was actually that fast, then I don't remember playing it.

I've seen people complain that they didn't realise that this 'full' release would still be in early access (i.e. it's not the finished game). But the game does feel finished, or rather it doesn't feel like it's missing anything gameplay-wise. It's not at all like one of those early-access games where it's more like a proof of concept and the game mechanics don't feel right, or where the game feels short because most of the levels are yet to be added, or where there are obvious bugs that harm the game's playability or even soft-lock the game. I'm not sure what we are waiting on (new levels, weapons, abilities, etc), but to judge from the existing game, any new things the makers choose to add to it will probably be well thought out and well implemented, and will actually improve the game. So who's complaining?

[673fb9f9eefabZylonBane]

Selaco struck me as like the E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy of boomer shooters-- a game by a bunch of passionate developers who couldn't say no to ANY concept, so it ended up with this bloated kitchen-sink design that would be more appropriate to a slow-paced FPS like Deus Ex, but just feels distracting in what's presumably supposed to be a rip-and-tear type game.

[673fb9f9ef12esarge945]

Selaco is fine. It has some problems but the developers know about them so hopefully they will be fixed.

The main issue currently is that the palyers Slide ability has a cooldown that is a little too long.

I wouldn't say Selaco has a kitchen-sink design philosophy. Probably the only truly superfluous element of the game is Burger Flipper, but it's such a minor thing that it hardly matters. For the most part the systems play into each other.

Really enjoying it so far.

[673fb9f9ef2dfJoin2]

For modern indie FPS I would strongly recommend Overload, Ashes: Afterglow, Everspace and Immortal Redneck. Two are 6dof shooters and two are roguelites so certainly not really the same flavor as build engine games. Well, except Ashes. It's a Doom engine game that feels like a build engine game, and really fine work for 0 budget effort.

No idea about Selaco. Will try it one day. Also looks technologically-advanced for a doom engine game but perhaps more in a way I don't like. More like those FPS games made in the 2000s. But no valid opinion until I try it.

[673fb9f9ef45aJDoran]

The next part of the amazing Doom total Conversion, Ashes 2063, has been released:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFf65H8q1lg

Download the complete package, which includes Episodes 1 and 2, and the expansions Hard Reset, and Dead Man Walking, from:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/ashes-2063/downloads

if you just want to play the game, then download the 'Stand Alone' version.

[673fb9f9ef599icemann]

Oooo nice