With Simpler Times, I wanted to make a kind of my "dream level" for Duke Nukem 3D, which would feel almost as an open-world game. However, I also wanted to ensure the maximal accessibility of the map, therefore I had to provide a clear progression with a sense of direction for the casual players, while also leaving a lot of room to explore for the completionists. I am really satisfied with the results - below is a list of the main features of the level, without too many spoilers I hope!
- Open layout on the outdoors, with two distinct parts separated by a river and connected through a bridge. The "sandbox" style of the level is emphasized by the natural boundaries of the player area, with the view blocked by buildings and streets rather than abstract walls and dead-end streets that end up feeling claustrophobic;
- The architecture is a mix of typical European and Northern-American cities, including actual recreations/reinterpretations of some modern and historic real-life buildings;
- Most of the interiors are accessible and serve a purpose in the progression. You will visit a gym, restaurant, old docking crane, hotel with a lobby and multiple rooms, garage, rooftops, jewelry store, waterworks station and warehouse;
- Action-packed, explosive gameplay that will make your journey entertaining and challenging, punctuated by several larger battles;
- Three difficulty settings, which also affect the respawning monsters. On "Come Get Some difficulty", you may face about 350 enemies! How tough you think you are?
- A much desired from Duke 3D players possibility to save the babes captured by aliens! This is a kind of side-quest and not necessary for progression, however, you should be careful not to harm the ladies during your destruction spree!
- Plenty of secrets and optional areas for some extra exploration - including both the "official" secret places and small interactions that will reward the player with something extra. Stay focused and look out for details!
- Interactions everywhere! You can kick a beach ball around, use runways and barbells at the gym, knock on random doors or call the intercoms, use vending machines, watch distant landscapes through binoculars, move or destroy the stuff along your way, play shooting range game, operate cranes and even... order some meals!
- The level may feel almost "classic" at first glance, but is full of technical nuances and complex effects, made possible with the most recent EDuke32 additions used in creative ways. You can check the videos of the two elevators in the video section, with the hotel one perhaps being one of the most complex effects ever created in the Build Engine. There's also one more effect towards the end on which the initial premise of the map was based...
- Story-driven progression, with in-game world building and a somehow autothematic plot that plays around with breaking the 4th wall and tries to re-imagine the character of Duke Nukem in the modern world.
Stay tuned!
