Comments - Snooper17

Okay, So this is a simple post-review over what i've played so far, first off, this whole mod is Amazing to look at to say the least, everything felt grand in scale, like an actual galactic war & having numerous flavor text chiming in and out made it all the more immersive, especially how you've extented the vanilla levels to have more context & goings on so it's not entirely a one to one recreation, also the boss encounters were climatic as ever, at first I thought I had to wait for an opening, but thankfully they all mostly operated on the 'Shoot it till it dies' philosophy, which I can say I'm happy for.

There were though, issues during my time, the first being how easy it can be to die or loss 3/4 of your health in no time flat, sometimes the enemy can be smooth & manageable, othertimes there is no mercy from the get go and kill you in seconds, possibly cause they all just decide to focus all their time & attention on me, plus, and I believe that it's just apart of the 'FreeSpace 2' build, but by god do I yearn for checkpoints here, dying near the end of the level from stray hits or from running out of time, and then having replay the level from scratch is a major motivation killer (I'm looking at you Meteo & Zoness), I say this as someone who has bit the dust many times over.

The weapon variety was all manners of fun, interesting how the Hyper lasers are actually separate weapons from the standard lasers, But I must talk about the 'Beam Cannon', mainly because, on my first play of Meteo, I had no idea that I needed it for the boss to proceed, but after equipping it, I practically Melted 'EVERYTHING' in my way, no boss was safe from my Kamehameha Laser...potentially overpowered, perhaps?

I wasn't able to play everything though, I was able to go through Aquas & Zoness fine (Dual Beam Lasers = Flawless Victory!), while my first Landmaster level on Macbeth, my weapon screen said 'None', so I was unable to fire anything, I did in-fact go into the weapon selection screen before so, so I'm not sure if that made it glitch out from error or something

So how has development been keeping you lately, has Covid been doing much since you started or has it not effected you much? ^^

All I want to know is, can I play with friends through this?

Like i said, i didn't expect anything, it's just been hanging on my mind ever since the likes of 'Battle for Los Angeles' & 'X64-2', which are both great ways to open each episode with a bombastic set piece & sandbox for each agent to explore & conquer.

After everything that's happening with the current version, episode 1 has the unfortunate position of being the first impressions to any would-be down-loader, i thought that this just might evoke a sense of "You now have my FULL attention" feeling.

BUT I'M NOT UNREASONABLE!, i can only remotely fathom the amount of work it would even take to create what i'm projecting and if it takes work away from episodes 4 & 5, forget i said anything and simply throw the concept into cold storage.

i'm going to continue to deal out some more ideas on this web-page...and it's a long one.

Quality of Life:
This may come across as a small detail, but it might bring whole new dimension to already existing assets.

Outside of the Paradigm & the Assault Commanders, primarily the Cycloids, more units could have specific voice lines based around the AMC, giving the enemy more flavor text around the newly formed para-military.
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What i'm made of:
This is more of a refinement of an older post, but i do believe it has potential & will enhance the diversity of the characters.

Each character could have their associated passive & active abilities to spice their playthroughs.

James -
Passive: Enter Time Portals around certain maps for Items, Research or Lore
Active: Bullet Time (Thx to the effects from the MJ12 injection [IW])

Zaxtor -
Passive: Very acrobatic enabling him to jump great height & distances
Active: Can pick objects and hurl them at foes alike (even foes themselves)

Merlijn -
Passive: Can endure massive amounts of punishments
Active: Enter a Bezerker mode to well...'Rip & Tear'

Highwire -
Passive: buffs any recruited personnel into fighting harder (2x DPS & HP)
Active: Throw a flare which calls down an Airstrike on position (can vary on research projects)

Sangluss -
Passive: Able to Dispel Blood ritual doors
Active: Conjure up undead legions to fight on his behalf (Medieval Skeletons)

Rusty -
Passive: Able to talk to the dead for information
Active: Deadeye (Yes, from 'Red Dead') targeting foes in close/medium range

Geoffrey -
Passive: Hack into any VR Console/Station
Active: Wrist mounted flamethrower, Shoulder mounted rocket-launcher & rechargeable jet-pack

Mikko -
Passive: Hack into any VR Console/Station
Active: Able to summon 2 of his Elite Honor Guard to fight on his behalf (the 40k Terminators from IW)

Micky -
Passive: Can repair Most broken machines without the need of a toolbox
Active: Equipped with a specially made Drone that aggro's & De-buff foes

Snowfall -
Passive: Can climb most surfaces to gain tactical advantage
Active: Can deploy a wide protective barrier to use against foes
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Show & Tell:
Okay, this is a HUGE commission, So i'm not expecting anything, but i do believe it would benefit from it.

As you know, Episode 1 opens with Alejandro James with traveling around the Globe...& Mars, gathering the agents for the AMC. (showing each character)

My suggestion is that instead, after the meeting at the beginning, the game cuts to a Cycloid Fleet Carrier that is invading a Large Military Airbase.

Cycloid Captain: "hahaha, what are you fools going to accomplish now without Duke Nukem to save yo-....wait-who the hell are you!?"

Only for the AMC Squad to ambush the unaware invaders, decimate their army, kill their commanding officers & ultimately destroy their ship. (Yes, i'm ripping off G.I.Joe the movie for this....but it would seem appropriate)

The player would get to play as each character for a short section of the level to demonstrate the agents play-style & combat roles, before switching back to latter part of the intro to end on.

On that note, do you plan to update the AMC Wiki site & fill in the remaining subjects down the line?

...um, did I not just say that? (3rd paragraph)

don't get me wrong, in fact, one of best moments that I've experienced is always discovering new ways to engage enemies from new weapons, equipment, environmental hazards (i have yet to find all the alternate weapons) so each new play-through is unique.

But here's the thing, how many people in the modding community 'Actually' know the difference between a mod and a Total Conversion, I say this on the because most of the time, the two terms have mostly blended together in terms of being Categorized.

Listen, i'm not saying that the TC should be have hand-holding sequences with Big neon signs pointing the way. To fully understand where i'm coming from here's another example:

On my first playthrough, on the level Mil-Haven, you encounter the 'Sorcerers' who are heavily resistant to conventional weapons. Anytime I came across one, I either unloaded all my ammo into them or otherwise just outright ignore them (doesn't help that they can follow you from one side of the map to the other) the only way to harm them more effectively is through 'Silver' projectiles (bullets, bolts & knives) and 'Tesla' ammo, thing is, they don't tell this helpful information until 'After' the level and you look it up on the 'Research Terminal'.

Just a little idea to potentially fix this, you could use the PDA's scanning feature to tell you, your enemies strengths and weaknesses, if that's ever possible or something similar.

If there's one thing that i probably should recommend before release, it's that the tutorial level could use a makeover of sorts, considering the fact that it displays some of the key features you will be using throughout the game...you only come across it when talking to the receptionist.

I know that the idea is that players are given the choice to play it or not, but i do believe, it is a bigger issue that even though this is technically a 'Duke Nukem 3D' mod, if players play it that way, they would get confused and irritated (myself included) for instance:

The 'Pig-Cop' in this TC has Body-Armor to resist basic attacks. Now to get around this, you need to either 'switch to armor-piercing rounds or simply go for head-shots'...here's the thing, new-comers to the TC won't initially figure this out and most likely have 'Auto-Aim' still on, making matters all the more difficult.

This TC is a 'Remarkable' piece of creation, which I will continue to adore as it's development proceeds, but some of the fundamental controls and mechanics that the TC will put you through (as well as some of the cryptic boss encounters) can be quite problematic and will turn off new players.

fair enough, has there ever been a time where a game has come out before it's estimated release...

Thought I just come by ask when's the ETA for episode 3 or is there any possible delay's?

Hello again, passing by with idea's to spew at odd timings.

There could perhaps be a visual and mechanical representation of the AMC Headquarters with each episode moving forward.

Ep 1: Various departments under construction
Limited resources (using hand down weapons from the EDF & EAF)
Player homes include a number of belongings indicating them just moving in
Garage containing Jeeps and APC's

Ep 2: New additional departments
Expanded armory (a separate R&D wing specializing in crating AMC weapons)
Increased personnel (through the newly opened barracks wing showing many
recruited AMC soliders that can be called upon for assistance)
Larger R&D facility
MS Corp partnership
Garage containing Tanks and Helicopters

Ep 3: New additional departments
Expanded armory (a separate R&D wing specializing in cybernetics, for
obvious reasons)
Increased personnel (being able to call upon artillery strikes on enemy
positions)
Larger R&D facility
Garage containing Mechs and Jets

Thanks...and I understand.

by the way, I feel the need to report some errors that are just becoming an annoying the more I play.

1. Once the Combat Knife becomes available, it stays defaulted to the player and can't be swapped out to "No Item".
2. Most consecutive maps start with player specialty weapons replaced with the default ones.
3. there's this frequent glitch where the gun store (outside the base) will make you purchase the specialty weapons again, and if you do, it removes all the weapons you own, starting from scratch.

I'll try to elaborate on what i'm getting, the EDF missions are fun little distractions and are a perfect way on building up some AMC budget to spend on upgrades and weapons when preparing for the next main mission (y'know, better over-prepared than under-prepared)

Usermaps such as Wet Dream, Tropical Resort and Hydrostation are the right amount of length and gameplay that don't detract from the main missions. The other maps are fine, they just tend to function differently & overstay their welcome...I'M LOOKING AT YOU "PYRAMID"
(Although Snowball's "Zeta Base" is an exception since it was built with the TC's structure in mind and could be considered as an outside DLC)

It's one of the reasons that I first brought up the idea of the Micro Missions, small little distractions that are no bigger than say a survival map that include defending and attacking waves of enemies (Cycloids, Zilla inc, Cabal, Abyssal forces, Mercs, MJ12, Paradigm. And it could vary, depending on the the continent and episode you're playing on)

I'm obviously running my mouth now so i'll stop, if I've sounded like i was dissing other peoples work, then i do apologize, that wasn't my intention.

Okay, I've been thinking this over for a long-time now and unfortunately, I don't think the EDF missions aren't balanced to fit within the rules of the TC. It doesn't help that next to all of the user-maps were designed with Duke Nukem's Run & Gun playstyle in mind, while the TC play's more along the lines of Tactical shooter.
(and don't get me started with how each usermap lives by it's own set of rules which is a pace killer if ever was one)

huh-huh-huh-huh-nice, that's good to know.

could I just ask something, is Geoffrey going to his own major appearances in any future projects?
I say this cause despite his departure, Rusty and Highwire got their spotlight before leaving and i feel Geoffrey just going to fade into obscurity.

Back again for some for idea's galore.
1. Research & Development - Your PDA's scanning function could be used to analyse enemies and items in instances when you don't have the MIA gun, to upgrade certain base stats e.g 15% energy resistance, 10% bullet damage.

2. Threat level - each map has colour to represent the difficulty (blue/easy, purple/insane) but you could also have a "threat level" that determines the amount and variety of enemies you are to face on the map.
(basic/pigcop, normal/pigcop w'riot shield, hard/pigcop w'armor piercing rounds)

3. it's hero time - the players could have certain upgrades or powerup's that turn the odds in your favor in sudden-death situations.
james - MJ12 injection which activates bullet-time a-bit compared to the periodical slow-motion
Sang - reads from and ancient book or scroll that enables him chain-link lightning abilities for a short time
Merlijn - becomes temporally invulnerable as hacks and slashes his way through hordes
Mikko - summons MS industries Terminators to fight on his behalf

Fair-enough.

I should also probably report this, the Specialty weapons you acquire through missions or shops, after loading a number of your saves, will be up for purchase, despite already owning them.

Unfortunately, if you do buy any of these, all of your Specialty weapons will reset, resulting in having to find & buy them all over again.

Oh I see, I actually noticed that before, always thought it was part of vanilla duke3d, never mind then.

If there's one thing that slightly depresses me, is that this mod hasn't met any wider attention, cause the amount of times I've heard the phrase "It's just incredible what the modding community can create these days", i'm just sitting there hoping that they'll showcase this mod one day.

This mod ain't no masterpiece mind you (it's a 8/10 for me), but the amount and present content there is right now and potential that could possibly happen....*jumping in excitement*...ahem, i'll be waiting.

thought I might continue throwing some idea's out there (still can't do this on the forums)
1. Short, but Sweet - There could possibly be some small micro missions that keeps the player experience fresh-ish, such as: playing defense at a AMC outpost or warehouse against waves of enemies, sabotaging munitions, destroying bases, liberating cities (small sections at most) and each of these could begin with you shooting out of your AMC drop-ship.
2. Popcorn Enemies - Just for the sake of "Personal Pleasure", just spawn 10x the amount of the basic Lizman trooper (low hp & Dps) so you can every now and then go complete Rambo for small moment.
3. Never Alone - Your character could deploy AMC grunts to even out the odds in an intense firefight, request a supply drop to refill health and ammo or even call down an airstrike, this would allow the player to feel like he is commanding a small army of sorts.

*Bonus*: Please for goodness sake, replace the ridiculously overpowered Battlelord, Rapid-Firing Hit-Scanning bosses are the WORST.

I wouldn't of minded this, but the "Medical Converter Kit" as well as the other research equipment, is actually REALLY handy on the higher difficulties.

i'm in abit a pain here, on the map "Megabase" where exactly is the "Medical converter kit" research project is found?

By the way, I know that you had troubles with Multi-player, thanks to the Net-code within the Build Engine, but BY GOD, it's probably the only way you're going to attract a much wider audience. I mean this mod isn't perfect, but for Total Conversion mod that doesn't require the original game, (making this simply a free game) it deserves ALOT more attention...but that's just my point of view.

If i could just throw some idea's out there (since I can't do it on the forums)
1. Enemy Variety - Besides the main story missions, some of the EDF missions could have more variety besides the typical Cycloids (Cultists, Demons, shadow realm and mercenaries)
2. Active over Passive - The playable characters could have special abilities outside of gimmick-ly short differences, e.g Highwire can call down artillery, Micky can deploy a turret and James can use bullet-time (thanks to the injection from MJ12)
3. Every little bit helps - Have Factories give an income of AMC budget and warehouses the amount of AMC budget limit. Then those places can come under threat where you have to defend those locations from Waves of eneimes, otherwise gain a slower rate of AMC income. You can use that budget to say, maybe make future missions have reinforcements and supply drops sprinkled throughout the map...a-little ambitious, i know.

yep, it's a hotmail.outlook account.

I can't seem to receive a validation email from Duke4.net to my account as if it just doesn't work, does it involve something to do with the time zone?

okay i'm not gonna lie, this is pretty %$£&ing; amazing, this is a textbook definition of "worth the wait". I mean i'm not sure why all the combine troopers had to look like F.E.A.R soldiers or why the poison headcrabs had red stripes on them but the Gameplay did not disappoint. The maps ranged from very close quarters combat to large scale warzones and the idea of just watching the background contraptions simply move a bridge feels like watching a graphics showcase. What else is there to say than you going out with a high note.

you really need to stop telling us how much longer you need cause it's obviously taking ALOT longer than you intended it to take and it MUST be stressing the S%&t outta you just trying to release the damn mod.

eh, that'll do.

it's just that when i've emptied one weapon in gordon's mode, it affects the ammo in all the other modes, so if i cleaned up a room full of enemies with liquid's Vulcan minigun, then swap to solid's mode and go for a stealthy famas approach later, the ammo is all used up from the other mode. simply have ammo for separate characters.