The Return addon - The Gate mod for Duke Nukem 3D

THE PRELUDE ||

After the Antirrans witnessed the birth of the supreme being through
the interaction between the two types of "humans", the Overlords tried to
clone the effect and duplicate the union. They succeeded in creating one
"Prototype" of the new supreme race of Antirrans. All the Overlords transfused
their blood to the GENEPOOL of the new being. As a after thought, the Overlords
reasoned that it would be good for the hatchling to have protection on its new
home on Earth. They created mass amounts of shadow beings from the refuse blood
from the GENEPOOL. These creatures were sent to Earth not to destroy it yet,
but to wait for the coming of the Queen.
The Overlords only assumed it was a female since the original union
produced one. But they could not be sure. So they left the egg under careful
watch until it was ready to hatch. If the waiting period was broken and the egg
hatched, the bond would be broken and the new being would surely die.
When you, Duke Nukem, came along and destroyed the first wave of the
alien forces seeking to claim back Earth for Antirra, the Overlords had no
choice but to fight against your one-man army. But knowing you would probably
defeat them as well, they had no choice but to break the bond with the
hatchling. To keep it alive, they sealed it into a cocoon with the rest of
the blood from their GENEPOOL. The last reserves had been spent and it was
death to the master race. Their only hope rested on the being that emerged
from that egg.....

THE PROLOGUE

February 13, 1998
Sunday 11:24 PM

"Damn, why do I always get stuck doing the clean up work for this
organization?" I shut up and quietly go about my business cleaning up the
blood off the operation table and scoop some of the access dirt that was
thrown about in that operation. I'm lucky they keep me alive even now.
Ralph always wanted to be part of that group, the ones doing
the "stuff". He wanted to be in the room when they did the killing.
Oooo, the thrill of watching blood splatter everywhere was exciting
to him. Even the taste of it was enough for him to rave like a madman
wanting more.
He finished the last job of his grisly duty. He didn't even earn
daily wage for doing it. "To hell with them!" He shouted inadvertantly.
Ralph suddenly became alert, they might have heard. He quickly rushed out
of the hospital and dove into his Geo and drove off.

February 14, 1998
Monday 8:00 AM

Jerry always worked in the hospital, innocent of all wrong doing
and he never knew the experiments happening in the basement after 9:00 PM
He thought it was just a celebration where only invited people go, he
was not one of them. He never wanted to find out what it was about either,
he was one of those goody-two-shoes who never did anything against his moral
values.
He gladly did his work and never complained. He was the best worker
they had had in a few years since the, death, of the last good worker. The
reason he died was he betrayed the Trust and let the news of the experiments
leak out to the press. He had to be killed. But Jerry, the Trust felt he
could be trusted.
Only on Valentine's Day did he become the slightest bit curious
about the doctors that passed through the restricted elevator that led down
to the basement. Doctors with bloody hands and gloves passed through this
elevator. He wanted to take a peek. It wasn't in his nature, but today, just
today did he feel out of place in this hospital. He decided to wait until
night before returning to check it out.

Monday 11:00 PM

Jerry slipped in past the guards. Since he was, after all, a goody
two-shoes and he got to know the guards and their schedules. He knew the
place where all the camera monitors were being supervised. He held a thin
rope in his left hand and choked the guard only to the point of blacking
out. He never believed in killing.
He pulled the plug on the security system and all the monitors
blacked out. He left the room and headed for the "Employees Only" elevator,
he was only a volunteer, but they treated him like a member of the Trust.
Palms sweating, he pressed the "B" button on the elevator floor indicator.
The door silently closed as if sealing his untimly doom.
The doors opened revealing a pitch black room with some silent
screams he could not hear wailing throughout the room. Jerry trudged in
and flipped a nearby light switch. He saw a poor hapless woman, eyes
begging him to end her misery. A egg of some sort was attached to her lower
hip area. It was doing something to her throught skin contact.
Jerry tried pulling the egg off but it ripped and teared at the
poor woman's skin as her muffled cries got louder. Apparently, that didn't
work. He lifted the naked woman onto his shoulders and ran as fast as he
could towards the elevator when the doors slammed shut.
Jerry, scared shit, ran in the opposite direction hopelessly
searching for some other exit out of the basement when he spotted a vent
on the back wall. Seeing this as his only escape, he layed the woman down
and ripped the grate off it's hinges with strength he didn't know he even
had.
As he pulled the grate off, a shadow from the darkness of the far
corner of the room swept up and lashed out at Jerry's head slicing it clean
off.
The shadow-like thing turned towards the woman and glowered at her
with its beady red pupils. It raised it blood red claws for the kill. Then it
stopped and lowered its arm than gave a guttural laugh as it saw the egg
attached.
"So," it said, "The Queen has returned to us at last!"
The last thing heard was the screaming of the doomed woman staring
wide-eyed at the shadow.

THE STORY

Level 1: HOLOCAUST OF THE INNOCENTS\\ Aftr kicking some alien butt on their
home planet, you thought it a good time to finally finish that vacation you
started long ago and finally finish your novel, "Why I am so Great". When
you finally return home to LA, everything was destroyed. Buildings were in
disrepair and all of the people were either dead or gone. LA, at the moment,
was a dead city. You check into a hotel and find no one is there. You go up
the elevator and check back into your old room here. You find your shotgun
and your handy pistol clip. Now its time to pay back whoever did this to LA!
(We'll give you a hint: Count the dead bodies you find and what type they are,
you'll need that information for a later puzzle! The bodies that don't explode
when you blast a pipe bomb.)
"Great for Co-op, not so great for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Sean//Midi Soundtrack: E5L1holo.mid

Level 2: COUNTDOWN TO DOOM\\ You advance into the sewers of LA and the stink
just knocks you over. You put a fresh ammo clip in the pistol you
found and head off into the sewers. As you work your way through the dank
sewers, you stumble onto a IMF reasearch faclity. The IMF sure does seem to
be in everything. It appears that they were testing some transport device to
access the aliens on their home planet WHERE they should have cleaned up the
rest of the vermin after you destroyed their Overlords. It is time to finish
what they started.
"Great for Co-op play, terrible for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Matthew//Midi Soundtrack: E5L2doom.mid

Level 3: GROUND ZERO\\ You found a top secret IMF facility experimenting with
time distortion and time warp machines. The portals worked and the last one
you entered sent you spiraling through space and time to the Himalayas on top
of Mt. Everest. Surprised to be here, you now scope out your new surroundings.
You then remember recalling a rumor of an ancient Eygptian tomb buried deep
within Mt. Everest filled with riches and traps. With this in mind you set
out to do double duty; Kill the aliens, Find the treasure.
"Not so great for Co-op and Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Brian//Midi Soundtrack: E5L3zero.mid

Level 4: ALPHA QUADRANT 666\\ Upon finding the space ship at the base of Mt.
Everest, you look upon the control monitor which was pointing at a huge
space station orbiting above Earth. You set the coordinates on the ship to fly
you to the station. Once there, you set out to find what is significance
with this space station. Apparently, it was once a Polaris Outpost. But
the real question remain, why was monitor pointing to this station and why
do the aliens need this station?
"Excellant for Co-op, bad for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Sean, Matthew//Midi Soundtrack: E5L4quad.mid

Level 5: THE HIVE\\ This is where all of your cunning and determination has
lead you. The aliens will do anything to stop your forward progress. It
appears that the space station is a "bee hive" full of the alien menace! But
for what reason did all these aliens accumulate here? For all you know, you
ravaged the home world of these things but something is not right... it's
as if they are guarding something very "special". Good Luck!
"Good for Co-op, Great for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Sean//Midi Soundtrack: E5L5hive.mid

For your pleasure, we hid four, yep, count them, four secret levels. (As
well as a dozen of secret places in each level.) So knock yourself out! ;)
Here is the full listing of the secret levels. But, these secret levels
are extremely HARD! So think twice before hitting that Hidden Nukebutton.

Level 6: MISSION:DESTRUCTION\\ The IMF base was infilerated and destroyed.
So, they built a new base where not only could they focus on destroying
the aliens, but destroying you for wrecking their original base. This
time, they mean business. They have a Nuclear Missle ready to launch at LA,
but you can stop it and launch it to another destination site. Eventually
you'll come across three doors. Which one leads to freedom and which ones
lead to traps? You decide. ;)
"Great in Co-op, Okay in Dukematch. :| "
AUTHOR: Jonathan//Midi Soundtrack: E5L6miss.mid

Level 8: THE BLEEDING\\ Named after and constructed after one of the levels
in the hit N64 game, "Doom 64". But, not everything is similar, as you
will soon see. Out of all the secret levels, this one has got to be the
hardest. I will not reveal much, except that it is a very small level,
the smallest of all the levels. But, it is the hardest level you will
have ever played! Remember what happened at the end of GOING POSTAL?
You released all holy hell on yourself. Well, get ready to do it again
two more times!!!
"A must play in Co-op, Excellant for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Sean//Midi Soundtrack: E5L8bled.mid

Level 7: STRANGE DAYS\\ An empty, yet strangly quiet space station sends
chills up Duke's spine. Should there not be aliens lurking around every
corner? That is for you to find out. You must enter a Warehouse to get
the Blue Keycard, and from there, you must enter two strange and unique
worlds. Then you must face a scene from your past. :)
"Not so good for Co-op play, great for Dukematch."
AUTHOR: Rory//Midi Soundtrack: E5L7days.mid

Level 9: ANIMAL HOUSE\\ Remember _zoo.map? This is a evil and twisted
rehap of that level. He, He, He. :) But, fortunately, you don't have to
explore everywhere to complete the level. As you can see, we made this
level clearly out of fun spirit. We really had no more ideas, so we picked
Zoo.map for our inspiration. ;) You can easily find the Exit Switch
straight from the start. But wouldn't it be more exciting to explore? :)
All five of us chipped in to help on this level, But Matt got the credit.
So you can see my messages to Matt saying "Bite Me!" in my levels. ;)
"Definitely meant for all modes of play, Single, Co-op, and Dukematch!"
AUTHOR: Matthew//Midi Soundtrack: E5L9anml.mid

Level 10: DROP ZONE\\ This is a Dukematch only level!!!! This is here for
your enjoyment if you have beaten the episode on all four skill levels and
you are really bored. The level here is a Dukematch level where you just
basically, DROP!!!! To find you opponent, drop down into cauldrons, or
jetpack up into cauldrons. Or use the teleporters scattered throughout the
level. There is also one secret area.
"Meant for Dukematch only!"
AUTHOR: Matthew//Midi Soundtrack: E5L10drp.mid

Level 11: BACKALLEY RUMBLE\\ Again, another Dukematch level. This is
also here for your enjoyment. It is a small arena, you can find the other
person within a minute. There is a lot of ammo to go around. As you can see,
I am better at making single player levels than I am at making Dukematch
levels!
"Meant for Dukematch only!"
AUTHOR: Sean//Midi Soundtrack: E5L11aly.mid

======================================================================
Title : THE RETURN
Filename : return.grp
Author(s) : Sean, Matthew, Brian, Rory, Jonathan.
E-mail : eifel1@worldnet.att.net (Matt's e-mail)
Web Page : None yet
Misc. Author(s) Info : Which author? =)
Other Levels : To numerous to mention here.

Description : A 9 level episode starting after "The Gate" in Elitegames.com

Additional Credits To : Sean, for making all those neat effects, I'm sure I would
never have accomplished. Brian, for the help he gave in making
the episode fair, even for the best of players. And for Rory
and Jonathan for submitting their levels for this episode.
I also wish to thank Brian for writing the new .cons and
Sean and his hard work in writing the story for the episode.
I would like to thank both BDP and Zerohour Software for their
contributions to this episode. Mainly the new art and
music, you people set the mood of the game. Without you guys
this would not be possible! I thank BDP for this episode's
inspiration and I personally thank Zerohour Software
for the new weapons, I know they were all yours!
I thank 3DRealms for making a great game!

======================================================================

* Play Information *

Episode and Level # : E4L1-E4L11
Single Player : Yes
DukeMatch 2-8 Player : Implemented, but not tested
Cooperative 2-8 Player : Implemented, slightly tested
Difficulty Settings : Yes, all four of them!
Plutonium Pak Required : Yes
New Art : Yes
New Music : Yes and No, some it's from the BDP project,
Brian thought it a good idea.
New Sound Effects : No
New .CON Files : Yes
Demos Replaced : DEMO1, 2, 3.dmo

=====================================================================

* Construction *

Base : New episode from scratch (Except for the Spin Cycle)
Level Editor(s) Used : BUILD
Art Editor(s) Used : EditArt
Construction Time : About 9 months.
Known Bugs : The only bug, is if you're running a slower
machine, it might slow down big time! Pentium recommended!!!!
Some texture disorientations. The swinging doors in the hotel
in level 1 look funny when they are open.

* Where to get this MAP file *

File location : Elitegames.com

=====================================================================

*Important Information*

Installation : Unzip all files, move all the map and mid files to another (create it)
directory along with the four return#.art files. Makes sure the
four cons and three demos are also in this directory. Finally, copy
duke3d.grp, kextract.exe, kgroup.exe and move Groupr.bat
to this directory and double click the Groupr batch file.
After it is done grouping return.grp, move Return.grp and the three
cons and demos to the Duke Nukem directory. If you copied
duke3d.grp, kextract.exe, kgroup.exe then you can delete the directory
where you activated Groupr.bat. Now, find Return.bat and double click it.
Just make sure there are no .art, .mid, or .voc
files in your directory or it will not work, don't ask me why.
Sean made the .bat file!

Important Notes : Please don't steal, or make money of this or any of the
levels in our episode. Not only we three, but
other people have sent in their submissions and
we don't want them to be ripped off. So show some respect
and just enjoy the levels and don't say you made them
either. Thank you. (You can however borrow some of our ideas,
just don't take credit for them.)

======================================================================

*Hints*

About The Levels : Don't give up and use cheat codes. We depise
cheaters! Whenever you come across a "wall", don't
just button thrash or use codes. There is ALWAYS
a way to beat each and every level. OPEN your
eyes and look around. Usually, there might have
been a switch or doorway you might have missed
on first look. Also, except for some secret areas,
you don't need the jetpack to complete any one
level. So try beating a level without a jetpack.
So, keep this in mind, every level can be
done!!!!

Whew! Since you read all that and resisted the urge to just get into the episode
and play, I think we will give you a hint or two! :)
Hint: In Ground Zero where you slide down a tunnel leading to the base of Mt. Everest
and come across a gigantic spaceship, you will find two cases of pipe bombs and two
atomic health units! What a prize! But you cannot seemingly get to it, even with a
jetpack. :( So, search for a passageway "onto" the icy wasteland surrounding the
spaceship. It's to the left of the entrance on "top" of a dark patch of icy snow. You
must JUMP over the patch of dark snow and you'll be on the plane of ice. Then easily jump
onto the spaceship to get the stash. If you keep searching, you'll find another secret area
with some Night Vision Goggles!
Hint: On your first time through, or even on your second time through, you might not find
any hidden Nukebuttons leading to one of the four secret levels. Without a tip, you probably
couldn't find any of the secret levels. So, we will give you access to "The Bleeding". In
"Countdown To Doom", you will enter a hallway with three doors with neon numbers on the floor
outside of each door indicating "1", "2", and "3". When you enter door number "1", you will
come down a corridor and down some railings. On the wall with the huge "IMF' symbol, press
"SPACEBAR" on the wall below it. It will open revealing the secret entrance to the hardest
secret level, "The Bleeding"! We recommend considering your life before entering the secret
level, "The Bleeding" is very unforgiving!
Hint: Our next hint is about our three new enemies. If you ever encounter an Organtic (those
are the things that are black with red streaks in them), you should never turn your back to
them. If you face them, they won't attack you.
If you ever encounter a Pig Cop Crusher Tank (you'll know what it is!), our only
advice to you is this, RUN!!! Find a suitable place to hide and retaliate. Never go head on
with these things, if you do you might have a screw loose. Never venture too far from them
or they will start shooting Shrinker Rays and RPG shots! Also, never venture too close or
you will have a more likely chance of getting hit from the barrages of Freeze Ray shots! Also,
expect a Pig Cop to come chasing after you when the Tank is demolished!
And finally, when you encounter the "main" enemy of our episode, the Shadow, you will
definitely need some help! There are multiple kinds of Shadows, each with a different
weapon with the Shadow with the Shrinker Ray the most dangerous. But all of these Shadows
requires the same strategy to beat. First off, KEEP MOVING! Second, always keep your jetpack
handy (if you have one) just in case you get shrunk, because Shadows don't wait for you to
un-shrink before stomping you flat, they just do it! So, if you have you Jetpack on they will
not stomp you if you're out of their reach. Third, always find shelter from them like a wall
or something! You need something to hide behind to protect yourself from their vicious attacks.
Fourth, if Shadows appear with other aliens, and they will, take the Shadows out first then
move on to the the rest of the pack. And finally, if they disappear, back into a corner so they
will have no choice but to reappear in front of you leaving you a bit of an advantage when they
rematerialize. Above all, DON'T PANIC! Good Luck and Have Fun!