You're Not Supposed To Be Here - Level Lore - "Hotel Atlantis" (level 15/secret 2/BRL15.map) news

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A wormhole takes Duke Nukem to Dubai, space in the second secret level of Blast Radius: "Hotel Atlantis" (accessible from level 10 "Postmortem").

The blast has blown Palm Jumeirah into orbit and now, it floats as the equilibrated charge between a clash of confused forcefields.

No time for tourism: Duke may be unsure of what's even left at stake, but he's bloody certain to upset the cosmic balance.

History: Just like Blast Radius' other secret level: "Duke Du Quatrain", "Hotel Atlantis" technically was made in a short time per se, but all the while conceptually being the end result of a longer process that is originally rooted, this time, in the development of the 2022 Build engine game by Shotspark Studios: A.W.O.L. (free on Steam).

The level practically had to be built twice, with the first version keeping changing form over time until it eventually was scrapped and then rebuilt from scratch, restarted off a clean and more appropriate slate for a different game.

The version that is in Blast Radius under the title "Hotel Atlantis" was made and added post release, work on it having started on April 24th, 2023 until completion on June 3rd, 2023; but an unreleased, earlier iteration already existed for A.W.O.L. that was worked on and off over the course of October 2020 - October 2021, featuring a similar layout and concept but with some interesting differences to show, having been designed around different features and limitations in mind.

Some key differences are:

- The original version had twice the available terrain and number of streets and houses, with the main road counting up to four double lanes and two rows of dividers instead of just one loop of those, and the residential area comprising eight lines of condos (instead of four in "Hotel Atlantis");

- The original version had indoor locations, including a four story parking lot with sector-over-sector and vehicles, a few rooms which eventually were reused in another map in A.W.O.L. ("Full Disclosure", named after the song by Fugazi) and, most importantly, underground access to below the central road, which allowed to cross and connect the easternmost and westernmost sections of the level (respectively, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel with the Sheraton Grand Hotel) via hidden slums on a completely different layer, again using sector-over-sector. Whereas except for a couple of elevators, "Hotel Atlantis" is strictly outdoors, and the only way to traverse the width of its main road is directly on foot (but Duke can navigate the Z axis with the jetpack that is absent from A.W.O.L.);

- The original version wasn't space-themed and thus had a cruise ship in lieu of the Bean-With-Bacon Megarocket as the ending, and generally used a lot less structural (sector and wall) detail in order to align with the rough style of the placeholder textures A.W.O.L. at the time was still using that didn't necessitate much articulation. It also was missing the Burj Al Arab completely and thus felt a lot more symmetrical. The original cruise ship was later scaled down to baby size and integrated as a skybox element in "Full Disclosure" in A.W.O.L.

The base concept always was the exact same, however; the player would start by being dropped on top of the Atlantis The Palm hotel that sits at the extreme tip of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai with a bird's eye view on the city they will have to reach, first, and then explore.

Roughly following the layout of the real Palm Jumeirah, the player would have to traverse a bunch of residential areas on their way, gradually gearing up in the process (each new street concealing one new gun) before going to conquer the main road out of the island and into the city, where several key locations (but mostly hotels) would defensively await their visit.

Each new action would trigger scripted events that progressively reshaped the map until every other road was deformed, keeping offering new options and strategies for combat until the main gate of the starting hotel would lower eventually, thereby revealing the exit point.

One twist being that the residential regions of the level could be skipped altogether by jumping into the ocean and then going around the beaches to directly reach the city, but then so would be all of the guns minus the bare essentials for survival (in A.W.O.L. that would have been the throwing knives), thus making the subsequent urban takeover all the more challenging for stealthers and speedrunners compared to if they had engaged, and visited at least some of the condos.

The original design resembled the one of the actual Palm Jumeirah a lot more, whereas the Duke 3D version simplifies and stylizes the layout even further - for technical and practical concerns, but also in order to allow for the allocation of more resources towards general detail in and around all of the structures, as well as the implementation of the newly imagined 'space' thematics.

Over their respective developments, both the level and A.W.O.L. as a game ended up diverging in ambition by progressing in increasingly incompatible ways and thus the map had to be scrapped (but then I made "Full Disclosure", another Dubai level specifically for A.W.O.L. in order to replace it; the results are history).

Subsequently, there were some brief moments where I tested converting the original map to Duke 3D to try and salvage it 'as is', but then it really persisted to show how for optimal control and the resulting functionality, the level would have to be rebuilt from scratch entirely, around the correct game's physics, behaviors and codes in the first place - as opposed to hoping for the best whilst merely disguising a foreign piece.

Therefore some of the concepts were reconsidered and adjusted to fit, whilst the general principle remained; work on "Hotel Atlantis" started, over three months after Blast Radius' original release, and then ended about a week later with the public release of version 1.1.0 to which it was integrated, as accessible from a new secret exit out of level 10 "Postmortem".

The level was used as testing grounds for the new Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicle enemy which already was destined to be prominently featured in the upcoming continuation to Blast Radius: episode 2 Zero Zone.

Walkthrough:

"Well, now they've gone too far!" Duke exclaims as he lands from jumping through the secret wormhole out of level 10 "Postmortem", onto a rooftop.

Instantly, Duke will be exposed to a new enemy that is exclusive to this level in Blast Radius: the Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicle, which is different in that it doesn't follow a fixed path, and comes in several variants (see the monster roster here).

After he's become familiar and victorious, Duke should feel more at ease while taking his own look around.

Doing so will reveal a duo of doors, a screen that is connected to security cameras showing the location of every keycard around the level, and a massive chunk of urban terrain down below that extends as far as part of the oceanscape that was all ripped from Earth and now freefloats in space, within the static equilibrium of protective forcefields.

Entering the building through any of the doors eventually will lead to the same central elevator, just different events will happen in each room as Duke walks in.

In the red room, an earthquake will collapse part of the floor; in the green room, Pig Cops will emerge from the holes in the wall.

Duke also may have to handle a few ceiling turrets (on the Come Get Some difficulty setting).

Where both rooms meet in the middle, Duke can ride the elevator down which will take him to the Shrinker, a mirror, and tiny ventilation grates our hero can smash then crawl through after he's used the former against the latter, and hit himself with his own ray.

That will result in our hero exiting the building after he's traversed it.

And after he's cleared the way ahead of him, Duke can ride another elevator platform down, this time in order to finally reach street level.

At this point and maybe after he's retrieved the Microwave Expander from the opposite platform, it's pick-a-path that's in order for Duke.

Progressing towards the city appears to be the only way ahead, retreat for now being blocked by a giant gate; but several symmetrical streets seem to stem left and right from the direct, central road, providing Duke with just as many options for literal side exploration.

Each street is home to multiple individual condos, complete with their respective front and backyards. And each backyard is home to their respective batches of enemies and items, with one of the last condos in the row concealing a different gun Duke can retrieve.

As the ammo placement would hint at, coming out of the first hotel and facing the city, exploring the streets on Duke's left will lead him to the chaingun eventually, in the last backyard on the first row of houses and then to the RPG that is at the end of the second row.

Heading to the streets on the right shall take Duke to, first, the shotgun, and then to the Devastator, following the same base logic as on the opposite side.

Fetching the two explosive weapons will be met with the appropriate insurrection of the present alien forces however, with the respective street collapsing under the weight of multiple strong enemies spawning: Scorpion Tanks and Renegade Recons coming in waves, but also variety of bosses and mini-bosses Duke really should gun down.

And just rummaging through the backyards can be tricky to begin with, seeing as those are quite lively with Pigcops, Sentry Drones and even the occasional Scorpion Tank guarding some of the richest condos. Thankfully, the action should be easy to control thanks to the many corners, the narrow spaces, the convenient nooks and crannies and of course Duke's intrinsic quality.

And if Duke chooses to observe, then whole stacks of ammo and items can be retrieved on the roofs of all the condos that are accessible by the means of some rudimentary platforming. Expander ammo in particular is plentiful (but there also are some turrets, on the Come Get Some difficulty setting).

'I want you off the fucking set!' - a direction Duke shouldn't have difficulty enforcing at this point if he's explored every backyard and properly stocked up.

From the central boulevard now, again, there are multiple ways Duke can go.

Facing the city, keeping heading left shall take him to a neon, Build engine reinterpretation of the Burj Al Arab and reveal the existence of foes aplenty there (including a Permafrost Cycloid Emperor and many mounted U.T.E.R.U.S. turrets), but also of two elevators Duke can't trigger yet. Those will function later, but for now the area is open to sanitization any time.

Duke also has (and has had from the start) the option of going the opposite way instead, and jumping the wall to reach a beach which can be used as a stealth approach to another landmark that is the Sheraton Grand Hotel. That is where Duke can retrieve the yellow key card, eventually.

But the same area also can be reached if Duke opts for keeping ahead on the main road instead of branching off to a side, and continuing to clear the streets.

The main road mostly consists in progressing through Pigcops of different types, including Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicles, Scorpion Tanks and Bomb Squad Pigcops wherever an explosion has gone down, or is about to go down.

The central divider can be entered, too and tons of goodies can be found there, just littered about, if Duke's in the mood for fending off a batch of Sentry Drones or two, plus some more porcine presence.

Most notably, one section down a hill is marked with cones and traffic barricades. The spot features an Atomic Health and some more tempting bonuses, but the terrain will collapse the moment Duke comes too close and more enemies will join in on the ambush, including a sniper Permafrost Battlelord on top of the Sheraton hotel.

At the very end of the main road, on the right side when turning away from the starting hotel, is a door Duke can open to reveal an elevator which for now is blocked by a forcefield, itself seemingly controlled by the yellow keypad. There also is a tunnel Duke can descend through, which will lead him to the entrance of the Sheraton hotel.

The Sheraton hotel is guarded by several rocket and Expander U.T.E.R.U.S. turrets, and more Bomb Squad Pigcops are deployed on location and just about ready to raise a ruckus.

The opposition is heavy, but there are many explosives to be retrieved from the nearby demolition, and surrounding the hotel is a narrow alleyway Duke can use for some strategic maneuvering around the building.

Tons of items can be found in the trashcans there too, but some of them are booby-trapped with Sentry Drones and so Duke should be rather careful, and shoot from a distance.

After he's done taking out the trash, Duke is free to use the elevator platform that is in the park on the side of the hotel. It is controlled by a button which can be shot from the platform itself.

Going all the way up leads to some balconies with enemies, goodies (including a Freezethrower, if Duke hasn't found a secret one yet) and a security camera screen the focus of which is dedicated to the hotel and its surroundings.

Peeping the various angles might remind Duke that the yellow keycard is on top of the roof, and clearly shall show him that there are elevators to said roof somewhere - as well as a neon platform, halfway through the elevator ride he just took, that he may have missed.

From one of the balconies, it should be possible to just jump down there; then following the platform, and keeping ahead shall take Duke to the elevators to the roof he just saw on the screen earlier.

On the roof, finally, Duke can snag the yellow keycard - which will drop a Permafried Cycloid Emperor onto the city streets in retaliation, thereby obliterating the main boulevard.

Madlad Battlelord Sentries will permeate the city, too, alongside a fresh wave of Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicles.

Once the area clear, Duke can safely go back to the yellow keypad in the cabin that's on top of the tunnel, and unlock the nearby elevator from there at last.

Going up will reveal a collapsed room that is populated with Bomb Squad Pigcops until Duke's own intervention, and ends with a hole in the wall that's close enough to the giant floating blue building that mirrors the first hotel (a Build engine take on the Atlantis The Royal building), outside, for Duke to jump to reach it.

Scattered around the building is a bunch of floating debris Duke can use as impromptu platforms to get around, and reach different segments.

There are multiple, diverging paths, some of them just leading to items but as could already be seen on the very first security camera screen in the level, the blue keycard also is there somewhere, on one of the last sections.

Before he can get to it, though, Duke shall have to fend off some of the toughest opposition in the level yet, with Battlelord variants attacking from the roof of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel all the while Sentry Drones and Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicles slowly close in.

After Duke's grabbed the key, part of the main road will explode and, with it, some of the wall which thus far had been restricting direct access from the street into the large park that surrounds the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Now in order to get back down, Duke always can go back, or he can choose to jump down onto the roof of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel where some Atomic Healths conveniently exist as though just to cushion his fall.

But it's a rather heavy jump and thus, the chunk of the roof Duke lands on is bound to collapse right on impact.

If he's fast enough, Duke should be able to run up the slope before it's too late, just about make it to safety, and get to remain on the roof, which results in early access to the blue keypad.

But if Duke decides to be slow, then he shall have to take a longer way around the building (preferably by infiltrating the park), until he gets to a huge neon elevator he can use to reach the roof again.

The elevator is well guarded, most notably by Pigcops and one Permafrost Battlelord guardian (also defending another full Freezethrower).

Duke's walk in the park shouldn't be a piece of cake exactly either, courtesy of all the Scorpion Tanks, and regular waves of Sentry Drones killing the mood.

On the roof, using the blue keypad will trigger one of the two elevators Duke possibly saw earlier outside the Burj Al Arab, as displayed on the nearby security camera screen.

That means it's now possible to get inside (after disposing of the Ice Cold Battlelord Sentry that occupies it), and ride it to the top of the building...

Or is it?

The floor the elevator will stop at seemingly used to bear a switch to activate the second elevator and, consequently, unblock the rest of way to the roof, but it's been torn off the wall and so the situation seems stuck.

That is, unless Duke chooses to focus on the other floor that exists just below the one the first elevator stops at, which it otherwise zooms by on its way up but can be slipped into with the right timing, and features an intact set of switches to lower the second elevator at last.

After he's activated it, Duke can call it up again and, again with the right timing, slip inside; the platform shall take him up to the roof of the Burj Al Arab, eventually.

There, a (non-secret) jetpack is available to help navigate around the level; even immediately to the exit if so Duke wishes. But most importantly, the red keycard finally can be reached, by the means of some delicate maneuvering down the steep slope of the building. (Needless to say, that is when Duke might start vaguely experiencing some form of irritation in a situation where some sniper enemies would have have overtaken the spot earlier, if he forgot to gun them down from ground level.)

Just reaching the region of the red keycard will wreck havoc around the map; as Duke comes close, a major fraction of the central road will collapse and upset the equilibrium of the general ecosystem, causing the water levels around the land to rise.

'I better get the hell out of here!'

If he's quick enough or uses the jetpack, Duke can jump into the ocean as it rises and surf the water to maneuver around the heights of the city until it completely meets the skies.

Once that process is complete however, the entire city but the exit will be surrounded by tall, solid walls of water, thus resulting in more nooks and crannies for cover against the fresh waves of enemies but also in a more claustrophobic, enclosed feel which, in combination with all the new gaps and holes in the ground, also could work at a disadvantage, weren't Duke the one in charge.

The red keypad lowers the giant gate at the starting hotel, completely up north of the map. In order to safely get there again though, Duke shall have to dominate the largest battle of the level yet, with multiple Battlelord types sniping him from the top of the building while Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicles, Scorpion Tanks and Sentry Drones now roam around the ruined city.

And then, the very use of the red key won't be met without resistance either, with more tough foes just dropping in on Duke to try and defend the lowering gate; including a Cycloid Emperor, and more Battlelord Sentry types.

Once past the gate, Duke can choose to explore around more of the building for secrets and items, or to go straight to the exit by shooting either of the 'emergency override' switches that can be seen on a central platform, just past the lowered gate, down below.

Doing so will raise the central platform to a more convenient, accessible height and, with it, the Bean-With-Bacon Megarocket Duke shall have to use, after he's defeated its ultimate guardians, to leave and complete the level.

In continuous play, the game will transition to level 11: "Silent Scream".

Par time route:

Just like most Blast Radius levels, speedrunning "Hotel Atlantis" really means a race to the jetpack.

There is a secret place in the park that surrounds the Jumeirah Beach Hotel where Duke can jump off the roof of the building and aim for a swimming pool, on one of the protruding balconies, in order to absorb the impact and survive (automap helps as real-time guidance). There, several Portable Medkits can be retrieved - and jetpacks.

My original route when first working on setting the par times for "Hotel Atlantis" (off pistol start on the Come Get Some difficulty setting) was to rush to the Sheraton hotel (jumping off the first rooftop into the ocean, then following the beach) and grab the yellow key on the roof there; then, make it to the blue key platform as soon as possible, from which I'd jump down onto the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, run up the wave before it starts collapsing and, finally, leap off the top and into the pool.

Then a bit later, experimenting with more of the possible jumps, I realized it was possible to just enter the Jumeirah Beach Hotel park first thing into the map and, there, use boost from the Steroids to run off the top of the hill and hop onto the balcony with the pool and jetpacks directly. That is the route I ended up using for the registered par times, but both are fun.

Once the jetpack is acquired, Duke can just fly over the giant gate and instantly reach the exit.

It's probably doable to skip around the fences that separate Duke's starting point from the Nukebutton, somehow, too as long as he can then survive the fall, for instance by clipping into a wall, landing right on top of a sprite or placing a Laser Tripbomb, thus negating fall damage.

Particularities: Not many besides being Dubai in space.

Out of all the real-life locations featured throughout Blast Radius, Dubai is one of the few cities I've actually never visited, the other one being Norilsk.

The dolphin market at the end of the level references a very local dolphin controversy.

Being a late (post release) addition to Blast Radius, in a way, "Hotel Atlantis" arguably encapsulates and synthetizes most of the episode's features around the other levels in just one map, all the while bringing its own originality to the table, most particularly via the uncommon space city blend of a theme and the prominent introduction of the Renegade Recon Patrol Vehicles.

The ambient sounds that are exclusive to this map in Blast Radius (but reappear in Zero Zone) are radar emissions between Saturn and its sixth-largest moon, Enceladus, on which all the basic chemical ingredients for life are present.

Soundtrack: "Moonlight Sonata" (first movement) by Ludwig Van Beethoven / 1801 (MIDI version)

Automap:

Map stats (as of v. 2.0.9): 2183/4096 sectors, 16381/16384 walls, 7387/16384 sprites.

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