Curtis Tuckfield's 1999/2000 TC

[Curtis Tuckfield]

Yes, these are real screenshots from my TC which was built entirely in the original MS-DOS version of build. I used no lighting mods or anything else like that. I was going to use Mapster to reshade everything, but I realized that you cannot simply make everything less bright all at once, it doesn't look right. I reshaded everything manually over the course of two weeks (as well as added some more manual lighting effects. All lighting is done by making sectors and points and manually shading those parts in such a way as to give the illusion that there is some kind of real time lighting system at work. I'm fairly sure that this is the first two levels of the second episode of this TC are the largest in history (I used all 1024 available sectors on both of them, and not to say that I used them all, but because I simply ran out. In fact, on the mansion level, I had to delete a great deal of less important sectors (mainly in the labyrinth) in order to add more shading and detail. I am also willing to bet that no human being has ever put as much time into using Build as I have, or at the very least, no human has ever put as much time into one level as I have for the mansion level (but probably also for the second level as well.) Maybe someone like Bryant Arnett who did the Redrum level put as much time into one level, but I doubt that even the Shining level took as long as the mansion.
Years ago, I made the mistake of building a bunch of my best work on a monitor that was way too dim. When I released the 1999TC and especially 2000 demo, they were ridiculed by Mikko Sandt for not having any signs of shading (because of the monitor problem) and also for my using art from Redneck Rampage, which he seemed to think looked terrible and was stealing . I agree that the would not have shown up very well on a normal monitor. I don't agree with the idea that using art from RR was ugly or somehow stealing. The RR art looks three times better than any D3d art, you just have to play it on a higher resolution. I don't think it was wrong or stealing to use RR art simply because were talking about a total conversion of a Build game. I cannot make even a single penny off this. A TC is like a fanfiction, there are NO rules about what art from what Build game you can use or not. I used a lot of RR art because it is much higher quality and gave me a lot more options. If it wasn't for the RR art, there would be no mansion level. I was criticized for my lack of understanding of character and weapon creation, which is fine. I never claimed to be the greatest at that. First off, while most TC teams consisted of 15 or 20 guys in their 20s or 30s all working on different aspects, I did EVERYTHING in my TC by myself. And I was still a teenager. I hadn't even gone through puberty when I made the TC originally (although I did go through puberty late). Hopefully finished levels such as this mansion level, the ridiculously colorful and detailed Casino level, and the Raccoon City level from RE2 (which is as close to the real game as you can get) will finally put an end to anyone questioning my ability to make levels with this ancient piece of technology called "Build".

[themaniacboy]

Originally Posted by Curtis Tuckfield

Yes, these are real screenshots from my TC which was built entirely in the original MS-DOS version of build. I used no lighting mods or anything else like that. I was going to use Mapster to reshade everything, but I realized that you cannot simply make everything less bright all at once, it doesn't look right. I reshaded everything manually over the course of two weeks (as well as added some more manual lighting effects. All lighting is done by making sectors and points and manually shading those parts in such a way as to give the illusion that there is some kind of real time lighting system at work. I'm fairly sure that this is the first two levels of the second episode of this TC are the largest in history (I used all 1024 available sectors on both of them, and not to say that I used them all, but because I simply ran out. In fact, on the mansion level, I had to delete a great deal of less important sectors (mainly in the labyrinth) in order to add more shading and detail. I am also willing to bet that no human being has ever put as much time into using Build as I have, or at the very least, no human has ever put as much time into one level as I have for the mansion level (but probably also for the second level as well.) Maybe someone like Bryant Arnett who did the Redrum level put as much time into one level, but I doubt that even the Shining level took as long as the mansion.
Years ago, I made the mistake of building a bunch of my best work on a monitor that was way too dim. When I released the 1999TC and especially 2000 demo, they were ridiculed by Mikko Sandt for not having any signs of shading (because of the monitor problem) and also for my using art from Redneck Rampage, which he seemed to think looked terrible and was stealing . I agree that the would not have shown up very well on a normal monitor. I don't agree with the idea that using art from RR was ugly or somehow stealing. The RR art looks three times better than any D3d art, you just have to play it on a higher resolution. I don't think it was wrong or stealing to use RR art simply because were talking about a total conversion of a Build game. I cannot make even a single penny off this. A TC is like a fanfiction, there are NO rules about what art from what Build game you can use or not. I used a lot of RR art because it is much higher quality and gave me a lot more options. If it wasn't for the RR art, there would be no mansion level. I was criticized for my lack of understanding of character and weapon creation, which is fine. I never claimed to be the greatest at that. First off, while most TC teams consisted of 15 or 20 guys in their 20s or 30s all working on different aspects, I did EVERYTHING in my TC by myself. And I was still a teenager. I hadn't even gone through puberty when I made the TC originally (although I did go through puberty late). Hopefully finished levels such as this mansion level, the ridiculously colorful and detailed Casino level, and the Raccoon City level from RE2 (which is as close to the real game as you can get) will finally put an end to anyone questioning my ability to make levels with this ancient piece of technology called "Build".

you know very much about mapping now and back then.
i didn't know you used art from RR, its great though

i appreciate your hard work and i understand you totally (im dutch )

also i agree you didn't steal anything and that guy is it possible he is jealous on your skills ?

[Curtis Tuckfield]

Thanx maniacboy.
So I've been testing the game out with the Hi-Res mod (I can't get the game to work in Dosbox recently) and it looked good, although kind of weird. I forgot that the darkness of the sprites is affected by the darkness of the ceiling (or floor). All my lights and windows and things are too dark now. Does anyone know how to get past this obstacle, so that I can have a bright sprite in a dark sector without the sprite ending up dark in the actual game?

[XTHX2]

You probably need to use CON code with that...

** Define these at somewhere **

gamevar s1 0 2
gamevar s2 0 2

** In actor code **

getactor[THISACTOR].shade s1
getsector[THISACTOR].shade s2
addvarvar s2 s1
setactor[THISACTOR].shade s2

///////////////////////////////////////////

Of course, all those apply only if you do your mod for Eduke... What that does is that it will add sector's shade to the actor's shade and will set the given shade to the actor... For example, if you give it a shade value of -20, and if the sector's shade is 20, the actor's shade will be 0, and etc.

[eddym4814]

I have more screenshots if anyone would like to check them out. Curtis sent me 24 of them but one was a duplicate. I was going to convert them to JPG, (they are PCX),and upload them then realized they were almost 5MB in total size. I just zipped them as is. Here's the link: http://files.filefront.com/1999TCSSz...;/fileinfo.htm
Eddy

[oak man]

Stupid question but... Is this out yet?! These screenshots are absolutely AMAZING!!

[Curtis Tuckfield]

When I try to run Duke Nukem 3D in DosBox, it says that I need to insert the CD. The CD is in and I've mounted that drive. The CD works in Dosbox because I can access it, but it still says "insert CD" when I try to play. Anyone know a solution to this?

[TerminX]

I would say you might want to just find an old CD crack or something, but why are you using the original DOS version?

[The Commander]

If you used Eduke32 and Mapster32 you wouldnt have that 1024 sector limit, You would have 4096 sectors to work with and 16384 walls.

[Mateos]

Originally Posted by oak man

Stupid question but... Is this out yet?! These screenshots are absolutely AMAZING!!

You can dl the ancient version, full 1999 + first level of 2000.

Link :
http://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/vendors/3drea...0/2000demo.zip

[supergoofy]

Originally Posted by Curtis Tuckfield

When I try to run Duke Nukem 3D in DosBox, it says that I need to insert the CD. The CD is in and I've mounted that drive. The CD works in Dosbox because I can access it, but it still says "insert CD" when I try to play. Anyone know a solution to this?

edit CDROM.INI
e.g. change the line to:
D:\support\ or to whatever CD drive letter of DOSBox (and not the drive letter of your real CD drive)

[Mikko Sandt]

Originally Posted by Curtis Tuckfield

I'm fairly sure that this is the first two levels of the second episode of this TC are the largest in history (I used all 1024 available sectors on both of them, and not to say that I used them all, but because I simply ran out.

Largest as in longest or are you talking about filesize? Maps meeting or exceeding 1024 sectors are ancient history now.

Anyways, if you're using Mapster you can go over the old limit in case you haven't noticed.

I don't agree with the idea that using art from RR was ugly or somehow stealing. The RR art looks three times better than any D3d art, you just have to play it on a higher resolution.

RR art is not ugly and I'm not against "borrowing" stuff from other games. I just felt the levels were left unfinished. Too often sprites and all that South Park stuff seemed to replace real details and trimwork. Don't get me wrong - I liked the South Park references but it just seemed to replace design. The fourth level was a pain in the butt due to its irritating layout. The fifth level was tedious and very lazy (linear, no details excluding a few trees, tons of monsters). I liked the color hue you had in the sixth map but the boss fight was again lazy - a square room with no health, no ammo, no cover - and you're supposed to beat a Battlelord there?

The point about lighting is of course that whenever you have light there must be a light source. Many areas in the TC had light coming from nowhere. However, lighting wasn't that bad - I have seen much worse - and sometimes good lighting did catch my attention - just that if you're able to do it then why get lazy and forget about it when you move on to work on the next room?

Originally Posted by maniacboy

also i agree you didn't steal anything and that guy is it possible he is jealous on your skills ?

My maps are much better than anything in the 1999 TC. Of course I have no idea how the second episode will turn out and I'm anxious to play it.

[themaniacboy]

Originally Posted by Mikko Sandt

My maps are much better than anything in the 1999 TC. Of course I have no idea how the second episode will turn out and I'm anxious to play it.

oow im sorry

[Curtis Tuckfield]

So I managed to fix all the problems with the brightness of a floor interfering with the brightness of certain sprites, specifically lights. The mansion is finished.
I am working on reshading the resident evil level right now and also I'm working with my friend on replacing the shitty weapon I tried to build originally that I could never figure out how to make look right. The new weapon is a 9mm SMG. If anyone wants to help with this, let me know.
New screenshots will be available soon. - Curtis

[Mateos]

Great, I'm waiting for release ^^

I'll start 3D modeling stuying this week-end to help Hendricks, if this can help you too.

[themaniacboy]

sound and looks Awesome

im sure this will kick ass

[LAW]

The TC has some flaws but it is without a doubt one of my all-the-time favs. The scary level is great with those Jason's "chit-chats" and R&R voices... Anyway I have two problems with this mod:

1) In the first level when I am climbing to the roof the game freezes. And and it's a deep, hard freeze which results in a manual reset. Yes I play on W98, but it shouldn't happen. Maybe it's just too big slope, too many sprites and long music ambience in one room. Mayby it's some buffer overflow. I encountered it on Duke v.1.4 and 1.5...

2) Is there an exit in the Mansion? Didn't finish that level in 2000 :P

[Mateos]

1) Do you play under eduke32 or DOS game ?

2) YES, I finish it ! In labyrinthe you have a button which open a door, in new room other button for other door (In cookroom), and after card. If you need more help, I'm disponible to play with you on internet :P

[TerminX]

Originally Posted by LAW

Yes I play on W98, but it shouldn't happen.

Using Win9x and complaining about problems is like living in a warehouse full of rapists and complaining about loose bowels.

[eddym4814]

Originally Posted by LAW: In the first level when I am climbing to the roof the game freezes. And and it's a deep, hard freeze which results in a manual reset. Yes I play on W98, but it shouldn't happen. Maybe it's just too big slope, too many sprites and long music ambiance in one room. maybe it's some buffer overflow. I encountered it on Duke v.1.4 and 1.5...

Is this the same pc you originally played it on? If it is then the problem should be with the pc. Try to close all the other programs that are running in the background. That might help.

I use Win9x (ME) to play all the Duke and other 1990's games I have. I only use a port if the TC/Mod calls for one. Out of the 150+ TC/Mods I've got only two I have not been able to load, and the only real fps problem I've had is with the HRP and some DukePlus maps. If you don't have enough memory free that might be it. But that's just a guess.

[TerminX]

Originally Posted by eddym4814

I use Win9x (ME) to play all the Duke and other 1990's games I have.

Duke runs so much better on a modern computer with a modern port than it ever did with the DOS version, it's not even funny. I can understand wanting to be faithful to the original and all that, but how can you tolerate the original mouse aiming, et cetera? Ports are as much about making the game run better than it did before as they are about getting it working with newer computers.

[eddym4814]

TerminX
Re: Curtis Tuckfield's 1999/2000 TC
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddym4814 View Post
I use Win9x (ME) to play all the Duke and other 1990's games I have.


Duke runs so much better on a modern computer with a modern port than it ever did with the DOS version, it's not even funny. I can understand wanting to be faithful to the original and all that, but how can you tolerate the original mouse aiming, et cetera? Ports are as much about making the game run better than it did before as they are about getting it working with newer computers.

I am about as old school as you can get. I play Duke on the keyboard only. I really don't like mouse aiming and only use a mouse if I have to. (HalfLife, Unreal, AVP, etc)

As far as using a port, when I play a mod for fun, whether for Duke, Doom (2) Hexen, etc, I always use a port. It was just that when I started reviewing the mods I wanted to play them as they were originally intended to be. To the best of my knowledge anyway.

Edit: It's not the mouse aiming I don't like, it's all the keys my left hand is responsible for. I like to play in a very dark room and I have problems finding the right keys a lot. It seems like the newer the game the more keys are required to play. I guess a lighted keyboard would really be the way to go for me.

[LAW]

Do you play under eduke32 or DOS game ?

I play on pure Win98 because I am too lazy to switch to the "real DOS". To be honest 99% of DOS games have worked that way on my PC. I have had some small problems with Rides Again, Quarantine and Alien Trilogy if I remember right and of course with a few Duke maps.

Using Win9x and complaining about problems is like living in a warehouse full of rapists and complaining about loose bowels.

How is that? Are you trying to convince everybody to use your port?

Duke runs so much better on a modern computer with a modern port than it ever did with the DOS version

Yeah? I have tried Jonof's port recently and I've had a problem with my sound card. Well, it's maybe not a Sound Blaster, but everything besides Jonof and that damned Quake 2 is working great.

how can you tolerate the original mouse aiming, et cetera?

And what's wrong with it? I would "head&shoulders" your butt on DukesterX if you weren't a moderator here

Try to close all the other programs that are running in the background. That might help.

Thanks, but I am playing just after hard reboot and the memory resources are fine.

[jak.xtrmntr]

hello everyone, I'm one of Curtis's friends and bandmates out here in Utah, and am helping him playtest and perfect the 2000TC. A couple things about it....it is BRUTAL. it moves from still and quiet to hardcore intensity and back again, leaving you guessing. it is incredibly well detailed. I've watched Curtis work on this and he puts a ton of effort into every single sector, and it shows. i'll post a few screenshots of my own later today maybe. Curtis says it's almost done and should be ready to distribute before christmas.

that said, my real reason for posting here is that i'm trying to port his TC into the Source engine, and recreate it as a HL2 mod. to save myself the insane amount of work in recreating them from scratch, i've tried to use dukeconv.exe, which is supposed to convert duke3d maps to HL maps. i've been able to get it to convert, but the output looks like all of the vertical sectors are waaaay too tall. does anyone have experience with this utility and how to convert maps, or know a better way to go about this? any advice would be appreciated. also, if anyone out there is good at editing in Source, and would be interested in helping port this TC to a modern engine, please let me know.

[Mateos]

An preview video is possible ?

[jak.xtrmntr]

UPDATE: i figured out dukeconv and have the Mansion map ported into the Hammer editor for the Half-Life 2 engine...problems are 1) none of the textures went with it. I made a WAD file from the duke version but it doesnt seem to want to read it. so all of the textures will have to be reapplied manually. which is going to take a long time. 2) alot of the geometry is going to need fixing and 3) i need to find equivalent types of enemies that can be brought into the Source engine. hm...maybe if we all had Duke Nukem Forever already, at least i wouldn't be having that last problem....

[Mateos]

Duke isn't Doom, a simple conversion GRP/WAD don't work, but I can't help you on this.

[The Commander]

There is not point in trying to convert the map/maps to sorce. You will never get it right.

[jak.xtrmntr]

Right now i have it converted and running in the Hammer editor...i had to get rid of a ton of excess geometry from the conversion process, which involved days worth of clicking on and deleting several hundred tiny triangles.... the ceilings for every room had to be stripped of so i can recreate them using one piece per room instead of dozens.... the garden area is all ready for texturing. everything will still have to be retextured manually, which will take a long time. my biggest question at this point is what enemies to use to make it equally or more dangerous than the original. I have all of the enemies created for HL2 and any mod that might have good enemies to draw on. or try to rip the 3D modeled baddies from Duke3D Hi-Res pack. its not going to be exactly the same but i'll get Curtis over here to give his input when i get a little further.

[Curtis Tuckfield]

Hey, this is Curtis. I've been working on reshading and enhancing the second level of the new episode for a few weeks now and have done some cool stuff. This may not be entirely finished by Christmas, but it will be finished this winter. I don't just work on this all the time, I also have a job, a full time music career thingy (and our music is very complex and original and it is a big dedication), an upcoming album of The Grimpths, an upcoming solo album, three books, and about a dozen other things to do. You see, when I do something creative, I don't **** around. I don't simply say "Oh, let's do this pretty cool song with 3 chords that takes a few minutes to compose." When I write a novel, it takes 10 years, when I make a TC, it takes 10 years, when I make an instrument, it takes a year, when I make an album, it takes several months, when I develop a band, it takes several years. And I do all this stuff at the same time, so sometimes I spend a few days, weeks, or months working on a book about astral plane dynamics, philosophy, quantum physics, etc, and then I spend some time working on music, and then the TC, and on and on and on. Right now I want to finish the TC, because I've put about 7500 hours into it and I want it to be done. At this time in history, we shouldn't be wasting our time doing something watered down that has already been done countless times before. We need to be moving forward with our creativity and expression, not backwards like we seemed to have been doing for awhile (with a few exceptions). There are too many people pretending to be everyone else instead of themselves and when you do that; when you make a bootleg copy of a bootleg copy of a bootleg copy, art and expression and individuality becomes less and less potent. That's not my thing.

[Mateos]

Thanks for your work

[themaniacboy]

Woow, you are really a hard working man, Great talents you got there !
i really apreciate this

[Curtis Tuckfield]

I got a lot of lighting work done over the Thanksgiving break on the second level. It should be done within the next few days. What I really need to do now is to make a new weapon, a sub-machine gun to replace the third gun in the game. I tried to do this several years ago but couldn't really figure out how to make it look right. I found ArtEdit to be a difficult program to use. For one, I think it took some time to get the right shade of pink for the invisible background, and then transferring it into DukeRes without it changing the palette number for that certain pink. The hardest part was lining up the pieces of the gun. If I remember correctly, the third gun in the game is actually composed of two or three sections. When I rebuilt it and tried to line those parts up, it was all screwy. I am not a graphic artist. I am great at most other art forms but I suck at drawing and painting. My friend Shane is a great graphic artist and has already drawn a frame for the SMG. He wants to help me make the gun, but remembering back to trying it the first time, I think I could use some tips and pointers from others who have made their own weapons. Besides that, I was wondering how others have taken art from games like DOOM, Blood, or Shadow Warrior and inserted it into the Duke Nukem 3D art files without the art looking all messed up. It works with Redneck Rampage, but the palette for Blood and Shadow Warrior is different from Duke3D. Does anyone know how to do this? And lastly, does anyone know how to make it so that a color picture inserted into the art file can be completely compatible with the game so that one can darken it without it looking weird (like without there being some pixels that do not darken with the rest)? - Curtis

[Mateos]

Why not try DukeResART ?
http://archive.dukertcm.com/knowledg...tools-editart/

You can also take GRP Studio, to make a GRP with all TC files, for better networking

[The Commander]

Originally Posted by Mateos

Why not try DukeResART ?
http://archive.dukertcm.com/knowledg...tools-editart/

You can also take GRP Studio, to make a GRP with all TC files, for better networking

Yes they are both great programs and I am using them both for my mod as well.

[Curtis Tuckfield]

Thanks for the help. I used DukeRes as my main art program originally. The only thing I don't understand, although I somehow figured it out in the end is that you can't simply take a piece of colored art and put it in there and then darken it in build without some of the colors darkening faster than others, and some colors not darkening at all. The other thing involves sprites. You can't just make a sprite with the pink background of invisibility and then put it in DukeRes and expect the pink to become invisible. It always showed up as pink. I can't remember exactly what I did to remedy this. Another issue is the art at the intro, the startup of the game where it normally shows the 3D Realms logo. When I put my own art there and then ran the game, it shows up all messed up. I haven't quite figured that out either.

[Curtis Tuckfield]

So I am wanting this all to be completed by Christmas, but I am also recording a new album at the same time. I am about done with the new episode, but I still have a few things to do with the enhancement of the old episode. I think that what will probably happen is that I will release version 0.9 beta around Christmas and hopefully you guys will play test it once through. Then a few days or weeks later, I will release version 1.0. A few weeks after that, on perhaps Valentine's Day, there will be another release; version 1.1, which will be the the full version with everything enhanced and completed and will have some bonus stuff too. I want to write the midi score to the game, but I haven't had time lately. This TC will not set any new levels for programming or weapons or anything like that, but it will completely raise the bar for level design with build.
And this TC is hard. It's not like that DOOM TC where everything is like impossible, but it will be a real challenge. And the multi-player should be some of the best. The Raccoon City (Resident Evil) level should be a great death match map. When it comes out, I hope you help me tell others to check it out, after all, I spent a lot of time on it. Thanks.

[DeeperThought]

Originally Posted by Curtis Tuckfield

This TC will not set any new levels for programming or weapons or anything like that, but it will completely raise the bar for level design with build.

Are you still using the original MD-DOS build? Even so, that's quite a statement. Most of the great user maps were made using that.

[Curtis Tuckfield]

Yes, the whole thing was constructed using the original Build. I think that Duke Plus is awesome and I like what you can do with the lighting and stuff, but I had most of it done before I really saw what Duke Plus could do. I just wanted do push the original program to it's ultimate limit, which unfortunately took 10 years. What I think would be great is for others to do whatever the hell they want with the TC once it comes out, you know, like add better weapons, and more up to date programming, utilizing things like Duke Plus for the physics and graphics and stuff. I built the original first episode when I was still a kid and it was only popular with a certain kind of D3d fan since it was all about levels and not about story or weapons or enemies (although I did make a new enemy and I tried to make a new weapon). It was all about creative levels and build game style gags. But I had to do it alone and I have never really learned much about programming. Having to make it alone was difficult. I originally tried to develop a team, but I could not find anyone who was dedicated or talented enough. What I really want to do right now is to create a new weapon. I have a talented artist, but that's it. I guess I'll just have to figure it out myself again. I also never used any Build instruction manual. I just figured out everything by myself. I put about 2000 hours into the first episode and about 6000 hours into the second (3500 of which went into the first level only, which is absolutely massive). I find that the best way to create something is to create it for yourself and not for others, then it ends up really good. This is called the "theory of obscurity" which was coined by the anonymous and mysterious "N. Senada" who was an early pioneer of experimental music and who helped "The Residents" in their early years before his death. BTW, is it against the rules to post screenshots or what because mine disappeared? - Curtis

[DeeperThought]

Originally Posted by Curtis Tuckfield

Yes, the whole thing was constructed using the original Build. I think that Duke Plus is awesome and I like what you can do with the lighting and stuff, but I had most of it done before I really saw what Duke Plus could do. I just wanted do push the original program to it's ultimate limit, which unfortunately took 10 years.

I wasn't trying to push DP, I was wondering if you were still using the original sector/wall limits (as opposed to the higher EDuke32 limits), and I'm wondering if you are familiar with some of the excellent user maps and episodes that have been made, which already have raised the bar on Duke level design quite high. Now I know you are using the old limits. By the way, DP and other EDuke32 mods work by adding scripting code and graphics, they don't modify the game engine.

There's nothing wrong with using the old limits and focusing on building fun and innovative levels for the original game. In fact, working with a limited tool set can be a good thing. Lately, I've been working on the coding for a Duke 1.5 TC (no EDuke commands) and I found that the severe limitations forced me to actually think about how to do certain things, and this gave rise to some novel ideas.