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THIS LEVEL IS NEITHER MADE BY OR SUPPORTED BY 3D REALMS.
Title : The Human Stain
Filename : Humnstin.map
Author : RaveFury
E-mail : MattFrey@hotmail.com
Web Page : None
Misc. Author Info : I'm a 22-year-old reporter disillusioned with current video games. So I've returned to a true classic - DN3D.
Description : This level introduces what I hope is a new concept: the single player Dukematch. I know that fake multiplayer in Duke 3D is nothing new, but this level was created and optimized specifically for that purpose. Included are three .bat files. Assuming you installed the game to the C-drive in a folder marked "Duke3d," clicking into one of these files will begin a simulated Dukematch. "TheDuel.bat" is a Dukematch with four bots, "TheFury.bat" is one with eight, and "TheChaos.bat" is my favorite - a simulated Dukematch with 12 bots and 12 respawning Octabrains. Frags o'plenty!
The Human Stain contains very few health items and only bullet weapons - no bombs, freeze rays or shrinkers. It's all about sniping with the pistol or tearing 'em up at close range with the shotgun or chaingun. There are a few secrets and a trip bomb trap that looks kind of useless at first, until you realize it's not really about the bombs at all...
The frag rate on this one is phenomenal. On "TheChaos" setting, in five minutes, there are usually 545 kills total. That's about 1.8 frags a second. So rarely will you live long enough to run out of ammo. :)
Story:
Society has a difficult time accepting what it cannot see, hear or touch. But that doesn't mean such things don't exist. When we die, our "being" lives on, finally freed from their earthly vestals. Most continue to exist comfortably elsewhere. But the most inhuman of us - those who have lost any shred of humanity they may have once had - find themselves in a wholly different situation.
Welcome to Soul Arena, where the dead go to die. Looks, race and gender are forgotten and all physical bodies are exact copies of one of the greatest warriors the Earth has ever known. Reborn with gun in hand, these unfortunate souls are locked in eternal battle. Death is meaningless, and reincarnation is immediate. It's back into the fray within seconds.
They don't know it, but the only way out is to find within themselves their lost humanity. Anything - compassion, remorse, a shred of good will - will prove a soul's ability to be reformed.
The arena's only purpose is redemption through combat. Lucky few will discover the secret and escape eternal torture. But the rest are destined to drench the walls with their blood over and over again, becoming nothing more than another human stain.
Other Levels : A couple back in the day, but nothing worth noting here.
Additional Credits To : I'd like to thank two old friends. First, Tom Brabenec for getting me into Duke3D in the first place, way back in 1996. (As well as my brother from buying the full version when I was still too dense to realize how great it was!) Secondly, I'd like to thank Jason Seekamp. His mapping skills were much better than mine, forcing me to try much harder making my own levels. He helped me become a better builder.
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* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : Stand-alone user level (E1L8 I guess.)
Single Player : Yes, but in an unconventional way... Single player Dukematch.(See description above.) It does have monsters and an exit for about four minutes worth of "normal" single play... :p
DukeMatch : Yes, it supports up to 12 actually. (Can you do that in a normal multiplayer game? I only ever did one on one.)
Cooperative 2-8 Player : I think so... but it's untested and most likely unentertaining.
Difficulty Settings : Yes, select your difficulty through the included .bat files.
Plutonium Pak Required : Yes, to get the fake multiplayer working. If
you only own Duke3D V.1.3d, there's a special version of the map made to run with it. Remember that you can't use the .bat files with 1.3d though, It's only if want single play or Dukematch. It's in the folder marked For_V13d and it's called HS_13d.map.
New Art : Not this time.
New Music : No, Dethtoll.mid works just fine here.
New Sound Effects : No
New .CON Files : No
Demos Replaced : No
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* Construction *
Base : Based on an old map I did a few years back.
Level Editor(s) Used : BUILD
Construction Time : A few days. Released 9/10/05.
Known Bugs/Problems : None. Just never change any of the respawn points... wierd things happen when you put aplayer sprites on the floor of the arena...
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*Important Information*
Installation : Extract all the files from Humnstin.zip to your Duke3d directory. Open the .bat files as a .txt
file and change the drive letter and folder name
if it's different from the default. You can easily change the number of bots by modifying the /q parameter. I encourage you to find the number that works best for you!
Important Notes : Don't stick marbles in your nose.
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So, if you read the story, you might be wondering just how to find the
"redemption" that I mention. Well, it's simple really. Simply stop shooting and end the level. Your unwillingness to harm another living
thing for your own gain shows both compassion and remorse. Thus it
proves you've regained your humanity and it opens up the possibility of
escape. Ironically, the longer the user plays the level, the farther and
farther away from redemption they get - just like a Chinese finger trap.
From a purely storyline-based point of view, I've created a level that's
meant to be played for as brief a time as possible. How... paradoxal.
But from a player's point of view, I've made something fun, if I do say
so myself. I really do enjoy this level, especially on "TheChaos"
setting. ...That is, when I have time to play with myself. ;)
