The Build Engine has been terribly desecrated by Nam for DOS.

One of the first things I always have on my mental to-do list for this column is Extreme Paintbrawl, which came out in 1998. Supposedly the worst game ever made using Build Engine by Ken Silverman.

Though it may not get as much attention as the splinters from the Doom Engine, the Build Engine was a really good 2.5D ray-casting engine right out of the box. Although it was used for other lesser-known games, it gained most notoriety as the basis for Duke Nukem 3D. Since Duke Nukem 3D comes with a number of editing tools, a robust modding community developed around it.

Regretfully, the release of Extreme Paintbrawl coincided with an extremely problematic compatibility period. This means that, anecdotally, the toughest time for games to run on modern technology was when Microsoft was attempting to bury DOS beneath Windows. Despite my best attempts, Extreme Paintbrawl doesn't function; it either does or it doesn't. I can't seem to locate any branch that supports it, nor does EDuke32 seem to. I'm not giving up on finding answers, but right now I'm at a loss.

Fortunately, it wasn't the only subpar game based on Duke Nukem 3D, so let's examine Nam.

from 1998.

War is always the same

The setting of Nam is the Vietnam War, as the title suggests. I'm really tired of talking about the conflicts that are now raging. In case you're not aware, the conflict between the Communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam, which was supported by the United States. The United States took considerable efforts to attempt to halt the rise of Communism during the Cold War.

It was a complete disaster. Not only politically, but also for the troops engaged and the people of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, who still have to cope with buried unexploded bombs and significant environmental damage.

Well, that's resolved, phew.

Nam Originally developed as a mod for Duke Nukem 3D, it was published by GT Interactive. It feels mod despite the publisher's support and the retail release. A ton of assets from Duke Nukem 3D are still available. Not that Nam doesn't act independently, however. Simply put, the majority of its actions are regrettable.

Richtigkeit historique

Nam is a game in which the objectives are to shoot bushes, tread on mines, and die from friendly fire. It seems that this renders it a true representation of the actual conflict. The only thing that's different is that you will be using your quicksave key a lot.The creators attempted to achieve realism even though Duke Nukem 3D but in Vietnam doesn't seem like a horrible idea. Back in the day, developers would often go after the bait of making things more realistic. First-person shooters were novel and created the impression that reality and video games were merging. Modders, on the other hand, would attempt to get the mechanics as near to reality as possible, while many creators recognized when to draw back and sacrifice realism for the sake of enjoyment.Thus, Nam is set in a jungle and, considering that it was based mostly on the foundation of Duke Nukem 3D, is remarkably nicely done. Yes, it is ugly. All of the 2.5D engine's flaws are readily apparent. But it's obvious that this is a jungle. To create the illusion of undergrowth, there are many sprites along the ground and several structures that resemble trees. This is in many respects an amazing attempt, since a true 3D engine from the era would have trouble with it (see: Jurassic Park Trespasser).

Step with caution

It is, however, absolutely awful. Long before you can see them, enemies can see you through the forest. When you do notice them, you often have to speculate as to whether or not the obstruction in your path will stop bullets. Like in Duke 3D, foes are often positioned at a greater range than you'd ever truly see in Duke 3D, even under the best of circumstances. However, your weapons are also not particularly precise. In tight quarters, which are few in Nam, this is acceptable. You're sort of trapped since you can't become more accurate even if you shoot in short spurts.Even though your character finds it difficult to aim, explosive weapons are very accurate. For instance, the grenade launcher doesn't arc in the way you would anticipate. It functions similarly to Duke Nukem 3D's RPG. Since it is.But it isn't the worst thing about Nam. With all of its sudden and certain death, that's when it truly goes south. Since artillery and explosives are continuously dropped from the skies to imitate a war, friendly fire is often to blame for this. The issue is that it's impossible to predict when or where all of stuff will fall. That is, you may be strolling through the forest when all of a sudden your body separates from your legs.To make matters worse, there are mines all over the place, which are difficult to find through the foliage. You're given a mine detector, which will sound an alert when it gets near a mine, to counteract this. But to even recognize that you have it, you have to be very aware of it. When you scroll over it, the text "Inventory Item" appears, and it looks like a crate in your inventory. That's not very useful, then..

Obstructing the path

Furthermore, the music seems rather inappropriate for the topic. Your goal is normally explained to you at the beginning of each level, but as soon as your commanding officer speaks, the music usually picks in speed and drowns him out entirely. It is irrelevant nonetheless. Most of the time, all you have to do is get to the extraction point.Currently, DOSbox, which offers a very painful control system, is sold with the game. Fortunately, you can use the Eduke32 source port to run it, which provides it with contemporary controls among other features. Sadly, Eduke32 is unable to put out the friendly fire, so if you want to live long enough to see Saigon's fall, you'll need to use the fast save feature often. I'm not kidding—it is that last task.There are two campaigns, each consisting of around seven missions. Next, there are two multiplayer missions that aren't really missions. They are only different levels of competition.

Kusoge with perfect preservation

After , the creators moved on to work on another game.NamNamed World War II G.I., , it was also available on the Build Engine. Next week, I'll examine it, but I can only hope that there won't be as much friendly fire. It gives me a horrible sensation.Funny thing about Nam is that, while being a rather bad game, it perfectly captures the spirit of the modding scene at the time. There was a great deal of desire but little experience. Since many norms were still being established, particularly in the first-person shooter genre, individuals were literally making things up as they went along. There was a lot of experimenting in the modding community, and with experimentation comes some failures.Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer is the kind of stuff that attempted to elicit. If only you could work your concept within the constraints of technological limits, there was a possibility that your mod might become the next great thing. This quest was often mistaken, which is how we came to have Nam.Use this link to see previous Weekly Kusoge!