the abandoned workshops
type: channel
description: Map and Mod Reviews
date: 2026-03-03T18:14:40Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
generator agent: https://wordpress.org/
items: Count of Wallachia
items: Willard
items: Weather Report
items: BOBSP2: Paranoia
items: Near Life Experience

Count of Wallachia
type: item
creator: quakis
date: 2026-02-27T01:45:04Z
subject: Blood
subject: Tekedon
description: Introduction Within an isolated castle, perched atop steep mountainous cliffs, Dracula rules this land from… The post Count of Wallachia first appeared on the abandoned workshops.
encoded: Introduction Within an isolated castle, perched atop steep mountainous cliffs, Dracula rules this land from the shadows. You’ve made the long journey here to finally drive a stake through the nosferatu’s heart and put an end to his reign, but must brave battle against his minions who stand to protect their master from intruders. Review Tekedon originally intended for the level to be part of a larger campaign and based on this experience alone, has caught my curiosity as to how that project might have panned out. WOC creates a solid foundation for its singular adventure oozing with a haunting gothic atmosphere. You start inside a cavern I assume after finding another route leading up to the castle, just outside stands a gatehouse showing signs of dilapidation. Ascending from the never ending chasm is a wide stairway having collapsed away over the years becoming an impossible path to venture from. Anyone choosing to come here now is doing so with a purpose. The portcullis might be shut tight but getting inside won’t be a problem thanks to neglected maintenance. A crumbling wall provides two options, either crawling below through a rat infested tunnel or blowing a hole into a haunted tower. Taking the upper path may prove to be a quicker solution but does pit you up against foes without effective firepower for a short while, while a lower path leading inside the roofed building provides an easy shotgun acquisition that’ll help push back those phantoms loitering above. Everything prior to walking beyond the gates almost seemed like a sneak peek of things to come and got me a little hopeful for similar cases. Turns out progression is more linear than it first lets on, but options dealing with a situation are still placed on the table, designed around combat encounters more so than routing. Progress is tied to key acquisition and often relies too much on backtracking to fill time, the Flame and Eye locks never serve much purpose besides a minor skirmish to grab another ke…

Willard
type: item
creator: quakis
date: 2026-01-27T00:16:30Z
subject: Blood
subject: Bloodskar
description: Introduction Life has been good, if a bit dull since defeating Tchernobog. However, recent news… The post Willard first appeared on the abandoned workshops.
encoded: Introduction Life has been good, if a bit dull since defeating Tchernobog. However, recent news regarding mysterious disappearances around a remote town in Tennessee, called Willard, has piqued Caleb’s interest for an investigation. That place was once prosperous, but has since been abandoned and could make a perfect hiding place for the Cabal to start over. Review When a horror story trusts their participant’s patience, it can take an opportunity to move along at a crawl before revealing what lies beyond the curtain, establishing an eerie calm gradually falling more and more into madness. WILLARD is unlike a typical BLOOD experience, made clear early on where action doesn’t hog all the spotlight. Instead there are long bouts of breathing space for soaking up your surroundings and enjoying a more contemplative side to exploration. The overarching setting becomes a character of its own upon discovering it has indeed become a ghost town. Corpses are scattered about as if they had once been running scared from the direction you intend to follow; a lingering red mist barricades choice paths, consuming life from anyone coming into contact; and an occasional disembodied voice is heard whilst wandering the otherwise empty streets. Every little hint eludes to a bigger mystery just waiting to be unravelled. Having come across this release at a time I was looking for something more laid back to play, WILLARD really clicked with me as it leaned more into the adventure genre and had this compelling slow burn pacing whilst its narrative beats unfold. Unconventional levels have also always been a curiosity to me, especially when they reframe the game to adhere to a style it wasn’t built for. I could sense Bloodskar having confidence behind their vision despite these departures from regular gameplay. In turn this made me reflect back on my own BLOOD project where I had made unnecessary compromises all in fear of player boredom, prioritising standard combat setups rather than fulfi…

Weather Report
type: item
creator: quakis
date: 2025-05-11T20:47:10Z
subject: Duke Nukem 3D
subject: Pepsodent
description: I had immense fun exploring and romping through WEATHER REPORT's streets, a debut release that feels anything but a typical newbies work, surprising me in more ways than one, The post Weather Report first appeared on the abandoned workshops.
encoded: Introduction Duke is roused awake after a tremendous thundering as a huge superstorm passes over L.A. while a second, much larger storm begins to form! Wild theories erupt from TV broadcasts, but Duke knows the aliens must be involved. Time to scout out the city and find out what’s going down. Review Debut releases are kinda hard to come by these days in the DUKE3D mapping community, I’d gather in large part due to the archaic nature of working with BUILD. Despite some extensions and quality of life improvements made in MAPSTER32, other communities benefit from modernised toolsets that are much easier to handle like DOOMBUILDER or TRENCHBROOM. So for anyone coming onto the scene would require a particular patience for memorising several key commands and nuances while wrangling special effects before it all becomes second nature. Pepsodent coming onboard to tackle the challenge of BUILD was a fascinating journey to watch on its own. They asked questions on the DUKE4 Discord, considered possible solutions when problems arise, went through all the motions of near enough hating the editor, to eventually acquiring a love-hate relationship. It was genuine nostalgia to witness as we’ve all been in those shoes at one point. Some move on, while others are forever caught in jaws of BUILD. First releases can often be a quaint stepping stone, showcasing the sporadic nature whilst different aspects of mapping are learnt. But WEATHER REPORT is anything but quaint or sporadic, as there’s a surprising amount of coherent intent behind every jigsaw piece as nothing feels out of place, all while offering a ton of depth and variation. I honestly found it difficult to believe they hadn’t made a level previously, especially having taken great advantage of newer mapping features most veterans have only began utilising in recent years, maybe being too stuck in our old ways to make the shift, which makes newcomers a breath of fresh air for making most of what’s already available. Pepsodent’…

BOBSP2: Paranoia
type: item
creator: quakis
date: 2025-05-06T22:01:59Z
subject: Duke Nukem 3D
subject: Bob Averill
description: The second level from a classic trilogy follows along the footsteps of its own making and remains another technical showcase to reinforce concepts previously established, revealing some new tricks all the while making an attempt at reintroducing enemies into the fold. The post BOBSP2: Paranoia first appeared on the abandoned workshops.
encoded: Introduction The reactor and its subsystems have been all shot to hell and not surprisingly the state around here is even worse. More importantly, someone has been scavenging parts leaving behind a big mess, was their intention to cause a meltdown? Duke decides this ticking time bomb needs patching up long enough for technicians to arrive and prevent everything going up in a mushroom cloud. Review The second entry is a direct continuation from where BOBSP1 left off, having now gained security clearance into another section of the abandoned facility for additional maintenance work. As noted by a terminal message, your first call to action is reducing tank pressure before a gas explosion occurs, achieved by realigning the satellite dish which remotely vents toxic gas build up. It’s another simple objective that involves pushing a single button while an elaborate sequence of moving parts take place, a reiteration of cause and effect from activating the water pump during BOBSP1 only with different set dressing. Therefore, much like before the experience doesn’t really differ too much from that linear showcase, aiming to reinforce concepts Averill introduced as a reminder regarding their varied applications. But that’s not suggesting there hadn’t been some evolution of these ideas either. Take the control room where several measurement devices are displaying information, embedded into the environment on a much bigger scale and not restricted to a security monitor viewpoint, bringing the whole room alive as an active entity beyond placing a sole ambient noise to say otherwise. Although a small, perhaps insignificant aspect, these have always been enjoyable features to gawk at for me and become another BOBSP specific staple which too found imitators across other works. Submachine as a recent example poked fun at one meter making for a cute humorous nod. One big difference going for BOBSP2 is a prior absence of aliens would soon be broken, revealing themselves after crashin…

Near Life Experience
type: item
creator: quakis
date: 2025-04-22T00:55:11Z
subject: Duke Nukem 3D
subject: Daniel Aashage
description: Introduction Duke works for the Black Mesa Research Facility as part of a storage and… The post Near Life Experience first appeared on the abandoned workshops.
encoded: Introduction Duke works for the Black Mesa Research Facility as part of a storage and packaging sector. One day during his shift he presses a big red button which unleashes an alien invasion upon his workplace. With his job position at risk, he must fight back and destroy the portal they’ve spilled out from. Review Although having the stage take place inside of Black Mesa, NELIEX wasn’t built around recreating well known locations from HALF LIFE, instead serving as just another interpretation of a vague storage facility that could be placed somewhere within the base game. This time we’re much closer the surface rather than being stuck deep underground. Combining a selection of ripped textures from HL alongside DUKE3D’s regular assets worked well without appearing off. Colour conversions were poor however and still needed touching up, yet other considerate tweaks had been made such as filling in a black void for swing doors with glass. Some textures additions were near seamless and others had questionable utility. While not the most exciting example I liked those metal trimmed ducts walls when placed together with the original variant, adding a finishing touch to these crawl spaces that otherwise tend to appear flat. Funnily enough ventilation shafts were barely present during the map as a navigational feature despite the two games in question. Keycard panels were replaced by way of colour coded retinal scanners, an odd choice not suitable for their purpose, but functional enough to tie closer to the Black Mesa aesthetic. Form over function was a common aspect of design here, often resulting in a lot of variation across the facility imitating ideas from HL and forming some of its own appeal. The initial starting hub shows aspects of the latter, with a two floor hallway made using flat sprites and a nearby stairwell having a sloped underside adding dimension to this scene. Just beyond the middle gate has a smooth arched ceiling, itself becoming a bit of an Aashage spe…