DARK FLAME CONVERSIONS PRESENTS GRUNE! ====================================================================== PRELUDE "I tell you my Brothers and Sisters, the time is among us now! We must free ourselves of our earthly bonds and make way for our Lord and Master!" The crowd erupts in cheer, he gradually wills the crowd to stop and when it does, "But there is a danger in doing this, if we release the Nightmare, none of us will be safe. We must be sure to release only the Lord our God out into the world. We must not make a mistake lest he think we are betraying him, so come with me my brothers and sisters and lets make amends for the sins our forefathers made." As the night grew dark, the only sound heard for miles was the incessant cheering of the lost, but hopeful crowd. "My Lord, what shall we do with this place?" "Nothing, there is no way we can save it, however we have found a new place, a place with bountiful fruits and pleasures. We must take leave of this vile hovel and press on to greener pastures." "What if he comes back and wants to take our country again? What shall we do then?" "Well, we won't do what we did last time, that's for sure. We can only hope that Nightmare shall not come again and haunt us in our dreams." The land was as far as the eye could see. One could reap the benefits of this land forever and the resources would never run out. Their eyes were filled with hope as they saw this new found land. The leader of the small band turned towards his followers and bellowed, "Brothers and Sisters! This land is Green and fresh, all of our crops will prove Ripe and in season, the land is Undulating with myriad different colors, the Nights here will be everlasting bliss, and the Estuaries of the rivers will provide us endless supply of water. My friends, I name this miracle, Grune!" The roar of the crowd could be heard miles away where even the gods took notice. The man turned around as the servant entered the room eager to commence the conversation. "My liege, there have been rumors of a couple of deaths where people are found dead in bed as if they died while sleeping." "Odd, we had rid our land of that vile fetid and left it to die in Ravenscroft. Could it still be alive?" "I am sorry my liege, I am not the one who can prognosticate the future. Shall we ask the seer?" "No, if word gets out that the king himself goes to see the seer, people will be alarmed and we will have to call a state emergency. We don't want to cause wide spread panic. No, we must wait and see how this plays out, and if it is still alive, not even the gods shall hold power." The servant, having nothing to say bowed and paid his respects to the king. He turn around on one foot and headed for the door. He stopped short of the door to glance towards the emblem above the door frame. He humbled himself and made the sign of the cross. He then glanced back at the king before he left. "Its as if this 'thing' is so obdurate that it even hides from us in the books of lore!" The mage slammed the book cover and hefted the book seeking to throw it against the far wall. The king burst in the doors leading to the grand library and halted the mage. Doing that would have burnt the book to pieces! "You fool! Don't you know that these books do not like to be thrown? They would destroy themselves as soon as it even caught hint of us having no use of it anymore. You fool!" The smacked the mage across the face thus slamming him to the floor with the force of the blow. The mage sat up looking directly at the king. He gracefully got up and bowed. The king, not wanting to hear the palaver of the mage paying his respects, the king gave the signal to be dismissed and left the room leaving the doors swinging shut behind him. The plebeians of the state gathered eagerly outside the castle in the courtyard with the Forest of Bliss at their backs. The king stood on the balcony and waited patiently for the incessant cheering to subside. As if to enhance the moment, he raised his right hand and flipped it underhand and rose it to the heavens. He shaped his hand as if it were holding a perfect sphere. The crowd roared louder. The cheering finally stopped and he ordered a small brief paean to be said before the speech was to commence. The paean was not just ostentatious but it was one of the few times the people in Grune were finally whole. All singing in unison with their king. As the paean finished the king raised his hands for silence before making his speech. "My Brothers and Sisters, I have come to you tonight to ask something of the common people to do a favor for their leader." He waited for the cheering to die down. "I have put my blood and soul into ruling the kingdom fairly and to do what is best for the country. But time is not on our side. We have confirmed that the Nightmare Keeper is back." The crowd arose in uproar as the mood of the crowd got hostile. The king yelled for quiet before he continued. "I know it is a shock for you all but we MUST have four of your finest young seers in training to help our Holy Circle of Royal Seers in helping to open the gateway to the realm of our Gods." As the night waned, the king was still on his perch telling his people how exactly they were going to accomplish getting rid of the Keeper. But he had lost the crowd long ago when he mentioned the Nightmare Keeper. The king wept as he laid his head on the ground, kissing it. His beloved country had fallen. His people, his legacy, gone. The Keeper took it all. There was nothing left for him to do. In time, he too, would succumb to the Keeper. He unfolded the special cloth in his wrist bracelet which he once wore proudly and took the knife in it. He looked up to the heavens and wondered why the Gods deserted them. The last sound heard in Grune was the flowing of blood on the ground. Level 1: Welcome To Grune/Author: WOLF You find yourself in a dark gloomy part of Grune. You must find all three keys and hitting many switches until you finally reach the end puzzle. Sometimes, switches might activate things clear across the level. So, if you flip a switch and nothing happens anywhere near the area you are currently exlporing, go to the other side of the level, maybe something happened there as a result of the switch. STORY: This was an outpost of the army supporting the king. This outpost was to ward off hostile forces and keep them away from the center capital of Grune. This outpost has accommodations like sleeping rooms, bathrooms, and a mess hall. This outpost was not only a defense but a home to several civilians. 1 Mysterious Clue Room. Hints: If you've found the Blue Key and you have inserted it into the Blue Access Switch but you don't know where to go next? Well where did you find the Blue Key? Go back there after inserting it into the access switch and you'll find that the closed door once before there is now open. Tips: In the outer courtyard after surfacing from the body of water, you will see three switches up on the wall right of the pool of water. That is if you flipped the switch under the water. Shoot the far right one and quickly turn right and go into the lowered column and grab the Steroids before the column slides back into place. In the church worshipping the Grune gods, look right from the podium and you will see a switch to the right of the stain glass. Flip it and then turn around to see the stain glass panel near the podium slide open revealing a area with the Shrinker. Level 2: Land Of Disarray/ Author: WOLF You find yourself near a religious monk monastary where people who feel close to the gods worship and live. You must find the time portals in the monastary to transport through time to see the destruction of the monastary by the Keeper's minions. You must travel back and forth through time to collect all three keys. Remember some things in the present are not always there in the future and vice versa. Also, save your game BEFORE putting a keycard into a slot because something might not be accessed in the past if you put a keycard into a slot in the future. STORY: This monastary was built to support the worship of the Grune gods when the people needed their help most. This is also where all the seers and mages lived. This complex consists of the main hall which really serves no purpose other than meditation. The inner courtyard branches off to the church of worship and the seperate sleeping rooms. As you move through time, you will see the destruction of this beautiful place. 2 Mysterious Clue Rooms. Hints: If you can't find the Blue Key, try going into the future. If you have a hard time reaching or even finding the Red Key, try going to the future also. Tips: As you start the level, turn left and go into the small area to the right of the building behind you. Look for a indentation in the far wall and press it and go inside the compartment to find a Holoduke and Shield. In the semi-future, go into the confession rooms and head into the right one. Now hop onto the confession bench and walk right through the wall to find an Atomic Health. Level 3: Grune Keep/ Author: WOLF You find yourself near the threshold of power within the land of Grune. For reasons unknown, the king wanted his castle to be built in the middle of a forest. Maybe it was because he sought peace and refuge in the forest, or maybe he just wanted protection. Nobody knows. But that is beside the point, you have come here to get rid of the current ruler, The Nightmare Keeper. He has reigned over Grune for over a century now and he is slowly expanding to the real world. You must search through the forest to Grune Keep and get inside to find and slay the Keeper. Be wary, the Keeper has been expecting you and has laid a couple traps for you. STORY: Grune Keep was built so that the royals, who commanded and ruled over Grune had a place to stay and a place to keep the government organized and centered. The Keep was the pinnacle of power in Grune. The king was the ruler and his mages were his back-ups. Should he die, the mages would choose among themselves who would be the new king. The king also made good in satisfing his legion of recruits in case there was ever an attack. He made an inner courtyard where the soldiers could practice training and using weaponry. The inner chambers of the keep consisted of a forum, where the king and his mages would reside and gossip. There was the royal dining hall on the second floor with royal bedrooms. Down below was the dungeon where traitors of the government where kept, sometimes waiting for execution which would be done elsewhere. Then there was the royal chamber where the king consulted the gods daily. It is now rumored that the Keeper is now residing there. The great library is rumored to have caved in on itself and no one can get into it. Even if you did, probably all the books have been smashed and ruined, but no one knows for sure. 1 Mysterious Clue Room. Hints: If you've found the Yellow Key but you can't get back into the castle because of a collapsed ceiling? Well, go back to the upper part of the outer courtyard and open the door on the east side. Go to the back of the room and flip both switches. Now go down to the lower areas of the outer courtyard and flip the switch on the wall by the small garden. Tips: After exiting the cave where you found the blue key, pass the small pond and delve into the forest once more. Shortly ahead of you will be a huge tree trunk, yet the top of the tree is covered in foilage. Go past it and search the forest wall behind it and a little to the right. You'll slip into a secret path with some Chaingun ammo. In the royal temple, if you are running low on health and ammo when fighting the Nightmare Keeper, find this secret. >From the door you entered the temple room, go up the stairs on your right and turn left. Stop midway in the shadow of the wall. Press SPACEBAR on the wall to your left, the lower part of the wall will slide away revealing one case of RPG ammo and one case of Devastator ammo and an Atomic Health. Level 4: The Nightmare/ Author: WOLF The royal temple, the place where the King of Grune once ruled. It is now inhabited by the Nightmare Keeper. He instructs his minions to spread death, destruction and fear through the population from this vantage point. The royal temple is not just a ordinary temple, the emblazed cross on the center dais is actually a magical mirror of sorts. It places scenes and objects outside the castle onto the walls of the cross, thus how the Keeper is keeping tabs on you through your journeys in Grune. But now is the time to either save the cosmos or aid in the destruction of it. The Keeper's plan to enter into reality and kill the remaining gods and rule the cosmos is almost complete! Your job is to infiltrate his temple, solve the devious puzzle the Keeper placed on himself so you can not find him. Once the spell is broken, he is displaced back into the Land of Dreams ready and eager to fight you. 0 Mysterious Clue Rooms. Hints: Depending on your actions decides what attack the Keeper will bestow upon your puny head. :) So carefully watch what you are doing and note what reaction you get out of the Keeper while doing it. Tips: There is one secret area, listed it in the above level desciption hints. Level 5: Facility Of The Damned/ Author: WOLF (Secret Level) The Nightmare Keeper has been secretly plotting his take over long ago. He needed mass amount of power to create a legion of undead Grune citizens to overthrow the king and his army. He and his followers secretly built this technological monstrousity. Your job is to infiltrate the facility find the main power source and shut it down. You must also shut down the processing plant and go to the dream machine and destroy that and escape. STORY: Again, this facility was built to build up the Keeper's power so that he could overthrow the king of Grune. The facility was designed to do three things. One was to harness enough energy to at least get the facility going and operating. The second was a processing plant where helpless Grune citizens were pulveriezed and remade into Nightmare Enforcers. Third and last, was the Dream Machine. This was made so after conquering Grune, the Keeper would eventually merge into reality. There he would unleash his power on the world without dreams, if he should accomplish this, Earth and the rest of the cosmos would be doomed. For he would be able to control both dreams and reality. 0 Mysterious Clue Rooms. Hints: If you come across an area and you've pressed all the switches that you can and still you're not going any farther, then just blow something up! :) Tips: In the warehouse area with the cranes and the power generator, find the grinding gear that grinds minerals and slime to create new flesh. Jump in and head to the back of the tank to find an Atomic Health resting on the gear. After shutting down the power and the lights go out, hop back out and go near the tank with the gear. A wall should have been blown open. Jump in to find some Chaingun and Shrinker ammo. Also flip the switch there to continue onward. Level 6: Valley Of Despair/ Author: WOLF (Deathmatch Level) You're in a remote part of Grune, you and other dukes are duking it out! What else do you need to know? :) Okay, here's the story then. STORY: This valley was very prosperous back in the day of the Great Peace. This valley was once the capital of the government of the king. Since the Keeper took ahold of this place, they had to move to Grune. You'll see remaints of the earlier civilization that once prospered here. Well, now you too can add insult to injury by destroying the ruins even more! ;) Hints: If you can't seem to find the Shrinker, try searching around the area where the Shotgun is, you never know, you could come across an area where it has been hastily "built". Think explosive! :) Tips: There are a lot of sniping points where you can camp out and pick off other people. But in all fairness, I left your back open to attack. So be careful. Also, there is one suspended bridge leading to the Devastator. You can destroy it to make it harder for anyone else to grab the Devastator. :) There are also teleporters scattered throughout the area. Use them! Just be sure no one is on the other side waiting to gib you! NOTES: Now, you're asking, why the heck are the aliens I kicked in Grune? Well, Grune is a land of dreams right? The Keeper plays on your fears, he sized up Duke and found that Duke somewhat feared the aliens. So he decided that is what Duke shall face when trapped in Grune. Although the Keeper expects you to do a good job, he doesn't expect that you'll make it to Grune Keep, or Facility of the Damned for that matter. So if you get to either place, you'll have a chance to surprise him and maybe make him realize his mortality. MORE NOTES: There are three new items to be picked up as well. The first one is the Armor Shard. Each Armor Shard that is picked up will grant you 5 armor points to your total armor count. The second item is the big mug of beer. It won't send you to la-la land, but it will give you 10 health points per mug of beer. The third and last item is the elusive Magic Apple. There is only ONE in each level. Usually, they are hard to find. Each one you find gives you 100 health points and 50 armor points. AND EVEN MORE NOTES: There is one new enemy and one new boss in this TC. NIGHTMARE ENFORCER: Skinny, dark demon that preys on living flesh. Once a Grune citizen, is now a demon from imagination. The Grune population was taken hostage and fed to the processing plants that the Keeper erected. Through the process of pulverizing flesh with metal, these abominations were born. They shoot Plasma Shots and Morter Bombs, very dangerous! Never confront one head to head, always hide and use a hit and run tactic. Any other tactic might lead you to a sudden death at the end of a Plasma Shot. These things can take quite a beating before going down, so make sure you have sufficient ammo before taking them on. NIGHTMARE KEEPER: The mother of all battles, this demon god was born through the imagination of others and came to power rather quickly. It breeds on fear and loathing and hate sustains its power. If no one believed in him, he would shrivel and die, however, it doesn't look like people will be forgetting him right now. That is where you come in, you must destroy him and his plans to conquer reality. He will be dead temporarily, but like any god, if believed in, can come back. (hint, hint, hint {sequel}) You must never face him head on, that will likely get you killed very fast. If you run away from him, he just might shoot you in the back with Plasma Shots. Never duck to avoid shots, that only makes him throw Morter Bombs at you. And never, never let your health drop below 50, if it does, he might randomly shoot Shrinker Rays, if you get hit with one, you might as well call it quits! ====================================================================== Title : The Realms of Grune Filename : Grune.grp Author : WOLF E-mail : eifel1@worldnet.att.net Organization : Dark Flame Conversions Web Page : None yet Misc. Author Info : I like to howl and socialize with my pack. :) Other Author Info : HIRE ME! ;) Other Levels : Terra.map, Shipwrek.map, RETURN Episode, Grune Pak and others. The Story : You wake up in a bed full of sweat. You look around for any sign of what was once not there. You shiver as you gently lay back down onto your bed sheets. You contemplate what the hell that dream was about. A ravenous beast chasing you through a castle yelling threats to you about eating your soul. You can't make sense of it and decide it best to sleep on it and perhaps go to your psychiatrist tomorrow and see if he can make any sense of it. You gently relax and fall back into blissful slumber. A voice comes from the heavens and whispers, "Duke, you must stop the Nightmare Keeper, he will eat us all. Duke, you must stop him before its too late, you must..." Then it was gone. You hear growls from behind you and you spin around to face them only to see nothing there. You wonder, how odd. You then realize you are not in your house anymore, you appear to be in some gothic dungeon. Determined to see what the frag is going on, you push a clip into your pistol where once before, there was none. As you set out to explore, you mumble to yourself, "Someone's gonna pay for ruining my beauty sleep, if its the Nightmare Keeper who is responsible, then let him be the first one to die!" Welcome to Grune. Additional Credits To : I would like to thank 3dRealms for their Shadow Warrior art and for making Duke Nukem 3D. I thank Mystique for some of the art. I would also like to thank Scott who helped with Grune's inspiration. And NukeDukem, if you're reading this, I would like to thank you. I think you know why. ;) I cannot begin to thank Jenna Ramsey for her wonderful MIDI files. Those were truly works of art, Thank you! I personally like to thank Shawn Harkins and Gabe Crown for their support of this TC. Your weapons and art really made this TC! :) I would like to mention the wonderful people who beta-tested this TC: Shawn Harkin, Voodoo, NukeDukem, Mitchell Day (aka PI!), Luis Garcia, Blake Dent (aka WildFire), Justin Dent (aka The Mage!) and Tony Battafucio. For any one else I left out, I thank you as well. Finally I would like to thank my mother and father and my wolf pack for being there for me. (p.s. If there are ANY MIDIs', art, wavs or any other file that the author has not been credited for, I am sorry and I thank you as well. :) ) ====================================================================== * Play Information * Episode and Level # : E2L1, E2L2, E2L3, E2L4, E2L5, E2L6 Single Player : Yes DukeMatch 2-8 Player : Sort of, the Dukes and Teleporters are in there..... Cooperative 2-8 Player : Yes, just don't go into the teleporters, or you'll ruin the fun! :) Difficulty Settings : Yes, all four of them (So you wimpy guys can take it easy!) Plutonium Pak Required : Of course! New Art : Yes New Music : Yes New Sound Effects : Yes New .CON Files : Yes Demos Replaced : Demo1.dmo ===================================================================== * Construction * Base : All from scratch Level Editor(s) Used : BUILD, what else? Art Editor(s) Used : EDITART, what else? Construction Time : Too long Known Bugs : None. If you find any, I highly doubt it, but if you do, contact eifel1@worldnet.att.net and state specifically where and what the bugs do. When the Nightmare Enforcer shoots his Morter bombs, its normal to see that ugly brick texture for a second or two. * Where to get this MAP file * File location : Well, you have this file don't you? :) ===================================================================== *Important Information* Installation : There is no installation required unless you have version 1.1 and need to upgrade to 1.2. Here are the instructions: Full 1.2 Version: Just unzip all files onto your hard drive in your Duke3d Directory. There should be grgame.con, gruser.con, grdefs.con, demo1.amo, grstart.bat, grundo.bat and grune.grp. (along with credits.txt, interv~1.txt and grune.txt) All you have to do to start the game is double click on grstart.bat and follow the instructions from there! Upgrade to 1.2 Version: Unzip all files, which should be new.grp, credits.txt, grune.txt, grundo.bat, grstart.bat, and grinstal.bat. Once all is unzipped, double click on grinstall.bat and the process of merging the old group file with the new one should commence. (Note: Kextract and Kgroup exe files should be in the directory as well, you can find these files on your Duke3d CD-ROM) Grinstall.bat will delete itself once finished. Then after the grune.grp is regrouped with the new files, just double click on the grstart.bat and follow the instructions from there! Note: We highly recommend you put the necessary files and the grinstal.bat in a seperate directory from Duke3d before commencing the upgrade process. To Uninstall: Just click on grundo.bat and it will delete all files regarding Grune, however some files must be removed manually. (like saved games) The batch file will delete itself once finished. Important Notes : Save your game alot, it could really help you. Also, I made these levels so that you MUST write down clues and hints. There will be one or two big puzzles in the last level which can be solved by clues and hints scattered throughout the first, and second levels and maybe the third. This level pak finally makes you stop and look around to see if you've missed something and finally think! ;) (I love to make levels that strain the brain) Also, there are various amounts of teleporters scattered throughout each level that can only be played through multi-play. I did this so Dukematch flexibility could be achieved in these levels. I hope you enjoy the time I took to make these levels also deathmatch compatible. Copyright/Permissions: Authors MAY NOT use the GRUNE maps as a base to build additional levels. You MAY distribute GRUNE.ZIP, provided you include this file, with NO modifications. You MAY distribute GRUNE.ZIP in any electronic format (BBS,Diskette,CD,etc.) AS LONG AS you include this TXT intact and notify me. You MAY NOT include any GRUNE maps in any compilation. You MAY NOT alter these levels in any way. (This RULES OUT the chance of a patch for GRUNE) ======================================================================