TTYW - Behind the Scenes: Carribean Catastrophe

Angel Ramon
Nov 14, 2017
3 min read

Today we take a behind the scene look at the first level of the Life's a Beach expansion pack, Carribean Catastrophe. Yes, as you can see by the screenshot it's another level inspired by my favorite first person shooter, Duke Nukem 3D. We're taking it to the the island of Puerto Rico, so this is where the heroes think they are about to enjoy a vacation on Angel's homeland, but soon it will be time to limbo!

It's the first level of the expansion pack and it's not all that difficult even on the harder difficulty levels. After all you're in a resort, so you have to go in and kickass but enjoy the scenery at the same time. This tends to be one of my favorite levels of the Life's a Beach expansion pack as it's simply fun to explore and has many secrets to find. No mini bosses or any parts that are memorably hard, just a great intro level to the epsiode. Includes what you normally find at a resort, like a pool, reception area, bedrooms, bars, and a disco hall to Duke's dismay. The only things that might throw you off are the inflatable pig cops that are also in the book as well, see below.

This expansion pack was exclusive to the PC version and never ported to any video game consoles, probably for the better in my opinion. I really enjoyed this chapter as it gave me many opportunites for comedic scenes and open the door to several possiblites. It took me a while to finish as the level is rather big and even more time consuming while trying to write with four MC's and POV's. The characters are just getting into the video game world rendition of Puerto Rico, so not too many emotional or groundbreaking scenes. It has the feel of your classic FPS, minus the melee combat that I inserted just to add a twist.

Here's a quick blurb of what to expect from the level: Angel, Maria, Ben, and Steven thought they were going to enjoy a lesure vacation in Puerto Rico. However, the gloobas launched a surprise attack in Salinas, Puerto Rico where the four were staying in the real world. They run to a warp in a bathroom where they are transported to the video game world known as The Thousand Years War game. The four will indeed get a chance to explore the newly bulit resort in Salinas. Too bad, they will have unwanted company in the form of those alien bastards who have come back to wreck havoc on Earth.

(Above: A random scene from the resort that shows the beautiful blue skies and other buildings in the resort area.)

This is the very first level in the Life's a Beach epsiode, all you need is the expansion pack and a copy of Duke 3D to enjoy this level and the rest.

Secrets of Carribean Catastrophe:

-There is a vent before Ben and Angel get to the casino that Angel can access to get up to the roof of the resort, Upon arrival he will find a familiar friend from the first adventure.

- There is an actual resort in Salinas, but its far more modest than the one that is in the book.

-Maria can pick up the first Atomic Health of the game by just fitting into a "Small but secured area"

- A popular disco song plays in the background when Ben and Angel are in the Karaoke bar. The song is Staying Alive by Bee Gees.

- Ben expresses his displeasure with the disco music genre.

- The picture of the Cha-Cha dancer is more than meets the eye...

- The heroes think they will escape, but the gloobas have quite the surprise for them.

Players in the level: Four

Difficulty if it were actually a game: Easy - Medium

Actually Difficulty in Duke Nukem 3D: Easy on Piece of Cake and Let's Rock. Medium on Come Get Some and Damn I'm Good.

That just about wraps it up for another edition of TTYW - Behind the scenes. As always please like and comment if you're enjoying this blog series. You can pre-order your copy of the newest book for only $2,99 before it goes up to $3.99 on November 24th when it launches.