DOS

Duke Nukem 3D

Trivia

In 1999, a 24-year old Brazilian went on a shooting rampage in a Sao Paulo movie theater, killing 3 and wounding 8 more. It was made out to be influenced by a Duke Nukem 3D level as he was a computer buff... but he also suffered depression and traces of cocaine were found in his system. As a result, a judge banned the sale of the game in Brazil along with Doom, Mortal Kombat, Requiem: Avenging Angel, Blood, and Postal for being too violent and affecting the minds of gamers negatively.

Duke Nukem 3D was named #37 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time” by Computer Gaming World Magazine (15th Anniversary Issue--November 1996).

Contributed by PCGamer77 (3025) on May 01, 2008.

Although Duke Nukem 3D uses only a pseudo-3D like Doom, it is possible to achieve things in Duke Nuke 3D that you couldn't do in a proper 3D game. Duke Nukem 3D's levels are made up of 2D planes, and some of those planes can overlap. For example, it is possible to walk into a building and enter a room larger than the actual building was. Another example can be found in the secret level in episode two, "Lunatic Fringe", where there is a 720 degree circle that overlaps itself once.

The PlayStation port of Duke Nukem 3D contains the fourth Episode "Plug and Pray" including some new enemies. This episode with 6 extra levels (Nightmare Zone, Trackside Tragedy, Gates Motel, Duke Royale, Alien Rendezvous and Ministry of Fear) is only available on the PlayStation platform. It is not the same fourth episode featured in Duke Nukem 3D: Plutonium Pak.

Duke Nukem 3D is perhaps the earliest game to include an in-game reference to one of the creators' email address. You would probably never find it unless you were looking for it, but on the first level go into the bathroom and have a close look at the bottom right corner of the wall with the urinals on it. You will see "stryker (at) Metronet.com", this was Allen Blum III's email address for a while. Don't bother emailing it now as it became non-functional many years ago.

The Macintosh version of Duke Nukem 3D was released some time after the original DOS game. It already included the "Plutonimum Pack" extension but shipped without the famous Build editor which players could use to create their own levels.

The Mac version featured a new cheat specially designed for Apple users: If you type in "DNMACS" all the surveillance monitors will display a Macintosh desktop complete with the trash can in the lower left corner. Additionally, the movie in the theatre in the first level that shows an exotic dancer was replaced by Apple's famous "1984" commercial, advertising the first Macintosh.

Unlike the N64 and PlayStation ports, the Saturn version of Duke Nukem 3D does not use a port of the Build Engine. Instead, the game is recreated in SlaveDriver engine, which was also used in Powerslave. Lobotomy Software made both games.

Putting the parental lock on doesn't really remove the strippers; it just makes them "invisible". That means that they can still block your way, and if you press the spacebar against them, you'll still see Duke give money to the "invisible" stripper and say "Shake it, baby". So chances are, if you have the parental lock on and something "invisible" is blocking your way, you've probably come across an "invisible" stripper.

Full versions (all episodes) of Duke Nukem and Duke Numem II for DOS are included on the Duke Nukem 3D CD.

Contributed by LepricahnsGold (42891) on Jun 16, 2006.

Wal-Mart required special editions of this game to be made before they would sell it. Identical to the original game in most aspects, they toned down the gore and removed nudity. Also included is a parental lock.

On June 29, 1996, Duke Nukem 3D was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS.

Note: Indexed products by the BPjS/BPjM are illegal to sell or make available to minors in Germany and it is illegal to advertise for it in any form. But there is absolutely no law forbidding any adult to buy such a product. The only exception is when a game was in addition also confiscated (or put on the so-called "List B" for BPjM games), but this is rather seldom the case.

In this particularly case here, Duke Nukem 3D was just indexed, but not confiscated.

However, due to the fact that advertisement also means the presence of a product on the shelves of a store, the product will disappear from the public. But it can be bought in supporting stores "under the desk" (per request).

BPjS/BPjM = German Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften/Medien = Federal Examination Office for Youth-Endangering Publications/Media.

Duke Nukem 3D was ranked # 15 in the 50 Best Games of All Time list published by PC Gamer Magazine in its April 2005 issue.

Contributed by PCGamer77 (3025) on Mar 19, 2005.

There were Coke cans in the first two Duke Nukem games but not in Duke Nukem 3D, because 3D Realms was afraid of Coke coming down on them for using their Coke cans.

Duke Nukem was one of the first games to employ a realtime audio effect to its sounds. If you went underwater, a calculated reverb was applied to sounds being played..

Contributed by Santa (847) on Jan 16, 2005.

There is an interesting story regarding the Australian release of Duke Nukem 3D.

The OFLC, the Office of Film and Literature classification, refused to classify the uncensored version, which was distributed in the US as well as the UK. The local distributors were told that Duke3D would not pass inspection of its uncensored form, so they released a crippled version with all violence, nudity, and language removed. Furthermore, the adult lock feature was permanently switched on.

Later, die-hard gamers developed a crack that allowed access to the uncensored version, and gamers were playing the proper game in no time. When the OFLC found out that this was happening, they recalled the game for reclassification and all copies of the game were withdrawn from sale around the country.

A court found that the censors had exceeded their authority, and irritated by the controversy, the distributors encourage people to sign a petition that asked for an R18+ classification to be added to computer games, but its fate is unknown.

In April 1997, the censors decided to release the US uncensored version of Duke3D, but it is unclear why the OFLC changed their minds - whether it had been due to the new Classification Board membership, or to slightly political attitudes that changed regarding computer games.

Source: http://anthonylarme.tripod.com/phantas/phdanger.html

Dust off that copy of Duke Nukem 3D and ignore what everybody is saying! It is compatible with Windows XP and you don't need a dual boot to get it to run. All you need to do is download a file called NOLFB (compatible with all BUILD games) from Ken Silverman's website that turns off the feature in the game that makes it crash! The downside is that you will have to run NOLFB through command prompt every time you want to play.

Action Forms was working on a hunting game spinoff of Duke Nukem 3D called Duke Nukem: Endangered Species. The game was to feature hunting strange animals in suburban locales. It was cancelled.

When you get to the Hotel Hell level there is a secret place where you can find Indiana Jones dead speared to a wall and Duke says "We meet again, Dr. Jones..."

According to information from 3d Realms' own forums, at the beginning of of the development of Duke3d, they briefly considered making it a "First-person sidescroller".

Not so hard to figure out why this this idea was almost immediately abandoned, is it? ;)

Duke Nukem 3D was released at the same time as ID Software's Quake. Although both were very different games with a unique level of innovation, there still was some stiff rivalry between them.

This is expressed best by the duke himself on Level E3L4 (LA Rumble). In the centre of the level, you’ll find a replica of the Texas HQ of ID Software. On a small ledge in front of the building, you see a sign “quake site”. Jump on the sign to set off an earthquake. The duke responds: “I ain’t afraid of no quake”.

Contributed by Sciere (119174) on Aug 19, 2003.

After many years of requests from fans, 3D Realms released the source code for Duke Nukem 3D on April 1, 2003. More information on where you can download it can be found on 3D Realms website: http://www.3drealms.com

Want to see something weird and gruesome?

Check this: Turn on God Mode (I won't spoil it here, check the tips section). Then turn your jetpack on. Fly really, really high. When you are at the top, suddenly turn the jetpack off. You will fall, of course. Now, change the view to third person perspective. Not very close to a beauty contest... :)

Duke's one-liners are more than "inspired by" the Evil Dead movies, they are blatantly stolen from them. Bruce Campbell (who delivers the lines as Ashley "Ash" Williams in the movies) has been very vocal about the issue. Consider this interview with Verbosity...

V: Are you familiar with the game Duke Nukem 3-D? If so, are you aware of the similarities between its lead character and Ash in the way of mentality and catch phrases? Are you flattered by this sort of "borrowing" of your work?

BC: What can I say? Maybe they're just cheese-balls who can't conceive of an original idea and feel compelled to rip off Ash. Imitation is indeed a form of flattery, but paying a guy is an even better form.

(Full text at http://verbosity.wiw.org/issue7/bruce.html)

Or, this interview with IGN for Men...

IGN For Men: The Duke Nukem videogame character is obviously an homage to you, at least your attitude...

Bruce Campbell: What?!

IGN For Men: The Duke Nukem character?

Bruce Campbell: Really?

IGN For Men: I would say so.

Bruce Campbell: I'm kidding, I'm well aware of Duke Nukem.

IGN For Men: Have you been approached for the movie at all?

Bruce Campbell: No, and I would say no because of the way they've handled it.

IGN For Men: How have they handled it?

Bruce Campbell: Well, they're rip-off artists. Let them get their own damn material. It's called hiring a writer. They're blatantly ripping it off and if I was any kind of litigious guy they would've gotten a phone call by now. It's depressing and I think it's wrong. That's why Tachyon: The Fringe will kick little Duke's ass any day.
[Campbell lend his voice to Tachyon's main character Jake Logan. -- Editor]

(Full text at http://formen.ign.com/news/11886.html)

The Sega Saturn release of the game actually features a hidden bonus game called "Death Tank Zwei". To unlock it, you either have to destroy each and every toilet in the game (!) or, which is certainly the easier way, you need a copy of the Saturn version of either "Quake" or "Exhumed" (aka "Powerslave"). Any save game from these two titles also opens DTZ in Duke Nukem 3D. Death Tank Zwei is a multiplayer game for up to seven players. Much like "Worms", only you control tanks and the game takes place in real time (i.e. no turn taking, but live action). It's huge fun when you have at least three players.

Some quotes from Duke, like "Groovy!", are inspired in Sam Ash, the main character of the "Evil Dead" movie trilogy, played by Bruce Campbell and directed by Sam Raimi.

The editors of PC Gamer ranked 'Duke Nukem 3D' #12 in the Top 50 Games of all time, in their October 2001 issue, citing the games humor and pop-culture references.

The metal group "Megadeth" made a cover of the theme song.

The 2.5D engine in DUKE3D added a few interesting tricks, like teleportation from one location to another. This was used to simulate multiple floor levels quite effectively. For example, in the intro, when you take the elevator up, you actually teleport to a different part of the map containing the second floor. If you use the top-down map and zoom all the way out, you can actually see the different parts of the map.

On 1997 ReSaurus released "Duke Nukem Action Figures" based on this popular game. The only series released consists of: Duke Nukem, Night Strike Duke, OctaBrain, PigCop, BattleLord and the limited edition S.W.A.T. Duke Nukem.

The full commercial-release version of Duke Nukem 3D is bundled with the May 2001 edition of PC Gamer (v8n5).

On January 29th, 2001, Duke Nukem 3D celebrated its 5th birthday. To this day, levels and mods are still being made for it. "Hail to the King, Baby"!!

Contributed by Kartanym (9909) on Feb 10, 2001.

The game was full of pop culture references. You'll see Homer Simpson's beer (slightly misspelled) mentioned on a blimp, OJ Simpson (a big billboard with the worlds GUILTY?), and much more.

The first level of the game is very closely based on the cult movie by John Carpenter, Escape from New York. The similarities are mind boggling, right down to some of the speech 'Hail to the king baby'.

Duke Nukem 3D was voted #13 overall in PCGamer Magazine's Readers All-Time Top 50 Games Poll (April 2000 issue).

Contributed by PCGamer77 (3025) on Jan 21, 2001.

Duke 3D also left his mark on the world of console gaming with conversions to most game platforms available at its time, sadly none achieved a success similar to its original incarnation. The PSX's conversion although faithful was seriously flawed to the point of being unplayable. The N64 conversion added new weapons, levels, and enemies (some even 3d-rendered) but completely G-rated the game removing the girls, the "Duke-talk", etc...

Interestingly enough the most faithful conversion ended up being the Sega Saturn one.

Duke Nukem 3D version 1.0 was first released on January 29th, 1996. This game went on to be one of the best selling PC games of all time.

In the third level first episode, the prison, in the shape near where you see the dead space marine from Doom, if you look up you can see a hanging monk. the very same kind of DeathFire monk in Tom Hall's Opus Rise of the Triad, done by 3D Realm's Alter Ego Company Apogee. Tom Hall also did some creative work for Duke 1, 2, and 3D.

The famous 'I've come to kick ass and chew gum - and I'm all out of gum' line is lifted straight from John Carpenter's 'They Live', as spoken by 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper.

In the third level of the first episode of the game, there's a secret passage in the prison chapel that leads to the rat-infested body of the main character from Doom. He's even in the same death pose as in Doom. Upon seeing him Nukem says "That's one doomed space marine". Apparently 3D Realms continued this trend in Shadow Warrior where they nailed Lara Croft to a wall.

The developers released "Lame Duke" at the first anniversary of Duke Nukem 3D. This was a very early beta version, and it was spread for free on the internet. It was called "lame" because it actually is lame, almost everything changed till to the release - try to get your hands on it! :)

Contributed by robotriot (6380) on Dec 07, 1999.

The Duke Nukem config file is ASCII text and very easy to understand and modify. However, even though it should be possible to support VESA modes greater than 800x600 by modifying the config file, it crashes the game.

Contributed by Trixter (8865) on Nov 02, 1999.

The Build engine, written by Ken Silverman, improved on DOOM in several ways, including (but not limited to):

• Sloped ceilings and floors
• High-res SVGA and VESA support
• True rooms above rooms
• Moving vehicles
• Transparent sprites
• Underwater swimming
• Map sectors can move during game play

Contributed by Trixter (8865) on Nov 02, 1999.