Duke Nukem 3D
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| Duke Nukem 3D {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | 3D Realms {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | January 29 1996 (PC) May 25 1997 (Mac) April 1 2003 (Source) |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | PC (MS-DOS), Mac, Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis (Brazil only), Sony Playstation, game.com {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter developed by 3D Realms and released on January 29 1996 by Apogee Software, featuring the adventures of Duke Nukem, based on a character that had appeared in earlier platform games by the company: Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II.
Contents |
Synopsis
- "Murderous aliens have landed in futuristic Los Angeles, and humans suddenly find themselves atop the endangered species list. The odds are a million-to-one, just the way Duke likes it!"
Taking on the role of Duke Nukem, players must fight through 28 levels spread over three chapters. (A commercial upgrade later added a fourth episode of 11 additional levels.) As usual for a first-person shooter, players encounter a whole host of different enemies, and can engage them with a range of weaponry. As well as killing aliens to free the Earth, players must also solve puzzles to progress through the various levels. Some puzzles allow access to extra, hidden levels.
Humor
Image:DukeNukem3d-DoomedSpaceMarine.png Duke Nukem 3D is mainly notable for the often crude humor it introduced into what had previously been a fairly humorless genre, including a stream of one-liners (heavily inspired by Ash Williams and John Nada) from the title character. Many of these related to the frequently gruesome deaths meted out by the Duke ("That's gotta hurt"), interactions with useable props such as toilets ("Ahhh, much better") or noteworthy things Duke comes across and feels necessary to comment on, like Duke Nukem arcade machines ("Hmm... don't have time to play with myself."). Various Easter eggs appear in the game, such as a giant sign on a wall proclaiming "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" (signed "Levelord") in an area not accessible except by using a no-clip cheat.
The game also references and spoofs many films and other games. For instance, when the player comes upon a corpse that closely resembles the player character in Doom, Duke comments, "That's one doomed space marine." This quote became famous after websites dedicated to Duke Nukem 3D began reporting that Doom's developer, id Software, had filed a lawsuit against Apogee Games and 3D Realms, trying to obtain an injunction to remove it. (The suit was ultimately unsuccessful.) Another jab at a fellow shooter game was a line in a level in Episode 3 when a building (with a sticker warning of a fault line) blows up and partially collapses; Duke responds, "I ain't afraid of no quake", obviously poking fun at the game Quake, which was yet to be released.
The game freely plunders many themes from cinematic sources, notably the Alien (the proto-slimes come out of eggs exactly like those seen in the Alien series and people trapped in pods who whisper "kill me" like in Aliens and one deleted scene from Alien) and Evil Dead film series. There are also cameos from Indiana Jones (a dead Indy hanging in a cave that collapses), Star Trek: The Next Generation (a hidden recreation of the Enterprise bridge), Star Wars (the hanging corpse of Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper armor), Escape From L.A. (the corpse of the movie's lead character, Snake Plissken, on a pike, with Duke saying, "I guess he didn't escape from LA."), The Hunt for Red October (the submarine USS Dallas in Episode 1, Level 3), 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Terminator (where we see a crushed Terminator like at the end of the first movie whilst Duke utters 'terminated.'). In the Atomic Edition, the game contains references to Dirty Harry, Die Hard, Mission: Impossible, and Independence Day.
There are also references to the contemporaneous OJ Simpson trial, including the chase of Simpson's white Ford Bronco being played on TV sets in the game, and prominent billboards simply saying Innocent? and Guilty!.
Gameplay
Level design
A notable quality of the game is the immense interactivity and realism of its levels. While many past first-person shooter games like Doom take place within relatively confined corridors, usually in gloomy, claustrophobic bases, the levels of Duke Nukem 3D take the player through attractively rendered street scenes, military bases, deserts, flooded cities, space stations, moon bases and even Japanese villas. Levels were also designed in a fairly non-linear manner such that players can advantageously use air ducts, back doors and sewers to avoid enemies or find hidden secrets, which also makes the levels well suited to deathmatch. As well as being highly detailed (for the time), these locations are also filled with objects that the player can interact with (including light switches, toilets, pool tables, arcade games, closed-circuit cameras, and, infamously, strippers). While these rarely have a crucial role in play (the closed-circuit cameras being a tactical exception), they give Duke Nukem 3D an immersive feel greater than that in its rivals. As previously indicated, they also usually added considerably to its humor.
An extra "feature" in the game that can be exploited by players is warping (i.e. teleportation from place to place very quickly). This feature will only operate at some very specific locations in the game, and usually only under complex sequences and/or simultaneous moves. Many players particularly liked these warps as they were very difficult to find and because they were able to convey powerful advantage during play. In fact, the warps are nothing more than an unwanted bug in the software, more specifically in the 3D engine. 3D Realms eventually fixed most of the warps in version 1.5 (also known as Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition). However, for many experienced players the warps contributed a lot to their enjoyment of the game, and many people kept playing with the earlier version v1.3d (in which the warps were allowed), instead of using the v1.5. Most of these warps were an indirect result of the Build engine's inability to support rooms on top of other rooms. The developers had to work around this problem by overlapping different rooms to give the illusion of different floors. Crouching or jumping around in certain spots inside said overlapped rooms would occasionally confuse the game and warp the player to another "floor". This concept can also be seen in underwater portions of the game - crouching down on the surface of the water will actually teleport the player to a completely different sector shaped to look like an underwater room. However, this behaviour is intentional and is used to create the illusion of being underwater.
Weapons and equipment
Image:Dukenukem3dscreenshot.jpg The game also features some of the most varied weapons in any first-person shooter game. Traditional weapons such as pistols, shotguns and machine guns are augmented by the inclusion of a range of more imaginative weapons, some of which, even today (Q1 2006), are still unique to the Duke Nukem series. Pipe bombs with remote triggers and laser trip bombs allow the player to set traps for enemies to blunder into. A freeze gun locks enemies in a block of ice long enough for Duke to smash them with a well-placed shot or boot. A shrink ray turns enemies into vulnerable miniature versions of themselves, that again are at the mercy of Duke's boot (using mirrors, the shrink ray could also be used on Duke himself to complete objectives that required a shorter stature). Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition featured a new weapon, the Expander, created by augmenting the shrink ray with a microwave dish. Contrary to the miniaturization effect the shrink ray has on enemies, the expander causes them to inflate and explode instead.
Aside from weapons, Duke's inventory also includes a series of items that could be picked up during play. A portable medkit allows players to heal themselves whenever they choose to. Steroids speed up player movement making transit through hostile territory easier (additionally, they render the player immune to the effects of the Shrink Ray, especially useful in multiplayer mode). Infra-red goggles allow players to see enemies in the dark. The "HoloDuke" device projects a hologram of Duke that can be used to distract enemies. Protective boots allow the player to cross dangerously hot or toxic terrain. Where progress requires more aquatic legwork, an aqualung allows the player to take longer trips away from air. Perhaps most impressively, a jet pack allows the player to range fully in 3D, often to reach carefully hidden weapons caches or extra health, although typically jet pack availability is restricted to avoid making levels too easy.
Monsters
Template:Main The game features a wide range of monsters, some of which are bona fide aliens, others mutated humans (the LAPD has been "turned" into pigs, with LARD wittily emblazoned on their uniforms). As usual for a first-person shooter, Duke encounters a large number of lesser foes, and a small number of boss enemies (usually at the end of chapters). Like Duke, these enemies have access to a wide range of weapons and equipment (some weaker enemies have jet packs). In keeping with the general tone of the game, Duke's enemies frequently experience humourous deaths, or engage in amusing, everyday activities (e.g. using the toilet).
Multiplayer
Fans may have happy memories of Duke Nukem 3D's network gaming maps. In particular, fort was the pick of the community maps especially for 2 or 4 player mode. The game can be played either in Death Match with or without monsters or in co-operative mode versus the monsters, a feature ever less frequent in newer first-person shooter games.
Criticism and Controversy
The game has been heavily attacked by some critics, who allege that it promotes pornography and murder. For example, Media Watch wrote that:
- "Duke Nukem 3D moves the 'shooter' through pornography stores, where Duke can use XXX sex posters for target practice. Duke throws cash at a prostituted woman telling her to 'Shake it, Baby' his gun ever ready. In Duke Nukem bonus points are awarded for the murder of these mostly prostituted and partially nude women. Duke blows up stained glass windows in an empty church or goes to strip clubs where Japanese women lower their kimonos exposing their breasts. Duke is encouraged to kill defenseless, often bound women." [1]
While some of this criticism is exaggerated (e.g. players do not receive points for killing women, and are usually attacked for doing so), the extreme depiction of women in Duke Nukem 3D is notable. George Broussard, the president of 3D Realms, defends the game, noting its success and arguing that consumers obviously do not find the content abusive or immoral. However, success with some consumers is clearly not evidence that Duke Nukem 3D is more widely acceptable. Significantly, virtually all of the women that appear in the game are either strippers, prostitutes, cheerleaders or alien prisoners (although a few of the following franchise sequels changed this, with Duke fighting alongside strong female characters). This treatment of women is extreme even by the standards of video games. It could be viewed as ironic and over-the-top parody of Hollywood action-film stereotypes; but, unsurprisingly, it causes offence.
As a result of a gunman's rampage through a movie theatre in Brazil, Duke Nukem 3D was banned in that country along with Quake and Doom and several other violent first-person shooters, due to Duke Nukem 3D's opening level "Hollywood Holocaust" (Episode 1, Mission 1) where Duke inevitably gets into a firefight with aliens inside a cinema. Unlike Carmageddon (which was banned in Brazil too) this did not prevent the game from being published in a computer magazine. Quake was still found in a "Best Seller" package years later and Doom's Collectors Edition and Doom 3, as Quake III Arena, and other shooters are still found and sold legally in Brazil.
Years later there would be a similar controversy about the Grand Theft Auto series distributed by Take-Two Interactive. Coincidentally, Take-Two Interactive is the prospective distributor for Duke Nukem Forever, the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D.
Official Addons
Plutonium PAK/Atomic Edition
The Atomic Edition of Duke Nukem 3D was released in late 1996, and contained the original 3 episode game as well as a new eleven-level fourth episode. The Plutonium PAK was also released as an upgrade package to convert the original release of Duke Nukem 3D (v1.3d) to the new Atomic Edition (v1.4, later patched to v1.5).
The Atomic Edition introduces three enemies: the Protector Drone, the Pig Cop Tank, and a new boss known as The Queen. It also includes a new weapon, the Microwave Expander.
The Atomic Edition also has several improvements to the scripting language of the game, allowing the game's active modding community to create new enemies and items without overwriting the pre-existing ones.
EDuke
Following the release of the Doom source code in 1997, many of those in the modding community began wishing for a similar source code release from 3D Realms. The last major game to make use of the Duke Nukem 3D source code was WW2GI in 1999. Its programmer, Matthew Saettler, expanded greatly upon the scripting language used by modders to change many aspects of the game.
Saettler let it be known that he was willing to expand further upon WW2GI's scripting language, and shortly thereafter agreed to make his enhancements available for Duke Nukem 3D with the permission of 3D Realms.
Shortly thereafter, 3D Realms approved the project. Saettler was the sole programmer, working with several mod authors to beta-test the new addition that would carry the Duke Nukem 3D version numbering to v2.0 and be titled EDuke.
EDuke was released as a patch for Atomic Edition users on July 28, 2000, and included a demo mod made by several beta testers. The demo included new sector-based effects, sprite-based elevators, ladders, a bouncing particle fountain, a personal teleporter, and a more sophisticated translucent water effect.
Saettler has since archived his original Eduke site for reference.
Unofficial Addons
Commercial Addons
Although Plutonium Pak is the only official add-on pack, some companies have marketed their own add-on packs for Duke Nukem 3D. Of these, the most well-known are :
- Duke Caribbean: This game supposedly takes place after Duke Nukem 3D. Duke relaxes on a tropical island when he discovers that the aliens are having their own "vacation". This add-on pack has often been praised by players.
- Duke it Out in D.C.: Duke Nukem has been called out to rescue US President Bill Clinton from an abduction.
- Duke Nuclear Winter: The aliens have taken over the North Pole, and kidnapped Santa Claus. Duke Nukem must fight the aliens to rescue him. Although this add-on has been praised for its Christmas theme, it has still been criticized for unoriginality and poor level design.
- Duke Xtreme: This add-on pack contains around 50 levels and many utilities for Duke Nukem 3D. This pack has often been criticized for its many software bugs.
Modifications
Many mods/total conversions of Duke Nukem 3D have appeared on the Internet, including Jesse Petrilla's controversial conversions Quest for Al-Qa'eda: The Hunt for Bin Laden and Quest for Hussein, in which the player is a U.S. Marine who must single-handedly dispose of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, respectively.
Duke Nukem 3D's graphic engine was an evolutionary step from the engine used for Doom. While the levels were still defined as 2D maps, the capabilities of Ken Silverman's Build engine allowed more complex levels than Doom. Since Duke Nukem 3D was still not a fully 3D engine, it was considered to be a 2.5D game. Although the era of true 3D games had begun with Descent in 1995, it would not be until Quake was released later in 1996 that a true 3D engine would be used for an FPS.
Source code ports
The source code to the Duke Nukem 3D v1.5 executable, which uses the Build engine, was released under the GPL on April 1 2003. However, the game content still remains the sole property of 3D Realms. The game was quickly ported by enthusiasts to modern OSes, including Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. As of 2005, these ports gave the game a second life in multiplayer games through the Internet and a growing community is still actively playing.
Standard ports
The first Duke Nukem 3D port is the icculus.org port. It is a cross-platform port that allows the game to be played on Linux, Windows, BeOS, Solaris, OSX, and FreeBSD. The icculus.org codebase would later be used in the Rancidmeat port, and later, the xDuke port. The game has also been ported to the Xbox.
Currently the most prominent port is Jonathon Fowler's JFDuke3D, which in December 2003 received backing from the original author of Build, programmer Ken Silverman. Fowler, in cooperation with Ken, released a new version of JFDuke3D using Polymost, an OpenGL-enhanced renderer for Build, which allows hardware acceleration and 3D model support, along with 32 bit color high resolution textures.
Silverman has since helped Jonathon Fowler with a large portion of other engine work, including updating the network code and continuing to maintain various other aspects of the engine. Projects such as the Duke 3D High Resolution Pack [2] were started in order to take advantage of the various engine improvements and attempt to update Duke's graphical resources almost to the level of modern games. Plans are still in the works to include additional engine features as time goes on.
EDuke and other ports
The first port aimed at expanding features for mod authors is an experimental port called CDuke, authored by Colourless. It cleaned up and enhanced some unused code in the original source designed to allow translucent sector-based water and other "sector over sector" effects. The implementation is not perfect, but shows promise. CDuke is also the first port to demonstrate voxels within Duke Nukem 3D, which had been seen in other Build engine games. The port ceased production shortly after it was released.
EDuke is a branch of Duke Nukem 3D that was officially released by 3D Realms in 2000; it focused primarily on enhancing the CON scripting language in ways which allowed those modifying the game to do much more with the scripting system than originally possible. Around May of 2003, not long after the release of the Duke Nukem 3D source code, Blood project manager Matt Saettler released the source for both EDuke 2.0, the version of EDuke released by 3D Realms, and EDuke 2.1, the test version of what was to become the next official EDuke release. A few ports emerged (most notably WinEDuke and EDuke 2.1.1), but it was not until the release of Richard Gobeille's EDuke32 (an extended version of JFDuke3D which incorporates Saettler's EDuke code) in 2004 that EDuke became a real community focus.
Console ports
Image:Duke Nukem 3D Genesis.png In 1997, Duke Nukem 3D was ported to all the major consoles of the time; the PlayStation version, Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown, includes six extra levels and slightly inferior graphics when compared to the PC version. [3]
The Sega Saturn version retains the original name and lacks extra levels, but uses a true 3D engine as opposed to the 2.5D engine that all other Duke Nukem console ports used. Other features that are exclusive to the Saturn version are Lightmaps as opposed to sector-based lighting, and dynamic colored lighting. It is also capable of using the Sega NetLink for online gaming. [4]
The Nintendo 64 version, Duke Nukem 64, has a split screen 4-player mode as well as bi-linear filtered textures, however it is still at its core a 2.5D engine and is not capable of true 3D architecture. In addition the game is considerably censored, with most of the sexually suggestive material removed.
In 1998, it was also ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis by Tec Toy [5]. The obscurity of this port (it was only released in Brazil) has frequently led to it being mistaken for an unlicensed "hack". It is not based off any other game made for the Mega Drive, instead it was programmed from the ground up by TecToy. The legality of the port is currently unknown, with 3D Realms not giving a clear answer.
Additionally, a version of Duke Nukem 3D was also released for the Game.com, Tiger's short lived handheld system. Due to the console's hardware limitations, this version is not a true first person shooter but instead a sort of "dungeon crawl".
Successors
Duke Nukem Forever
Today, the long-promised sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, is still in production after 9 years of development. Duke Nukem Forever last made a public appearance at the E3 of 2001, where a video trailer of the game was released, citing again the "When It's Done" release date. However, even that recent appearance no longer represents the true state of the game, which, according to 3D Realms President George Broussard, has been rebuilt from the ground up at least twice.
Sin
The game Sin is considered by some a spiritual sequel to Duke Nukem 3D. Like Duke Nukem 3D, Sin features a vocal main-character, over-the-top guns, hideous monsters, large-breasted women, and a realistic near-future setting. Ritual Entertainment, Sin's developer, was founded by several members of the Duke Nukem 3D team.
Crew and cast
Todd Replogle, Allen H. Blum III, George Broussard, Greg Malone, Ken Silverman, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dose, Richard Gray, Chuck Jones, Stephen Hornback, Dirk Jones, James Storey, David Demaret, Douglas R. Wood, Lee Jackson, Robert Prince, Lani Minella, Jon St. John, Robert M. Atkins, Michael Hadwin, and Duke Nukem.
External links
- Official Duke Nukem 3D homepage
- Duke4.net, featuring Duke3D content.
- Planet Duke (GameSpy)
- Template:Moby game
- 3D Realms Duke Nukem 3D Source Boards
- JFDuke3D -- JonoF's Duke Nukem 3D port (cross-platform)
- EDuke32 -- TerminX's EDuke port (cross-platform)
- Duke3d_w32 -- Bargle's Duke Nukem 3D port (Windows)
- xDuke -- xDuke's Duke3d_w32 based Duke Nukem 3D port (Windows)
- Dukester X -- Manage multiplayer games of Duke Nukem 3D on the Internet; supports the Duke3d_w32 and JFDuke3D ports.
- The Duke Nukem 3D High Resolution Pack -- Art and models to enhance your playing experience when using either JFDuke3D or EDuke32.
- Mikko Sandt's Duke Nukem 3D Page -- Duke3D fan-site
- Alejandro's Mapping Center -- active Duke3D map community
- Complete FAQ / Walkthrough
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