The Official Duke Nukem 3D FAQ Version 0.4
The author retains all rights to this FAQ.
Disclaimer-
I take no responsibility if anything bad happens to someone or something
as a result of reading this FAQ. Read at your own risk. I do not
guarantee that everything in this FAQ is correct.
Please send all comments and correction to zeuxis@wwa.com
1. Introduction
1.1. What Is Duke Nukem 3D?
1.2. What Is 3D Realms?
1.3. Contributers To This FAQ
2. What And When
2.1. When Will Duke Nukem 3D Be Released?
2.2. When Will An Official Slide Show Be Released?
2.3. Will A Shareware Version Be Available?
2.4. Is The Registered Version Going To Be CD-ROM Based Only?
2.5. What Are The System Requirements?
2.6. What Kind Of Weapons Will There Be?
2.7. What Kinds Of Multiplayer Capabilities Will There Be?
3. The Build Engine
3.1. What Is The Build Engine?
3.2. What Makes The Build Engine Better?
3.3. What Games Use The Build Engine?
3.4. Who Programmed The Build Engine?
3.5. Miscellaneous Notes About The Build Engine
4. The People Behind Duke Nukem 3D
4.1. Programmers
4.2. Artists
4.3. Musicians
5. Ways To Obtain This FAQ
5.1. E-Mail
5.2. Newsgroups
5.3. Finger
5.4. World Wide Web
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1. Introduction
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1.1. What Is Duke Nukem 3D?
Duke Nukem 3D is the third installment in the popular Duke Nukem action game
series. It began in 1991 when Apogee released Duke Nukem I and continued in
1993 when Duke Nukem II was released.
This is an excerpt from the Internet Finger Info from Apogee & 3D Realms
Entertainment that describes some more about Duke Nukem 3D.
* Duke Nukem 3D -- Picks up where Duke II left off, where Duke heads back to
Earth only to find it has been captured. Duke lands on a space station in
the first episode, then proceeds to Los Angeles. Cool effects include being
able to blow up buildings with the most powerful weapons, fly in a jetpack,
or board a subway system.
1.2. What Is 3D Realms?
3D Realms is the label Apogee uses to release their 3D games. They are
creating Duke Nukem 3D. So far 3D Realms has released one game,
Terminal Velocity. For more information about 3D Realms read the 3D Realms
FAQ found at ftp.uml.edu in the directory /msdos/Games/3drealms/faq; the
filename is 3drealms.faq.
1.3. Contributers To This FAQ
In no praticular order....
Apogee FAQ maintained by Samuel Stoddard
Hank Leukart ap641@cleveland.freenet.com
George Broussard Pres. of 3D Realms george.broussard@swcbbs.com
Kenneth J. Silverman kjs@lems.brown.edu
Joe Siegler apogee@metronet.com
Samuel Stoddard ss1@christa.unh.edu
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2. What And When
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2.1. When Will Duke Nukem 3D Be Released?
3D Realms maintains the game will be out when it is ready. They are
aiming to release it before Christmas, but no official release date has
been set. Furthermore, they will hold the game until early January if
they don't think it is ready for release. "We will NOT rush the game to
make some lame deadline," George Broussard (President of 3D Realms) claims.
2.2. When Will An Official Slide Show Be Released?
There is one available now. It contains 20 screen shots of Duke Nukem 3D
never before released. The official slide show can be found at the
3D Realms web page (http://www.3drealms.com). Other places to possibly find
the slide show include: Major Online Services, Bulletin Board Systems, and
Game Related Web Sites
2.3. Will A Shareware Version Be Available?
Yes, a shareware version will be released. The shareware version will
contain 6 levels 1 of which is hidden. 4 of the 6 levels
included will be about right for network play, while the other 2 are
going to be fairly large. Included in the full version is going to be at
least 18 levels, but possibly as many as 21. Expect the shareware
version to clock in somewhere around 4-5 megs.
2.4. Is The Registered Version Going To Be CD-ROM Based Only?
A CD-ROM is required for the registered version.
2.5. What Are The System Requirements?
The minimum system requirements are a 486DX2/66, 8 megs of RAM, and a
CD-ROM (registerd version). In addition, local bus is recommended. Basically
as far as other system specification go, the answer is what you are happy
with.
2.6. What Kind Of Weapons Will There Be?
A finalized list is not available, but the following weapons will be
included: Kick, High speed pistol, shotgun, 3 barrel chain gun, rocket
launcher, pipe bomb with remote detonator, shrink ray, microwave assault
cannon, wall mounted laser trip bomb. As is common with most shareware
game some weapons will be unavailable. It is unsure which weapons will not
be included in the shareware version.
2.7. What Kinds Of Multiplayer Capabilities Will There Be?
There will be three types of multiplayer capabilites. First, there will
be the usual modem and serial link play. Modem play will require a 9600
baud modem. Also, network play will also be available. Network play
can include up to eight players.
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3. The Build Engine
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3.1. What Is The Build Engine?
The Build Engine, which is produced by 3D Realms, is the engine used for
Duke Nukem 3D and some other games. The Build Engine is much like the
engine used in Doom, but with advancements. The Internet Finger Info
from Apogee & 3D Realms Entertainment claims these advancements "include
looking up & down, reflective floors, mirrors, true rooms above rooms,
multi-colored lighting (DOOM only had white lights), moving vehicles,
translucent sprites (for ghosts, explosions, windows, etc.), rotating
sprites, high-res mode for Pentiums, user-modifiable parameters,
underwater swimming, and much more."
3.2. What Makes The Build Engine Better?
Quite a few things make the Build Engine better. First of all, the
sectors that make up a map can move during gameplay. This allows, for
example, doors to swing open and staircases to move. Secondly, the
editor is in full 3D mode. With this feature one can play the game as
they add and change levels. Next, the frame rate is not limited to 35
frames per second. Also the game can run in unusal chained modes like
360*240. Furthermore, it can run in any VESA mode up to 1600 x 1200, but
system requirements will be demanding for a VESA mode of 1600 x 1200.
Because the system requirements are so demanding for these VESA modes it
is not yet decided if Duke Nukem 3D will include this option or not.
Another great feature will be the 2D map mode can run in two different
ways. It can run with either lines for the wall boundaries or it can display
a texturized mode which actually shows floor tiles. Finally, the game
supports different glasses. Red-blue glasses will be supported for a
pseudo 3D effect and the Crystal Eyes virtual reality glasses for a real
virtual reality system. Later on more information about the Build Engine
may become available.
3.3. What Games Use The Build Engine?
Duke Nukem 3D (Apogee/3D Realms)
Shadow Warrior(Apogee/3D Realms)
Blood (Apogee/3D Realms)
Witchaven (Capstone/Intracorp)
Tekwar (Capstone/Intracorp)
3.4. Who Programmed The Build Engine?
The Build Engine was programmed by Ken Silverman. It is owned by 3D
Realms. They have agreed to license it to Capstone/Intracorp for games
such as Witchaven and Tekwar.
3.5. Miscellaneous Notes About The Build Engine
1) Quoting george.broussard@swcbbs.com (GEORGE BROUSSARD) - Duke can do
nearly any resolution, but anything above 640x480 is insane.
2) Quoting ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu (Hank Leukart) - Duke uses the Build
engine, which is much more advanced than the ROTT engine.
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4. The People Behind Duke Nukem 3D
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4.1. The Programmers
Name Other Apogee/3D Realms Game(s)
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Allen H Blum III Major Stryker
Todd J Replogle The Thor Trilogy, Monuments Of Mars, Dark Ages,
Duke Nukem I, Cosmo's Adventure, Duke Nukem II
4.2. The Artists
Name Other Apogee/3D Realms Game(s)
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Stephen A Hornback Major Stryker, Cosmo's Adventure, Duke Nukem II,
Rise Of The Triad
Chuck Jones Rise Of The Triad
James Storey Rise Of The Triad
4.3. The Musicians
Name
---------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
Lee Jackson Rise Of The Triad
Bobby Prince
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5. Ways To Obtain This FAQ
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5.1. E-Mail
E-Mail me at zeuxis@wwa.com and request a copy.
5.2. Newsgroups
I'll post it to alt.games.apogee and comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action at
least once a month.
5.3. Finger
Finger zeuxis@wwa.com for the latest version of this FAQ.
5.4. World Wide Web
The FAQ can be found at Games Domain and in the FAQ directory at the Apogee
Software Web BBS (http://www.apogee1.com).
My Internet E-Mail Address-
zeuxis@wwa.com
