GAME.C

Explore the inner workings of Duke Nukem 3D's GAME.C file! Discover developer notes, bug fixes, and early level ideas for Duke Nukem 5.

Alright, so you've stumbled upon the GAME.C file, huh? This isn't your typical walkthrough, but it's a goldmine for anyone curious about what goes on under the hood of Duke Nukem 3D. Think of it as peeking behind the curtain at the developer's notes, bug fixes, and even some wild ideas that never made it into the final game. It's pretty wild stuff, and thankfully, a lot of it survived the release.

The file is packed with comments, giving us a glimpse into the nitty-gritty of development. You'll see notes like // Do a demo make run overnite and // Fix Super Duck, which are basically developer shorthand for tasks they needed to tackle. There are also some more technical-sounding bits, like // Make Lasers from trip bombs reflect off mirrors and // Fatal sync give no message for TEN. It seems like they were constantly tweaking and fixing things, especially around something called 'TEN' – which, by the way, was pretty much dead by the time version 1.5 rolled out. Weird, right?

Then there's this section that lists out potential bug fixes and improvements. It's a long list, numbered from 1 to 36 (with a notable skip of number 7, classic Duke!). Things like 1. fix pipebomb bug, 4. Save/Restore check (MP and SP), and 13. All Monsters explode in arcade give you a sense of the challenges they faced. Some of these are pretty specific, like Change 28<<8 back to 16<<8 in hitradius. And points 8 and 27 are apparently favorites of whoever wrote this!

But it gets even more interesting. The file also contains some level ideas for a potential Duke Nukem V. Seriously! We're talking about settings like 'Suburbs' where Duke infiltrates alien-infested neighborhoods, 'Death Valley' with a western vibe, a 'Military compound' with a nuke-missile silo, an 'Abandoned Aircraft field', 'Vegas' with camouflaged alien lights, an 'Alien Drug factory', a 'Mountainal Cave', a 'Jungle', a 'Penitentiary', and even a 'Mental ward' where people are turning into aliens. It's like a brainstorming session gone wild!

They even listed out potential inventory items like 'Wood', 'Metal', 'Torch', 'Rope', 'Plastique', 'Cloth', 'Wiring', 'Glue', 'Cigars', 'Food', 'Duck Tape', 'Nails', 'Piping', 'Petrol', 'Uranium', 'Gold', 'Prism', and 'Power Cell'. Plus, some special ones like 'Hand spikes' (which get dull!) and 'Oxygent' (a stimulant mix). Player skills were also outlined, including movement, jumping, and menu usage.

The whole thing wraps up with a bit of dialogue that sounds like it could be from the game itself, setting up a mission where Duke is sent to deal with people changing into aliens. It's a fun, quirky look at the development process and some of the creative sparks that flew around Duke Nukem 3D and beyond.