[LakiSoft]

Hey guys, i wanted to ask about Duke Nukem 3D Shareware CD Releases.

I am in possession of original Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode CD. This CD comes with fncy installer that let you install two games, either Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode v1.1 or Terminal Velocity Shareware Episode v1.2. Has anyone has this CD as well?

Also is there any other version of Shareware CD? such as original CD of v1.0 or v1.3D shreware? If they exist, are they avaible somewhere to get them at leasst in ISO format, note even if they were "Retail" SHAREWARE they were still Shareware, so no mind about sharing them here. On Archive.org i found exactly the same ISO copy of my Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode v1.1.

Also is there any other "unofficial" shareware or demos for Duke3D? I know that on topic "Demo Versions of Build Games" someone posted weird Shareware version of Duke3D cut to 3 levels. Shareware/Demos like this are also welcome to be shared here as well.

And what about Shadow Warrior Shareware CD? This one i can't find on Archive.org though...

Thank you.

[MrFlibble]

Gingis Khan, on 13 March 2019 - 08:47 AM, said:

I am in possession of original Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode CD. This CD comes with fncy installer that let you install two games, either Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode v1.1 or Terminal Velocity Shareware Episode v1.2. Has anyone has this CD as well?

I remember downloading this from archive.org, here it is:
https://archive.org/...em_3D_Shareware

I haven't heard of other physical CD releases. The version on the CD is exactly the same as the download version save for the installer, so there was no problem patching it to 1.3D with the regular shareware patch. I believe this alone makes the probability of a later official re-release very slight.

There could've been third-party CD releases of Duke3D but I'm not aware of any at this moment.

Gingis Khan, on 13 March 2019 - 08:47 AM, said:

If they exist, are they avaible somewhere to get them at leasst in ISO format, note even if they were "Retail" SHAREWARE they were still Shareware, so no mind about sharing them here.

Just a theoretical side note, I remember that the retail CD shareware of Blood had an explicit clause in the readme/license forbidding third-party distribution, even though it doesn't actually have any more content compared to the electronic distribution version (no cinematics or anything). But the executable is different and there's a different set of patches for Blood retail shareware

I'm pretty certain that the no redistribution clause was to prevent creation and selling of unauthorised copies of the CD, and not to disallow users who hadn't paid for the CD from getting the shareware version, but still we should observe it if we want to play by the rules.

The idea is, something is eligible for redistribution, shareware or otherwise, if you don't have any explicit direction to the contrary in the official docs.

Gingis Khan, on 13 March 2019 - 08:47 AM, said:

Also is there any other "unofficial" shareware or demos for Duke3D? I know that on topic "Demo Versions of Build Games" someone posted weird Shareware version of Duke3D cut to 3 levels. Shareware/Demos like this are also welcome to be shared here as well.

IIRC the three-level demo was a hack by a French gaming magazine. It's essentially shareware v1.1 (I think) but for whichever reason the executable has been modified to ignore E1L4 to E1L6. Basically you finish E1L3 and are thrown back to E1L1. I have zero idea why this was done because the shareware version was available at that time already, it wasn't a leak or anything.

On the other hand, the Macintosh demo of Duke3D is a legit three-level version, with no other levels in the data file except E1L1 to E1L3. The demo GRP is recognised by EDuke32 so you can play it if you want (no MIDI music though).

There's also the exclusive one-level demo that was released by the Computer Gaming World magazine, more info here.

Gingis Khan, on 13 March 2019 - 08:47 AM, said:

And what about Shadow Warrior Shareware CD? This one i can't find on Archive.org though...

Good question! Actually this made me remember that there's an excellent source on these things: a German website called Online Games DatenBank (OGDB). They list a shareware CD version of SW by GT Interactive (obviously):
https://ogdb.eu/inde...me&gameid=19551
According to the site this was a boxed release (shareware v1.1) with a manual and a coupon (probably rebate for the retail version, as was customary back in the day).

OGDB is focused on physical releases of games, you can look up quite a few entries for Shadow Warrior for example:
https://ogdb.eu/inde...tle&titleid=138

The database has two shareware releases of Duke3D:

• FormGen US release (incl. subscription forms for Computer Gaming World and PC Entertainment magazines, $10.00 rebate coupon for the full version)
  
• U.S. Gold Duke Nukem Plus compilation (UK) (full version of Duke Nukem II plus Duke3D and Terminal velocity shareware)

[LakiSoft]

Interesting info thanks for sharing. BTW, i have question of that German site containg Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior Shareware CDs, does it only shows info about various CDs or there is downloadbale ISO as well as in Archive.org? I don't understand German so there may be download link i am not seeing/understanding?

Also sorry but i am not good at legal stuff, i don't understand why that Blood Retail Shareware has several restrictions on distribution, as far i know shareware is meant to be free demo trial or limited game to Episode one. I understand some sharewares were sold for lesser price then registered versions of their respective games, as developers made money of it, but still i don't understand hy some Retail Shareware are strict on this like they were registeed versions. Sorry again i suck at this legal stuff, so i may sound like noob on this subject.

Speaking of Duke Nukem 3D various share/demo versions, yes i remember trying that 3-level Shareware v1.1 of Duke Nukem 3D from that French magazine. As far i actually remember, DUKE3D.EXE wasn't hacked but USER.CON was to send to E1L1 afte you beat E1L3. E1L1 in that case still played Toxic Dump music and it was titled Toxic Dump. As well i used GroupStudio.exe to check out DUKE3D.GRP date and it contain all the same stuff original v1.1 shareware DUKE3D.GRP did, with only difference that E1L4-E1L6 maps were renamed to some dots like this: ........ so they are unaccessable but still present in files.

On other hand that v1.1 from CGW Magazine One Level Demo Version of Duke Nukem 3D was actually made by some missunderstanding as CGW wanted exclusive level for their demo but 3D Realms gave them just cut version to first level. BTW, worth thing of mentionging that this version is actually v1.2, not v1.1, but is still titled v1.1. Unlike french magazine version, this one has really original v1.1 Duke3D.grp but its CON files now features more stuff like Devastator (called Cycloid Weapon in v1.2) as well as first apperance of Overlord working code (actual v1.1 and v1.0 versions of Duke3D only contained Battlelord and unfinished Cycloid Emperor code) in this so called v1.1, actually v1.2, Flamethrower is seen to be replaced with Freezethrower already. There is more interesting stuff about it but I can't remember all now.

Speaking of actual CD Releases of Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode, i really wonded that only Shareware CD distributed was version 1.1 or there was more older (v1.0) or newer (v1.3D) version had their Shareware CD releases as well. If i understood good, there is no such a versions, as it wasn't neccesary due the patches available online.

BTW. a bit off topic, a side from Alpha/Beta screenshots game in action, was there even single or few screenshots showing actual registerved versions of Duke Nukem 3D v1.0, v1.1 or v1.2 anywhere? Also same for Shadow Warrior, was there any screenshots showing Shadow Warrior Registered v1.0 or v1.1 in action?

Speaking of Shadow Warrior Shareware CD i am really curious that those German sites you mentioned do contain download link of an ISO file, or they just show info and promotion of them?
Thank you for your reply @MrFlibble

[MrFlibble]

Gingis Khan, on 16 March 2019 - 09:18 AM, said:

Interesting info thanks for sharing. BTW, i have question of that German site containg Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior Shareware CDs, does it only shows info about various CDs or there is downloadbale ISO as well as in Archive.org? I don't understand German so there may be download link i am not seeing/understanding?

There are no downloads (most of them would be outright piracy mind you), this is an information database only. Their Q&A actually states that this database is intended for collectors of physical game releases, and archiving CD ISOs is clearly outside the scope of this goal.

Gingis Khan, on 16 March 2019 - 09:18 AM, said:

Also sorry but i am not good at legal stuff, i don't understand why that Blood Retail Shareware has several restrictions on distribution, as far i know shareware is meant to be free demo trial or limited game to Episode one. I understand some sharewares were sold for lesser price then registered versions of their respective games, as developers made money of it, but still i don't understand hy some Retail Shareware are strict on this like they were registeed versions.

The distribution terms of any release of any game are governed by the respective end-user license agreement (EULA). Simply designating a certain release as shareware alone is not sufficient to establish distribution rights granted to end-users. You'll notice that absolutely every shareware release contains a license file which has quite a few details, in many cases including for example a clause that prohibits the inclusion of said shareware on CD compilations without prior permission from the developers.

There were reasons why the retail shareware version of Blood was not allowed for distribution, I believe (but I may be wrong) that this was aimed at preventing third parties from making money by selling unauthorised copies of the CD. The end-users still could get the free downloadable version with exactly the same content save for the CGI cutscenes.

The CD shareware version of Quake is another story because it actually contains the full game which could be unlocked by purchasing a code from id Software.

Gingis Khan, on 16 March 2019 - 09:18 AM, said:

BTW. a bit off topic, a side from Alpha/Beta screenshots game in action, was there even single or few screenshots showing actual registerved versions of Duke Nukem 3D v1.0, v1.1 or v1.2 anywhere? Also same for Shadow Warrior, was there any screenshots showing Shadow Warrior Registered v1.0 or v1.1 in action?

I might be wrong but IIRC the registered versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Duke3D did not exist except as WIP development builds. The folks here who have (had) access to the 3DR archives may correct me on this though.

As for Shadow Warrior IIRC there were some shots published either at the Apogee/3D Realms website or the official website (shadowwarrior.com). I have uploaded what I could find via the Wayback Machine at MobyGames but I think there are no images that would be showing registered episode levels dating from May 1997 or later which would imply versions corresponding to shareware v1.0 and v1.1.

[LakiSoft]

@MrFlibble So much interesting info. BTW, i have taken look at Shadow Warrior screenshots from link you provided, and it actually do contain one interesting stuff. There is an screenshot feauturing a gameplay from Code ofHonor's Rising son level. If you look carefully, you can see tha sky texture is brownish like color rather than blue. This was how sky looked like if you played $WHIRL.MAP in Shadow Warrior 0.90 Leaked Beta, so this screenshot porbably didn't came from Registered v1.2, but possiblty from either v1.0 or v1.1 registered.

Speaking more of shareware CDs, yeah that's some interesting stuff too. I still understand when shareware CD is sold, that it do requires a license to be respected, but still i found weird this because both shareware of Duke3D that can be downloaded from the internet and one found on CD, have very same resources and data and i couldn't find any difference. As speaking of French magazine version that is cut to 3 levels, it is probably that they did this to make 3D Realms allow them to sold the game or something. This is my point.

Still for some reason, but probably i confused something, i think i saw Duke Nukem 3D v1.0 Shareware being available on Archive.org, so i was thought there was other Shareware CD versions of Duke Nukem 3D, not just v1.1 shareware, but now i think i probably confused something. This is why i made this thread in first place. Thanks for answers.

[MrFlibble]

Gingis Khan, on 27 March 2019 - 04:24 AM, said:

BTW, i have taken look at Shadow Warrior screenshots from link you provided, and it actually do contain one interesting stuff. There is an screenshot feauturing a gameplay from Code ofHonor's Rising son level. If you look carefully, you can see tha sky texture is brownish like color rather than blue. This was how sky looked like if you played $WHIRL.MAP in Shadow Warrior 0.90 Leaked Beta, so this screenshot porbably didn't came from Registered v1.2, but possiblty from either v1.0 or v1.1 registered.

Nice catch, I never noticed that before. It's a screenshot from the official 3D Realms website (can be still seen here), but it is not easy to establish when exactly it was taken or uploaded.

From what I understand, it is technically not entirely correct to talk about v1.0 or v1.1 registered, as there were no public registered releases prior to v1.2. It is my understanding that there were several WIP builds of the non-shareware game that more or less corresponded to the shareware v1.0 and v1.1 code-wise, but without access to the 3DR archives it is not even possible to tell how many such releases there were.

According to the development updates page from the 3DR website (Wayback Machine copy), the registered version was declared finished on 22 August 1997:

Quote

It's been awhile since the last Shadow Warrior update, but with good reason. The team has been busy spending their time finishing the game, and bringing you the news you want to hear.

IT'S DONE!

The registered version has been completed. After a final exhaustive night of testing on August the 21st, the game was declared "finished" by producer George Broussard around midnight.

For comparison, shareware v1.0 was released on 13 May 1997 and shareware v1.1 on 26 May 1997. The July 1997 update page states that the original intent was to finish game development by 1 August:

Quote

We think our estimation still stands: Finish the game and freeze by Aug 1. Then we simply test for hopefully a week or so, and then send a master CD to GT for duplication. I can see the game ready to ship late in Aug / early Sept.

I think it is quite safe to conclude from this that complete registered versions 1.0 and 1.1 never existed, at least in the same sense as the registered v1.2 release.

This is further compounded by the fact that there is simply no telling when the screenshots from the official website were taken, even if we pinpoint the date when they appeared on the site. There are only indirect clues like the sky texture colour that you spotted which might give some idea of the approximate date, because Joe Siegler or whoever picked the screenshots for publication certainly chose those that looked cool, as opposed being accurate to the final release.

[LakiSoft]

Thanks for info. Yes i may agree, that there is no actual registered v1.0 or v1.1 done, but the WIPs corresponded shareware v1.0 or v1.1 code. This is probably same case for Duke Nukem 3D Shareware v1.0 and v1.1, as there was no "registered" v1.0 or v1.1 but WIPs of unfinished registered corresponded v1.0 and v1.1. BTW, there is one thing i don't understand. I know recently that Shadow Warrior source codes for all three versiosn (v1.0, v1.1, v1.2) were released. Few years ago we also have Shadow Warrior Alpha and Beta got released as well. If this is the case, what stoped them to give permission for releasing WIP versions that corresponded v1.0 and v1.1 of Shadow Warrior as well? Shadow Warrior Classic, which is jsut Steam packaged v1.2 registered is already free, much as Alpha and Beta builds. Is there special unique legal stuff that SW WIP that corresponded v1.0 and v1.1 weren't releaed, whie all other unfishied builds, sharewares adn even registeered versions are now released for free? Or they thought that when fans already took a look at Alpha and Beta Builds, including leaked Beta 0.90, that they (fans) saw enough? Or simply they didn't even think of releasing WIP between 0.90 and v1.2 as they were not that important for historical purposes? Very interesting stuff colud be thee as well.

BTW, do they have similar "update sites" for Duke Nukem releases as well?

[MrFlibble]

Gingis Khan, on 29 March 2019 - 06:58 AM, said:

Few years ago we also have Shadow Warrior Alpha and Beta got released as well. If this is the case, what stoped them to give permission for releasing WIP versions that corresponded v1.0 and v1.1 of Shadow Warrior as well? Shadow Warrior Classic, which is jsut Steam packaged v1.2 registered is already free, much as Alpha and Beta builds. Is there special unique legal stuff that SW WIP that corresponded v1.0 and v1.1 weren't releaed, whie all other unfishied builds, sharewares adn even registeered versions are now released for free?

There may be no actual builds of these versions in the 3DR archive. I remember Hendricks266 mentioning somewhere that there are more source code snapshots than actual builds.

Keep in mind that a game's development cycle involves a lot of testing and tweaking. I have no idea how many times the code was changed and intermediate builds were made to test it. AFAIK, code snapshots were archived at regular intervals (possibly decided upon in advance), while intermittent builds were not all preserved.

It is also my understanding (but someone with more knowledge on the subject please correct me if I'm in error here) that at a certain point when the shareware version of SW was being prepared for release it was actually forked from the main code trunk and worked upon separately, as it would become a finished product on its own while the full game was still being developed further. This branch was synchronised with the main trunk of course but different things took priority, like polishing shareware content while more or less ignoring stuff that was specific to the registered version.

This means that possibly, at no time any intermediate development builds existed that would strictly match the code base of either shareware v1.0 and v1.1.

Gingis Khan, on 29 March 2019 - 06:58 AM, said:

BTW, do they have similar "update sites" for Duke Nukem releases as well?

There must have been, but I'm not sure if the Wayback Machine preserved the snapshots. I think I dug up something a while ago but can't remember exactly at this moment.

There are even Blood updates back from the time when it was still developed by 3DR. However for Duke, the 3DR catalogue page links to the Duke3D page that was established post-release and there are no links to any dev updates. The problem is that the Wayback Machine scarcely has any snapshots from before late-1996, whereas the first shareware release of Duke3D is from January 1996. There's the news page from Apogee's website which mentions the release of Duke3D shareware v1.1 but the snapshot itself is from October 1996.

[High Treason]

If you're looking for older builds of the Duke3D shareware which were available to the public, I have a few; http://dxzeff.com/3dr/downloads.htm

I also have a Focus branded CD with shareware 1.1, that disc isn't special aside from the fact it contains a full version of Duke Nukem II that I don't think it's supposed to, being a shareware disc. It is a slightly earlier version of the game without a couple of the startup screens and I think a few insignificant bytes differ in the CMP file, obviously I can't share that because piracy and stuff.

Edit: Ack! Excuse my lack of reading comprehension, sleep deprivation does strange things to a person's brain. Ah well, I'll leave the post intact for anyone who didn't already have those and wants to mess with them, but I have no old news pages or anything.

[LakiSoft]

@MrFlibble I chcked the links, thanks anyway. Yes it would be nice that Wayback mahcine could reach early 1996 but since it can't, well it doesn't matter. And yes i always thought the same, they they only used numbers "v1.0" and "v1.1" for shareware branch of content but they never meant to be registered version, still it would be nice to see, at least screens of Duek3D Registered WIPs that corresponded to v1.0 or v1.1 codewise one day. Just a bit trivia to mention, Duke 3D v1.1 Shareware still contains Space Suit working code, however v1.1 (actually v1.2) one level demo is first Duke3D version that droped Space SUit code totally. and same case is for Flamethrower being turned to Freezethrower, as v1.1 still using Flamethrower code, while v1.1 (v1.2) one level demo we really have freezethrower there. I had made manyy researches based on this old versions but i always find out more and moe cut stuff waiting to be discovered. It's really interesting to experiment with early versions of Duke3D and other build games.

@High Treason Well i haven't played Hocus but info you you explaines sounds interesting. Thank you for sharing that 3D Realms link, even if i already have most of those versions

[Radar]

I first played Duke3D when I loaded it off a dollar-store CD with 101 shareware games. It was called "Globalstar Software 101 Games" or something like that. It even had a demo for the old unreleased build engine game called Fate. Most of the CD sucked but it was worth my very first introduction to Duke. The only time I had ever heard about Duke before was when a friend who had played Duke Nukem 1 mentioned the name.

[LakiSoft]

Radar, on 30 March 2019 - 07:20 AM, said:

I first played Duke3D when I loaded it off a dollar-store CD with 101 shareware games. It was called "Globalstar Software 101 Games" or something like that. It even had a demo for the old unreleased build engine game called Fate. Most of the CD sucked but it was worth my very first introduction to Duke. The only time I had ever heard about Duke before was when a friend who had played Duke Nukem 1 mentioned the name.

Interesting. i only got orignal 3D Realms Duke Nukem 3D Shareware CD that contains Duke3D v1.1 shareware and Terminal Velocity v1.2 shareware, they both can be chosen in some blue colored fancy installer, which CD of Duke Nukem 3D complete registered version lacked for some reason, and instead it had basic DOS setup-like interface rather than fnacy one used in Shareware CD.

[MrFlibble]

Gingis Khan, on 09 April 2019 - 06:15 AM, said:

some blue colored fancy installer, which CD of Duke Nukem 3D complete registered version lacked for some reason, and instead it had basic DOS setup-like interface rather than fnacy one used in Shareware CD.

Actually I wondered about that as well.

[LakiSoft]

Yes i also remember messing around with Duke Nukem 3D Shareware CD installer, as i edited some .INI file or something similar, to provide more games in installation menu, and their respective screenshot. I think i ocne put some old version of Doom (either v1.0 or v1.1) in this fancy installer along with Duke3D and TV. Of course to all of this i had to copy contents from CD to Hard Drive, in order to modifiy stuff i mentioned above, just for fun, of course. This way i can also implment registered version of Duke3D as well.

[High Treason]

I'm sure one of the registered discs has that installer and I think it was 1.3D, I'm almost certain that said installer also had the shareware version on the disc, because why not. I could check, if I can remember where the discs are.

[MrFlibble]

Just a thought, maybe the installer comes from the publishers of the shareware CD and not from Apogee/3DR? If it's easily configurable it must have been intended to be used for other games too. I don't remember who was the publisher, FormGen? GT Interactive? Or was it self-published by 3DR?

[NightFright]

Found this artifact in my attic recently and thought it's worth posting here. It's a German release of the Duke3D v1.0 shareware, issued by CDV.

CDV was the official publisher for some US games in Germany, most prominent ones being Doom, Doom II and Duke3D (before they were put on the "index"). They started back in the 90s with putting shareware on disks/CDs and selling them for small fees to people without internet. You could usually also order full versions from them, like "Alien Carnage", the "Commander Keen" series, "Hocus Pocus", "Raptor", "Wacky Wheels" and others. Around 2000 they started developing games by themselves as well, however not very successfully (rather embarrassing "erotic" adventures mostly with very little commercial success like "Lula: The Sexy Empire" or "Lula 3D"). They went bankrupt in 2010.

Note the pre-release screenshots on the cover which show levels that were never part of the final product.

The description/story on the back of the cover in German translates as follows:
"It all went really fast: Ruthless aliens landed on Earth - and shortly after, humans were on the list of endangered species! Chances are 1:1 million - but DUKE NUKEM knows what he has to do...
The Duke Nukem saga continues! Now in undreamt-of quality with newly developed 3D engine! Forget anything you have seen until now! VESA high resolution with 320x200 up to 800x600 pixels. Flying, crouching, diving, swimming, jumping, leaping, lifelike 3D feeling, shadows, fire, rats, bullet holes in walls, destructable objects, mirror images and deceivingly real environment noises - you don't know where to stop! Fight in front of the Hollywood skyline in a futuristic Los Angeles, visit the local movie theater (including a cinema show), don't get distracted by the flickering lights of the disco or in the peep show - just have one goal: the liberation of the city."

From what I can see on the CD, all it's doing is loading a small DOS GUI to unpack a zipfile to disk with Duke3D v1.0 shareware, containing an extra text file ("bestell.txt") with an order form for the full version of the game (or others offered by CDV back then). That custom installer didn't work for me in DOSBox, but what's inside of the zipfile seems to be OK if you just unpack it manually.

If anybody is interested in this, I could provide an ISO of the CD (it's just 12 MB), but in the end there's nothing new to see, just good old v1.0 shareware with some German installer menu built around it. Nothing else, just that. Still a curious find and potentially valuable for historic purposes, I guess. Oh, and I have a similar disc for Hexen shareware.

[NightFright]

(Disregard, double post)

[Tekedon]

I love that one of the shots has that alpha white shotgun, looks pretty cool to be honest.

[NightFright]

Yeah, it looks as if the shotgun position was rather centered like the one in Doom. A weird way to hold a weapon like that, though.😁

They also used these shots on the box for the retail version (1.3D), btw. I was lucky enough to buy it from CDV before it disappeared from retail and online vendors lists. Duke Atomic I was only able to buy directly from 3DR. Had no credit card back then, sent cash (in USD I had exchanged at the bank) from Germany to Texas. Geez, those were pioneer times!

I got the custom CDV installer working after all, btw. If you copy everything to disk, mount that as root dir and run the batch file, everything works fine. The error during installation only occurs when trying to run the whole thing directly from CD. Curious glitch, no idea if that worked better on a system from the 90s. It still doesn't matter if you use the installer or not, the zipfile really contains everything. 628 MB wasted on that CD due to not being used. Unbelievable almost. 😆

[oasiz]

What's the snap in middle/left of that disc?
Seems like an EP2 map but it has those double doors that remind me of L1 from lameduke.

More strangely seems to have slopes too?

[NightFright]

I remember seeing that map in LameDuke, but this one has the chaingun from later versions. Not sure if it's a mockup or actual ingame footage from a post-LameDuke version. Scuba gear on the center bottom screen still has the frame from the visually more obstructive swimming goggles that were still in 0.99 IIRC.

All these screens should be known however and were published in some form elsewhere ages ago already, though. It looks more exciting than it actually is, I'm afraid.

[High Treason]

Just think, we might have known if only those protos had ever been released. Life's a bitch sometimes.

I'm sure those shots were in the misc knowledge thread at some point, but even if they were the links probably died by now due to image hosts being invariably crappy. I mean damn, in my time on this forum I've used and seen ImageShack, PhotoBucket, PostImg and Imgur all go to hell, not to mention the ones everyone else was using.

[NightFright]

If there is demand, I can take the cover out of the case and take a highres screenshot with my mobile so you guys can take a closer look without the case reflections. In case you don't remember these images any more.

[High Treason]

Honestly, I'm more intrigued by 'BLACK POWER IS COOL' overall, man would that cause a stir if it were put on a shelf like that today.

[NightFright]

Yeah, I actually wondered about that, too. XD "Black Power" was obviously the name of the CD series this release was part of.

The other disc with Hexen shareware is also like that, but has some other shareware games coming with it.

[NightFright]

Here are the goodies for anyone who wants to take a look.

Duke3D v1.0 Shareware CDV Edition (ISO, 12 MB)
Highres pic of CD cover (JPG, 5.8 MB)

Regarding the ISO:
As mentioned, it's best if you use e.g. 7-Zip to unpack the ISO to a place on your disk, mount that folder as drive in DosBox and run start.bat from there. Alternatively, just skip the DOS installer and unzip duke3d.zip in the zip subdir.

[MrFlibble]

NightFright, on 15 April 2019 - 10:51 PM, said:

Highres pic of CD cover (JPG, 5.8 MB)

Hmm, I believe that the top and the middle shot in the leftmost column are unfamiliar to me, as well as the one in the middle right (seems like it's showing The Abyss?).

The one in the top centre seems like an shot taken from the actual shareware (E1L2 obviously) while playing at 640x480 and then shrunk, seeing as how the Troopers have the correct aspect ration unlike the 320x200 images.

The centred shotgun can be seen on a few other screenshots, IIRC none of them were found in digital form yet.

[Tekedon]

MrFlibble, on 16 April 2019 - 01:58 AM, said:

Hmm, I believe that the top and the middle shot in the leftmost column are unfamiliar to me, as well as the one in the middle right (seems like it's showing The Abyss?).

The one in the top centre seems like an shot taken from the actual shareware (E1L2 obviously) while playing at 640x480 and then shrunk, seeing as how the Troopers have the correct aspect ration unlike the 320x200 images.

The centred shotgun can be seen on a few other screenshots, IIRC none of them were found in digital form yet.

In the top center one with the ripper the muzzleflashes are different (a bit bigger) to the shareware or any demo, so must be an earlier alpha.

[NightFright]

The game must have gone through tons of iterations between 1995 and 1996. The 0.99 beta shareware is already interesting due to some differences in the maps. You start Toxic Dump in front of the shrinker panel for example and you only get to the sub outside through a secret area.

But the weapons depicted on that screenshots are also interesting. The shotgun reminds me a bit of the one in Acclaim's "Alien Trilogy" for the PS1.

I also like the center screenshot, the shape of the skyscraper in the background and the way the pigcop is blown away by the explosion. Looks very dynamic and movie-like.