[Marscaleb]

I'm setting up a LAN to run old games at an upcoming convention. I'm interested in having Duke Nukem 3D as one of the games available. But what are my best options for setting up Duke Nukem 3D multiplayer on a LAN these days?

I recall I tried this about six or seven years ago, and I was directed to use xDuke. It ran, but it had palette glitches on some of my machines, and the palette glitched more frequently with more people in a match. Also xDuke has no options to end a match after so many kills or a time limit.
I had tried running eDuke32 Old MP, but one of my machines kept crashing and eventually it became unplayable. Also, it launched through discord, which required an internet connection, which I likely won't have.

But that was several years ago. I would hope that both of these have been updated since then. And I recall people expecting a major update to eDuke32 to give it a formal client-server multiplayer mode. Did that ever happen? I'd be surprised if it did.

[Phredreeke]

NetDuke32

[Abu Brandino]

 Phredreeke, on 15 July 2025 - 11:31 PM, said:

NetDuke32

I just wish it would be updated. Hasn't in years. Or better yet someone actually make a working MP. At this point I'd rather just stick with DOSBOX IPX MP.

[Marscaleb]

I'm trying out the NetDuke32, and I can't get it to actually launch a server.
Does this work ONLY for internet matches? I'm trying to run this on a LAN. These computers don't have internet access, just a local network. Many of my machines are running in Windows XP, and it's a bit risky to let those have internet access. People still search for XP machines to force viruses onto even if the computer doesn't do anything.

How do I get NetDuke32 to run in a LAN? When I tried to run it it just complained about not being able connect to some particular IP address, even though I was telling it to start its own server.

[Graphics]

I like NukemNet. I think it has NetDuke under the hood and it's easy to setup a game. I hope you find this helpful.

Here's a link.
https://nukemnet.com/home

[Akage Megane]

Been a very long time since I've been on this forum. Anyway, I do like to give out some options for not just Duke Nukem 3D multiplayer but other Build Engine title as well.

The most popular choice appears to be NukemNet. In recent times, I've played a ton of Blood multiplayer there via NotBlood and at times played NetDuke32 and VoidSW. The major benefit it has over previous network guiders (like YANG and Meltdown) is it provides workarounds for those who couldn't port forward. If all users have support for IPv6 it will allow users to play IPv4 games without port-forwarding, the middle ground would be STUN, which will work for those who lack IPv6 support but are able to establish it. If either of those don't work, there is always relay servers you can lease but keep in mind that it will add extra latency depending on the users you are playing with.

NukemNet despite being most popular with Build Engine games has support for other titles both popular and obscure. It also has a been made open-source so while it is in alpha-stage, contributions are welcome. (The program is written in Javascript and wrapped around in Electron as far as I can recall)

There is a web-based version in development utilizing js-dos (I don't know about source ports unless they have web-based multiplayer compatible ones floating around)

However another option if you are one of those purists who don't mind playing on DOSBox, would be Classic Gaming Arena. Formerly a web-based launcher, it was rewritten as a desktop app in 2022 and most of the activity there normally happens on Fridays and/or Saturdays thanks to a Discord community I am in. Just like NukemNet with their relay servers, CGA has dedicated servers one can play on and dedicated servers can be setup on a VPS if you wanted. Now the major benefit it has outside for a more fleshed-out UI is the inclusion of a Windows 9x compatible client which allows users to play multiplayer DOS titles under IPX on the Internet through authentic hardware. (It will work on 486 hardware, but Pentium is recommended.)

If you just want to play on source ports or want to join in on the most frequently played matches, then NukemNet might be the way to go. If you are really into such the niche hobby of vintage computers or are a purist then I recommend Classic Gaming Arena and joining their Discord. (the DOSBox Deathmatch Club is advertised there as well)

Or if you don't mind playing on both vanilla and source ports then having them both is good enough. Both services have their own Discords if you want to look for games.