[pacman]

im trying to run the 1 level demo from the computergamingworld magazine in dosbox but doesn't work, it crashes... any idea?

https://archive.org/...extra142may1996

i got it from there

[MrFlibble]

pacman, on 15 January 2017 - 04:16 PM, said:

im trying to run the 1 level demo from the computergamingworld magazine in dosbox but doesn't work, it crashes... any idea?

https://archive.org/...extra142may1996

i got it from there

It should work fine in DOSBox (assuming you're using that), being based on the shareware v1.1 code.

[pacman]

MrFlibble, on 16 January 2017 - 10:44 AM, said:

It should work fine in DOSBox (assuming you're using that), being based on the shareware v1.1 code.

It doesn't for me. The shareware works, 0.99 also works, this one crashes badly, dosbox collapses

[CryptKiller]

I think this iso is corrupted, after extracting the duke3d folder, a lot of files are 0 bytes long:

[MrFlibble]

Well then, get it from this CD instead (the file is called dukecgw.zip).

[pacman]

MrFlibble, on 18 January 2017 - 10:07 AM, said:

Well then, get it from this CD instead (the file is called dukecgw.zip).

Thanks. I didnt notice anything different, other than the atomic health makes a normal pickup sound, the email from the 3d realms guy in small fonts in the bath is not there, I think there is less duke talk lines, there are no pickup messages, and the mouse aiming is inverted...

I tried the 0.99 beta and it was a mess. There is no mouse aiming and i cant change weapons.

[MrFlibble]

pacman, on 18 January 2017 - 04:13 PM, said:

I think there is less duke talk lines, there are no pickup messages, and the mouse aiming is inverted...

I tried the 0.99 beta and it was a mess. There is no mouse aiming and i cant change weapons.

The one-level demo should have the same number of one-liners as v1.1 shareware. Version 1.3D added some new lines, but I can't tell exactly which ones ATM.

The option to invert mouse Y axis isn't present in any of the shareware versions of Duke3D. You can trick the game into doing it by setting Y axis sensitivity to -1 in the v1.3D setup programme, but not in v1.1. Version 1.0 (and anything below, including the leaked beta) doesn't have any mouse aiming at all, and no crosshair too.

On a side note, there is strong evidence that mouse aiming was first introduced based on player feedback from v1.0, as many apparently requested to have mouse controls in Duke like in The Terminator: Future Shock (I have posted some details on this subject here).

Another option to get the inverted mouse Y axis it to use the DOSBox SVN Daum version which allows to invert it from the emulator side.

I don't remember any problems with changing weapons in the beta. Then again, I played it quite a while ago.

[Marphy Black]

Not a miscellaneous fact about Duke 3D itself but rather its legacy: The moving subway trains in Rabid Transit were the inspiration for the drivable rail carts in the original Half-Life. Source:

Quote

[Choryoth] I'm gonna ramble on about the Trains for a sec. (it's what i'm working on now, so i'm pretty excited about it)
...
[Choryoth] The idea came about when I thought back to the subway level in Duke Nukem..
[Choryoth] Nigel, auto: i'll get to that in a sec.
[Choryoth] So anyway, the Duke subway was one of my favorite levels.
[Choryoth] But dangit, I wanted to DRIVE the train!

"Choryoth" is John Guthrie, a level designer who still works at Valve today.

[dnskill]

I know this thread has been mainly for DN3D, but I was playing through Time to Kill today, and on the level Miner 69er, there's an annoying platforming section, where if you fail, you fall into the water, and there's an area you swim to where there's a ladder for you to climb and you're able to keep trying to get across. I noticed this under the rock...

Spoiler

WB? Anyone got a clue what this means? I was thinking maybe "Welcome Back" as in they knew 9/10 people would fail at this platforming section.

Seeing this makes me wonder what all is hiding in these console games we don't get to dig deep into like we can with DN3D...

[Lunick]

The game wasn't published by Warner Brothers and there's no one in the credits with those letters as their initials. It's very odd.

[High Treason]

Two thoughts;

1. The texture was meant to be removed or updated. I am thinking of textures such as those with "DELETE ME!" or similar comments shown in the Shadow Warrior Beta. I guess it is entirely possible you're seeing "me!" in reverse and split in two across the different polygons. Any way to pull the texture out of the game? Should be possible to tear it out of RAM in an emulator if nothing else, shouldn't it?

2. The texture isn't supposed to be used that way and denotes some effect in the level. Perhaps something relating to the water used this texture in their editor and it was accidentally pasted to the rock? Perhaps "Water Boundary" or some such. I am thinking of textures like "Mirror" and "No Draw" in Shadow Warrior or "Decoy*" and "Spawn" in Blood.

* I seem to think I posted some of the developer's notes about what Decoy was meant to do at some stage which also highlighted how Blood was influenced by Dark Forces. I did not quote it properly though so I can dig out the DOC again if anyone wants me to?

[The Nate]

For whatever reason, Eidos decided to use beta images for the box for the Kixx retail version of Duke3D.

Attached File(s)

•  s-l1600.jpg (16.22K)
  Number of downloads: 753

[Perro Seco]

Spoiler

There are some rocks near the astronaut in the center of the image that appear in Lunar Apocalypse.

[Darkus]

More about faces of death...

[Mark]

Its a modern day miracle. Now someone can finally replace those old blocky tiles in the HRP. Are there more where those came from?

[The Nate]

Darkus, on 25 April 2017 - 11:01 AM, said:

More about faces of death...

(devheads)

I look forward to seeing this in an SVN update

[Hendricks266]

Newcomer, on 25 April 2017 - 02:43 PM, said:

Shit should be in an HRP SVN update by now.

Nice sense of entitlement.

[The Nate]

Hendricks266, on 25 April 2017 - 04:49 PM, said:

Nice sense of entitlement.

Shit, as in the shit, as in the good stuff, as in it's cool. Sorry.

[Hendricks266]

No, I get that. I'm talking about the "should", as in someone should have done the volunteer artist work in the four hour timespan between the two posts.

[The Nate]

Hendricks266, on 26 April 2017 - 04:04 AM, said:

No, I get that. I'm talking about the "should", as in someone should have done the volunteer artist work in the four hour timespan between the two posts.

Ok, I edited it. "Could"

[Hendricks266]

Newcomer, on 26 April 2017 - 04:10 AM, said:

Ok, I edited it. "Could"

That actually makes it sound worse, more passive-aggressive. Try "I look forward to seeing this in an SVN update."

[Mark]

I'm too busy to do these properly but I felt like spending about 10 minutes just for fun using the pics from the earlier post. I used the clone tool to transfer the face from pic to original. Then I used the line tool to make a more defined tan border. Then I used pixelate tool make the face look less like a high def photo which looked out of place against the lo def backround. I hope the rest of the faces can be found so someone can do the entire set at once.

Attached File(s)

•  testpic1.jpg (63.79K)
  Number of downloads: 587

[Fantinaikos]

Frame still low quality and the shirt collar of Lee isn't gray 0/10. Also you didn't fixed the too much water in Mark's Picture ()

[Mark]

...and that is why I don't do HRP content. That was only a 10 minute quick test for fun and already the nitpicks start in. But honestly, I would have no problem using it as-is for myself. If it was going to be for the HRP, obviously the entire backround would be made from scratch

[Darkus]

Mark., on 25 April 2017 - 12:06 PM, said:

Are there more where those came from?

Well... No, that's all I could find. Note that the pictures I posted above are resized, the original pictures are in much better quality, and they can be found in the ROTT goodies pack.

From the beta thread:
3D Realms site article

FilePlanet download

[CryptKiller]

Steve looks like Rob Hubbards long-lost brother.



Great find!

[NNC]

Miscellaneous knowledge, without much importance:

Were there any direct reasons why the 3DRealms devs left the sentry drones out of The Birth episode? They made two "cameo" style appearances, once early in the first level, and later a single one (with S2 skill) in XXX Stacy.

Was it the case that devs simply didn't notice or thought it would be cool to add them as cameos, since they weren't that popular? In my theory the reason is technical. By that time, I had terrible issues on my computer with the drones' sped up humming sound. Sometimes the computer simply crashed as soon as drones appeared. The same problem occured with the intro of The Birth episode, somewhere around the rape moment, also in Caribbean with the modified wind.voc in the last 2 levels... except those crashes were permanent in both cases without exceptions. The drone sound problems appeared randomly instead, so it didn't broke the game. But I remember that others had this issue as well on the AMC board.

In the release of WT, the humming sound was throttled down. Maybe they remembered the problem... anyway, drones became regular again in E5.

[Marphy Black]

I've just received a copy of the Rise of the Triad Official Player's Guide (way at the bottom), and reading through the beginning sections, I realize that it clears up several long held mysteries I've had regarding the game's plot.

If you've played the game, you've most naturally seen the in-game intro sequence which summarizes the story as thus: a strike team known as the HUNT is sent to San Nicolas Island to scope out a bunch of weirdos inhabiting the island's monastery. Before they can report back to their HQ, their boat is exploded, forcing them to enter the ancient site of worship.

It's the manual that explains a bit more of the things we're familiar with now:


So this is where we learn about the Oscurido cult that worships El Oscuro and wishes to blast Los Angeles to kingdom come for bad guy purposes. However, one thing always puzzled me: the mention of "a pyrotechnics expert and a rich movie studio head have joined forces with the Oscurido cult." What's that all that about?

Strictly speaking, the manual does plainly, if not indirectly, identify who these two individuals are supposed to be:


So if you were ever curious, "General" Darian is not actually a general. He's just a special effects guy. And Sebastian Krist is not a man of military rank either. He's the former head of a movie studio. That studio was called "Triad Pictures".

Technically, everything I've stated here so far has always been easily accessible information for anyone who checked the manual, although I don't think many people acknowledge the fact that half the bosses in the game are filmmakers. Still, what the hell is "Triad Pictures"? Where does San Nicolas Island fit into the picture? What does a man with a lunchbox obsession and Joe sitting in a chair threatening to staple his own hands have to do with Tom Hall wearing a robe? Why does the HUNT blow up an innocent and defenseless tower at the end of the game? Believe or not, there are answers to all of these questions, and as far as I can tell, they were only revealed within the Player's Guide story synopsis and no where else.

Rather than provide a scan, I'm just going to retype the whole section:

Rise of the Triad Official Players Guide said:

THE STORY SO FAR

Triad Pictures, owned and run by Sebastian Krist, has long been suspected as a haven for the cult worshippers of "El Oscuro, the Dark." The Oscuridos believe their divine godhead will come and cleanse the world of non-believers. Their rituals are rumored to include animal sacrifices, pagan "black magic" ceremonies, and other grisly satanic events.

Krist has masterminded a number of weapons heists and tapped the expertise of John Darian, a special-effects wizard, to kill his Hollywood rivals. Now the pair and their followers have retreated to an old Spanish monastery on San Nicolas Island, a secluded hunk of rock that's situated about 20 miles west of Los Angeles and partially owned by Triad Pictures.

Even though there isn't enough evidence to directly link Krist with the Oscuro cult, a special team of counter-terrorist agents, organized with the cooperation of major world powers under the United Nations and called the HUNT (High-risk United Nations Taskforce), has been trailing Krist and observing activity on the island. In the last few days, monk cultists and guards wearing uniforms with the Triad Pictures logo have been spotted overseeing the movement of a shipment of explosives off the island. The HUNT has also discovered that the cult plans to destroy Los Angeles. In fact, the bombs planted around the city have already begun to detonate, but before the HUNT can leave the island or even get to a radio transmitter, the cultists destroy their boat. Left with no way out, this lightly-armed band of commandos decide to fight their way into the monastery and destroy the remaining detonation devices before Krist and Darian can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting city. Millions of lives hang in the balance. You're a member of the HUNT team. If you succeed, you'll be a hero to billions. And just think of the movie offers...

MISSION OBJECTIVE

Kill or be killed. This simple statement encompasses a number of more complicated tasks, like solving puzzles, killing Triad members, finding weapons, killing monks, getting ammunition, slaughtering more followers of El Oscuro, and finding power-ups and life restoratives.

The overall goal of the game is to locate Darian, Krist, and El Oscuro's earthly manifestation, and then rid the world of their odious presence. They guard the detonator device that is systematically blowing up explosives hidden all over Los Angeles. Destroy this device, win the game, and you may earn a few weeks of leave before your next mission.

And there you have it. Everything about the game makes sense now. The ancient monastery was renovated by Triad Pictures to be used as a movie set, a cover for their true nefarious deeds. The triad logo and even the "Triad" name itself alludes to the cinematic production company owned by movie mogul Sebastian Krist, John Darian being the head of the special effect department. The thing you blow up at the end of the game is a "detonation device" that would have blowed up Los Angeles (or rather, you stopped it from further blowing up the city, it seems). And that truly is some miscellaneous knowledge.

For the record, I don't think the 2013 remake utilized much of this movie production studio/filmmaker espionage aspect of the Triad storyline.

[MrFlibble]

Cool find! I wonder if this plot was there from the start or created as an afterthought for the players' guide. The game seems to "work" quite well without these details. In fact, I remember Krist being described somewhere as "movie mogul turned cult pawn" suggesting that his role was not as important at least in some versions of the background story.

[Marphy Black]

MrFlibble, on 06 May 2017 - 04:32 AM, said:

Cool find! I wonder if this plot was there from the start or created as an afterthought for the players' guide.

I'd hazard a confident guess that Tom Hall did indeed handle most of the lore bits that appear in the guide. For what little the story had relevance to the gameplay, there are still smatterings of innocuous plot bits scattered all around in the enemy and item descriptions. For example, the TNT crates are specifically described as being unused explosives meant for the LA bombings.

Also, I just remembered that I totally forgot that ROTT's manual has a second story section for some inexplicable reason at the back. It's a tad more wordy:



While it mostly reiterates what it already said at the booklet's beginning story section, it does reveal to us the name of Triad Pictures' island monastery film, "Prayers in the Dark" (The Dark, El Oscuro, get it?), and clarifies that the cult's detonation device used to set off the explosives planted in LA is also a mobile band jammer, so in addition to saving LA, blowing up the tower also conveniently gives the HUNT the ability to contact HQ again. And I guess the Triad's uniforms are actually Korean military surplus, which I would theorize is just Hall's way of acknowledging why the costumes fit so poorly (more so on the cut actors that we haven't seen much of, unfortunately).