January 25, 2002

Adereth's Reply to LAMEDUKE.TXT

Running the game
----------------

* It might not work on all systems, so don't even bother leaving us email
  about it.  It is provided "as is" for entertainment purposes only.

> Agreed. I haven't actually had the misfortune of meeting someone with a
  problem about this, but I can imagine the possiblities.

* You will probably have to load each level by hand.  Not sure if the exit
  switches are there, and even if they are, we don't know if they work.

> There are NO exit switches in LameDuke. They're all exit sectors, and I've
  "analyzed" the levels and most of them have exits (except episode 4 and half
  of episode 1, and a few here and there...)

* Type D3D /v1 /l1 (for mission 1, level 1).  This is pretty much the same
  as the release version of Duke.  I think levels 1-10 exist for volumes 1-3,
  so there is a lot to look at.
  NOTE: "D3D /v# /l#" - v# is the volume (1-3), l# is the level (1-8) or so.

> I hate to crash your party, but if you run LameDuke in 320 by 200, you can
  load the game the way it was supposed to be played.

* Run SETUP, and select video, sound (probably SoundBlaster only), and
  keyboard config.

> What?!?! You mean those Adlib clicks don't count? Well, at least the music
  sounds better than PC Speaker!

* We noticed on our systems that is runs really weird, like the timer is
  going nuts, so don't expect smooth gameplay.

> On the topic of "smooth gameplay", it is quite notable that LameDuke walks
  with comparatively exagerated steps against Duke Final. However, if you
  actually manage to encounter the big bad wolf, the crazy timer, I recommend
  a piece of crap genuine Pentium 60 MHz. Hey, it woiks for me!

* If there are cheat codes in this thing, we have no idea what they are.

> I do, I do! U = DNUNLOCK. Command line cheat: /d = debug mode. Gives 120 cells,
  48 pistol rounds, 696 pipebombs, and about a hundred rockets, plus all weapons.
  In my experience, the demo forces this, much like the way a multiplayer demo
  (e.g. the one from the final night of playtesting) removes all enemies from the
  single-player game.

* There is no Dukematch in this.  Or if there is, we don't remember how to
  do it.  :)

> I do, I do! In SETUP.EXE, goto Communications, do your stuff, save the settings
  and launch the game. NOTE: I haven't been able to test this beyond that point -
  it may only work as well as the Joystick settings in-game (not at all)

* It might not work on all systems, so don't even bother leaving us email
  about it.  It is provided "as is" for entertainment purposes only.
  Remember, we don't want E-mail on it.

> Yes, this is something you must remember.

Cool stuff to note
------------------
* We had a laser sight on the pistol that was finally dropped

> Yeah, but the projector is still on the Final pistol!

* We had stuff like subway cars, breaking glass and video monitors in from
  nearly the start of the game.

> I guess this is pretty cool, but then, it's the BUILD engine! Almost ALL
  of them have those!

* Weapon 5 was the BIG rocket launcher.  Cool looking, but you can see why
  it changed.

> Yeah, the carrying sprite (before you prepared it for firing) wasn't wide
  enough :).

* Weapon 3 changed to the 3 barrel chaingun

> The first time I saw the graphics for that gun, it was in a TC, and I
  thought they had ripped off the chaingun, then I got a piece of the
  action...

* Weapon 1 was a tazer type stick, dropped for Duke's mighty foot

> There have been reports of this not breaking glass. However, I find it's
  a nice excuse to whack the crap out of those $%^# drones!

* E1L4 shows the early OctaBrain.  Oh my God!

> At this point, it was really just a robotic jellyfish with blood.

* You will probably notice lot's of level sections that look familiar. We
  used lots of E3L2 in the Plutonium PAK for the "DERILICT" level.

> Yeah, there were some other parts that were used, but I can't remember
  which ones...

* That we're not answering any E-Mail on this.

> So that's why Joe always ignores the ground-breaking content I send in to
  the site. Huh.

So, have fun and poke around LAMEDUKE a little and see what you can find.
But most of all have some fun with it and don't take it too seriously.

> Yeah, you might end up like me ;)

Thanks to all of you who have supported Duke over the last year, making it
one of the biggest hits in recent years.  We appreciate it, and will try to
bring you better games in the future.  Also thanks to #duke3d on Undernet
IRC for pushing us to release this.  We joked about it for awhile around the
office and decided "What the hell, why not?"

> Yeah, thanks #duke3d on Undernet!

A big thanks to Joe Siegler for having the foresight to keep this file for
a year and half so it can be released to you!

> That guy is the MAN!

-- The Duke Nukem Team: (George Broussard, Todd Replogle, Allen Blum, Dirk
   Jones, Douglas R. Wood, Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Keith Schuler,
   Stephen Hornback, Lee Jackson, Ken Silverman and Bobby Prince.)

P.S.  Just in case you missed it, don't send us any E-Mail on Lameduke.
      This is released "as is".  We don't even know if it will work.

> Well, I do!