History VideoGame / DukeNukem3D

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Due to a bug in game code, Duke will die if an attack deals damage that is equal or higher than his current health, even if he was wearing armor at that point (the armor also disappears upon dying). This means that having 50 health and no armor is enough to survive a point blank shot from a Pig Cop but having 49 health and full armor will result in Duke getting killed. This also leads to extreme rare cases where the Cycloid Emperor can one shot Duke even at 200 health and 100 armor (regardless of the difficulty setting). This glitch is present in every version of the game (including other Build Engine Games based off Duke3D) and it also happens in the Nintendo 64 version, even when played on the Piece of Cake difficulty (which was changed to halve the damage Duke receives) and makes the game slightly harder than it should be.

* EasierThanEasy: According to what appears in the saved games menu, the Easy "piece of cake" mode was numbered "1". With the DNSKILL''n'' cheat code which set the difficulty to n−1, it was possible to set the difficulty to 0 and even -1, the latter having no enemies at all (though [[EasyModeMockery it also made the final level of each Episode unwinnable]], since victory is triggered by ''killing'' the boss).

** "Piece of Cake": The easiest.
** "Let's Rock": Normal difficulty.
** "Come Get Some": Hard difficulty.
** "Damn, I'm Good": HarderThanHard, roughly equivalent to {{VideoGame/Doom}}'s Nightmare difficulty. The enemies respawn on this difficulty if the player does not destroy their corpses.

* InstantWinCondition: There might be keys you need to get to unlock the way to the exit, but (with the exception of boss levels) reaching the exit will take you to the next level with full health.

* Laconic/CrossphaseViewport: Lunatic Fringe does this, with the 720-degree column in the center, where one set of windows peers out into one half of the level, and the other set looks out into the other half, on the same wall. However, with conventional geometry, these two locations both sit in the exact same location and space, but are on opposite sides of the level and oh no I've gone crosseyed...

* AlienGeometries: The level Lunatic Fringe has a 720 degree hallway, i.e you have to take two laps around it to end up where you started. As you take one lap the scenery in the middle [[MindScrew completely changes despite it seemingly being the same place you just walked by]].

In March 2013, an officially sanctioned 3D-accelerated UsefulNotes/OpenGL port of the game and all its expansion packs, with PC support for downloading mods through the Steam Workshop, was released on Platform/{{Steam}}, Platform/PlayStation3 and Platform/PlaystationVita as the "Megaton Edition". The port was done by the indie group Creator/DevolverDigital, who are probably best known for publishing the indie hit ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' (and, ironically, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which was known for its {{Take That}}s at ''Forever''[='=]s perennially-delayed release). However, Devolver eventually lost the license for this edition and it was pulled from Steam and from [[Platform/PlaystationNetwork Sony's storefronts]] in early 2016.

* CollisionDamage: Only against bosses. Killer doors are also the bane of all [[UsefulNotes/GameEngine Build engine]] games.

The game also got several console ports, such as ''Duke Nukem 64'' (UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}}), ''Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStation) and versions for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, UsefulNotes/GameCom, UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and mobile platforms.

In March 2013, an officially sanctioned 3D-accelerated UsefulNotes/OpenGL port of the game and all its expansion packs, with PC support for downloading mods through the Steam Workshop, was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlaystationVita as the "Megaton Edition". The port was done by the indie group Creator/DevolverDigital, who are probably best known for publishing the indie hit ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' (and, ironically, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which was known for its {{Take That}}s at ''Forever''[='=]s perennially-delayed release). However, Devolver eventually lost the license for this edition and it was pulled from Steam and from [[UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork Sony's storefronts]] in early 2016.

In September 2016, Gearbox announced ''Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour'' for PC, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and UsefulNotes/XboxOne: a new re-release featuring all the content of the ''Atomic Edition'' (the third-party expansions not included) plus a brand-new fifth episode created by two of the original game's level designers, with a new musical score by the original composer, a new weapon and enemy, new and re-recorded Duke Talk by Creator/JonStJohn, and enhanced graphics, released that October. A UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port was released later in June, four years later.

** The UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 version removed the nudity, alcohol, drugs, swearing and religious references[[note]] One example is the game's second level; the porn shop and "Gentleman's Club" were replaced with a gun shop (complete with screens displaying action scenes rather than... well, you got it) and a walk-in Duke Burger restaurant (the layout was the same except for adding a door to the Duke-Burger out near the start of the level), and the level was renamed "Gun Crazy"; it ends the same unless you find the Secret Exit near the main exit (which goes to the Duke-Burger level from [=EP4=], which has been moved up to this point since there's no [=EP4=] on this version). New textures had also been added specifically for these sections. [[/note]], made the weapons have no effect on women; and toned down the gore as well. The {{Stripperific}} attire and LudicrousGibs remained, though.

** The [=N64=] version also degrades the Overlord; he reappears in this port's "Hotel Hell" and "Freeway" levels, which are the last stages one can play in this version prior to confronting the 3D Cycloid Emperor in an indoor stadium (there's no [=EP4=] on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo64}}; the game ends after the Emperor is defeated). The mini-Overlord only appears once in each of these levels (in spots occupied by mini-Battlelords in the other ports) and only on the "Come Get Some" and "Damn I'm Good" difficulties. He's still a handful here.

* GunsAkimbo: The UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 port replaces the Ripper with a pair of [=MP5K=] sub machineguns.

** Also in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 port, Duke was able to rescue women trapped in alien pods in exchange for being immune to damage.

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Duke tells the second boss "I'll rip your head off and shit down your neck!" and the final boss "It's down to you and me, you one eyed freak!". The BonusBoss gets "I'm gonna kick your ass, bitch!" Oddly the first boss doesn't get one.

* ActionHero: The titular Duke Nukem is a gun-slinging wise cracking badass set out to save the world.

* GroinAttack: Duke also finishes off the Alien Queen by [[spoiler:shoving a pipe bomb up her birth canal]].

* GroinAttack: The shrink ray works on the mini-Battlelords if you use it to do this.
** Duke also finishes off the Alien Queen by [[spoiler:shoving a pipe bomb up her birth canal]].

-->'''Duke''': My name's Duke Nukem! After a few days of R&R, I'll be ready for more action! \\
'''Woman''': Aww, come back to bed, Duke! I'm ready for some action, nowww!

-->'''Duke:''' ''Whoa, that's some good..."coffee"!''

* VideogameCaringPotential:

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: You can kill the strippers if you want, although doing so will often [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin make more enemies spawn]]. You can also kill the women trapped in the cocoons, although considering [[FateWorseThanDeath their current plight]], it can hardly be called cruel.

* WeaponizedOffspring: The 1996 release had Duke face the alien queen as the FinalBoss. The queen routinely birthed drones that could fire shrink rays at Duke, making him very squishable.

-->'''Battlelord''': Who the hell ''are'' you?!
-->'''Duke Nukem''': (blows the Battlelord's head open) I'm Duke Nukem, and I'm coming to get the rest of you alien bastards!

* ForMaximumDamage: Octobrains take a lot of bullets and dish out a lot of pain, but they're cripplingly weak to explosive weapons: one rocket will gib them instantly, if you can hit them. Their critical weakness is the Devastator, where even ''one'' of the tiny rockets will immediately kill them.

* RatedMForManly: And beyond.

* UpdatedRerelease: the Atomic edition, which includes the official expansion pack (which effectively consists in a patch to turn the normal edition into the Atomic Edition), and the Xbox Live Arcade version, almost identical to the Atomic Edition (one small bug in co-op which could trap players was fixed), with improved stats tracking and online multiplayer.\\
\\
One of the stat tracking features also allowed you to watch a recorded level and ''play from the position the recorded player was in.'' It doesn't keep track of the stats from that reason unless it's your replay every time you died when you played in single player though.

** The ''20th Anniversary World Tour'' edition lacks the expansion packs, but features improved lighting, truly 3D environments, cleaner textures, new and re-recorded dialogue by Jon St. John, and developer commentary tracks. And most notable of all, it includes a brand new fifth episode by the original designers with new music from the original composer, a new enemy type, and a new weapon.

* BagOfSpilling: At the beginning of each episode you lose all of the weapons and ammo you acquired during the previous episode, except for the pistol and 72 rounds of bullets.