DUKE PLUS

A GAME ENHANCER AND CUSTOMIZER FOR THE EDUKE32 PORT OF DUKE NUKEM 3D

by Dan Gaskill (a.k.a. “DeeperThought”) 

TO INSTALL AND PLAY:

  1. Extract the contents of DUKEPLUS.RAR into a folder that contains the file “DUKE3D.GRP”
  2. Click on “dukeplus.bat” to start a game.
  3. To use the HRP with Duke Plus: Place “duke3d_hrp.zip” into a folder named “autoload” in your Eduke32 folder.
  4. In the EDuke32 main menu, select OPTIONS->KEYBOARD SETUP and assign keys for "RELOAD/ALTFIRE" and "DUKEPLUS MENU".

TO CUSTOMIZE DUKE PLUS:  There is an in-game menu accessed by the DUKEPLUS MENU key.  Options set in the menu will remain set the next time you start a game (they are saved in duke3d.cfg).  There are some some additional options that can only be accessed in the file “USERPLUS.CON” inside the DukePlus folder.

TO AVOID PROBLEMS:  If you have an autoload folder, make sure that it only contains the HRP files (duke3d_hrp.zip and hrp_update.zip).  Any other files in autoload will likely cause problems.  Also, none of the files for Duke Plus (except for dukeplus.bat) should be located outside of the DukePlus folder.  This includes USERPLUS.CON, DUKEPLUS.CON, LIGHTS.CON, dukeplus.def, and the DUKEPLUS_RESOURCES folder.

 

DUKE PLUS VERSION 1.70 FEATURES

Game Fixes

HRP Fixes

Visual Effects


Weapon Options

WEAPON DUKE PLUS OPTIONS*
MIGHTY BOOT NOT YET IMPLEMENTED
PISTOL RELOADING
The HUD shows how many bullets remain in your pistol clip(s).  You can reload at any time by pressing the RELOAD/ALT-FIRE  key (replaces CENTER VIEW).
AKIMBO PISTOLS
When this feature is on, Duke will wield two pistols at once after picking up a second pistol. Once you have a second pistol, you can toggle between using one or two by pressing the WEAPON 2 (pistol) key. Akimbo pistols are less accurate than a single pistol, but the firing rate is doubled.
SHOTGUN CRUIZER SHOTGUN
Replaces Duke’s standard shotgun with the Duke Nukem Mossberg Cruizer, which uses a new model and sounds (see credits below).  It has a clip that holds eight shells, which can be reloaded at any time using the reload key, or reloads automatically when the clip is depleted.  Press fire during the reloading sequence to cancel and start shooting.
CHAINGUN OVERHEAT (for standard chaingun only)
When this feature is on, the chaingun has double its maximum ammo capacity, does slightly more damage than normal, and can overheat.  When you fire the chaingun, an overheat bar will appear in the HUD and begin to fill.  As the chaingun gets hotter, the word “OVERHEAT” will be displayed – when the word starts flashing, the gun is near overheating.  If it overheats, you cannot fire again until it cools down.MP5 SMG
Replaces Duke’s standard chaingun with an MP5 that has a 30 round clip.  It is powerful than the chaingun, but this is balanced by there being less available ammo and the need to reload.  Like the Cruizer shotgun, it can be reloaded using the reload key if you don’t want to wait until the clip is empty.
ROCKET LAUNCHER HEAVY ROCKET LAUNCHER
Does more damage, with a larger blast radius and faster rockets.  This is balanced by the need to reload it (two rockets per clip), and the fact that rocket packs contain fewer rockets if the big rocket launcher is used.
PIPEBOMBS Press the reload/alt-fire key to switch between trigger mode (the standard mode in which pipebombs are detonated by a trigger) and timer mode (in which pipebombs detonate after about four seconds).
SHRINKER Press the reload/alt-fire key to switch between shrinker mode and mind blast mode.  In mind blast mode, the weapon will cause enemies fight on your side for a period of time (stronger enemies are affected for a shorter durtation).
DEVASTATOR Press the reload/alt-fire key to switch between rocket mode and shotgun mode.  Shotgun blasts coming from the Devestator are less accurate and less damaging than the regular shotgun.  However, the increased rate of fire more than makes up for this.  A useful mode for close quarters (to avoid suicide) or cause instant damage at long range (great for multiplayer).
LASER TRIPBOMBS NOT YET IMPLEMENTED
FREEZER NOT YET IMPLEMENTED
EXPANDER GRAVITY GUN
Use the Alt-Fire key (same key as reload) to pull distant objects toward the player and hold them.  Once an object is held, press fire to shoot it at high velocity.  Firing when an object is not held will shoot a beam that pushes objects away.
KNOCKBACK* The shotgun and other high damage weapons have the ability to knock monsters backwards.  The amount of knockback is adjustable.

*Optional features can be toggled on or off using the in-game menu, or by editing USERPLUS.CON

Player Abilities

MANTLING ABILITY WITH LOWERED JUMP HEIGHT* When this feature is on, Duke will automatically grab onto ledges. He can hang, there, move sideways (if the ledge allows), or press JUMP to climb up. Press TURN AROUND to glance behind you while mantling.
DODGE MOVES* Double tap on a direction key to quickly dodge in that direction. Jump while in mid-dodge to perform a long jump. While touching a wall, jump up and dodge away from it (i.e. if the wall is directly behind you, double-tap forward) to perform a wall jump.
RUNNING* More realistic acceleration.
FOOTSTEPS Sounds depend on the surface being stepped on.
GRABBING/THROWING* If this ability is turned on, press OPEN on an object to pick it up.  Press FIRE to throw a held object or OPEN again to drop it.
WORKING COLA MACHINES Press the open key while facing a cola machine to insert coins.  On the third coin, it dispenses a can, which will roll across the floor if unobstructed.  You can pick up the can by pressing the OPEN key on it.  Pressing FIRE will drop the can, while pressing OPEN again will make Duke open the can and drink the cola (5 health).  After drinking the cola, Duke will drop it and stomp on the can if close.  You cannot drink from a can that has been damaged or has already been opened.  Breaking the cola machine will cause it to dispense a random number of cans.
FLARES* When USE_FLARES is set to ON, Duke can take out a flare with the USE FLARE key (replaces the AIM DOWN key).  The flare will light up nearby areas, making it easier to see.  Place the flare by pressing the USE FLARE key again, or throw it by pressing FIRE.  By default, you can have up to three flares spawned at one time (this number can be changed).  If you want so spawn a new flare but have reached the maximum number, you must either destroy one of the existing flares or wait for it to expire.  If the USE_FLARES feature is on, the Duke Plus dynamic lighting system is loaded up when the game starts.  Depending on your computer and on how many flares or other dynamic lights have been spawned, you may experience low frame rate.  There are various options in USERPLUS.CON for tweaking the settings of the lighting system which can effect performance and quality.
ENHANCED INVENTORY ITEMS*

If STOREHEALTH is set to YES, unused health items are stored in the first aid kit.

If STEROIDKICKS is set to YES, kicks do 4X damage when the player is using steroids.

If HOLODUKELIGHTNING is set to YES, the HoloDuke hologram will electrocute monsters who wander close to it.

IF GOGGLESWITCHES is set to YES, the nightvision goggles will reveal which dip switches need to be set.

BULLET SPREAD* Change the degree to the player's bullets spread (pistol, shotgun and chaingun may be set separately)

* Ability is optional.  Most optional abilities can be toggled using the in-game menu, and some can be turned on by editing USERPLUS.CON

Duke Plus Map Effects

In Duke Plus, it is possible to make working ladders, tranparent water, multistop elevators, and many other new map effects.  See the guide for complete descriptions of the effects and how to include them in your map:

DUKE PLUS MAP EFFECTS GUIDE

Miscellaneous Features

The Duke Plus In-Game Menu

When you start a game using Duke Plus for the first time, you will see a message at the top of the screen telling you to bring up the menu, using the menu key (which you may assign in the Eduke32 main menu under OPTIONS -> KEYBOARD SETUP).  The menu is divided into four sub-menus:  WEAPONS, ABILITIES, MONSTERS, and VISUAL EFFECTS.  The weapons and abilities options have already been described above in the WEAPON OPTIONS and PLAYER ABILITIES sections.  The monster options are as follows:

SHOW MONSTER LIFE BARS --  The length of a bar over a monster's head indicates the amount of remaining life it has left.  Damaging a monster causes the bar to flash.  Note that this feature applies to Duke bots as well.

RANDOM ATTRIBUTES --  Randomized monsters can spawn with various attributes that normal monsters don't have.  They may have more health, use different attacks, drop different items, teleport, use different tactics, or be immune to certain weapons.  The number you set here is the probability that the monster will have each of the possible random traits.  Generally speaking, the higher the number, the more challenging the game will be.

DAMAGE INFLICTED -- This is the percent of normal damage that the monsters inflict on enemies. 100 by default.

DAMAGE RECEIVED -- This is the percent of normal damage the the monsters receive from the player.  100 by default.

MONSTER IN-FIGHTING -- Set to YES if you want monsters to fight each other after friendly fire incidents (like in Doom).

HUD Display

 Bot Allies

A bot will follow a path only if 256 has been added to its EXTRA in Mapster (setting EXTRA on a RESPAWN or SPAWNER that spawns the bot has the same effect).  A bot trail is made of of WAYPOINT sprites (tile # 1490 in the Duke Plus tiles05.art).  The first WAYPOINT must be given a lotag of 1 (NOT 0!), and they must be placed in sequence with ascending lotags.  The path can be made to loop -- in that case, make sure that the first WAYPOINT in the path is accessible from the final waypoint in the path (just as you would do with a RECON path).  Instead of being a loop, the path can be made to end by adding 1 to the EXTRA of a WAYPOINT.  Once a bot reaches a WAYPOINT that has 1 as part of the EXTRA bitfield, it will stop following waypoints and resume its normal behavior of attempting to follow the player.

ADVANCED USES OF WAYPOINTS:

If YVEL is set on a WAYPOINT sprite, then the first bot who reaches that WAYPOINT will activate any ACTIVATOR, ACTIVATORLOCKED, MASTERSWITCH, RESPAWN, SPAWNER, FUSE or SE that is triggered by that tag.  This can be used to make a bot open a locked door, etc.

If ZVEL is set on a WAYPOINT, then a bot who reaches it will stop and wait there.  He will not move from that spot (except to fight monsters) unless the WAYPOINT has been activated by a switch, SPAWNER or DPTOUCHPLATE that has a YVEL equal to the ZVEL of the WAYPOINT.  This is useful, for example, if you want a bot to wait patiently at a door until the player unlocks it, and then continue on his path.

If 1024 is added to the EXTRA of a bot (and is used in combination with 256), then the bot will be in lead player mode.  When in leading mode and on a path, the bot will automatically stop to wait for the player if the player is not close to him.  To disable this feature only on certain WAYPOINTs, add 2 to the EXTRA of those WAYPOINTs.  This is useful if, for example, you want the bot to start on his path when he is still far away from the player, but then you want him to lead the player when he reaches a certain area.

In addition to the BOT ASSISTANCE option, bots can be placed directly in a map. Place a BOTALLY (tile 1431) in the map and give it a lotag of 1. Then determine its attributes by setting its EXTRA ('M on the sprite in mapster to set EXTRA). As with monsters (see below), this acts as a bitfield:

 

BIT

EFFECT

1

AWAKE AT START, NEVER SLEEPS

2

DOUBLE STRENGTH

4

QUADRUPLE STRENGTH

8

MEDIC

16

HAS SHOTGUN

32

HAS CHAINGUN

64

HAS RPG

128

HAS FREEZER

256

FOLLOWS WAYPOINTS

512

WILL PATROL STARTING POINT

1024 LEAD THE PLAYER MODE (use with 256)

 

Add together the bits that you want to get the desired effects. For example, a BOTALLY with an EXTRA set to 30 (16 + 8 + 2 ) will be a medic with double strength and a shotgun.

 

Monsters

   

BIT

EFFECT

1

AWAKE AT START, NEVER SLEEPS

2*

DOUBLE STRENGTH

4*

QUADRUPLE STRENGTH

8**

INCREASED  ATTACK POWER

16

ATTACK VARIATION 1

32

ATTACK VARIATION 2

64

ATTACK VARIATION 3

128***

TELEPORTS

256

SPECIAL (DEPENDS ON MONSTER)

512

EXPLOSIVES RESISTANCE

1024

SHRINKER, EXPANDER, LASER IMMUNE

2048

FREEZER IMMUNE

4096****

BACKS AWAY FROM PLAYER

8192*****

DOES NOT WALK OFF LEDGES

16384 PLAYER ALLY

*If bits 2 and 4 are both set, then the monster will have x8 normal hit points.

**Increasing attack power will have different effects depending on the monster. On a Sentry Drone, for example, this bit will cause its explosion to do double damage. On other monsters, it will cause the monster to fire two shots instead of one. In some monsters, the monster will fire one shot for double the normal damage. Sharks with increased attack power will become killer sharks and will behave differently from normal sharks.

***The monster will sometimes try to teleport behind the player if the player is facing it.

****The monster will try to back away from the player if the player is in sight, but it will keep shooting.

*****This can be used as a substitute for STAYPUT type monsters – the monster can still walk around but will not walk off ledges. DO NOT PLACE MONSTERS WITH THIS FLAG ON SPRITE BRIDGES. Also, it does not work on DRONE, OCTABRAIN or COMMANDER.

This is more likely to happen in open spaces. If the monster cannot find a good spot to teleport to, it will not teleport.

Examples: Press 'M on a PIGCOP sprite in mapster and set the EXTRA of a PIGCOP to 10 (2+8), and it will have double hit points and double attack power. A LIZTROOP with an EXTRA of 196 (4+64+128) will have x4 hit points, shoot railgun shots, and be able to teleport.

Table of monster attack variations

MONSTER ATTACK VARIATION 1 ATTACK VARIATION 2 ATTACK VARIATION 3
LIZTROOP STARPROJ FIREBALL RAILGUN
LIZMAN STARPROJ FIREBULLET RAILGUN
PIGCOP STARPROJ FIREBULLET RAILGUN/MORTAR
COMMANDER FIREBALL ELECTRONET
SENTRY DRONE FIRELASER TURRET BULLET TURRET ROCKET TURRET
NEWBEAST FIREBALL ELECTRONET EXPANDER
TURRET BULLETS ROCKETS RAILGUN
EGGSPAWNS NEWBEAST
OCTABRAIN ELECTRONET SHRINKER FIREBALL
TANK STARPROJ/FIREBULLET
RECONDP* STARPROJ/MORTARS BULLETS/FIREBALL
BOSS1 STARPROJ/MORTAR FIREBULLET/MORTAR RAILGUN/MORTAR
BOSS2 FIREBALL/FIRELASER
BOSS3 FIREBALL ELECTRONET
BOSS4** EXPANDER
*note that these variations can be used together (add flags) **the normal attack of BOSS4 for pals other than 0 is the- ELECTRONET

 
New projectile descriptions:

FIREBULLET -- A fast moving projectile with a red smoke puff trail. Bounces off walls.
STARPROJ -- Resembles a shooting star, breaks up into shrapnel on impact.
ELECTRONET -- An electrical net that spawns lightning bolts on impact.
FIREBALL -- A slow moving fireball that tracks the player, can be shot out of the air with hitscan weapons.
RAILGUN -- A railgun shot.

 

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THANKS TO

TerminX” and the rest of the EDuke32 team, for creating and supporting EDuke32

Hellbound”, for creating the blood and bullet impact decals, as well as the models for the debris and the shotgun muzzle flash

Kaiser”, for creating the flare model and skin.

Usurper”, for the animated up and down switches and the snow flake graphic

James Stanfield, for much of the footstep sound code and the camera control code

Hunter_Rus”, for some of the HRP fixes and for improving EDuke32

Tea Monster”, for the cola can model and skins, and for the rocket impact scorch mark decal

Edisleado”, “HellSpike”, and “Pete”, for creating the model and skins for the Duke Nukem Cruizer shotgun

Short_Fuse” and “Creeping_Jesus” for creating the model and skins for the MP5A4 SMG

DavoX” for importing both the Cruizer and MP5 into md3 format and recreating the animations for them

"Gambini" for his maps utilizing Duke Plus, and for all his ideas on how to improve Duke Plus

 

Changelog

1.7   6-21-08

-New singleplayer map by Gambini, "Blown Fuses"
-Added new sample map by Gambini (DPeffects.map). This has examples of almost every Duke Plus effect.
-Optimized so that inert sprites do not run unnecessary code.
-In-game menu for changing most of the optional Duke Plus settings
-Pipebombs can switch between trigger and timer modes (alt-fire to toggle)

-Shrinker can switch between shrinking and mind blast modes (alt-fire to toggle)
-Shrinker can switch between shrinking and mind blast modes (alt-fire to toggle)
-Gravity gun is an optional replacement for the Expander
-Added saw blades for the gravity gun
-Optional ability to pick up and throw a large variety of objects
-New option for monster in-fighting
-Transparent water can be set to bob up and down, and underwater visibility can be adjusted
-Jibs which have been placed in maps as decorations will not spin (their model animation is disabled)
-Mappers can set certain tile numbers to be rendered only as sprites (disables model rendering)
-Support for fuse puzzles added
-Blood sprites now added to deletion que (optimization)
-Blood sprites no longer hang over ledges
-Improved dynamic lighting effect
-Added simple waypoint system for bots (similar to locators for RECON)

-Added special blocking sprite that becomes invisible in game
-Added noise sprites (sound effect sprites that are easy to use)
-Speeded up reloading on the Cruizer shotgun
-New graphic for FIRELASER
-More options for SPAWNER
-Changed monster RAILGUN to make it more balanced and not clip through walls
-Eliminated bullet resistance flag, replaced with special flag (currently used to make NEWBEAST not shoot)
-Added waypoint system for bots
-Improved randomized monsters option (random minibosses, more sensible drops)
-Lightbugs can now be made into dynamic lights
-Various improvements and bug fixes, too many to list

1.6   4-17-08

-Everything in Duke Plus, except for the optional replacement weapons, is now compatible with the classic 8-bit graphics renderer -Added option to jump pads to make them show their destination -Fixed a bug which made it impossible to emerge from transparent water when the water was at a certain height. -Added a new SECTOREFFECTOR lotag for floor and ceiling texture panning.

-Breakable glass sprites.

1.5   2-25-08

-Various bug fixes. The biggest bug fixed concerned the Dukebots not targeting enemies correctly in many situations. -Improved skin for Duke's arms holding the Cruizer Mossberg shotgun and MP5 (thanks mostly to Kaiser). - Improved mantling and added a "FREERUNNER" option for doing multiple wall jumps. - The TURN AROUND key will make a player glance behind if he is hanging on a ledge (mantling), instead of making him turn his body around. - Added boxes which can be picked up, thrown, placed and stood on in order to reach high places. The larger boxes cannot be picked up, but can be pushed (hold use while pushing). - Added killzone feature to SE of death. - Added a decorative effect for smoke gusts blowing past. - Added code for sprite platforms that can move back and forth along predefined routes or in circles (undocumented)

1.4   1-22-08

-New dynamic lighting system.  The player can use flares (optional) and dynamic lights can be placed in maps. -Cleaner installation (everything is now inside of the DukePlus folder) -New option for transparent water:  set the EXTRA of the water sector effector to 1, and the sector will be considered entirely underwater (regardless of the height of the SE).  This can prevent a problem where water height is not detected correctly. -Fixed a bug with the Dukebots which sometimes caused them to float into the air. -Various small optimizations

 1.31b-Fixed a bug which prevented switching to weapons that have clips, when the clips contained rounds but the player had no other ammo for the weapons -Updated the documentation to correct some obsolete information -Picking up the Cruizer shotgun not dropped by a Pigcop now gives a full clip of ammo but no additional ammo
 
1.31
-Reloading key now works on pistols -Rocket scorch marks will not spawn on water or on moving walls, such as swing doors -Fixed ammo display bugs for Cruizer shotgun and Mp5 -Fixed bug that could cause bots to float into the sky -Reduced size of bot life bars