Index
- Intro
- List of games
- Source ports
- Multiplayer
- Where to get the games
- Maps and mods
- Glossary
-
Further reading
Hail to the king, baby!
The Build Engine is what powers the classic 1996 shooter Duke Nukem 3D by 3D Realms, as well as several other games. While it was not the first game to use the engine -- that dubious distinction going to the Asia-only Legend of Seven Paladins 3D -- Duke Nukem 3D is by far the most famous, followed by Monolith Productions' Blood, which takes a gothic horror spin on the formula. By today's standards, the engine is quite jank, its code enough to drive men to madness, but despite its short lifespan and ropey physics, it's powered some of the best games of the era and continues to see use today.
I ain't afraid of no Quake!
Duke Nukem 3D and its cousins are very fun games, representing a sort of interesting transitional period between the "Doom clone" era of the early 90s to the early fully-3D shooters of the late 90s. Duke Nukem 3D in particular is the last big 2D shooter to come out before Quake's release a few month's later, and in spite of the latter being a technological leap forward, Duke 3D and its cousins continued to show what a good 2D shooter was capable of. The results speak for themselves, with nearly thirty years of fan-made content.
Hmm, my kind of party!
Most -- if not all -- Build Engine games have a dedicated source port or other implementation for modern machines. All you usually need is a copy of the game and the source port of your choice. Sometimes you might need DOSBox, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Looks like it's time to kill...
Here's almost every commercial (or freeware) game to use the Build Engine,
including the new ones, sorted first by series, then main title, then
expansions.
A.W.O.L. (2022)
Shotspark Studios
A stand-alone, military/mercenary-themed total conversion for Duke Nukem 3D that somehow found its way onto Steam as a free game. It's got dialogue and stuff!
Blood
(1997)
Monolith Productions
You're soaking in it. Monolith Productions' deliciously irreverent and bloody action horror. Set in the late 1920s, you play as Caleb, a fast-talking, showtune-loving cowboy from hell on his quest for revenge against the cult that betrayed him. Probably the best game to use the engine.
Blood: Cryptic Passage
(1997)Sunstorm Interactive
Authorized expansion pack by Sunstorm Interactive, makers of Deer Hunter but also famous for their expansion packs for popular games. Journey with Caleb through the Carpathians in the search for a mythic scroll.
Monolith Productions
Official expansion pack of the original game with a new episode and new content. Originally sold by itself, but was later bundled with the full game and Cryptic Passage and sold as One Unit Whole Blood. This bundle has in recent years been supplanted by a remaster titled Fresh Supply.
Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
3D Realms
The irreverent, "politically incorrect" classic. Probably my favorite boomer shooter if we're being honest -- yes, even more than Doom. As with Doom and Heretic, the original release of this only had three episodes and is now rare, though there are a few mods out there (mostly from the first year or so after the game's release) that require it. You play as the titular Duke Nukem, fighting off an alien invasion.
Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition (1996)
3D Realms
An official re-release with an all new fourth episode and a ton of new material. For those who already owned the original release, this update was sold as a patch in a package titled Plutonium PAK. For a long time Atomic Edition was the version sold on digital storefronts, but save for one notable exception, it has been supplanted by...
Duke Nukem 3D 20th Anniversary World Tour (2016)
Nerve
Software, Gearbox Software
An official re-re-release of the game, running on a new source port (with middling performance,) complete with all Atomic Edition content, and a new fifth episode designed by the original mappers. Not the most compatible with mods, but if you really wanna play the new episode, it's worth grabbing in a sale.
Duke Xtreme (1997)
Sunstorm Interactive, various
While arguably shovelware, many of the levels were developed in-house by Sunstorm Interactive and thus the pack warrants a mention. Aside from a configuration tool that lets you add all sorts of dubiously interesting gameplay features, there are fifty maps (half of them Dukematch) for you to play through. Good luck finding any good ones, though.
Duke It Out In D.C. (1997) One of the three big Duke 3D expansion packs, by Sunstorm Interactive. The president has been kidnapped by aliens. Are you a bad enough Duke to rescue the president?
This was an official product by Penthouse Magazine -- yes, that one -- and released for free with the participation of GT Interactive (the then-publisher for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 ports of Duke Nukem 3D) as a promotional item back in the wild and woolly days of late 90s internet porn.
Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach (1998)
Sunstorm Interactive
The second big expansion pack, also by Sunstorm Interactive. Duke needs a break from all the alien killing, but they show up to ruin his R&R.
Duke: Nuclear Winter (1998)
Simply Silly Software
The third big expansion pack, not by Sunstorm Interactive but by Simply Silly Software (which also made the various [game]!Zone shovelware packs.) Santa has been kidnapped by aliens with the aid of radical feminist elves (yeah...) calling themselves the Feminist Elven Militia (yeah...) It's as bad as it sounds.
Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (1999)
Eurocom
Believe it or not, this N64 third-person shooter runs on the Build engine! It's also probably the best of the early console Duke Nukem games. Travel through time to stop an alien plot to change history by killing Duke's ancestors.
Extreme Paintbrawl (1998)
Creative Carnage
A paintball simulator, attempting to capitalize on what was a popular craze among a certain type of midwestern white guy at the time. Very, very not good.
Ion Fury (2019)
Voidpoint
The Build Engine returns with a brand new game for the first time in 20 years, featuring Shelly "Bombshell" Harris, the heroine of Bombshell in a prequel developed by Voidpoint. Expect to blow lots of stuff up in a cool cyberpunk setting, fighting a twisted cybernetic cult headed up by a mad scientist.
Ion Fury: Aftershock (2023)
Voidpoint
The official Ion Fury expansion. Fired from the GDF, Harris drowns her sorrows in a local bar, only for the cult to strike again, and off she goes on a rampage of revenge.
Rock'n Shaolin: Legend of the Seven Paladins 3D
(1994)
Accend, Inc.
A Taiwanese game by Accend, Inc., about fighting organized crime in ancient China. Built on an early version of the Build engine despite a business deal with 3D Realms having fallen through. 3D Realms thought the project had been dropped; it was in fact finished, illegally, and released for the Korean market, making it the first Build engine game to reach shelves. Is it any good? Likely not.
NAM (1998)
TNT Team (not to be confused with Team TNT of
Doom fame)
Probably the very first commercial FPS set in the Vietnam war, essentially a commercial remake of the Platoon total conversion for Duke Nukem 3D by the same team. Not very good. Was sold under the name Napalm in some Walmarts with some slight code variations.
WWII GI (1999)
TNT Team
Not the first commercial World War II FPS, but definitely the first one that wasn't Wolfenstein 3D. Intended as a thematic sequel to NAM, and like NAM, it's not very good.
TNT Team
A free expansion for WWII GI that includes two new WW2-themed maps and one Vietnam War-themed map.
PowerSlave (1996)
Lobotomy Software
Also known as Exhumed in Europe. The console version differed from the MS-DOS version and used the SlaveDriver engine, which also powered ports of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 1. The MS-DOS version, however, used Build. The modern re-release combines elements of both versions as well as combining both titles.
Redneck Rampage (1997)
Xatrix Entertainment
While never as popular or well known as Duke Nukem 3D or Blood, this crude shooter from what would eventually be known as Gray Matter Interactive has a cult following. Aliens have landed out in the sticks and cloned the locals. You never liked them anyway.
Suckin' Grits on Route 66 (1997)
Sunstorm
Interactive
An authorized expansion pack by -- you guessed it! -- Sunstorm Interactive. Take a trip to such exotic locales as a gator farm and an alien oddities museum.
Redneck Rampage Rides Again (1998)
Xatrix
Entertainment
An official sequel to the original Redneck Rampage. After crash-landing the ship at the end of the original game, it's time to shoot your way back to Arkansas. Features new enemies and other stuff.
Redneck Deer Huntin' (1998)
Xatrix Entertainment
A Redneck Rampage-themed hunting simulator to capitalize on what at the time was a mildly popular niche genre led by the Deer Hunter series.
Shadow Warrior (1997)
3D Realms
3D Realms' kung fu and anime-themed follow-up to Duke Nukem 3D. While it has its merits, it was considered ethnically insensitive even back then in that casual 90s-racial-and-regional-stereotyping kind of way. Play as Lo Wang, a conscious mercenary fighting against the evil zaibatsu CEO he betrayed.
Twin Dragon (1998)
Wylde Productions/Level
Infinity
Intended as a commercial Shadow Warrior expansion by Wylde Productions and Level Infinity, it never made it to shelves, and was instead released for free. Fight against your evil twin Hung Lo. Yeah.
Wanton Destruction (2005)
An expansion by Sunstorm Interactive that never made it to shelves but was eventually released for free. While visiting family in America, Lo Wang is attacked by Zilla, who has returned to take his revenge.
William Shatner's TekWar (1995)
CapStone Software
William Shatner clearly had bills to pay, why else would he appear in what would become CapStone Software's most infamous game? Play an ex-cop in the near future hired to track down seven drug lords selling a dangerous new drug called Tek on the streets of Neo L.A.
Witchaven
(1995)
CapStone Software
A dungeon crawler by CapStone Software, probably their best game and that's not saying much. Explore the sinister island of Witchaven and defeat the evil sorceress before she can open a portal to hell.
Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance
(1996)
CapStone Software
Because Witchaven 1 wasn't bad enough. The sister of the previous game's villain wants revenge!
Zombie Crisis (2008)
Shotspark Studios
An odd little freeware game with a zombie theme, originally created as a homebrew PSP game. Kinda basic, but if shooting a bunch of zombies in nondescript corridors is your thing Shotspark's got you covered.
Damn, I'm looking good!
While certainly nowhere near as prolific as the
Doom community, there are quite a few source ports for
Duke Nukem 3D and its fellow Build games. One thing of note is
the
High Resolution Pack
for Duke Nukem 3D, which is likely the most popular and frequently-updated high-def project
for a boomer shooter, and support for it is a common feature among source
ports. Personally I think it ruins the game's whole aesthetic like every
other high-def project but what do I know?
Java-based port of the Build engine. Extremely straightforward port, akin to Crispy Doom in function, but boasts probably the longest list of supported games. Supports Blood, Duke Nukem 3D including World Tour, Legend of the Seven Paladins, Powerslave, Redneck Rampage including Rides Again, Shadow Warrior, Witchaven I and II, and William Shatner's TekWar.
The official Blood re-release source port using the KEX Engine. Not great performance but it's an option.
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour
An official source port for the 2016 re-release of Duke Nukem 3D. Not the
best performance, but it's an option if you don't feel like fussing with a
source port to get the new episode running.
Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition
The big one. Despite its relatively short compatibility list, it boasts the
most functionality and fits the "GZDoom" niche: highly moddable, fancy
graphics, plug-n-play. Supports Duke Nukem 3D, Ion Fury including Aftershock (and is
packaged with the base game), NAM and WWII GI. See VoidSW for Shadow Warrior support.
One of the earliest source ports, back in development after a long hiatus. Straightforward port, with support (through separate packages with the JF* naming convention) for Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Witchaven I (but not II) and William Shatner's TekWar.
A trio of ports using shared code that fit the "DSDA-Doom" niche. NBlood and PCExhumed are dedicated to just Blood and PowerSlave/Exhumed, but RedNukem features support for Duke Nukem 3D, Redneck Rampage, NAM, WWII GI, and even out of the box support for Duke Nukem 64 if you have a ROM.A bit of an oddball, built by the GZDoom team and backed by GZDoom tech. Supports Duke Nukem 3D (including World Tour content), Blood, Redneck Rampage, Shadow Warrior, PowerSlave, NAM, and WWII GI.
A modified version of JFShadowWarrior, packaged and sold as a "remaster" of the game.VoidSW
EDuke32-based Shadow Warrior port, packaged with
EDuke32.
Hmm, don't have time to play with myself!
Looking to kick your own ass online? Got you covered.
Note: Sometimes you will see mentions of an app called Meltdown --
do not use it as there is
clear evidence
of it being malware.
NukemNet
Supports Duke 3D, Blood, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage, and PowerSlave.
NetDuke32
Dukematch-oriented fork of EDuke32. Supports Duke Nukem 3D.
VoidSW features Wangbang support.
NBlood has Bloodbath support.
Unf, unf, where is it?
A.W.O.L. Steam
Blood: Fresh Supply Steam | GOG
Includes original DOS version so you can use the source port of your
choice.
Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition Zoom
The last place you can get the original version of Duke 3D. Comes with the
big three official expansions, a couple of shovelware packs, and the map
Penthouse Magazine did. This is definitely the best deal
you're gonna get.
Duke Nukem 3D 20th Anniversary World Tour Steam
Remaster. Worth getting on sale for the 5th episode but I can't recommend it otherwise.
Ion Fury
Steam
|
GOG
Aftershock
Steam
|
GOG
NAM/WWIIGI bundle (best value):
GOG
Platoon Leader ModDB
Powerslave/Exhumed
Steam
|
GOG
(original)
Steam
|
GOG (remaster)
Redneck Rampage collection
GOG
This is the best value, containing the original game, Rides Again and Suckin' Grits)
Redneck Deer Huntin' Steam
Shadow Warrior:
Original (under the name Classic 1997) Steam | GOG
GOG version comes with the free expansions.
Remaster (under the name Classic Redux)
Steam
|
GOG
Comes with slightly mid source port based on JonoF.
William Shatner's TekWar
Out of print.
Zombie Crisis ModDB | Duke4.net
Originally released on ModDB, you can now get it as part of the EDuke32 Addon Compilation.
Come get some more!
Looking for something to play? There's a lot of maps and mods to choose from!
Scent-88 The modern repository for almost 30 years of Duke 3D maps.
Arrovfnukem
Another Duke repository.
Duke Nukem Repository An old map repository that is no longer maintained and its search function is broken.
Duke4.net: Duke Nukem 3D Maps and Level Editing Keep up with new releases on Duke4. (Beware, this forum is full of toxic members, but is a useful resource.)
EDuke32 Addon Compilation Years and years of old mods and map packs, fixed up and configured for EDuke32. Nightfright is the GOAT!
Duke4.net: The Height of Gaming Excitement Other Build engine game maps and mods.
Blood Wiki: List of Mods for Blood A great resource for finding new Blood mods.
Dukeworld An archive of one of the oldest Duke Nukem websites ever, including many maps.
RTCM An archive of the defunct but once-excellent RTCM resource site for many Build games, including maps.
Archive.org Shadow Warrior map collection
Exactly what it says on the tin.
Glossary
.ART
Contains raw art data for the game. Many mods and even single maps will have their own loose .ART files that override the stock files.
.CON
Contains most of the important code for the game, but are directly editable
in any text file editor to make it easy to make your own mods.
Duke Nukem 3D's user.con allows to to make minor modifications
such as to level names.
.GRP
The standard data file for many Build engine games. Usually contains all the game's assets. Many mods also use their own .GRP files that are added on top of the stock one.
.INI
Some games, like Blood, use text-based .ini files to tell the executable what files to use and
important data like level names and what songs to use.
.MAP
Levels. Most maps downloaded from the internet will be in this loose
format.
.ZIP
Some source ports support zip, pk3 and pk4, all of which are easier to manage than GRP.
Further reading:
Duke4.net: Usefull lost threads on this forum
A disjointed repository of useful threads.
MSDN
A long-running Duke 3D map review site.
ETTinGRiNDER's Fortress
Everything you ever wanted to know about Witchaven. Which I can't imagine would be much.
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