Duke Nukem 3D Launcher v1.0
Copyright © 1997 Bottom Line Telecommunications. All Rights Reserved.
This program is FREEWARE, and may NOT be re-sold, or distributed in any manner for profit, or included on any media for which a charge is associated. When we say FREE, we mean it!

Documentation:

Select an area of the image below to get more information. This program is really so easy to use, you shouldn't need to look at this file at all, but just in case:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H I J K Duke Nukem 3D Launcher v1.0
1.
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Specify the path to the Duke Nukem program files, DUKE3D.EXE, COMMIT.EXE, and BUILD.EXE (the map maker). BUILD.EXE is not required to be present, however DUKE3D.EXE and COMMIT.EXE are.
2.
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Clicking any of the "Browse..." buttons, brings up a somewhat familar Windows directory listing (not pictured). Navigate your way to the desired directory and click OK to fill in the field directly to the left of the "Browse..." button.
3.
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You can supply suplemental paramaters (switches) that I may have not thought of. However, you should rarely need to put anything here. The program puts all of the required parameters in by itself, regardless of what you put here. For a full of understanding of these parameters, see the DN3DHELP.EXE file in your Duke directory. These parameters are AUTOMATICALLY generated by the program:
  • /f4 - Used in a multiplayer game only.
  • /i# - Used in a multiplayer game only, dependent on the number of players.
  • /setupfile filename.CFG - Specifies the configuration file to use (See "4" below.)
  • /v# /l## - Selects a built in level. (See "A" below.)
  • -map filename.map - Selects a user level. (See "A" below.)
  • /c# - Defines the type of game (See "B" below.)
  • /s# - Sets the skill level. (See "E" below.)
  • /t# - Controls respawning of items, aliens, etc. (See "F" below.)
  • /m - Controls if aliens are present. (See "G" below.)
4.
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Pick a configuration file to use. You can make multiple configuration files for Duke Nukem by copying DUKE3D.CFG to filename.CFG. You can then customize each setup by running "SETUP /setupfile filename.CFG". Why? Say you've got two people in the house and each of them has a different keyboard setup. Or maybe you like your setup one way for multiplayer games, and another way for single player games.
5.6.7.
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Specify the paths to your user levels (.map files). One of things that bugs me about Kali is the inability to have maps in various places. For example, I have Duke 1.3D and Duke 1.5, and some maps for 1.5 will simply not work with 1.3D, so I keep them separate. Whatever directories you specify here affects what maps are listed in the Level drop down box (See "A" below.)
8.
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If you have BUILD.EXE, pressing this button will launch and load the map specified in the Level drop down box. NOTE: BUILD has a serious limitation of not being able to load files that are not located in the same directory or subdirectory. The program will notify you if the map will not load automatically, and give you a choice of launching BUILD anyway.
9.
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Delete the level listed in the Level drop down box. Another limitation of Kali that I find annoying. How many times have you joined a game, downloaded the map, and come to find its a piece of garbage. Now, you can delete junk maps easily. When used in combination with BUILD, you have an effective way of previewing maps and junking them immediately if they stink.
A.
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Pick a level to play, either built-in or an external .map file. Whatever is listed here is dependent upon the paths you specified in 5, 6, and 7 above. Just pick the level from the list. That's it!
B.
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Pick a game type, from Dukematch (deathmatch), Co-operative, Old Dukematch (weapons can only be picked up once; you need ammo to use them when they're depleted), and Single Player. This is probably the best part of this program, in that you can launch both multiplayer and single player games easily.
C.
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Only available in multiplayer, select the number of players by clicking the up and down arrows. Values range from 2 to 8 players.
D.
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Only available in multiplayer games, you can specify a socket number to use. NOTE: All players that are going to be in the same game MUST have the same number here, or they won't find each other. Usually, if you're on a small network and you and your buddies are the only ones playing Duke, you can leave this setting at the default of 1111.
E.
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Select the Skill Level. Usually, this doesn't affect multiplayer games. I have noticed, however, that the aliens seem to respawn regardless of the Spawn setting (see below) when this is set to "Damn I'm Good". If you're having spawn problems, this and the Spawn setting are the ones to fool with.
F.
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Select what respawns (reappears during the game.) Usually, for multiplayer Dukematch games, the "All" setting is appropriate. However, if you're going to play co-op, change this to "Items" for best results.
G.
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Check this to include the aliens (monsters) in the game. Note that most Dukematch user levels don't have aliens built into them. This is not a limitation of my program -- the maps just don't have them.
H.
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CLICK THIS TO PLAY. It saves all of the settings to DLAUNCH.INI in your Windows directory, and starts the game.
I.
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Saves your settings to DLAUNCH.INI. Also, if the Level drop down box isn't showing all of your map files (which is a rare occurence), clicking this will update the list.
J.
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Duh.
K.
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If you don't know what this does, you're one of the people that calls a Technical Support person asking, "Where's the Anykey key? "

System Requirements: VBRUN300.DLL is required to use this program, and is available most anywhere on the web. It is not included in this file just to keep the size small. Otherwise, any system that can run Duke Nukem 3D in Windows should have no problem running this.

Installation: Unzip the program somewhere (your Duke3D directory is a good place), and create a Program Item or Win95 shortcut. You have to do this on your own, and anybody with any kind of snap at all shouldn't have a problem. In other words, NO there is not a setup program.

Montclair's Lair will always contain the latest version of this program, as well as more fun Duke Nukem related items and information.


Copyright © 1997 Bottom Line Telecommunications. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this document may be reused or reprinted without the express written consent of Bottom Line Telecommunications.