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Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour

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Title Screen

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour

Developers: 3D Realms (original game), Nerve Software, Gearbox Software
Publisher: Gearbox Publishing
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Released internationally: October 11, 2016, June 23, 2020 (Switch)


AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
EnemyIcon.png This game has unused enemies.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ItemsIcon.png This game has unused items.
MusicIcon.png This game has unused music.
SoundIcon.png This game has unused sounds.


Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is a re-release of Duke Nukem 3D. Instead of being a simple repackaging of the original game, it contains quite a bit of new content, such as an all-new episode containing eight levels (all of which are made by the original game's level designers), a new enemy, a new weapon, a whole lotta new textures, and a new final boss for the new episode. Gearbox also got Duke's voice actor back in to re-record all of Duke's lines and added a true 3D renderer to pretty up the old levels and make the new ones stand out more. All in all, an impressive celebration of the game's 20th Anniversary.

Despite all of the bonuses compared to the original game, it didn't sell well, owing partially to how common the original game is. Even the new content couldn't sell enough people. Duke fans also weren't happy about it basically replacing the Megaton Edition, a previous retail port to modern systems that was pulled off the shelves, mainly due to it having had the expansion packs World Tour inexplicably lacked.

Unused Content in the Original Game

All of the unused content from the original game is still in World Tour. One of them was changed for legal reasons.

Unused Mini Alien Queen

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The mini Alien Queen, an unused enemy type was simply a smaller version of the existing Alien Queen boss, has been fixed to be like a proper mini version of a boss in World Tour, but is still unused in the game itself. She has far less health than she did in the original game and does not end the level when killed.

Unlike the fixed mini bosses, the game will still play the one-liner that's used by Duke when she first activates.

Since the mini variants of the Overlord and Cycloid Emperor hidden in the original game's files were cleaned up and used in Alien World Order, it's possible the team wanted to use a mini version of the Alien Queen and got her working properly, but decided against using her later on.

Old Weapon Sprites

World Tour uses modified versions of the RPG, Shrinker, Freezethrower, and the Pistol's reload animation so that they don't show any cut-off parts in widescreen. However, the original sprites for those weapons are still in the game's files and go unused.

Original HUD

The original HUD is still in the game's files but is replaced with a more widescreen-friendly HUD that has the ends of the HUD stretched out more.

Changed Art

Removed Red Crosses

To comply with international law, the red crosses on the healing items were replaced with a pill icon. The design is very similar to the one used on the Xbox Live Arcade and Doom 3: BFG Edition ports of Doom, which isn't surprising as Nerve Software handled both this and the Doom ports.

Nerve's scrubbing of the red cross even extended to tile 2454, an unused sprite.

Original World Tour
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Pink Strip on the Skycar

The skycar seen at the start of Hollywood Holocaust (E1L1) had a strip of pink on it (certainly not intended) that was removed in World Tour.

Original World Tour
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Altered Help Graphics

Several of the help graphics were altered to remove business names, such as credit card companies and other companies that had helped during the Atomic Edition's development.

Also, the graphic referring to 3D Realms' presence online back in 1996 was cleaned out entirely, only showing the Shrinker and Pig Cop that was on it.

None of these graphics appear in-game, but was likely done to protect Gearbox legally.

Note that the changed credit card company logos also affects the credit card logos seen in Raw Meat and Rabid Transit, as they both draw from that texture.

Original World Tour
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Removed Ten References

The Ten promo screen that appears when the original executable is shut down was hastily edited to remove any references to Ten.

The graphic itself does not appear when the game is shut down, however.

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Unused Firefly Sprites

The Firefly has a full set of sprites that match the Assault Trooper's, even though several of them go unused. Since the Firefly's sprites are lifted directly from an unused design for the Assault Trooper found in the Duke Nukem 3D development archives, it makes sense he would have sprites matching the Assault Trooper's.

(Source: TerminX)

With some editing, the Firefly's sprites can be used to replace the Assault Trooper's. The only odd sprites are the teleport activating sprites for the Assault Captain, as the Firefly has frames from his walking animation where the Captain's teleport animation is. Gib sprites are missing as well.

Something interesting to note is that the Firefly has an unused overhead sprite, like the Assault Trooper, Octabrain, and Battlelord do in the regular game's files. This suggests the Firefly's sprites came from a development period when enemies were meant to appear on the automap.

Death Animation

Choking Animation

On the Toilet

Of note is that a sprite similar to this one appeared on the back of the box of a Duke Nukem-themed "screensaver entertainment" program, suggesting a different take on the Firefly's design existed at some point.

Unused World Tour Sprite Screensaver Entertainment Scan
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Firing While Crouching

Overhead Sprite

Unused Firefly Graphic Unused Assault Trooper Graphic
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Test Texture

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Tile 5133 contains a test texture that cannot be seen in-game.

Unused Music

Pluck You Part Two

Inside the music folder is a song called "E5L7_PluckYouPartTwo". It is located right after the song Hollywood Inferno, "E5L7_PluckYouPartOne", suggesting it was meant to be played in Hollywood Inferno.

Unused Sounds

Unused New Duke Talk

There are several unused quotes meant for Alien World Order.

VO MQ Duke BigBang

"Bazinga!"

VO_MQ_Duke_OnDeadlyGround.ogg

"I'm the kinda guy that'll drink a gallon of gasoline so I can piss on your camp fire!"

VO MQ Duke WalkingDead.ogg

"Motherdick!", a reference to The Walking Dead.

VO_E5L4_Duke_CrystalSkull.ogg

"If you were looking for the kingdom of the crystal skull, don't bother Jonesy!" The file name indicates it was meant to be played in Mirage Barrage.

VO E5L7 Duke Rosebud.ogg

"Rosebud". The "E5L7" in its name shows it was meant to be played in Hollywood Inferno, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere where Duke could say it.

Re-recorded Unused Sounds

Interestingly, all of the unused Duke Talk quotes in the original game have been re-recorded. Even stranger is that some of the unused pain sounds will play as random sounds when the player accesses the menu, which does not happen in the original game.

Unused Primus Arena Areas

Primus Arena (E5L8) has several unused chunks scattered throughout the level.

Elevator Area

This area contains two separate parts connected by two (fake) elevators. The part that has a "2" above its elevators has some Pipe Bombs, a box of Devastator ammo, a Large Medkit, and a chunk that can be blown up with an explosive weapon. Blowing up the chunk reveals nothing new, though.

The part with a "1" above its elevators is a simple box with nothing special in it. Interestingly, one of the elevator doors has been blown out, letting the player walk right into it without having to open the elevator doors first.

Extra Ruined Area

The ruined path on the upper right-hand corner of the floor containing the Battlelord in the center of it has an extra part that can only be accessed with noclip.

The only interesting thing about it is that it has a water pool that can be dived into, but it leads to a dead end.