Proto:Duke Nukem 3D (PC)/LameDuke/Episode 1/L6
 | Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors. This page contains content that is not safe for work or other locations with the potential for personal embarrassment. Such as: Nude women. |
This is a sub-page of Proto:Duke Nukem 3D (PC)/LameDuke/Episode 1.
L6 is a huge, sprawling L.A.-style inner central business district full of towering skyscrapers. It includes many fleshed out, explorable interior locations, such as bars, nightclubs, hotels and sewers.
Not only is it impressively huge (and high too!), one of the largest maps in LameDuke, but it is also one of the most interesting for its downtown big-city theme, which went onto inform the look and feel of the final version's city episodes, L.A. Meltdown and Shrapnel City.
A large rump of L6 made it through to the final version of Duke Nukem 3D as Hollywood Holocaust and Red Light District - although the pace of change was so severe during development, that the final versions of those maps share almost nothing in common with the original L6 map. The rest of the map was seemingly thrown onto the scrap heap, like most of the rest of LameDuke.
Contents
Playing L6 in High-Res Mode
Normally, the game will crash as soon as the player hits the ground in L6 while running the game in high-res mode. This can be avoided by hitting the Jetpack key (F5) as soon as the map starts, lowering Duke to the ground, then hitting the Jetpack key again. The key must be hit as soon as the map starts because the game will still crash if the player falls for a bit, activates the Jetpack, flies down to the ground, then turns off the Jetpack.
LameDuke vs Final
Red Light District
Two connected areas of L6 (Hollywood Boulevard and Monitor Road) are what ultimately became the final Red Light District level, centered around the bar and the exploding building. They comprise roughly one third of the L6 map.
- The zig-zag street layout of the final Red Light District is a 'Y' shape in L6, with an extra leg in the north east
- The porn shop didn't exist; the exploding tower block is roughly in its place
- The cinema from Hollywood Holocaust originally started as part of L6, situated opposite the bar across the street
Changes on the way to the final Red Light District
Most of these changes drastically simplified the map for performance reasons, to achieve as maximum a framerate as possible:
- All building and street textures were entirely replaced. Sleek marble and granite was generally replaced by drab, ugly concrete
- A concrete retaining wall was added to the base of the monitor tower
- The north east street leg was deleted, creating the zig-zag layout
- The porn shop and upstairs apartment were added to the north west street
- The cinema and all surrounding streets were split off into their own map, which became Hollywood Holocaust
- The exploding tower block was moved south to roughly where the cinema was, opposite the bar
- The sewer manhole near the bar gradually shifted across the street
- A lot of the surrounding tower blocks & alleyways on the street were deleted and not replaced
- The monitor tower lost its monitor/big screen on the street
- Most of the street furniture, such as trees, traffic lights & traffic cones, were all deleted
- A strip club area was added alongside the bar and dancefloor areas
- The entire interior of the bar & strip club ended up being massively remodelled, simplified and reduced:
- The bar was moved and changed from a large open triangle shape to a smaller, enclosed square shape
- The nightclub/dancefloor area was removed and replaced with a snooker table room
- The newer strip club area (post LameDuke) was expanded to become much bigger in size
- This remodel occurred very late in development; only 2 months out from the public release of the shareware version of Duke Nukem 3D. The final version of the bar/club bears almost no resemblance to the LameDuke version.
Inbetween changes
These all occurred after LameDuke, but were deleted before the final version:
- The strip club gained a dressing room, with a secret link back to the street via a destructible wall. It was deleted with the bar/club redesign and not replaced
- The north west street got an underground parking garage, which was used as the map's starting point. It was deleted and replaced with the starting elevator in the final version
| Lameduke | Final Version |
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| Lameduke | Final Version |
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| LameDuke L6 | November 1995 Beta |
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| November 1995 Beta | Final Version |
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Hollywood Holocaust
Red Light District demonstrates a clearly shared lineage/heritage with L6 via the bar and street layout. Hollywood Holocaust's cinema appears the same by way of pre-release footage, but the lineage of the street layout & general map is less clear.
It is possible the whole lower street area of L6, i.e. the diagonal street running behind the bar, and the lower part of Hollywood Boulevard, all became HH in its entirety along with the cinema. The street layouts do match for the most part; the cinema has simply moved a little further down, from where the original street link to Red Light District would have been.
It is unknown how much work was done on the cinema's interior before it was taken out of L6/Red Light District.
| Lameduke | Final version |
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| LameDuke L6 Cinema Area | Hollywood Holocaust Cinema Area |
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Start: Hollywood Boulevard
The player starts the map falling onto a street, with a sign marked Hollywood Boulevard. In front of them are a gaggle of Troopers quickly approaching.
Hollywood Boulevard contains the exploding building, the bar, and the cinema. These elements all appear in the first two L.A. levels of the final Duke Nukem 3D.
Spawn.
Near the spawn area, leading to monitor road.
Exploding building end of Hollywood Boulevard.
Cinema end of Hollywood Boulevard.
Bar
The bar is to the right of where the Troopers are when the player spawns.
This location starts with a staircase that leads to a large, somewhat-triangular bar. A TV with static can be found in the back of the room. An NPC sipping some beer can be found sitting on a chair, but he does nothing.
Past the bar is a single-stall bathroom that manages to cram a toilet and a single-stall urinal into one room and an entrance to a dance floor. Right before the entrance to the dance floor is a small caged area with another drinking NPC in the back. The dance floor has rotating colored lights and a lot of Captains in it. A DJ setup can be found in the upper right-hand corner of the room.
Hidden in the back of the dance floor is a secret area. The left side has the “Plasma Rifles on racks” texture seen in E1L2's armory, while the right side has another drinking NPC, but this one is behind a desk.
The front of the bar.
Stairs.
The actual bar.
One look at the bar.
The unused drunk NPC.
The bathroom and entrance to the dance floor.
The dance floor.
Caged area near dance floor with drinking NPC.
The DJ stand.
Duke finally reaches his lifelong dream; to be a third-rate DJ. He's available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.
The dance floor with a lot of Captains.
The secret door.
Weapon racks inside the secret room.
Drinking guy inside the secret room.
Connection to Red Light District
At first, the bar appears to have been completely scrapped, but pre-release footage recorded for a French gaming magazine shows a connection between the bar and the final game. The footage shows a bar with the same shape, design and decoration (e.g. the neon cocktail sign) as the one in L6. Considering the footage only shows the first two levels in the final game's E1, it's likely that the L6-like bar seen in the footage is actually the bar found in Red Light District's strip club. This means that the actual bar from Lameduke L6 found its way into Red Light District before being remodelled and simplified.
The above was confirmed correct in 2021 when TerminX posted a November 1995 map of the beta Red Light District, showing the LameDuke bar and club layout almost unaltered from L6 - 2 months before the shareware version was released with the radically altered, simplified version of the bar.
| Lameduke | Pre-release video |
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| Pre-release video | Final bar in strip club |
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Cinema
Across the road from the bar is a cinema. Posters for the real True Lies movie are pasted all around the doorway, while the upper part uses a picture of a vampire with alien text underneath him. It has no interior yet and cannot be entered.
It has four doors which are all boarded up with plywood, exactly like the cinema in the final Hollywood Holocaust level (E1L1). The shape of the building, especially the doorway/port cochere, also matches the HH cinema.
Front of the cinema.
Connection to Hollywood Holocaust
Evidence from other sources suggests that the L6 cinema did evolve into the final Hollywood Holocaust cinema. A video released by TerminX, one of the developers of the EDuke32 source port for Duke Nukem 3D, shows a later version of L6, with a redesigned cinema much closer in design to the one in HH, featuring the same yellow upper billboard section (with a different movie name). The rest of L6 around it looks the same as it does in LameDuke.
The progress on the cinema essentially proves that Hollywood Holocaust and Red Light District were once the same single level (i.e. L6) for a long time in development, before the cinema area was split off into its own map.
| Lameduke | TerminX video |
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| TerminX video | Final Hollywood Holocaust |
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Exploding Building
A large office tower surrounded by explosive gas barrels is located behind the player at the spawn point. If you shoot one of the barrels, the rest of them will explode in a chain reaction, making the whole building collapse into rubble.
Past the exploding building is a round skyscraper that ends with a pyramid-like top and Rise of the Triad's fire floor traps on it.
The building.
The building goes boom.
A huge crack in the street.
Top of the building past the exploding building.
Connection to Red Light District
The exploding tower was carried through to the final version of Red Light District; in the final, it is a controlled demolition operated by a switch.
Monitor Road
This is the other half of what became Red Light District, forking off from Hollywood Boulevard near the spawn point. The road is unnamed.
On a building to the left of where the street starts is a huge monitor built into an office tower that displays static. Further along the street are neon buildings, the flooded building, and a motel on a side street.
The monitor in monitor road.
Looking down the start of monitor road.
The neon buildings in monitor road.
Buildings past the flooded building.
The end of monitor road and the entrance to the motel.
Monitor Tower
This tower appeared in a pre-release screenshot of Red Light District dated June 30th, 1995. It shows the start of Monitor Road at ground level. Street lamps and traffic lights have been added, replacing the Hollywood Boulevard sign. This screenshot shows Red Light District in a transitory state, halfway between the final version and LameDuke, with the concrete lower walls now present.
A later screenshot dated August 11th, 1995 also exists. The static on the monitor was replaced by an image that looks very similar to (but not the same as) the porn movie shown in Hollywood Holocaust's cinema. The monitor tower has its final texture in the pre-release screenshots, but the tower opposite has a different intermediary design, and the L.A. background is also different. The tower at the end of the road is now gone and the street overall feels much more like the final version.
| Lameduke | June 30th, 1995 screenshot |
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| June 30th, 1995 screenshot | Final version |
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| Lameduke | August 11th, 1995 screenshot |
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| August 11th, 1995 screenshot | Final version |
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Connection to L.A. Rumble
The 'monitor built into a tower' design found its way into L.A. Rumble (E3L4) in the final version.
However, this is where the similarities end. L.A. Rumble has nothing else in common with L6, other than a shared inner-city CBD aesthetic. It was also designed by Levelord, unlike L6 which was designed by Allen Blum.
Tower-mounted monitor screen in L.A. Rumble
Neon Towers
The neon buildings can be found a little bit down Monitor Road. They are characterized by bright neon stripes on the corners of each tower.
There are small alleys between the buildings. The only things of interest in them are an elevator that leads to the neon buildings' roofs and an entrance to the sewers.
The roofs of the neon buildings can be explored, though the Jetpack is required to get the most out of it. The only interesting things on the rooftops are the Rise of the Triad-style fire traps on top of some of them.
Footage of a later prototype recorded by TerminX reveals that a trash dumpster, Scuba Gear pickup, and Pigcops were put in this area after Lameduke. It also shows that the neon corners were removed.
Entrance to the neon buildings' alleys.
Neon buildings alleys.
Neon buildings rooftops.
| Lameduke | TerminX's video |
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Flood Room
The flood room can be found on the left at the end of the road (i.e. where the final Red Light District street spawn point starts). It is another generic skyscraper which has an outside elevator attached to it.
Taking the elevator up will send the player to a medium-sized room on the ~10th floor, with a triangle-shaped lower floor and a glass window. At first, the room appears to be normal, but hopping into the lower floor will suddenly flood the room with water. The glass window is broken as well, letting the player explore the empty, cube-shaped area beyond it. There is nothing else to do in this room.
Flooded building entrance.
Unflooded flooded building.
The flooded building gains its namesake.
Inside the flooded part.
Swimming in the pool past the glass window.
Motel
The motel is found by reaching the elevator at the flood room building, then going left down the side street. It has a red neon sign outside similar to the bar.
The motel consists of four storeys. All of the motel rooms are empty, but can be explored. The first level consists of a few rooms on the left side and an elevator on the right side. One room on the first floor has a window that looks outside.
The second floor consists of a linear path that has a gate on the left side and more rooms on the right. At the end of the second floor is another elevator. When first going up with it, it stops on the third floor, which consists of a single room that has a window outside. Going back onto the elevator and using it again will send the player to the top floor, which is a small room that leads to the neon buildings' rooftops.
A screenshot from the Score magazine shows a later, more developed version of the room with the window on the first floor. The shape of the room is the same as it is in Lameduke, but a brush-based bed, a six-pack of Coke, and a nude woman with black hair on the bed are now in the room. An article in the July 95 edition of Computer Gaming World talks about a “no-tell motel” in Los Angeles while discussing landmarks that match the ones in L6, suggesting the nude woman in the later screenshot might be because L6's motel was intended to be a sleazy motel for having sex with prostitutes.
As far as can be told, this motel did not make it into the final game.
Motel entrance.
Motel entrance from US Bank road, showing the “Motel” sign.
The first floor.
The first floor.
Window room on the first floor.
Regular room on the first floor.
The second floor.
Room on second floor.
Near the end of the second floor.
The third floor.
The room inside the third floor.
The top floor, leading to the neon buildings.
| Lameduke | Pre-release screenshot in magazine |
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US Bank Road
Walking past the motel leads the player to the second major road in L6, but this one is unnamed. It runs parallel to Hollywood Boulevard on the other side of the map.
This road contains a crude rendition of the US Bank building in Los Angeles, as well as a strip club.
One end of US Bank road.
The strip club end of US Bank road.
US Bank Building
In the center of the US Bank Road is the actual US Bank Tower found in Los Angeles. It is surrounded by a brick wall with a garage door in the middle of it. The door does not open.
The next map L7 takes place in an expanded interior of the US Bank Tower, so it can be safely assumed that this area was intended to be the end of L6.
US Bank building entrance.
The US Bank building.
Top of the US Bank building.
Strip Club
The strip club can be found on the opposite end of US Bank Road when approaching it from the motel. Near the strip club are several road signs with “DETOUR” on them. Just before the strip club is an alley that leads to the back of the club and a dumpster.
After entering the strip club, the player will have to go down some stairs, walk through a tight corridor, and take an elevator down to actually reach the strip club.
The club consists of a stripper pole near the back that is flanked by two cages; one on each side. On the opposite end of the pole area is a bar, but this is one is much smaller than the one found in the bar explored earlier. Past the bar is a double door that leads to a large bathroom. Unlike previous bathrooms, this one is smaller, but has a larger sink area with a non-broken window that still doesn't reflect anything. However, the bathroom contains a secret; if the left-most window is used, it will open, revealing a secret elevator. The elevator sends the player to the area behind the club. It turns out the dumpster is actually a secret elevator.
An updated version of the strip club's front appeared in a screenshot released June 1st, 1995. The screenshot shows that an image of a censored nude woman was added to the front of the building.
A strip club was eventually added to the bar over on Hollywood Boulevard (i.e. the Red Light District strip club), but the design is quite different to this one.
Strip club entrance.
Strip club entrance.
Heading down to the club.
Elevator that leads to the poles.
The actual strip club.
The stripper pole and cages.
The bar inside the strip club.
Duke Nukem becomes a stripper.
Bathroom entrance.
The bathroom.
Secret door inside bathroom.
Area behind the strip club.
| Lameduke | June 1st, 1995 screenshot |
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Center
A little bit before approaching the strip club is a road that leads to the center of the map. The center of the map is quite large and connects Hollywood Boulevard and US Bank road, but is mostly filled with generic buildings. The only notable location are the glass towers near the back of the center area.
The center.
The center.
Road that leads from the center to the US Bank building.
Glass Towers
The glass towers are a large structure that consist of four towers with colored windows surrounding a large structure. In-between two towers are two elevators; one next to a tower. This means that each tower has two elevators that lead up it.
Going up an elevator will send the player to the top of a single tower. Some of the towers have the Rise of the Triad flame traps on them, but those are the only objects in them. Between the two elevators that lead up a single tower is another elevator that leads to the top of the center tower. The center tower doesn't have anything on top of it.
The lower parts of the glass tower each have unique bits in front of them. The two towers that are the closest to US Bank road has a large Femanoid standing in the center of it and, strangely enough, Duke's sprite in front of an elevator. The space to the left of the large Femanoid is a gap that leads to a pool of water that has pillars spewing fire surrounding it.
A video posted by TerminX of a later Duke Nukem 3D prototype show that the pool was reworked to use the reflective water seen in Lameduke's E4L1.
The large Femanoid area.
A Duke copy in front of an elevator.
Gap to the right of the Femanoid area.
The pool.
Other side of the pool.
On top of one of the glass towers.
Looking at the other glass towers.
Elevator that leads to the top tower.
The roof of the top tower.
| Lameduke | TerminX footage |
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Alleyways
Several narrow alleyways/laneways can be found throughout the map. They act as shortcuts that make it easier to move between streets.
A shortcut near the bar.
Shortcut in the center of the map.
Sewers
Various holes throughout the map lead to a network of sewers underground that connect various parts of the map together. Four manhole openings can be found behind the bar, across the street from the cinema, hidden inside the pool near the glass towers, and in a gap to the right of the large Femanoid part of the glass towers.
The sewers contain some Octabrains roaming around.
Flood Room 2
The most interesting thing about the sewers is that they lead to a unique room inside one of the office towers near the US Bank Building. Although the room is at ground level, it cannot be accessed from the street.
This room is a large, but basic area that consists of a large pool on one side and a room with a strange-looking pink and white texture on the other. There is an elevator on the right side of the room that leads to the left side of the room, even though the player can swim to the left side without any problems. Whatever this room was supposed to be is unknown.
Entrance near the glass towers.
Neon buildings entrance.
Entrance behind the bar.
Entrance near the cinema.
The water path.
Octabrain inside the water path.
Broken light in the water path, near the large room.
The left side of the hidden room.
The right part of the hidden room.
Right side of the hidden room.
Underwater part of the right side of the hidden room.
