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Proto:Duke Nukem Forever/2001/Enemies

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Duke Nukem Forever/2001.

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Grab pics of enemies from the final game that appear in this prototype and add them to this page.
  • This page is a bit messy, try to sort everything here by their faction (Cycloid, Snatcher, Proton, EDF, etc).

Enemies

Adult Snatcher

Dnf2001 snatcheradult1.png

The Adult Snatcher is a large and red crustacean-like creature with two front long claws. It has three attacks: melee, lunge, and projectile.

It’s melee attack has the creature swiping at the player with its front claws. Each swipe does between 8 and 11 damage. However, the monster can quickly swipe twice and has a very short cooldown before it will swipe again, making its melee attacks very dangerous.

Occasionally, the Adult Snatcher will lunge at the player. If it manages to reach the player, it will quickly hit the player twice with its melee attack.

It can also launch projectiles. These are white, spark-like orbs that are shot at an arc. Direct hits do between 16 and 19 damage and has a splash damage radius. If the player is far enough from an Adult Snatcher, it will briefly pause to shoot a projectile while pursing the player. It will occasionally attempt to predict where the player is going when it launches its projectiles in order to intercept a moving player.

Of note is that the Adult Snatcher’s projectile model is called “dnRocket_BrainBlastB” while the Octabrain’s is called “dnRocket_BrainBlast”. In addition, it uses a firing sound similar to the Octabrain’s. This suggests a connection between the two enemies.

The Adult Snatcher can also burrow in order to ambush the player. It can burrow randomly when it takes damage or if it wants to ambush the player. While it is burrowing, the screen will shake if the player is near the Adult Snatcher and a rumbling sound will play. Once it has determined a suitable area to appear from, it will move over there, then appear from the ground. It prefers to appear behind or right next to the player, then melee if it is close enough to the player.

Burrowing was meant to make a model showing a mound of dirt or rock, depending on the surface appear where the creature burrowed. However, these models don’t show in-game. They do exist in the c_FX model package, though. Interestingly, the c_FX package has a model for a mound created when an Adult Snatcher would burrow in wood, but it’s just a copy of the model used for rocks. The code does not mention the wood mound model at all. It has 115 health, but does not give any Ego when killed.

The August 2001 prototype’s version of the Adult Snatcher cannot shoot projectiles nor burrow. Its melee strikes do between 2 and 4 damage. However, it is much faster than the one in the October 2001 prototype.

Alien Pig

Dnf2001 alienpig1.png

The Alien Pig is a humanoid pig monster with gray skin, scales on its back and gem-like large blue eyes. A steam effect plays near its nose. It is unknown if they have any connection with the Pigcops seen throughout the Duke Nukem series.

Normally, the creature is fairly slow. However, if the player is close to the creature while it is walking, it will immediately charge the player in order to headbutt them. If the player gets some distance between it and them, it will play an animation of it screaming, then will charge at the player. It is possible to avoid it’s charging attack by strafing left or right away from it, but sometimes, the creature will course-correct and the last moment and hit the player.

This enemy will occasionally freeze for a bit after it is done charging, giving the player enough time to safely run away from it. Whether this is a bug or intentional can’t be determined. If the player stands next to it while it isn’t moving, it will slash the player with its claws.

All of its attacks do 10 damage. Killing it gives the player 8 Ego.

It has 800 HP, making it one of sturdiest enemies in the prototype.

Bellowsaur

Dnf2001 bellowsaur1.png

The Bellowsaur is a large, green, and bipedal lizard-like creature with two tails and a huge mouth that has a lower jaw that is larger than its upper jaw. This enemy is only capable of melee attacks. When it spots the player, it will begin to move towards the player at an average pace that can easily be outrun by the player. When it gets close, it will either bite the player or quickly do a 360-degree spin in order to hit the player with its tails. These attacks have a much longer range than their animations suggest. Animations suggest that the Bellowsaur was able to eat corpses and spit them as an attack, along with a attack where it screamed, but there is no code for the attacks. All of its attacks do between 2 and 4 damage each.

It takes the creature some time to follow the player if the player is strafing around it.

The Bellowsaur only appears in the levels !z3l2_4b and AITestingGrounds.

The map !EggPod_Test1 shows a static prop using a Bellowsaur’s model with a long gust of air coming out of it.

Concept art of this creature shows it with white plated skin instead of the green slimy skin seen in the prototypes.

Concept art Prototype
Dnf bellowsaur1.jpg Dnf2001 bellowsaur1.png

Drone

Dnf2001 drone1.png

The Drone is a futuristic gray jet that appears as an enemy in !z2l1_1. IT comes in two variants: unarmed and torpedo. Unarmed Drones do not have weapons, while torpedo Drones are equipped with torpedoes that are launched at the player.

Drones also appear in !z2l2_1, where they appear to fly over the player and down the Hoover Dam.

This enemy can be found in footage recorded from a 2003 build, dogfighting with unknown ships over the Las Vegas sky while the player battles two Octabrains.

It has 21 health.

EDFcopter

Dnf2001 edfcopter1.png

The EDFcopter is a futuristic green helicopter with two jets pointing downward, one on each side. It is equipped with both rocket pods and a five-barrel rotary cannon on its nose. It lacks the blades a helicopter would have. This enemy will attempt to attack the player with its rotary cannon, but is incapable of hitting the player.

The icon for actors in Unreal Engine 1 can be found floating in front of its cockpit, inside its cockpit, and inside its tail.

This enemy uses the same navigational markers that the Proton Monitor enemy does, so spawning it in !Z1L5_6 will let it move around. Putting it in other maps will make it float in place.

The muzzle flash that plays when it fires its rotary cannon is placed underneath the middle of it in the October 2001 prototype, but a little bit in front of the cannon in the August 2001 prototype.

It’s code in both prototypes has a note from the programmer about changing how it behaves.

// Have copter move in small increments, and when  close to destination have him begin strafing to his points rather than 
// moving?
August 2001 prototype October 2001 prototype
Dnfaug2001 edfcopter4.png Dnf2001 edfcopter4.png

EDF-209

Dnf2001 robot1.png

The EDF-209 is a green T-800 equipped with miniguns and has the text “Kill ‘em all!” written on its stomach area. It has 200 health, gives the player 8 Ego when destroyed, and moves very slowly. This enemy was cut from the final game.

The enemy consists of three phases:

  • Two miniguns
  • One minigun
  • Electric attacks

It starts out with two miniguns, one mounted on each arm, which it uses to attack the player with. Each shot does 4 damage to the player and it has a fairly high rate of fire with both miniguns active. The player must destroy both miniguns in order to reach its next phase. The player can target either the left or right minigun first. The hitbox for the miniguns seem to extend to up the left or right chest piece, depending on the minigun. The enemy’s legs are immune to damage during this phase.

If the player gets too far from the robot while it has a minigun or two, it will begin to move forward while attacking.

Once both miniguns are destroyed, the enemy will begin to electrical attacks. It uses either an electric shock attack or releases an EMP blast.

The electric shock has it thrusting its upper body forward while shooting an electric shock at the player from both of its hands. Each hit form this attack does 2 damage, but it adds up as the damage will stack up. Hiding behind cover does not prevent it from damaging you in this mode. Oddly, it will stop doing damage after a few seconds, even though the animation will continue to play.

The attack can easily be dodged by keeping a distance from the enemy and strafing. Doing so will cause the robot to miss.

When it chooses to use its electric shock attack, it will not stop until the player has moved quite a few yards or centimeters from it. Doing so will cause the enemy to start moving in order to get closer so it can use another attack.

The other attack is an EMP blast. When it does this attack, it will look up, then quickly punch the floor with its right hand. If the player is hit by this attack, it will cause the HUD to display an error screen instead of the players statistics and force a static overlay on the screen. After a few seconds, the game will start a 7 second timer that ends with the screen “rebooting”, which causes the game to play an effect on the screen that looks like a CRT changing channels and the HUD returning back to normal. The player can avoid this attack by moving away from it when the robot begins its attack animation. The visuals for the EMP blast used by the EDF-209 is the same as the one the player can shoot out from their shades.

This enemy is vulnerable to the player’s EMP blast attack. When hit by an EMP blast, it will deactivate for several seconds, giving the player enough time to destroy it.

It has a hidden attack phase that can trigger if the player kills it by hitting its legs with an attack that can gib, such as an explosive attack. Randomly, the robot’s legs will blow off and it will slump on the ground. A few seconds later, it will reactivate and continue to attack the player with its electric shock or EMP attacks.

The EDF-209 is fairly buggy. Bugs include

  • Destroying both miniguns at once, such as with an RPG rocket, can cause it to still think it’s in it’s minigun phase and will fire non-existent miniguns instead of entering its electric shock phase.
  • It can continue to use its minigun animations for attacks instead of the correct ones when in the electric shock phase.
  • Shooting its head will cause the game to crash after several shots while it has its miniguns.
  • Player-fired EMP blasts don’t disable it when it has its miniguns.
  • When the player is far away enough from it in its legless mode, it will play its regular walking animations, despite not having any legs.
  • When legless, the ED-209’s EMP attack still uses its regular animation, meaning that it will suddenly move like it has legs again, then revert back to crawling once the animation is complete.

It is programmed to emit smoke from an arm that is holding a minigun while the minigun-holding arm is being damage and from any part of it’s body that is struck with Piercing ammo from the Pistol.

An EDF-209's body can be looted after it is destroyed, but it will always have nothing. In addition, the robot will be called "A Dead Guy" by the looting interface.

The August 2001 EDF-209 does not have miniguns, instead using its electric shock and EMP attacks as soon as it sees the player. Its electric attack will make the screen shake violently as well.

Another drastic change is that the August 2001 prototype’s EDF will only electrocute the player for a few seconds before stopping to either continue electrocuting the player or swap to the EMP attack.

The August 2001 prototype has a bug that is fixed in the October 2001 build: if the EDF-209 keeps attacking the player during the "degaussing" sequence, the sequence will not finish and the player's view will be messed up until the player is hit by its EMP attack again.

The EDF-209 has code that suggests it could fire beams from its eyes and that the player could disable its eyes, but neither of these are possible in both prototypes.

Both prototypes contain a big variant of the EDF-209. It behaves the same as a regular EDF-209.

It has 200 health and gives 8 Ego when killed.

EDF Sapper

Dnf2001 edfsapper1.png

The EDF Sapper is a human enemy wearing a beanie, a gray outfit, camo pants with a pattern similar to the one seen on the SWAT variant of the EDF Soldier, and a green jacket with “EDF BOMB SQUAD” written on it. This enemy cannot have tentacles coming out of it, unlike the regular EDF Soldier.

In-game, the EDF Sapper tosses Pipe Bombs at the player. The Pipe Bomb will detonate when the player gets close to it and several seconds have passed between it being tossed and hitting the ground. Once it’s done, the EDF Sapper will toss another Pipe Bomb. He is able to use navigation points for enemies in order to run away.

If a Pipe Bomb tossed by this enemy gets stuck in some way, he is unable to toss another one and will just stand there until killed.

His running animation is quite rough, as his upper body does not move while running.

This enemy’s code shows that he would be able to toss Pipe Bombs at certain points and then detonate them when the player approaches the bomb while the player is unable to see him. However, this requires special navigation points for him to do so, and no maps in the prototype have them.

He has two model variants: one with glasses, and one with a prosthetic arm. The one with the prosthetic arm is interesting, as it has a different face, a rolled up left sleeve to show off a tattoo with the word TNT on it, burn marks on his face and left arm, and equipment on his left leg.

There is an unused “snatched” texture set for the EDF Sapper, presumably used when infected with the tentacles other enemies have. It can be seen on a t-posing model in test levels, but is not used when the EDF Sapper is fought in-game.

The EDF Sapper has 50 health and gives 8 Ego when killed.

EDF Sniper

Dnf2001 edfsniper1.png

The EDF Sniper is a female human that has black hair, a red headband, a dark green tank top with “EDF SNIPER CORPS” on it, a spider tattoo on her right shoulder blade, and the same pants the EDF Sapper has. She looks suspiciously like Vazquez from the movie Aliens.

Based on her name, she’s meant to be a sniper, but there’s a slight problem: she is never given a Sniper Rifle to use. No matter if she’s spawned in manually or placed in a level, she’ll never have an actual weapon. This causes her to stay in place and do nothing. Oddly, Snipers are given a Sniper Rifle in the code and in the map !Z1L5_1, a level where they appear, but it still doesn’t spawn with them.

This enemy has an unused “snatched” texture set, presumably meant to be used to infected with the tentacles several other enemies have. Like the EDF Sapper, it does appear on dummy models in test maps, but doesn’t appear on the actual enemy.

There is also a model called “glasses_sniper” found in the game’s files that was presumably meant to go with this enemy. It is a pair of sunglasses with a green lens that shows graphics similar to the one seen in the “S.O.S. boot up sequence” video that plays when the player starts up the game.

She has 50 health and gives the player 8 Ego when killed.

EDF Soldier

Dnf2001 edf1.png

The EDF Soldier is, as you’d expect, a human soldier, but with tentacles coming out of him that can retract if need be (this is called being Snatched internally). He can wield a Pistol, an M16, or a Shotgun, though the vast majority of EDF Soldiers found in the prototype wield M16s.

This enemy has three skin types; Desert, SWAT, and Urban. The Desert EDF Soldiers wear Desert Battle Dress Uniforms (or Cookie Dough) with matching body armor, SWAT are clad in both dark blue body armor and uniform, while Urban enemies use the same color for their body armor that SWAT does, but with an urban camouflage pattern.

Their AI is able to:

  • Use cover if set by a mapper
  • Retreat in some cases
  • Decide to walk backwards or strafe left or right without any need for pathing nodes
  • Reload their weapons after running out of ammo in their weapon’s magazine.

If the player gets close to an EDF Soldier, the tentacles from his body will emerge and smack the player for 15 damage. The animation for a melee attack can be cancelled by the AI if the player moves away from the EDF Soldier early in the animation.

EDF Soldiers have commented-out code for throwing Pipe Bombs as grenades.

They are coded to hold a limited amount of ammo for each of their weapons. However, reducing the amount of ammo they have so that they’d run out seems to do nothing.

Despite their AI, EDF Soldiers will occasionally kill each other with friendly fire. This tends to happen in small areas with a group of them close together.

EDF Soldiers have an impressive array of faces; 12 faces are available for each skin type, and it’s possible to randomize what face a soldier has.

Most Soldiers have tentacles coming out of them by default, but a handful, such as the one in !z1l1_1 do not. The editor lets users choose if they have tentacles or not. This enemy will play animations of them using hand gestured for activities such as ordering a retreat or to focus fire on the player.

They will occasionally play specific pain animations if shot in their

  • head
  • chest
  • stomach
  • crotch
  • shoulders
  • hands
  • knees
  • feet

These do not play if they are patrolling or retreating.

An EDF Soldier’s mouth will move when he is talking.

Trip Mines placed by the player seem to break the EDF Soldier AI. When one is placed, they are unwilling to run through it, but at the same time, this causes them to freeze in case and stop attacking. Shooting them can make them move again, but they will not attack. They can be broken out of this state by destroying any player-planted Trip Mines and shooting them.

They will not attempt to dodge or run away from Pipe Bombs thrown by the player.

Dead EDF Soldiers that have been Snatched and have not been had their head destroyed can spawn a HeadCreeper when killed.

This enemy has 35 health and gives 8 Ego when killed.

They were removed from the final game, but Pigcops filled their roles of being generic soldiers.

Desert skins

SWAT skins

Urban skins

EDF Soldier with a shield

Dnf2001 edfshield1.png

A unique variant of the EDF soldier with a Riot Shield is in both prototypes. This variant is equipped with a Pistol and uses a Riot Shield to protect himself.

The Riot Shield used by this enemy is practically invulnerable, which means the best way to harm this enemy is to shoot his legs, hit him while he has his gun down in order to shoot his Pistol, get behind him, or use explosives to blow him into pieces.

Hit detection for the Riot Shield seems to be off when the EDF Soldier is shooting his gun, as hits around the left side of the shield will register as hits on the enemy instead of the shield.

A killed Riot Shield EDF soldier will normally drop a broken shield, but will rarely drop an undamaged one. The undamaged Riot Shield cannot be picked up by the player.

Eggpod

Dnf2001 eggpod1.png

An Eggpod is a large pile of red, pulsating organic material in a circular shape with tentacles coming from it. When activated, it spawns Snatchers, but only up to two at a time. Snatchers will slowly crawl out of one of three holes in the Eggpod. Once a Snatcher is done crawling out of the Eggpod, steam will come out of one of the unused holes. It can produce up to 1,000 Snatchers.

If an Eggpod is killed while it is still spawning a Snatcher, the Snatcher will stay frozen in place and cannot be killed.

When killed, an Eggpod’s top will open up, exposing a white, yolk-like substance inside it. It will also flatten itself for a little bit before the death animation ends.

This enemy was seemingly meant to be paired with the Podprotector enemy, as both of their names have “pod” in them and the test levels !EggPod_Test1 and plasmtest have an Eggpod with two Podprotectors in front of it.

The Eggpod in !EggPod_Test1 and plasmtest spews chunks of red flesh and green gas when killed, while normal ones do not. It is also a prop using the Eggpod's model instead of the proper Eggpod actor.

Two pieces of concept art exist. One is fairly close to the final design, but has the holes the Snatchers come out of at the top of the Eggpod, has the holes much closer to each other than they are in the prototype, and lacks the long tentacles coming out of it. The other has a single hole for a Snatcher to come out of, but it is angled like it in the in-game mode.

It has 33 health, but does not give Ego when destroyed.

!Eggpod_test1 and plasmtest Eggpod dying Regular Eggpod dying
Dnf2001 eggpoddeathplasmtest.png Dnf2001 eggpoddeath.png
Concept art Prototype
Dnf eggsack1.jpg Dnf2001 eggpod1.png
Concept art Prototype
Dnf buggos16.jpg Dnf2001 eggpod1.png

Headcreeper

Dnf2001 headcreep1.png

A Headcreeper is a spider-like creature with red tentacles for limbs and a tentacle in front of it that has grown out of a severed human head. It moves at an average speed. Killing the creature will cause its limbs to crawl back into the human head it uses for its body.

This enemy is unique in that it can be spawned from dead human enemies that have been Snatched (have tentacles coming out of them). When a Snatched human is killed, the game will randomly spawn a Headcreeper out of the enemy’s corpse. If that happens, the enemy’s head will wiggle for a two or so seconds, then the creature will spawn from the victim’s head in a haze of blood.

This creature’s only attack is to lunge at the player at close range. Their lunge range is around a few yards (or cm). Each hit is able to do between 2 and 4 damage.

Headcreepers are able to find positions that will let them optimally lunge at the player. This can be seen in !z1l2_1, where a Headcreeper will climb the stairs to the Lady Killer’s front in order to lunge at a player floating above the ground.

Due to being based on the EDF Soldier’s code, the Lizard Trooper and Pigcop can create Headcreepers if they are flagged as being Snatched.

It has 20 health and gives 5 Ego when killed.

Jetski

Dnf2001 jetski1.png

Human enemies driving jetskis can be fought in the prototype. They appear in !z2l1_1 and come out of a dropship pursuing Duke in the middle of that level.

This enemy is a guy in a yellow and black outfit with a shiny helmet and an EDF logo on his back riding a black jetski with a shark design in front of it. When they spot the enemy, they will shoot the player with a machine gun mounted on the jetski. It has a fairly low rate of fire, but when there are multiple Jetskis pursuing the player, they can do a lot of damage quickly.

There is code that suggests they would be able to shoot torpedoes, but they cannot do this when fought in-game. Torpedoes do appear in !z2l1_1, though.

They are programmed to do a minimum 2 damage per shot, though in-game, they do 5 per shot against the player’s boat.

A Jetski has 50 health and gives 8 Ego when killed.

K-9 Unit

Dnf2001 dog.png

The K-9 Unit is a German Shepard used for police work that is under the control of a tentacle-like creature (or Snatched). It is a melee-only enemy that pursues the player with average speed. It can bite the player for 5 damage or turn its tail into a tentacle and smack the player with it for 15 damage. It comes in two variants: regular armor and armor with desert camo.

This enemy can be looted after it is killed, but can only have money on its body.

K-9 Units can be made friendly by removing the “Snatched” tag and setting them to “friendly” in the editor. Friendly K-9 Units will use an otherwise-unused animation of them sitting down and staring.

Interestingly, K-9 Units have three variables called bBloodSeeker, bCanFetch, and bStayIdle. None of these doing anything when set to True.

Concept art of this creature with a tentacle coming out of its mouth instead of tail exists.

It has 33 health and does not give Ego when killed.

Concept art Prototype
Dnf edf.jpg Dnf2001 dog.png

Lizard Trooper

Dnf2001 liztroop1.png

The Assault Trooper from Duke Nukem 3D appears in this prototype under the full version of its internal name in DN3D, liztroop.

Behavior and code-wise, the Lizard Trooper is a copy of the EDF Soldier, down to using EDF Soldier sounds and weapons. This means it can (and is by default) Snatched, meaning it will have tentacles coming out of it. The DN3D version of this enemy didn’t.

!z4l3_1 and maps based on it contains a single hostile Pigcop that appears near the end of the level. This, along with the title of the chapter that !z4l3_1 is in being named “Deja Vu” suggests that this enemy was only meant to be fought in a dream sequence. Its model appears along with other Duke Nukem 3D throwbacks in Duke’s study found in !z1l1_5.

The August 2001 version of this enemy does not function. When spawned, it just stands there. However, what makes it interesting is that it has an earlier model that is not used in the October 2001 build. The model is much chunkier than the one used, has very different and rough-looking textures that give its skin a scaley look that doesn’t appear on the October 2001 model, and has a face with large eyes that is off-model compared to the Assault Trooper in DN3D.

Even more interesting is that it has a full set of animations that go unused. All of these are unique to the creature. The model used in the October 2001 build uses the standard set of animations all NPCs with a humanoid skeleton use.

The model used in the August 2001 prototype can be found in both the August 2001 and the October 2001 build’s files under the name “liztroopfin4” in the “c_characters” package.

This enemy was drastically reworked for the final game to behave much like it did in Duke Nukem 3D, remodeled to look sleeker and further away from both its DN3D and DNF prototype designs, and was given back its DN3D name.

August 2001 prototype October 2001 prototype
Dnf2001aug liztroop1.png Dnf2001 liztroop1.png
August 2001 prototype October 2001 prototype
Dnf2001aug liztroop2.png Dnf2001 liztroop2.png
August 2001 prototype October 2001 prototype
Dnf2001aug liztroop3.png Dnf2001 liztroop3.png

Octabrain

Dnf2001 octabrain1.png

The Octabrain is a large and floating creature with an exposed brain, multiple red eyes, and tentacles underneath it. It’s one of the few creatures that survived to the final game. It has two attacks: melee and projectile.

This monster’s melee attack his it biting the player. Each bite does 15 damage each. It follows one of three patterns when it gets into melee range.

  • Melee, then swat the player away with its tentacles
  • Melee once
  • Melee twice

The projectile attack has it shooting a rounded telekinetic projectile that does 99 damage per hit. The Octabrain will rarely use its projectile range, even if the player is well out of its melee range.

It has the ability to dodge projectiles, barring the Multi Bomb. Its dodge is fairly slow, so shooting it with projectiles at close range can still work.

This enemy is immune to the Shrink Ray.

The Octabrain has a lot of functions in its code that go unused when playing. These are

  • Healing allies
  • Reviving allies
  • Throwing props telekinetically at the player. Damaging it while it was holding a prop would make it drop the prop. This ability appears in the final game.

It has 360 HP and gives 8 Ego when killed in the October build.

The August 2001 version of this enemy has far less HP than the October 2011 version does and does not give Ego when killed. It can be killed with less than a single magazine of standard ammo from the Pistol, which is impossible in the October 2001 build.

Pigcop

Dnf2001 pigcop1.png

The Pigcop from Duke Nukem 3D appears in this prototype. As the name suggests, it is a bi-pedal gray pig wearing a police officer’s uniform with body armor. Like the Lizard Trooper, the Pigcop uses the EDF Soldier’s code and sounds. This also means it can have tentacles coming out of it (which is called being Snatched), which does not happen in DN3D.

A single Pigcop with some incorrect textures on it is fought in in !z4l3_1 and maps based on it, like !DM_e1l1. Since !z4l3_1 is very likely a dream sequence, this suggest it was not meant to be a regular enemy.

Its model also appears in Duke’s study in !z1l1_5.

It has several skins for it that only appear when customizing it in the multiplayer character menu.

  • Desert
  • SWAT
  • Urban

These are Pigcopized versions of skins used by EDF Soldiers.

There is also a helmet-wearing version of the Pigcop that can be selected in the multiplayer character menu.

Interestingly, a Pigcop is used in place of Hadji in !z1l4_1_retex and !z1l4_1-jess-sound. Charlie Wiederhold, one of the people that worked on Duke Nukem Forever when both 2001 prototypes were made, stated that a friendly Pigcop was meant to drive the Pimpmobile at one point.[1]

This final game features this enemy, but drastically reworked. It replaces the EDF Soldier as the standard infantry-type enemy used throughout the game. The final Pigcop can also go berserk and charge the player on all-fours if its health is low or is set to behave that way by a level designer. Design-wise, the Pigcop is made much more muscular than it is in DNF 2001 and is either shirtless or wearing the remains of an EDF soldier armor and shirt.

Podprotector

Dnf2001 podprotector.png

The Podprotector is a tentacle with a spike at the end of it that is growing out of a mound of red flesh. It will normally do nothing, but when the player approaches, the Podprotector will smack the player. It does between 8 and 11 damage per hit.

Based on its name, it was likely meant to be placed near Eggpods. The test levels !EggPod_Test1 and plasmtest shows this in action.

Two pieces of concept art exist for this enemy. One shows a more grotesque and detailed design than the one in-game, while the other shows a design much closer to the model used in-game, but it has a blue tentacle instead of a red one.

It had 30 health and gives 3 Ego when killed.

Code for this enemy does not exist in the August 2001 prototype.

Two Podprotectors appear in prototype footage taken from a 2003-era build. The creature appears to be remodeled, has the ability to shoot projectiles, and can be mounted on ceilings.

Concept art Prototype
Dnf podprotector1.jpg Dnf2001 podprotector.png
Concept art Prototype
Dnf podprotector2.jpg Dnf2001 podprotector.png
October 2001 prototype 2003 build video
Dnf2001 podprotector.png Dnf 2003podprotector.png

Proton Monitor

Dnf2001 protonmonitor1.png

The Proton Monitor is an enemy that that appears in !Z1L5_6. It’s a large and textureless gray machine with three red guns on it, one on each side and one on top, and a translucent model of a bald man wearing what appears to be a surgical mark in the middle of it. Green electricity is emitted from the left and right sides of area containing the head and go through it. The electricity emits green lighting, though it can be difficult to see this in the level it appears in.

Based on its size, the fact that it only appears in a single level, and has a level dedicated to fighting it, it’s likely that the Proton Monitor was meant to be a boss.

The “proton” in the boss’ name heavily suggests that this was meant to be a machine used by Dr. Proton, Duke’s long-time nemesis, and the head in the machine was supposed to be him. To further this connection, Dr. Proton is bald, like the head in the machine is, and Dr. Proton used flying monitors to taunt Duke in the first Duke Nukem. A flying monitor similar to the ones seen in the first game appears in a screenshot created during the ‘’Quake’’-era.

This enemy’s only attack is shooing the player with its red guns.

Oddly, attacks do no damage to it. The player can damage its red guns if they are hit in very specific spots, but this does nothing to the boss.

Debug text stating which point the enemy has chosen and is moving to appears when fighting it in !Z1L5_6.

The August 2001 version of the Proton Monitor can be damaged. The player can destroy its red guns, then do enough damage to the gray machine to make it so that attacks will pass through and cause the electricity effect on the left and right sides of the head to disappear. A red gun will have a blue electric effect on it when it is damaged, while damaging its body will show no effects. Once the machine’s body has taken enough damage, the green electricity effect in the middle of it will disappear and it will no longer be possible to damage it, though the enemy will still appear to be alive.

The Proton Monitor’s head is more animated in the August 2001 prototype, doing things like looking left and right. The one in the October 2001 build is static.

The muzzleflashes emitted by the red guns are emitted in front of the gun’s muzzle in the August 2001 build, but is incorrectly placed to be in its back in the October 2001 build. Of note is that a similar issue affects the EDFcopter, another flying enemy that uses the same navigation points the Proton Monitor does.

The August 2001 Proton Monitor is noticeably less accurate than the October 2001 Proton Monitor.

Putting two or more Proton Monitors in a level will cause their green electricity to link to each other.

All of its guns have 200 health, while its body has 2000 health. Interestingly, health is defined for each gun instead of using a single variable to govern the heal of all the guns.

August 2001 prototype October 2001 prototype
Dnf2001aug protonmonitorshoot.png Dnf2001 protonmonitorshoot.png

Snatched NPCs

Dnf2001 snatchednpc.png

A Snatched NPC is what would normally be a friendly NPC with tentacles coming out of it. It behaves like a typical zombie, slowly shuffling towards the player, then attacking with a melee attack when it gets close. In this case, the melee attack is one of the tentacles smacking the player for 15 damage.

Dead Snatched NPCs that have not been had their head destroyed can spawn a Headcreeper when killed.

They have 50 health.

Snatcher

Dnf2001 snatcher1.png

The Snatcher is a red, cockroach-like monster with two front claws, wings, and a long “tail”.

When the creature is ready to attack, it’s wings will open for a second or two, then it will lunge at the player. The monster is able to lunge at a long distance, making it more dangerous than it seems. If a Snatcher touches a wall when it lunges, it will latch onto the wall before attacking again.

Occasionally, being hit by a Snatcher will cause it to be held by Duke, initiating a QTE where the player must kill the Snatcher by tapping or holding the fire key while the critter attempts to bite Duke. Doing this will make Duke either

  • Pull both front limbs out
  • Pull one of its front limbs out
  • Grab the creature by the abdomen and toss it to the ground

If it has been delimbed, it will fall and die. If it has been tossed, it will land on its back and struggle for a few seconds before getting back up.

Repeatedly tapping the fire key when a Snatcher has latched onto the player is a surefire way to make Duke pull its limbs off.

Pulling out a Riot Shield while holding a Snatcher will cause the creature to disappear, then fall to the ground dead a few seconds later.

A Snatcher that is being grabbed will do 6 damage per bite to the player.

Internally, the Snatcher being held by the player is considered a weapon named “Harvesting Snatcher”.

The Snatcher has code for possessing dead NPCs. It would be able to enter a dead NPC through its mouth in order to take control of it. In-game, Snatchers ignore both friendly NPCs and dead NPCs. If left alone with a dead NPC, it will stand in place until the player is back in its view.

Based on its name, the Snatcher seems to have something to do with the tentacles coming out of several enemies in the game, as variables related to making human NPCs and K-9 Units have tentacles is called “bVisibllySnatched” and “bSnatched”.

The Snatcher’s grab mode is broken in the August 2001 build. It is able to leap onto the player, but the game doesn’t display Duke holding it. Instead, the player will continue to hold whatever weapon was being held before the creature leaped onto the player. This creates a state where the monster is able to harm the player, but cannot be seen nor killed. It will also prevent the player from switching weapons. The package “c_characters.dmx” contains a model called “alien_snatcher2”. When loaded, it appears as a generic question mark model used for missing model assets.

It has 14 health and gives 3 Ego when killed.

Turret Ceiling

Dnf2001 turretceilingopen1.png

The Turret Ceiling is, as it sounds, a turret mounted to the ceiling. It has two states: active and inactive. When inactive, it appears as a long and rounded tan object. Once it detects the player, the machine’s bottom will move downward, revealing a chrome green pivot the machine’s bottom uses to swirl around with and a black gun will emerge from the bottom of the machine. Then, it will begin attacking.

It cannot go back into its inactive state once it is active.

This enemy has serious issues hitting the player. It seems the enemy is able to shoot from its front or rear, despite its model showing the gun turn to face the player. In addition, the player has to be standing exactly in a certain spot for the enemy to actually be able to hit the player.

It can be set to be active or inactive by default in the map editor by setting the variable "bInitiallyOn" to true or false.

When destroyed, it spawns a Turret Tripod corpse. This corpse, like the regular Turret Tripod, starts off as a lootable corpse containing nothing, but no longer appears as lootable once its death animation is complete. It does 2 or 3 damage per hit and has 50 health.

Turret Tripod

Dnf2001 turrettripodopen1.png

The Turret Tripod is essentially an upside-down version of the Turret Ceiling mounted on a tripod. Like it’s ceiling-mounted version, it has an active and inactive state. Once it detects the player, the machine’s top will move up, exposing a chrome green pivot used for swiveling and a gun will pop up from the top of the enemy. It cannot go back to its inactive state when activated.

It has the same aiming issue that the Turret Ceiling does.

It can be set to be active or inactive by default in the map editor by setting the variable "bInitiallyOn" to true or false.

When destroyed, it leaves a corpse called “A Dead Guy” that shows up as lootable while dying, though it contains nothing. Once its death animation is complete, it no longer appears as a lootable enemy. Shots from this enemy do 2 or 3 damage a hit and has 50 health.

Enemies without code

These enemies can be found in the game’s files, but lack coding to make them functional.

alien_plasm

Dnf2001 alien plasm1.png

Alien_plasm is a large blob-like creature with two tentacles sticking out of it. It is green and semi-transparent with an orange orb and growth underneath it in the center of the creature.

It can be found in the map !eggpod_test1, where it either stands in place or plays an animation of it jumping from one spot to another.

cycle_sport

Dnf2001 cycle sport1.png

Cycle_sport is the internal name for a human enemy driving a motorcycle. The driver wears a black jacket with blue stripes going down the arms that has “EDF” and the EDF logo on its back and a black helmet with a visor covering his eyes. The motorcycle is either blue or black and has two machine guns mounted on it and the text “EDF” on its front and sides.

It has no code, but can be found in the maps !Z3L1_1 and !Dm-3DRoffices. Their placement in !Z3L1_1 suggests that they were meant to be fought as enemies in that level. However, the cycle_sports in !Z3L1_1 are actually regular barrels using cycle_sport’s model.

Sandworm

Dnf2001 sandworm1.png

The Sandworm is a large worm creature with a second head that comes through its mouth, ala the creature in the Alien movies. Most of the creature’s body is a pale white, but the head is a dark red and has visible human teeth on it. Small legs can be see in in front of it.

It has no AI in both prototypes, but it appears in a scripted sequence in the maps cw_ghosttown_01_church and !z3l3_3, where it eats a donkey. This sequence also appears in the E3 2001 trailer.

In-game text suggests that the sandworm would be a key part of the chapter “Ghost Town”. The maps !z3l3_2 and !z3l3_3 both have Sandworms making appearances. !z3l3_4 calls the area Duke is in “Giant Worm Research Facility” and has a very large Sandworm in a pit, while !z3l3_5 states that the player is inside a giant worm, which fits with the exit to !z3l3_5 from !z3l3_4 being at the bottom of the bit the very large Sandworm is in.

Among its animations is an unused one showing the creature diving into the ground.

Teslaraptor

Dnf2001 teslaraptorclosed1.png

The Teslaraptor is a yellow dinosaur-like creature with eyes on the lower part of its head. The creature’s head opens into three parts. The monster has a partially-completed set of animations, but there is no code associated with it. It lacks animations for dying and turning, along with pain animations. Interestingly, it has animations for strafing, something no other enemy has in the leak.

Its attack animation is broken into three parts: start, looping, and end. Based on this and the fact that it has “tesla” in its name, its likely the creature would’ve shot electricity at the player.

Concept art from Paul Richards, an artist that worked on DNF, featuring monsters that look very similar to the Teslaraptor exists.

References