Your On-line Source For Duke Nukem Level Help


This goal of this site is to help users of BUILD create better maps for the 3D-Realms blockbuster game Duke Nukem 3D

How to get a copy of BUILD!


April 18, 1999

I just can't stay away from tutorials and teaching:

The Half-Life Workshop

February 2, 1999

Half-Life rules!
December 12, 1998
OH MY GOD -- he's updating again!

No, it's not what you think.  Just a little note about the move to Tripod.  I'm lucky enough to now have a cable modem (wow -- these things are fast!), so I'll be cancelling my membership with my current (modem) ISP provider, MSEN. I needed somewhere to move these pages, and Tripod is free and gives me 11MB of disk space.  Yes, you get the annoying pop up window with advertising, but hey -- every now and then we all have to watch a commercial...

That's all.  Thanks again for all of those who like the site!

November 14, 1997
The BUILD saga continues...

I got an e-mail direct from GT Interactive technical support about the problem with Duke Nukem 3D CD's missing BUILD:

Due to a mistake on our end, some cd's were sent out with out the Build
directory on them. If they send us their name and mailing address,
we'll send it to them.
November 13, 1997
Ok, one more quick update...

While cleaning out my in-box, I received quite a few e-mails about people not being able to find BUILD on their CD. I contacted Joe Siegler of 3D-Realms and he let me know the problem:

If you bought Duke Nukem 3D, and it
does not have a \goodies\build directory, please be aware
that this was a misprint at the distributor level. You
need to contact the distributor, GT Interactive, for
information on how to get a replacement. Apogee/3D Realms
will only replace CD's bought DIRECTLY FROM US. You can
contact GT at support@gtinteractive.com.

Also, for those Mac users asking about BUILD, here's another part of Joe's message:

Furthermore, the Build that exists is
for the PC version of Duke Nukem 3D only. The Macintosh
port of the game does not come with a version of Build.
At this time, there are no plans to port Build to the
Mac. However, we have heard that someone has written
their own editor for the Macintosh version of Duke
Atomic.
November 6, 1997
Finally.... an update! And....

A Final Update.

I've decided I can no longer keep these pages updated as much as I'd like. There will most likely be no more tutorials or updates. I will not be able to answer any more e-mails (except for the 70+ I already have -- if you've e-mailed me before today, I'm working on them).

This was not an easy decision to make. I've been dreading this update for two weeks now. I'm still getting e-mails from people just to say "Thanks!" -- and that is what's made this decision so hard! I've had a great time running this site for the past 17 months, but I don't want a site where I have an update once every 2 or 3 weeks saying "sorry -- no time for the site". That's what I've been doing the past few updates and it's not the kind of site I want to run. I've thought this over long and hard it I just don't have the time anymore.

I will not be taking the site down however. It will remain as it is today for all of those new to BUILD, and for those who want to learn something new. The BUILD engine was the first post-DOOM engine that was just plain "fun" to work with. It's still a great engine, but it's time is quickly passing. 3D-Realms is no longer enhancing it -- Shadow Warrior is the last game using the BUILD engine. They're working on their own 3D engine for Prey and have licensed the QUAKE 2 engine for Duke Nukem Forever. Time and technology march on...

I want to thank all of you who have supported me and sent me kudos on this site -- it made all of the effort worthwhile! I also want to especially thank my wife. Her patience while I "worked on e-mail" and "added a tutorial" were greatly appreciated!

Thank you all... I had a blast!

October 2, 1997
Ugh...

I hoped I would never go four weeks without an update again! But it happened -- and I apologize. I had a very busy two weeks at work and then was out of town for four days. In those 2 1/2 weeks, I barely even turned my computer on, let alone log in, get e-mail, answer e-mail and work on the web page.

Thanks to all of those who are writing me and thanking me for the site. I really appreciate you taking the time to drop me an e-mail.

With the limited amount of time I've got to get caught up on e-mail, I'm going to have to ignore those messages on techniques not covered in the tutorials. It's very flattering that you want answers to all of the SE questions, but I just don't have the time to answer all of them. I don't want to be mean -- it's just a simple issue of time and the lack of it. I hope you'll all understand.

Don't forget to check out the November issue of PC Gamer. They're doing an in-depth story on Duke Nukem Forever. Should be cool!

August 29, 1997 -- Judgement Day for T2 fans!
Mostly working on e-mail tonight... I didn't get time to get on the computer for a few days and my in-box is almost full again. It's great that you people really like the site!

Does anyone know of any good sources on EditArt? I get a lot of questions about it, but I'm just not much of a graphic artist so I've never played around with it much. I'd appreciate any links or FAQ's anyone might have on getting the most from EditArt. Drop me a line.

Speaking of EditArt, has anybody made "add-on" textures for Duke? I know people are busy making add-ons and stuff for QUAKE, but there's got to be someone whose made some new textures we can use. Let me know if you have some info.

Updated the Subways page! It seems you can turn the rocket shooting subway's off. Thanks David ("EvilAlien") and Roshan ("KillerB")!

You can now download the full .ZIP versions of the two BUILD faq's I have on-line. These are the original versions and not the "HTML-ized" versions I have here. The table of contents page has the links. If they don't show up, try refreshing your browser.

Still looking to maintain a list of ambient sounds for the MUSICANDSFX sprite. Anyone know of any besides Bar Music (95) and the Bubbling Noise (88)?

August 24, 1997
It's here!! The Music and Sound Effects tutorial. Not much meat to it (sorry!), but it covers the basics.

On that page, I'd like to maintain a list of ambient sounds. Here's a couple that I know of:

  • 95 = Bar Music
  • 88 = a bubbling noise (great near water or slime)

Got any others? Please send them in! First one sending me a new sound number gets the credit!

You'll notice I changed the table of contents frame. It's now straight text -- no more graphic titles for the tutorials. It's easier for me to maintain and quicker for you to load. Hope you like it!

August 23, 1997
Pounded out a ton of e-mails last night. NOTE: Please make sure your e-mail address is correct! I've got a lot of e-mail to work on and it's frustrating to reply to someone's plea for help, only to get the message bounced back as undeliverable because the e-mail address is incorrect.

Hey -- George Broussard (President of 3D-Realms) had this update in his .plan file:

We will kick back and relax for the weekend, but we also have a major little
Duke Forever project to wrap up, so will be slamming on
that all next week. I cannot express in mere words how
friggin' cool Duke Nukem Forever is going to be. I have
never seen such a pumped up, eneregized team in my life,
all with one goal. To be the best.

He was talking about "relaxing" because he was up all night shipping Shadow Warrior CD's to GT Interactive. I can't wait for Duke to make his return in Duke Nukem Forever!

Guess what I'll be working on (hopefully!) later today?? The Music and SoundFX tutorial! For all of those asking about that liitle'M' sprite, I hope to have a tutorial up this weekedend. It all depends on how much free time I get (baby's asleep right now so I'm moving fast before she wakes up!).

August 17, 1997
Sorry about the lack of updates (2 weeks??! Arghhh...) Been very busy at work and at home (even more so at home -- wife was away for 4 days so I was solo with the baby!).

Updated the Common Question's Page on how to use the KEXTRACT utility to view and edit the original Duke Nukem 3D levels!

I was keeping up on e-mails, but they're starting to get backed up again. I'll be working on some tonight. I'll also try to get a tutorial on using the MUSICANDSFX sprite. I've just been getting a ton of e-mails on this subject.

August 1, 1997
Got some information of the Macintosh version of BUILD. This comes from a FAQ on MacSoft's site (the company that ported Duke Nukem 3D to the Mac):

"The build editor is not included in the disk. We do not have a release date for it."

Sorry Mac users. You're welcome to look around and see the power you'll have once BUILD is ported to the Mac!

Also, the Mac version should be able to use PC .MAP files. Macs and PC's can even play head-to-head via modem or network. However, PC users will have to have the Plutonium Pak installed (you cannot play against Mac users with version 1.3).

July 28, 1997

Earth Defense Forces

Check out "Earth Defense Forces" -- A site dedicated to Duke Nukem Forever (the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D using the Quake 2 Engine)


Quick Tutorial: Pig Cop Recon Cars
  • See the Subway tutorial on placing LOCATOR sprites to define a track.
  • Put a Pig Cop Recon car sprite in your map. Set it's HITAG to the LOCATOR you want the Recon car to start at.
  • You're done! Remember, those locators can be placed off the ground so the Recon cars can fly in the air or skim the ground! Just make sure they aren't too high -- I imagine blowing up a recon car from a considerable height may make the Pig pilot land with a splat!
  • I believe you set the Recon car sprite's LOTAG to the skill level you want it to appear on. I've never placed a Recon car in one of my levels, so if someone has a definitive answer, please e-mail me. Thanks!
July 26, 1997
Thanks to Viking1040@aol.com who sent me a copy of the Claymore DukeMatch levels!

Anybody know if there's a Macintosh version of BUILD? I've been getting some questions on this one. All of the Mac Dukers are telling me there isn't a \GOODIES\BUILD directory. Please e-mail me if you know. Thanks!

Updates have been very slow. Two things have been keeping me busy: RealLife and QUAKE Editing. I never really thought I would get into QUAKE editing, but it just took the right editor. After trying almost half a dozen different ones, I'm in love with QuArK. It's a slick editor that makes building QUAKE levels easier than I ever thought. If you're a person who likes creating levels, give it a try.

I'm still getting a ton of e-mail asking me things that are already answered on the Common Questions page. You really need to check there before you e-mail me. Many of the most common problems can be solved quickly by looking at that page. My current e-mail reply time is close to a week or so. It used to be three to four weeks, but I'm finding some extra time at night to get some work done on the computer.

Changed the background music. I was getting tired of "streets.mid". Now I'm using "agheez.mid".

July 25, 1997
I'm going to start keeping events on this first page so you'll have the most up-to-date info as soon as you get here!

Anyone ever heard of a map called "Claymore2". It's supposed to be a cool DukeMatch level. If you know where I could find it, let me know.

I set down tonight to clean out my inbox! VICTORY! I started at 11:00pm and it's now just after 1:00AM (I will regret this when my alarm goes off a 6:00am!).

Updated the Subway page with some "things to watch out for."

Updated the Common Questions page

Sleep? What's that.... I have a teething 6month old.....

June 30, 1997
I had no idea how much a one week vacation would impact my e-mail box. Yikes! I'm working on those e-mails! :)

Want a sound list? Check out the Common Questions page!

Fixed a mis-spelling on the Common Questions page. Thanks Zach!

Ick! Four weeks and no new tutorials... Sorry BUILD'ers.


The BUILD engine is a powerful 3D gaming engine. As always, anything with a lot of power can be difficult to use at first. Hopefully, these pages will help you understand how to implement the features of BUILD to create killer maps!

To make this site quick to navigate, I'm keeping the graphics to a minimum. However, to help you with these techniques, many of these "how-to" pages will contain screen dumps from the BUILD editor so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. The only thing that will look different are the sprite tags. They do not get saved in a screen dump, so I will be adding the text for them in manually (consequently, they will look a little different). I also plan on limiting the amount of HTML tags that only work on certain WEB browsers.

I'm always open to suggestions. In fact, this site will build (no pun intended!) as I get more questions about BUILD and its features. So please don't hesitate to e-mail me with your questions or comments. I plan to integrate many of my responses into this web page.




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Patrick Steele
pjsteele@home.com
Copyright © 1996, Patrick J. Steele, Last Updated
- 01/12/00 09:59 PM 
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