Duke Nukem 3D: McClane or McClain? That is the Question

If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know that I’m all for classic gaming, and right now I’m playing Duke Nukem 3D, complete with the EDuke32 source port, the HRP, and Duke Plus, an probably some other stuff too.

Anyhow, I was watching Die Hard the other night, and I made it my AAA’s choice on Sunday. What does this have to do with Duke Nukem 3D? Well, Die Hard and John McClane were some pretty heavy influences for the game, particularly in the fourth episode called “The Birth”, which came with Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition, where there’s a level called “Pig Sty”. In this level, you’ll come across a plaque with the name “J.McClain” printed on it:

This is a sprite or texture taken from the HRP folder of my Duke 3D setup. J. McClain obviously refers to John McClane from Die Hard, right? But why is the spelling wrong? According to official sources, and wikipedia, it’s spelt “McClane”. I’m not sure whether this was an error by the team at 3DR who made the level and game years ago, or if it’s just a mistake by the HRP guys.

Ah, but I looked it up on 3D Realms’ website, on the walkthrough for this very level, “E4L5”, and it’s written right there:

“This time it's a "J. McClain", which prompts a famous Dukeism borrowed from the original "Die Hard" movie”

And the walkthrough uses the original, unmodified game (possibly a console, non-PC version though), with no high-res textures like the ones that come with the HRP. So the HRP guys - Parkar and Nightfright, last time I checked – were merely copying what had all ready been done except making it look all nice and high-resolutiony (not a real word).

That dukeism referred to is this, by the way. A famous line from Die Hard.

I mean, it crossed my mind that it could have been spelt this way intentionally to avoid a lawsuit or something, but there’s another plaque in the same level that reads “H. Callahan”:

This obviously refers to Harry Callahan from Dirty Harry, but unlike the J. McClain one, this one is spelt properly.

It’s unlikely it was done intentionally seeing as if 3DR wanted to avoid a lawsuit, they wouldn’t have “borrowed” so many lines and ideas from films like the Evil Dead series. It’s quite amazing how much stuff was copied from this series. Bruce Campbell hates Duke Nukem for this very reason.

Just an interesting thing though. Has anyone else ever noticed this?

Duke Nukem 3D: McClane or McClain? That is the Question

Today’s TV Schedule Highlights, and AAA’s Choice: Die Hard

Sunday, 13th of December, 2009

Highlights:

WWE Pay-Per-View: Survivor Series  (E-TV at 12:45 PM)

WWE Raw (E-TV at 5:00 PM)

Carte Blanche: Christmas Special (M-NET at 7:00 PM)

Demolition Man (SABC 1 at (8:00 PM; Stars Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock, Wesley Snipes)

Quantum of Solace (M-Net at 8:00 PM; Stars Daniel Craig)

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Die Hard (E-TV at 8:00 PM; Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman)

( AAA’s Choice)

Locally, tonight on E-TV at 8:00 PM, they’re showing the first Die Hard. In my opinion this is the best in the series. I just watched Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard) the other night on DSTV, and although it’s not bad, I still like the first movie best.

Bruce Willis (when he still had a little hair) plays John McClane, an NYPD police officer who travels to Los Angeles, to the Nakatomi Plaza to visit his wife, who John finds has reverted to her maiden name, Genero, during their separation after marital difficulties.

While John is at the plaza, terrorists storm the building and take the employees ay a Christmas party hostage. The terrorists are led be Hans Gruber (brilliantly played by Alan Rickman). Cue John McClane who, without backup, takes on the terrorists.

It’s nail-biting, bloody fun, and the perfect holiday film, topped with a Christmas theme. But it’s not your typical Christmassy film, so if you’re tired of the usual slushy rubbish that shows at this time of year, then you’ll enjoy this for sure. Over twenty years later and this is still one of the best action films ever made.

Movie Rating: 4/5

 

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Pearl Harbor (SABC 1 at 10:00 PM; Stars: John Hartnett, Ben Affleck)

Bonnie And Clyde (SABC 3 at 10:00 PM; Stars: Warren Bearry, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman)

Sixteen Candles (E-TV at 10:40 PM; Stars John Cusack)

Death Defying Acts (M-Net at 10:55 PM; stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Guy Pierce)

Today’s TV Schedule Highlights, and AAA’s Choice: Die Hard

Uwe Boll Making a new BloodRayne film, Rumours of a new game in the Works

750th post

Well, we’ve all watched at least one Uwe Boll film in our lives, and we have all agreed that this man should have his licence to thrill taken away, as he can’t seem to make a film to save his life, reputation, or career for that matter. The films that people have problems with are the video game adaptations- films based on games, which rarely ever seems to work.

This hasn’t stopped others from trying though, seeing as lately, Brad Pitt is interested in Dark Void, and Bruce Willis is set to star in Kane& Lynch- the movie.

Anyway, Uwe Boll directed and produced BloodRayne and directed BloodRayne II:Deliverance, and both films flopped. Now he wants to have a crack at a third one. That’s right, a third BloodRayne film, BloodRayne 3: Warhammer, and this has sparked speculation that a third title in the series is being made for game consoles too.

Kristanna Loken from the first film, as well as Terminator 3, will make a return, and some say that the film will take place during World War II.

Why is this guy so obsessed with BloodRayne? I mean, the whole story of the series and how it connects with another forgotten title, Nocturne, its spiritual prequel, is pretty cool, but surely nobody plays that game anymore, right?

Even though we all dread the idea of another BloodRayne film, and I personally think it might be someone having a laugh and starting a rumour for fun, I don’t say that I would be as cynical about another BloodRayne game.

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http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34389/uwe-boll-bloodrayne-3-warhammer-shooting-january
Uwe Boll to Bring Us Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer

Uwe Boll Making a new BloodRayne film, Rumours of a new game in the Works

Duke Nukem Sounds like Bruce Willis When he Falls to his Death

I love listening to game sound effects and voices. I’ve often unpacked zip files, searched game program files, and downloaded them.

I googled to try and get some Duke Talk wavs for Duke Nukem 3D recently, because I’ve got the old VOC files which only work with WinAmp and not Windows Media Player, which I use more often. Yeah, I know I could just extract the contents out of the DN3D GRP file, but then I’d still have to convert them myself, so I took a shortcut. Besides, not all the VOC files work.

Anyway, I found a number of files that I haven’t ever heard before, which possibly weren’t used in the game. Among some of the best are the death screams, especially when Duke falls from a great height to his death. That one I have heard a lot and I’ve always thought that this one sounded like Jon St. John’s pretty convincing rendition of one of Bruce Willis’s screams, like in Die Hard. It isn’t too hard to imagine why, when you think that Die Hard and John McClane were both an inspiration for Duke's character. There are two scenes in the fourth episode of Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition- one where you see a plaque on the desk in the police station which has J. McClane written on it, and when Duke says the famous line from Die Hard:

“Yippee Ki-yay, Motherf@cker!”

Duke Nukem Sounds like Bruce Willis When he Falls to his Death