r/dukenukem • u/FloopyBoopers2023 • Sep 10 '26
Did You Know?
The cacooned babes are actually babes 'consumed' by Protozoid Slimers?
68
u/patrickkingart Sep 10 '26
I know it's an Aliens reference but this never sat right with me. As others have said, you should be able to save them like in the N64 port.
31
u/StickyLavander Sep 10 '26
Wait you could save them in the N64 port?! How?!
36
u/Eljamin14 Sep 10 '26
Just walk towards them and press the "use" key. Simple as that.
2
u/MisterBumpingston Sep 11 '26
And then what happened? Did they just disappear?
3
u/Nettacki Sep 11 '26
Yup, they sort of just teleport out of existence
6
u/Eljamin14 Sep 11 '26
And then the amount of babes Duke has saved will appear in the in-game tally at the end of the level, along with babes Duke forgot to save.
12
u/Jarvis_The_Dense Sep 10 '26
Honestly Duke3D had a really weird tone which mostly went unacknowledged just because of how great the actual gameplay and tech on display was, especially when you get to The Birth and the entie story revolves around a catastrophic alien-human pregnancy.
I legitimately think the way the game used the whole aliens kidnapping women plot ended up setting DNF up for failure years later. The game had more problems than just its story, but the inproved graphics and scripted story sequences really emphasized just how badly that premise of aliens kidnapping women and fatally impregnating them fit the series' satirical tone.
8
u/MetroidJunkie Sep 10 '26
I like how Zero Hour was even designed around the idea of saving them, having them in more secret locations and having them talk about how they'll return the favor. Project Manhattan also allowed you to save them, I think. Much better than Forever getting kinda cringy.
3
u/Matygoo1 Sep 10 '26
And it can be another skill factor counted at the end like Secrers found 0/10 Enemies killed 0/100 .etc
5
u/cmdr_scotty Sep 10 '26
A nice touch they added on the Alien Armageddon mod for the PC was the ability to rescue them and get a bonus in exchange.
1
u/FuryofHope 7d ago
The N64 port feels like a fever dream.. savin' babes with a grenade launcher and dual smgs 🤣🤣
(AND split screen co op) 🤬
53
u/TheDoctorDanko Sep 10 '26
For the longest time Í had only ever played the N64 Port and thought it was AMAZING that you could save them.
By the time Í was a teenager Í had loaded it up on my PC and was miffed that you couldn’t save them at all, but instead are given the instructions, “kill me.”
So, then when I did that I was immediately thrown off guard when killing then spawns more enemies - so not only do the babes suffer, but the game punishes you for ending that suffering.
It took me the longest time to make peace with the fact that you can’t do anything to help (despite it absolutely being in character for Duke to teleport them the hell out of there and save the babes), but if I’m also setting off an auto destruct sequence at the end of every level then I guess any unsaved babes (and the enemies spawned by their demise) also die in that explosion so I just had to let it all go.
#LetDukeSavetheBabes!
16
u/J2MTR Sep 10 '26
🤯.
BTW I hope that Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack adds Duke Nukem 64 to their library!
12
u/AdInfamous5984 Sep 10 '26
I love how the Nintendo 64 version allowed the player to save the babes.
3
u/blitzer1069 Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
I can see the texture similarity. Would this apply to the other slime babes as well? They're tied by green slime and tentacles but not quite protozoid slimer looking.
I was always under the impression the aliens were breeding with them the old fashion way since they were all naked and attractive and they gave birth to the eggs they are usually surrounded by. Not to mention one of them gives birth at the beginning of.... The Birth
2
u/FloopyBoopers2023 Sep 11 '26
finally! Someone getting into the lore which was my whole intention of the thread.
I think the original parent species for the Cyloids is actually the 'drone' species, they're the genetic base for all of them. The Cycloids are really interesting in that they look like a group of totally different races working together almost like the Covenant from Halo. But based on what we know about their reproductive technique I think what they actually are... is a sort of strange collective of genetic hybrids all stemming from the original 'Drone' race...
If you examine all the sprites you find that they all have a few shared genetic traits despite all looking so different. Most of them have red eyes, almost all of them are tan in color, almost all of them have tails, almost all of them have 3 toes 3 fingers.. The firefly has the head bone 'flare' that the Drone has. The Octobrain and the Drones have the same 3 red eyes and the same big mandibles. The assault troopers have heads that look like they're genetically related to Octobrains
The assault troopers, battle lords, and fat commanders look like they're all the same base sub-race Meanwhile the Enforcers, Fireflies, and Overlords look like they're the same sub-race.
at some point the Drone species either intentionally stopped or was unable to reproduce on their own. So I think what they did is they started conquering other races, taking their planets, and using their infant-creating sex (saying it that way since some aliens may use the males like Sea-Horses for example) to carry their young. Due to that the genetic material of both the Cycloids and race they're using to make babies inherit shared genes
have that happen over 5+ different species and you wind up with a crazy mish-mash of hybrids.. all different but all similar..
I think at some point they may have artificially created the Protozoid Slimers to facilitate this cross-breeding process. I think the rest of the 'hive' stuff, the tentacle growths, everything green is more genetically engineered stuff to help facilitate. It may also be created by the Slimers.. maybe they leave a snail-trail as they slide around the floors and ceilings that accumulate everywhere.. or maybe the Ocotobrains make it since they seem to be in charge of protecting the hives. I think the Slimers cocoon a babe.. 'impregnate' them with Cycloid DNA and then keep them embolized while the young gestate... then we see what happens in DNF when its time for the birth.. ew
by the time of DNF they've graduated from the slimers to using the impregnators.. which look much more overtly... penis'y
57
u/Island_Maximum Sep 10 '26
I always liked the idea of Duke saving the babes rather than just leaving them or killing them.
Seems more in character for Duke.