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There are several known software bugs in Duke Nukem 64.

Blue Expander sprites[]

Unlike the PC version of the game, there are specially dedicated Expander sprites strewn throughout the levels. Because the Expander comes part-and-parcel with the Shrinker, it does not have a retrievable weapon sprite of its own in the PC version. Some of these Expander sprites appear entirely blue when found (Alternate Palette 1), marking these sprites as multiplayer-only items. However, only certain objects in the game were hard-coded to obey this multiplayer-only rule. Because the Expander sprite was used in the PC version of the game only as a weapon icon that displayed over a player's head during multiplayer, it did not have this special function coded into it. Therefore, these strange blue sprites can still be found in some places during the singleplayer campaign. While this could have easily been corrected (even with the limits of 1.5 CON code), the developers must have overlooked this.

Looping sound effects[]

On some occasions, when a player uses a Jetpack or a Plasma Cannon, the sounds emitted from these items may be locked into a permanent loop that cannot be fixed. Only by turning the game off can this be fixed. In some cases, this occurs because the player was using a Jetpack and used the All Items cheat to stop flying, but in these cases, the player can turn the Jetpack on and then back off again to stop the noise.

Door scrambling[]

In Duke-Burger, a portion of the level can be "scrambled" by standing on top of the side doors that lead inside the restaurant. Standing on top of the right-hand door while it's moving can cause it to rotate into the restaurant. This will completely scramble the map rendering of the surrounding area, which cannot be corrected until the level ends. If this occurs during a multiplayer match ("Dukematch"), then a player respawning from death may respawn into the scrambled room, dying instantly due to clipping problems.

Trapped Assault Commander[]

In Area 51, there is a bug that causes an Assault Commander to spawn in the wall when the player retrieves the yellow access card. This Assault Commander cannot harm the player, but the player can still kill it.

Meteorite[]

In the multiplayer-only level Shaft, there is a meteorite near the fire pit. If a player jumps onto it, the player will explode. It's unclear whether this was a developer oversight or whether the meteorite was intentionally meant to be "extremely hot," hence its location near a fire pit.

Double elevator clipping[]

On Fusion Station, it is possible to fall through the elevators into an out-of-bounds area during multiplayer. The glitch requires that one player stand at the top of an elevator and the other player at the bottom, but the elevator must remain accessible to the player at the top while performing the glitch. If both players mash the B button while facing the elevator from the outside, then the elevator at the bottom will eventually open such that it appears accessible to the player at the top and at the bottom at the same time. This will correct itself if either player stops mashing, but both players can enter the elevator while still mashing. If they stop mashing after entering and then allow the player at the top to press B again, then the elevator will move to an irregular stopping point. Once stopped, either player pressing the B button again will result in one or both players clipping through the floor into an out-of-bounds area.

Duke Nukem 64
Enemies Common Enemies: Assault Captain | Assault Commander | Enforcer
Assault Trooper | Battlelord Sentry | Octabrain | Pig Cop | Alien Beast
Protozoid Slimer | Recon Patrol Vehicle | Sentry Drone | Shark | Turret
New: Overlord Sentry
Bosses: Battlelord | Overlord | Cycloid Emperor
Weapons Mighty Foot | Pistol | Shotgun | SMGs (Sub-Machine Guns) | Grenade Launcher
Pipe Bombs | Shrinker | Expander | Missile Launcher
Laser Tripbomb | Plasma Cannon
Items Health: Small Medkit | Large Medkit | Atomic Health | Armor
Access Card | Holoduke | Jetpack | Night Vision Goggles | Portable Medkit
Protective Boots | Scuba Gear | Vitamin X
Episodes L.A. Meltdown | Lunar Apocalypse | Shrapnel City
Related Games Duke Nukem 3D | Duke Nukem 64 | Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
Duke Nukem 3D (Sega Saturn) | Duke Nukem 3D (XBLA)
Other Multiplayer | Hazards | Difficulty | Cheat Codes | Quotes | Music
Game Bugs | Build Engine | Creators | Duke Nukem (Character)
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