Dukebots are computer-controlled players featured in Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition, Duke Nukem 64, Duke Nukem Forever, the Megaton Edition, and the 20th Anniversary World Tour. They are used to simulate Dukematches, and their sprites are the same as Duke Nukem's.
Command line
In newer versions of the game, such as the 20th Anniversary Edition, multiplayer matches with Dukebots can be started by selecting the DM-Bots game mode in the in-game multiplayer setup menu. In older versions of the game, multiplayer matches with Dukebots can be started by launching the game with the following command line:
Duke3d /l#(level number) /v#(episode number) /a(Use fake multiplayer bots) /q#(number of dukebots to play with)
Issues with early versions
Although they were officially included in later versions of the game, the Dukebots were originally intended only for playtesting and were not meant to be used in commercial versions of the game. For this reason, there are a variety of issues associated with bots in early versions of the game:
- They frequently exhibit perfect accuracy, even at extreme distances and with any weapon.
- They have superhuman abilities of movement.
- They sometimes fire more rapidly than their weapons should allow.
- They occasionally get stuck in walls and in objects.
- They sometimes kill themselves with explosives or by being crushed.
- They possess perfect knowledge of the human-controlled player's location at all times.
- They do not know how to place Laser Tripbombs.
- They do not distinguish between deathmatch and co-op game modes, shooting the player in either case.
- When observed indirectly through security cameras, they behave as though the player is shooting at them.
Some mods feature Dukebots with fewer bugs and improved artificial intelligence.
Difficulty
In the Atomic Edition, the difficulty of the bots cannot be changed, but an option to change their difficulty was introduced in the Nintendo 64 port. On lower difficulties, the bots will fire slowly and are less accurate, but they still have perfect knowledge of the player's location at all times. On higher difficulties, they fire more quickly and are more accurate.