Hollywood Holocaust is the first level of Duke Nukem 3D. It is the first level of L.A. Meltdown, the first episode of the game.
Description
After ejecting from his plummeting Skycar, Duke Nukem lands on the roof of a building and then drops down to the alien-infested street below.
Most of the level is centered around an adult cinema. This adult cinema contains a theater, concession stand, bathroom, projector room, and video arcade.
Secrets
Secret 1: Beneath the billboard
In the street at the beginning of the level, jump onto the wooden crate, and then jump onto the sloped ledge along the building. From here, jump onto the ledge beneath the "Innocent?" billboard.
Secret 2: Rockets on the apartment bed
From the sloped ledge in Secret 1, jump into the building through the second or third window from the right. Obtaining the RPG ammo in this room is counted as the second secret.
Secret 3: Steroids behind the poster
Inside Secret 2, use the "Biker Bimbos" movie poster at the far end of the room to reveal Steroids in a hidden compartment behind the poster.
Secret 4: Cash register
Behind the counter in the central lobby of the theater, use the cash register to open a hidden compartment near the top of the wall on the other side of the counter. Stand beneath the opened compartment and use the wall. A hidden elevator will lift you to the compartment, where you will find Armor.
Secret 5: Captive woman behind the projector room
There are two ways to reach this secret:
- In the projector room, open the brick wall next to the fire extinguisher near the stairs to reveal a hidden room with a woman trapped in an alien pod.
- From the bathroom, climb atop the toilet stalls and into the air vent in the wall. Follow the ventilation shaft until you reach a secret area with a woman trapped in an alien pod.
Secret 6: Inside the projector room
In the projector room, jump atop the projector to reveal a hidden compartment with an RPG inside.
Secret 7: Behind the cinema screen
Using the switch inside the projector room, open the curtains of the cinema screen. Use the RPG to blast through the crack in the screen. This will reveal a hidden area behind the screen, containing a Jetpack and Shotgun ammo.
Secret 8: Bachelor pad above the cinema
Back on the main street, the second row of windows above the palm tree contains a secret bachelor pad. There are two ways to reach this secret:
- Near the bridge to the exit button, there is a ledge that can be reached by dropping from the bridge. From here, the bachelor pad can be reached by following the ledge to the front of the cinema, jumping from the ledge to the palm tree, and then jumping from the palm tree through the second row of windows.
- Use the Jetpack from Secret 7 to fly through the second row of windows above the palm tree.
The following hidden compartments are not counted towards the "Secrets Found" on the level-end screen:
- After entering the ventilation shaft above the toilets in the bathroom, you can find a crack in the wall on the inside-corner of the shaft. Blasting through the crack will reveal a Holoduke inside.
- In the arcade, press the "use" button on the Duke Nukem II machine to reveal a Holoduke inside the wall on the right.
- At the bottom of the elevator, jump atop the trash can. Press the "use" button, and a hidden compartment will open above you. Inside, you will find a Small Medkit, Night Vision Goggles, and Pipe Bombs.
- While standing on the bridge to the exit button, activate the Jetpack and fly to the top of the building. At the top, you will encounter two Turrets, as well as a compartment containing Shotgun ammo and another Jetpack.
Walkthrough
See Also: Written/Pictorial Walkthrough by 3D Realms
Speedrunning
Fastest route
After dropping down the ventilation shaft at the start of the level, proceed straight ahead to the dumpster fire. When the Assault Trooper spawns and begins to fly out of the dumpster, jump onto its head and directly to the ledge over to the left. Proceed around the ledge to the exit button.
Intermediate route
On "Come Get Some" difficulty, drop down into the street, and proceed to the alley behind the cinema. Jump onto the Pig Cop and then onto the ledge above you, directly across from the exit button.
Steroids route
After dropping down to the main street, climb up to the secret apartment (Secret 2) with the Steroids behind the movie poster (Secret 3). Collect the Steroids and immediately use them. With a running start, jump from the window ledge beside the movie poster across to the ledge on the opposite side of the street. Proceed around the ledge to the exit button above the back alley.
See the Speedrunning page for more information.
Achievements
Megaton Edition
Alien Bastards Are Gonna Pay: Complete the level in under three minutes to unlock this achievement.
20th Anniversary World Tour
Alien Maggots Are Gonna Pay: Finish the level in under three minutes to unlock this achievement.
Easter eggs
- At one end of the street with Secret 1 is a billboard that reads "INNOCENT?". This is a reference to the OJ Simpson trial. On subsequent levels in the game, the trial is again referenced with footage of O.J. Simpson's car chase on Red Light District and with another billboard on Fahrenheit that reads "Guilty!"
- In the arcade, the pinball machine in the corner is titled "Balls of Steel". This reference precedes the development of Balls of Steel by Wildfire Studios.
- In the Arcade, there is a "Duke Nukem II" game machine. The image on the screen resembles the box art from Duke Nukem II. When you use this machine, Duke will comment that "I don't have time to play with myself", and a panel briefly opens in the wall next to the machine containing a Holoduke.
- In the bathroom, above the upper right part of the leftmost urinal, is written the phone number "867-5309". This is a reference to the Tommy Tutone hit "867-5309/Jenny".
- In the bathroom, at the bottom right of the wall in the right-hand toilet cubicle, is written the message "STRYKER METRONET.COM". This was Allen Blum's e-mail address for a while (but is now unused). There is no "@" symbol, though, but a space has been left for it.
Development history
See Also: Duke Nukem 3D prototypes
According to a tweet by George Broussard on March 19, 2020, Hollywood Holocaust had roughly 7-8 months of time invested in it, and it was continually revisited and revised so that the first level of the game would make a strong first impression.
This level and Red Light District were created from subsections of E1L6 of the December 1994 prototype. Footage exists of this map from a build dated May 9, 1995.
The following blueprints were designed by Allen Blum while planning an early draft of Hollywood Holocaust. Many of the features in the blueprints are visible in screenshots and demo footage from the November 1995 prototype but were eventually removed so as to increase the game's frame rate on computer hardware available at the time.
Early beta footage of the game shows that the movie "Attack of the Bleached Blonde Biker Bimbos" was originally named "Debbie Does Duke", a reference to the 1978 porn film Debbie Does Dallas.
Developer commentary
In the 20th Anniversary Edition developer commentary, Blum says:
"There used to be a lot more stuff here. There used to be a bank across the street [from the cinema]. There used to be a bridge going across the corner by the 'Innocent?' sign that went to a garage that you started at. Well, all that was reduced because, if you stood in this corner [beside the cinema], we had to get 20 FPS, standing in the corner."
Trivia
- A modified version of this level is featured in the Duke: Nuclear Winter add-on as "Where It All Began."
- The Skycar from the start of this level is featured in the popular DukePlus mod, where it can be piloted and flown around the map.
Screenshots
