Tier Drops is the first secret level of Shrapnel City in Duke Nukem 3D. It can be reached via the secret exit on Movie Set.
This level is not present in Duke Nukem 64.
Description
Designed as a Dukematch level, Tier Drops consists of an outer hallway and four rooms in the center. These rooms seem to occupy the same space, but because the Build engine allows for non-Euclidean geometry, the rooms do not actually overlap. These rooms also contain holes in the ground that resemble wells. Falling into these wells will land the player in one of the other rooms. The level's name is a reference to this mechanic of dropping from one room to the next.
Secrets
Secrets 1-4: Four corners
This level is one giant square, and in each of the four corners of the hallway is a secret. Go to each of the four corners and press the part of the wall atop the raised platform. On each of the four raised platforms, this will open a secret compartment with equipment inside.
Map
Walkthrough
See Also: Written/Pictorial Walkthrough by 3D Realms
Duke Nukem 3D 100% Walkthrough- Tier Drops (E3L10) -Secret Level, All Secrets-
Development history
See also: Duke Nukem 3D prototypes
According to Richard "TerminX" Gobeille, Tier Drops was one of a few maps that were "purely creations of crunch" near the end of the game's development. It is not listed in the January 1996 episode lists, suggesting it had not yet been started.
Tier Drops is very similar to a scrapped Dukematch map known as Cigam, which may have served as a proof-of-concept for Tier Drops.
Sector chronology
Sector chronology in v1.3d. Bright blue=oldest; bright red=newest. Oldest sectors in ascending order include: right-hand well in the canyon world (sector 0), right-hand ceiling tube in the canyon world, left-hand well in the canyon world.
Trivia
- If Duke shoots the women trapped in the Delta Room, it will cause Battlelord Sentries to spawn. Although killing NPCs often spawns enemies, these are the only Babes in the game to spawn mini-bosses.