Warps Tutorial
by Poda
Duke is well known for its glitches. Many players may have encountered some of these glitches and wondered how they could reproduce them. This tutorial aims at describing the most useful glitch in the game: warping. I use the term "strafe-running" to mean holding strafe + forward or strafe + back. Also, all demos below are for the 1.5 version of Duke, so that they are more widely viewable. The downside is some warps only work on 1.3D.
Warp Type 1
The most basic warp allows you to warp through certain walls down to the ground by simply running into the wall. Typically, a door will exist at the bottom and you warp from the wall down through the door. It's as if you went through the door in an instant. A good example of this warp takes place in Hollywood by the double doors inside the theatre. Position yourself anywhere above the double doors (even at the very top of the theatre) and simply run/fly through the wall while opening or closing the doors. You will instantly appear outside the doors. Here is a demo illustrating this.
Warp Type 2
This is the second type of warp. It typically involves strafing + ducking slightly on a thin path. A good example is in Hollywood in the red window outside. Jump, then strafe + duck ever so slightly onto the ledge of the window furthest from the red sign, and you will end up in the arcade. Another example of where this works is in Lunatic Fringe. See the demos below.
Warp Type 3
This is the third type of warp. It involves a technique I call "strafe-ducking" or "strafe-jumping". The basic idea is that, at certain areas, you can use strafe-running + duck and warp to other places. There are so many examples of this. For instance, some doors let you strafe out of them using this. Areas where the ground has a hole or crack that is too small will let you through using this technique. Also, you can use it to warp to the bottom or top of rotating-type objects like gears. To make this more effective, some players also press jump immediately when they land on the surface of the area to warp. I have included demos below of some uses of this warp. This will be the most useful warp to you.
Warp Type 4
This is a variation of type 3. Sometimes, it may seem like you can warp at a place, yet it doesn't appear to be working. This may be because you have to land more precisely. A great example is the ledge at the bottom of the two atomics in L.A. Rumble. You can use warp type 3 to warp into the right corner up to the atomics, but you have to do it slightly, so as to barely land on the ledge without much forward momentum. It's best to watch a demo to illustrate this.
Warp Type 5
This type of warp allows to you be crushed by objects, mainly doors, and appear elsewhere. For instance, you can use this behind the outside doors of the theatre in Hollywood to warp to the area near the box. You simply crush yourself by strafing into the door hinge. Below is an example.
Miscellaneous Warps
There are some lesser known warp types, some only working in 1.3D. They may fit into categories above, but I decided to break them out. The first is called the crack warp. This is simply strafe-running into a crack and jumping right when you reach it. The best example of this is the cracked wall near the steroids in L.A. Rumble. The next type is what I like to call the hinge warp. This involves opening a door from the side opposite of the door's opening direction. Then, while strafing into the hinge, close the door. The only example I recall of this is on the doors outside the theatre in Hollywood. You end up arriving at the jetpack The next type is called the rolling door warp. In this warp, you mess up a door's natural rhythm, causing the door to slide upwards into the wall more than usual. Then, you close the door and strafe-jump into it as it's closing. Again, the only example I recall of this is by the elevator in Hollywood. There is a door with night vision in it that allows you to warp into the projector room. Another warp type is called the jittery warp. This involves slowly crushing Duke and then warping as he starts to shake. One example in Hollywood is the broken out wall near the doors to the projector room. You can jetpack in it and as you start shuttering, you warp into the projector room soon after. Lastly, while not technically a warp, you can hide in mirrors by strafe-running into them, pressing duck, then releasing. You will start shaking violently. During this time, the other players can't see you, but they can shoot you with explosive weapons like the RPG. Speaking of shaking violently, you may have gone up against a window or door and started to shake a lot when strafe-running into it while ducking. Upon jumping, you bug. Sometimes, these warps require steroids to get enough speed to get through. But, it is possible you can get through using a pipe bomb. What you do is place the pipe bomb a bit back from the object. Then, as you jump towards the object to warp, detonate the pipe bomb. If all goes well, you will be pushed through. You can even add the steroids with a pipe bomb for greater effect. There are demos below illustrating some of these warps.
So, as you can see, there are many types of warps. The miscellaneous warps are novelty warps, largely removed from the 1.5 version of the game. If you have to learn one type, learn type 3. You will start realizing where warps would be possible in user maps just by practicing this warp type. Then, you can find more in obscure maps! For more great warp demos and explanations, check out http://membres.lycos.fr/duke3d/bugs/edukbugs.htm. Also, for a more technical explanation of warps and other glitches, go to http://www.red-stars.net/content/Duke_Nukem_3D.