Gaming
 

Cycloid Emperor

From Duke Nukem Wiki

Cycloid Emperor
Game(s) Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach
Duke it out in D.C.
Duke Nukem 64
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
First encountered Shrapnel City, Stadium
Statistics
Health 4500
Weapon(s) Mid-RPG Rocket
Mental Energy Orb Burst
Melee Stomp
Mobility Walking
Speed Average to Fast
Drops when killed N/A

The Cycloid Emperor is the final boss in the third episode, Shrapnel City found during the Stadium level.

Contents

[edit] Description

Encountered in Stadium, he attacks the player with a rapid-spread version of the Octabrain's mental blast at close range. He will also fire a large barrage of missiles at a distance, with the exact amount of damage inflicted as Duke's RPG.

[edit] Appearance

The Cycloid Emperor is just as tall as the Battlelord and Overlord and can be recognized by its single-eyed "face" and huge tripod claw arms. Unlike the Battlelord the Cycloid Emperor doesn't have a real physical weapon; it uses its claw arms as a barrel for the missiles. Like the Battlelord however, it screeches horrifyingly and standing idle looking at this monster is mostly paid for by dying.

[edit] Combat analysis

The Cycloid Emperor ranks as one of the most dangerous of the bosses in Duke Nukem 3D due to the erratic nature of his main attack of RPG-Rockets which are fired in salvos of 2-3 per shot and each shot in random angles that can make strafing/circle-strafing around him more dangerous than not-so. His other attack, the mental-orb spray is a lot more manageable, but he usually does this only at short to medium range to prevent damaging himself with his own RPG missiles.

[edit] Notes

  • When Duke first encounter the Cycloid Emperor, he'll utter "It's down to you and me, you one-eyed freak!". Upon death Duke will say, "Die, you son of a bitch!". The corpse of a boss cannot be destroyed, i.e. gibbed, compared to the common enemies encountered in the game, and will remain so until the level ends. The same dying animation will show regardless of what weapon the player used to defeat a boss.
  • A Cycloid Emperor in maps with the default Palette of 0 will only be able to walk on sectors with a Lotag of 3. This is why he cannot leave the Footfield in Stadium, and why in most stock maps that use one that he cannot move from his initial spot upon activation. This behavior does not happen to Cycloids given any other palette.
  • As with the Overlord and the Alien Queen, basic programming was just copied from the Battlelord, and there is a leftover of a Mini Battlelord in the Cycloid Emperor. The Cycloid Emperor has the same appearance as the Mini Battlelord while in another palette, it has 1 hit point and will die instantly. Also, the rockets launched from the Cycloid Emperor doesn't spawn correctly and thus will kill it (interestingly, if a non-palette Cycloid Emperor is artificially given a smaller size, this phenomenon doesn't occur).
  • Due to the fact that the Cycloid Emperor with the default palette of 0 can only move in an area with a lotag of 3, some fanmade maps have actually been able to turn this into an advantage. A notable example includes the final level in the fanmade episode Total Apocalypse; in this level the Cycloid Emperor is protected by a moving barrier that makes him a lot harder to hit since the player will end up often hitting the barrier instead and because the Cycloid Emperor can't move he won't suffer splashback damage if any of his own missiles hit the barrier; at least one or two of the Cycloid Emperors missles will get through the barrier since he fires a volley of missiles which can catch the player off guard.

[edit] Data

Attributes
Hit points4500
Speed192
256 (Running)
Pain chance12.5% (32/256)
Clipdist164
Sprites & sounds
Actor tile number2710/BOSS2
Chase soundthud.voc
Action soundb2atk01.voc
Pain soundb2pain03.voc
Death soundb2die03.voc
Rocket attack
TypeProjectile
Rate3.2 projectiles/second
Speed772
Damage140~
0-140 (blast radius)
2,240~ (full volley)
Actor tile number2605/RPG
1890/EXPLOSION2 (Impact)
Soundb2atk02.voc
bombexpl.voc (impact)
Mental Energy Orb Burst
TypeProjectile
RateAverage 26 projectiles/second
Speed348
Damage38~ (per orb)
513~ (average full volley)
Actor tile number1360/COOLEXPLOSION1
Soundb2atk02.voc
octaat1.voc
Stomp
TypeHealth access
Damage1000

[edit] Other

  • In Duke it out in D.C. the Cycloid Emperor makes an appearance as the final boss, however he remains the same as he was seen in Duke Nukem 3D.
  • In Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach the Cycloid Emperor makes an appearance as the final boss with a Hawaiian outfit to fit the general caribbean theme of the game.
  • In Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown the Cycloid Emperor looks similar to the original one found in Duke Nukem 3D in shape and size, however his contrast is a lot more darker giving him a much more menacing look.
  • In the Duke Nukem 64 port, he is rendered with polygons and is the only full-3D boss in that game. Furthermore he's larger and more slower than the original one while also having more health thus can take a lot more beating. He attacks similarly to the Duke Nukem 3D Cycloid Emperor with missiles (although with the left arm) and a rapid mental blast at close range. However, at a third of health he will replace the missiles he fires with half-charged plasma bolts.

Development

  • There is a unused leftover alert sound (b2rec03.voc) that never made it into the game (since instead we hear Duke talking). The sound is used in the Sega Saturn version by the Overlord.
  • A Cycloid Emperor can be seen on the Duke Nukem 3D box cover in a prototype version of the Movie Set level.


Duke Nukem 3D
Enemies Assault Captain | Assault Commander | Assault Enforcer | Assault Trooper
Mini Battlelord | Octabrain | Pig Cop | Pig Cop Tank | Protector Drone
Protozoid Slimer | Recon Patrol Vehicle | Sentry Drone | Shark | Turret
Bosses: Battlelord | Overlord | Cycloid Emperor | Alien Queen
Weapons Mighty Boot | Pistol | Shotgun | Chaingun Cannon | RPG | Pipebomb
Shrink Ray | Microwave Expander | Devastator | Laser Tripbomb | Freezethrower
Items Health: Small Medkit | Large Medkit | Atomic Health | Armor
Access Card | Holoduke | Jetpack | Night Vision Goggles | Portable Medkit
Protective Boots | Scuba Gear | Steroids
Episodes L.A. Meltdown | Lunar Apocalypse | Shrapnel City | The Birth
Expansion packs
& add-ons
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach | Duke: Nuclear Winter | Duke it out in D.C.
Duke Xtreme | Duke!ZONE
Fan community User maps | Mods & Total Conversions | High Resolution Pack | Source ports
Level editing (index} | Speedmapping | Speedruns
Other Multiplayer | Hazards | Difficulty | Cheat codes | Easter eggs | Quotes | Music
Game bugs | Build engine | Unused data | Creators | Duke Nukem (character)