Cycloid Emperor
From Duke Nukem Wiki
| |||||||||||||||||||||
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
- Best weapon choice: RPG (~33), Devastator (~129)
- Worst weapon choice: Shrink Ray (Immune), any others
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
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Other
 Cycloid Emperor in Duke it out in D.C. |
 Cycloid Emperor in Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach. |
 Cycloid Emperor in Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown. |
 Cycloid Emperor in Duke Nukem 64. |
 The 3D model used for the making of the sprites. |
 A rendered DNF concept close to the original. |
 Cycloid Emperor as seen in an early version of the Movie Set level. |
- 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.
