Playing the Game

This is not a normal Duke Nukem level. There is not a ton of ammo and health and monsters strewn all about. You must try to survive with a minimum of resources, and you will need to really search to find health, weapons or ammo.

When the DOS screen appears, you can select to play with or without monsters, or you can play one of the demos.

Press 1 – This is the actual game, with monsters. The monsters include many axe-wielding Jack Torrances strewn about the hotel, the old woman in Room 237, and the various monsters in the hedge maze.

Press 3 – This will bring up the Demos menu. You can select 1 to view a collection of camera movements from The Shining, or 2 for the Game Solution Demo.

Press 4 – This will allow you to take a self-guided tour of the hotel and grounds without having to kill any monsters. In order to gain access to every area, you must still find and “activate” the REDRUMS on the various walls.

Always press X to close the DOS screen.

While the game is loading, you might want to turn up the brightness of your monitor. Since this is a game that runs in DOS, the brightness needs to be adjusted so you can see more clearly. Keep in mind though that many hallways and other areas are made to appear darker on purpose, to limit the amount of time it takes you to react to a monster. If you have an ample supply of ammo, and you want to see what might be ahead of you in the dark, just fire off a few rounds, and the muzzle blasts will briefly light up any dark area.

You can also use the F11 key to adjust the screen brightness.

Parental Controls: Like any Duke Nukem game, there is a certain amount of simulated violence and language that many parents may find objectionable. After the game has loaded, press the escape key and select Options, then Parental Lock. By pressing the Enter key, you can toggle between Adult Mode on and off.


Game Objective: The object of the game is to find REDRUM written on various walls. When you find it, press it like a switch (press the spacebar). Along the way you must destroy all the monsters that you encounter. Eventually you will gain access to Room 237 and the Caretaker's Apartment. Room 237 is the only "guestroom" (rooms with numbers) that can be entered. Other doors may or may not open.

After killing the Jack Torrance monster in the Caretaker’s bathroom, the window will lead you outside to the Hedge Maze. The objective is to make it to the center of the maze. When you get as close as you can get to the 3D Realms Logo, press the spacebar and the game will be over. Then the winning game results will be displayed.

Control Panel/Screen Size: The Control Panel lets you see the status of your health, which weapons you have, and how much ammo for each. You can adjust the screen size by using the plus and minus keys on your keyboard.

Spacebar: The Spacebar will “activate” the Redrums on the walls when you get closer to them. The Spacebar will also open and close doors for you. Many doors will open when you press the Spacebar, then they will close on their own.

Known Bug: There is a serious bug in the lobby restroom doors. From inside, when you open the door, WATCH OUT! It will crush you to death against the wall. You must stand to the side. If anyone can solve this, please let me know.

Death: When you see quick red flashing, and you hear Duke Nukem in pain, this means you’re in the process of being killed. When the screen goes red, and you are looking at the room or area at an odd angle, Duke has been killed and the game ends. You can press the Spacebar to restart the game.

Firing: No matter what weapon you’re using, you can press and hold down the left mouse button to fire repeatedly at a monster.

Saving and Loading Games: After you kill a certain monster, or finish one aspect of the game, you can save the game by pressing the Escape key on your keyboard. Use the arrow keys to Save and then name the current game. You can load any game the same way, by pressing the Escape key.

Pausing the Game: Press the Pause key to stop the game. Press it again to resume.

Quitting the Game: You can quit any game by pressing the Escape key. Use the arrow keys to select Quit from the menu.

Normal View and Map View: When the game loads, you will see that you are in the Normal mode. Press the Tab key and you’ll see both the Normal view and the first Map View. Press the Tab key again and you’ll see the full overhead Map View. Remember that you can still kill monsters in the full overhead map view, but you won’t be able to see them. In Normal view, you can also press F7 and change the view to an angle directly behind Duke Nukem.

When you're in Map View, you can type DNSHOWMAP on the keyboard to display the entire map.