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Duke Nukem on Nintendo Magazine Cover
 Well not Duke Nukem, but one of the new bad ass L.A.R.D. pig cops who'll be fighting Duke in Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, due out by this summer. Zero Hour got a very revealing 11-page spread in the official Nintendo Magazine, and a boat load of rave comments, such as...
*Everything in Zero Hour is bigger, badder 'n' better. Zero Hour's gonna totally blow you away. Hail to the king, baby!
*Zero Hour is full of cool Duke sayings.
*Everything is fully three dimensional, and yes, all monsters are incredibly lifelike.
*Zero Hour features a really cool four player mode.
Keep in mind that Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is only for the N64, and is a completely original game. Shown here is a scan of the magazine cover that this article appears in. You can click on it for a larger version of the magazine cover.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Loony Duke
Josh Vasquez over at loonygames has done a review of Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. But in traditional Loonygames fashion, it's not just your regular review. He reviews the game cinematics. Here's a bit of what he had to say about it:
*The cinematics of Duke Nukem: Time to Kill are a perfect match for our blood soaked hero.
*Duke Nukem: Time to Kill follows the same premise of every other Nukem game, mass destruction and self-centered heroics.
*The style (of the cinematics) is appropriately in line with the garishness of the game itself, the gaudy colors of the red light districts and seedy cityscapes which served as the backdrop for Duke's other adventures are here rendered quite accurately.
Make sure and check out the entire article over at loonygames today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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George Broussard on Duke Design
George Broussard recently got involved in a discussion online regarding "design docs" for computer games, and let the world in on a bit of the behind the scenes thinking about the development of Duke Nukem 3D. Here's what he had to say..
Let me tell you about design docs. Duke 3D didn't even have one. We did stuff as we went, adding bits that were cool and discarding ideas that didn't work. Look how the game turned out. All we had was a vague notion that the game would be based in a future, seedy LA. The rest came from a dynamic development process.
Duke Forever has substantially more on paper from the start because it's a much more cohesive and large game. But people that write 300 page design docs before hand are wasting their time. The game design process (for most) is an evolutionary process. You refine and re-design as you go, learning and making things better.
It's insane to write a 300 page docs, then just make the game. There is no way you can think of every cool idea before you make the game and you have to be flexible enough to roll with the punches and add and refine ideas as you go, all according to the timeline.
Speaking from our experience, design docs are merely a general guideline that gets more and more polished as you go. You just try to stay 3-4 months ahead of things as you go. The design doc isn't done until the game is.
Also bear in mind that 3D action games are not that complex. They have bad guys, guns, items and level locations. Not exactly rocket science, or something needing 300 pages.
If you'd like to read more about this, check out 3dnews.net's collection of postings about this subject.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Loony Sequels
Jason Bergman of loonygames touched on Duke Nukem in an article he wrote about game sequels. Since the forthcoming Duke Nukem Forever will be the fourth in the line of PC Duke Nukem games, an article about sequels couldn't not include a bit on Duke! Here's what Jason had to say about Duke:
My concern, however, is that people are jumping on the sequel bandwagon instead of pursuing new ideas. Like I mentioned above, Half-Life isn�t a sequel, and yet it�s a great game. But does that mean I�m dying for Half-Life 2? No, actually. Half-Life stands on its own. I�d much rather have a completely new game than an attempt to extend the story that already came to a conclusion. But, I should point out, that I don�t feel that way about every game. Half-Life stands on its own, and there really isn�t a need for a sequel... but Duke Nukem, on the other hand, simply screams for one. Duke is just such a dynamic character, that a sequel is necessary.
Make sure and check out everything Jason had to say here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Scott Miller Interviewed
Scott Miller was interviewed recently by Fragland in regards to the company's past, and where it's going in the future. Here's some highlights from the full interview..
*(When asked about Apogee's involvement with Wolfenstein 3D): Apogee's involvement covered some general design guidance, for example we asked id to make the game to be more action oriented, because early alphas of the game had too much strategy involved, such as searching guards and hiding guards so that their bodies would not be discovered. We also encouraged id to make the game as bloody and violent as possible, even though our retail publisher, FormGen, didn't want the game to have anything to do with Nazi's for fear it would kill sales of the game.
*(When asked about future games): DNF is proceeding full speed ahead and looking great. Prey's engine tech is being greatly rewritten and enhanced currently.
There's a lot of good stuff in this interview, make sure to check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Max Payne Development Update
 The Official Max Payne Web Site has been updated today with a new development update from Petri J�rvilehto (Max Payne's Producer). Among some of the subjects Petri talks about are:
*Game code
*Maps
*Art
*Story
*Music
It's a pretty meaty update, so if you're interested in the latest on Max Payne, make sure to visit the Official Max Payne Site at http://www.maxpayne.com today and check out the update!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Interview with GOD
Mike Wilson of Gathering of Developers was interviewed recently by Extreme Games. Gathering of Developers are the folks who are publishing the forthcoming Max Payne from Remedy Entertainment and 3D Realms. Here's a bit from the interview..
*EG: What company has been the easiest to deal with? Mike Wilson: Hmmm... 3D Realms has been pretty painless, I suppose.
*(When asked about Remedy) Mike Wilson: Yeah, we met at E3 and again at ECTS. We're in touch constantly over the internet, and since they work with 3Drealms on Max Payne, the communication has been fine. They have been quite the diamond in the rough, those Finnish boys. I'm hoping to meet them again this Spring, and they'll definitely be out again for E3 to blow people away with Max Payne once again.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Trinkets Still Available
If you just can't get enough Duke, then we have a news item for you! There's several new Duke Nukem items now available, from keychains, to money clips, to dog tags, earrings, and much more! Make sure and check out the Queen Village Trinkets web site. Who are they? Here's a bit of what they have to say about themselves:
The online gaming jewelry store, Our Store is located in Central New York, And you're welcome to stop by anytime. We carry over 700 product for twenty different manufactures, We also offer a complete repair shop for our local customers needs. Over A year ago I decided to make some custom gaming jewelry for our clan, and that started it all.
They have several new Duke Nukem items that you can purchase on their site (although there are only a couple of sample photos of the Duke items). They also sell Quake & Quake II versions of just about all of these items as well. The full list of Duke Nukem items available are:
*Sterling Silver Key Chain (shown here)
*Brass Key Ring (shown here)
*Sterling Silver Necklace
*Sterling Silver Charm Necklace
*14k Necklaces
*Sterling Silver Lapel Pin
*14k Gold Lapel Pin
*Sterling Silver / Nickel Money Clip
*14k Gold / Sterling Money Clip
*Sterling Silver Earrings
*Sterling Silver Dog Tag
*Brass Lapel Pin (not ready yet)
*Brass/Nickel Silver Money Clip (not ready yet)
You can order all of these items (except the ones that say not ready) from the QVT Web Site. Their web site also gives a little more in the way of descriptions of these products. Shortly, I will be setting up some info pages on our site about these products once I get some more sample pictures of the rest of these items. In the meantime, make sure and pay a visit to the Queen Village Trinkets Web Site. There's some really cool items available here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke on Dennis Miller Show
 In one of
our .plan files today, the topic of the Dennis Miller Live show on HBO was brought up. Apparently, Dennis mentioned Duke Nukem in one of his rants (the topic was the Y2k problem). This is how it went..
He was talking about the Y2K problem and yadda, yadda, yadda. He said "If the computer geeks could just pull the heads away from designing the gory, blood splatter from Duke they might be able to ....."
We don't actually happen to have a tape of this, so we don't know the exact wording, but it's pretty cool that Duke is headed into the mainstream! Thanks JoeSke.
This isn't the first such time something like this happened. Duke Nukem was mentioned on the 1996 Christmas episode of NBC's E.R. program.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Max Payne Interview
Chris O'Brien over at Extreme Games has written up a very nice new preview of Max Payne. There's not a lot new in this preview, but it is still worth your time to read. Check out a bit of what he had to say about it:
*Max Payne is not just a "shooter with a plot". Max Payne is more than that. The character detail goes down to the types of shoes they wear and guns they favor.
*The graphics are gorgeous and the gameplay values are outrageous!
*In conclusion, Max Payne will be one of the better shooters coming out in the next few years.
For more information about Max Payne, make sure and check out the Official Max Payne Web site at http://www.maxpayne.com!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne Win Gold!
The Feb. issue of the always great PC Accelerator (www.pcxl.com) features a story entitled, "The 1999 Crystal Ball Awards," and when it comes to balls, both Duke and Max have what it takes to score. The article previews this year's coming games that they believe will "revolutionize PC gaming in '99."
Under "The Shooters" section, Duke Nukem Forever takes top place with the gold medal. PCXL says, "[This game] is all but guaranteed to be one of the biggest and most-hyped games of 1999." (Please note, though, that it is not 3D Realms that has been hyping this game--we've been staying very low-key so that most of the game will be a surprise to players.)
In the next section, "More than just Shooters, Max Payne gets the gold medal. PCXL says, "Remedy Entertainment manages to stuff more ATMOSPHERE into Max Payne than a dozen typical first-person shooters contain."
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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David Laprad x2
David Laprad (staff writer at the Adrenaline Vault) has two recent articles online that should be of interest to you. They are entitled "What's in a name.com", and "Games Violence and Youth: The Debate... Sigh... Rages On".
* In the first article, David talks about the issues that computer game companies have to go through when registering Internet domain names. Our own Scott Miller is quoted in this article, and he has this to say:
o
Scott Miller, partner at 3D Realms, said someone registered the domain name DukeNukem.com and demanded "big money" from the game developer. "After a year, we had not given in," Miller said. "He finally gave up because we threatened legal action, and now we've got the domain. Other than that, we've been very careful to register names prior to announcing them publicly."
* In the second article, David talks about the usual kids and computer game violence argument that seems to rage on forever. Here's a bit of what David had to say about this:
o
... Pure action games are meant to entertain. The next time I crash land in Los Angeles and use an RPG to battle marauding aliens, I will retract that statement. As a parent and a citizen of one of the most criminally violent societies in the world, I am gravely concerned regarding the things causing our youth to choose such tragically violent paths.
Make sure to check out both of these articles, there's some interesting reading here. (Ed Note: I can imagine what these people who are against computer game violence would do if they lived several hundred years ago. I mean, the Crusades. Huge violence, people killed for real. We can't have that. Put a warning sticker on your shield before we go into battle, folks!)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem in 1999 Guinness Book of Records
 It's not mentioned as a record, per se, but there's a picture of Duke Nukem in the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records, with the following text:
"Duke Nukem 3D, the third chapter in the Duke Nukem series and the first to use 3-D perspective, was developed by Ritual Entertainment. Duke returns to 21st-century Earth to exterminate a race of aliens."
While it's really cool to be mentioned is this long running book series, it's a shame that credit for the game was mistakenly given to the wrong company!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem: Zero Hour Preview
 The Nintendo64 Underground Web site has a preview of Duke Nukem: Zero Hour Online today. It includes a couple of screenshots, as well as game information. Zero Hour is being developed as an original game for the Nintendo 64 (there will be no PC version of it). Here's a bit of what they had to say about the game:
*OK, this is more like it. Not a quickie Duke Nukem game made to earn a fast buck. This is the real deal.
*The graphics in Zero Hour are simply gorgeous. The lighting effects, even in still screenshots are a sight to behold.
*This is the type of game that every self respecting N64 owner will want in their library
For more about this upcoming Duke Nukem title, make sure and check out the full preview over at N64 Underground.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Games in 1999
There are a couple of articles online that talk about 1999 and games coming out this year.
First up is one by 3D Realms fanatic, Jonathon the Grape from over at Grape's Thoughts. He has thrown up a new article entitled, "Happy Bloody New Year!" The article gives his predictions and thoughts on the year to come, and all the games involved. Our own Duke Nukem Forever is spooged over quite a bit in the article. Here's a bit of what he has to say:
*First of all, there's our beloved Duke (who, in my opinion, will shrink all competition to a pitiful pulp with his trusted shrink ray).
*DNF, obviously, is pretty much the most anticipated FPS game ever.
If you want to see what else Jonathon has to say about 1999 and 3D Realms, check out the full article. Thanks 3D Portal.
The second article is one by extremegame.com entitled "The
Upcoming games of 1999". This is a longer article that talks about several games from various companies, including our own Max Payne, and Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a bit of what they had to say:
*Max Payne (your character), coming from two of the most successful gaming companies, 3DRealms and Remedy Entertainment, plays an under cover DEA agent. He reveals a major break in his fight against the mob. The story will illustrate back-stabbing, plot-twists and a nail-biting finale. All of this is portrayed (in-game) by scripted sequences and eighty (plus) hand painted comics.
*Duke Nukem fans better be pumped for the new game because they will love Duke Nukem Forever! Duke Nukem Forever has improved drastically over the original. The revamped features include an in-depth story, amazing graphics (courtesy of the Unreal engine) and advanced level design! Multiplayer we will just have to experience for ourselves.
You can check out what they had to say about several games over at extremegame.com.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Attacked Again
Guess what? Duke Nukem is being attacked again as being "too violent". This news story from Reader's Digest talks about video game violence in general, and touches on Duke Nukem by saying..
*Duke Nukem 3D. Pay a go-go dancer to flash her breasts -- and then blow her away!
There's a lot more in this article, so make sure to check out the whole thing. Shortly afterwards, the President of the Interactive Digital Association (IDSA) had this to say about the article in a rebuttal..
*Readers Digest's January, 1999 Special Report on Computer Violence dealt a blow to the publication's well-earned reputation for balanced reporting. In fact, it was perhaps the most biased and unbalanced reporting I've ever seen on this subject. "The article completely ignored the vast majority of academic research -- provided to Readers Digest's reporter -- that disproves its basic premise that violent video games are harmful. It also did not contain a word or reference from an hour-long interview I gave to the reporter responding to some of the concerns he raised.
If you want to check out the latest on the assault on video games in general, make sure to check out these articles.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Hayes Going out of Business
Hayes, a pioneering personal computer technology company which scrambled out of a 1996 Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization, could not turn the tide for a second time.
Found out today that the company that invented the PC modem, Hayes, is to go out of business. Anyone who has been involved in the online community for as long as I have (if not longer than me) will remember Hayes old "sleek, silver modems with the black trim sides". And of course, it was like $400 for a 300bps modem. I find it surprising that the people who invented the modem are going out of business. Then again, online commuting is moving away from standard modems, towards satellite, cable modems, and the like. Still, it's a weird moment for me.
There's more on this story over at C|Net's News.com. Check out their news story on Hayes going out of business. Oddly enough, the Hayes site itself doesn't have anything on the story (yet).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Voted 7th Best Game of all Time
The February 1999 issue of PC Gamer has a feature article titled, "The PC Gamer Readers' Top 50." These are games that are voted by readers and game players, not the press, and they include all games ever released.
Two games originally released by us made the list:
* #7 -- Duke Nukem 3D, developed by 3D Realms and released May 1996 (full version).
* #29 -- Wolfenstein 3-D, developed by id Software and originally released by Apogee in 1992.
A big thanks to all of the game fans who voted for us! Also, a deserved congratulations must go to Blizzard, with three of the top five games: StarCraft (#1), WarCraft (#2) and Diablo (#5).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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