More Fan Stuff

Today we bring you some more fan art sent to us. We have three new pieces of fan art - and a Duke Nukem / South Park parody.

The three pieces of fan art are on our Fan art page right now. First up is a piece of art by Tom Sweeney which portrays Duke firing two guns. Second is a a piece by Markus Meiritz entitled "The Real Duke Nukem", and last but not least is a Quake 3 model by Jesper Thrane of our very own Duke Nukem. Jesper's model is shown here - you can click on it to be taken to the fan art page where you can see the other two, as well as three other positions of this Duke skin.

Also online recently was a Duke Nukem meets South Park Flash movie. check that out over at the Newgrounds site. It's rather silly, although for some reason, Duke Nukem is green. Thanks to Ross Baker for pointing this out.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:45 PM

Interview with Matt Wood

Our own Matt Wood (Duke Nukem Forever 3D modeler) was interviewed over the weekend by the "In the Trenches" web site. Appropriately titled "Modeling: Duke Nukem Forever Interview", this interview is a very good interview with Matt on various aspects of 3D modeling. There isn't much her about Duke Nukem Forever directly - this is more about Matt and modeling. Here's a few quotes:

[trenches] How did you end up at 3D Realms?

[matt] At the time, they were looking to hire a first mapper on the new iteration of the Prey project. I sent them some of my Duke3d levels and a working Quake level (which was very under par in my opinion), they liked them a lot and gave me a job.

[trenches] What's the hardest thing you've ever had to model/animate?

[matt] Even using Mocap, cleaning up animations to replicate human movement is still a hefty task. Hell, sometimes just doing a walk animation drains me.

If you're interested in reading about Matt and his modeling technique - make sure to check this out. It's a very good article.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:40 PM

Videogame Characters Revolt!

Well, not really, but that's the thrust of a rather funny piece by the parody news site, The Onion. This article is titled "Video game characters denounce randomly placed swinging blades". It's a very silly article about how it seems that video game makers are placing random swinging blades in places where they shouldn't be.

The folks over at The Onion touched on Duke Nukem briefly with this quote.. "I mean, would you put up with a row of whirling knives in the cereal aisle at Safeway?" the Double Dragon guy continued. "Of course not. Why, then, should Duke Nukem have to run through a corridor of them to get the health pack he needs need to survive?"

It's a very funny article - make sure and check it out!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM

Duke & Classic Games

For those of us who were around when Nintendo hadn't yet come onto the scene, then this news article will be of interest. The gaming site Daily Radar a very good piece on classic games on classic games. They cover the old Atari arcade hits such as Battlezone, Crystal Castles, and Asteroids. Other topics are the Apple II games, the Intellivision game system, and other pieces of gaming history.

Why are we covering this? Well, there is a section titled "FPSs and Duke Nukem". In this section, our own Scott Miller talks about some of the limitations of creating game "characters". Here's a bit of what Scott has to say:

PCG: What was the biggest challenge in trying to imbue a side-scrolling 2D game character with real personality?

SM:The problem in those days was the technical limitations of 16-color EGA graphics, and 320 by 200 resolution. This put a limit on the detail characters could have, so we had a one pixel line for teeth, gave Duke a square chin, and had him say things via pop-up text windows. Another thing we added to the original game to enhance Duke's ego-driven personality was a very flamboyant summersault jump.

Make sure and check this out - it's a great piece on how video gaming has come from the past into what it has become today.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM

Jess Crable Bio Online

The latest person to join us on Duke Nukem Forever, Jess Crable has been here for a few weeks now. Finally, his web bio is online. You can get a picture of him as well as read about him at his bio page.

You can also check out any other of the 3D Realms staff at our "Meet the Staff" page.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM

More Fan Art

Over the weekend, we got two pieces of fan art submitted to us, and we're showing them to you today. First up is a Duke Nukem cartoon written by Mark Stewart. It shows Duke's irritation with a programmer. Mark had this to say about his toon: "Here is a little peace I painted up for you last night. The art work was done by me using Paint Shop Pro and a mouse. As you can see by the picture I think Duke is getting a little impatient, don't you think?"

Second is an original piece of art by Martin DeMontfort - this one shows Duke blasting a pig cop on the sidewalk. Martin tells us this about the art - "My name is Martin deMontfort and I'm 16. Duke Nukem 3D is my all time fav game so here's a picture I painted using acrylic for the
background and water colour pencils for the characters."

You can click on either of the thumbnails here to see a larger version. Also, make sure to check out our fan art page, where we have several other submissions from other users.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:40 PM

Gaming License Plate Submission!

This week, we received a license plate submission of a car driven by someone simply knows as "Wiseass". He's part of an online gaming clan (BINTY) that specializes in Duke Nukem & Quake play. His license plate is also Duke Nukem influenced. The plate is shown to your right here.

If you click on the plate, you will be taken to our Gaming License Plate page where we have a few others posted. If you have such a license plate, or know of one, send it to us (we just request that be a real car, not a license plate on a car in a game such as Need for Speed, etc).

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:30 PM

Duke Nukem Beverage Holders Available!

Available now, you can purchase your own Duke Nukem Forever Beverage Coasters. Shown here, they're the perfect complement for your drink while net surfing, reading, or playing games (especially Duke Nukem)! Supplies are limited, so order your set today! The coasters come in a set of four.

Also, in addition to the coasters being available, a new, more streamlined look to our Online Store has been posted. If you click the Online Store button that is on every page of our web site, you can visit the store front. Head on over to our store today to check it out!

In our store, you can order games from us, order some merchandise (such as the Duke Nukem T-shirts, caps, & coasters). You can also download full registered versions of several of our games. It doesn't cost you anything to look around, so why not take a look today?

If you don't want to order online, all these items are available for phone, mail, & fax orders. Complete ordering information is available at our order
info page.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:30 PM

Maximum Max Coverage!

Today, we bring you several Max Payne previews and reviews. Make sure to check 'em all out!

First up is a preview from DailyRadar. This article is actually from PC Gamer, and here's a bit of what they had to say..

*When I was asked to do a two-page write up on Max Payne, I was tempted just to run a montage of screenshots along with two words: Holy Cow.

*The camera pulled out, and out, and out. It was like the opening of Fight Club in reverse. We went from the bottom floor, through the upper floors, out the ceiling, and stopped when we had a bird's-eye view of the entire skyscraper, all without a single noticeable drop in framerate.

*Mark my words Max Payne will be to the gaming world what The Matrix was to Hollywood.

One thing about the PC Gamer preview. They give a release date of "Nov 15, 2000". Astute 3D Realms visitors will know that this is not true - the release date is "When it's done".

The second preview is from PC Games Central. This multi page preview comes with all the usual things - glowing preview, screenshots, and lots of spooge. Check out some of what they had to say.

*However, what makes this character stand out is that he has a compelling story behind him. The Film Noir themes play to the character's advantage.

*Gamers with high-end systems should be able to witness some very cool animation while those with slower systems may miss out on a little. This is because the animation is interpolated, signifying that the number of frames of animation is dependent on the speed of your gaming rig.

*With a handful of great titles in the works, this game will definitely help in bringing the competition to their knees.

Our third preview today comes from the gaming news site, Voodoo Extreme. This preview is shorter than the others, but is worth checking out, too. They have some nice large screenshots, as well as some cool stuff to say about the game:

*From watching some of the action sequences, one could speculate that cinematography was a major for at least one of the stoic Finnish designers.

*Boasting highly detailed world textures and near-photorealistic skins on the characters, the MAX-FX game engine simply blew us all away.

Finally, our fourth previewof the day comes from the website neoseeker.com. In their "Max Payne Sneak Peak", you are given more about the game - so if you've checked out the first three previews, you should check this one out, too. Here's some samples:

*The quality of the graphics and the visual effects is more than enough to make anyone desire for more.

*It is similar to watching a five star action flick, where you have the chance to see a phenomenal amount of eye candy.

The neoseeker site also has some unique screenshots - they scanned some pages from a Gathering of Developer handout from May's E3 show. I've not seen these on the net elsewhere before.

It's a lot of information, but it's worth reading through all of it for the Maximum Max Coverage!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM