Goodbye

Thanks for being fans and for all your support.

Edit: We've had numerous people inquire as to who is in the photo, so to that, here's a list of who is who in the photo:

SITTING/KNEELING L-R: Chris Cummings, Randy Forsyth, David Riegel, Pat Jones, Pete Knepley, Jay Brushwood, Dave Ratti, George Broussard, Allen Blum, Chris DeSimone, Brian Hook (pink tie), Quinn DelHoyo (GDC shirt), Scott MacLean, Rob "MacGuvyer" Faison, Andrew "Sonic" Kerschner, Bryan Turner, Steve Blackburn, Kaiser the dog.

STANDING L-R: Brian Lawson, John Pollard, James Houska, Andrew Baker, Eric Von Rothkirch, Chris Skelton, Mark Skelton, Gary Buchanan, Kevin Green, Joe Siegler, Rick Huenick, Chris Smith, Ben "Too Happy" Eoff, Trammell "T-ray" Isaac, David Carter, Bryan Brewer, Layne Johnson, Brad Jacobs, John Anderson.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 6:20 PM

The Greatest Developers

The April 2009 issue of PC Gamer has just hit our mailbox here at 3D Realms, and at the top of the issue was an article entitled "The 49 Greatest Developers!" 49 seems like an odd number to pick for one of these things. The article says that the reason they didn't put 50 in there was that they wanted to leave a spot for a reader submitted developer; see the article for more detail on that. Anyway, the developers do not appear to be in any sort of order. It's an impressive list. Companies like Blizzard, PopCap, Sierra are in here. Names from the past like Infocom as well as individuals such as Will Wright and Sid Meier are in the list.

Also in the list is our company. From 1987 through 1996 we used our original name of "Apogee Software" (which has recently been revived, but that's a story for another time). We pioneered shareware distribution in games (something which id Software - also in this list was popular for). Here's what the PC Gamer magazine had to say about us..

Apogee: Episode 1: Birth of a Sales Technique

How long should a demo be? A level? Two levels? Apogee had different ideas. Starting with the concept of "shareware" (try before you buy), they pioneered the idea that a game could be successful by giving out anything up to a third of the full game for free, and encouraging gamers to pass on the disks. This was how Doom was first sold, not to mention Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem 3D, and Traffic Department 2192, which we all remember fondly. Right? Unlike demos, these offered a full game experience from start to finish, and became the standard way for indie developers to get started. Sometimes it backfired when the demo experience was too satisfying to need the rest of the game. Descent suffered heavily from this, and the model was largely phased out when demos could be easily downloaded from the Internet.

It is nice to see our legacy remembered in such a fashion, although the inclusion of Traffic Department 2192 is odd, as it wasn't one of our titles. :) Anyway, go pick up the new issue of the magazine to see the complete list. You can also download all of our old sharware releases from our downloads page. They're pretty much all still available. If you'd like to see a timeline of our releases, you can check out our history page here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:50 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

Scott Miller on Radar Group, Prey 2, and more

Some pretty exciting news broke yesterday that will be of interest to 3D Realms fans. Formally announced yesterday are two new ventures that 3D Realms is involved in, those being the Radar Group, and Depth Interactive. What are these? Well, to answer that, we'll go straight to Scott Miller, the founder of Apogee / 3D Realms, and the Chief Creative Officer of the Radar Group:

Q: First, the obvious question: What is Radar Group?

Scott Miller: Radar Group is neither a publisher nor a development studio. We're something new. We believe that the best ideas in the game industry are original ideas, and so we will incubate, nurture, co-design and co-produce ideas that are tailor-made for the game industry, versus using existing licenses from other media. Think of us as the anti-Brash. lol!

Not only are we something new, we're something our industry desperately needs. Radar will team up with many of the industry's top independent studios to help them create original IP in which they own a substantial ownership stake. Why is this important? Because in today's industry it's nearly impossible, unless you're Epic or Valve, to create original games and not give away full IP ownership to the publisher. Radar believes that creators should share ownership, and all of the long-term benefits that come from that.

Another key part of the Radar plan is that all of our projects are built around a rich storyverse. Think about properties like Star Wars, Harry Potty and Lord of the Rings. All of these fictional creations have a vast and deep storyverse that can support numerous stories, with numerous compelling characters. Quite simply, a storyverse is the possibility space for stories, and all of our projects are being developed as a storyverse that can then support not only games, but linear media, too, like film, comics, TV, novels, webisodes, and so on.

Radar has every intention of leveraging our games in these other media, through our sister company based in Los Angeles, Depth Entertainment. The Max Payne film, currently filming in Toronto, is Depth's first production, by the way. Depth will specialize in respectful, high-quality game-to-film adaptations.

Q: Is there anything that you wanted to tell our readers about Radar Group or any of its titles that we hadn't hit on yet?

Miller: In part, Radar is an extension of 3D Realms' long history of working with external teams to co-create hit games, going back to 1990 when we teamed with Id Software on Commander Keen and then birthed the FPS category with Wolfenstein 3-D. It's not as well known that we were also involved with the inception of Descent, funding that game and giving design guidance for its first 16-months, before selling the publishing rights to Interplay. And then of course we played a huge role in Max Payne, working with Remedy, and also Prey, working with Human Head. If you include Duke Nukem into the mix, all of these franchises have sold over $1.1 billion at retail.

Scott also spoke in some detail about Prey 2, giving some previous unknown detail about that title.

IGN: Prey is obviously the most well-known franchise of the bunch. Since the original's release, we've also played a little game called Portal. Has said title's use of portals influenced how the technology is being used in Prey 2?

Miller: Absolutely! While Prey pioneered the portal concept, Valve's Portal took it to an all-new level. It really shows what you can do when you focus on a single core cool gameplay concept. So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favor to Valve and hopefully leap frog them as they did us. We believe we have new ideas for portals that will keep the portal race interesting.

In the original Prey, the lead character, Tommy, was too reluctant, and didn't realize his hero status until late in the game. So, in the new game we're making him a hardened, take-charge character who's learned fast from his previous experience, and ready to accept his status as a galactic savior. We're definitely beefing up the combat—expect more enemies onscreen simultaneously versus 3-4 in the original—as well as the spirit powers. And while the original was too much of a corridor shooter, Prey 2 will have much more variety and wide-open areas: think CoD4 to get a good idea of what we're shooting for in terms of open-world look and feel.

Scott also talks about the other previously announced title, Earth No More, in addition to a new title that had not been mentioned before, "Incarnate".

The quotes above are taken from a lengthy interview over at IGN where Scott talks more about Prey 2, the Radar Group, and other things you will definitely want to read. Head over to IGN and check out the full interview. For further details, make sure and check out Scott's blog at the Radar Group website here.

One final note about this announcement. It does now mean that Prey 2 & Earth No More, which had previously been announced as 3D Realms titles, are now no longer so. These are Radar Group titles. Before anyone asks, this won't affect Duke Nukem Forever. Duke Nukem Forever remains a 3D Realms title, and all this Radar stuff will not affect DNF in any way, as none of the internal DNF 3D Realms staff is working on any Radar titles, other than Scott Miller in an advisory fashion.

These titles look and sound quite exciting, you'll want to keep your eyes on the Radar Group website for all the latest!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 AM | Discuss this story on our forums

Zap! Some History Resurrected

Apogee Software was founded in 1987 by Scott Miller in the bedroom of his parents' house. He ran it there by himself for quite some time as a very small "mom & pop" type organization, until it became what it is today. Anyway, one of Scott's friends growing up was George Broussard. The two of them used to do all kinds of things before they became involved in video games. Worked at burger joints, miniature golf courses, but one other thing they did was manage video arcades. Kids who grew up in the early/mid 80's should remember the huge popularity of video game arcades. Another thing that was popular then were books on how to beat video games. This was something that was not lost on Scott & George, and the two of them set out to strike it rich with their own book on beating video games.

The book was titled "Shootout: Zap the Video Games", and it was released in 1982. Here's a few words from Scott (from an old plan file update) on the book, and the thought behind releasing it.

In '82, we formed the NVGPA (National Video Game Players Assoc.), and we were writing a newsletter, but then the opportunity came for us to write a strategy book on how to beat the top arcade games of the day, so we pursued that. too. We really thought the book was going to make us rich. I remember running the book's potential sale's figures though my mind: In each of the top 250 cities there must be a least an average of 10,000 game players, and if just 100 of them bought our book that would be 25,000 sales, plus in all the remaining cities we should count on at least 5 more books sold in each, which should add another 25,000 sales. And with each sale George and I get $1 each. Wow, that's more money than we can make in 5 real years of work--we'd be rich!

This book is virtually impossible to find, as only a very small number of copies were printed. If you want to try and track down a physical copy, the ISBN number for the book is 0941982017. If you are successful in doing that, we'd like to know how and where you actually found one.

Today in honor of the 25th anniversary of the book being released, we're bringing you a file you can download to check out. Scott sacrificed one of the few known existing copies left so we could scan it in, and make it available online. The few copies that survive aren't in great shape, but are good enough to be readable, so without further adieu, you can click here to download an 11Mb pdf file. If you don't have a pdf reader, go grab the Adobe Reader, it's free.

A few other notes.. The book mentions the NVGPA that Scott talks about, including a form you used to be able to mail in to join. Don't do that. It doesn't exist anymore. Also, unlike other books that have turned up on the Internet this week in pdf form, nothing exciting happens on page 631. ;)

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:15 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

Scott Miller Interview

Don't quite know how we missed this one, but we want to draw your attention towards a really good interview with our own Scott Miller over at the newly relaunched Adrenaline Vault site. The interview (with an oh so exciting title of "Interview with Scott Miller") is quite good, and has some interesting, up to date thoughts with Scott about the 360/Wii/PS3 development situation, future developments at 3D Realms, and what Scott does when not at the computer. Here's a couple of previews from the full interview:

Q: What other major issue facing the interactive entertainment industry has drawn your interest?

A: Generally, the issue of making us care about game characters. This is so easy in TV shows, movies and books, yet so difficult in games. We have an unannounced game that will be a giant experiment toward making characters far more memorable. I think that once we, as an industry, get better at this, games will finally be seen as equal as an art form as other media.

Q: You've been in the industry a long time. Over time, though, people change. At the end of the day, are you still passionate about computer and video games? If so, how do you resolve your love of games with the toil of running a business?

A: The industry is as exciting as ever, if not more exciting than 20 years ago. First, running a business is a minor effort, and I certainly don't deal with the day-to-day activities like accounting, ordering supplies and whatnot. My end of "running a business" revolves around initiating and closing deals with publishers and other partners. In the end, that's a small amount of work. Most of my work is in game design. That's why I'm still so excited about being in the industry, because game design is a creative endeavor.

You'll definitely want to read this to see what Scott has to say. The full interview is available here at Avault.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:09 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Miller's Tale

There's a seriously good interview with Apogee/3D Realms founder and president Scott Miller over at Gamasutra.com. Entitled "The Miller's Tale", this wide reaching interview is definitely worth a read if you are a fan of our company (or even if you're not).

Scott talks about a lot, but some of the bullet points in the interview are publishing and developer issues, working with external teams, 3DR's future console gaming thoughts, digital game distribution, intellectual property issues, and of course, a small bit about Duke. Here's some selected stuff from the full interview:

"GS: What's your approach to a PR situation as the publisher or developer? For example: Prey's release announcement came quite suddenly after quite a bit of silence. Will you take this approach with further releases or was that a decision for just that one product?

SM: Yeah, I think that something like that is how we're going to go in the future, because it seemed like in the early 90s games didn't take that long to make. It seemed cool then to announce a game when you started, because you knew you'd be done in a year or two. Now it's hard to find a hit game that's made in less than two and a half to three years.

GS: You guys are the most prominent at working with different people.

SM: We pioneered it, going back to 1990. id Software was the first studio we partnered with. They weren't even id then, they didn't have a name until I approached them. I asked them if they wanted to try shareware since they were doing so well with the Softdisk thing at the time. That's when they put together the company.

GS: The large majority of games coming out nowadays are console releases. Are you guys planning on focusing more on consoles now or sticking to the PC? I know that you have a history of FPS games which are more PC-centric.

SM: That's true, but going forward, any studio needs to look long and hard at focusing on consoles first. That's where the bigger money's at. Even though our background is in PCs, there isn't any more difficulty now making a console game. It used to be a problem because of the computing power differences between PCs and consoles. Nowadays, it's not that big of a gulf. It really comes down to whether the game idea is good, has good gameplay, technology and story hooks. If it does, then it's going to work on any platform. You just need to keep your controls simple and make sure it's going to work on a console, then it's not a big problem switching over. We're definitely going to be more focused on consoles than PC development in the future.

GS: Speaking of digital distribution, how would you feel about older 3D Realms products, like Duke Nukem 3D, appearing on Xbox Live Arcade.

SM: Yeah, we'd love to see that happen. Microsoft has a pretty tight lid about what they're putting on the system now. They're trying to not hit the same genres over and over again, and since Doom just came out on Live, they probably won't want Duke 3D on Live anytime soon. I've had some casual talks about this, but you never know. We'd like to see that happen, it's just a matter of making it happen."

There's a lot more to read, you'll definitely want to check this all out by reading the full interview today.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:47 AM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #24 - Final Edition

Today we're bringing you the final edition of the Apogee Legacy Interview Series. As this was put together by Joe Siegler, we'll let him talk about the conclusion to the series.

"It's a bit of a sad moment, as this series has been a lot of fun to put together. Apogee has a rich history, being involved in some capacity in over 70 titles in our 19 year history now. I've been here for a long time myself, having seen the majority of these games get released. When Scott Miller originally came up with this idea, I wasn't terribly sure how well it would work, because a lot of the people we spoke with for this series either haven't kept in touch, or we lost track of them, etc, etc, etc... But it worked out well. Managed to reconnect with some folks, including a couple we haven't spoken with as a company in over a decade.

Yes, this is the final edition. It is not the normal edition, as this one is a summary, and has some recollections by folks of the two people who have worked here who have since died; William Scarboro & Dennis Scarff. So let's get onto the final edition."

Of all the people who have worked here (and there's been a lot), we're fortunate that (to our knowledge anyway), they're all still alive. So far only two folks who have worked here have since died. We want to take this time in the final edition of the series to commemorate them.

First up is Dennis Scarff. Dennis is not a name known to most people, because he was not a developer. Dennis took care of some of the business side of things for a few years in the mid 90's. If you look in our older shareware from the late 80's and early 90's, you'll see a lot of them have a listing of foreign retailers, and things of that nature. It was quite hapzardly done (compared to today's standards), and after a time, it was decided we needed someone to coordinate all of that. So Dennis was hired. Dennis was in charge of handling all shareware requests, as well as keeping track of foreign retailers, making sure they paid the royalty money they owed our company, things of that nature. As was said before, he wasn't really known to the public, but he played an integral part of our business side of things at the time.

He was also a tech nerd, although from a previous generation. Dennis was huge into Ham radio, and had all kinds of ham equipment and books in his office. He kept talking about how we all should participate in that. He was also likely to be found in all the local Radio Shack stores looking for parts, and he frequented several of the mom & pop computer stores in the area.

One funny story about Dennis recalled by Joe Siegler..

"As was said, Dennis was always into gadgety type of things. One time when the Dallas Stars first located here from Minnesota, several of us attended a game, including Dennis. In between periods, the Stars would fly this radio control blimp around the arena, and Dennis claimed that it would be easy enough to scan for the frequency of the thing and take control of it himself. He never did that, but it would have been amusing to see him try. Outside of work, that's the kind of thing he was always known for. He always had some parts catalog around, some phone thing, was a great guy. I miss him.

Tom Hall also remembers Dennis.

"Dennis was like the kind ol' grandpa of the company. Always there with a smile, a nod, a reassuring presence. A good fella."

Scott Miller recalls the original hiring of Dennis, and the reason why we eventually parted company:

Scarff was hired from a shareware catalog, the biggest of its type, called Public Brand Software, which was a huge catalog in the early eighties. Scarff was a big Apogee fan, and at the time we need someone to deal with all of the shareware outlets that helped drive our business at the time. But as the 90's moved forward, shareware catalogs and BBSs were replaced in importance by the Internet and the web. So, around 1996 or so we released him.

As was said above, Dennis was not as well known to the public, but to those of us who worked here when he was at Apogee, his is a name that is remembered fondly. It was with great sadness that we found out later he had passed away (via email from his widow).

Here's a few pictures of Dennis around the office.

Dennis Hamming it up in the offices

Wtih Joe Siegler & Pat Miller in Summer 1996 filling Duke3D pre-orders

Dennis smiling

Chatting with Steve Blackburn at an Apogee company picnic

Second up is William Scarboro. William is far more known to the public than Dennis was, as William was one of the major folks on our Rise of the Triad project, as well as being the original lead programmer and engine designer on Prey. William died on Aug 9, 2002 of an asthma attack. It was quite sad actually, as we're told he died alone (likely in pain due to the way he died), and wasn't found for a few days after he had passed. But his life was one of fun and passion, and that's the way he's remembered. In fact, most people who knew him will remember him as this photo portrays him, as it pretty much summed him up..

Tom Hall (id, Ion Storm, Midway, etc) recalls Wiliam:

"William was a completely unique character. He was always good for a laugh. He'd describe an event in some crazy anime he'd seen, and then say, "Dude! That's ridiculous!" He'd have his little bag with his tuna/pasta/salsa/Omega 3 fatty acid bowls. He'd wear his odd American Male shirts on his muscle-bound frame, and talk about "chicks". He made the weapons in Rise of the Triad "insanely rockful". One day, he was so into typing code he didn't see the big turtle we set next to him for two minutes. So many little stories. He is missed."

When asked to elaborate on 'The turtle story', Tom replied with this..

Looking a bit sunburnt in a non standard white T-Shirt

"Heh, yeah, he was referring to a document or book two feet to his left. In between the two were two thick books stacked up. So he'd type, refer, type, refer.... Scott almost ran over a turtle, so he picked it up to get it out of the road and take it to water, but he thought he'd bring it in the office. We decided to surprise William with it, so we placed it on those stacked books. He kept turning to the reference, back to the computer, and so on for awhile. Obviously his brain registered "TURTLE!" and threw it out as bad information. Finally he turned and jumped back, his brain finally registering it as really there. :) "

Fellow Rise of the Triad programmer Mark Dochtermann (later Ritual, now EA) also recalls William:

"William Scarboro had uncanny way of boiling the world down into black and white. He either liked something or hated it, he desired it or pushed it away. His desire to classify his world into two absolute states made him a very passionate engineer. When he was into the work that he was doing, he was unstoppable."

Scott Miller (Apogee founder) also touches upon the original hiring of William, as well as his connection to Prey both old school and modern.

A rarity - William in a Tuxedo!

"William Scarboro was one of the first two or three actual developers (a coder) we hired in 1994 when we first shifted to internal development. Up until that time, we had solely worked with external teams, like Id Software and many others. He was hired to help develop an Id-approved sequel to Wolfenstein 3-D, which later became a non-Id game, Rise of the Triad. For the first year William worked here, he wore many shirts of many colors, but soon shifted to an all-black-shirt wardrobe. Made buying shirts easy, I suppose! But this became his signature look for all the remaining years I knew him.

William eventually became the lead coder on Prey, leading development of the Prey portal engine, and just as significantly, the Prey editor, called Preditor internally. At the time, this editor was a significant improvement over any previous 3D game editor we'd seen, and Remedy even used it as the template for their very similar Max Payne editor.

It's a shame that the original Prey project didn't reach escape velocity, and for many reasons it eventually ended. William moved on and away from the game industry, somewhat burnt out and looking for a more sane job. That was the last I saw of him, and two or so years later I heard he had tragically died due to an asthma attack.

William was also one of the industry's hardest, most dedicated workers, and we were proud to dedicate the new Prey to his memory."

Finally, Joe Siegler chimes in on William:

This is quite hard to write, as William was a good friend of mine, and it quite bothered me when I got an email from a (then) co-worker of his that he had died. While we were grateful for the update, we were not happy with the contents. As was said by the others here, William was quite the character. He could be completely into himself with his work, or be completely out there with his humour. One of the things that William an I shared was a case of the giggles. After we had been working together for awhile, there were certain catchphrases we were able to say to each other to set the other one off. One was "Uhhh.... 27?" which was a reference to a Beavis & Butthead episode where Butthead was trying to pass himself off as 27 years old. The other I can't recall right at the moment, but after those had been going on for awhile, it got so all we had to do was look at the other for more than a second or two, and we'd bust out laughing. That kind of friendship is hard to find. William & I attended a few concerts together. One was the tour that Van Halen did with Gary Cherone (which was better than it's reputation gave it), and the other was the tour that Motley Crue did John Corabi as vocalist. William was always on a quest to tour Europe where sex laws were not as uh, "strict" as they are in the US, not sure if he actually pulled that off or not. :)

Anyway, here's something I wrote about William back in January of 2006 when I was looking for pictures of other former developers at the start of this series. I found a picture of WIlliam I had forgotten about, and it inspired me to write this:

-- Start Story --

Every time I see a picture of him, I get sad. It's still depressing to find out the way he went. I also recently found out additional information about his passing. I had run across the original email I got from a (then) current co-worker of his informing me that he had died. I wrote back to him and asked what exactly William was doing when he died, as it occurred to me I didn't actually know that, all I knew was "not in the games industry". Here's what I was told..

Joe Siegler, William Scarboro, & Stephen Cole at E3 1998.

"RIA provides Income Tax solutions for Corporations, Accounting firms and CPAs. He was part of the Platform Technology Group. This group was responsible for core backend services for computing and printing tax returns. It involved a lot of hard core c++ skills. He was very integral to the group and will be sorely missed."

I also found out that the folks at RIA had gotten concerned when he hadn't shown up for work for a couple of days. Apparently his mother also was concerned as well, and she eventually went to his apartment, and it was his mother who found him dead - terribly sad info.

Anyway, I miss my old buddy, and I wanted to say finding some "new" pictures (or at least ones I forgot about) was a nice treat. Wish you were still around, pal.

-- End Story --

A nickname we had for William at the time was "Da Hur" (as in the whore). All this sounds odd, but if you knew William, it would make more sense. :) Miss ya buddy.

Here's a few pictures of William from around the office:

Checking out the ceiling at George Broussard's house during our 1997 Christmas party

Caught by the webcam while walking out of the Tech Support Dept.

William's taking home some dip from a party at Lee Jackson's house

Tossing a football around in the back yard at Lee Jackson's house

William with his girlfriend - unknown date.

Looking happy in his office - the way we remember him.

We're fortunate that with so many folks we've worked with over the years that so few of them have passed on. There's some that just seem to have up and disappeared off the face of the Earth. Take for example Todd Replogle. Todd is well known as the programmer behind the first three Duke Nukem games, as well as Cosmo, and some others from the ancient days of our company. The last anyone from here heard, Todd was living in the backwoods of the state of Oregon. We heard a rumour that he had turned his money into PVC Pipe and buried it in his back yard. Whether that's true or not, he hasn't been heard from in years, and no one from 3DR has any idea how to contact him. We tried, as we wanted him in this series, but he was unreachable.

We tried getting a hold of some other folks for this series but couldn't. Duke 3D Atomic Edition producer Greg Malone was last heard of being a teacher in Arizona. Bobby Prince did briefly reply when we initially sent out the queries back in December of 2005, but hasn't been heard from since. Some others just declined to participate.

Some of the folks we did get to participate were not easy to track down. Peder Jungck was someone we hadn't spoken to in almost a decade, and was found via Google. Mike Voss was tracked down via another game developer. Lindsay Whipp was difficult, had to go through Google, to find some dead ends, we finally got a hold of him via someone at Wildfire in Australia, who had his email. Jason Blochowiak was difficult, as we had to track him down via a few other former employees. Most of them had him working at Midway Chicago, but a phone call to their receptionist said he wasn't there, we lucked out that someone knew where he went. One of the more interesting ones was Dave Sharpless. Since Dave had a game that was put out over 15 years ago, none of us had much (if any) contact with him in the interim. He was eventually tracked down when Matt at the Jumpman Lounge was kind enough to put us in contact with Dave.

Additionally, we do get quite a few queries about Lee Jackson, so I thought I'd take a moment to answer folks who want to know what's going on. He's doing fine, and after he and 3DR parted company in 2002, he briefly applied at another game company, but decided for a complete change of direction with his life. He went to a Radio broadcaster's school, and now holds a job with a firm in Dallas that does the traffic reporting for several radio stations in the Dallas area, including the big news station KRLD. This company also does reports for Sirius Satellite Radio, so if you have them, and hear a familiar voice, it's Lee Jackson. It's still amusing to me personally to hear "This is Lee Jackson in the KRLD traffic command center" coming over my radio.

So it was fun tracking down all these guys and gals, and it was a blast putting all this together. It's sad that the series is now ending, as it's been a blast going down memory lane these last six months the series has ran.

If need be, we might have special editions of the series in the future, should we make contact with someone who would be a good addition, but this was the final scheduled edition of this series. Thanks for sharing the trip down memory lane with us! This series went on far longer than we thought, and thanks to all who participated, and thank YOU for reading it.

So this ends the series. It's been nice looking backwards at our company, but now it's time to go forwards. The Prey demo is out, the full version will be out soon, so there's great, cool new stuff for you to look forward to.

That's all, folks!

P.S A special prayer goes out to Dennis & William - sorry we couldn't ask you guys directly about this series, it would have been nice to still have y'all around and contribute.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:18 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #23 - Paul Schuytema

Today we bring you the final "new" issue in the Apogee Legacy series. This edition is definitely one of the more unusual ones, and with the Prey demo being released this Thursday the 22nd, a timely one as well.

This week's edition is with Paul Schuytema. Paul was with 3D Realms for a couple of years in the mid - late 1990's as the project lead on Prey. Now what makes this unusual is that Prey was not released when Paul was here, so his insights into things are not the same as what they would be for someone who has published a game through us.

Still, with Prey on the horizon, and having covered Prey's original project lead (Tom Hall) earlier in the series, we figured we might as well hit Paul up too, and he was glad to send in his answers. Suprisingly for someone who didn't technically put out a game with us, he has a lot to say, so make sure and check it all out.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I first came to know Apogee from their games.. publishing Wolfenstein and Blake Stone and then ROTT.I was working as the game design editor for Computer Gaming World Magazine when I was sent down to Dallas on assignment to cover Duke Nukem 3D before it was released-it was so obvious from looking at that game that it would be a HUGE hit. I remember sitting in his office and asking George: "So how does it feel to KNOW you have a monster hit on your hands?"

I then worked with them to create a feature for CGW on editing in the Build engine. At the time, I was teaching at Monmouth college and we modeled the student center in the engine-it was a ball.deathmatching with my students through the campus union!

Paul Schuytema's as artwork

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

3D Realms lured me away from FASA Interactive. I was working as the lead designer on MechWarrior 3 and Scott Miller approached me about being the project leader on Prey. While I loved the MechWarrior universe and working on the Mech game, the chance to help grow our own game universe and flesh out a deep and interesting game character was too good to pass up.

In the "small world" category…when I left FASA, my producer was Tim Gerritsen…who went on to found Human Head. We became good friends during my time at 3DR and now his team will be the one that allows Prey to see the light of day.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Since Prey wasn't released when I was there, I can't really answer that question. I do have plenty of hindsight, though, on what we could have done better with the game and technology; as they say, hindsight is 20-20!

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

N/A

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Since leaving, I've had the chance to create games in which we retained no rights at all and some in which we retained nearly all the rights. I think it depends on the game. The honest truth, though, is that whomever bankrolls the project should probably control the majority of the rights, since they are the chief risk-taker.

In a perfect world, a developer would be able to self-fund up to a prototype state and then partner with a publisher for completion and distribution and then retain the major IP rights. The real trick, though, is having the capitol to fund that prototype. That's not a trivial feat to pull off!

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

For the games we've done as Magic Lantern, it's clearly a benefit to own our own IP - it gives us some freedom in putting together distribution deals to maximize our potential return.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

N/A

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Yowza... there are so many! Four big ones stand out:

- the first time we showed of portal technology at E3- the gulp of amazement from those who saw it was a real rush for the whole team!

-our team design meetings when we would work on alien race cultures for Prey- the team really came together, time and time again, and we were able to take blue-sky ideas and reel them into nuggets that would fit in the context of an action game

-our team trek to see KMFDM (who was then doing the soundtrack for Prey) in Austin - they were paired with Rammstein, from Germany, and the show was intense and we got to hang out with the band back stage. [ Ed Note: There are still pictures of this event online here. ]

-my last E3 with 3D Realms - for just a few demos, we had a real trick up our sleeve - we did the demo for the press and talked a lot about cool multiplayer stuff and then for a few (I think we only did it two or three times), we had the press sit down and we spun a computer screen towards them and showed them that we could deathmatch right there - that there was game play in addition to the demo - that really wowed them!

Paul in the back room demo area for Prey at E3 1998

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Every publisher wants to mitigate their risk and taking a chance on a smaller or lesser-known team isn't they way to do that. That's a shame, because it's in those smaller studios that you'll find the real centers of game play innovation.

Also, the idea of mentoring is almost non-existent, which is a shame. Without mentors, small studios are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past - with mentoring, they can grow and flourish. I remember being on hand when Scott and George started their relationship with Remedy, and I was really impressed with how they coached and helped Remedy get started as they began work on Max Payne - it was something really special.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The consoles have really taken over and everything is "bigger, better, faster, more!" It's very, very hard for small studios, especially US-based studios (where labor costs are high as compared to overseas), to thrive. Also, since so much is ruled by so few, and all the triple-A games need to be multi-platform out of the gates, the barrier for entry is so high as to be almost impossible. Gone are the days when a great idea and a willingness to dive in and learn and work your butt off in your basement will allow you to start a game company - and that's kind of sad.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

I started Magic Lantern (insert shameless plug: http://www.lanterngames.com) in 1999 and since then, I produced and designed 20+ games, from the casual to the hard-core (including a hand in one of the early Rainbow Six games). We did this in the cornfields of rural Illinois, and along the way, became very involved in community and economic development.

Late last year, I "turned the asylum over to the inmates" and started a new career with the University of Illinois. Now I work to make games and simulations to support faculty research - really a dream job for me, since I was in academia before I jumped into the game industry.

At 3DR HQ around October 1997.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

So far, the grass is pretty green around the ivory tower and I'm making games right now - maybe ask me again in a few years!

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Honestly, I think we maybe spent too much time living in the now-defunct world of Glide (3DFX's 3D accelerator API) before we jumped to Direct X - we should have made that leap sooner, but of course, that's hindsight talking!

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke Nukem 3D, hands-down. The intensity of the multiplayer action was something I had never experienced before, and the laser trip bombs were just genius!

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

My all-time favorite is the Age of Empires series - the blend of tactical combat with world building and a real historical feel made the whole series incredible.

I also logged way too much time with the first 3D Jedi Knight game - the poly count was low, the characters looked goofy (by today's standards) and the textures were chunky, but the game play and the sense of scale is still unmatched - and the boss battles rank as the best I've ever played.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

During the time I was at 3DR, the industry was really coming into its own - the PC was still the big kid on the block and 3D acceleration was just starting out - and middleware was just becoming an option - it was very exciting to see so much change - but it was also a spooky time in which you had to guess on which API to support and what system specs to target. Did you use MMX? Glide? Direct X? What sound API?

It was also a time of great variety - there were big players in the market, but also small studios were thriving and the game spectrum was very wide indeed - there was so much to play and so little time, we were crafting our own game, after all!

3DR Team in 1995
Back Row L-R: Lee Jackson, David Demaret, Steve Hornback, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dose Front Row L-R: Chuck Jones, Doug Wood, Tom Hall, William Scarboro

3DR Team in 1998
Back Row L-R: George Broussard, Allen Dilling, Loyal Bassett, William Scarboro, Scott McCabe, Tom Pytel
Front Row L-R: Doug Wood, Steve Hornback, Paul Schuytema

Human Head Team in 2005/6

A special thanks goes out to Paul for answering the questions. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what he'd say when approached, but he was glad to help out.

• Our Prey Page
• Official 2K Prey Home Page
• Prey Page on Wikipedia
• Lantern Games Home Page

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the final edition in the Legacy Interview Series. The final edition will be a series wrapup with highlights from the rest of the series, and a tribute to two former 3D Realms employees who have since died.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:50 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

Interview with Scott Miller

The website gameproducer.net has a new interview up with Scott Miller. In it, Scott talks briefly talks about the early days of the company, some Max Payne production issues, and of course a lot of Prey talk. Here's a few quotes:

GameProducer.net: In one of the game journal entries you mention that SpiritWalking is one of the key features of the game, what kind of feature is that?

Scott Miller: Spirit walking is a gameplay feature rooted to true Native American methology, where a shaman of sufficient power can astral project himself beyond his physical self. This feature is one of the reason we selected a Cherokee protagonist, as the rich mythology of Cherokee culture lends itself to many such inherently credible gameplay hooks.

GameProducer.net: One of the key factors of 3D Realms game production is independency. Can you tell us what independent game development means for a company like 3D Realms?

Scott Miller: I sort of answered this in the previous question. By being independent, we can make sure our games are done right, and that rewards us far more completely than a dozen half-way done right games. Also, by being independent, we can chose projects to pursue that have the correct story, character and gameplay hooks to insure their success. This is as important as anything to us, because without getting this part right, even superb execution and endless financing cannot bring success.

To check out the full interview, head over to Gameproducer.net now.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:24 AM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #22 - The Levelord

As we wind down the Apogee Legacy series (click here for schedule), we will be bringing you some slightly different choices to wrap up the series. Today we are bringing you a mini interview with none othre than the Levelord himself, Richard Gray! The reason why we're calling it a mini interview will be self evident shortly.

Richard worked here back in the Duke Nukem 3D days, and left with some others who were working here at the time to found what would be come Ritual. Rich has remained friendly over the years with us, and we get together from time to time and chew over the old days, talk about what's going on with our companies now, etc, etc, etc.

As Rich was an important part of one of our most important projects (Duke Nukem 3D), we wanted to get his input in this series. However, Rich being Rich, he didn't answer all the questions. So we'll bring you an abbreviated interview with him. He answers some of the questions, but definitely not all. We'll flesh this one out with some pictures from the archives of him. :)

So here goes:

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I had made some levels for DOOM back in 1994 and uploaded them to CompuServe. They were good enough to catch the eye of Nick Newhard, then with Q Studios. He contracted me to do levels for Blood. Both my DOOM levels and Blood caught the attention of George Broussard. He soon asked me to come to Garland, Texas to work fulltime on Duke Nukem 3D.

Levelord at our 1995 Halloween Party

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

I would have worked at ANY game company, and would have cleaned the bathroom floors with a toothpick, for free, just to get into the industry ;) I was also being offered a job at Q Studios, but I chose Apogee because it was so close to id Software. Just seemed important at the time. This was late 1994 and there were only a few game companies making FPSs.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Better, because the Duke Nukem 3D Team was a great one! I also give credit to the technology of the times. Today, I spend more than half my time wrestling with technology. Everything has gotten so complicated and complex. Back then, a decade ago, everything was so much easier to deal with and I spent much more time on the Fun Factor and polish.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Although I was an internal employee, I would say this holds true for my experience. I was allowed almost free reins on my levels. This gave me creative freedom, and this gave the entire team creative freedom. When asking about retaining IP rights, I must add consideration for ownership and future endeavors with a property. Retaining creative freedom, as related to an IP, is always good. Financial ownership is another thing.

Chowing down at the 3DR Offices

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Yes, going to my very first E3 in 1996 with the Duke Team. It was the first E3, so that made it memorable. I had lived in Los Angeles from 1980-1990. I lived only a few blocks away from the Nakatomi building in the first Die Hard movie. I lived in the garage of my parents while going to UCLA. Late one night, at about 2am, they started filming much of the exterior helicopter stuff at the end of the movie. I thought it was a real event ;)

Anyhow, that AM/PM store is right there, where the cop bought the Twinkies for his pregnant wife. This store, being so close to home, was just a regular old store to buy smokes and gas. To most others, though, it was an icon. First thing we did at E3 was go to this store and buy Twinkies ;)

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Trust, and there always seems to be fingers on "the other side". Most external involvement entails external influence, creative influence. It is understandable, putting money into something, a lot of money, and wanting control and oversight. However, my experience is that if you sign-up to have a group of professionals perform a task, you should trust them to complete the task. I always use the metaphor of hiring a caterer and then insisting on being in the kitchen and deciding on my own list of spices and cooking times and such.

As you can see, Rich didn't answer most of the questions, he probably got distracted by a picture of boobs or something at the time. So, I'm going to plunder his website for a few funny stories, and go through our own archives for pictures of him.

At 3DR HQ watching a Duke3D demo the night before release. L-R: George Broussard, Doug Wood, Joe Siegler, Allen Blum, Terry Nagy, Dirk Jones, Jim Dose (obscured), Chuck Jones, Levelord

April 24, 1998:

Rich talks about "The Levelord Drinking Game" Joe Siegler invented for our semi-regular trips to the Outback Steakhouse..

"The Levelord Drinking Game"? Okay, I'm in ;) I bet we could make a pretty penny with the travel version. Seriously, you're a funny man, Joe... ...that's why I keeel you laaaast!... ...just in case any are taking this seriously, Master Siegler and I meet at the Outback Steakhouse in Mesquite every few months. He goes for the Bloomin' Onions and I... ...well, let's just say I get very pedophilic with all the high school waitresses and their short, short little skirts showing just a hint of flowery panties underneath and their amply round melon-sized boobs bouncing up and... ...or dear, ...that's two drinks for me!

September 22, 1999:

Rich talks about the advances of gaming tech and Duke Nukem 3D:

I'm so tired of chasing technology! Cutting-edge and special effects have become horrible phrases for me. We spend so much time and effort "getting up" and not enough "going", and for an old fart like me, it just gets tiring.

Keep in mind that I've been in software since before there were floppies. Platter "hard" drives stored a whopping 128k and programming was down on card readers and hoppers. Anyone else remember their Hollerith code and EBCDIC? I remember being in the Navy, dabbling in FORTRAN, and seeing the DPs carefully walking down the halls holding 8" floppies, when they first came out, like some precious serving tray. They were afraid the bits would get jumbled if the floppies got jarred in any way.

I am so completely convinced that we could release Duke Nukem 3D right now and it would still sell as many copies and be as popular.

February 8, 1998:

Rich remembers (or tries to, it seems like a rambling piece) on Allen Blum, Megadeth, & Duke Nukem 3D:

...Well, it's early Sunday morning, got the stereo blasting away, freshing toasted (toast is so much more crisp when your lungs aren't coated with tobacco smoke;), and cranking on some levels in our new office space. This is way cool, apart from the new space being "new", we were crammed like Bismarck Herrings in the old office. I even have enough room to crack my 16-foot bullwhip! ...hey, man, ...it's Texas, ...live it, ...love it!

Speaking of stereos blasting, I've got MegaDeath's latest blaring (ya, ya, it's a 97 release, but remember how old and slow I am!) and just noticed the title of the 7th track... ...Sin! Yes boys, play it loud please! MegaDeath will ALWAYS remind me of 18-hour stretches of Duke leveling and Allen The Third Blum playing "Youthanasia" thirteen times in a row... ...bless his demented little heart. Dave Mustaine... ...hmmmm, you don't supposed, do you, that Tom has an alter profession like that sCary Spice bitch (how ya doin' BTW, Steve)?

March 10, 1995:

Rich recalls his 10 year anniversary of coming to work for 3D Realms:

Holy sheep shit! (picture is at 3D Realms in March of 1995)

It was ten years ago today when I first rolled into Garland, Texas to start working on Duke Nukem at 3D Realms!

It has definitely been a decade that seems to have gone by quickly (probably due to the time warped perspective of growing older), but it also seems like a LOOOOONG time when I try to remember all the things that have happened in ten years.

The question for me? Would I do it again if I knew back then what I know now? It is a question for me, ...even with all the ultracool things I have gained and enjoyed on the ride, ...it was a truly rough road to travel!

April 20, 2000:

And finally, this one where his Loness writes this about Duke Nukem and 3D Realms:

...and finally, I am really starting to regret leaving Garland. I played pool with George the Broussard last night and Duke sounds fricken incredible! It all brought back alot of fond memories. That sure was a fun game to make and Mr. Nukem has a long way to go before he gets too old. I don't know how they're doing it all without me, but I wish I was still there ;)

As was said above, Rich was involved with just one title with us, Duke Nukem 3D, but it was an important one. Here's a few Levelord related links for you to peruse.

• Our Duke Nukem 3D Catalog Page
• Levelord's Home Page (graphic material alert :) )
• The Levelord page on Wikipedia
• Ritual's Website

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series, as we wind it down. After this one, there's only two issues left.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #21 - Darren Baker

In 1995, Apogee Software released the first title under our new branded label concept. That was Terminal Velocity under the "3D Realms" brand. This concept was used a second time in 1998, when we released "Balls of Steel" under the "Pinball Wizards" label. As with the "3D Realms" branding idea, the Pinball Wizards one was to launch a series of pinball related titles. However, to date Balls of Steel was the only title put out under the Pinball Wizards brand.

One of the driving forces behind the Balls of Steel title was Darren Baker. Darren Baker was actually involved with two other titles with us before Balls of Steel in 1998. Those titles were Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage as well as Mystic Towers (both in 1994). So Darren has been involved with us for several years now.

Darren, mostly due to his location (Australia), has one of the more unique relationships with us. Despite having worked on three seperate titles with us, has never met us face to face. It's one of the more unique aspects of our company, having developers all over the world. Let's get to his interview:

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I came into direct contact with Apogee in 1993 (I was 18) through a group of guys here in Brisbane who were developing a very cool (256 color parallax scrolling!!) game called Halloween Harry. I managed to get onto the team and contributed the digital sound engine. My brother Steven also composed a good deal of the music for the game.

Harry was picked up for Australian distribution by Manaccom, who then lined up US distribution through Apogee.

We had heard of Apogee prior to all this of course, particularly with the Commander Keen and Wolfenstein games, so to be associated with them was very exciting.

The Harry project then led to Mystic Towers (with another team on which I was the PC programmer), then eventually to Balls of Steel, as Wildfire Studios.

So basically Apogee published the first 3 commercial games I worked on.

Darren Baker at his desk with Fidelio - Feb 2006

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

I guess the initial reason was that we had the contacts with Apogee, and Scott and George were willing to support and take chances on inexperienced - albeit talented - teams, and overseas ones to boot.

As for going on your own, other people I knew had tried the "do everything" route (eg one or two people doing code, art, sound, manuals, packing, duplication, distribution!), and invariably the efforts were less than rewarding financially. At the time, getting products marketed and distributed properly was not something we properly understood or were even really interested in. We were far more concerned with the challenge of developing the games themselves, and when a successful company like Apogee offers you advances to get on and do what you enjoy, how good is that?! :)

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

I think Apogee did a great job with Balls of Steel. I think sales suffered a bit because the game's promotion led the ship date too far (or the ship date trailed the promotion, depending how you look at it!) That wasn't entirely their fault... ;)

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

I have no doubt the final product was better for Apogee's involvement.

Balls of Steel took a somewhat different direction than we had originally intended for it once Apogee came on board. Originally it was to be more of a true-to-life pinball simulator, but a mixture of Apogee's influence, a need to better our competitors, and good ol' feature creep led it to be more of a hybrid sim / action game. Of course the most obvious Apogee influence is the Duke Nukem table, but the overall 'hardcore' feel probably owes a fair bit to them too.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Yes, it's best from the creator's point of view to retain the IP rights. But it's also best from the publisher's point of view that the publisher get the IP rights in exchange for the funding. Both can be reasonable points of view depending on the money involved and other specifics of the deal.

I certainly believe that developers should relinquish/sell their IP very reluctantly and only after much consideration. They need to negotiate to keep whatever they can.

Final Balls of Steel Box Art

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

Yes, definitely. After Balls of Steel we reused our pinball engine technology to develop half a dozen more pinball games and licensed it out to other developers.

More recently, a key part of our business in the casual games market is to retain ownership of our brand and carefully control territory and platform distribution rights. This allows us to reuse and license our technology, create sequels and spinoff games, and control revenue streams from online and worldwide retail channels. This strategy has paid off for our hit game Tumblebugs, for instance.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

The idea has been kicked around on and off. Apogee actually owns the trademark for Balls of Steel (see, Scott's not *completely* silly and giving away IP rights all over the place :)) but we're pretty free to do another game, which is great.

We'd really like to do a Balls of Steel 2... maybe with a Duke Nukem Forever table.. yeah, that would be cool.

In the PC market pinball tends to be a budget title genre though, but I'd want something much better than that. I think it'd be a great fit for the PSP.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

What's odd is that such stories are quite hard to come up with, because I've never actually met *any* of the Apogee folks. Not one. We've only ever swapped emails, and had the occasional phone call. The upside is I still have something to look forward to!

However, one thing I do distinctly remember is when Scott offered us the Duke Nukem 3D license to include in Balls of Steel.

We hadn't seen the game, and to be honest, we didn't think a whole lot of the first two Duke games (sorry Todd et al!), so we were sceptical to say the least. And it didn't help a whole lot either when were sent nothing but a CD full of raw Duke graphics like static cutouts of pig cops and loads of various gibs :) What's more, we were also going to have to scrap a whole lot of work we'd done on the Devil's Island table to make room for it.

I do remember Scott insisting that the game was definitely going to be a hit, but still, pigs with guns ... riiight...

Anyhow we eventually got a build of the game, and that's when the 'maybe' rapidly became 'yes please'!

(Besides, it was only fair - they put a Balls of Steel pinball table in Duke :))

Pre-Pinball Wizards unused Balls of Steel Box Art

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I'd guess the perceived risk is the big factor, but I think it's actually a smart business move if you can manage a nascent external team and provide the missing ingredients (funding, marketing, business, management, QA etc) and harness their idealism and creativity.

I have asked myself over the years whether I'd do for another team today what Apogee did for us back then, and I'd like to think I would. One difference is I'd want to do more due diligence and manage the teams a lot more closely ('from the inside') rather than just hope that they kept delivering milestones from time to time and didn't drop the ball! It took us over 2 years to ship Balls of Steel, and while I don't think Apogee was overly sweating the advances, it was definitely a long time to be on a project.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

In some ways that question's quite difficult for me to answer, because I think I have learned and changed so much over that time that it can be tough to compare objectively.

I was going to say that were we starting out now, we would have a much harder time getting a deal, and that there'd be no Apogees out there to give us a break. But with the booming casual games industry over the last couple of years, the window has once again opened for small developers to get games to market, so that's not really true.

There is of course the usual observations that the budgets are bigger, the teams are huge, that most games are based on licences, etc.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

For the most part I've been CEO and Technical Director of Wildfire Studios. I worked as a programmer for a short while in London a few years ago for another developer, and that was an excellent experience. I'm really enjoying the success Wildfire is having, and it's interesting moving my focus from programming, which has always been my passion, to the business to ensure we sustain and grow.

The Duke Nukem table from Balls of Steel

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Heh, I've thought about *leaving* the industry from time to time, but there's nothing I can think of doing that requires such a blend of technical, creative and business skills. It's very stimulating. :)

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Yes, quite a few. I think we could have exploited the success (critical if not commercial) of Balls of Steel in various ways, but didn't have the perception and know-how to do it. That said, we haven't done too badly at all, but we could have been smarter and focused on the right things. But overall I regard the early days (including our time with Apogee) as an excellent apprenticeship in the industry.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke 3D was my favourite, that sucked down (so to speak!) way too much of my time. The network play was awesome.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

I think the Infocom games (Zork etc) are some of the best of all time.

In more recent years I thought the original Unreal was excellent.

These days I don't play games for entertainment anywhere near as much as I used to, now my interest is more of an analytical one.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

I would like to thank Scott, George, Joe and the rest of the Apogee crew that we worked with over the years. They were instrumental in getting us started in the industry, and great to work with. I still keep tabs on what Apogee/3D Realms is up to, and listen closely to what Scott has to say about the business of games.

As to our fans - stay tuned. We've got some great new games on the way!

The Alien Carnage team from a newspaper scan in 1994.
Top Row (L-R): Darren Baker, Tony Ball, John Passfield, Steve Stamatiadis
Bottom Row (L-R): Steven Baker, Robert Crane

Wildfire 2006:
L-R: Adrian Cook, Robert Crane, Robert Gilchrist, Darren Baker, Leon McBride

As was said above, Darren has been involved with three seperate titles with us. We have plenty of information available on them on our website, please use the links below:

• Our Balls of Steel Catalog Page
• Our Alien Carnage Catalog Page
• Our Mystic Towers Catalog Page
• Mystic Towers Page on Wikipedia
• Balls of Steel Page on Wikipedia
• Wildfire Homepage

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series. The series is close to being finished, we have two more interviews planned, plus a wrap up edition. The last couple will be special issues, so you're going to want to tune in for those.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:02 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #20 - Joe Siegler

This week's edition of the Apogee Legacy series reaches a milestone with it's twentieth edition. I think when we first came up with the idea, we didn't expect it would run this long. We are reaching the end of the series, as there's only a couple left after this one. This week, we're running a slightly different edition for our twentieth. This twentieth interview is with well.. myself, Joe Siegler. Now I hadn't planned on doing one of these myself, as I didn't think there was a point. Scott Miller asked me to do it, and when I objected, he said "consider it an order", so here I am. :)

The short intro to myself is that I run the website here at Apogee, amongst other things (a more complete list is here). Yeah, I know most people know us as 3D Realms, but I've been here for a long time since before the name 3D Realms came up. Those who know me know I tend to resist change, so even 12 years after we came up with the name, I still refer to ourselves as Apogee.

One of my concerns is that I'm not a traditional developer, and as such some of the questions wouldn't apply to me directly. While that is true, I have a lot of friends who are, and also having read all the interviews before mine, I'd like to think I have some not completely off base thoughts on the matters at hand. As I've already started talking, let's get to the actual questions.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Trying to imitate James Hetfield, circa 1993

Well, that would require the firing up of the wayback machine. I started here in Dec 1992, but I was "involved" before that. I was a customer of this company for awhile. I'm not sure which was the first game I ever bought - it was probably either Keen 4 or the original Duke Nukem game. I was working at a computer repair facility at the time, and on the repair floor, Apogee games were used a lot on the computers. You had to test something, and quite frequently to test repaired floppy drives, some Apogee game would get installed. I also was running a BBS at the time, and Apogee's games were quite popular on the BBS scene.

In fact BBS's are the reason why I'm here. Back in the day, I used to dial up Software Creations all the time looking for the latest shareware releases and updates by Apogee. I would download 'em, and then upload them to several BBS's around the country on my own dime, all not knowing Apogee at all. So on May 5, 1992, along with most of the rest of the world, I was totally blown away by Wolfenstein 3D. It was some seriously good shit at the time, and I knew then that I wanted to try and work there, although I didn't know as what, because I was not an artist or a programmer. After the v1.2 update of Wolfenstein 3D came out, I shortly after that saw a "user hack" version of Wolfenstein pruporting to be "An adult upgrade of Wolfenstein 3D to v1.3". I contacted Scott Miller on Software Creations about it, since this file did not orginate there, like all the others did. Scott thanked me, and Apogee/id issued a statement about it, saying it didn't come from them, there is no "Porn" version of Wolf from them, and it was for this reason that there is no v1.3 of Wolfenstein 3D. Not long after this I decided to leverage this and ask Scott if he needed any help being a beta tester. He said yes, and I was added to the beta testing team (which I later on ending up being the head of, which was amusing to me). At the time, Math Rescue was in beta, so that was my first project.

At the Ft Worth Duke3D Rodeo Shootout, 1996. More Info

After a short time doing beta testing of that (and Major Stryker), Scott posted a message in the beta area asking if anyone from the beta team was intersted in coming to work for Apogee. Originally, I was hired to be telephone tech support for Apogee. Somewhere in my dusty archives is the original message he posted, but I can't locate it now. One highlight in his "incentive" package was that the Coke machine at the office cost only a quarter per can. I figured any company which talked about "Wearing what you want", and offering Coke for a quarter in it's "Come work here" pitch probably was pretty cool. So in October of 1992, I made the decision to move to Texas from Philly to take this job. I was to replace Shawn Green, who was the first employee of the company (outside of Scott and his family) who was being bumped up to the newly created "Online Support" position. However, inbetween my getting hired and coming down, Shawn quit to go join id Software. I then told Scott I wanted that job, since it was exactly what I was doing anyway in terms of file releases, support, etc.. So they gave me that job instead, and to this day I thank Shawn for making that move allowing me to get this job. It's kind of amusing, 13.5 years later I'm still here, and I'm still technically in the same job, as I've never really been formally promoted or anything like that. It's just evolved from BBS's to the Internet and websites/email.

It's exactly the kind of job I would have wanted had I actually stayed in school and got a degree (which I didn't).

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Well, unlike the 19 folks who have preceeded me in this series, I'm not a real game developer as such. Sure, I write tech docs, I do support, maintain the website, and I even dabbled in level design awhile back with Rise of the Triad, but I hold no illusions. I'm not a game developer, I just work at a game company. Back in 1992, it wasn't an issue of working for anyone else, I didn't know anyone in the game industry. Scott offered the job to our beta team as I talked about above, and I took it. So working for anyone else was not an option.

With Joe Selinske (TRI, Ritual, EA, Black Label) at E3 2001

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Well, I do have two games under my belt as a formal developer, and those are Rise of the Triad, and Extreme Rise of the Triad. For ROTT, I got paid "per level", it wasn't a royalty type of issue there, I got "x" per level I designed. For EROTT though I got paid royalties. EROTT was totally done by Tom Hall and myself, no one else from Apogee worked on that. So I was definitely excited about getting a royalty check.

I did get a couple of good ones right after release, but it started tapering off not long after that. That's the one beef I had with the game back then - Extreme ROTT was the only game at the time we had no advertising for. We advertised ROTT, and all the other games released back then, but EROTT came out after the 3D Realms label started, and I think the marketing was there for Terminal Velocity, and Duke Nukem 3D was well underway at that point, so EROTT got kind of forgotten about, and if we had marketed it, there might have been more sales for a product that I felt was a lot better with it's level design than the original product was.

It's not a major thing now, because I'm sure EROTT would have been discontinued awhile back anyway, and I thorogouhly enjoyed the experience both from the work done, and working solo with Tom Hall. I'll always treasure that.

With The Levelord (Ritual) & Jim Dose (Ritual, id, Valve) at a Mesquite Outback in Feb 2005.

One final story to this is that the last couple of royalty checks I got were under $10, with the last one I think being about $2. After that, George Broussard (who handed out royalty checks for the company) came to me with a buyout offer, so he wouldn't have to go through all the records just to arrive at a check for $2. So I got a $300 buyout somewhere in early/mid 1996 on my EROTT royalties, which I figured out back then would carry me over to around the year 2035 if I spread out the diminsihing rate at which the checks were coming in, so in the end I made out OK with that in my opinion. :)

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Well, again only having one game under my belt makes this a bit different, as I'm not sure how to answer this. I'd say the game was fine the way it was. Sure, I know there was a chance to use Build back then instead of the Wolf engine, and I'm sure that might have made the game better had it been used, but to be honest, I rather like ROTT the way it was.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Well, again I don't own the IP to Rise of the Triad, Scott & George do. I think it's a great idea for the designer to retain IP rights. That is however they don't own it just to bury it like some companies do with some properties they own ( that fans have shown there is an interest in reviving).

With Tom Hall at E3 1998.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

This is not applicable to me at all. No comment.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Well, there was already the aforementioned addon pack for my one game, that being "Extreme Rise of the Triad". While I'm not Scott & George, and I can't speak for them personally, I seriously doubt they'd ever want to do another sequel to that.

However... If I ever ran across the kind of stupid money that would allow me to never have to worry about money ever again, I'd personally fund a Rise of the Triad sequel. I still think there's potential for a killer game in the ROTT franchise, and I'd probably try and hire back as many of the original team as I could. Most of what made ROTT "ROTT" IMO was Tom Hall's silliness - the same zany stuff that made Keen "Keen". There's a bunch of other cool things there too, but this game was very much (to me personally) a Tom Hall game.

However, the amount of money required for that dream is far beyond what this Webmaster will probably ever see in his lifetime. So while I WANT to say yes there will be, the answer is probably no.

In a stretch limo with the rest of 3DR on our way to a good dinner at a Steakhouse in Dallas in Nov of 2001.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Oh dear God, there's way too many of them! I've seen an awful lot of people come through here, and have been friends with most of them, I probably could tell a story on all of them. The problem is I know so many stories here, how do I pick for this? OK, I'll do a few of them.

Ken Silverman's US Maps

A few issues back, Ken Silverman did a bit about his drawing the United States anywhere. Here's a story I remembered about that. "One time the group of us were out to lunch at one of the local restaurants. This was one of the places that lets you draw with crayons on the table on paper they put on it. As Ken stated, he generally was pretty quiet, so most of us weren't paying attention, just talking the usual trash nonsense. After awhile one of us looked over at what Ken was doodling, and went "What the hell?" Ken was sketching the United States Map. He apparently has the ability to just draw the entire US map on anything. It pretty much took us by surprise, as he was roughly half done at that point, and from that point on we just watched him finish the map. So if you go anywhere with Ken, don't let him wander off on his own mentally, he'll draw the United States somewhere. :)"

ROTT Release power outage

In December of 1994, we were about to release the v1.0 shareware version of Rise of the Triad. As any game developer can tell you, the day before you release is one of the most stressful and worrysome times, as even if you think your game is going to be good, there's that one moment of "What if it sucks?" Anyway, it was the middle of the night and we were all testing, tweaking, packing, etc, as any end of project was. We were just about done, doing final checks, and then we lost power. At first we thought we blew a fuse, and then we noticed the whole building was out, and then we went outside and noticed that nothing had power anywhere that we could see. It was as if the whole power grid up and died. I recall someone at the time saying "id Software did it!". It was both a relief and a stressful thing as we wanted to finish and get the game out. Some of us handled the break differently. William Scarboro slept on the floor of his office. Some of the rest of us (myself, Mark Dochtermann) went downstairs into the lobby of our office building and brought a water rocket. We were bored, and with no computers to use, we had to resort to other juvenile attempts at passing the time. We chose setting off a water pressured rocket inside the lobby of our office building. So we filled it up with water (there's a picture of this rocket on the ROTT CD), and got all excited. Pumped it up, and the stupid thing went up about one foot, and as I recall got Mark completely wet. It was complete failure. We tried again, but the stupid thing never worked right. For some reason we felt it sounded cooler to name it, so the water rocket from Planet Failure was called "The Avenger". Power came on a short while later, and the game was released without further incident, but the water rocket story from the night of release was one I'll always remember.

At SWC BBS in 1994.

Monty Python Tech Support

Back when ROTT was being developed, the Tech Support department in 1994 consisted of Kevin Green, Steve Quarrella, & Lee Jackson (picture). From time to time I'd need to jump in and help them as we were pretty busy at the time. When the four of us were together, it seemed to prompt what I called "Monty Python Tech Support". You see, Lee, Steve, & myself were huge fans of British Comedy. Monty Python & Red Dwarf in particular. The three of us knew the routines, the lines pretty darn well. At a moment when relief was needed (or more likely) when the group of us were just goofing off, or when we wanted to mess with Kevin, one of us would start a Python routine. Since the three of us knew 'em so damn well, we could do them, and we'd do 'em rather a lot. Ended up driving Kevin bananas. That issue aside, it was cool that the three of us had that kind of rapport where we could do that.

More ROTT Development

There's a couple of stories from ROTT development that I'll tell here (although I could do a whole entry on that game's development too). The first is one called "50 Kills". The second is called "Death to a Coffee Cup".

Towards the end of ROTT development, we (even then) were hearing the cries of "You're taking too darn long". So Tom Hall, in his bizarre sense of humour, decided to make a video out of that. We had made this video where he pretended to be an undercover news reporter, and I was his cameraman. We "broke in" to the Apogee HQ, and he was going to do this expose as to why it was taking so long. We ran upstairs, into our offices, and looked around at people's desks, and there was no one there. We eventually found a couple of guys playing ping pong in another office, and it was something along the lines of "Hey, it's game research" or something liek that. My memories of how the video ended are fairly cloudy now. We had Rise of the Triad running in the background on various people's computers, but the funny part of this for me was when Tom got into the offices and looked at one of the computers, the rather distintive sound of a ROTT multiplayer game came up. Tom yelled out in a rather dejected sounding voice "50 KILLS!" - he had set the game's kill total to 50, so the game ended. This compltely ruined his "crazed undercover news reporter" thing and we had to shoot the video again. This was never released, unfortunately - and is lost to the ages. I tried finding this a few years ago to release, but no one knows if it's even around anymore. Shame, as it was pretty darned funny.

Also as a side story to this, the story of losing to an inanimate object in ROTT deathmatch comes to mind. Back then, ROTT had a record for allowing 11 people to play at once in a deathmatch game. Doom was the king of deathmatch, but it was limited with the number of players. With all due respect to Spinal Tap, Rott "Went to 11", and when we were testing deathmatch we didn't always have that many people to play. So we'd fire up ROTT on other computers, and stick down the fire button, so that player would at least be doing something, if not actually "playing". The sad part of this is that we used coffee cups on a lot of the computer keyboards to wedge down the fire button. More than once, one of the coffee cups managed to win the game. I've been accused of not being very good at deathmatch games, but losing to a friggin coffee cup is rather embarrassing.

During a voice recording session for Duke Nukem Forever in 2001.

Mt. Xenophage

Back before I started working here (and right when I did), we used to take our own 1-800 phone calls for orders. Back then we had a guy working for us who took orders named Jason Reed. When we put Xenophage on sale, like every other title we sold, we got a bunch of stock to sell. Jason went and sat on top of the pile of Xenophage boxes, and we took his picture up there. For some reason the image of this picture has stuck in my mind over the years, and it's come to be known as "Mount Xenophage". We ended up using this picture as a Camera Captioning Contest entry back in 1997. The memory remained, as some years later in 2002, we recreated the picture with Bryan Turner on a pile of boxes.

Blackburn on the log

We haven't done this in ages, but from time to time we used to go out collectively as a company and do something outdoors. One day many a moon ago we had rented (or just took over, I can't remember) a park in Garland where we had our own private BBQ. The majority of the company came, and we had a great time playing volleyball, having a cookout, and just generally hanging out.

After awhile we started exploring the grounds behind the picnic area in the park, and ran across a creek with a big tree that had fallen over it forming a bridge to the other side. Since it looked pretty unsafe, it instantly became a dare as to who would have enough balls to cross the thing. Funny thing was that the daughter of one of our employees was the most nimble, going across it like there was nothing to worry about. Some of us tried it but without as much aplomb.

Eventually, Steve Blackburn crossed over, got to the other side, and the got stuck there. He apparently was afraid to come back either because of abuse he was taking, or he just got scared of crossing - don't remember that now. Anyway, this prompted mass taunting and abuse from the others here, particularly Scott & George, who were calling him several names I won't print here. Even the aforementioned kid ran up to him, stole his hat, and came back.

The climax to this story was when Scott Miller got out halfway on the tree, and started throwing things at Steve. No one was hurt, but damn were those of us watching this laughing our asses off. There's a picture of Scott tossing another tree branch at Steve online here. We haven't done anything like this in awhile, and I miss these kinds of company outings.

There's so many others, I could spend all day recounting stories. Some of the others I thought about using here were the story of when we shipped Max Payne, how Corrinne Yu loved to eat cereal in the lunchroom, the entire company going out to dinner to celebrate completing Duke Nukem 3D, Tom Hall's "Iced Tea, No Lemon, No Spoon", Mark Dochtermann's "Lookin' for some Hot Buns!", there's just too many, man!

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I'm gonna pass on this one. I think the folks in this series have already said way better what I could possibly do with this one. Check out the other entries in this series for that.

As Heinrich Krist during the video recording session for Rise of the Triad on Jan 22, 1994.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Well, I'm still here, so the "when you worked" doesn't apply. :) But my answer is the same as most people's. Money. Size. Scope. The industry is not what it was when I got hired. Gone are the days like that. There might be a few small independants around on the scale of the old days, but as a whole, the industry has gotten much larger, and much more expensive.

I've always said for years that this kind of thing would come, because there's always this drive from customers for the latest, the newest, the best graphics, etc, etc, etc. Companies that didn't move forward or just stayed at the current level they were at generally got left behind, and nobody wanted that. So the drive internally and externally to provide something bigger and better has gotten us where we are as an industry.

Game budgets are stupid huge, I often wonder how in the heck money can be made given how much these things cost (or so I'm told they cost, anyway). The days of things like Crystal Caves, Cosmo, or other games like that where you could have a team of at most two or three people doing everything, or in several cases one guy doing everything are dead, gone, buried, decomposed, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. The public won't allow that level of game anymore, unfortunately.

Packing Foreign Max Payne Orders - July 2001

We tried a couple of years ago to have a throwback game like that, which evoked memories of the past (this would be Duke Nukem Manhattan Project), but it sold poorly. My gut feeling is that we won't see any more of those old school kind of things from us, unfortunately. I could be completely wrong, but I don't think so.

Of course, "casual games" have their market too, and things like the games on Xbox Live Arcade on the 360 have proven to be rather popular. Plus there's other things like Gold Miner Vegas and things of that nature which aren't going to set the world on fire sales wise, but are darned entertaining games, so what the hell do I know? :)

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Well, I'm still here, so this doesn't apply at all.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Well, this sort of applies to me, as I do work here, but I don't "make games" in the classic sense of being a game developer. I've often thought about doing maps again. I have dabbled a bit with "Duke's Enormous Tool", as well as having several ideas for Prey levels, having played it a lot in the last few months. I might do something after the fact - we'll see if I have the time. :)

Scaring Bryan Turner & Nick Shaffner at DFW Airport on the way to E3 2001.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Not really. I'm pretty happy here, and the company has been pretty nice to me over the years. I guess the opportunity I was offered some time ago and did not take was a good one, so it's a "reverse missed opportunity". I was offered a job working for Dan Linton up in Massachussets at Software Creations. It would have been a pay increase as I recall, but I turned it down, because I am a creature of habit, and I didn't want to upset the apple cart and leave Apogee. Good move, as Software Creations ceased to exist within two years of that offer.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Let's see, since I can't say ROTT (ha), I'll go with Monster Bash, Wolfenstein 3D, Commander Keen, Death Rally, and Raptor. I liked all of our games for some reason or another, but these are my favorite "games", or old some special meaning to me. Keen 4 was the reason I got my first sound card - I was a PC Speaker person, but at my computer repair job I mentioned above, one of the test machines had an (original) Sound Blaster card in there, and I loved the extra sounds - so I ran out that night and bought my first sound card just to hear the cool sound and music in Keen 4. :)

Joe at his desk (holding Alf) on May 22, 2006.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Oh dear, there's way too many! I don't know where to begin. I am a fan of Sports games (baseball & football mostly), as well as open ended things like the Sims and GTA, and the like. Some other games I've enjoyed in the past are Unreal Tournaments, Quake 3 Arena, Doom, Monster Truck Madness 2, Big Rigs (just kidding), and .. there's just way too many.

I have a shelf full of games, a lot are there because I know someone from another company who worked on it. A lot of old friends of mine from other companies (Joe Selinske, Levelord, Jim Dose, etc) are people whose games I like to have on my shelf, it makes me feel good. Also seeing all those games by friends reminds me of how lucky I am to be in this industry and to have survived as long as I have. Granted, my not being a formal game developer has a lot to do with it I'm sure (not the same pressures and issues), but so many of my friends have bounced all over the place, and several aren't even in the industry anymore. It's probably silly, but I like seeing my friends work on my bookshelf.

But for things I truly enoy from other companies, I'd say the ones in the first paragraph, plus Animal Crossing. I wasted a lot of time on that one, and I can't wait for Animal Crossing Wii. :)

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Thanks for buying our games over the years and keeping me employed. ;)

Thanks to myself for doing the entry. :) Yeah, this is the bit where I usually thank the person doing the interview, so how do I thank myself here? The series is winding down, there's only a few left, so make sure and stick around for the finale of the series. Here's a few pages about myself or other things I've done.

• My bio page here
• Our Rise of the Triad Catalog Page
• My Page on Wikipedia
• My Page on imdb.com
• My Blog
• My Black Sabbath Fan Site
• My Texas Rangers Fan Site
• My Anti Dallas Cowboys Fan Site

Another thing I'm proud of in having done this series is getting a lot of other games released as freeware. Given this was my own entry, and my stuff is either still available for sale (ROTT), or is freeware (EROTT), I decided to look into the past and see what obscure thing I could get released. Found one. Some time ago we released an addon for Wolfenstein 3D called "The Wolfenstein 3D Super Upgrades". This package consisted of a boatload of extra levels for Wolf (over 800), a level editor, and a random level generator. This is pretty obscure, in fact, most people don't even know we sold this for awhile. But it's another step in my goal of getting everything we don't sell anymore released as freeware. You can download it from our downloads page in the Wolfenstein 3D section. Enjoy.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:42 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #19 - John Romero

Anyone that knows our company should also know the name John Romero. If you don't know him, you haven't been paying attention. His name as been attached to some of the most notorius games in our industry's past. Both with us (Commander Keen & Wolfenstein 3D), and not with us (Doom, Quake, Daikatana).

John has bounced around a bit since his id days. He's been involved with Ion Storm, Monkeystone, Majesco, Midway, amongst others. His name carries a lot of weight in our industry, so we were glad to have him participate in the series.

Enough of this lame introduction for someone who shouldn't need introducing anyway. :)

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Scott Miller had several of his games published through Big Blue Disk and had a monthly subscription to it. He saw one of my games, Pyramids of Egypt, on BBD and was really excited by it - seeing an opportunity for me to take the game, create additional levels, then publish it through Apogee Software.

Scott knew I worked at Softdisk and knew they filtered mail to make sure no one was trying to steal their programmers and artists. So he sent me about 4 letters in the mail, all of them pretending to be someone who played the game and wanted me to write them back for various reasons ("I think I found a bug, write me back!" or "Please write back - I'm 67 years old!"). The names were all different but the mailing address was the same on them all.

I didn't pick up on the duplicate mailing addresses until I was reading PC Games magazine and read an article about Scott and his Kroz games. At the end of the article was the address and I was thinking "I know that from somewhere. Where could it be from???" as my head slowly turned toward my wall where I had my prized fan mails. WTF!!??? I admit I went nuts. Mostly because my ego was instantly gibbed because I realized those weren't really fan mails they were just some guy trying to get me to contact him.

Well, I wrote Scott back and we got in touch and very quickly we settled on doing a trilogy of games for him titled "Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons". We worked day and night for 3 months and Apogee released the trilogy on December 14, 1990. If you want more detail the book Masters of DOOM does a good job with this part of the story.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Well I wasn't trying to moonlight while at Softdisk since I was really focused on my work there - Scott just provided an opportunity and I took it. Regarding why I didn't do a startup instead: before Softdisk I had already had two startup companies where I had about 17 published games between the both of them. I wanted a break from it for a little bit.

John Romero, recent vintage

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Apogee did a wonderful job getting the game out in front of people. Software Creations was a great tool in that respect. It was probably the biggest and best BBS back then, run by Dan Linton.

Apogee could have done a better job with taking orders in the early 90's by using their income from Wolfenstein 3D and buying a networked order-taking system instead of the "stacks of paper" system where operators took the phone orders, wrote the info down then entered all the orders into a computer at the end of the day. We had a talk with Scott about this and gave him some time to implement it but he didn't - that's why we self-published DOOM.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

I don't remember getting much creative feedback from Apogee because we were fairly experienced at game design and development - we just finished the game and handed it over.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

We wouldn't have signed a deal with Apogee back then if we couldn't have retained our IP. Besides, Apogee didn't pay for the development of our games - they gave us a $2,000 advance during Keen1-3 development but that was all for our entire relationship.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

id Software definitely benefited from retaining ownership. If you look at the time period from 1990-2005 you'll see that the Keen and Wolf3D properties have had sequels and made money for id and Activision.

John & Tom Hall during the Ion Storm days

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Yes and there have been sequels made. I don't doubt more will be made in the future.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

There are actually many fun stories about that time...but I'll bring one almost forgotten story up here.

I remember when I had discovered Raven Software in Madison, Wisconsin and gone over to meet with them and came back impressed with their team. I talked to the other 3 id guys and then Scott Miller (over the phone) and we both came up with a development budget that I could propose to Raven if they'd move over to PC game dev (they were Amiga guys) and license our Keen4-6 engine and make games for Apogee.

They declined the offer and one of their founders quit because he was upset with the decision.

Not 6 months later they had a deal for a PC game with EA and so we modified the Wolf3D tech and licensed it to them for Shadowcaster. Id saw no money from this engine license - the only time that had ever happened.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Did you know that I helped Human Head Studios become a company? I gave them $250,000 so they could leave Raven, get an office, buy computers, etc. and start making a game for me using Unreal tech.

Actually, most big publishers find and publish outside projects all the time. In fact, they are always on the lookout for unknown teams with talent because the cost is much cheaper especially when the studios are outside the USA.

Much rarer is having a developer (not publisher) help other developers with their businesses and game designs because most developers are always struggling to stay alive. Id Software was one of the first to do this (Raven, Valve, Parallax, Rogue, Ritual).

John at the Ion Storm Dallas offices.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Well, the PC gaming industry is much more mature. We were there at the very beginning of when the hardware was just starting to be something you could do smooth scrolling and animation like console systems (with a lot of tricks and fancy coding).

Nowadays the gaming world is all 3D thanks to Wolf3D, DOOM and Quake. The world has definitely changed since those days, each of those games forever altering the course of 3D game development.

Quake brought the world into high-speed full 3D games then Quake II brought 3D acceleration and color; everything since then has been icing on the cake.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Games! I'm currently on my 7th startup company and I've returned to the PC from five years of mobile games and then console games. And now I'm developing in the genre that I consider the future of PC games - MMOG. If you want to know exactly what games I've been working on you can simply check my MobyGames profile.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A!!

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

The only opportunity that I'm aware of was when Paul Neurath asked me to join him as his first employee at Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Technologies). I didn't take the offer because I had already planned on starting a company with my boss (Inside Out Software). If I had taken the offer at Blue Sky then an incredible amount of things would have been different. I'm glad I did what I did.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke Nukem 3D, hands down - I love that game so much it's crazy. I actually listened to the music from Duke 3D for about 5 years every day while I worked....THAT'S how much I loved the game (and music). It was such a fully featured and well done game - and it was truly the very last of its breed when it was released just before Quake hit the scene.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

My favorite OTHER games: Chrono Trigger, Resident Evil 4, World of Warcraft, Half Life 2.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

If you're a fan, there's a lot of pages out on the net about the games! And if you want to know what I'm up to just check out http://rome.ro. Over and out!

Of the games that John did with us, we still sell them all, so check out the links below. John is also a record holder with us - having the longest hair of any developer we've ever worked with. ;)

• Our History of Keen Page
• Our Keen Vorticons Catalog Page
• Our Keen Galaxy Catalog Page
• Our Wolfenstein 3D Catalog Page
• John Romero Page on Wikipedia
• John's Homepage
• John's a cartoon!

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:51 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #18 - Petri Jarvilehto

Our Legacy series marches on today with it's 18th entry in the fifth month. Today's edition is with with Petri Jarvilehto of Remedy Games. Petri has been involved with several games with Remedy and 3D Realms. The first one was a car racing game in 1996, called Death Rally (one of the final games under the old Apogee label). Remedy then went on to make the runaway hits "Max Payne", and "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne" that 3D Realms produced.

Petri has some interesting insight in that he worked with us under the old Apogee label, as wel as the 3D Realms label more recently. If you were a fan of Remedy and Petri's work, you'll want to read his interview, which he wrote a preface for:

[ Remedy has worked with Apogee both with the older shareware concept/label (Death Rally), as well as with the 3D Realms label (Max Payne games). Considering that this is a legacy interview I'll just focus on the older times :-)]

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Back in '95 when Remedy was starting, we did a quick demo of the racing game we wanted to create and sent that over to all of our publishing contacts. Apogee was looking like the best fit for the game, so we ended up signing the game with them.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

We were just starting up, so going on our own wasn't really an option.

Petri during motion capture sessions for Max Payne 2 in New York.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Not much. Getting GT Interactive involved and eventually having them handle the retail box sales and still retaining the direct shareware distribution was a really good combination at that time.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Death Rally definitely benefited immensely from having Scott and George involved. We were quite newbies at that point, so having people with their experience levels working with us made a big difference.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

IP rights can be incredibly valuable, and it's always fantastic if the developer can retain those rights. Developers who own their IP usually have even stronger motivation to create the best possible game out of it.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

Definitely.

Petri in Feb of 2006

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Well, as much as I would love to see Death Rally 3D (or DR 2), I don't think that'll ever happen. As to the Max Payne series, I definitely wish that we'll see a Max Payne 3.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Loads of stories. We did hide some of them as easter eggs in Max Payne 1 and 2 :-)

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

It's pretty risky, especially nowadays that the investments involved are so much larger.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The industry has changed vastly. Sometimes it feels like the industry in its current form was only begun in the early nineties, and everything operates on massively different scale nowadays. Production has changed from a bunch-of-guys-in-a-basement into massive almost movie-scale projects. Game design, code, pretty much every aspect of game development has seen radical changes in methodology and process.

In early 90's gaming was pretty much only something the nerds would do, whereas nowadays the mainstream acceptance is pretty much a given and game productions are high profile stuff that get a lot of visibility.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

We'll around the time of shipping Death Rally, Apogee re-branded into 3DR and shipped Duke Nukem 3D. We had a good development relationship going forward and created the Max Payne games (where again, the input from Scott and George was invaluable, especially on Max Payne 1). I worked as the Project Lead on Max1 and in the Lead Game Designer role on Max Payne 2.

More recently, Remedy is now developing the Alan Wake game series, and I'm leading the game design on those.

Death Rally Screenshot

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Still here, and no plans of leaving the industry. With the increased budgets and production capabilities, it's all just getting even more interesting.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Not really. I think we've always been pretty good at taking advantage of the most promising opportunities and the ones we haven't jumped on... well, usually there's been pretty solid reasons why they wouldn't have worked for us, so there's no point in second guessing them now.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Out of the older Apogee classics, Raptor is something that I really got a kick out of. Any arcade game where you're never supposed to let go of the fire button is ok in my book.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Nowadays, I'm finding myself playing more and more semi-obscure japanese RPG variants. Games like Disgaea or Fire Emblem series and so on. The most recent game that I found completely stunning was Shadow of the Colossus. The sheer audacity of the game design is fantastic (even if the control scheme is a bit borked ;).

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Not that much. We're grinding away with Alan Wake, and I'm really excited on how the game is shaping up. Can't really talk about it yet though.

Thanks to Petri for taking time out of his busy Alan Wake schedule to help out with the answers and some pictures. All of Remedy's games are still available for sale, so check out these pages (please not that 3DR no longer sells Max Payne 1 or 2).

• Our Death Rally Catalog Page
• Our Max Payne 1 Catalog Page
• Our Max Payne 2 Catalog Page
• Death Page in our Online Store
• Death Rally Homepage
• Death Rally Page on Wikipedia
• Max Payne Page on Wikipedia
• Max Payne 2 Page on Wikipedia

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:31 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #17 - Mark Randel

Mark Randel is the subject of our latest legacy Interview. Mark is one of the founders of and is the current CEO/Owner/President of Terminal Reality. Terminal Reality (or TRI) is another local gaming company here in the Dallas Metroplex. Their first game was published with us back in 1995, and that was "Terminal Velocity". Mark Randel came from Microsoft, and was one of the folks responsible for (at that time) the Microsoft Flight Simulator series. He took that knowledge and founded TRI. They have gone on to publish many games through many people, including the little known two sequels to Terminal Velocity (Fury3 and Hellbender) through Microsoft. They're also responsible for BloodRayne 1 & 2 as well as many other titles. For us they only did the one title, but it was an important one.

Terminal Velocity was also the launch of the 3D Realms brand name. As such, TRI had a lot of added pressure I'm sure in that it was the launch of our new "3D Games" brand. This branding was later continued with the Pinball Wizards line (of which we have a Legacy Interview pending for that too). However, TRI and Terminal Velocity was the first foray into this concept of branding. Of course, since then, the 3D Realms brand has been used almost exclusively, and has become the defacto name of the company, but back in 1994 when the idea was first originated, "3D Realms" was a gamble.

One other final note. This interview comes out on May 1, 2006. That's 11 years to the day that the original v1.0 of Terminal Velocity was released; happy birthday! Here's Mark's interview; enjoy!

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

We first came in contact with Apogee due to proximity; they were already well established in the area when we started up in the Dallas Metroplex.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

The potential for working with Apogee was really attractive: at that time they were the premier publisher for independent game studios trying to make it big in the industry.

Terminal Velocity Artwork

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

I think Apogee/3D Realms did a great job marketing Terminal Velocity. As is their policy even now, they were really careful with every aspect - from picking the title to positioning the logo on the box for maximum visibility. At the time when they started the 3D Realms brand, it was scary being the first title under it. Nobody knew it, and everybody knew Apogee. Nowadays, it is kinda the other way around.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Definitely the game was made better. We had a flexible schedule, which we ourselves finally pushed to get the game out the door. There were a lot of ideas that Scott & George had that in hindsight would have made the game even better, but we really wanted to get our first title shipped and probably rushed it out too quickly.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Of course, it is always better for the developer to retain full IP rights to its titles. It is not always possible in this day and age for many reasons. Very high development budgets often call for licensed properties such as movies, comic books, etc., so there is no way to own that yourself. Also, publishers see a lot of risk in taking on new IP, so they would like a cut of that if they are fronting the development money for it. We have always kept the license to our engine, which for us is very important.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

We have benefited from owning our IP and engine. It makes us more valuable as a company. Also, we are going to get into the engine licensing business starting with our full featured Infernal Engine for PSP. We have the first full development platform for the PSP, with radiosity lighting, physics, vehicles, indoor/outdoor rendering, streaming, etc., that we will be announcing formally soon.

Mark in 1999 at the Fly! Release Party

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

I would love for there to be a sequel of Terminal Velocity someday--if it made good sense. If everything were to come together - a great idea, funding, etc., then it would be really cool to work on again. Scott, George, care to fund Terminal Velocity II?!?!?!?

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Any interesting story during development of Terminal Velocity? Sure! He'll probably hate me for this, but Tom Hall was our producer at the time, and every time we went out for lunch, he would order "ice tea with no lemon and no spoon" every time to drink. I guess that little bit of eccentricity is what makes him a really creative individual.

Ed Note: There's a website about Tom's Iced Tea thing here.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

It's different for each developer. We're so completely focused on producing our own titles (especially moving into next-gen production) that we simply don't have the bandwidth. We are working with a few developers in various capacities on some unannounced projects right now.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The biggest difference from now and when we worked on Terminal Velocity was the budgets and team sizes. We made it with less than $500K with about 8 people, now it takes over ten times that amount of money and at least 5 times that many people.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

We've been busy making games for the past decade. We did the Monster Truck Madness series for Microsoft, The Fly! series, 4x4 EVO series and Nocturne for Gathering of Developers. We made the BloodRayne series a big hit for Majesco. We are currently finishing up Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run for Midway. Those are some of our highlights, and we have some new stuff in development as well...

Terminal Velocity Screenshot

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Sure, there are always missed opportunities--we passed on one development opportunity that went to another developer and wound up selling millions of copies. That's life. But there will be plenty more of them to miss in the future. You make the best decision you can at the time given the information you have, and use what you continue to learn to shape later decisions.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Other than what we released, we loved Duke Nukem, and are still waiting for Duke Nukem Forever.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Favorite games by other people? There are probably dozens - Katamari Damacy comes to mind. The new Prince of Persia series. GTA on the PSP is really fun. Ico, a long underappreciated PS2 game that everyone in this industry needs to play.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Checkout our website at http://www.terminalreality.com for a glimpse of what we are currently working on. And we always love to hear from our fans!

Thanks to Mark for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about the past. We still sell Terminal Velocity today, so you can check out these links below:

• Our Terminal Velocity Catalog Page
• Terminal Velocity Page in our Online Store
• Terminal Velocity FAQ by Adam Williamson
• Terminal Reality Homepage
• Terminal Velocity Page on Wikipedia
• A visit to TRI in 1999
• Fly! Release Party Info from 1999

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:27 PM

The Apogee Legacy #16 - Jason Blochowiak

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues on with an interview with Jason Blochowiak. Jason's company "Argo Games" was responsible for the 1996 title, "Xenophage" with us. In addition to Xenophage with us, Jason was also involved back with id Software in the day, and was a co-owner of id for awhile in 1991. Jason did sound code for id games back in the Keen/Wolf era, wrote code for Keen Dreams, etc. So his name should be familiar to fans of our company's Legacy titles.

Xenophage was our lone attempt to get into the fighting game market. Xenophage did bring a lot of firsts into this genre of game. We did try a second fighting game with someone else, but it was never released, so Xeno remains our lone entrant into this style of game. In fact, this interview is coming out at a very timely manner. On April 26, 1996, Xenophage v1.0 shareware was originally released. So this is the 10 year anniversary for Xenophage, and because of that, we also want to announce that we're releasing the full version of Xenophage as freeware to go along with this interview and the anniversary. Read through the interview to get the download link. The Xenophage freeware release also has another tie to our current product. The "Art Director" on Prey is Rowan Atalla, who was Jason's parter in Argo games. Rowan also did art on Xenophage; things have a tendency of coming full circle, don't they? :)

We thought last week's entry in the series by Peder Jungck was the longest in terms of words, but Jason's now holds that record. Jason talks at length about many of the sujects in the interview, including what he's done post Apogee. This is a very long, and very good interview, so make sure to check it out.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Well, I was around when the Id guys first got going - Jay Wilbur, John Carmack, and I were all living in the same house when Id started. After I left Softdisk, I worked with Id briefly (during the Keen 4-6 & Wolf 3D era) when they were working with Apogee. So that's how I got to know Scott, George, and other Apogee folks. Later on, when I decided to make a fighting game (ultimately titled Xenophage), I contacted them, and they showed interest in helping develop it, and publishing it.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

The fact that we all knew each other certainly helped, and Apogee's friendly style of doing business was also a plus. They were also successful enough to help out significantly with funding, which was important for our small studio.

By the way, Xeno was our first experience with "outsourcing" art - it's interesting to see more companies doing that sort of thing these days, and I see them experiencing the same set of issues that we ran into. We ultimately pulled all art production in-house to finish the game, but we wouldn't have been able to get the initial assets in place without the outsourcing effort, and we wouldn't have been able to get those without Apogee's help, both logistically and financially.

Box cover art for Xenophage

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

No, not that I can think of. Apogee's prominence in the shareware industry pretty much guaranteed broad exposure for any titles they released. Keep in mind that this was before the Internet had "gone wide" - it was pretty much only for researchers, academics, and students. So, shareware lived on Bulletin Board Systems (dedicated machines with banks of modems that you'd call into), and shareware catalogs. Because everyone knew Apogee as a premier shareware brand, any shareware releases were quickly disseminated from the original release points (equivalent to current "file mirroring"), and got large amounts of page space in the catalogs.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Definitely better. In retrospect, the biggest thing my studio (Argo Games) was lacking in was game design experience, and the guys at Apogee definitely pushed us in the right direction - if anything, we probably would've been better off listening more.

I go into a bit more detail later about this, but I've been hopping between game genres my entire career. This has a number of advantages, but it does sometimes mean that my understanding of a particular genre will be deeper at the end of making a game, rather than at the beginning, when the game is in the planning phase.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

As an independent developer, I'd say that it's definitely beneficial for the studio to retain the IP. Of course, the publishers generally have a different take, for fairly obvious reasons.

It seems that the conventional wisdom about this is that the publishers are taking the financial risk, so they should own any resulting IP. This completely ignores the much larger personal risks that people at smaller studios take. The days where everyone at a studio is a scruffy 20 year old, and the difference between the studio doing well or doing poorly means the difference between good beer or cheap beer - that's gone (well, at least for the majority of large-scale professional developers – see #13). Most of us now have mortgages and spouses, and quite a few of us have kids. Not to mention that doing games means working twice as hard for half the pay of other (albeit, far less interesting) jobs.

Of course, the exception to this is where the publisher brings the IP to the table in the first place - either something they developed internally (like, say, extending a franchise into a different genre), or a license that they're shopping to developers.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

It certainly leaves more options open. In the specific case of Xenophage, I don't think it will make a practical difference (see next question), but there are other back-catalog titles of mine where it might - and that's the important thing, that I have the choice, without having to negotiate to release rights with anyone.

Jason and his wife on vacation in Istanbul

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

We're probably not going to be seeing Xenophage II. I mean, it brought some stuff to PC fighting games that hadn't been seen there before - like the zooming playfield that let us have large, detailed character sprites. However, the game really missed striking the right nerve in the gaming public. There were a number of issues with the game, but I think the statement (from some random person on a message board somewhere) that sums up the public's reaction was the the fighters were "too big, and too weird."

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Sheesh, it's been almost ten years since Xeno got released, so I'm sure there's plenty of amusing stuff that I've completely forgotten.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Clearly the stakes are getting much bigger for front-line titles. The more money is involved, the more conservative people get. As with everything, there are a set of tradeoffs - people at smaller studios tend to be more devoted to getting it right, compared with "gameplay programmer #47" at the bigger places.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The biggest thing would have to be the money. Back in the day, 3-5 people could put out a front-line game in well under a year, with budgets that were in the low hundreds of thousands, if even that much. The last two projects I worked on before I left Midway had budgets that were, well, I'm not allowed to tell you the exact numbers, but both had 8 digits to the left of the decimal point.

Things are also more, well, deliberate. With bigger projects and more people, much more planning and logistics are required now. Everything was a lot more cavalier back then - it's been interesting watching the game industry go through the process of maturing.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

(Pardon the relative long-windedness here - more than two-thirds of my gaming career has been after Xenophage was published!)

Awhile after Xeno was released, I decided to try a somewhat different career path - I hadn't ever worked for a larger company, so I joined Midway at their Chicago studio.

I've been pretty happy that I've been able to work on so many different game genres - puzzle (Rescue Rover 2), platform (Keen), fps (Wolf3D), board (Hexxagon), trivia (Trivia Shell), fighting (Xenophage). I hadn't done any arcade games, though. So, after helping out on the tail-end of an arcade gun game (Carnevil), I led the programming effort on an arcade snowmobile racing game (Arctic Thunder). Arctic was a fun game with broad appeal, and it sold well, but the arcade industry in general was on its last legs, so Midway exited the arcade business, and focused entirely on home consoles.

After Arctic, our team pitched a number of concepts to management, and the one that stuck was what turned into "PsiOps - The Mindgate Conspiracy." It was definitely an interesting experience - although I had helped out the people porting Arctic to the PS2 and Xbox, I didn't really have any significant console programming experience. So, starting with a blank page and building a new cross-platform game/graphics engine and toolset for a genre I hadn't done before (3rd person action/adventure), on platforms I hadn't worked on before (PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube), recruiting, managing & directing a programming team larger than ever before (up to 20 programmers, at one point) was, well, to call it challenging would be an understatement. It was an intense few years, but I'm really proud of the game on a number of fronts.

Xenophage Screenshot

On the anal-retentive side, it's great that the game was so clean (actual professional tester quote - "It's really frustrating when your job is to break the game, but you can't.") that our QA costs were below 50% of the company average, and that we got quick approval from the console manufacturers.

On the "I made that" side, PsiOps garnered the highest aggregate review scores of any title developed internally at Midway, and the second highest of any title ever published by Midway. This at a time when management was really wanting to improve expectations about the quality of the console titles coming from the company.

On the "holy crap, we pulled it off" side, the programming staff started with one programmer (me), added a mix of a few industry vets, some folks with some game experience (but not necessarily a whole lot), and some complete gaming noobs who showed general promise, and came together as a team to make a game we are all proud of.

There is one Chicago restaurant's pizza, though, that none of us ever want to see again. Ever. Really. Not because it was bad, mind you, any food that you eat that much of during months of crunch – you’re just going to get sick of it.

Anyways, after PsiOps, I provided some initial technical direction on a new project ("John Woo's Stranglehold") for next-next-gen consoles, which looks to be on track to really capture the full essence of the cinematic experience of his action films, to a depth that gamers haven't seen before. It's a great team, doing some great stuff, but I'd been at Midway for 7 years, and I guess the 7-year itch set in, so I decided to move on.

So, p1mpage for my new venture: Monster Entertainment! My partners (who are finishing up their current gigs) and I are striking out on our own and starting a new studio. There are a number of factors that shape the culture of a work environment, and we have some very specific ideas about how to (and how not to!) build a studio that's functional, profitable, and a personally rewarding place to work for everyone involved.

Additionally, although the PsiOps engine was a decent enough piece of engineering, it was rooted in my understanding of the world (and software engineering) as of 4 years ago, and I've learned so much since then - it's great to be able to start over fresh, and build new tech that's clean, flexible, and poised to take advantage of the latest crop of PC and console hardware.

As a side benefit of building fresh tech, it's been great fun to brush up my graphics programming skills - even though, at the end of the day, writing HLSL code isn't all that incredibly different than writing VU1 code, and dealing with the PS2 DMA controller and VU1's limited memory looks a lot like dealing with the Cell SPE's "Local Storage." Despite the similarities, the increase in raw power that's available with the current crop of GPUs does make for some interesting possibilities - in particular, I think going for "photo-real" will become increasingly passe, and going beyond it will be a part of the visual branding process for studios.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Well, seeing as I am still making games, I'll reverse the question to "why are you still making games?" The answer is that it's still interesting to me. As I mentioned above, I'm very happy I've been able to avoid doing the same game over and over again. I've had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of hardware, software, and wetware. There's enough continuity of what making games is about, so I'm not totally bewildered as new cycles of hardware come along, but there are enough differences to keep things interesting.

I actually think there are a number of strong similarities between making games, and cooking (which is pretty much my only hobby). Both involve basic technical skills, without which you can't really do anything. They involve the psychology of the consumer. They require foundations in things people are comfortable with, but to be successful you need to introduce fresh elements, and keep evolving.

In the professional sense, for both heading a team or studio's programming effort, and heading a working kitchen, the skills you need to develop reach beyond craftwork. There's a certain magic required to transform a collection of different people, with different technical skills, different educational backgrounds, different levels of social skills, etc., into a functioning team that can deliver under intense pressure. Learning that magic is tricky, but interesting.

Xenophage Screenshot

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Well, buying more Midway stock when it was at $4.43 and selling it when it was at $23.73 would've been good, but aside from that, not really - I've been really fortunate to have all the opportunities I've had.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

I'd have to say Duke 3D. I hear there's a sequel being worked on, but it hasn’t come out yet.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Half-life 2 was pretty excellent. My first experiences with Steam weren't.

I've had a running love/hate relationship with the Civ series for quite awhile now. More love than hate, though.

Baldur's Gate II is definitely on the list.

Age of Empires III ate at least a couple weeks of my life recently.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?
Well, I'll take this occasion to ramble a little (more). The Chinese curse of "may you live in interesting times" definitely seems to apply to the game industry.

While AAA game budgets are skyrocketing to levels that frighten anyone with a calculator and a brain, it's also interesting that the actual barrier to entry for making simple games has gone to pretty close to nothing beyond having a PC of moderately recent vintage, and a willingness to learn & put some hard work in.

When I took a gander at the source code archive for Xeno, there were something like 20 variants of a routine to copy graphics rectangles around in different ways, all hand coded in assembly for speed. Now, even the cheapest graphics hardware handles all that, and tons more as well.

You can get an industrial grade C++ compiler for free, including a fairly comprehensive Integrated Development Environment, in the form of the Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition.

The DirectX SDK, by itself, includes a ton of code to springboard from (some of it good, some of it crap), and a bunch of free utilities that easily accomplish what experienced folks were tearing their hair out about not all that long ago. HLSL/Cg is much easier for most people to understand than the previous iterations of vertex and pixel shaders.

There are free image editors (and a bunch of free textures out there). Free modeling and rendering programs (and a bunch of free models). Free scripting languages (why anybody "invents" any more game scripting languages is really beyond my comprehension at this point). Free language parsers (Spirit is interesting to play with). XML can handle a bunch of things handily, and there are free XML parsers, processors, transformers, etc. Free audio compression/decompression - with Ogg Vorbis and OpenAL, I added streaming music/sfx to my new engine in less than a day. Now, granted, I’ve been doing this awhile, but that timeframe had more to do with ease of use than it had to do with experience.

So, with all this available, a determined programmer can put a game together without too much difficulty, and the only difference (albeit an important one) between what a solo amateur can do versus a seasoned team is cranking out professional content with the appropriate level of polish.

What does all this mean? Well, lower barriers to entry means more crap, but it also means that someone out there somewhere can make a little game, get it out there, and actually make money from it – just like back in the day.

A few words about the people in the pictures from Jason:

• Chris (Rhinehart) - Prey's project lead for Human Head. Fellow Lead Dog programmer with me on the freeware 33-hour insanity project "Duelling Minivans" and the followup "Super Duelling Minivans."
• Dave (Mueller) - At Midway, currently on the MK team, I believe. Worked at Argo after Xeno, before Midway. Currently has my Arctic Thunder arcade machine in his apartment (because none of the doorways in my house were big enough).
• Erika (Ersland) - Kristin's older sister.
• Jason - um, me.
• Kristin - my wife.
• Pat - my mom.
• Rowan (Atalla) - my best man - I believe his current credit is for art lead on Prey. Xeno was his first intro to non-traditional media. Clearly his mastery of the subject has improved with exposure - just take a look at Prey.

Thanks for Jason for writing such a good, long interview. Thanks also to him for allowing Xenophage to be released as freeware. Check out these various links below.

• Our Xenophage Catalog Page
• Full Freeware Release of Xenophage
• Xenophage FAQ by Doug Howell
• Monster Entertainment (Jason's current gig)

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #15 - Peder Jungck

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues on with an interview with Peder Jungck (pronounced 'junk'). Peder was responsible for the 1992 title, "Secret Agent" with us.

Secret Agent was Peder's only title with us. It was a cool little game that yours truly bought before he started working here all those years ago. :) Anyway, it's a game where you play Secret Agent 006 1/2 on a mission into the secret island fortress of the DVS. Secret Agent, along with Crystal Caves are believed to be the #1 & #2 record holders for time elapsed between original release and a maintenance patch release. For Secret Agent it was just about 14 years between it coming out, and us releasing a patch for it in October of 2005.

Peder is no longer making games, and was a little harder to track down than most of the folks for this series, but we're glad we did. We haven't spoken with Peder in several years, and as you will find out by reading his interview below, he was more than happy to contribute. In fact, Peder wrote probably the longest entry in terms of words for the series. It's a great read, covering all kinds of stuff.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

In the late 80's I wrote a graphics package for the Zenith-100 (pre-PC & EGA days) that was used for many of my early games on that platform. When the EGA video adapters started driving decent graphics in the PC I ported my libraries and developed a commercial product called the ProGraphx Toolbox. I advertised these tools in Programmer's Journal and wrote several articles on graphics programming. George Broussard was running MicroFX and had purchased the ProGraphx Toolbox and contacted me about doing some enhacements to the library. As it turned out, I had just recently moved from Chicago to Arlington Texas, not too far from George in Garland. We got together one day at a Chili's to discuss the requirements and it grew from there.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

I had developed games ever since I was 10 on platforms like the Commodore Pet & VIC-20, Apple II & Mac and Zenith-100. I had my own companies, published through bigger companies and at times worked with small incredibly talented teams. Having experienced some of each I have come to the conclusion that the best things happen when you find a group of incredibly talented people driven with a vision. George and Apogee were just such a group. When you meet great people with vision, your decision is not about some calculated move of which company but rather one of excitement and fulfillment of goals. So, if I were to place one reason of why Apogee, it was all about the team.

Title screen for Secret Agent

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

I had a great experience with Apogee and thier ability to market. In the days of bulletin boards and emergence of Shareware in packaging at the computer stores I felt like my game was in front its target audience. Within the first few months the sales started ramping up and response was positive. Secret Agent did very well in its first year and if there were anything they could have done better, it would have been to kick my tail to have gotten it out a lot sooner as it was on the tail end of the side scroller generation. In actuality, without the marketing genius of Apogee to develop the 3 episode shareware approach where episode 1 was free and 2 & 3 cost money shareware marketing was a bust. Additionally, the development of cheat codes in every game with access only through purchase made it as captivating as an infomercial today. Apogee had the best marketing in the shareware gaming space hands down.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Definitely a better product. Apogee drove the quality of the game play, pushed for high quality graphics and did extensive quality assurance testing to ensure compatibility and in those days completability of the game. We found issues where certain EGA cards didn't pan thier graphics smoothly and had to make modifications to support each. Apogee brought in artists to do opening cover art and upgraded the icon and pixel graphics for smooth character movements. Apogee invested in each developer and each product extensively in a tight relationship more so than the publishers of the day.

Peder in 1992

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

I do believe that it is important for game developers to retain rights to thier work. In many ways this is an art and one does not want to constrain an artist. That said I think that the IP rights issue in the early days was a bit different than it is today. For one, the product was often created by an individual or a small team. Today, it often can take dozens or even more than a 100 for big title. Second, gaming has become big business and as such intellectual property protection, lawsuits, cross-promotion deals and branding is expensive. I think that an individual won't be able to fully maximize the potential of thier intellectual property value today as they did then. I believe that the choices by Apogee in the early days of PC gaming was the right choice and part of thier success. I am not sure that I believe that this is the best choice today for either the publishers or designers.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

I have benefited in two ways. First, it brings a peace of mind. I have often thought of playing with the software to experiment with gaming on other platforms. I know this code (although not well anymore) so it always seems easier to take an existing code base to try something rather than start from scratch and know that you are potentially violating an agreement. The second way is that I have watched the resurgence of casual gaming on devices like PDA's and cell phones. I truly believe there is an opportunity for the revitalization of the Apogee phenominon that occurred pre-3D on portable devices. Having a say in this option is valuable.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Sure, if not we close the door and every great trilogy needs to leave the door open. On the PC, I would doubt it unless it was written by one of my sons and fortunately that's not too far out of the question. If there is, I would see it on a cell phone. Besides that is more Secret Agent 006 1/2's size. :>

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

While I recall many long nights on the phone and transferring files and bug lists it was the social times that are most memorable. Being a car guy, I must say that high end cars have always been a big motivation in life. I recall meeting with George driving my 4-cylinder mustang and he had an old camaro. One day as things were starting to pick up for Apogee and George tempting me with the fruits I would see when my game shipped, he showed up with a bright red Acura NSX. Mind you in the early 90's in the wake of depressing cars from the big 3, this was an almost iconic vehicle. There is no low end version of an NSX, it was pure race technology design from the ground up. Getting to drive that car provided a memory I will never forget and it drove me to finish my game fast. Net result, spend most of my first few months sales on my Saleen Mustang and a 1966 Mustang painted to match. Every time I see an NSX I think of Apogee even today.

Secret Agent Screenshot

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I think that to be successful at this the business leaders need to be gamers, passionate, involved and savvy business people all in one. This is a rare combination to find in a small group of individuals. It also needs to be part of the culture from day one. Apogee was a special place that resulted in special products.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Shortly after my Secret Agent days with Apogee, I went from building games on the side to doing gaming for full-time business. TerraGlyph Interactive, a CD-ROM edutainment company I helped start, was one of the first of the big business venture capital based mega game companies. In a matter of a few years in the 90's, the scale of titles went from a few developers over the course of a year to a title I directed and produced, Beowulf, had over 200 people-years of effort to product and millions of dollars. I have heard that the gaming industry is driving more revenue than movies in some categories and the technology required to develop has become increasingly complex. Just like the Internet has gone from a government and university experiment to the change of a culture, gaming has gone from its small text based adventures to massively multiplayer games that are leading to online dating and marriage. This is a night and day difference, however, deep inside these organizations, there is still the passionate gamers spending late hours coding and drinking Mountain Dew. That is the industry I miss and still look for because it contains the heart of what will always keep gaming on the top of the entertainment charts.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Building and playing games was a passion as a kid and a sideline through college and afterwards bringing in lots of enjoyment and money for college bills and cars. After Apogee I published a book on gaming, Graphics Programming and Animation, that was one of the first for PC gaming that was very successful for me. I then went into gaming full-time for the first time ever with TerraGlyph that ran for 3 years before the big game systems and Internet revolution changed gaming from CD-ROM onto its next phase. TerraGlyph got me hooked on big Venture backed startups in my home turf of networking and high end computing. I have continued to do startups since 1997 running a IT Consulting and Systems Integration house in Chicago, taking the role of CTO at yesmail.com which we took public in 1999 and then starting CloudShield Technologies in 2000 which develops supercomputers for the network that are sold to the service providers and government. I spend most of my time solving multigigabit problems for processing applications such as VoIP and Security on the Internet.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Sure. Once a gamer, always a gamer and every time something new comes up you can't help but think of the good times. Ideas continuously pop up that makes me think about how to find the time to do just one more foray into gaming. I gotta tell you, mobile phone look just like an old 286 with EGA to me perfect for those old side scrollers. Maybe I could use this forum to announce Secret Agent for Windows Mobile?

Secret Agent Screenshot

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Sure. I watched the 3D events unfold before my eyes and even had an engine built in 93 that if I had jumped on could have done well. Do I have regrets, no way. The real-time programming and detailed hardware knowledge I learned in bit blasting the EGA/VGA gave me an understanding of computing that has formed a basis of what I do today. In many ways we all make decisions that we can never be sure of the alternatives, however, I am happy with the outcome and to have been part of Apogee during some magical years.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

I must admit that Duke Nukem titles were always my favorites. Even the side scrollers before the 3D. They were easy to jump into and just have a great time blasting away.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

As I said earlier, I like cars and as such car games are some of my favorites that I go back to over the years. Twisted Metal on the Playstation, Rage Racer and now Need for Speed Underground for the PSP have gotta be at the top of the list.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Apogee is one of the few gaming companies still around which embodies the true essence of what gaming companies are all about. I just would like to thank the devoted followers of Apogee, Secret Agent and the titles I provided graphics engines for. In the world of mega gaming companies supporting independent player such as Apogee is what will keep the big guys honest and the game quality highest possible. Some day in the future, I hope to return to the gaming world in a more active fashion and its great time spent remember the early days.

Thanks again to Peder for helping out. We still sell his game almost 15 years later, and it's a cool fun game, so check it out with the links below:

• Our Secret Agent Catalog Page
• Shareware Episode of Secret Agent
• Secret Agent Page in our Online Store
• Wikipedia Entry for Secret Agent
• Cloudshield Technologies (where Peder works now)

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #14 - Scott Host

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues on with an interview with Scott Host. Scott was involved with us on two games, although only one of them was released.

The first was Apogee's only attempt at an RPG game, one called "The Second Sword" based on the old Shadowcaster engine from id Software. It never got very far, though and was abandoned. Scott did do a game that is more well known to Apogee fans, that being "Raptor: Call of the Shadows". Raptor was a scrolling shooter game much in the vein of Scott's own independant game Galactix. It was a big hit for us and Scott back in 1994, and it's following continues today.

Scott was a local developer. His company at the time (Cygnus Software) was based in the same building that id Software was while they were working on Doom and Doom II. Scott has returned to his roots from his pre-Apogee days and is an independant developer again operating under the name "Mountain King Studios".

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

As far as I remember, Scott Miller sent me a letter after seeing a game I made called Galactix and so I called him. We made a deal to make a 3D RPG game Called "Second Sword". Which we stopped working on to make "Raptor".

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Well at the time in shareware Apogee was "the shit" so there was no real other choice. At the time I was selling my game "Galactix" and it was a pain in the butt.

Raptor Manual Artwork

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Higher level of Marketing towards the Pygmies on the isle of Zoot. They only have 1 pc but damn there is millions of them little buggers.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Better. Though it was difficult to have an outside source commenting on the making of "Raptor", I look back and think of that as a good thing.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

I think its better, at least for me it was. ( more under next question )

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

It was good for me because we stil sell "Raptor" today ( ported to windows ) and it is still selling after all these years on www.mking.com ( << can i do that hehe ? ) [ Ed Note: Sure, but remember we still sell the original version, too. hehe :) ]

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

YES !

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Playing PaintBall and The Pygmy thing but since I dont want to be cursed by the Chief Of Zoot again, I shall not discuss this.

Scott after a Jimmy Buffett concert

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I think today at least they do not want to take the chance because its so easy these days to make something that looks good but is no fun. It seems in the past, alot of publishers where putting out anything that "looked good" but didn't sell.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Shareware was new so it was easier to make something small that had a big impact.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

I moved back to Chicago ( where Im from ) and renamed my Company to "Mountain King Studios". To this day, I am still making shareware games and now selling them too. My Girlfriend Nadeya moved in with me and we play "Worlds Of Warcraft" together alot. For the last 2 years I have been working on not a game, but a "paint/animation" program which will hopefully be done soon.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

Title screen for Raptor when it was known as "Mercenary 2029"

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Not really. I wish I didn't try making an RPG 3 times in the last ten years. I put alot of time in trying to make the games yet they never got done, but it was fun trying.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke Nukem 3D and Wolfenstein.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

I like so many games, I will just name the ones I put the most time in playing... Origins Ultimas ( all ) WarCraft 2 StarCraft Elite Force

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

This ain't no dinosaur game!

Thanks again to Scott for helping out. Raptor had one unique thing in it's release date, it was put out on April 1st, 1994. At the time, most people didn't believe we were actually going to do that, they thought it was a joke. Since then, we've released a few other things on April 1st - each time most people don't believe it's actually happening. :)

• Our Raptor Catalog Page
• Shareware Episode of Raptor
• Wikipedia Entry for Raptor
• Mountain King Studios Website
• Scott's rendition of the Apogee Theme Song (details)

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #13 - Andy Edwardson

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues on with an interview with Andy Edwardson. Andy did one title with us, a racing game back in 1994, called "Wacky Wheels". This game continues to have quite a following to this day, and was one that has been remembered quite fondly.

Andy was one of our overseas developers, he's from the UK, and back in 1994, it meant getting builds was a little more adventersome (and slow) than it is today in the land of the Internet and broadband connections. Wacky Wheels was also one of the first games to include a "Dopefish Cameo", something that has become somewhat accepted when a game is made by someone who was involved from back in the the day. :)

Andy is no longer in the game industry, but once he was tracked down, he was quite happy to contribute to our series.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

It is a bit hazy but I guess it was about 1992/93. Scott Miller contacted my partner Shaun Gadalla, who did the graphics for Wacky Wheels , and expressed an interest in taking the game on.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

In our opinion Apogee was the top shareware company and the commerical outfits did not think that arcade games on the PC had any future. Wolf really showed that anything was possible. Plus Scott is a great sales guy as well ;)

Wacky Wheels Manual Artwork

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Well I doubt it had anything to do with Apogee but the really annoying thing for me was that I wanted to see our game in regular stores. I used to get really mad when I saw other titles in the shops but never ours. Apparently Formgen had plans to make it retail but it never seemed to happen.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Better.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Not sure if IP meant much back then to us. My gut feeling though is that the creator should retain the rights to the IP but then again I find it hard not to be on the fence on this subject. Surely it all depends how much the publisher has invested in it as well.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

I guess we own the IP but I cannot think of any real benefit.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

I doubt it. There has been a few times I thought about it but not as much these days.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Seeing a framed cover of our game in your offices in Garland next to all the classics you had brought out. That was a cool moment. Oh and going to George's house and meeting his Shark. Originally the Shark in Wacky Wheels was called "Bubbles". George told me that it was a bit of a sissy name for a Shark. I renamed him to Razer because of that.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

My perception has always been that Apogee/3d Realms are a kind of mini publisher/developer hybrid. I am not so sure that other studios would feel as comfortable doing this. Like you say, you have been doing this forever, and it works for you.

Wacky Wheels Screenshot with Dopefish Cameo

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The sense of adventure back then was really great. It was a magic time. The industry seems much more formulaic today and kind of sterile in a lot of ways.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Well it's been over ten years now and a lot of stuff has happened. As far as my professional life goes I have been writig lots of software and hoping for that magic to return again :)

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

I do not make games anymore but I design and architect software for education. I find that my old games experience comes in handy. As far as returning to the industry , I doubt anybody would have me!!!

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

I wish we had joined Apogee earlier on. A little known fact is that we had a game cancelled by Apogee. It does not appear in the FAQ but it was called Prime Time Warrior. Anyway shortly aftert that we where asked to come over and work for you guys. I kind of regret not doing that.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Monster Bash. I loved that game to bits.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Doom & Pac-Man.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Remember Kids Wacky Wheels is only a simulation. Don't drive like that in real life.

Thanks again to Andy for agreeing to contribute. Wacky Wheels was one of the more fun games in development for me personally in my time here at Apogee. There is more to the Wacky Wheels Story as well. A few years back Andy wrote some text about Wacky Wheels' development for the Apogee FAQ. I'm going to include that text here as well, but before you read that, check out these Wacky Wheels links:

• Our Wacky Wheels Catalog Page
• Shareware Episode of Wacky Wheels
• Wikipedia Entry for Wacky Wheels

Andy Edwardson's History of Wacky Wheels (as it appears in the Apogee FAQ):

Back in 1993, we were doing some low budget stuff for a Belgium outfit called Copysoft. I got fed up with the meager work, so I decided to work on a game engine in my spare time. I figured that the PC could do the mode7 stuff that the Super Nintendo was doing. I could not find any references for it, so I just studied Mario Kart and tried to figure out how it worked. I had a prototype engine up in about a week that did the floor painting and the rotation stuff. After that, I worked on it for a few more months, and Shaun Gadalla did artwork for it, and it started to get pretty solid. I showed it to the Copysoft crew, and they were quite excited and put a few screenshots of it on Compuserve. The problem was, we hadn't come to any commercial agreement with the company, and it was not a sure thing that they would get the game. Scott Miller, Apogee's president, happened to come across the screenshots and contacted Copysoft, and then we got into a fight with Copysoft over royalties, should Apogee end up distributing the game. I had made an unfortunate mistake -- I had included the C++ source code on the demo disk we left with them.

Shaun contacted Scott, and we came to an agreement. Shaun and I agreed to pay back what CopySoft had given us for equipment and so forth.

Development went on. When we went into beta we thought we would be out of there in a few weeks. However, when we got in there it was apparent that we needed more features. Beta was really important for me. If I had not listened to those testers, the game would not have been what it is. Most of the ideas came from us, but they kept the pressure up. It would have been too easy to sit on our hands and think what we were doing was best. The testers kept me on my toes, and, best of all, they told the truth. Another thing was Joe Siegler. I hate to admit this, but I didn't understand why he was so blunt all the time. I was so wrapped up in myself and becoming a bit of a pre-madonna. It was only later that I realized Joe was just being honest with us and trying to help us make the best game possible. I think Joe symbolizes what Apogee is; he works so hard all the time, and he practically lives there. At any rate, at one point I wanted to make amends with him. I knew he was into Dopefish, so I asked if we could put the fish in as a cameo. We discussed how it might work, and he sent me some stills and a collection of belches that he had recorded when he sat down one night with a microphone and a two liter bottle of Diet Coke. I picked one of them, but I think that Joe would have preferred it if I had picked one of the louder ones he sent me!

Because Doom had introduced the concept of modem play, the beta testers wanted it. Despite popular belief, Rise of the Triad did not introduce Remote Ridicule -- Wacky Wheels had it first. Rise of the Triad did take it one step further by allowing you to type messages to each other. At any rate, modem play really made my head spin. I never realised how unreliable packets were until I did the multiplayer engine. My hat goes off to John Carmack for his net play engine. To make matters worse, I was working at Shaun's place, and his phone lines were awful. But it did make the protocol really robust!

The music in Wacky Wheels was really lacking, and George Broussard said we needed more tunes. Jim Dose had just been hired at Apogee, and he had a terrific sound engine. We ripped out the old one and put his in. Jim also put us in touch with Mark Klem, and I would spend hours on the phone with him listening to his music. I really love the stuff he did, and I really should contact him for old time's sake.

As testing went on, I got more and more worried that, in the wake of Doom, all gameplayers wanted now was blood and guts, and Wacky Wheels wasn't about that. But we kept going, and I was determined to make it work. Anything the beta testers wanted, they got, except for the rear view mirror suggestion they kept plugging for. I didn't think it lent anything to the game, and it would have meant rendering another 3D view in another little window.

One memorable moment for us was when Shaun and I flew over to Texas, and we went to see George and Scott at the Apogee offices. I will never forget going into and seeing the pictures on the wall. They had the cover art for each of their games in a frame. Wacky Wheels was next to Wolfenstein 3D. That was an incredible moment in my life -- to be anywhere near associated with one of the greatest games of all time was neat to say the least. We went out to dinner with George and Scott, then visited their houses. (George had this bloody great big shark in a tank!) We got to talking about games, and George showed us Pitfall and asked if we could do anything like that. After Wacky Wheels, we did a test engine for them, but they were moving into the 3D market by then, and we didn't have anything to offer in that area at the time.

Anyway, we finally cracked the modem play, and it had one final round in beta testing. Joe Siegler gave it a good test, and he was happy with it. So it was finally ready to ship.

Then the bombshell hit us. Scott faxed us that Skunny Kart, a game from Copysoft that used my engine, had hit Compuserve. My heart sank. The only saving grace was that it was not all that similar to Wacky Wheels, and there was quite a legal wrangle over it all.

I was so angry, and it took all of Shaun's resolve to stop me from acting rashly. There was no way Copysoft had the ability to write an engine like that from scratch. In a perverse way, it taught me a valuable lesson. I was very hurt by it all, and it still bothers me to this day. In hindsight we were very stupid and should have known better.

If I could turn the clock back and make Wacky Wheels violent, full of blood and gore would I? Nah. It was fun, and kids big and small can enjoy it.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:38 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #12 - Mike Maynard

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series finishes up it's third month with an entry from Mike Maynard. Mike and his group ("Jam Productions") put out two games through us. The first was released on Dec 3, 1993, and was titled "Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold". The second was put out on Oct 28, 1994 and was titled "Planet Strike: A Blake Stone Adventure".

Mike was one of the three guys who made up "Jam Productions", and had the arduous task of working on the first 3D action game by us in the post Wolfenstein 3D era. Blake Stone had many firsts in 3D gaming, one of which was the rather common practice of NPC's, or "Non Player Characters". These were characters that would give you helpful information, so just going in and shooting everything you see was not the way to go here. Some other novelties in Blake Stone was the fact that you could go backwards to levels you already had visited. In some cases this was necessary to unlock certain locked areas in upper levels.

Planet Strike was also novel in our company history, as it was the first time we ever put out a game in the retail channel directly. Later on, some of our earlier games ended up there, but Planet Strike was our first ever foray into the arena of "Hey, pay attention to my box on the store shelf!" (that's why there's a woman on Planet Strike's cover art when there was no woman in the game at all).

Anyway, Mike has continued to stay active in the gaming industry since his time with Apogee in 1994. He's worked at such gaming companies as 7th Level, Ion Storm, Third Law Interactive, TKO Software, and is currently employed at id Software. Read on to hear what Mike has to say about his time with us (now 13 years ago).

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

The JAM team in 1993 (Mike's on the left)

In 1990, I worked at Softdisk Publishing in Shreveport, LA. It was a very interesting time because all the original guys that ultimately formed id Software also worked at Softdisk. Of course they ultimately left to form id and work with Apogee on the Commander Keen series and eventually Wolfenstien. With the success of Wolfenstien, Apogee wanted more games using that technology. John Romero recommended a friend (Jim Row) and me to Apogee and we signed a deal to create the shareware version of Blake Stone.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

We weren't necessarily shopping game ideas to different publishers and we certainly couldn't fund ourselves. (However, we did create a side-scrolling, space-themed shooter for the Amiga in our spare time called Outpost 13. We ended up selling it to Compute! magazine for $1000! woohoo!.)

Apogee was looking for a team to create a game using id's Wolfenstein technology. We had experience making games and had worked with id's previous technologies.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

At the time, Apogee did several things to market their games. The most cost-effective was to send nice, color fliers to previous buyers of their games. For instance, anyone that bought Wolfenstien 3d was sure to get the advertising flier since they were similar games (FPS, using Wolf 3d technology). I believe they also included fliers with actual products that people bought, too. They also placed general 'Apogee' ads in magazines that listed several games so the cost of the ad could be spread over several products. We were fairly pleased with all of these methods.

Mike in 1992 before Blake Stone development started

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

They made certain areas of the gameplay better by taking out monotonous gameplay (for example: traversing back and forth through various floors of the buildings) and adding bosses throughout the game to give the game intermediate goals. However, these changes (and others) were made fairly late in the development cycle which actually delayed the release a bit. I really don't remember a lot of input or even a need to see the game on a regular basis until at least 12 months of development. While that made for 'no-hassle' development I think it hurt us in the end.

Considering Blake Stone was released one week before another little game called DOOM, that delay pretty much sealed our fate. We had decent pre-orders and the first couple of months were pretty good but sales dropped pretty quickly. Had we gotten more input from Apogee earlier on in the development process I think we could've released the game 3-4 months earlier than we did.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

You could argue either way on this topic. Since I'm not a publisher, I'll go with the argument that the developer should retain all IP rights.

Simply put, a publisher isn't going to fund a project that they think won't make them a reasonable profit. So whatever they fund (whether they own the IP or not) they're betting that the game will make them money.

If they own the IP and the project fails, the IP is worthless so it doesn't matter who owns it. If they DON'T own the IP and the project is a success, they'll still make money (and profit) on the HUGE percentage of royalties they'll get from that project. So a publisher taking ownership of a developer's idea is purely for control and greed.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?
5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

We did the sequel to Blake Stone shortly after it was released; it was called Planet Strike and published by FormGen. :)

As far as a sequel with up-to-date technology, I doubt it. I've talked to people that think a new game (FPS or otherwise) based on the Blake Stone IP would be cool. However, the IP alone wouldn't attract more than a handful of old-school gamers. Any new Blake Stone game would pretty much have to reinvent the IP and stand on its own.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Blake Stone Artwork

There's nothing that really stands out but some details about development include:

• After a couple months of dealing with art problems Apogee was generous to increase our monthly funding so we could bring in a full-time artist, Jerry Jones.
• Dr. Pyrus Goldfire was originally called Dr. Goldstern. One person sent an email to Apogee complaining about how the name "Goldstern" portrayed Jewish people as evil. So we had to change the name.
• Joe Siegler sent an email on Thanksgiving Day saying that the version we uploaded for testing didn't work. So I went up to the freezing office and uploaded a new version of the game. I ended up calling the management at his house bitching about the lack of heat in the building.
• Some people (bank tellers n such) would ask us if JAM Productions was a music company. JAM was Jim And Mike.
• The game was so successful at one point we were making $1 million a month. .. Oh wait, that was Doom. Nevermind. haha

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

It has to be money. Otherwise, every studio would be working with external teams and try to become the next EA or Activision. I know at Third Law Interactive and TKO Software / Dallas, we were happy just to get projects for the internal teams to work on. Working with external teams was the last thing on our minds.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Everything associated with making games has gotten bigger.

• The size of the development team - While JAM Productions did contract out music and a small amount of art, the majority of the game was created by 2 programmers and 1 artist. We did our primary jobs (programming and art) as well as game design, level design, business matters, production, and publisher relations.
• The budget needed to create the game - JAM's total budget for Blake Stone (18 months development time) could barely pay for a small team of, say, 12 people for 1 month. If you're licensing a quality engine, be prepared to spend the salary of several quality people.
• The technology needed to compete against other games - The technology used in today's AAA games are much more impressive and more complex than when we created Blake Stone. And that doesn't just pertain to the graphics engine. Other things like AI, physics, networking, and animations have become much more complex.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Planet Strike Artwork

Making video games, of course! Ask me in another 12 years and the answer will be the same; that is unless I'm able to get my PGA Tour card! ;)

Here's a quick rundown of companies and games (newest to oldest):

ID SOFTWARE
<< wouldn't you like to know >>

TKO SOFTWARE
Call of Duty (Nokia NGage)
Leisure Suit Larry (Nokia NGage)
Ms Pacman: Maze Madness (PS2 / PC)

PARADIGM ENTERTAINMENT
Terminator 3: Redemption (PS2 / XBOX)

THIRD LAW INTERACTIVE
KISS: Psycho Circus (PC)
Aliens vs Predator 2: Primal Hunt (PC)
NOLF: Game of the Year Edition (PC)
WWII: Normandy (PC)
WWII: Iwo Jima (PC)
Minigolf Megaworld / Minigolf Master 2 (PC)

ION STORM
Daikatana (PC)

7TH LEVEL
Return To Krondor (PC)

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

I had the chance to join id Software early on but I was already knee-deep into JAM Productions and Blake Stone. I'm not the kind of person that just quits something I've started unless I'm really forced to. I wanted to finish Blake Stone and try to grow JAM into something cool. Besides, I finally got the chance to work at id Software again (been there about 6 months now) and I'm excited about helping them create their next generation of games!

Even still, the companies I've worked with has allowed me to interact with a lot of talented people and different technologies. But mostly, I really like the fact that I've been able to work on many different genres of games including: First Person Shooters, Real-time Strategy, Third Person Action, and even a couple games my son has been able to enjoy (Minigolf and Ms Pacman). There's nothing cooler than having your son enjoy games you've created.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

The games I played the most were Wolfenstein 3D and Balls of Steel.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

(in no particular order)

Quake
Unreal Tournement
Tiger Woods Golf
Grand Theft Auto
Rollercoaster Tycoon / Sim City (sim games, in general)
Any game my son wants me to play with him.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Of all the games I've worked on, Blake Stone was probably the most fun and intense at the same time. Simply because there were only three of us (Jim Row, Jerry Jones, and Myself) to do pretty much everything. We did the Game Design, Programming, Art, Level design, Working with contractors, Business matters, and LOTS of other little things that simply take a ton of time and effort. It was the first big game I created from the ground up and except for the timeframe, I think it turned out pretty good.

Thanks again to Mike for helping out with his questions. Since Mike was local, it was easy enough to go over to id and say Hi. Was nice to go back and reminise with Mike about his time with Apogee back then. We still sell both Blake Stone & Planet Strike, and if you're interested in trying them out, you can do so with the links below. One other thing Planet Strike is notable for is being the only game in our history that does not have a shareware/demo version. As it was our first retail game, the decision was made back then not to have a demo. It was thought that the existing Blake Stone game was enough of a "demo" for the retail Planet Strike game.

One final comment about Blake Stone.. Just where were all those medics? ;)

• Our Blake Stone Catalog Page
• Our Blake Stone Catalog Page
• Shareware Episode of Blake Stone
• Wikipedia Entry for Blake Stone

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:04 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #11 - Dave Sharpless

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with a trip way into the past. Today we're going to bring you an interview with Dave Sharpless.

Dave is not a name that is known to most fans of our company, simply because he did one title with us, and it was withdrawn quickly after its initial release. This title was Jumpman Lives! which was put out in early 1991. For various reasons the game was withdrawn from distribution shortly after release, and (to this day) we no longer offer it in any capacity. The game however, has enjoyed a cult following over the years - mostly since the rise in public use of the Internet. To this day there remain fans who still create new levels for the game, which brings me to my next point. Jumpman Lives is a first in PC shareware gaming - it's the first game we're aware of that contained a level editor with the full product. This practice is common now, but back in early 1991 when this game was first released, it was quite a novel concept for a PC title.

Dave continued on with gaming after his brief time with Apogee about 15 years ago, and was glad to contribute to our series.

Dave during the Summer of 1990, about 6 months before Jumpman's release.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Sometime around January 1991, I was a student attending the University of Toledo for a CSE degree and living in an apartment in a really bad neighborhood just off campus when I received a typed letter from Scott Miller. Scott got my home address from my shareware "Joust" and/or "Mario Brothers" games. In it he wrote about his appreciation for the two games, explained the Apogee business model a bit, and asked me to give him a call at the 800 number. During our phone conversation(s) we both agreed that JMLives would be a good game for Apogee to sell and for me to make.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Yes, to try something new. My last two games were circulated on my own via BBSs, etc and generated very little revenue and I hated preparing the disks, mailing labels, and mailing them out.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Yes, somebody could have read the Jumpman owner's manual and realize he was from Jupiter and not Saturn! (The introductory screen to JMLives shows Jumpman coming from Saturn). Seriously, it would have been nice to avoid the legal issues that eventually surrounded JMLives by spending more time creating a variant of it instead of an exact copy. At the time Jumpman was still property of Epyx and they forced Apogee to discontinue selling it just months after it was released.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Better... and definitely faster. Scott often let cash do the talking which is great motivation for a starving college student. Some folks at Apogee also contributed in the way of screen graphics and levels which was a big help at crunch time.

From 1992 - Employment badge of one of the coolest places to work in the world at the time.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

If you're the creator, then of course it is! Back in the days of JMLives, Apogee didn't start paying for the game until it was mostly done so the IP rights were going to the right party.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

This isn't really applicable.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

No.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Not particularly, since my time working with them was so short.

Jumpman Lives! Title Screen

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Good question. It seems like big companies would rather let the studio prove themselves by making a hit and then buy them outright.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

The size/complexity of projects and the size of the development teams required to create them.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

I finished school and took a job with WMS Gaming (casino & lottery games) in Chicago. It wasn't my dream job but it did land me in the same building with sister companies Midway, Bally Pinball, and Williams Electronics. After a few years of that I joined a startup company down the street in Chicago called GameWorks doing wacky products for the casino environment. Spielberg wanted the name so we became High Impact. High Impact was purchased by Anchor Gaming which relocated me to Las Vegas in 2001. Anchor was then purchased by the market leader International Game Technology and I'm still there today trying to give you the best possible gaming experience while money is slowly being extracted from your wallet.

Jumpman Lives! Level Editor Screenshot

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

All the time. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity I guess.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

No, I'm pleased with the way things turned out. Life is good!

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

I don't have a favorite Apogee game because I never played any of them. I don't mean any disrespect because I have seen most of them and it's obvious that they're of very high quality. Maybe I just don't allocate as much time as I should toward playing games!

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Another World (Amiga). Magic Carpet (PC). Carmageddon I (PC). Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64).

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Thanks for reading the interview. Keep up the good work. Feel free to contact me via email - don't be shy (and remove the "-nospam").

Thanks again to Dave for helping out with the series - his was one interview we were eager to have here given the uniqueness of his title in the past history of our company. While we don't distribute this game anymore (either in shareware or registered form), we are making available for the first time online the original hint sheet that we sent out for a brief time when we did ship the game. Back then, all of our games came with a "hint sheet" which contained tips & cheats. In 1994, these things were done away with and converted into on disk files, but this one has never been available since the game was discontinued 15 years ago.

Additionally, there is plenty of information about the game on the web. Check out these links below:

• Matty's Jumpman Lounge - by Matt @ classicgaming.com
• Apogeegames.com Jumpman Page by Lon Matero
• Interview with Dave Sharpless by Matt @ classicgaming.com - Sep 2004
• Apogee's Jumpman Lives! Hint Sheet - in pdf format

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:37 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #10 - Allen Blum

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues into its tenth edition, this time with long time Apogee staffer, Allen Blum.

Allen has had his hands in a ton of titles of ours, and goes all the way back to some of the earliest works of our company. He's been involved as a developer on all the Duke Nukem games released by Apogee/3D Realms (Duke Nukem I, Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D, & Duke Nukem Forever) directly. He's also been involved in many others such as Shadow Warrior, Dark Ages, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, as well as the aforementioned Duke games. He was however, the lead designer for our 1993 title, Major Stryker. Stryker was an (EGA) scroller game in the vein of our other such titles like Stargunner & Raptor.

Allen's also one of our internal beta test team, so even if's not listed above, he's played through it a lot and had input into the titles (some titles under this category are both Max Payne games as well as the forthcoming Prey). Allen (and his hats) have been a major part of our company history, and it's a pretty safe statement to say we wouldn't be where we are without him.

Allen with Randy Pitchford, Doug Wood, & Dirk Jones.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

In 1990 my High School friend Todd Replogle was working on some games for Apogee such as Caves of Thor and Monuments of Mars. At the time I was into the graphic abilitys of the Amiga and was working on a Super Mario Brothers 3 clone for fun.

Todd started working on Dark Ages and needed a level editor so we used my Mario clone editor on the Amiga. I ended up doing art and level design on the Amiga while the game only ran on the PC. After that we did Duke Nukem 1 the same way with most content made on the Amiga and the game running on a PC. It was pretty nice being able to see most of a level and all the textures for the game on one high-res screen on the Amiga while the PC was only able to do 320x200 EGA. With the success of Duke Nukem 1, Todd moved to Texas to work closer to Apogee on Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure while I continued school at the Univisity of California at Santa Cruz. I little while later while I was out visiting Todd and checking out Apogee, I was working on a top down shooter for fun called Dr. Protons Revenge. Apogee happened to see it and asked me to make it into a complete game which was released as Major Stryker in 1993. After that I moved out to Dallas and did Duke Nukem 2, Duke Nukem 3d and currently working on Duke Nukem Forever.

Allen holding his gift from the gift exchange at the 2005 3D Realms company Christmas Party.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Back in 1992 the "Shareware model" seemed like a great way for me to make my own game. It was easy enough to just release it on bulliten boards for people to play and if they liked it they could buy it.

I'm glad to see that a simular thing is part of the Xbox360 with the Live Marketplace. They just need to get rid of the "old tech" games like joust and have more games like Wik or Geometry Wars.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Other than bulletin boards and flyers sent out to thousands of people, I would have really liked a Superbowl commercial. :)

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

No response to question.

Allen averting his eyes to the light at his desk at 3DR - May 2005

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

This didn't really apply to Major Stryker.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

Not really, as I never did anything with the Major Stryker franchise. Can it be a franchise with just one title in the line?

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Duke Nukem Forever is getting closer to being done day by day.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

It's all a blur, man!

Allen at the 2001 company Halloween Party

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I have no idea! Money? It's all about the bling-bling now, isn't it? You want to have the largest piece of the pie, I'd suppose, and that's diluted this way.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Back when I started you could really make a game from home. Major Stryker only had 3 people working on it, Bobby Prince in Florida doing music, Gary Sirois in the north east doing art, and me in California. We never worked in the same room and actually never even saw each other. We only worked over the phone. I'm sure you could probably do the same thing much easier and faster with todays tech and such for small games. But for anything else like DNF you need a big bunker filled with people. At least now I get some excecise running around to the other side of the building to the coders area.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Since? I'm still here!

Just WHAT is Allen doing with this Lara Croft statue at E3 2000?

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

I'm still here! Are you trying to get rid of me or something?

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

OK, why do all these questions make it seem like I'm some old fogey who has retired in a corner and drools on themselves? I'm still here!

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

There's other games besides the ones I worked on?

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Seeing that I live in an FPS working on DNF and play most all FPS games, I would say almost any racing game would be my favorite, just becuase it is completly different from an FPS. And I like to drive fast without worrying about wraping my car around a telephone pole. Current top of the list would be Trackmania, Burnout or Flatout.

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

....need more stripper research.

Screenshots from Major Stryker

Thanks to Allen for sending in his answers, and being a good sport about so many goofy pictures of him being taken over the years. While Major Stryker was discontinued some years ago, here's a few links about some of the other games Allen has worked on over the years you might find interesting:

• Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure Page
• Duke Nukem I Page
• Duke Nukem II Page
• Duke Nukem 3D Page
• Shadow Warrior Page
• Major Stryker Page
• Freeware Registered Version of Major Stryker

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:09 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #9 - Lindsay Whipp

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues on with the latest edition, this time with programmer Lindsay Whipp. Lindsay was the author and developer of one of the more amusing titles in our line, "Mystic Towers". This featured a character that originally was in someone else's game, "Baron Baldric: A Grave Adventure".

Baron Baldric (the character) was funny in that he would scratch his butt and fart while during the game - something that was definitely not the case in any other game of ours at the time. Lindsay only worked on the one title with us, but it was definitely one of the funnier titles in our product line. Read on to hear Lindsay's opinions on the Mystic Towers development, and how he has a connection to the current "Destroy All Humans" game.

A Lindsay Whipp "toon"

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

...I was referred by the Australian distributor Manaccom.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

...Working out of Australia, I needed a bigger market, and one world publisher was the best option.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

...No, I was pretty happy with the results. Modest by today's standards, but, hey! We're talking 286 computers and the end of the DOS era here!

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

...It was made DIFFERENT. What started off as a comic graphic adventure ended up as a comic shoot-em-up. I went along with that quite happily, but still think it lost some of its original humor along the way.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

...In my case, that didn't apply. I approached Apogee with a completed product, although it changed radically during Beta. These days, the budget demands are too great to allow small developers to do that, which is a pity in many ways - it cuts out the quirky individualism, and everything has the same blandness. My daughter recently worked as lead artist on Pandemic's "Destroy All Humans" and had to work damned hard to allow that element to be retained.

Lindsay in 1989 on the computer the original Amiga that Baron Baldric was written on.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

...In my case - no.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

...What, Baron Baldric for Geriatrix? Barren Baldric more like...

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

...Yes. George telling me that there were 3 important aspects of all games and they were, in order of importance: 1. interface 2. interface 3. interface - not the sort of advice one forgets!

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

...The cost! The complexity of todays games are horrifying. The days of the maverick like me are simply long gone, or even small studios.

Mystic Towers game manual cover art

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

...The scale of all productions, and the size of the teams needed to produce games at that level.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

...Working with software publisher and distributor Manaccom in Australia - the company that distributed my stuff here at the time the Baron was active.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

...I have a daughter in the games industry, one son in the media business, one in the IT business - enough is enough, already!

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

...No - I made products for public comsumption, and that's what happened.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

All the Dukes of course! (funny - my tongue seems to be glued to the inside of my cheek...)

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Abe's Odyssey, GP3 (great driving fan)

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

...Get a life!

Screenshot from Mystic Towers

Thanks to Lindsay for sending in his answers, as well as the "toon" of himself used above. We still sell Mystic Towers, so if you've never checked it out, you can check it out with the links here:

• Apogee Mystic Towers Page
• Download Mystic Towers shareware
• Buy Full Version of Mystic Towers
• Mystic Towers Page at Wikipedia

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:44 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #8 - Ken Silverman

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with its eighth edition, this time with Build engine programmer, Ken Silverman. Ken's work can be seen in several of our titles, most notable Duke Nukem 3D & Shadow Warrior. His Build engine has been used in numerous titles by other companies as well (there's a list here). Ken was an engine guy, he never had a released "game" like others in this series up to this point, but don't mistunderstand that. Ken's contributions to the success of our games have been huge, specifically Duke Nukem 3D & Shadow Warrior.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I wrote a letter to Scott Miller about marketing Ken's Labyrinth in October 1992, 3 months before the game was released. We didn't reach a deal at that time. In March 1993, Epic released Ken's Labyrinth - which caught Scott's attention. He and Mark Rein of Epic sent me competing offers until August, at which time I chose Apogee.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Sure. Apogee offered me the best deal. Unlike Epic, they offered a good salary - a fantasy for a kid just getting out of high school. Also, I knew about Apogee's reputation of producing high quality games, so I knew there was likely to be long-term benefits as well.

Ken Silverman - October 2005

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

No. I would look pretty silly complaining here when Duke Nukem 3D was the hottest selling game of 1996. Actually, now that I think about it... this slogan might have increased sales: "Duke Nukem 3D, from the makers of Ken's Labyrinth" Just kidding : )

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

I wasn't really working on my own game. Supposing I had to do it all myself, I probably would have made something in the same style as Ken's Labyrinth, just with an updated engine. It might have looked a lot like the "KenBuild" test game on my website, or JFBuild (Windows port by JonoF). A commercial version would have included more maps, more crappy artwork, and a pointless story like "find some keys and exits because that's how you win". It would have been bad.

So my answer to this question is obviously yes. Apogee put a full committment into using my engine and tools. They took a risk by hiring a kid just out of high school to take on that kind of responsibility at their company. They did a great job on all aspects of the game.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

In my case it didn't matter. My rights to the Build Engine were shared with Apogee/3D Realms. After I left the company, I did nothing to market the engine on my own. Any potential licensors dealt with Apogee/3D Realms, because that's who they knew about.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

No. In retrospect, all it meant was that I didn't have to ask Apogee/3D Realms permission to release my own source code. I gave them a heads up anyway.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

For Duke Nukem 3D? Ha! You tell me : ) I can only speculate by pointing out that most mathematical models would suggest that the answer is no. After 10 years, I have no further information about this than a typical fan.

Ken showing off his US map drawing - Apr 1996

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Sorry, I suck at remembering funny anecdotes. I didn't go out very much with the guys ... and when I did, I usually just sat there like a mute. It was hard being younger than everyone else.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I can't speak for them. I can only guess that it has something to do with risk and them not wanting to take it.

8) What's the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

There's more interest and more competition now. Gaming is now as mainstream as movies. Online, I see lots of kids begging to get noticed - which is not unlike the struggling actors you see in Hollywood. Back then, I felt like an innovator for writing my own engine. Today, I am made to feel silly for not using an existing one. It hurts because I don't have the other skills.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

I returned to Brown University in 1997 to finish college. Since graduating in May 2000, I've been working for myself. I still do the same amount of programming I used to, but I don't make money on it anymore. I release things on my website for free. Sometimes, I collaborate with friends online, such as Tom Dobrowolski (Voxlap/Moonedit) or Jonathon Fowler (JFBuild/JFDuke/JFSW). Also, I volunteer time at local schools, helping students with programming-related tasks. It's fun.

Ken with Frank Maddin in 1997 during Shadow Warrior development

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

I sometimes do small projects by myself and release them on my site, but nothing commercial. Most game companies in the New England area seem to be focused on money and business plans rather than making a fun game. I haven't looked too hard though. I'd rather be doing my own thing since I can.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

No. I turned down a lot of offers in those days. In retrospect, I am very happy with the ones I chose.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

I guess Death Rally since it's one of the few games I've actually finished.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

My favorite games of all time are:

• Pole Position: I loved the 3D effect at the time
  
• Super Mario Brothers: smooth scrolling, easy to play, great music
  
• Quake 3 Arena: great gameplay (with fast internet connection)
  

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

I've said enough. If you want more, or if you want to see my recent projects, you can visit my website: http://advsys.net/ken.

Ken (R) with his brother (L), and Duke Nukem programmer Todd Replogle at 3DR HQ.

Thanks to Ken for sending in his answers, as well as a few pictures from his archives. Make sure and visit Ken's sites via the links in his answers above. However, our webmaster will relay a funny story as Ken said he wasn't good at that.

"One time the group of us were out to lunch at one of the local restaurants. This was one of the places that lets you draw with crayons on the table on paper they put on it. As Ken stated, he generally was pretty quiet, so most of us weren't paying attention, just talking the usual trash nonsense. After awhile one of us looked over at what Ken was doodling, and went "What the hell?" Ken was sketching the United States Map. He apparently has the ability to just draw the entire US map on anything. It pretty much took us by surprise, as he was roughly half done at that point, and from that point on we just watched him finish the map. One of the pictures above has another one of his "map doodles". So if you go anywhere with Ken, don't let him wander off on his own mentally, he'll draw the United States somewhere. :)"

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:31 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #7 - John Passfield

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with the seventh edition, this time with John Passfield. John was one of the creators of our 1994 title, "Halloween Harry" (later renamed to Alien Carnage). John's influence went beyond that though as some people who worked with him on Harry also worked with us on other projects, too (Balls of Steel and Mystic Towers come to mind here).

Carnage/Harry is unique in our product line, as it's the only game title to have a name change after it was released. That frequently happens with titles before they come out, but not afterwards! John continues to be a successful game developer in Australia, and was more than happy to help out with our Legacy series.

First, in a little break from the norm, John also sent in a bio about himself to go with the interview:

John Passfield is a veteran of the computer games industry with more than 20 years professional experience as a games designer, lead programmer and scriptwriter on numerous award-winning titles. He is also credited as a founding member of the Australian games development community and helped establish some of the first development houses.

John was also a founding director of Krome Studios and co-created their flagship TY the Tasmanian Tiger series. He also created and owns the innovative Halloween Harry, Jaruu Tenk and Flight of the Amazon Queen properties. John is now the Creative Director of Pandemic Studios Australia.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

We're based in Brisbane, Australia and we were in discussion with Ian Mackay of Mannacom, a local software distributor to publish Halloween Harry. He happened to handle a lot of Apogee games - so we signed a deal with him and he hooked us up with Apogee.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

We really wanted to retain our Intellectual Property (IP) and weren't going to hand it over to anybody - and Apogee was very developer friendly.

Alien Carnage Print Manual Cover

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

They did a pretty good job except I remember one of our European distributors stiffed Apogee and didn't pay up royalties. Apogee decided not to pursue it for whatever reason and we lost a lot of our European sales. Which sucked.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

From what I can remember Apogee had a very hands off approach. We pretty much made the game and let them sell it. So I don't think the partnership had any impact on the actual game. But they certainly helped get it out to the world and make us some money.

Looking back, I think we could have been more involved in the process. We were young, naïve and thought we knew it all. In hindsight I should have jumped on a plane and met up with Scott and George in person and talked about how to market the game and how to grow our business. I think we could have learned a lot from the guys and could have grown the Aussie industry a lot sooner.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not? Personally I like to own my IP. But realistically ideas are a dime a dozen. I think it's more important for developers to create quality games on time and budget and build up their reputation first. Then they can worry about owning their own IP. And remember, IP is useless unless you do something with it.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

Well, the IP is generally owned by the developer - which is usually a company. In the case of TY the Tasmanian Tiger, an IP I created with Steve Stamatiadis the company we created, Krome Studios, owned that IP. As soon as I sold my share in Krome Studios I lost any interest in the property. So unless you have the IP assigned to you personally you're still in the same position as working for a publisher that owns the rights. However, when I left Krome I made sure that I was personally assigned the rights to a number of IPs that I helped create over time including Halloween Harry, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Mystery Club, Jaruu Tenk, Shadow Town, etc. I can exploit these IPs anyway I want and in some cases can derive extra revenue from them.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Yes. I'm currently working with an independent developer to produce something new with the Halloween Harry license.

Screenshot from Alien Carnage

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

I remember visiting Ian Mackay at the Brisbane office of Mannacom in 1993 to show off the latest build of Halloween Harry and he had just received a build of the new id game from Apogee. We gathered around the PC to witness a game that very few people had yet seen: DOOM. That was pretty amazing. Here was a fast paced 3D game that would change the way games were made, and there we were with a quaint 2D side scroller!

Ed Note: In its earliest incarnation, the original Doom was still a project that id was working on to be published through Apogee. id then decided to "do their own thing" during the title's development.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I think most publishers and developers are risk averse. I know of one company that was developing handheld games but no one would sign them. A local independent company partnered with them so they could port their PS2 game to the GBA. As soon as the GBA title shipped publishers signed them up because they were now "real" developers. That is so very typical.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Well, in the console space the budgets have grown obscenely large. But in the PC space I think it's gone full circle. I see Casual Games as being very similar to shareware back in the nineties. Games are developed by a small group of passionate developers, there is a try before you buy policy and most games are independent productions. But since the nineties shareware scene there have been some amazing improvements with the Casual Games industry. BBSes, for example, have been replaced by the web, everyone now uses credit cards and aren't afraid to buy stuff online, and development costs are much cheaper and the potential audience is much, much larger. There are no excuses for wannabe games makers to not make and market games today.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Well, I founded Krome Studios, one of Australia's largest games development companies and have worked on almost twenty published games. I recently sold my share in Krome and have joined the Pandemic Studios Australian team as their Creative Director. I've also been creating shareware style games in my spare time - the latest one being Word Shake which is available from Casual Games Arcade. I've also married and started a family - which is one of the best projects I've had the privilege of working on!

Halloween Harry from our 1993 Print Catalog

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Professionally, we didn't have a viable business until 1999 when we formed Krome Studios. I think that moving to the States when Alien Carnage/Halloween Harry came out would have accelerated that process by at least five years. So I think I missed the opportunity to grow the business faster - but you live and you learn!

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Wolfenstein 3D was pretty cool!

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

My favourites are Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, the Zelda series and Mario 64.

Just recently I've been digging the new games on PSP and Nintendo DS - Mario Kart, GTA: Liberty City Stories and Animal Crossing all rock. I love these new handhelds!

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Check out Casual Games Arcade to grab some quality PC and Mac games. These are the spiritual successors to the shareware games we grew up with! Oh, this is probably the place where you'll see the new Alien Carnage/Halloween Harry game first!

The Alien Carnage team from a newspaper scan in 1994.
Top Row (L-R): Darren Baker, Tony Ball, John Passfield, Steve Stamatiadis
Bottom Row (L-R): Steven Baker, Robert Crane

Thanks to John for taking the time to send in his interview, as well as the old newspaper clipping image. While Alien Carnage is no longer available from us (it was discontinued a few years ago), his other projects are up and running. Check 'em out:

• Casual Games Arcade
  
• Pandemic Studios Australia
  

There is also more information on Carnage/Harry on our archived catalog page for the game here. There's more to read over at Classic DOS Games Archive. Finally, you'll want to read the Halloween Harry entry in the Apogee FAQ, which talks not only about the game's name change, but the two sequels to the game (Zombie Wars & Halloween Harry 3D), as well as an aborted TV series about the game.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #6 - Mike Voss

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with its newest edition, this time with Mike Voss, author of the 1994 game, "Hocus Pocus". Mike only did one title with us, but it was a memorable one; it was a great entry in Apogee's long line of sidescroller titles. Mike (who we have no pictures of) no longer works in the game industry but was very happy to be interviewed about his game with us now 12 years ago.

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I was playing around with the idea of writing a shareware game around 1991. I started with a graphical adventure style game that ended up tired and boring after a while. Then I was inspired by Duke Nukem! I studied the game and figured that I might be able to tackle a similar style game. I was somewhat pessimistic about the idea of the shareware marketing model paying off until, in a local specialty magazine store, I came across "shareware magazine" and thumbed through it. I read in an article that Apogee was receiving about 300 orders per day.

I began to devote a large amount of time to programming. I created a game called Clyde's Adventure and tossed it into the shareware arena. The game was a modest success. I could almost make a small and very modest living. Very very modest. After a few months I received a letter from Scott Miller suggesting that possible fame and fortune was on my doorstep. Apogee offered to publish my next game. I said okay.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Given that Clyde's Adventure was a small, run and hop type game, it wasn't as if Electronic Arts and Sierra was banging on my door. Further, I never really intended to make a career out of programming games. Apogee was offering to market my work and toss a chunk of the profits my way. It was a win-win proposal. I worked with Apogee because they asked me to.

Hocus Pocus Game Manual Artwork

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Hocus Pocus was released immediately following the release of Raptor. I saw full page ads in gaming magazines for Raptor. I saw no advertising for Hocus Pocus. At the time I felt cheated. Apogee always presented their company image as "not like the other companies" and that all games are given equal attention. I recall hearing George Broussard mention to me that "advertising does not do much to improve sales." I couldn't believe that he was telling me this. I understood the logic: Raptor sold better than Hocus Pocus. A dollar spent advertsing Raptor would always bring in more money that a dollar spent advertising Hocus Pocus. It was simple business sense not to spend money advertising my game. Still, I felt that I was unfairly treated. I got over my resentment on a recent Dr. Phil show, perhaps you saw it.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Apogee absolutely made my game better. They had contacts for sound engines, music, art, etc. I hammered out Hocus Pocus on a 386 20 Mhz machine with an old 10 meg hard drive. My monitor died on me and for a few weeks I was using an old sony 6 inch black and white monitor. You might go so far as to say that my resources were on the lean side.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Given that I have kept my head out of the computer gaming business for the last ten years, I don't feel that I'm qualified to give a good opinion about this issue.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

No response to question.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Hocus Pocus 2: With a Vengence.

Screenshot from final version of Hocus Pocus

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

The best time I had working with Apogee was meeting Jim Dose. Jim was working on the Apogee sound system in New York and I would have long phone conversations with him on many occasions. He later ended up working with Apogee in Texas. Although we never met in person, Jim was one of the best people I met in the gaming industry.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Companies tend to continue with what works for them. Apogee started out by working with outside companies so it's no surprise that they continue this practise.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Again, I have been out of the gaming industry for so long, I don't know too much about the changes that have occurred.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Shortly after I started developing Hocus Pocus, I got married. Apogee advanced us $5,000.00 to help us financially, the advance was free of interest for more than a year. Kudos to Apogee for a class act.

We now have two children, Jacob, who is six and Heather who is four. We have a small house in the suburbs and lead a comfortable and calm existence.

Like 98% of programmers, I began to do commercial web programming during the dot com bubble until it popped. My hobby now is playing with my kids and hoarding Google stock.

In a rather strange career move, I am currently completing my training to become a paramedic in the spring. Adios, programming.

Screenshot from final version of Hocus Pocus

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

Sheesh, no. The industry now is so different from the small development teams that I worked with. If I'm not the star of the show, so to speak, then I don't want to be involved. Nowadays, to be a star, you need an IQ like a phone number. I dropped out of the game programming industry after id software wrote a little ditty called Doom. I could not compete with that. I tried for a little while, and just when I was getting the 3D concepts, they released Quake!

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

I believe that all things happen for the best, good or bad. We learn from bad experiences and profit from good experiences. Regret is like driving while looking in the rear view mirror.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Halloween Harry is my favorite Apogee game.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Civilization
Doom I and II
All MS Flight Simulators
All Sim City's

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

My deepest appreciation goes out to everyone who played and enjoyed Hocus Pocus. Even the ones who enjoyed the pirated copies. (George will hate me for saying that.)

I'd also like to thank Scott Miller, George Broussard, Todd Replogle, Jim Dose, Jason Blochowiak and my beta testers, Andre Foucault and Chris tenDen.

Screenshots from early build of Hocus Pocus in March 1993.

Thanks to Mike for taking the time to send in his interview. We still sell Mike's game, and it's still a good sidescroller game. You can check out the shareware version on the downloads page, or you can buy the registered version here. There's also some more information about Hocus Pocus on our catalog page for it here.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:21 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #5 - Frank Maddin

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with its fifth edition, this time with Frank Maddin, author of a few games with us. His first game with us was 1991's Crystal Caves, and then followed it up with 1993's Monster Bash. After that, he teamed up with Jim Norwood to do 1997's Shadow Warrior. Frank also briefly did some work with is on a fourth game after Monster Bash called "Cybertank", but it was abandonded early on in development (was to be a tank game with a 3D engine). Additionally, Frank is one of the few developers we've had to ever get dressed up as one of their characters (see the pictures below).

Frank now works at Microsoft, and was happy to participate in the interview series. Hereeeee's Frank! :)

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I met George Broussard in Lufkin, Texas. He calls it a "stinky little town". His family had moved there from Dallas. I'd lived there most of my life.

I had a Commodore Amiga (Jack Tramiel was the devil the ST was crap) and knew very few people in town with one. So I put an ad in a local trade paper and his mom called me. We became good friends - his mom and I - eventually we let George hang out with us. :-) We commuted to college together in nearby Naca-nowhere.

Scott was a friend of George from back in Dallas and would come down to visit occasionally with Terry Nagy. We'd all go play tennis or something. Of course, I was by far the best tennis player and there was usually tears and gnashing of teeth, but I digress.

When George graduated he and his family moved back to Dallas. Fast forward a year or two and I had a job at Lockheed that I didn't like, and George was getting ready to compete with Scott because Apogee was starting to take off. I told him to send me some code and I'd take a stab at it.

A number of months into the development of Crystal Caves, George joined Apogee and Crystal Caves became an Apogee product.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

I'd just sort of fallen into game development. I doubt I could have gotten a job at a real game company, or started my own at that point.

Frank with his son back in 1991

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Back in the day, the BBS was the main distribution method. The main form of marketing was mailing out to previous customers. Once they built up a reputation, that was pretty much all they needed to at least get new people to download and try new games. The 3 episode hook got people to pay. Worked pretty well for the time.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

The level of support varied from game to game. Sometimes tools, sometime design, etc. They generally had good design input. If I was making the game in a void I'm sure it wouldn't have turned out nearly as well.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

Well sure, you should keep the IP. If the game is a hit it might be worth something. Seems to me it's about who has the upper hand and the position they are in. How badly does the publisher want the developer? How far along is the game?

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

I don't think it's highly applicable to me. Seems like with my projects it's kind of a joint ownership thing with Apogee. Of course I could do something with it if I got permission, or payed them something from profits.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

Probably not. I have the most fondness for Monster Bash, so if I could choose, that would be the one.

Frank dressed up as Johnny Dash from Monster Bash at the 1996 Apogee Halloween Party

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

There is an interesting "brush with greatness" with the author David Gerrold.

The fellow that wrote the script for the Star Trek episode "Trouble with Tribbles", David Gerrold, actually played and liked Crystal Caves. Mr. Gerrold, like Jerry Pournelle, was also a computer guy and wrote articles for computer magazines. I was reading a computer mag (I think it was a programming mag called PC Techniques) and I noticed that the author mentioned Crystal Caves, talked about it a bit, called out that the first episode was "Trouble with Twibbles" and seemed to think that was funny. At the time I thought it was cool but I didn't realize the significance. Not much later I think I picked up a SF book he'd written and saw that he wrote the Star Trek episode. I was pretty floored. That probably had something to do with his mention.

There is also the "Great Romero Misunderstanding"..

My best work was probably the snake in Crystal Caves. There is a story about that. At one point during development we'd flown to see id software (involved with Apogee) for business reasons and I'd shown CC to them. Later, I heard that John Romero thought I had stolen the snake from one of his earlier games it looked so similar. The truth was that I hadn't seen that game and that it was the only way I could figure out how to do a snake in 16x16 pixels. But it kind goes to show you the limitations can really influence what the art is. So John, REALLY, I didn't steal your snake! Swear to GOD mode. I just know this will get back to him.

I'm sure there are many others lurking but I can't dredge them up.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Seems like a good thing. I'm not too up on these working relationships these days. Japan seems to have more separation of design and development, but that's maybe not quite the same thing.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

I remember George said once, something like "Making games is too hard. id came along and screwed it all up. I'd have been happy making side scrollers forever". That was probably back in 94 or 95 or something. It's just gotten harder. It takes vast effort, lots of people, and oodles of resources.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Raising a couple of kids, enjoying life. Still making games. The majority of my time has been spent at Digital Anvil/Microsoft.

Frank at his office at 3DR in 1997.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Can't think of any large ones. Shipping earlier on all games would have been good.

Should have put a better level as the first level of Monster Bash. There were many that were better. Wouldn't have programmed the bug that didn't allow you to finish level 4 :-)

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Commander Keen. It opened my eyes to seeing the PC as something that could play games like a console. I didn't have a high opinion of the PC at the time, being an Amiga person and all.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Fairy Tale Adventure, Splinter Cell, Call of Duty

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

I had a lot of fun in those early days developing, and I hope you enjoyed playing.

The Shadow Warrior Team in 1997 (L-R):
Frank Maddin, Lee Jackson, John Galt, Keith Schuler, Jim Norwood, & Stephen Cole.

Screenshot from early build of Frank's cancelled Cybertank game.

Screenshot from early beta of Crystal Caves.

Thanks to Frank for helping out with the interview series. We still sell all the games released with us during his time here (Crystal Caves, Monster Bash, & Shadow Warrior), so make sure and check them all out on our Games Page.

If you want to read more about Frank, you might also want to check out this interview done with him over at the "Perilous Crystal Caves" fansite, where he talks more about the development of Crystal Caves.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:58 AM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #4 - Tom Hall

Today our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series continues with its fourth edition, this time with Tom Hall, a core figure in the early days (and more) of our company. Tom was a founding member of id Software, working with them and us on Commander Keen & Wolfenstein 3D. He later joined Apogee, and was the project lead on Rise of the Triad, as well as having his hands in several titles doing work for them ranging from Hocus Pocus, Duke Nukem II, and Duke Nukem 3D. Additionally, he was the original project lead on Prey when it was in it's original incarnation.

Since his time here, he's worked at Ion Storm, Monkeystone, Midway, & now KingsIsle. Tom has a huge connection with us and our past, so we're sure you're eager to hear what he has to say...

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

Scott Miller had been trying to hire John Romero from his old days as a contributor to Uptime (an old monthly software magazine on disk), then he'd been getting fan mail from various people which he hung up. Then he noticed they were all coming from the same address! Both amused and angered, John wrote a strongly-worded letter back, only to find out it was Scott wanting to publish something.

Carmack and I had stayed up late one night making a funny joke demo of Super Mario Bros 3 and putting it on Romero's desk in the morning. This lead to a demo for Nintendo, which got to the head table but was rejected, so we decided to do our own thing. I went off to my office and in 15 minutes came up with the story of Commander Keen, which Scott was dying to publish, and so he did!

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Scott was so excited to publish us, and he sent us pizza money, which was so cool of him and a big convincer. Once Keen started selling, we realized we could live on that money. The rest is history.

Tom on his first day at Apogee

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Well, the initial "Miller Model" of the buy one, get two was brilliant. But they needed to grow as we did. We had our computers networked before they did, putting the money back into the company, and we knew DOOM was gonna take off at least as well as Wolfenstein 3D did, and we didn't want that handled by a company with SneakerNet going on. But we totally owe our initial success to Scott believing in us.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

I think the Keens were made better by the trilogy thing. I think they were a little me-too during the development of early Prey. But working with Scott and George was a pleasure. Those guys love games.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

That is awesome of them. Just wish I owned Keen. :-) It's kinda just a business property to the folks over there at id. Ah well. For some reason they want the ten thousands it is worth while the millions roll in.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

N/A

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

If I owned Keen, there sure would be. I don't consider that GBA game canon by any means. :-)

Searching for something in the offices where Rise of the Triad was developed. Mark Dochtermann is in the background.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

Back in the development of Duke Nukem 3D, I walked into George's office and said, "When people get done with work, they are playing DOOM. Something is wrong if you have a new first-person shooter with deathmatch working, and everyone's not playing it." George took over the project and gave it a much higher fun factor. George MADE that game fun.

And the reception for the Dopefish was so strange. One guy became an ordained priest of the church of the Dopey Fish. It's just funny that a dumb fish from one level of Keen 4 is now an industry easter egg thing. Heh.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

They don't have the guts, and they are run by business people, not former (or current) developers. Some studios ARE run by former developers, but they've been converted into the evil business people, like some sort of Body Snatchers movie.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Shareware isn't such a big thing, since everyone does demos now. And the bar is so high with the new graphic cards and consoles, and there's SO much high-quality web content out there, it's hard for a small timer to stand out. Even phone games are getting high tech! But

There's always room for innovation. Perhaps the next place for the small games is e-paper. Who knows?

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Did id Software, ION Storm, Monkeystone Games, Midway, and now KingsIsle Entertainment. I've been busy. Anachronox won a number of awards, Congo Cube was rated "A" by PC Games, Area 51 did well (I had a little input, but didn't make that game), and now I'm doing an MMO (massively multiplayer game). I'm still excited to be making games.

Tom in 2003.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

No, it's been a pretty good ride. Wish I had the rights to Keen and Anachronox, but I've tried to stay creatively happy throughout my career, and have pretty much done that.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Other than our stuff, Duke Nukem 3D is still the best from that studio. Really fun.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Chrono Trigger (SNES), Wizardry I (Apple ][), Ultima III (Apple ][), Half-life 2 (PC), Day of the Tentacle (PC), Secret of Monkey Island I & II (PC), um... oh wait, you said 2-4. Did I mention Sneakers (Apple ][)? Ape Escape (PSX)?

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

See, a bunch of folks can just get together, make the type of games they love and come out with fun, popular stuff! And dudes, finish Duke this year. Really. Ya might, I dunno, put a milestone schedule together, maybe something in Project. Just an idea.

Just kiddin'! We all want to PLAY it! Quit hoggin' it, man!

And to the fans... really, thanks for playing the dumb little games me and my buds have been making in a little room somewhere. What an odd job this is!

Thanks!

Tom with George and David Gerrold when David visited the 3DR offices in 1995.

Thanks to Tom for helping out with the interview series. You can read more about Tom's life on his website. Additionally, we still sell all the games he worked with during his time with us (Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad, Terminal Velocity, etc...) so make sure and check them all out on our Games Page.

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:04 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #3 - Karen Crowther

Today we bring you the third in our "Apogee Legacy" Interview series. This week we speak with Karen Crowther (now known as Karen Chun), the author of the only two educational games in our product line. These are Word Rescue, and Math Rescue, both released in 1992. These are the only titles in our line she was involved with directly, but she's been a friend to the company for awhile now. Additionally, she's the only female lead game designer we've had. We've had other women work for us, or on our titles, but she's the only lead designer we've ever had.

So without further delay, we take you to Hawaii for our interview with Karen...

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I was a fanatic Commander Keen and Duke Nukem (sidescroller) player. I love those games and still think they're the best. (And I really miss Tom Hall and his wacky sense of humor...hey, Tom, you need to visit me in Maui!!!)

Dang! My mind is going...I know Scott and I were involved in a lot of political stuff (fighting off government regulation of computer games etc. with Diana Gruber and Rosemary West - hammering out the role of shareware and making sure the authors didn't get ripped off by the retail publishers) but I think that came later.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

First, I really liked Scott Miller. He put me in touch with Todd Replogle (Duke Nukum) who helped me with some programming issues. If no one else tells you, Todd is a really great guy and pretty humble considering what a good programmer he is. Scott helped me with PC sound effects and cool ideas. And I loved interacting with George Broussard. When Joe Siegler came along, he was a lot of fun too. I think that Scott is a marketing genius.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Apogee did a great job for me. They basically let me do anything I wanted and made me a millionaire (well, started me on the way, at least). I have nothing but good stuff to say about them.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Well, better, of course! When I listened to Scott, my games got better. That's why the games I distributed through Apogee are the most successful. Although Pickle Wars (distributed through another company) did become a cult classic with game developers, it never made much money despite what I think was some pretty fantastic music by Bobby Prince. So, in retrospect, I can say that Scott's instincts were right on. The games that I was paid beaucoup bucks to produce for big name retailers are dead, dead, dead now. The Apogee games (Math and Word Rescue) are still going strong.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

I liked the fact that I retained the rights because I had fun wheeling and dealing. However, knowing what I know now about the way that big retail publishers can mess up, I'd probably have left more of the decision-making in Scott's hands. He has the clout to make them keep their contractual promises. But you know, at that time, we were
all winging it and learning by doing. I can say for certain, that I made more money through Apogee than any other publishers.

5a) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

I have so many people asking me to update my games to Windows. I start doing it and then I get "Polynesian Paralysis" (e.g. you start working and then you decide to go to the beach instead). Plus I absolutely HATE Windows programming. Now that I'm getting into Java and PHP programming, I might make web versions....but then again, I might go surfing instead :-)

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

No response to question.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I tell you, my experience with big game companies is that they are by and large run by idiots. That's why. They're the typical corporation where some guy with a great line of BS comes in, dazzles the clueless bosses and then makes life difficult for the programmers, artists and so on because all he wants is a raise and promotion. Meanwhile he has no common sense and no love of the games and the things that those of us who make games value (like cool programming and having fun).

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

When I created my first games for Apogee, it was just me and the artist, doing it on spec. Nowadays the look and feel is so expensive, you need at big bucks and it is much more difficult to do a complete game on your own while your working at a day job. I still think that the Internet (in our days, BBS) is the key to new people getting started. But the retail (store shelf) arena is locked up by a few big companies.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

I moved to Maui and started paddling outrigger canoe. I'm such a fanatic that I actually coached at 2 clubs here on Maui and have been racing...doing the 41 mile Moloka'i to 'Oahu channel race (7 hours of paddling) a couple times. I design and build houses, do webpages - some for money and some (like the Maui Sierra Club website) to give back to the world that has been so good to me.

I've always been into my kids and now I have a granddaughter (who also paddles outrigger canoe). Every morning I wake up and say to myself, "Dang, I'm living in paradise!".

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

I'm starting to get a little bored. Now that I've figured out how to make CSS and Java games, I'll probably do some small web games. I took a break for a while because I hated Windows so much. When I programmed my old games, there were just a few instructions (a tiny set of C instructions and the DOS interrupts) so you could program just about anything by being clever. Then along came Windows with API docs bigger than the San Francisco phone books! I'm not good at memorization and programming just wasn't fun anymore.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Not really. I had a lot of fun, got to do exactly what I wanted (be with my kids, make games, go to Maui, build houses). I had the opportunity to become more of an administrator and have Redwood Games become a big company, but I found that I didn't enjoy being a supervisor so I just took an abrupt U turn and ditched that whole scene. I like the hands-on part. In fact, I think that was the most important strength of the Apogee business model...it let people like me do exactly what we wanted to do which was the hands-on stuff and have the creative control while getting help and feedback from Scott and his team.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

That is really, really hard. It's a tie between the side-scroller Duke Nukem and the old Commander Keen games. Also I liked Blake Stone and the early 3D games.

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Well nothing was as fun as the side scrollers but I really like William Soleau's puzzle games. (You can tell I am stuck back in the early 90's ;-) )

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

A big thank you to those who enjoyed my games and for continuing to enjoy them. I'm getting people now who played Math and Word Rescue when they were kids, buying the games for THIER kids. I really value the emails I get from players of my games. It gives me a real lift to know that folks appreciate what I created.

Thanks to Karen for agreeing to help out with the interview series. You can read more about Karen's life on this page at her site. Additionally, we still sell Math & Word Rescue almost 14 years after they were originally released, make sure and visit these pages for more information on them.

• Official Word Rescue Page (w/ shareware download)
  
• Official Math Rescue Page (w/ shareware download)
  
• Buy Math & Word Rescue Combo CD
  
• Visit Karen's Redwood Games Site
  

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:36 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

Are you a programmer?

We've updated our jobs page this evening with a new opening for a programmer.

If you think you're up to the task, head on over to the jobs page and check out the opening and the details.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:25 AM

The Apogee Legacy #2 - Keith Schuler

Last week we started a new series on our website about some of our developers from the past. We called this series "The Apogee Legacy Interview Series". In our first edition, we brought you an interview with Jim Norwood. For the second edition, we are bringing you an interview with our own Keith Schuler. Keith has been involved with us for a very long time, and continues to do so to this day. His first project with us came out back in 1991 (Paganitzu), and then he went through Realms of Chaos, the aborted Duke Nukem Forever scroller game, as well as Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition, Shadow Warrior, and now Duke Nukem Forever.

So without further delay, we bring you the tallest developer in our history, Keith Schuler...

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I had seen Kroz games in shareware catalogs and other places, so I was familiar with the name. Big Blue Disk published one of my earliest games, Chagunitzu. About a month later, they forwarded a fan letter to me. It was written by a little boy, and he wanted to know what my high score was at Chagunitzu. I thought it was an odd question, but I couldn't ignore my fan, so I wrote a letter back to him.

Shortly thereafter I got a phone call from Scott Miller. He explained that he had written the fan letter so that he could contact me without raising suspicion at Big Blue Disk. Apparently he had been approaching other developers there, as well. Scott thought that Chagunitzu would work well as an episodic game, and he wanted me to write a sequel trilogy, to be published by Apogee.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Scott mailed me some of the current projects that other devs at Apogee were working on, like Monuments of Mars and Commander Keen. Commander Keen, in particular, completely amazed me. After seeing such groundbreaking games (and getting an unsolicited check for $50) I was convinced that Apogee was the team to play for. It was certainly an improvement over my two current jobs: Burger King and my father's lawn mowing service (for which I was not getting paid.)

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

With regards to Paganitzu, I don't think anything could have been done better. It was still selling long after many other Apogee games had retired. With Realms of Chaos, I don't think anything could've been done to save it. Like other 2D games at the time, it was stillborn into the post-Doom era.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

Definitely better. George and Scott absolutely excel at taking a game and polishing it to perfection. It's what they do best, in my opinion.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

They did? Crap, I don't think I own the IP for my two games. Or do I? I don't know, I'd have to ask. I don't have a clearly defined answer to your question. Best for who? It is best for the creator to own the IP when it is strong, and he can leverage that strength to put himself in a better position with the publisher. That doesn't guarantee a better game, though, so what's best for the creator might not be best for the player.

5a) And if applicable, have you benefited from retaining ownership of your own IP?

If applicable, no. The Paganitzu and ROC IPs are not strong enough to matter, anyway.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

I still want to make a sequel to Paganitzu. Something that runs under Windows, is mouse driven, with updated sound and graphics, and gameplay that is more fair and fun. Unfortunately, these things take time, and I'm not a teenager living with my parents anymore. That's not even considering whether Apogee/3D Realms would want to publish it. And, assuming they didn't, IP ownership and non-compete issues might be a problem. I haven't looked into it, since it's not even close to being an issue right now. Duke Nukem Forever and parenting take up all my time.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

The way Scott Miller contacted me is probably the most interesting story. Other than that, there was the time I was in limbo after completing Realms Of Chaos. George tried letting me produce some external titles (including the original, side scrolling Duke Nukem Forever), but those projects were all dropped shortly after Duke 3D came out. I finally talked them into letting me move to Dallas and becoming an internal employee, although it was unclear what I would be doing. When I got here, the guys who would eventually become Ritual had just left, and the remaining guys were working on the Plutonium Pak. I picked up the Build editor and made a little Duke 3D map of my own, just trying out the different features. When George saw what I'd done, he made me a level designer on Plutonium Pak. The rest is history.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

I think Apogee is in a unique position. They are financially independent, yet still have enough money to fund outside projects. And, like I said above, George and Scott excel at producing polishing games to perfection. Max Payne showed that the process could succeed. If Prey also succeeds, that will prove it wasn't a fluke. The repeated successes may encourage other studios (and possibly publishers) to take similar risks. Who knows? In the future we may actually see production houses that have no internal projects at all, but exist only by funding external projects and acting as liaison between the developer and the publisher.

8) What the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Everything's bigger. Dev teams number in the hundreds, in some cases. Games have much higher production values and require much longer to create. Gone are the days when a guy like me would create an entire game by himself, in less than a year. Now you have James Bond games starring the actual film actors. Sports games have all the sports stars. Now, movies are being made based on games, instead of only happening the other way around. (Of course, they aren't *good* movies.)

Keith dressed up as Alabama Smith from his Paganitzu game.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Working on Duke Nukem Forever.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

N/A

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

I wish I'd started my IRA a lot sooner than I did.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke Nukem 3D

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

Robotron, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, System Shock 2, & Thief 2

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake! BEEFCAKE!

Keith with his wife Rose (who was the voice of the Anime Girls in Shadow Warrior)



Title screen from early beta of Realms of Chaos when it had a different title.

A special thanks to Keith for agreeing to help out with the interview series. Keith's two projects are still available for sale from us, if you'd like to check them out, make sure and visit these pages for more information on them.

• Official Paganitzu Page (w/ shareware download)
  
• Official Realms of Chaos Page (w/ shareware download)
  
• Buy Full Paganitzu
  
• Buy Full Realms of Chaos
  

Make sure and tune in again next Monday morning, when we bring you the next in our Legacy Interview series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:20 PM | Discuss this story on our forums

The Apogee Legacy #1 - Jim Norwood

Today we lead off a new regular section on our website. Apogee Software has been around since 1987, and while we changed the name we're generally known by (to 3D Realms), the origins of the company are in the name Apogee. We were involved with many developers back in those days. Some of these folks have gone on to bigger things in the game industry. Some are not working in the industry at all anymore. But we've sought out as many of our old developers that we could locate (some of which we haven't had any contact with in a decade) for an interview series based on their time working with us. It's been fun talking to these folks about their time with us, and we hope you enjoy this insight into the developers who helped found what our company is today.

This series will be a regular thing on our website, with a new interview appearing each Monday for you to check out. This first edition of the series is with Jim Norwood. Jim was involved with two projects with us, 1993's Bio Menace, 1997's Shadow Warrior, and assisted on a whole scope of other projects from back in those days such as Duke Nukem, Secret Agent, & Wolfenstein 3D among others. Bio Menace was also recently released as freeware, so we thought that would be a good starting point for our interview series..

1) How did you first come in contact with Apogee?

I was at the time, like many developers, 'doing my own thing'- just working on a 2D game in my spare time that was something I thought would be fun to play. My day job at the time was some boring dBase programming gig in the business sector working for Raytheon. At least I got to see Patriot Missiles up close and I had cool national security clearance, but those were about the only perks.

At the time, I was making a side-scroller. Those were the popular games back then. I saw the Commander Keen engine from Apogee and was so impressed by how smooth John Carmack had gotten the scrolling in the engine, I naively just picked up the phone and called up Scott Miller at Apogee (yes, CEO's still had direct lines back then. Isn't that something?), and asked him if the source code to the Keen scrolling technology was also shareware. (Duh) Of course it wasn't, but that got Scott and I talking. When Scott also found out I was doing all the art for my own game, he became even more interested and asked me to send him samples of bitmap art I had been doing.

Well, after doing that, they liked my artwork and that landed me my first job in the game industry working on the original Duke Nukem 1 side-scroller doing background art. They even bought me a new PC to do the work on - I felt like a king. I was also given art tasks on various other games as well. In the mean time, I continued with my programming skills on my own, until eventually, we all went down to Shreveport, Louisiana to meet up with John Carmack, and the other ID folks, who by the way, were still working for SoftDisk at that time. They were not really ID just yet, not the way you'd know them now. By the way, just so you know - secretly, my favorite Id game is still Dangerous Dave. I just couldn't get enough of that shotgun. If you loved the shotgun in DooM, you owe a debt of thanks to Dangerous Dave for that!

So in the end, I got that Keen scrolling technology after all when I licensed the technology for my first solo game project, BioMenace, where I'd also be the game's only programmer, as well as the artist, and the designer, the level designer, and the sound engineer...whew! It was great fun, and I will always look back on those days fondly...but honestly, it was also a lot more work than one person should attempt on their own, even in those days.

2) Was there a reason you decided to work with Apogee, say versus going on your own or working with another company?

Apogee was the first company I had contact with and they gave me break into the game industry, which is what I always had wanted. And quite frankly, I didn't know anyone at any other game companies at the time.

3) Looking back, was there anything Apogee could have done better, regarding the marketing and distribution of your game?

Marketing and distribution weren't as big a problem as lack of development resources at the time. I needed a team to get things done before the game became too dated, even if I didn't realize it at the time. I think those early game projects might have been bigger hits if I had had a little help from some friends and put them out a year earlier.

4) Do you think your game was made better or worse by working with Apogee?

As opposed to working with who as an alternative? This is hard to quantify, but I feel that Apogee had a clear vision for what made great games at that time. Their early success proves that fact.

5) Apogee had a policy of letting the designer or studio retain full intellectual property rights to their game. Nowadays, it's rare to find a publisher who allows this, especially if the publisher is providing the funding. Do you believe that it's best for the creator to retain IP rights? Why or why not?

The man footing the bill wins. If a publisher pays for your development costs, he is the one taking all the risks, not you. I believe in that case, the publisher should retain the rights and not the developer. However, in cases where the developer makes the game and then approaches the publisher with a nearly finished product, the developer should clearly hold the rights instead. It's all about who is the one taking the most financial risks on the project. Those are the folks that should reap the most rewards. But you cannot have a hit game without a developer either, so being generous for a job well done is also warranted even if that developer does not retain property rights to his project. I've always felt this was a pretty cut and dry issue, but you'd be surprised at just how muddled development deals can become...

Jim in 2006

Hah! Of course I benefited! I got royalty checks for my first games for over ten years! Imagine getting a paycheck for ten year old work you did! Well, I did...on a monthly basis, until the sales finally just fizzled out from old age.

5b) Do you think there'll ever be a sequel to your game(s)?

No. We tossed around the idea a few times, but my projects were never big enough hits, mostly due to late release dates, that they do not have the following to merit a sequel. The comparison here would be to look at sales and popularity of Duke Nukem 3D vs. Shadow Warrior. Shadow Warrior has a following sure, but it's paltry compared to Duke.

6) Is there any story/incident that stands out as interesting during your time associated with Apogee?

A better question would be: are there any stories about my time with Apogee that don't stand out? I had a great time in my seven or so years with Apogee/3DRealms and met and worked with some of the greatest minds in the game industry today. What's not interesting about that? As you know, Id Software was affiliated with Apogee for a good while - so we all knew each other personally.

A very interesting story was the time we had to evacuate from George's house and run for our lives when a certain disgruntled developer who forgot to take his lithium came calling unexpectedly late one night, weapon in hand... I won't go in to details, but that certainly DID get one's blood pumping, and stands as a clear memory to this day. The police arrived to save the day, so we all survived the ordeal in the end.

7) Apogee was an early pioneer in terms of teaming up with external designers and studios, and continues to do so even to this day (currently working with Human Head Studios on Prey). Why is it that so few other studios do this (mentor and fund outside projects with lesser known teams)?

Is it true that other developers do not do this? Microsoft and EA are prime examples of large companies that work with smaller external studios. I work at EA, Redwood Shores now and we have plenty of external development houses helping out on various projects. (I cannot be more specific for legal reasons - sorry.)

8) What is the biggest difference in the industry nowadays versus when you worked with Apogee?

Size. It's bigger, it's more mature. The stakes are higher, the projects monolithic, the competition more fierce than ever... The game industry is for the 'big boys' now. It's moved into a multi-billion dollar industry and the little guys either get assimilated, or destroyed if they resist (sorry for the obvious geeky reference there). Or they just plain run out of funding because they cannot compete with the quality of projects that really large game companies are capable of now.

Jim looking thrilled at having his picture taken.
This was Jim's desk at 3D Realms HQ in 1997.

9) What have you been doing since your time with Apogee?

Making more games of course... I'm currently at EA as a software engineer.

10) If you're no longer making games, have you thought about returning to this industry? If not, why not?

I don't plan on ever NOT making games - when some guys in white coats from the geriatrics ward arrive at my desk to take me away, that's when I'll be done with the game industry.

11) Looking back, are there any missed opportunities that you wish you'd have jumped on?

Id Software offered to hire me on to work on Doom 1 and help me finish BioMenace in the bargain. I declined their generous offer at that time for various reasons. But getting BioMenace done faster would have been a boon, and missing the chance to join Id? Well... need I say more? We don't always make the best choices in life since we might be blinded by other factors at that time. As they say, hind sight is 20/20.

12) Other than your game(s), what's your favorite game released or produced by Apogee (or 3D Realms)?

Duke Nukem 3D. That game kicked ass - period. Dudes - where is Duke 4!? Huh huh?

12a) And what's your favorite 2-4 games released by anyone else?

X-COM 1, Doom 2, No One Lives Forever (series), any game having to do with the WarCraft franchise (I'm currently addicted to World of Warcraft), and ALL BioWare games. (I admit it - I'm a shameless BioWare camp follower).

13) Is there anything else you'd like to add about your time here or to fans of your title(s)?

Sure - figure out how to revamp the Apogee line by creating next-gen side scrollers! It's the 3D revolution, but I'll never stop being a fan of the side-scroller genre. I'm convinced it can still be beautifully done with current generation technology, but most companies, if not all, won't take the marketing risk.

Also, to Frenkel, who created map images of all the BioMenace levels (link) - I thought that was great! My hat is off to you.

Jim with John Galt, the voice of Lo Wang in Shadow Warrior

We'd like to thank Jim for his time in giving such a good interview to launch the series with. If you'd like to continue the trip down memory lane, you can check out the freeware release of Bio Menace, as well as information about Shadow Warrior, both of which are available on our website.

Please remember to tune in next Monday for the next interview in the Apogee Legacy Series.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:02 AM | Discuss this story on our forums

A Tribute to Build

Our classic Duke Nukem 3D game was built on the Build engine. Get it? :) Anyway, the engine proved to be very flexible, being used in a ton of different games, on the order of another dozen or so. Two of them were by us (Duke Nukem 3D & Shadow Warrior). The remaining ones were by others. The point is that it was a versatile engine.

The website Strifestrips has done a "Tribute to Build", in which they interview Scott Miller & Ken Silverman from here about the engine and it's uses in various games. Ken also divulges a lot of information from his sequel engine to Build, codnamed "Polytex", which was never actually used in a game.

Here's a few quotes from Scott:

Q: What stands out in your mind as the defining feature of the build engine?

A: Build had a few features over the Doom engine, such as sloped surfaces, looking up and down about 30 degrees each way, variable screen resolutions, mouse-look, and we could build rooms over other rooms using portal tricks. But really, the engines where otherwise fairly equal. Duke 3D didn't succeed due to the more advanced Build engine, but because of the gameplay innovations and the personality of the lead character.

Q: The Build engine behind Duke3D went on to power many other games at a time when Quake was demonstrating the true power of 3D for games. How did you manage to get the Build engine licensed to so many developers?

A: First, it wasn't ridiculously expensive to license. And maybe most important, it was a very easy engine to use, and could be used to quickly make a game. And with the success of Duke 3D, it was a proven engine.

There's also a lot from Ken Silverman as well. Here's some of what Ken had to say:

Q: When you look back at your original code, is there anything there that makes you think "What was I thinking, why did I do it that way"?

A: I have reasons for everything in the code. Some things were certainly designed in a bad way, such as statically allocated arrays.

Q: Would you consider doing something like developing a physics engine for Build?

A: I wouldn't do it for Build. As far as I'm concerned, JonoF's port is the end of my work on Build. I would consider doing physics for a future engine, however.

There's plenty more from both Scott & Ken, as well as some stuff from BobAverill, including a few remarks about some runins he used to have with yours truly. If you're a fan of Build, you won't want to miss this, especially for the Polytex stuff, as well as the good, long interview with Ken. Check out the full Tribute to Build here. There's also more information over at the Wikipedia entry for Build.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:38 PM

New Version of the Apogee / 3DR FAQ Online

Which of these games used to be Apogee projects?

* Doom
* Descent
* Cyril Cyberpunk

Did you know that these games had other names during development?

* Death Rally (Hi-Speed)
* Rise of the Triad (Wolfenstein 3D Part II)
* Major Stryker (Strike Force)
* Terminal Velocity (Velocity Brawl)
* Raptor (Mercenary 2029)
* Shadow Warrior (Ninja Master)
* Realms of Chaos actually was the third name for that project!

Answers to these questions, and many many others are available right now in the the Apogee / 3D Realms FAQ. Written by Apogee fan Sam Stoddard, this FAQ is the single best source of information available about us, our people, and our games. The first version came out in August of 1994, and it's been updated with our games and projects ever since - a special thanks to Sam goes out for continuing the work on this FAQ all these years. This new version, v7.2 can be found in our FAQ area. There you can find a link to a text version of the FAQ, as well as an HTML version of the FAQ on Sam's servers.

Here's some other other information covered in the FAQ:

* What's the difference between Duke Nukem & Duke Nukum?
* "Call Apogee & say Aardwolf" - What's that?
* Who designed each of the 176 officially released Rise of the Triad levels?
* What do Fury3, Microsoft, & Hellbender have to do with Terminal Velocity?
* Was there really a v1.3 of Wolfenstein 3D?
* What was Duke Nukem: Endangered Species Hunter?
* What was the name of the abandoned RPG that Apogee was working on for awhile?

If you've ever played any of our games, or if you've ever wondered "Why is that?" - then you owe it to yourself to check out the Apogee FAQ today. Spend some time and read it all, you'll be amazed at the amount of information in here.

BTW, all the games listed in the first question used to be our games at some point. The FAQ will tell you a little about that.

NOTE: Please take care to note that this FAQ is not ours. It's not written by us. We just host it on our site as a convienence. And no, DNF is not cancelled - to those who wrote in regarding that in the FAQ, make sure and read closer (Hello Apache). :)

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:02 PM

Come Work for 3D Realms

Short and sweet.

We're looking for really talented level designers, so head on over to the jobs section and check out the details.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 6:10 PM

We're Still Here

Yeah, we're still here. We've had a few emails wondering what was going on, as we haven't had any updates to the website for awhile. We've all been busy working, so never fear, Duke is still here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:45 PM

Interview with Scott Miller

Today we bring you a link to an interview with company founder Scott MIller over at the gaming news site "Gaming Eye". In their interview, they talk to Scott about several items, ranging from the early days with id Software, to Max Payne, and to Scott's insights on game development. Here's a few small snippets from the interview..

Q: You have been in the gaming industry longer than most, how has the game development industry changed over the years?

A: It's 100 times more competitive overall. And it's much more difficult for new studios to start up.

Q: What role does 3D Realms have in the development of the Max Payne franchise?

A: It's fair to say we played a significant role in the outcome and success of the game, from concept, design, quality assistance, to marketing. That said, it was a true collaboration and neither party could have succeeded nearly as well without the input and talents of the other.

Scott has plenty more to say - go head over to the interview and check it out for yourself.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM

Happy New Year from 3D Realms

Happy New Year! Everyone at 3DR is back after their vacations and are slaving away again. All went well here, and we hope it did for you, too.

To start the year off, we have a small file we'd like to bring to your attention. It's the Stargunner Soundtrack. Back in 1996, we released a shooter named Stargunner. It's since been discontinued, but lately we have had several requests for the music from it, so here it is in mp3 format. Go and grab your copy of the file over at Fileshack - it's free!

Additionally, our Max Payne screenshot contest closes on Monday. This is your last weekend to get in on the fun - details are below on December 22nd. Check it out.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 AM

Merry Christmas from 3D Realms

Or if you celebrate something besides Christmas, merry that, too. We at 3D Realms wish to extend a safe and happy holiday wish to all our site visitors. We hope your holiday season brings you something joyful, and something fulfilling. We'll see you on the flip side of the holidays.

In the meantime, we leave you with this holiday greeting from Max Payne and crew - click on the pic for the full image - thanks to Mariamus for the image.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:15 PM

It's Interview Time

Gaming site "This Strife" has two interviews with some folks notable in 3D Realms history. Scott Miller (founder of our company), and Todd Replogle (the programmer for the first three Duke games, amongst others).

Todd, as was said above is known for having programmed the first three Duke games, as well as several others for us in the early days of the company. Here's a bit from Todd's interview:

Q: What are your favourite computer games of all time?

A: My favorite video game of all time has to be the really spooky ones. The original arcade version of Williams' Sinistar is a game that stood out among the rest. It had a simple premise with complex gameplay attributes.

Q: Your past has seen you having heavy involvement with Scott Miller and George Broussard, 3DRealms head honchos. Have you got any funny stories about your times with them?

A: There was a funny time when the whole gang flew to a software awards ceremony in Los Angeles. In no time we were exploring the town, checkin' out the sights and getting familiar with the territory. One night we stopped by a strip club to do some "research" when all of a sudden Chris Farley walks in! We couldn't believe it. For a time we were more interested in watching him than the strippers.

The other interview is with Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Software. Scott talks about a wide range of topics, from the genesis of the Max Payne franchise, the foundation of id Software, and Scott's possible work as a level designer for DNF.. Here's some from Scott's interview:

Q: Even with relatively few Duke Nukem games released, he has become an established character and brand name. How did you achieve this?

A: It only takes one spectacular game to establish a brand. And although the original Duke Nukem, a side-scroller, was a giant success in the shareware market, selling not too far behind Wolfenstein 3-D, it was Duke Nukem 3D that broke the damn wide open on Duke�s popularity, exposing him to 25 million players via the shareware version, and 1.5 million via the PC retail version.

Q: One of the things that sets 3D Realms apart from the majority of games developers is that you�re self funded, isolated from publisher pressuring. Is this something you�d ever want to change and are there any downsides to this situation?

A: I�d guess that most all studios wants to be financially independent, because it allows for the freedom to make the games YOU want to make, inventing new properties and being in charge of your destiny. Having to depend on money from publishers, who more often than not do not see things as you do, and generally do not think for the long-term, is not fun at all.

Make sure and check out both interviews - and if you want a laugh, check out the rest of the site.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM

Interview with Joe Siegler

Long time 3D Realms site visitors might remember an infrequent series of radio interviews with 3D Realms webmaster Joe Siegler on a show called the Daily Dementia. Well, this past week Joe made a return to the show, and did a two part interview with the show's host, TC. Joe talked about music, games, 3D Realms games, as well as other ramblings. If you want to check out the interview, you can find part one here, and part two here. If you want to check out the current Daily Dementia, you can visit it's site here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:15 AM

Say You're George Broussard

The most recent Computer Gaming World magazine (June 2003 issue), lists their top 5 ways to sneak into E3. One is "Be a Booth Babe", but another one is "Say you're George Broussard". Here's what the article said..

Say you're George Broussard: What the hell, this one's worth a try. After all, Duke Nukem Forever and George haven't been seen in about five years. If someone asks you to prove that you're really working on the game, give them a copy of the Duke trailer from E3 2000.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:40 AM

We're Still Here

Yeah, we're still alive. We've gotten a few emails lately asking if we were not here anymore because there hadn't been an update to the site in quite some time. Well, part of that is due to the fact that the team is busy working on DNF, as well as myself busy working on some other projects. Couple that with our "When its' done" and "Area 51" stances on Duke Nukem Forever information, and sometimes there isn't much to talk about.

But we're most definitely still here. No worries there.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:55 PM

Getting Dirty

No, it's not stripper mud wrestling, although it is mud. A new entry in our not all that often updated web feature "Caught on Camera" brings us the exploits of a few of 3D Realms' employees as they go offroading in the wild backwaters of Garland last Sunday afternoon. Check out the pictures to see the adventures of Charlie, Allen, & Brian, and their spunky sidekick Keith as they spit mud all over the place.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 6:45 PM

Interview with Scott Miller

Our founder and co-owner Scott Miller was interviewed recently by the gaming news site ingaming.com. The interview covers a wide range of topics, from Scott's involvement with the company operations now, some of his views on gaming in general, and of course, Duke Nukem Forever (Uh, "When it's done"). Anyway, check out these quotes from the full interview:

Ingaming: What is your take on the future of shareware, especially with more and more people trying to make a buck from their projects?

Scott Miller: I think Apogee was lucky to get it's start when we did, because I believe shareware was much easier then, compared to now. The reason it's harder now is that there's simply so much more competition in the games category. Back then, every game we released made money, even if it wasn't all that good. But that quickly changed nearing the mid-90's because there were so many more games being released both as shareware, and especially commercially. No longer could okay games get noticed because there were so many great games also available. It was at that time that we changed our business, and focused on fewer, higher quality games, and more on the retail market.

InGaming: 3drealms bread and butter genre has been and continues to be first person shooters. With this genre being flooded with games at an almost constant rate, do you see the novelty wearing off? Or is innovation always going to keep things new with shooters.

Scott Miller: First, our bread-and-butter is not really first-person shooters, but character-based shooters, whether in first- or third-person. For example, on the console Duke has appeared in several third-person games, and Max Payne is third person. As for the novelty wearing off, yes, this is the case. That's why it's increasingly tough to make it fresh, and that's why we're spending so much time, money and effort trying to do something groundbreaking with Duke Nukem Forever. We do not want to release cookie-cutter clone games.

Scott has a lot more to say here - so make sure to check out the whole interview today!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:45 PM

William Scarboro Has Died

Have some sad news to report. Former Apogee/3DR programmer William Scarboro has died. He died of an asthma attack on Friday August 9th, and his funeral was today.

William was born March 2, 1971 in El Paso, TX. He was a graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in Computer Science. He came to work here back in 1993, and was the first programmer we hired back then when we started doing in house development. He was mainly known for his work on Rise of the Triad where he worked on actor code, weapon stuff, and the gibs. In fact, William was responsible for the old /EKG gib cheat in ROTT.

His obituary was in the Dallas Morning News Website - the date listed there as his date of death was wrong, but otherwise is correct.

Sad news - and definitely put a damper on all of our thoughts now.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:40 PM

Scott Miller Interview

Today, Avault has published an interview with Scott Miller. In the interview, Scott talks about Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, as well as Duke Nukem Forever. Here's the intro text from the interview about it:

Scott Miller of 3D Realms is able to convey a love for gaming as well as anyone in the industry -- it shines in interviews and even emails he exchanges with fans and the press. Although he spends his day doing what many would consider a dream job -- producing and playing games -- he also must deal with the inconsiderable pressures of business. The Adrenaline Vault interviewed Miller as his company oversees the final leg of production on the valueware title Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project and continues development on Duke Nukem Forever. What are his thoughts about Manhattan Project and when can we expect more on DNF? Read on.

There's lots of cool stuff in here, so head on over to Avault, and read the interview!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:15 PM

New Version of the Apogee / 3DR FAQ Online

Which of these games used to be Apogee projects?

* Doom
* Descent
* Tubes

Did you know that these games had other names during development?

* Realms of Chaos (Alabama Smith & The Bloodfire Pendant)
* Terminal Velocity (Velocity Brawl)
* Raptor (Mercenary 2029)
* Monster Bash (Graveyard)
* Cosmo (The Adventures of Zonk)

Answers to these questions, and many many others are available right now in the the Apogee / 3D Realms FAQ. Written by Apogee fan Sam Stoddard, this FAQ is the single best source of information available about us, our people, and our games. The first version came out in August of 1994, and it's been updated with our games and projects ever since. This new version, v7.1 can be found in our FAQ area. There you can find a link to a text version of the FAQ, as well as an HTML version of the FAQ.

Some of the other questions covered in the FAQ:

* What's the difference between Duke Nukem & Duke Nukum?
* "Call Apogee & say Aardwolf" - What's that?
* Who designed each of the 176 officially released Rise of the Triad levels?
* What do Fury3, Microsoft, & Hellbender have to do with Terminal Velocity?
* Was there really a v1.3 of Wolfenstein 3D?

If you've ever played any of our games, or if you've ever wondered "Why is that?" - then you owe it to yourself to check out the Apogee FAQ today. Spend some time and read it all, you'll be amazed at the amount of information in here.

BTW, all the games listed in the first question used to be our games at some point. The FAQ will tell you a little about that.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:35 PM

Happy New Year!

We're back with some news items to start off the New Year's. We hope everyone out there had a happy and safe holiday season.

Also, the "second present" that was announced back on Dec 24th (which was supposed to be out Dec 31st) has been delayed slightly. It should still be out very quickly, but we can't explain why without telling you what it is. All will be made clear once the item has been released.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 AM

Merry Christmas from 3D Realms

We'd like to take a minute and say Merry Christmas (Happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or whatever it is you celebrate this time of the year) to all our fans out there. 2001 has been a great year for 3D Realms with the release of Max Payne, and interest in Duke Nukem Forever remains high. We're glad at the reception that Max Payne has received this year.

We'd like to say thanks to all our fans out there with two small presents from us this holiday season. The first is an MP3 of the music from the E3 trailer that was released back in May. For months people have been asking us to release the music on it's own, and now we have. You can download a zip archive which contains an MP3 file of the E3 2001 Trailer music without any of the sound effects from the trailer.

The E3 trailer theme music is available here and here (and is about 2.5Mb). We hope you enjoy it. If you're interested, the E3 video is still available for download, you can get that here.

The second present isn't being released today - that is being released a week from now at New Year's (if all goes well), and we will announce what it is at this time. We can give you a small hint. It's of interest to old timers, and isn't Duke Nukem Forever related.

In other Christmas news, Remedy sent us their annual Christmas card (we at 3DR did not have one this year). If you'd like, you can view the Remedy Christmas card on our forums.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:30 PM

3D Realms Makes the List Again!

The last couple of years, 3D Realms has had the "honor" of making the cut on a list of videogames published by National Institute on Media & the family. Their annual "Video & Computer Games Report Card" lists (in their words) "a snapshot of the interactive gaming industry with a focus on issues related to child welfare". The 2001 report has put 3D Realms on the map again - this time around with Max Payne. Here's what they had to say about Max Payne:

Due to extreme violence and its portrayal, the ability to cause fear, illegal/harmfull behavior and inappropriate language, as well as some nudity and sexual content, this game is not recommended for children of any age.

As usual, we're grateful for the free publicity, but again as usual, the government can't quite get their facts straight. Nudity? They playing the same game we put out? There isn't any in the game! Anyway, if you'd like to see what else they had to say about other games, you can check out their website, or their 2001 report card..

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:00 PM

Some Old Friends Resurface

Earlier this week two old 3D Realms hands resurfaced in the way of new interviews. The two folks are Todd Replogle (author of the first three Duke games, as well as Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure) and Ken Silverman (author of the Build engine used in Duke3D, Shadow Warrior, and many others). The website "thisstrife" conducted interviews with each of them.

It was nice to read thse, as our old comrades aren't heard from a whole lot lately (especially Todd). Check the interviews out with the links below:

* Interview with Todd
* Interview with Ken

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM

Interview with George Broussard

With the Duke Nukem Forever video making such a splash at E3, George has come out of his self imposed news blackout for a minute to give a short interview to Voodoo Extreme. The interview was mostly about things in the E3 video itself. Here's a small tidbit..

VE - I couldn't help but notice that we don't actually see Duke himself in the DNF footage. Why did you decide not to show his DNF look in the game?

GB - He's not modeled yet. In any case I don't think we would have used him. We didn't really want Duke in the video as the whole thing was from his perspective. We even opted not to include any voice clips from Duke. We liked the idea that the video was strong enough to stand on it's own, without Duke. Besides you do see his hands in a few places.

This is the first time George has spoken out about Duke Nukem Forever in some time, and is likely to be the last for some time, too. Check out the whole interview here. Also, if by some chance you haven't downloaded the Duke Nukem Forever trailer video yet, visit our downloads page for the links.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM

Interview with John Pollard

This got posted while we were out in Los Angeles, and with all the server issues yesterday, this got missed. However, you shouldn't miss it - it's a cool interview with our own John Pollard; Duke Nukem Forever programmer. It's sh ort, but is a good read. Here, check out this snippet from the interview:

TTH: How's it like working for the great 3D Realms?

John: It's really cool. The guys here are great, and really talented, and it shows. There is a lot of history here, and you can feel it when you walk down the halls and look at all the posters of past 3D Realms games .

Make sure to check out the whole interview here. Thanks Neil Abraham.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:15 PM

We're Back

Well, we're all back. Games, videos, strippers, dancers, and a lot of fun later, we're all back here at 3DR HQ. Bleary eyed, but ready to get back to work, we're currently plowing through feedback and online E3 reports today.

Our own picture collection will be online in the next couple of days (we've got literally thousands of pictures to go through).

In the meantime, you can download the Duke Nukem Forever video files from our site now, click on the downloads button to your left.

Thanks to all for the positive feedback on the Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne videos - they both were a big attraction at E3 this year. We couldn't walk anywhere without being asked about them.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:10 PM

Off to E3

In about 30 minutes, 3D Realms will be off to the airport to go to E3.

The Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne 2001 Floor videos will be released tomorrow online. Please note THAT THEY WILL NOT BE ON THIS SITE UNTIL WE RETURN FROM LOS ANGELES - Don't come here looking for them until next Monday.

They will be released around 10AM Pacific time tomorrow the 17th - which is the same time the show opens. The idea is that y'all online will be able to see it around the same time folks on the show floor can.

Make sure to hit all the popular game news sites - most of them have been contacted directly with the video, and even if they haven't, I'm sure they'll grab it from one of the sites that did get it almost instantly!

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the videos!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:25 PM

Joe Siegler Interview Pt 2

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a story on our webmaster, Joe Siegler being interviewed by Euniverse Live. Part two of that interview was placed online yesterday over at EUniverse Live. In part two, Joe & TC talk about Duke Nukem Forever, Max Payne, and other game stuff.

To no one's surprise, not a whole lot was said about Duke Nukem Forever, but it was a pretty cool interview. Check it out here - you can listen to a streaming version, or download an MP3 of the entire show.

If you missed it, you can check out Part 1 of the interview here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 PM

Joe Siegler Interview on E Universe Live

Our webmaster Joe Siegler was interviewed by the EUniverse Live daily internet show. The interview covers topics such as game news sites, as well as other things like Napster, TiVo, and other electronics coolness.

To no one's surprise, nothing was said about Duke Nukem Forever , but it was a pretty cool interview. Check it out here - you can listen to a streaming version, or download an MP3 of the entire show.

And, this is Part 1 of 2 - part two (which we don't know when it will air at this point) will have some talk on 3D Realms.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:45 PM

Welcome John Pollard!

Say hello to our latest Duke Forever team member - John Pollard. John's been with us for a couple of weeks now, but we didn't get his web bio online until now. You can check it out at the 3D Realms bio pages.

You can also check out the entire Duke Forever team listings over at our DNF info page.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:15 PM

DNF Programmer Joins Team

A week or two ago, we had posted a job opening for two programmers to join 3D Realms. They were both filled fairly quickly (within 48 hours), and the first of the two programmers has hit 3D Realms headquarters. He stopped in at 3DR HQ long enough to say Hi, and then head back home to pack up his stuff to move here. He had just a minute to fill out a web bio for us, and have his picture taken, you can check that out here.

He's not actually here at the moment, he's still moving - we'll have more on him when he gets back. The other programmer hasn't gotten here yet, but once he's here, we'll post info on him, too.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:45 PM

Seperated at Birth

Today we bring you another entry in the not-all-that-frequently updated series of ours, "Separated at Birth". Today, our contestant is Ruben Cabrera! And who do we have behind Door #1? That's right - it's Oliver Platt!

Is this Oliver Platt? Is this Ruben Cabrera (of the Ruben and the Overlords of the Code Monkeys fame)? Check out our Separated at Birth page to be sure!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:00 PM

Apogee & 3D Realms Icons

In another item from the historical department, we have a new file available. It's a collection of Windows icons based on our games. This collection covers a wide range of our titles, from Balls of Steel, to Paganitzu, to Shadow Warrior, to Mystic Towers, & Arctic Adventure!

This is a pretty cool (and free) collection of Windows icons - so go ahead and download the package - you might find some cool ones in here you've never seen before.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:15 PM

Another Scott Miller Sighting

Monday morning, and with this new work week comes another new interview with Scott Miller. This time, it's with the site "Max Payne Zone". Their interview with Scott covers the usual topics, although as it's a Max Payne site, the questions are more geared towards Max Payne. Scott covers Duke Nukem Forever briefly, too - and touches on the reasons behind the media blackout. Here's a sample:

mpzone: First, the media blackout - Why won't you release any new screenshots or information on Max Payne and Duke Forever? Just look at games like Halo - by releasing weekly updates their fanbase gets bigger and bigger.
� scott miller: Two points:

o Duke Nukem is already known, so there�s no need to build up player anticipation and awareness for this brand. Halo doesn�t has a previous hit game in the series to rely on.
o We in fact will release a lot more info about the game before it�s released, but we want to wait until the a few months before the game is released, not six months or more.

There's plenty more to check out, so head over to MPZone's interview with Scott Miller now!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM

It's Miller Time Again!

Today, the site Eurogamer has posted Part II of their interview with Scott Miller. In the second part, Scott talks more about "The Duke Franchise", as well as some of the Duke3D developers, God/Take 2's acquisition of the Duke games from Infogrames, to his views on where the industry is going. Here's a sample (Scott's talking about the acquisition of publishing rights by Gathering/Take 2):

"Quite simply when Infogrames bought our publisher GT Interactive, they brought a new mindset and working relationship that didn't fit with us very well, so it was agreed by us and Infogrames to part ways. We then contacted several top publishers who we thought would make a great new partner with us, and Take 2 won with the highest bid for the publishing rights. However, this is not for the entire Duke franchise, still entirely owned by 3D Realms, but for the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever and the entire back catalog of Duke Nukem games already under the publishing umbrella with Infogrames."

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:46 AM

It's Miller Time!

Today we bring you a couple of interviews with our own Scott Miller. Scott is one of the owners here, and founded the company 14 years ago in his bedroom!

The first is from the site Eurogamer - the article is titled "Reaching Apogee". In it, Scott talks about the early days of the company, the creation of the name "3D Realms", as well as Scott's views on the industry and where's is going. Here's a sample:

Scott did have some reservations about continuing to use the term "first person shooter" though, telling us that "the term FPS is now sorely outdated, because many of the games I listed are not pure shooters, nor are they first-person games. I think we should adopt a better catch-all term like '3D Action', or 3DA for short. A side-benefit of this change would be removing ourselves further from the use of the word 'shooters', which only hurts our industry's reputation."

The second is an article over at Stomped, in which Scott isn't the main focus, but is one of several game industry folks who are quoted in the article. The article, entitled "Not Brought to you by the Letter M" talks about various proposals to restrict where and how "M rated games" can be sold. Here's what Scott had to say about this:

"The problem with the ESRB is that all violent games end up in the M category, but there's a big difference between a game that deserves to be M rated, like Kingpin and Soldier of Fortune, and a game like Unreal Tournament, which shows cartoonish violence and doesn't depict pain and suffering. The ESRB, if it were applied to TV shows, would rate any show with human blood, like ER, with an M rating, but by MPAA standards ER would be more appropriately rated PG-13."

Scott has more to say on this issue, including his thoughts on the creation of a new rating to help address the issue he talks about here. Make sure and check out both of these articles, and you can also hit our Interviews page to look at some past interviews with our staff.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:20 AM

Ruben Cabrera & the Overlords of the Code Monkeys

Our own Ruben Cabrera has formed his own rock band, "Ruben Cabrera & The Overlords of the Code Monkeys". In the band with him are Tim Wilson on guitar, Matt Wood on drums, & as the code monkeys: Scott Alden, Brendan Reinhart, & Jess Crable.

With his new found popularity, Ruben has a cover article in an upcoming Rolling Stone magazine with tips on becoming a rock star on your own, without having to quit your day job to do it. Also revealed in this issue is the fact that Britney Spears is in love with Ruben - this could be the reason for her swearing tirade at a recent concert in Rio. This, of course, comes much to the dismay of our own Charlie Wiederhold, our resident Britney Spears fan. Charlie recently was overheard mumbling in the corner "Why Ruben? He doesn't know the age of consent in all 50 states, I do!"... Charlie was last seen plotting to replace his Britney Spears posters with Christina Aguilera posters.

We've also been treated to some animated concert footage of the Overlords - click here to check that out (it's about 500k). Click on the thumbnail of the Rolling Stone cover for a larger image. If you want to pay homage to Ruben & the Overlords, or just want to learn to be a rock star like Ruben, click on the discuss link at the top of this news story.

UPDATE! - This candid photo is just in - it's Ruben showing his rock star cool. He's out of his rock star gab (to hide his identity) at dinner with the 3D Realms crew. Charlie Wiederhold, still upset at Britney Spears being in love with Ruben, can be spotted in the photo planning Ruben's downfall. Notice how Ruben keeps his cool in the face of Charlie's red mouthed, teeth knashing, hatred of him? Now THAT'S a rock star! You too can learn to be a cool, even headed rock star like Ruben!

For those of you who don't get it, this is a joke, of course. We had a silly fan contribution recently, and wanted to do something with it.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:30 PM

Stomped Interviews Tim Wilson

As has been the custom for awhile, some gaming news site interviews the latest member of our staff within a week or so of them being announced on our site. This time, the site is Stomped, and this time, the interviewee is Tim Wilson. The interview was your basic stuff in these interviews (How did you get here, how do you feel about Duke, etc.) Tim answers these questions (and others) quite well. Here's a sample:

Stomped: How did you get your current job at 3D Realms?

Wilson: Ho! Ho! That's a good question -- but the answer lacks fanfare, I'm afraid. The entire process was so smooth I had trouble believing I was actually hired. I simply emailed George Broussard a resume and a link to my site. He wrote back with a horde of q's and a request for more samples. My replies were apparently to his liking because he sent me a contract within a few days -- and a Duke Nukem pen to boot. That's the part where I cartwheeled around the room a bit. I consider myself very lucky because they just happened to be looking for a texture artist when I was looking for a gig. Thank the Fates for my Internet connection.

Stomped: What exactly will your responsibilities be for the game?

Wilson: I am in charge of creating world textures galore -- though the mass of textures already in place are above swank, there is much that needs love and attention. That's where I come in; everything can always be better and I'm glad to have a change to up the visual ante. Putting in all those touches that make you feel you'll skin your knee if you fall down on that shit . . . Perpetuating the illusion, suspending that disbelief, etc. Aside from making textures I may do a little skinning and a Multiplayer map or two.

Tim's interview is pretty cool - head on over to Stomped and check it out. Also, make sure and check out Tim's bio page, which went online last week.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM

Tim Wilson Joins Duke Forever Team

The final piece in the DNF staff puzzle has been put into place. Our new "Texture Grunt" is here, hard at work, and his web bio! Welcome Timothy Wilson to 3D Realms!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:10 PM

Merry Christmas from 3D Realms

It's Christmastime again, and all of us here at 3D Realms wish to pass on our wishes for a happy holiday season to everyone out there. We hope that everyone has a good time this season, and more importantly, a safe time. Make sure you're back next year to kick ass with us.

In addition to our annual tradition of a kick ass Christmas card continues, we have this picture of the Duke girls from this year's E3 show (hey, we have a Christmas themed picture of them, we have to use it!).

This year's Christmas card was a limited edition (and numbered) run of 750 cards. The card has four pages, and is a cartoon - the first panel appears below. Click on it to check out the rest of the card - we think it's damn funny, and we hope you will, too! Our Xmas cards from 1999 and 1998 are still online, too.

That's not the only Christmas fun - Remedy also sent us an image to use in our holiday story here. Check out Remedy's 2000 Christmas card cover by clicking here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:00 AM

Apogee - What's in a Name?

For the last couple of days, Gamespy.com has been running a pretty unique article that gives information about the origins of company names and their logos.

Over the last couple of days they've done companies such as Human Head, Blizzard, Electronic Arts, & Ritual/Hipnotic. Today they're running Day 3 of the piece, and they covered us, on both the Apogee & 3D Realms names/logos. Here's a bit of what Scott Miller had to say about us:

The name 3D Realms didn't happen until mid-1994, when George and I decided to focus the company on 3D games since it was a safe bet that 3D was the future. I came up with the name after weeks of researching potential company names that were available as an 800 number (800-3DREALMS) and a domain name. The name was also selected to convey the 3D focus of the company.

Scott talks more about the origin of the 3D Realms name, including the admission that 3D Realms was not the first choice. Furthermore, he talks about the design of the Apogee logo as well as the origins of that name.

Make sure to check out what gamespy.com says about us in this article - it's one of the more original articles to come along in some time.

UPDATE @ 2:50PM - Scott Miller found some of the pages that had the rejected Apogee logos on them. These pages were after the point where the logo was already decided upon, but the color scheme had not been. You can see the rejected Apogee logos here, here, here, & here. The color scheme we settled upon isn't on these pages - that one is shown here.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:15 PM

New Version of the Apogee / 3DR FAQ Online

Which of these games used to be Apogee projects?

* Doom
* Descent
* Tubes

Did you know that these games had other names during development?

* Realms of Chaos (Alabama Smith & The Bloodfire Pendant)
* Terminal Velocity (Velocity Brawl)
* Raptor (Mercenary 2029)
* Monster Bash (Graveyard)
* Cosmo (The Adventures of Zonk)

Answers to these questions, and many many others are available right now in the Apogee / 3D Realms FAQ. Written by Apogee fan Sam Stoddard, this FAQ is the single best source of information available about us, our people, and our games. The first version came out in August of 1994, and it's been updated with our games and projects ever since. This new version, v7.0 can be found in oour FAQ area. There you can find a link to a text version of the FAQ, as well as an HTML version of the FAQ.

Some of the other questions covered in the FAQ:

* What's the difference between Duke Nukem & Duke Nukum?
* "Call Apogee & say Aardwolf" - What's that?
* Who designed each of the 176 officially released Rise of the Triad levels?
* What do Fury3 & Hellbender have to do with Terminal Velocity?
* Was there really a v1.3 of Wolfenstein 3D?

If you've ever played any of our games, or if you've ever wondered "Why is that?" - then you owe it to yourself to check out the Apogee FAQ today. Spend some time and read it all, you'll be amazed at the amount of information in here.

BTW, all the games listed in the first question used to be our projects at some point. The FAQ will tell you a little about that.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 6:00 PM

Interview with Lee Jackson

Our own Music & Sound Director, Lee Jackson is interviewed today by Sonikmatter. Actually, he was interviewed several months ago, but they never posted the interview until now (due to site rebuilding). Anyway, the interview with Lee talks mostly about what programs he uses in his music studio, his sound libraries, etc... Here's a bit from it.

SONIK : What sound libraries do you use ?

LEE : We recently made a rather large investment in sample libraries. I'd like to go into detail here, but this would involve information on Duke Nukem Forever, and I'm under Area 51 rules on that project.

SONIK : What is a typical day for Lee Jackson at work ?

LEE : No such thing. The closest thing I can compare my job to is that of a soldier - periods of not much going on, punctuated by days of sheer terror. On slow days, I'll usually get my Internet stuff out of the way, and then work on music, either playing around, composing, or doing R & D on sounds.

There's a lot more - a lot more (Lee is rather verbose in this interview) - so make sure check it out for some behind the scenes goodness with Lee Jackson.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:15 PM

Interview with Paul Richards

Once again, one of our staff has been interviewed, this time it's Paul Richards - sketch artist for Duke Nukem Forever. In this interview, conducted by the German Duke site, duke4.de, Paul is asked mostly about his career, what he does, and what he did before coming to 3D Realms. Here's some of what Paul had to say:

Q: Where did you work before joining 3D Realms and what did you do there?

A: I was a conceptual artist at ION Storm for a year where I worked on 'Doppelganger', 'Dominion' and finally 'Anachronox'...that is until I got stuck on a comic book project that got axed. When work runs out, people like me get paranoid, and in that particular case it wasn't unwarranted. Then, in a bizarre twist of fate, I was "adopted" by id Software for two of the most surreal weeks of my life (And I mean that in a good way .

Q: What exactly are you doing on Duke Nukem Forever? Could you describe your work a bit more exactly?

A: I have a hand in designing environments, characters, objects and weapons. Alas, that type of work can only last so long, so I pitch in where I can. One day I might be roughing out cinematic storyboards or game box compositions. Later on I could be providing game textures, world models or character dialogue. I'm learning to be more versatile.

Paul's got a lot more to say, so make sure and check out the entire interview today! (Link removed Aug 28, 2006 due to non existance).

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:15 PM

New Programmer Bio Online!

As promised a few days ago, we are bringing you the information on the new Duke Nukem Forever programmer - Scott Alden. Scott's Web Bio is online now in our "Meet the People" section. You can read Scott's bio there, as well as the bio of any other of the 3D Realms staffers.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:40 PM

Jess Crable Interview

The newest Duke Nukem Forever team member, Jess Crable, has been interviewed. This time the interview was done by the Stratos Group. They try and get some Duke Nukem Forever information out of Jess, but you'll have to read the article to see how Jess dances around that question. Otherwise, here's some of what he said.

SG: How did you 'break into' the industry?

JC: I got hooked on Unreal editing and made a lot of small mods during Unreal's early days and threw them on my website (www.planetunreal.com/oddities). After several months one thing led to another and Legend Entertainment in Virginia hired me.

SG: What, exactly, is your part in the development of Duke Forever? Take us through a day at work.

JC: I've been focusing on the game's AI, which has been a lot of fun. I just check my list of things to do and start doing it, there's not much else to a typical day outside of me bothering the level designers now and then and getting to listen to Brandon's weird music occasionally. It's pretty quiet since everyone's working very hard.

Make sure to check out the interview - Jess has some other things to say about himself, too.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM

Brandon Reinhart Article

Our own Duke Forever programmer Brandon Reinhart has a new article that went online yesterday. It's over at Gamespy, and is entitled, "GreenMarine's Development Corner". In the article, he talks about several things related to the gaming industry - how it's organized, how some companies are laid out, game design, and how to break into the industry. The article contains no information about Duke Nukem Forever, but is a great read if you're interested in the behind the scenes working of this industry. Here's a bit of what he had to say:

Jay Wilbur once said "level design is where the rubber hits the road," and he's right. The Level Designer's job is to take the textures, characters, AI and models and mix them together with original architecture to create a game world.

Long before I was hired to work at Epic Games, I emailed John Carmack and asked him what it took to get into the industry. His response consisted of a single sentence: "Talent will be rewarded."

Make sure to check it out - it's a great article!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:45 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] 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

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

Interview with Lee Jackson

Gamespy.com has an awesome new interview with Lee Jackson up today. It covers the usual topics you'd expect to see in an interview with an industry person. However, Lee goes into some really good detail. He covers topics about his past job at the IRS before Apogee, how he came to be here, the creation of the Duke Nukem 3D theme song, other games, just a ton of stuff! If you enjoy the music that comes out of our games, or if you just want to read about Lee, you owe it to yourself to read this interview, oddly titled "Music To Play By - Part 5". Here's a few samples:

GameSpy: What have you enjoyed most regarding your career with 3D Realms?

Lee Jackson: An incredible string of coincidences. I'd started the song as possible level music, after a session of listening to a lot of Ozzy, Pantera, and Judas Priest. I basically drew out a lot of heavy metal idioms from a mental grabbag and put them together, just to see what I'd get. I tossed in a drum line and some Rick Wakeman-esque keyboard riffs, and that was it. The song wasn't even a song in my opinion - just a test. When it came time to save it, I used the name Grabbag, since that's what I thought it was--a grabbag of styles thrown together and mixed up.

If you enjoy reading about behind the scenes stuff, read this interview now! It's one of the better industry interviews that's come along in awhile.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:50 AM

Brandon Reinhart Bio Online

The most recent addition to the Duke Nukem Forever team, Brandon Reinhart has his web bio online now. If you're interested in reading about Brandon, check out his bio. You can also check out the bios for the rest of us by checking out our bio page.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:30 PM

3D Realms Chat Transcript Online!

Last night was the chat with 3D Realms staffers over at MadOnion.com. Lots of people showed up and asked lots of questions. I'm sure if our guys had hung around for another 5 hours, there would have been plenty of questions for that time. However, in the time that they were there, a lot of ground was covered. You can read all about it by checking out the Official Chat Transcript over at MadOnion's site. In addition, their site has the "after talk" part with all the questions cleaned up!

There's a lot said from our staff who showed up - so make sure and head over to Mad Onion's site and check it out!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM

3D Realms Chat Upcoming

The web site Mad Onion has just announced an upcoming chat with 3D Realms staffers Scott Miller, Ruben Cabrera, & Brian Cozzens! These three members of the Duke Forever development team will be online in a moderated chat on June the 27th at 7PM EST. More details will be coming this week, so keep your eyes peeled!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:15 PM

Interview with Joe Siegler

The gaming news spoof site, The Mushroom has posted an interview with our webmaster, Joe Siegler in their "legit news section". In this interview, Joe is asked about several things ranging from his personal life, to the camera captioning contest here, to Duke Forever, and what makes a good web site. Here's a bit from the interview:

Q: Is there any advice you can offer to those who are thinking of designing their own web page?

A: Well, I did sign most of my levels with my initials somewhere. When we were designing levels, one of Tom Hall's instructions to the team was "Don't write words in the levels with the walls" - meaning, no secret messages in the game. However, I got around this in two ways. First, I asked him "Well, what if I use Standard Galactic Alphabet?" (the language in the Keen games) - he laughed, and let me use that, so I put a message that says "Dopefish Lives" in some walls in one of my levels.

There's a lot more from Joe here - so make sure to check out the interview today. This isn't your usual one line answer interview.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:45 PM

E3 Photo Update

From our Webmaster, Joe Siegler...

"The response to the mass amount of photos I put online has been great. I was a bit concerned that people might be overwhelmed with so many photos, but the response has been great. So much so, that a few other people asked me to put up even more! Anyway, I've gone through several of the pages and updated the various descriptions based on information people sent in to me on who these people (or things) were. Thanks to all that sent in email - there's too many to list here, though." You can check out the E3 2000 pictures here.

One other thing - a post in our web forums alerted us to a rather funny comic over at mpog.com - it's a strip that talks about "E3 Booth Babes" from the "booth babe's point of view". It's very funny - check it out! Thanks moonbuzz.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:40 PM

E3 Photos Online

From our Webmaster, Joe Siegler...

"Well, after a couple of days prep work, the E3 pictures I took are now online. I actually used much less than I took - there's more, but I weeded out a ton of duplicates, and pared it down to about 50% of what I took. Still, you're not really missing anything, and while there is a lot, I had a ton of requests after the last E3 for more pictures than I put online before, so that's what I did this time. I've also separated them out so it takes less than 30 seconds to download each page (on a 56k modem), and put in jumps, so if you don't have the time to look at all of them at once, you can come back to another page quite easily.

You can hit the picture archive by visiting our "Caught on Camera" section of our website where you can see pictures from other events we've been to and done, not just this recent E3 show. Also, in a funny bit of E3 fluff, we were sent this video file by someone - it's one of the Duke girls jumping rope in the lobby of E3. You can see a still here, but if you want a video file of her jumping rope (as well as the other Duke girl, too), you can download the video by clicking here."

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM

Lee Jackson Interviewed

This morning, the Stratos Group posted an interview with our own Lee Jackson, 3D Realms' Music & Sound Director. What does that title mean? Well, that's covered in the interview, as well as a lot of other things, from personal issues to what Lee does on games to what games he likes, to how he created the theme for Duke Nukem 3D. Here's a few quotes from the interview from Lee:

Q: A lot of fuss has been made in the past few months about the effect of video game violence on adolescents. What's your take on the issue?

A: ...There is something important that everyone should keep in mind about the game business. We don't write babysitting programs. We write games. We mostly write games for people over 17. If a parent decides to use one of these games as a babysitter for someone under 17, then they're using it for a purpose other than for which it was written, and they must accept the consequences of their actions.

Q: What are your other non-gaming hobbies?

A: Right now, I'm into cooking and barbecuing, and I'm trying to get started growing my own herbs for the kitchen. In the past, I've been into photography, model rockets, and programming.

There's a lot of good stuff in this interview, you should check it out!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:45 PM

It's Hard to be 3D Realms

There's a very funny article online today over at 3D Action Planet entitled "It's Hard to be 3D Realms". The article talks about us not showing Duke Nukem Forever at E3, the impact of our virtual lack of information about the game, and other things of this nature. Here's a quote from the beginning of the article - this kind of sets the tone for the whole piece:

The reasons people love 3D Realms is clear: 3D Realms makes great games. Really great games. And it is now making a game that many anticipate to be the greatest game ever made, surpassing even Half-Life and others. Then why all the hostilities? Why does the gaming community hold this insuppressible rage toward 3D Realms?

People, you're missing the point. 3D Realms does not care about hype. It does not care about bad publicity. It does not care about anyone childishly demanding something that they shouldn't have yet. And if it's not clear enough yet, here's the basic idea: 3D Realms knows that they've got something really good on its hands. And for that reason alone, the game will sell. DNF will not be the best game ever because 3D Realms hyped it up, because there are thousands of screenshots on the web, or because you know every weapon and enemy that will be in the game. DNF will be the best game ever only because DNF is the best game ever. No other factors will affect that. Not pre-release bad publicity, not childish attacks, not anything.

Make sure to check out the entire article - this is one of the better pieces written up lately about Duke Nukem Forever.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:45 PM

Wieder "Interview"

Charlie Wiederhold (Duke Forever mapper) was "interviewed" the other day by JeffK. We use "interview" in a very loose sense of the word. Why? You just have to see for yourself - go check out the interview here. Here's an example of this most odd 'interview'...

JeffK: I've got some new Duke Nukam lines yuo can put in yuor neat littal game, let me give them too yuo and yuo can tell me if theyr good: "Mommy didnt raise no quittar - Im gonna shots yuo till yuo bleeds!" will yuo use that?

Wieder: That isn't an Evil Dead line. We can't use it.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:45 PM

Joe Siegler Interview

Joe Siegler (the 3D Realms Webmaster) was interviewed yesterday by the Edge Gaming Site, and this morning they posted the interview. This interview focuses mainly on the 3D Realms website, things Joe does, and a bit of his background. Not much on Duke Forever, though. Here's a bit from the interview:

Q: How did you become Webmaster for 3D Realms?

A: Right now, the games I'm playing the most are The Sims, Unreal Tournament. and High Heat Baseball.

There's a whole lot more in this interview with Joe, make sure to check it out today, and while you're there, check out the rest of the Edge Gaming Network, too!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:25 AM

Another Day of Death is Upon Us

On November 21, 1999, developers from 3D Realms, Gathering of Developers, Ritual, and TRI hiked into Dallas' surrounding woodlands to play a game of paintball. They were never heard from again.

5 months later, their footage was found.

Editors Charlie Wiederhold & Joe Siegler have edited the footage and released it here on the 3D Realms Web Site for your perusal. Click on the photo to your right, and you'll be taken to the documentary of the most recent paintball trip by 3D Realms.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:20 PM

Scott Miller Interview

Over the weekend, the site Hypothermia posted an interview with Scott Miller. However, it's not your usual run of the mill interview. In the words of the interviewer, "When most people request interviews of the 3DRealms bunch. . . . it inevitably comes down to "What's up with DNF" or the classic. . . "Hey can I have an exclusive scoop or story??"" This interview is about Scott Miller himself, and his past, and true to his word, has nothing about Duke Nukem Forever. Well, OK, it has one small comment, but this really is about Scott, and not about our games. Here's a sample..

Q: What's the most annoying thing to deal with as a a Game Making Guru.

A: I�m a hardcore drummer (been playing for 20 years) and I love pre-1985 Rush with Neil Peart behind the pig skins. Also Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and other guitar instrumentalists. I like the band concept in which the band actually creates and physically plays their own music, which rules out pseudo-bands like NSYNC, or bands that program their music on a computer. Big whoop.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:30 PM

John Anderson Interview

Our own John Anderson (Duke Forever mapper) was interviewed the other day by Unrealcenter. John talks about what a normal day is like here, level design issues, & Duke Nukem Forever (what a surprise!). Here's a bit of what John had to say to Unrealcenter:

UC: If you had one paragraph to sum up Duke Nukem Forever. What would you say?

JA: Take all the action, suspense and thrill of you favorite movie, mix it with a healthy dose of Duke attitude and then tie it in with an incredible story and allow it to unfold under your complete control.

UC: What part of level designing is the most fun? What is the worst part of level designing?

JA: All of it can be fun and a drag, the good thing is I can do what interests me at a given moment. If I�ve done a lot of texturing and lighting one-day I might work on some event scripting or new geometry construction the next. There is so much to do in a map that you can really mix it up and not get bored doing the same old thing day in day out.

John has a lot more to say - make sure to check out the entire article today!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM

Interview with John Anderson

Once again, one of our staff has been interviewed. This time, it's John Anderson, Duke Nukem Forever mapper. John was interviewed by Andy's DNF Zone, and is asked about his past, what he does in his job, and other aspects of being a gamer, and working for 3D Realms. Here's a bit of what John has to say:

Q: What is it that makes you want to do level design?

A: This is an interesting question that I'm not sure how to answer. It's much more than a strong desire, in fact I'll put it like this, every mapper at 3D Realms has it. It being a desire so strong that you'll work for 15 hours plus every day and have to drag yourself away every night and look forward to returning the following day. In previous job if I felt a little "under the weather" I would not hesitate to call in sick. At this job I could be dying but I won't miss work, I just love it too much. You really do have to love this sort of thing it's not something you could do half hearted.

John has a lot to say here, so make sure to check out the full interview today!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM

Stomped & E3 Discussions

Scott Miller is quoted again - this time over at Stomped's new E3 site. Stomped is getting an early start on 2000 E3 coverage with their new site dedicated to the annual trade show. They've been asking several folks in the industry for their thoughts on E3, and here's what Scott has to say:

Q: What is the single most memorable thing you can recall from any of the past E3s you have attended?

A: Just the enormous size of the event, the huge, elaborate booths, and the idea that so much money (100's of millions, I imagine) is being spent on digital gaming, once just a hobby that few took seriously. No one could have thought this would happen 20 years ago?! One of the memories that impresses me most is seeing the Scavenger "Spider Leg" booth a few E3s ago, which must have million or two bucks easy. But the booth was better than their games, and apparently the booth got all the budget, too, because Scavenger soon went out of business.

Q: What single thing are you most looking forward to doing and/or seeing at this year's E3?

A: Being a game fan, I just like to check out what everyone is doing, and take a look at every single game at the show (1500+ games!). Most games do not impress me because they're the same old games in new clothes, and they do not reach their full potential because of restricted budgets and publisher pressure to get the game out. But lots of games still contain innovative ideas, and seeing these innovations always gives me hope for our industry.

Make sure to head on over to Stomped's E3 site and check out their pre-pre-pre-pre E3 coverage.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:45 PM

Lee Jackson is a Neologism Champ

Here's an item from the 'Slow News Day Department'.. :)

Our own Lee Jackson has been awarded the monthly Neologism award by the Washington Post Newspaper. What's that, you ask? It's an award given out for best "pun" sent to them. Lee is an expert (and award winning) punster, and it came as no surprise that he won this award.

If you'd like to read up on this award, as well as see what it was exactly that Lee said that was so funny, you can check out the article on the Washington Post paper Web site.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:45 PM

Interview with Scott & George

Gamespot has an article up now entitled "Millennium Gaming: 20 Gaming Visionaries Usher in the Next Millennium of Gaming". Long title, but it's a great article. It was done by our good friend Geoff Keighley - several major players in the gaming industry are interviewed about where they thing gaming is going starting in the new century. Our own Scott Miller & George Broussard have been interviewed, here's a bit of what they had to say:

Q: Do you think the gaming industry is underestimating one aspect of interactive entertainment that will take us all by surprise in the early 21st century?

A: (Scott) I think Todd Replogle went unrecognized by our industry. He was the primary game programmer of the first three Duke Nukem games, including Duke Nukem 3D. He's now retired. Todd had a design sense for doing the impossible, and he was the fastest coder I know, but not the best or the cleanest. He simply got things done and did them fast and often implemented brilliant features. I also must throw long overdue recognition at Allen Blum, who's also been involved with Apogee since 1991, having worked on each Duke Nukem game, including Duke Nukem Forever. Allen is a coder and a level designer on par with the best in the industry and probably more creative than most.

There is a lot lot more in this article - I urge you to check it out - it gives a great insight into Scott, George, how they perceive themselves, the gaming industry, and where we're going from here. Check it out today (if you haven't already done so).

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM

Welcome Back!

From Joe Siegler: "No big Y2K blowup, no power outages, and no need to be hiding in a bomb shelter. We're all still here - and today's the day that most of us are back in town after the holiday break. It's good to be back, saw a lot of movies over the holiday, and spent time with family - you know, important stuff. Anyway, now that I'm back, I'll have some news to report on.

But before I get to the news, I want to pass along another Holiday card to everyone - this time from Remedy Software, the makers of Death Rally and the forthcoming Max Payne. There is a front and a back to the card - click on either thumbnail below to see a larger image. Also, don't forget to check out the 3D Realms Christmas card that is also available online.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM

Merry Millennium from 3D Realms

No real game news here, but all of us here at 3D Realms wish to pass on our wishes for a happy holiday season to everyone out there. We hope that everyone has a good time this season, and more importantly, a safe time. In this vein, we'd like to share our 1999 Christmas card with everyone. It was sent out to friends and family (and the like) of the people here at 3D Realms as well as some other people (I wonder if Bill Gates will actually read his).

Anyway, the picture to the right can be clicked on to see the full Christmas card including a special Duke Nukem Forever Holiday poem on the inside.

We expect 2000 (our 13th year in the gaming business) to be our best yet, with the forthcoming Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne. Also, the revision to our web site, which has been delayed slightly will appear in January, along with some other stuff we haven't told you about yet. Just remember. If you go out, stay safe. We want you back playing games with us next year. If you need a ride during the Millennium New Year's celebration, call a cab! (Here in the Dallas area, AAA will tow you and your car home for free). Oh yeah, our games are Y2K compliant. :)

This will be the final news entry for the 3D Realms site for 1999, as I (Joe Siegler) will be on vacation next week and won't be back until Jan 2nd. Unless there's some major happening, I don't plan on updating while I'm on vacation. Happy Holidays everyone! Here are the links for the pages of the card:

1. Cover
   
2. Page 2
   
3. Page 3
   

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:54 PM

Interview with Scott Miller

RPOV Interviews has a new interview up today with Scott Miller of 3D Realms. This interview covers the usual subjects our guys get asked (What's in Duke Forever, When will it be out? What else is going on?), as well as a few original questions you don't normally see. Here's a sample:

Q: You recently stated that DNF is using the Unreal Tournament version of the engine but that "a LOT" of new technology has been added. Could you give a few examples of enhancements that the DNF team have made?
A: A few general things:
* Model/animation system on par or better than anything I've seen in PC gaming. (This system, combined with our motion captured animation, will give DNF perhaps the best looking characters and enemies seen on the PC.)
* The scripting system is greatly enhanced and far more flexible.
* Realtime backward and forward level-of-detail, which scales down models to increase framerate (when characters are at a distance), and also adds detail to models when close up (meaning that characters will look more detailed than even the source model).
* There are other major tech additions, but I cannot go into them now. However, I can add that DNF's scripting system is so advanced that we can make practically anything in the game interactive. For example, we've released a screen shot that shows a video poker machine. It ain't just for looks. ;-)

Q: Music can be a crucial element to creating an action movie feel. Who have you (or Remedy) hired to do the music in Max Payne?
A: A very good in-house sound artist, Tero Kostermaa, who's making highly appropriate mood- setting music that'll be context sensitive. Making original music usually produces better end results than hiring a well-known band and hoping that the band understands the vision for the game.

Q: It was announced in 1997 that Pocket Books was going to be creating some Shadow Warrior and Duke Nukem novels. The Duke books were slated to be released in conjunction with DNF. Is this still planned?
A: No, because DNF is introducing so many new characters and ideas that until the game is done we don't want to have any novels written that might wind up being based on old or incorrect background information. Also, just because Duke is a great video game star doesn't mean that he'll translate into a great book character. I think Duke could make a great comic book, but I have my doubts about doing novels. We'll see. If we get a great writer on the project, then we might still do some novels.

Scott has a lot more to say in this interview, so head on over to RPOV today, and check it out!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

Interview with Joe Siegler

AGN has posted a new interview with our webmaster, Joe Siegler. In this interview, Joe is asked about his involvement with our games, his history with the company (which is over 7 years), console games, and many other topics. Here's a few short bits from the interview:

Q: In my opinion, 3D Realms is one of the best put together gaming company websites. Always up-to-date, and refutably the highest hit count , how long have you worked on the website?

A: I'm the only Webmaster we've ever had. The first ever web site we had went online in 1995. Before that, our online presence was on places like CompuServe, America Online, & the Software Creations BBS.

Q: Do you do any actual work on games at 3D Realms, or is the online side your main business?

A: I have my hands in every game we release. I write all the disk based documentation in our games, as well as create the installation programs for all of our games since Major Stryker in Jan of 1993.

There's a lot more in this interview with Joe, so make sure and check it out today!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

Interview with Scott Miller

There is a really good new interview up with Scott Miller over at 3D Unlimited. Scott is asked a wide range of questions, not just the usual ones about "When will Duke Nukem Forever be out"? Here's a sample of what Scott has to say:

Q: 3D Realms has really had some outstanding titles in the past, what can you tell us about upcoming titles?

A: We only have two games currently in production: Duke Nukem Forever and Max Payne. Max is primarily developed by Remedy Entertainment in Finland, with our design assistance. In fact, just this week five key developers from Remedy visited our offices for a very productive design session, as well as to visit the Gathering of Developers offices, get a full demo of Duke, and also some bungie jumping.

Q: Do you plan to release any games on Dreamcast or the upcoming Dolphin Project and Playstation II?

A: The only thing I can say about the release is that it will not be this year. The game is making rapid and impressive progress, and has every sign of being a Major Hit. The upcoming Dec. issue of PC Gamer will have the first ever screen shots of the game since we've switched to the Unreal engine, plus additional game details we've not released. Look for the issue with Duke on the cover.

Q: What can you tell us about the engine of Duke Forever?

A: We're using the Unreal Tournament version of the engine, but we've added a LOT of new technology to it. There's no doubt in my mind that our enhanced UT engine is one of the most powerful, impressive engines ever used, and will very much be leading-edge stuff when DNF comes out. In other words, this game will not in any way suffer from looking dated, which many gamers have expressed some concern about.

This is a really good long interview, and covers a lot of ground besides just what's coming up (it also hits on the past, too). Head on over to 3D Unlimited today and check it out!

Thanks Al Behrens.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

New Version of the Apogee FAQ Released

Samuel Stoddard is a name that you probably haven't heard much before, but he has authored one of the more interesting documents written about us and our games. Back in August of 1994, Sam started an Apogee FAQ. It was "officialized" shortly after that, and became the official FAQ on our company.

This is an extremely well written FAQ, and if you've ever had an oddball question about Apogee, 3D Realms, Pinball Wizards, or our staff, this is the place to find an answer. There's little in the way of information that isn't in here, and if you have ever played one of our games, this FAQ is for you!

A new version was released today (v6.4), and you can download it from the FAQ area of our web site. There is both a plain text version as well as an HTML version available. You should really check this out, as it covers some of the more asked questions such as:

* What's the difference between Duke Nukem & Duke Nukum?
* "Call Apogee & say Aardwolf" - What's that?
* Who designed each of the 174 officially released Rise of the Triad levels?
* What do Fury3 & Hellbender have to do with Terminal Velocity?
* What released games of ours were originally called Mercenary 2029 & The Adventures of Zonk?
* Was there really a v1.3 of Wolfenstein 3D?
* Did you know that Doom & Descent were originally Apogee games?

These obscure questions (and a lot lot more) can be answered by checking out the Apogee/3D Realms FAQ. Do it today!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

Scott Miller Chat

Last night, Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Software held an irc chat, where he talked about 3D Realms, Apogee, Max Payne, Duke Nukem Forever, Prey... you get the idea.

There were many wide ranging subjects in the chat that are sure to be of interest to 3D Realms fans. Here's a bit of what he said:

Q: Why does 3D Realms put their games under a media blackout so often?

A: About our secrecy, It comes down to two basic concerns. First, we want our games to be played before players know all the little interesting details which tend to ruin the experience, much like some movie trailers show far too much of the movie. Second, we prefer not to give our competitors too many ideas.

Q: Will 3D Realms ever send out any screenshots of DNF?

A: We will begin sending out screen shots and more info for both Max and DNF early next year--that's when we really plan to start lifting the cloak off of our two games.

Q: Balls of Steel marked a first for the company where the full version was completed and sold before the release of the shareware version. Was this successful and will you continue this on future games?

A: Most likely in the future, our shareware games will appear only a week or two ahead of the retail availability.

Q: How soon do you see more information about the Duke Nukem movie being released?

A: We've been meeting with the script writer a lot recently and things are rolling very, very nicely. What's taken so long with the Duke movie, in part, is that we've been very picky about the story, and not just doing a quickie, rip off movie that no one will care about.

There is a lot more from Scott on a variety of issues relating to 3D Realms. Make sure to check out the full IRC log today - it's most definitely worth your time to read!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

Separated at Birth

It's the third in the not-so-regular 3D Realms Separated at Birth series. This entry is our own Music & Sound Director Lee Jackson, and "Big Mick" the sound engineer for Metallica. The Separated at Birth series will be updated once we find a good shot that we think would really match one of us (or when there's not much else to report on) . Can you think of one? Let us know.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM

Matt Wood Interviewed

Our own Matt Wood (level designer, Duke Nukem Forever) was interviewed recently by the '3D Map Realm' Web site. The interview covers things like Duke Nukem Forever, map design theory, and where Matt thinks level design is headed. Here's some quotes from the interview.

Q: What exactly is your part in making a game?

A:My part in the design process is to work with all the other mappers and help create the 'game' you will actually play. I'm also in charge of physically making the specific levels that we've come up with.

Q: Most people have their own ideas about what working in your industry is like. What is it REALLY like?

A: For the most part it's really great, but i do relate it a lot to high school sometimes. You have freshman who can act like seniors and seniors that can act like 5th graders.

Q: Anything else you'd like to say?

A: You guys wont be disappointed with Duke Nukem Forever. You will be no less than blown away by it. 'Hail to the King, Baby....'

This interview gives you some good insight into the mind of a professional map designer. Check it out!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM