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Help Wanted!
Need more help. Must go faster. Scotty, we need more powah! ATTN: 3DR Website level designers, local Dallas/Guildhall level designers and level designers everywhere...
If you're a pro, or an amateur, if you have talent and passion, feel free to send us your stuff. Programmers interested in game play programming, or with 360 experience should look us up, too.
Take a look at our jobs page for more details.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:23 AM
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Child's Play
 It's November now, and as another year draws to a close, the minds of most folks are starting to think of holiday gifts and of how they can help others. It's the spirit of that which brings you this story. Some of you know the web comic "Penny Arcade". What you may not know (especially if you don't read the strip) that they have an annual charity event called "Child's Play".
This is a program that benefits various children's hospitals across the country. Basically what happens is a children's hospital creates a wish list on Amazon.com and the Child's Play website links to the various lists around the country. This is where you come in, as you can buy a gift from these lists, and it directly goes to help out a kid whose life has taken them to a hospital. The gifts and games from these lists can definitely bring some fun into their life. If you've spent any time at a hospital yourself, you know it's not the most fun thing around.
Here's some text from their site about their program:
Since 2003, over 100,000 gamers worldwide have banded together through Child's Play, a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry. Over two million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since our inception.
This year, we have continued expanding across the country and the globe. With over 45 partner hospitals and more arriving every month, you can be sure to find one from the map above that needs your help! You can choose to purchase requested items from their online retailer wish lists, or make a cash donation that helps out Child's Play hospitals everywhere. Any items purchased through Amazon will be shipped directly to your hospital of choice, so please be sure to select their shipping address rather than your own.
When gamers give back, it makes a difference!
If you've never checked out this program, you should. Special kudos go out to the Penny Arcade guys for coordinating this program. Take a minute, and look over the lists for a hospital in your area (or one that's not, there's no restrictions). Have a heart, and help out a kid who is less fortunate than you. Someone who would really enjoy the gift of gaming.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:29 PM
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Have you carved a pumpkin?
Have you carved a pumpkin that is 3D Realms related? We'd love to see it. If you have, send in some pictures of it, and we'll get them posted to the "fan stuff" page (which will undergo a big overhaul in December).
Here's a few from the past:
- Duke Nukem pumpkins from fan Gabe Cantu (link)
- Max Payne pumpkin from fan Chris Deyton (link)
- Duke Nukem pumpkin from an internal 3DR staffer back in 1996 (link)
If you have something, please email us about it. Thanks!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:34 AM
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Prey's Music Composer Nominated for MTV VMA
Here's your chance to make video game history! GameTrailers.com and MTV are proud to announce two new MTV Video Music Awards to be presented on MTV's Overdrive during the world famous VMAs - "Best Video Game Soundtrack" and "Best Video Game Score." GameTrailers has selected five nominees for each category, and you decide who wins by casting your vote now! So what are you waiting for? This is your chance to participate in the first ever video game related VMAs!
Why are we telling you this? Well, it's because Prey composers Jeremy & Julian Soule have been nominated in the first ever videogame category for the MTV video music awards show. Now they're not nominated for Prey, but they are nominated for the music they did for another AAA title; that being The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
If you are a fan of either Prey or Oblivion, head on over to this link and vote for Jeremy & Julian Soule. The winner of this award is directly chosen by you - that's right, it's a popularity contest, so head on over to gametrailers now and vote! Voting ends on August 28th, and the show airs on August 31st.
Additionally, if you're a fan of Prey and haven't checked out their soundtrack, you can get your own copy right now over at DirectSong's Prey site.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:33 AM
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3D Mark 2003 is Out!
The premiere computer benchmark program has been released. It's done by Futuremark, sister company to Remedy, the folks who made Max Payne. In fact, past generations of 3DMark have been based off Max-FX technology, the same stuff that was used to drive Max Payne!
Lots of folks have been able to glean a lot of information from their computers by using this benchmarking program. At the time of the writing of this article, Futuremark's download page is swamped, and very hard to get through to. If you can't get through to that, check out this list of mirrors that Blue's News has online.
Either way, grab your own copy of 3D Mark 2003 and see what information you might find out about your computer that you didn't already know!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:15 PM
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News Interceptor
We also would like to take this time to point out a cool utility that was brought to our attention recently. It's a program called "News Interceptor".
With this program you can use it to track the activity on our web forums, but that's not all. You can track other gaming news sites like Blue's News, ShackNews, and others. You can hit "real news" sites like CNN and the like, plus other topics like music, sports, entertainment, etc... It's a great program that keeps track of your favorite news sites, and brings the latest headlines right to your desktop. Click on the screenshot below to go to the NI website and download your free demo copy! This is used by our webmaster here, as well as some of our support department to keep up with the latest - we've definitely found it useful!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:35 PM
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Virus Information
Just a quick notice about some viruses currently making the rounds. Please take a moment and read this. As 3D Realms is a fairly popular website, our URL and various email links contained within are stored in a lot of folks' browser caches everywhere. Some viruses (like W32.Sircam and W32.Klez) will scan your computer's internet browser cache and look in the files for email addresses to spread themselves to. They will also masquerade as other people so the virus isn't always looking like it's coming from you. Anyway, when they find something to send to, they'll use email addresses in your browser cache to fake sender IDs and scan HTML files for pieces of text to use as the subject line. This has the effect of making the virus infested emails look like something from a friend of yours (or you) - and something you're likely to open and further infect yourself (or the poor sap you sent it to).
As a popular gaming site, we get a rather large amount of these things all the time - and it would help us (and the rest of the world too, for that matter) if you can take some time and scan your computer for viruses and help kill the Klez virus (as well as any others that might be on your machine). Below are some links to info about the Klez virus at McAfee & Symantec.
* McAfee
* Symantec
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Virus Information
Just a quick notice about some viruses currently making the rounds. Please take a moment and read this. As 3D Realms is a fairly popular website, our URL and various email links contained within are stored in a lot of folks' browser caches everywhere. Some viruses (like W32.Sircam and W32.Klez) will scan your computer's internet browser cache and look in the files for email addresses to spread themselves to. They will also masquerade as other people so the virus isn't always looking like it's coming from you. Anyway, when they find something to send to, they'll use email addresses in your browser cache to fake sender IDs and scan HTML files for pieces of text to use as the subject line. This has the effect of making the virus infested emails look like something from a friend of yours (or you) - and something you're likely to open and further infect yourself (or the poor sap you sent it to).
As a popular gaming site, we get a rather large amount of these things all the time - and it would help us (and the rest of the world too, for that matter) if you can take some time and scan your computer for viruses and help kill the Klez virus (as well as any others that might be on your machine). Below are some links to info about the Klez virus at McAfee & Symantec.
* McAfee
* Symantec
Thanks to the Winace site for the idea for doing this.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:45 PM
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A View to a Kill
Bad James Bond joke aside, there's a pretty cool article online over at PC Gamer's site entitled "A Third Person View to a Kill". In it, the "war between 'firsties' and 'thirdies'" is discussed, with the article's thrust saying that Max Payne is at the foreground of this battle.
For those who didn't pick up on the reference, this is a discussion on whether first person or third person style games is preferred. The article talks to Petri Jarvilehto of Remedy about Remedy's decision to use third person instead of first for Max Payne. Here's a bit of what he had to say:
Anxious to get to the bottom of it all, I contacted Petri Jarvilehto, project lead at Remedy. Surprisingly, a first-person perspective was never a consideration for Payne: �We felt that third-person would differentiate the game from a zillion other action games and give us more new elements to work with.�
There's some pretty interesting stuff in this article - check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:15 PM
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Triumph of the Mod
Salon.com has a cool article online today called "Triumph of the mod". In it, the article talks about how customizing computer games started. They talk with Tom Hall of Monkeystone (formerly of id, Ion Storm, & Apogee), as well as Scott Miller of Apogee/3D Realms and several others. They talk about some of the earliest known total conversions (such as the Smurf conversion for the Apple II Castle Wolfenstein game), up to Doom mods, and things such as Valve's Steam. Here's a bit of what Scott had to say about the early days of user modifications:
Scott Miller, now CEO of 3D Realms, first noticed that enthusiasts were creating levels for the original "Duke Nukem" (1990), developed when Miller was at Apogee. Not only were gamers creating mods for his company's games, they were even creating level editors to simplify the process for making them -- then distributing both to other gamers online. "This was a fascinating development," says Miller. "We just didn't expect players to take the time and effort to create their own development tools."
Check this article out, it's quite good stuff.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:05 PM
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Take Two One Two Three
Take 2 has pulled off a very cool feat, currently holding the first, second, and third place spots on the sales charts - they're the first publisher ever to do that all at once, and Max Payne is one of the three! Check out this news blurb about this coolness...
Take 2 Interactive blasts in at Number One, Number Two and Number Three in the Playstation 2 charts!
With the newly released State of Emergency going straight in at NUMBER ONE, Chart Track today confirmed that Take 2 Interactive is the FIRST EVER software publisher to hold the TOP THREE POSITIONS in the Playstation 2 chart.
�This is an OUTSTANDING achievement for State of Emergency and Take 2 Interactive, with Grand Theft Auto 3 and Max Payne teaming up alongside such a highly anticipated title. We are very proud to be the FIRST publisher to achieve this overwhelming result� enthused Serhad Koro - Sales and Marketing Director.
The arrival of State of Emergency, straight in at NUMBER ONE, proves it to be the ULTIMATE beat em up on the Playstation 2. Boasting more than two hundred characters on the screen at any one time, it is a totally original adult game, providing gamers with a unique and thrilling gaming experience.
Take 2 are looking forward to more success in the very near future, with strong franchises including MAX PAYNE X Box, GRAND THEFT AUTO 3 PC, MAFIA PC and DUKE NUKEM ADVANCE GBA. With well-focused plans and creative titles, this is just the beginning for Take 2, in what has already started with an unprecedented performance.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:50 AM
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Gamespy Holiday Buying Guide
In other Gamespy news, they have posted their annual Holiday buying guide. In this year's edition, they list Max Payne as the #2 thing you should be buying this holiday season. Check out a bit of what they had to say about Max...
Sometimes a game just gets all the little things right, and they add up to a metric ton of fun. Such is the case with Max Payne, a 3rd person shooter from Remedy. While the graphics are definitely some of the best to be seen on the PC lately, it's the little touches that really make the game a treat.
The game's pacing is perfect, slowly walking you and Max through the dark story and one outstanding set piece after another. You'll mow down thugs in dark alleys or wealthy office buildings. Bullets will rip environments to shreads. You'll be able to leap behind counters or roll into a room, guns blazing. One sequence has you racing through a fire-bombed building as it collapses and explodes around you.
They have a lot more to say about Max, so make sure and check out Gamespy's Holiday Buying Guide, and especially
the page on Max Payne!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:45 PM
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New Slowdown Utility
As some of you have noticed, a lot of our older titles have problems with today's faster computers. Several of them have been discontinued due to this problem, but for those of you who have them already, some new help is now available.
We recently came across a new slowdown utility called "CPU Killer". This essentially slows down your computer so that these programs can run. We've run some tests on our older games that can't run on really fast computers (We tried it on a few 1.2Ghz machines), and this makes them work again! What you need to do is run this program, select the slowdown speed, and then go and run whatever game you're having problems with. When you're done with the game, just stop CPU Killer, and your computer is back to the way it was before!
Some older builds of our shareware games have problems installing (the most common error is the Runtime Error 200), this will help get those programs installed. However, any download downloaded directly from links on our web site won't have that problem, we fixed the installer issue some time ago; it's older installs that are floating around elsewhere that have this problem.
We've had a workaround available for some time for this issue (in the form of Mo'Slo), but CPU Killer is a Windows app, so you can run that in Windows, and is slightly easier to use than MoSlo was. Both Mo'Slo & CPU Killer can be downloaded from our master downloads page. Just click on the downloads button on the left side of the screen, and then go to the bottom and look for "Miscellaneous downloads". You can also visit the home page of CPU Killer by clicking here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:50 AM
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More on New York
From Joe Siegler.. "As today starts, I find myself still not being able to come to grips with the events of yesterday, as I'm sure most decent people can't. The video that CNN started showing last night of plane #2 was pretty intense (It's currently available here on CNN's site). Still seems like some sort of video game. Anyway, here's the latest updates from CNN as I get into the office this morning."
� The White House and Air Force One may have been targets of the terrorists responsible for the Pentagon attack, according to White House officials. That is why President Bush was flown from Florida to several military bases until his security in Washington could be guaranteed. Officials say the jet that slammed into the Pentagon may have been originally destined for the White House. (Full story)
� Maine's Department of Public Safety says officials seized a rental car at the Portland jetport, believing two of the hijackers may have used the car to travel between Portland and Boston.
� The Federal Aviation Administration has given clearance for flights diverted after Tuesday's terrorist attacks to continue on to their final destination Wednesday, but ordered all other commercial air traffic to remain grounded. (Full story)
� 80 bodies have been removed from the Pentagon. "Scores" of bodies have been located but not removed.
� Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admonished U.S. government officials for revealing classified data because it could "reduce the chances that the U.S. has to track down and deal with the people...who have killed so many Americans."
� A car is seized in Daytona Beach, Florida, with information relating to Osama bin Laden.
� The owners of a flight school in Venice, Florida, say that the FBI is investigating whether two former students were involved in the attacks.
� New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says that "the best estimate" for the number of dead could approach "a few thousand people ... in each building." As many as 300 firefighters and police officers are missing and feared dead. (Full story)
� Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley reports the "vast majority" of its 3,500 employees at the World Trade Center got out safely.
� The Taliban, who control 90 percent of Afghanistan, appeal to the United States to refrain from attacking their country.
� President Bush asks Congress for emergency funding to aid rescue and relief efforts and calls attacks "acts of war." (Full story)
� NATO is meeting to discuss invoking Article Five of its charter which would give a green light to the United States to retaliate once it determines who is responsible for Tuesday's attack and expediate assistance from other NATO members. (Full story)
� Intelligence sources tell CNN that at least two phone calls were intercepted between members of an organization connected with suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. Phone calls mentioned that two targets had been hit. (Full story)
� Secretary of State Colin Powell says the coalition being formed will not stop at getting the people responsible for the attack, but will go after terrorists wherever they are found.
� The aircraft carrier USS George Washington has moved into New York Harbor
� New York rescuers are searching for two other people who have been in contact with authorities; six firefighters and three policemen were rescued early Wednesday, two other police officers were rescued Tuesday night. (Full story)
� New York Fire Chief Pete Ganci and First Deputy Commissioner of the Fire Department William Feehan have perished.
� Boston's Logan International Airport announces tightening of security. Among them: the airport will discontinue curbside baggage check-in and remove vehicles standing within 300 feet of front entrance. Car found at the airport, where two of the hijacked planes originated, contained a flight manual written in Arabic. Police and FBI investigators are examing the car. (Full story)
� Pentagon announces: Military jets will be seen in skies over New York and Washington for the next several days.
� Reports of three suspicious aircraft over Canada were checked out by Canadian authorities and found to be untrue, according to U.S. officials. Concern about the matter was prompted by a Canadian pilot who reported -- erroneously as it turned out -- that he was being followed by three other aircraft.
� New York City is closed to the public south of 14th Street.
� President Bush asks Congress for emergency funding to aid rescue and relief efforts and calls attacks "acts of war."
� NATO is meeting to discuss invoking Article Five of its charter which would give a green light to the United States to retaliate once it determines who is responsible for Tuesday's attack and expedite assistance from other NATO members.
� Intelligence sources tell CNN that at least two phone calls were intercepted between members of an organization connected with suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. Phone calls mentioned that two targets had been hit.
� Law enforcement officials in South Florida say they tried to carry out search warrants based on information found in flight manifests, but the searches have yielded no evidence.
� New York rescuers are searching for two other people who have been in contact with authorities; two other police officers were rescued Tuesday night.
� Fire still smolders at the Pentagon, although the fire was under control by Wednesday morning. As many as 800 people there are still unaccounted for, but half of the building was to open on Wednesday.
� As many as 300 firefighters and police officers are missing and feared dead.
� New York Fire Chief Pete Ganci and First Deputy Commissioner of the Fire Department William Feehan have perished.
� Boston Herald reports that authorities seized a car at Logan Airport in Boston containing "suspicious materials," including Arabic language flight manuals. FBI spokeswoman would not confirm or deny that report.
� Although airlines were making tentative plans to begin resuming curtailed schedules, the unprecedented grounding of all flights in the United States remained in effect until at least noon Wednesday.
� Pentagon announces: Military jets will be seen in skies over New York and Washington for the next several days.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:30 PM
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World Trade Center in New York
From Joe Siegler.. "My generation wasn't around for Pearl Harbor. I think we have a new date that will live in infamy. If you haven't heard already, there's been several (presumed) terrorist attacks on the US - the twin towers of the World Trade Center are gone. I was planning on leading with a news story with some more Max Payne reviews, but quite frankly, I don't feel like writing about that today. Get off the computer and go watch CNN or MSNBC or some other news station - most of the news related web sites are overloaded and unreachable."
UPDATE @ 1PM: As a lot of the "real" news sites like CNN, MSNBC are overloaded, here's some pieces of the ongoing news story (this was copied from the CNN site):
In the first attack, a plane hits the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m., followed by another plane into the second tower about 20 minutes later. Both towers later collapse.
� About an hour later, a plane crashes into the Pentagon, part of which later collapses.
� American Airlines tells CNN that it lost two planes, both en route to Los Angeles: American Flight 11 from Boston with 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard is lost. This is believed, but not confirmed, to have been one of the planes that crashed into the trade center. ... American Flight 77, a Boeing 757 from Washington Dulles airport to Los Angeles with 58 passengers and six crew is unaccounted for. The jet that crashed into the Pentagon may have been this one, but that is still unknown.
� United Airlines loses two planes: United Airlines Flight 93 airliner headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashes near Somerset, Pennsylvania -- police say initial reports indicate no survivors. ... United confirms the crash of Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles with 56 passengers and seven crew aboard. It's possible, but not confirmed, that this is the second plane that hit the World Trade Center.
� The Pentagon, the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, the Capitol, the CIA and all other government buildings in Washington are evacuated.
� President Bush calls the crashes "a national tragedy." Later in the day, Bush issues a statement from Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, Louisiana. "Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
� In the first-ever national ground stop of aircraft, all flights nationwide are stopped at their departure airports.
� International flights are initially diverted to Canada; FAA says later, however, that 22 U.S.-bound international flights will be allowed to land.
� Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, says in reaction to the terror attacks that "we want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice."
� In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rush to the scene. Evacuation of lower Manhattan begins.
� Israel evacuates all of its missions around the world.
� The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is evacuated. CDC prepares bioterrorism teams in case they become necessary.
� Philadelphia landmarks are evacuated.
� In Chicago, the Sears Tower is evacuated; United Nations in New York is evacuated.
� The New York Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels into the city.
� U.S. stock markets close after the New York attacks.
� NATO sends home all non-essential personnel from its Brussels, Belgium, headquarters.
� The Immigration and Naturalization Service puts the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada on highest state of alert.
� Los Angeles International Airport is evacuated.
� Disney closes its parks in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
� FEMA implements plan established for such events: FBI leads investigation, and Justice Deptartment heads crisis management.
� Three Palestinian groups -- Hamas, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad -- deny responsibility for the attacks, but blame U.S. policies in the Mideast.
� Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., declares a state of emergency.
� A Delta flight makes emergency landing in Cleveland and all passengers are safely evacuated. Federal officials search the plane for a possible bomb.
George W Bush had this to say about the tragedy:
Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. I have spoken to the vice president, to the governor of New York, to the director of the FBI, and I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.
Terrorism against our nation will not stand.
And now if you join me in a moment of silence.
May God bless the victims, their families and America. Thank you very much.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:15 AM
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Intellectual Property Article
3D Action planet has a really good article online today - It's actually called "Your chocolate is in my peanut butter". Silly title aside, it's an article on intellectual property issues and how they're relevant to video games, mods, and using company's characters without their permission. This is a pretty contested issue with both gamers and game companies, and this article does a pretty good job of presenting the issue. Here's a few relevant points:
It happens every time a mod or other project gets foxed: the message boards light up with the collective rage of a community that feels it's been wronged, and the developers or publishers are accused of squashing the little guy in favor of more money. The mod community begins calling for the developers' heads on platters.
The most common accusation hurled is that the company is only doing it because of greed. While money is almost certainly tied into it, the predominant issue is one of intellectual property law.
Recently I had to tell a modeler that several models he'd done violated copyright law--he'd converted Quake III Arena models for use in Unreal Tournament. The issue was similar to the recent axing of the Duke It Out in Quake mod--both groups had taken one company's intellectual property from one game and ported it into another. This is the most common and obvious violation of copyright law in community development and it should be common sense not to violate it, but apparently it isn't when it's the biggest puddle the community steps in. But despite the ubiquitous outrage that inevitably follows with each fall of the axe, the companies can and must put a stop to it for a few reasons.
This is a very good, and well written article - you should go check it out now, and read all of it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:55 PM
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Doug Myers Dies
From Joe Siegler... "Doug Myers is a name that is in the minds of everyone here at 3D Realms today. Doug passed away last night at the age of 36 from an asthma attack. Doug was one of the two guys who was over at 3D Realms HQ from the Gathering working on the E3 Duke Nukem Forever video. He can be seen in one of the shots I posted the other day of the guys working on the video (he's the one on the left).
Doug was instrumental in helping us out with web site issues over this past year, and while I can't say I know him on a day to day basis, he was nothing more than kind and pleasant to me in all my business dealings with the Gathering. I'll miss him, but that can't compare to the ache that must be felt over at the Gathering at the moment, as well as his family. My thoughts go out to his family and close friends at this sad time.
You can check out what the Gathering has to say about Doug over at their web site.
You'll get to see some of the work he did on the DNF video once it's released later this month around the E3 show."
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:20 PM
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High-Tech Gaming & 3D Realms
There's a pretty cool article up over on Gamespot right now entitled "High-Tech Games - Pushing the Envelope in 2001 and beyond". In it, the 3D Realms titles Max Payne as well as Duke Nukem Forever are covered.
In the article, 10 games that the article's writers feel (in their own words) represent high-tech
gaming. These are truly innovative and technologically unique games--ones that will probably inspire other developers and a dozen copycats and move game design forward.
Max Payne is covered first in their list, and here's a bit on what they had to say about Max..
If scenes from Max Payne have such a realistic look to them, that's because, from the very start, the designers at Remedy Entertainment have focused on building the titular hero's world through photographic art. "I think that makes a huge difference when compared to the art direction in most other games," says Petri Jarvilehto, one of the design leaders behind Max Payne. "There is practically no hand-drawn art to break the feeling of immersion and realism. Our characters, textures, and models simply look extremely real."
The use of graphics-engine technology has immensely shaped the way in which Max Payne has been developed. Because of this particular engine, Jarvilehto attests, the game designers were able to do much more than if they had used any of the existing 3D graphics engines. "The size of modern projects is clearly one of the challenges. Almost all of the hit games shipping today are huge, and good content takes a lot of time to create. As the size [of games] grows, the technology becomes more challenging as well."
And of course, Duke Nukem Forever got a great write up - check out some of the Duke text..
3D Realms has staunchly kept mum about the specific surprises it has in store for Duke Nukem Forever. What little is known is that the game will, like Max Payne, use photo-realistic textures. Compared with the previous Duke games, 3D Realms has avoided depicting any art that looks cartoonish. But the main selling point is that the Duke's latest adventure could be the action game that does for the Unreal Tournament engine what Half-Life did for the Quake II engine or what Elite Force did for the Quake III engine--expand the original engine's capabilities in unexpected ways. Sure, the action role-playing game Deus Ex already pulled off a number of impressive feats with the UT engine, but Scott Miller, one of 3D Realms' founders, says that Duke Nukem Forever's modifications go further. He proudly boasts, "For the past year, I've joked that Unreal licensees should be licensing from us, not Epic, because our version of the code is much faster and more feature packed."
"Some people can't imagine how an FPS could possibly be more interactive than what has already been done on the market. There was a time when even we had been stumped on what we could do," admits Matt Wood (3DR DNF 3D Modeler). "We started simple and took every idea we had done in the past and took them to the next level. At some point, the floodgates opened, and every idea we have ever had or wanted to implement came to the surface, and before long, we had more ideas and designs than we had programmer power to implement.
"That's when we realized that two programmers on a game of this scale just wasn't going to cut it, and we soon hired more. Before long, the programmers were working so fast that the artists and mappers sometimes had a hard time keeping up. But I think we can all agree that not enough cool stuff is far worse than the alternative...more interactivity than you can shake a two-by-four at."
There's a ton of good stuff about Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne in this article - you should check it out now, if you haven't already done so.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM
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Welcome Back!
 We're all back now after a great holiday season. We hope that you all had a great holiday, too! While we were away, our Christmas card (see below) was given the #1 best Christmas card award in a Gamespy report on various company Christmas cards. If you check out the story, you'll see cards from other game developers such as Interplay, The Gathering, and Ritual, as well as others.
Also, we were sent a cool magazine cover today. Do you remember this picture of this picture from a few years ago? Well, the new issue of Next Generation magazine spoofed this picture with Duke Nukem & Lara Croft. The article is about (in their words), "Games are rapidly becoming sophisticated and adult as the people who play them. But is the world ready for them?"
Anyway, the cover of the magazine as shown here parodies the Janet Jackson photo, but for the cover, has a "censored" image. The real parodies are shown inside the magazine, as you can see by this scan, and this one.. Thanks to Doug Howell for sending us some scans of this magazine, as we haven't received ours yet.
In other news, Tim Wilson is here (our new artist) - we'll have his bio page and picture up shortly.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:35 PM
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Unfinished Business
Figures - we go several days without any news, and now we have several things at once.
We were just alerted to an editorial over at ga-source.com entitled "Unfinished Business". The article talks about how a good percentage of games are rushed out the door before they're done. As champions of the "When it's done" policy, our own Scott Miller & George Broussard are quoted about their thoughts on the matter. Here's a bit of what they had to say:
George: Look at most publishers and development houses--is the top guy a developer or a bean counter without any development experience? I've noticed that business and financial types ride the lead wagon at most game companies, which to me explains a lot of this industry's problems with shoddy game releases."
Scott: "Game development is not an endeavor that can be finished within arbitrary financial quarters. It requires ongoing research, testing, polishing and even tossing away of work and ideas that don't work after being implemented. Because of game development's inherent unpredictability, we never attach a release date to our games until we're within a few days of launching, and even then we won't hesitate to miss the date if it means improving the gameplay."
There's a lot more to this article than just Scott & George talking about the subject. The person writing the article (Timothy Townsend) has a lot of his own thoughts on the matter. Make sure to check out the article today - it's a great read. Also, check out our own press released entitled "Developers Rule at 3D Realms" - this has been on our site for quite some time, and really explains our own thoughts on development issues such as this.
Thanks Sam Bordiss.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM
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Greatest Deathmatch Weapons
We missed this when it was posted last week, but the Daily Radar had a cool piece about their "Greatest Deathmatch Weapons". In it, the Shrinker from Duke Nukem 3D placed fourth - this is what they had to say about it:
Do you want to feel really good about fragging an opponent? Well, you'll find few things more satisfying than shrinking them down with a shrink ray and squashing them under your feet. Deathmatch is a form of gameplay where belittling your enemy is second only to killing them. With Duke's Shrink Ray, you get to do both at the same time.
We agree with that. Check out the piece, and what they had to say about the other 14 weapons on the list.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:15 PM
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Gamespy's Sequel Ideas
There's a funny article over on Gamespy that we were told about the other day. It's a funny piece where they make up sequel ideas they'd like to see such as "Shake 'n Quake", "Star Warcraft", "Diablo 3: Counterstrike", as well as "Duke Nukem 5: The Wild West". In the article, this is their idea for a Duke sequel:
In this sequel, Duke Nukem travels back to the old west and takes on the toughest cowboy of them all, John "The Duke" Wayne. In this rare screen shot, the two Dukes battle for the hand of a fair damsel in distress. Without giving away too much of the plot, Duke uses his shotgun quite a bit while enticing his movie star counterpart to "come get some!"
Check out the rest of the article, it's pretty funny. Thanks Mike Clevestig.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM
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Videogame Characters Revolt!
Well, not really, but that's the thrust of a rather funny piece by the parody news site, The Onion. This article is titled "Video game characters denounce randomly placed swinging blades". It's a very silly article about how it seems that video game makers are placing random swinging blades in places where they shouldn't be.
The folks over at The Onion touched on Duke Nukem briefly with this quote.. "I mean, would you put up with a row of whirling knives in the cereal aisle at Safeway?" the Double Dragon guy continued. "Of course not. Why, then, should Duke Nukem have to run through a corridor of them to get the health pack he needs need to survive?"
It's a very funny article - make sure and check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM
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Duke & Classic Games
For those of us who were around when Nintendo hadn't yet come onto the scene, then this news article will be of interest. The gaming site Daily Radar a very good piece on classic games on classic games. They cover the old Atari arcade hits such as Battlezone, Crystal Castles, and Asteroids. Other topics are the Apple II games, the Intellivision game system, and other pieces of gaming history.
Why are we covering this? Well, there is a section titled "FPSs and Duke Nukem". In this section, our own Scott Miller talks about some of the limitations of creating game "characters". Here's a bit of what Scott has to say:
PCG: What was the biggest challenge in trying to imbue a side-scrolling 2D game character with real personality?
SM:The problem in those days was the technical limitations of 16-color EGA graphics, and 320 by 200 resolution. This put a limit on the detail characters could have, so we had a one pixel line for teeth, gave Duke a square chin, and had him say things via pop-up text windows. Another thing we added to the original game to enhance Duke's ego-driven personality was a very flamboyant summersault jump.
Make sure and check this out - it's a great piece on how video gaming has come from the past into what it has become today.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:30 PM
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Guns, Girls, & Gasoline
Also up on the Mad Onion site is an article about 3D modeling and texturing for real-time stuff (ie. games) entitled "Guns, Girls, & Gasoline". It's a good read for anyone that's considering a job as an artist in the gaming industry. Want to know a bit of what goes on "behind the scenes"? Check out these quotes from the piece..
I cannot emphasize enough how important the research phase really is. All time used on research will pay off later when the actual modeling and texturing starts. "Head first" attitude gets something sooner on the screen but it also gets you in trouble when the lack of proper planning surfaces it's ugly head.
Creating graphics for real-time use means making lot of compromises. You just have to know when and how to do them. Often the work isn't exactly fine art in artistic sense... there are so many marketing and technological reasons that affect the work, as well as moral ones. It would be cool to do only naked big breasted chicks with huge weapons and a lot of bloody monsters, but more often than not this can't be done.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM
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Computer Software Piracy
Gamespy today is starting a three day article about Computer Software piracy. The first part is out now, and it focuses on (in their words) "An overview of the problem and a look at the terminology. We provide statistics from leading enforcement agencies and take a look at some of the things being done to stem the problem." Here's a small piece from the article:
Even in the United States and Western Europe, where the issue is addressed very seriously, the average piracy rate averages 30%-40%, rising up to the 75% range in other regions. Russia and Asia have the most active pirate markets, with peaks of up to 90% of all the their software being illegitimate copies. In 1994, Vietnam and China led the list with astounding 100% and 97% rates respectively. Those rates have since declined over the years (a 1999 survey estimated them at 98% and 91%), but Asian markets are still plagued with enormous piracy rates. Former Soviet countries are also high in this list.
This is an awesome article, make sure and check it out today! Also, on Saturday & Sunday, they'll be posting parts 2 and 3 of the article. Here's some text from their site about what Parts 2 & 3 will be about:
*Looks in-depth at enforcement, from chats with Microsoft on how they are dealing with piracy, to a comprehensive interview with Terry Anslow, chief investigator for ELSPA, the European Leisure Software Publishers Association.
*The final day offers the juicy stuff: getting in with the pirates, surfing their boards and newsgroups for details, as well as a chat with a pirate who calls himself Long John Silver.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:30 PM
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Madonion.com Sports a New Look!
Mad Onion, what's that? Well, we'll tell you. Actually, we'll let them tell you - here's a bit from their page about their site:
To put it in a nutshell (if it is possible to do such a thing), MadOnion.com is a new kind of personalized web services provider, powered by a series of internet-enabled benchmarks and a database that encompasses information from around the globe. We currently employ over 40 PC hardware and benchmarking professionals who share a passion for creating services that will empower and educate you, our users, so that you can make informed PC upgrade decisions that are right for you!
There's a lot more about madonion.com's site if you go check out their "About us page". Mad Onion should be familiar to 3D Realms site visitors, we've told y'all about them before. We wanted to take this moment to tell you to check out their new site - they have a complete revamp online now - it's got a very slick, very organized look.
If you have checked them out before, go back and take another look, and if you've never been there before, and are interested in computer hardware, then you owe it to yourself to head there and spend some time at their site!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:45 PM
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The Gist of E3
With E3 just a week away now, the E3 coverage has started to pop up all over the place. Yesterday, our old friend Geoff Keighley at Gameslice posted his latest "The Gist of it" list, and in it, he talks about several issues related to E3, one of which is our decision regarding Duke Nukem Forever and this year's E3 show.
E3 is just over a week away, but news has already trickled down that two big 3D shooters, Duke Nukem Forever and Team Fortress 2 will not be on display at the show. While some will no doubt equate this news to near-blasphemy on the part of developers like 3D Realms and Valve, I predicted this very trend two years ago in an editorial on E3 (read it here). In that editorial, which received a lot of positive feedback from developers, I questioned the real use of an E3 demo, especially when developing such a demo can stall a project 6-8 weeks....... .....While we know Duke Forever and TF2 won't be at the show, it will be interesting to see if any other big-name games don't make it to E3 this year.
Geoff has a lot more to say about E3, including his remarks about the (oh so relevant) keynote speech at the convention, so head over to Gameslice today and check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:30 PM
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Max Mapping
With all that's been going on with the Online Store here the last week, we neglected to cover this story.. It's a piece by machinima.com called "Ask the Experts: Realistic Mapping".
The article talks to several folks in the industry, but most relevant to 3D Realms are the inclusion of two folks from the Max Payne game, Teemu Heinilehto (texture artist) & Aki Maatta (mapper).
Q: What work do you do in the concept stage of designing the map, and how does that make the rest of the work easier?
A: (Aki): "This varies on what kind of a map is in question, but basically, if I have a design document, I read it through a couple of times. If not and if/when I'm making such a document, I think of things that might fit into a certain enviroment/atmosphere, then try to come up with actual places that are of that theme and go take photos from such places. During and after the 'descriptive and photographic' phase I do a pen-and-paper sketch of the layouts and some possible smaller details, and then head to work."
A: (Teemu): "Since Max Payne takes place in New York, for inspiration for the actual look and feel we use real-life N.Y. photography and video footage. This has proved to be a successful method- it's good to first examine real locations and use them as a starting point from which to start building the actual map. Naturally lots of compromises have to be made - not everything can be "virtualized" and so on - but it gives the right direction from the start."
There's lots more from Aki & Teemu, as well as some from Greg Barr (Soldier of Fortune), Steve Cotton (Rainbow 6), and others. Check it out - there's lots of cool stuff in here. There's nothing really specific about Max Payne specifically, but it's a good insight into what goes into the making of a game.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:20 AM
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New Fan Page Online
From time to time, we get submissions about us and or our games. These things range from hand drawn game art on pieces of paper, to computer rendered fan interpretations of our games, to just letters of thank you for the fun our games have brought people.
We've decided to place some of the more notable ones online here at the 3D Realms Site in our new "Fan Stuff" area. To launch this new area of our web site, we've gone into the archives, and pulled some art that was sent to us about our older Commander Keen game (although we have no idea who drew it). Check out the Fan Stuff page for several other fan submissions we happen to like.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:33 PM
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Videogame Violence (Again)
"A psychotic teen may have played Duke Nukem, but Duke Nukem didn't make him psychotic."
That's the most memorable line from a recent article over at about.com. It's an article that talks about a fairly repeated concept that video games cause violence in kids. That's something that we see a lot in the press, but this article has a few good insights into this issue. Here's a few things from the article..
Unfortunately, the natural desire to find answers can turn into an exercise in pointing fingers and doling out blame. It is always important to search for answers, but we should be careful about jumping to conclusions. Special caution must also be shown in recommending any course of action that might infringe upon freedom of speech. In the aftermath of these incidents, attacks on music, movies, role playing games, video games, and even fashion, all became more prevalent. The major evidence for their ill effects always seems to be that the killers were in possession of the media--they listened to Marilyn Manson, or dressed all in black, or loved Basketball Diaries, or played Duke Nukem. Just because two things seem related does not mean that one causes the other.
Make sure and check out the whole thing - there's some good insights here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM
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Every 100th Order is free!
The entire order, including merchandise and applicable fees, is shipped to the lucky winners free of charge. We'll even ship the winning orders via Priority Mail so the winners can begin enjoying their games and other items right away. To be eligible to win, simply place an order through one of our toll-free 800 numbers listed below. There's no limit to the number of times you can win, so the more orders you place, the more chances you have of winning. Since every 100th order wins, you have just as much chance of winning by calling at 6:00 a.m. as you do at 6:00 p.m. Winners will be notified by mail and their names will be posted on this page. Call 1-800-337-3256 or 1-800-276-4331 to place your order today!
We've had several winners since this promotion started giving away several hundred dollars of free software away free! If you were thinking of ordering something, you should do so now, you might be our next free winner! If you need ordering information or a price list, that info is just a click away!
The 100th Order Free promotion is for a limited time only, and may be discontinued at any time without notice.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:15 AM
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The Millenium's Biggest Games
There's no question Duke Nukem Forever is one of the most anticipated games; perhaps the real question is whether it's actually going to come out in 2000. 3D Realms gave us the first glimpse of the game in November, and based on the screenshots, it looks like the long time in development has been well spent on detailed character models and realistic Las Vegas-based locations. Since the release of Half-Life I haven't seen a good traditional single player action game. For 2000, it looks like Duke Forever has the best shot of any game at one-upping Half-Life.
This is what Geoff Keighley of Gameslice has to say about Duke Nukem Forever in his article entitled, "2000 Platinum: The Millenium's Biggest Games". In the article, Geoff covers a total of six upcoming games in the next year. Some of the others he mentions are The Sims, Anachronox, Halo, Diablo II, & Warcraft 3.
Make sure to check this out, as it covers a lot of games that not only Geoff is looking forward to, but several of us at 3D Realms are as well!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:38 PM
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Top 10 Game Predictions
Then in October, 3D Realms released the first screen shots of Duke Nukem Forever, and they were amazing. It appears that 3D Realms has modified the Unreal engine extensively, because the shots showed us things that we thought you couldn't do with Unreal. (The coolest shot has to be the one of the soldier with the tentacles erupting out of his body.) Just seeing them rekindled our love affair with gaming's favorite cigar-chewing, wisecracking ass-kicker. In Duke Nukem Forever, Duke gets to run around his favorite city in the world, Las Vegas. This time he must stop archenemy Dr. Proton and his alien allies from taking over the world. Aside from the formidable arsenal of weapons, Duke can also jump into vehicles and run bad guys down. We just can't wait to get a load of the one-liners in this one
The above is what C|Net's Gamecenter has to say about Duke Nukem Forever in an article they call "Top 10 Game Predictions for 2000". The piece lists what they predict for various titles such as Halo, Diablo II, The Sims, & Warcraft 3. Make sure to check it all out to see if what they think will be important for 2000 is what you think will be important for 2000.
One major omission - they failed to mention our other big game, Max Payne.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:39 PM
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3D Mark 2000 Released
A few days ago, 3D Mark 2000 was released over at the Mad Onion site. Here's a small tidbit from the press release that describes pretty well what the product is all about:
3DMark2000 is one of MadOnion.com's online benchmarks - smart benchmark products that have an Internet back-end. This Internet back-end, or database, contains thousands of results collected via the Internet. With online benchmarks, users will be able to compare their results with data collected from other users around the world.
3D Mark 2000 is using the same technology engine that is being used in the upcoming 3D Realms title, Max Payne! This is a very small preview of what some of the technology in Max is capable of. If you haven't already checked out 3D Mark 2000, then you should do so today! Furthermore, if you're interested in learning about Max Payne, make sure to check out the Official Max Payne Web site today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 7:42 AM
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Shooting in Brazil
As has been brought to our attention by several folks via email, there was a shooting in a movie theatre in Brazil yesterday, where "Duke Nukem" was blamed. At this time, 3D Realms has no comment on the matter. There are a few news sites carrying the story, if you'd like to read them, please check out these links:
1. CNN News Wire Story
2. Fox News Story
3. Yahoo News Story
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Futuremark goes Mad (Onion)
 Futuremark Corporation, the world's leading provider of 3D gaming performance benchmarks, today announced it will be providing new online e-commerce solutions and that the company is changing its name to MadOnion.com to support its new Internet-based business. MadOnion.com's e-commerce solutions will simplify PC hardware upgrading and purchasing on-line by empowering consumers to make informed decisions. Based on the company's leading benchmark standards, these solutions are powered by an Internet-based engine that will contain thousands of results gathered from a global community of users.
This is the beginning of a press release announcing the name change of FutureMark Corporation to MadOnion.com. MadOnion is now the new home of 3D Mark, the standard in graphics testing programs. They do more than that, too. Another of their products is Video2000, which as its name implies is a video technology upgrades.
Make sure to check out the full press release about MadOnion, as well as checking out their site today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Game Soundtracks
Friday's edition of the USA Today newspaper contained an article entitled "Game soundtracks making noise". This article features quite prominently (with a picture and a short side story) the Duke Nukem: Music to Score by CD.
The focus of the article is not on any one particular CD, but on the trend of having "name musicians" (as opposed to regular game music authors) appearing on game soundtracks. In addition to the Duke CD, they also touch on Jon Anderson of the progressive rock band Yes, as well as rock stalwart David Bowie in addition to others like Rob Zombie & Trent Reznor. Here's what they have to say about the Music to Score by CD:
Publisher GT Interactive is already angling for Grammy consideration with its new soundtrack, Duke Nukem: Songs to Score By, a 12-track compilation with previously unreleased material from Megadeth along with Typo O Negative, Stabbing Westward, Slayer and others. Also on the CD: 175 megabytes of interactive content, such as screen savers, wallpaper and strategy guides.
This is a pretty cool article, so head on over to USA today and check out the article today! If you'd like to learn more about the Duke Nukem: Music to Score by CD, check out our page for it, which includes info, music sample downloads, as well as ordering information!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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License Plate Submission
As some of you may remember, we started a piece some time ago about computer game license plates.
We got a recent submission from none other than Ken Silverman (the author of the Build engine that was used in Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, etc). Ken was up at our offices back in 1995 to do some work on Duke Nukem 3D when he snapped this picture of Todd Replogle's car at the time. (Todd was the main programmer for the first three Duke Nukem PC games.) Check it out - Texas plates of "I NUKUM". Todd no longer lives in the state of Texas, but this is a pretty cool plate, and we're thankful for Ken for finding this shot.
If you have seen or have a license plate that has some cool computer game reference on it, take a picture of it, and send it to us! It doesn't have to be about one of 3D Realms' games, but just any computer game. The only thing we ask is that it be a real license plate, not something from a computer game itself.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Taking Root in Dallas
Last Friday, there was a pretty cool article published entitled "Taking root in Dallas" in the Houston Chronicle. This article by Tricia Serju-Harris looks at the local gaming industry here in the Dallas area.
Covering many companies here such as Terminal Reality, id Software, Ritual Entertainment, Gathering of Developers, Ion Storm, and many others, not the least of which is us! There's several insights by folks at these various companies in this piece, so make sure to check it out! Our own Scott Miller is quoted several times in the article, here's a bit of what he had to say in it.
*The "Dallas gaming mafia," as the group's been dubbed, have "always been independently owned and therefore we've
always been able to play by our own rules," Scott Miller said.
*"Many of us have released at least one big hit, and, having tasted that success, it's high motivation to taste it again," (Scott Miller on success)
This is a really nice article that focuses on the local gaming scene here. Do yourself a favor and read it today!
Thanks Tricia Serju-Harris.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Game Design: Secrets of the Sages
Shown to your right is the cover of a book entitled "Game Design: Secrets of the Sages". This book, by Marc Saltzman is a book that you should check out if you've ever been interested in making a computer game. It covers such topics as "Getting Started", "Creating your Masterpiece", "Ensuring Your Success", and finally "Getting in the Front Door and staying there". Here's some text from the book itself..
"So, you want to be a game programmer, design or create the next Myst, Final Fantasy, or Quake? Where do you begin? How do you get started, break into the industry, and then become a successful game designer and programmer? This book answers these questions and more. Over 100 industry specialists were interviewed and provided their individual views...
Packed with details on how to turn your joystick skills into a lucrative career from the people who have already done it, this book is the ultimate guide to your dream job."
If you've wanted to know how to do it, this book is a good read. Our own George Broussard is quoted on the book cover promoting this book. George said, "Budding game designers should carry this around in their back pocket. Come get some!" If you're interested in purchasing this book, you can do so by clicking on the book image above (which will take you to Amazon.com's page for the book.
That's not all! The author of this book contacted me and informed me that this book can also be obtained as part of a larger package entitled "The
Game Programming Starter Kit v3.0". This package consists of "The introductory edition of Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Genesis 3D SDK engine and level editor, a suite of development tools, a developer's guide featuring insights into the industry, and a digital library of three best-selling programming books. As an added bonus, a 470+ page book entitled "Game Design: Secrets of the Sages" is bundled with the Game Programming Starter Kit 3.0."
If you're looking to jump right in, the Starter Kit might be just what you need - it includes the Secrets of the Sages book in the package. Either way, check out the book to bone up on how to break into the industry!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Game Design: Secrets of the Sages
 Shown to your right is the cover of a book entitled "Game Design: Secrets of the Sages". This book, by Marc Saltzman is a book that you should check out if you've ever been interested in making a computer game. It covers such topics as "Getting Started", "Creating your Masterpiece", "Ensuring Your Success", and finally "Getting in the Front Door and staying there". Here's some text from the book itself..
"So, you want to be a game programmer, design or create the next Myst, Final Fantasy, or Quake? Where do you begin? How do you get started, break into the industry, and then become a successful game designer and programmer? This book answers these questions and more. Over 100 industry specialists were interviewed and provided their individual views...
Packed with details on how to turn your joystick skills into a lucrative career from the people who have already done it, this book is the ultimate guide to your dream job."
If you've wanted to know how to do it, this book is a good read. Our own George Broussard is quoted on the book cover promoting this book. George said, "Budding game designers should carry this around in their back pocket. Come get some!" If you're interested in purchasing this book, you can do so by clicking on the book image above (which will take you to Amazon.com's page for the book.
That's not all! The author of this book contacted me and informed me that this book can also be obtained as part of a larger package entitled "The Game Programming Starter Kit v3.0". This package consists of "The introductory edition of Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Genesis 3D SDK engine and level editor, a suite of development tools, a developer's guide featuring insights into the industry, and a digital library of three best-selling programming books. As an added bonus, a 470+ page book entitled "Game Design: Secrets of the Sages" is bundled with the Game Programming Starter Kit 3.0."
If you're looking to jump right in, the Starter Kit might be just what you need - it includes the Secrets of the Sages book in the package. Either way, check out the book to bone up on how to break into the industry!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The Dallas Stars
 Late Saturday night (early Sunday morning) after just about three full overtime periods, the Dallas Stars captured the Stanley Cup for the first time in team history. Controversy? Feh. In the crease? Waaah. We won. Here's what one of our own folks has to say about the winning goal. If you're intrested in some hockey coverage, check out this link.
One funny story from our webmaster, Joe Siegler...
"I was in Houston this weekend with Lee Jackson, and on the Saturday drive down, we passed Buffalo, Texas on Rt. 45. There were giant stars pasted right on top of the word Buffalo on the highway signs. It was very funny to see. And this was before the cup had been won, too."
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Microsoft & Game Ratings
Earlier today, this news report came across the AP News Wire. It's about a product that Microsoft is creating called "Windows Game Blocker". Essentially, what it will do is give parents the ability to block off specific material on their computers. Here's a snippet from the news wire story...
The Redmond, Wash.-based software company is currently working with game manufacturers to embed code information on ratings in their new games, which the Windows Game Manager would check, said Kevin Bachus, product manager for Microsoft's multimedia group. Game ratings are currently printed on game packaging.
The feature would allow parents to keep games containing excessive violence, sexual content or expletives from being played on the computer. Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a similar feature that can be used to block access to certain Web sites, he added.
Exactly how this will impact 3D Realms and our games is as of yet undecided. When there's more to report on this issue, we'll have something more.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Avault Copy Protection Article
In other AVault happenings, they have another good article that we thought you should read. Entitled "Copy
Protection and Gaming", it's about gaming and copy protection. Written by Bob Mandel, this article talks about Bob's views on gaming companies and various methods of copy protection and the lengths they'll go in order to protect their software. Here's a tidbit from his article:
There is a famous old French saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," and in many ways this adage particularly applies to computer gaming. While video and audio technology march forward at an ever-accelerating pace, the basic elements that make an exciting game, as well as the types of games themselves, have not changed that much over time. In a parallel fashion, my own dream of immediate access to escapist gratification -- being able to just go to my computer, click on the icon of my avenue to fun, and play -- appears to be as remote an aspiration as ever.
Bob has some interesting thoughts on this issue; make sure and check out his article today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Happy 99 Virus
We wanted to point this out directly to our customers. Our Customer Support people as well as our webmaster have received several copies of the Happy99 virus sent to us via email attachments. We do have our LAN protected against this kind of thing, but we wanted everyone who sends us Email to check out their systems for it, as we have gotten quite a few emails with this virus attached to them lately. The Happy 99 virus is one that is automatically sent without the sender's knowledge, and here's some information on it.
This is a worm virus that is sent from the infected computer to any one that is sent Email. (This is not a Joke) Happy99.exe was first identified around mid-January and is now traveling across the Internet via e-mail attachments and newsgroup postings. The worm modifies e-mails and newsgroup postings by adding unauthorized attachments without the computer user's knowledge. As a side-effect, it can also create network slowdowns and, in a worst-case scenario, even crash corporate e-mail servers. While the computer worm does not destroy or alter files or otherwise cripple computers and networks, it creates a time- and energy-consuming nuisance to network administrators.
The computer worm works on Windows 95 and 98 platforms.
Happy99.exe is classified as a computer worm for its ability for self-replication. It arrives to a computer via an e-mail or newsgroup attachment, infecting machines that run the attachment. If the computer user runs the unauthorized attachment, Happy99.exe puts up an attractive fireworks display, which the computer user might mistake for a good-looking accessory to the message. However, while the fireworks burst on-screen, the computer worm modifies the winsock32.dll file in order to monitor what e-mails and postings are made from the machine. All Internet access goes through the wsock32.dll file. Afterwards, Happy99.exe spams the newsgroup or e-mail recipient with copies of itself any time the computer user tries to send a message across cyberspace.
We urge you to check our your system for instances of this virus, and eradicate it if you can. Please check with your virus checker software to make sure you are totally up to date and can track down and eliminate this virus. If you don't have any virus software, you should use one something - and keep it updated!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Mark '99 to Launch Today
3D Mark '99 MAX, the net's best graphics benchmark program is slated to launch with a new version this afternoon. What is 3D Mark? Well, here's some of the description from the Official Site:
3DMark� 99 MAX - The Gamers' Benchmark is a diagnostic suite that analyzes, tests and reports Your system's 3D performance. In the fast moving world of 3D-acceleration working out which 3D accelerator is best for your system is a difficult job. There is an endless stream of advertising that claiming numerous products claiming that they are the latest and greatest solution.
*
Futuremark Corporation helps You to cut through the jargon and judge for yourself with 3DMark�, an advanced diagnostics and testing tool based on MAX-FX� Technology.
*
3DMark� tells how to maximize Your 3D performance by producing one easy to understand result from a balanced testing methodology that includes image quality, rendering speed, CPU capability and an Internet information base.
But don't just take the word of the web site for it. Check out some of these cool quotes about the software package...
AMD�s Vice President of Marketing, Dana Krelle:
"With 3DMark 99 MAX, Futuremark has created a unique performance tool capable of benchmarking the power of 3DNow! technology to accelerate leading-edge graphic and multimedia applications," said Dana Krelle, Vice President of Marketing at AMD. "3DMark successfully demonstrates the SIMD capabilities of 3DNow! technology currently supported in more than 10 million PCs powered by AMD-K6*-2 and AMD-K6-III processors."
Intel's Vice President and Director, Platform Launch Operation, Michael Aymar:
"We see 3DMark� 99 MAX as one of the most comprehensive 3D benchmarks in the market today for testing the 3D performance of both processors and systems. We are pleased that this benchmark highlights the performance benefits of Pentium� III processors with its Internet Streaming SIMD Extensions (S.S.E.)," said Michael Aymar, Vice President, Intel Corporation."
The launch is today at 4PM Pacific Time, so make sure to head on over there and download yourself a trial copy, learn more, or purchase your own registered copy of 3D Mark '99 MAX!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The Grape Unknown
DarkTalyn over at Grape's thoughts has a really cool article online called "The Unknown Factors". This article talks about the policy of two game companies (id Software and us) regarding the release of information before a game is released. Here's a bit of what he had to say about 3D Realms and Duke Nukem Forever:
* Project Leader George Broussard has often said that 3D Realms doesn't want to hype up Duke Nukem Forever, and that the team would rather surprise gamers, instead of giving away all their secrets before the game hits the shelves.
* Joe Siegler of 3D Realms, insists that all release dates given to the public are false unless given by the 3D Realms team themselves. (And this of course, will never happen:)
DarkTalyn also talks about id Software's policy, in regards to Quake 3 Arena on how they give out information (as opposed to us not doing so). Check out his thoughts on this issue, and let him know what you think!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Interview with GOD
Mike Wilson of Gathering of Developers was interviewed recently by Extreme Games. Gathering of Developers are the folks who are publishing the forthcoming Max Payne from Remedy Entertainment and 3D Realms. Here's a bit from the interview..
*EG: What company has been the easiest to deal with? Mike Wilson: Hmmm... 3D Realms has been pretty painless, I suppose.
*(When asked about Remedy) Mike Wilson: Yeah, we met at E3 and again at ECTS. We're in touch constantly over the internet, and since they work with 3Drealms on Max Payne, the communication has been fine. They have been quite the diamond in the rough, those Finnish boys. I'm hoping to meet them again this Spring, and they'll definitely be out again for E3 to blow people away with Max Payne once again.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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David Laprad x2
David Laprad (staff writer at the Adrenaline Vault) has two recent articles online that should be of interest to you. They are entitled "What's in a name.com", and "Games Violence and Youth: The Debate... Sigh... Rages On".
* In the first article, David talks about the issues that computer game companies have to go through when registering Internet domain names. Our own Scott Miller is quoted in this article, and he has this to say:
o
Scott Miller, partner at 3D Realms, said someone registered the domain name DukeNukem.com and demanded "big money" from the game developer. "After a year, we had not given in," Miller said. "He finally gave up because we threatened legal action, and now we've got the domain. Other than that, we've been very careful to register names prior to announcing them publicly."
* In the second article, David talks about the usual kids and computer game violence argument that seems to rage on forever. Here's a bit of what David had to say about this:
o
... Pure action games are meant to entertain. The next time I crash land in Los Angeles and use an RPG to battle marauding aliens, I will retract that statement. As a parent and a citizen of one of the most criminally violent societies in the world, I am gravely concerned regarding the things causing our youth to choose such tragically violent paths.
Make sure to check out both of these articles, there's some interesting reading here. (Ed Note: I can imagine what these people who are against computer game violence would do if they lived several hundred years ago. I mean, the Crusades. Huge violence, people killed for real. We can't have that. Put a warning sticker on your shield before we go into battle, folks!)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Hayes Going out of Business
Hayes, a pioneering personal computer technology company which scrambled out of a 1996 Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization, could not turn the tide for a second time.
Found out today that the company that invented the PC modem, Hayes, is to go out of business. Anyone who has been involved in the online community for as long as I have (if not longer than me) will remember Hayes old "sleek, silver modems with the black trim sides". And of course, it was like $400 for a 300bps modem. I find it surprising that the people who invented the modem are going out of business. Then again, online commuting is moving away from standard modems, towards satellite, cable modems, and the like. Still, it's a weird moment for me.
There's more on this story over at C|Net's News.com. Check out their news story on Hayes going out of business. Oddly enough, the Hayes site itself doesn't have anything on the story (yet).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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How Were your Holidays?
Well, we're back. There were several of us away on vacation during the holidays, and there were some of us (like myself) who just took some vacation time around Christmas. That's the reason the web site hasn't been updated in awhile (that, and there wasn't a whole lot going on over the Christmas holidays anyway).
We hope that everyone had a good time, and more importantly, a safe one. We thought you would like to see this picture. It's the cover art for our company Christmas Card for 1998. It was sent out to friends and family (and the like) of the people here at 3D Realms. We thought we'd share the cover art with you now as a belated Christmas present (plus we didn't want to put it online before people would have gotten them in the mail if they were getting them). You can click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
On the inside it said, "Ho...Ho... Ho... Come Get Some... Presents! Happy Holidays from Duke Nukem and 3D Realms", had the 3D Realms logo the Duke Nukem Logo, and was signed by Scott Miller, George Broussard, and Steve Blackburn.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Been Here Before
Jonathan the Grape has a slightly different from the norm article online entitled "Haven't I been here before?". In it, he talks about things in various first person shooter games that he feels are overused. Our own Keith Schuler is quoted in the article, here's what Keith has to say:
Creativity basically means creating something new rather than rehashing something that's been done before. If Doom was creative, then Quake probably wasn't, because Quake was more of the same in an enhanced engine. Duke 3D was creative because of the swimming, the strippers, the jetpack, the shrinkray, and everything else. Of course, I'm talking about general design again rather than level design, but the same thinking applies. I think a level is creative if I'm doing and/or seeing something I've never done in a game before.
Make sure to check out this very interesting article; it isn't just more of the same kind of gaming article that makes you want to say "Haven't I read this before?" :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Disturbing Trends
Geoff Keighley of Gameslice is not one to hold back what he thinks. In his latest editorial, entitled "Disturbing Trends of 1998", he talks about what he sees are some of the bad things to happen to the gaming industry in this past year. The things he lists are:
* The $2 Million Shuffle
* But it's 3D
* But it's 3D Again
* The Celebrity Factor
* Destroying a Good Franchise
He has some really good insights into these things, make sure to check out Geoff's latest over at Gameslice today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Demonstar
 "Demonstar is one of the most intense scrolling shooters I can ever recall playing. At times, it is difficult to tell if you are playing the game, or if the game is playing you". - Adrenalin Vault
Click Here for Demonstar Home PageWhat is Demonstar? Is it a new game by us? No, it's not. However, it is related to one of our games from a few years ago, Raptor. If you might remember, Raptor was a game by Cygnus Studios that was hailed as the best shooter of it's time (Raptor was originally released April 1, 1994). It's now 4.5 years later, and the main driving force behind Raptor (Scott Host) has followed up Raptor with a new game, Demonstar. Demonstar is a vertical shooter in the vein of Raptor, but it's added a whole lot more. Here's a list of some of the features of the game:
* Multiplayer/Net play
* Works with MSN Gaming Zone, ICQ, IGames or any DirectPLay Lobby server.
* Force Feedback support
* Stereo Sound FX
* Awesome Sound Track by Bobby Prince
* 18 Deadly Levels ( 6 in shareware )
* New Graphics and Enemy Ships on every level
If you were a fan of Raptor, you're sure to like Demonstar. For more information on Demonstar (and to download your copy of the shareware game), make sure to check out their home page. And while you're at it, check out Raptor here on our site!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke vs. US Senate II
 The two folks you see to your right are United States senators Herbert Kohl and Joseph Lieberman. They have just published their fourth annual "Video Games Report Card", and guess what? Duke Nukem made the list again. There is a related story about this press conference over at MSNBC, which lists their alternate non-violent video games. This is what they had to say about Duke:
Lieberman says, however, that some 20 percent of the games can best be described as ultra-violent. He says such games as "Duke Nukem" and "Cardinal Syn" glorify brutality, carnage and killing.
On our December 1997 News Page, we reported on these same two senators attacking Duke Nukem. Two years in a row - we must be doing something right! :) Thanks Tina Haumersen.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Portal's Dukeworld in Yahoo!
Brad Wernicke brings us the news of 3D Portal's Dukeworld being in the print magazine, "Yahoo Internet Life". This is what Brad had to say about it..
Just got the December issue of Yahoo Internet Life (a Ziff Davis publication) in the mail today. On page 54 in the gaming roundup section, they printed this little tidbit of info:
"The latest version of the 3-D series takes Duke to Las Vegas and the Nevada desert. And though we don't really want to know what Duke creator George Broussard meant when he described the game as "Duke Nukem 3D on Crack," we do know what happened to Hunter S. Thompson and Elvis visited this desert mecca."
At the end of the mini-article, they had a link to everyone's favorite Duke Nukem website, Dukeworld. Be sure to pick up the December issue of Yahoo Internet life, it has extensive coverage of Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troy, from Star Trek: TNG), and much more. :-)
(It's Troi, Brad :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Mark '99 Launches
"3DMark is a gamers� tool that will tell the truth and expose the hype about 3D card performance. Gamers and the industry need a standard benchmark, and this one is it."
That is what Scott Miller of Apogee/3D Realms has to say about 3D Mark '99. What is 3D Mark '99? Here's a bit from the 3DMark Web Site..
3DMark� 99 - The Gamers' Benchmark is a diagnostic suite that analyzes, tests and reports your system's 3D performance. In the fast moving world of 3D-acceleration, working out which 3D accelerator is best for your system is a difficult job. There is an endless stream of advertising with numerous products claiming that they are the latest and greatest solution.
Futuremark Corporation helps you to cut through the jargon and judge for yourself with 3DMark� 99, an advanced diagnostics and testing tool based on MAX-FX� Technology.
3DMark� tells how to maximize your 3D performance by producing one easy to understand result from a balanced testing methodology that includes image quality, rendering speed, CPU capability and an Internet information base.
3D Mark's official Launch is today at 4PM (US Pacific Time), so make sure to head on over to the 3D Mark Web Site and check it all out, and download yourself a trial copy later this afternoon!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Gathering of Developers
The Dallas Morning News newspaper has a section they publish every Tuesday entitled "Person@l Technology". It usually covers technology and computer items, but today they have a rather large article on both the Gathering of Developers and Terminal Reality. Both of these companies are ones that we have a relationship with (TRI being the author of our 1995 game Terminal Velocity, and Gathering being the publisher of Max Payne).
The article also briefly talks about 3D Realms as well as Scott Miller. Here's a quote from the full article...
Max Payne will be a departure from the sweet and low-key Jazz Jackrabbit and the mind game Railroad. The title character, an undercover cop on the run, is framed for the murder of his boss. His family has been killed, and he is on a mission of revenge. Gathering, which showed video clips from Max Payne at the e3 software show in Atlanta in the spring, wants Max to be its franchise character.
There is lots more to read in this article, so make sure to head over to the Dallas Morning News site and check it out.
They also have a second tidbit you'd be interested in, this time an interview with Mike Wilson, the President and Founder of Gathering of Developers in which he talks about his time at id Software, and some behind the scenes workings over at the Gathering.
Both of these are good reads, so you should head over to the Dallas Morning News Web site and check them both out today! (A note, you should do it soon, since the Dallas Morning News Web site tends to move things around on their site somewhat quickly, and if you wait too long, the links might not be accurate any more).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The Birth & the Death of the 3D Shooter
Online Gaming Review has a new article online entitled "The Birth & Death of the 3D Shooter". In it, they talk about the first 3D shooter games, today's crop, and where the genre is headed in the future. It's a really great read, and they have this to say about Duke Nukem 3D:
But the Duke was special. It featured a wisecracking hero ("Come get some"), almost ludicrous enemies, (Pig-Cops?) and more action and tongue-in-cheek fun than any game since. Duke was unabashedly offensive; it featured strippers you could actually throw money at, an entire level devoted to porno theaters and 'skin flicks', and some truly brilliant level design. It also was the birth of the most used game engine to date, the one known as BUILD.
This is a really good read, even if it seems to cover more on the future than the past (for an article titled "Birth & Death"). It's most definitely worth a read, though. Check it out over at OGR's site.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The Rise & Fall of Shareware Gaming
The Adrenaline Vault has a new article online called "The Rise and Fall of Shareware Gaming". In it, the article details the author's perceptions on the importance (or lack thereof) of gaming shareware nowadays, and the Internet's impact on all this. Scott Miller of Apogee/3D Realms features in this article, and is consulted several times by the article's author, Bob Mandel. Scott talks about his infamous set of letters to John Romero (then of Softdisk), and several other "origin of Apogee" stories. This is a quote from the author about his feelings about gaming..
I know I must sound like some old codger yearning for the good old days. But you should know I would not give up the bells-and-whistles of today's state-of-the-art 3D video accelerated, 3D sound enhanced games for anything. At the same time, I cannot help but be wistful for the simpler days of the golden age of game shareware, where the relationships between game buyers and game developers were so much closer and more mutually rewarding, where solid gameplay took precedence over slick presentation, and where creativity and innovation rather than financial support were the keys to success.
This is a good look on gaming shareware, and worth your time to read. Check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Sidescroller Article
The day of the sidescroller is not totally gone, even if it does seem to be 3D'ed to death. TC tells us that Meccaworld has a new article online called "The Provocation - Platform Games". It's about sidescrolling "platform" games, and our own Commander Keen is mentioned several times in it. Here's a quote from the full article:
There are many reasons to praise platform games. The first is that they allow for character development and storytelling, better than 3D games. It becomes a pain in a gamer's ass to tell a story with cutscenes. Take a look at the development in just two years of whom I consider to be the best platform character ever, Commander Keen. Within 6 episodes, an entire story is told, and the character development and plot follow through nicely. Second, we have to consider playability. Modern 3D shooters and RPGs take some time to get good at. The learning curve is great. Sit a 5-year old child down in front of a platform game, tell them what key does what, and let them have fun. That's how I got into gaming. Kids don't care about 32-bit color or high-poly models. Kids like cartoons. Hmm. Let me see. What games look like cartoons?
They also speak of the current state of affairs, and Epic's Jazz Jackrabbit II. If you are a fan of sidescroller games, this article will not be death. :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Birth of a Gamer at Loonygames
Well, Elaine O'Neal of loonygames has gotten into her first game, and what did she get into. Duke Atomic:
I'm on a roof. Okay, I can deal with this. I slip behind a crate, figuring if some alien beastie comes shooting for me, at least I'll have some cover. I take stock of all my weapons-okay, my pistol (the phallic imagery of all this is not escaping me)-and the layout of the roof. No alien beastie. Okay, so maybe I should start walking around, so the patter of my little Dukey feet will let them know I'm here. Still no beastie. And I'm still on the roof.
You can read the whole article here. Also I would like to apologize for how many different ways that I have printed out loonygames. With such a great site you would think that I would get it right. Jason \"loonyboi\" Bergman pointed this out to me, and Jason, it will be correct from now on.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Is it Done Yet?
3D Portal's Chris Day has written a very good article on computer game companies and the always sticky subject of release dates. Here's a few tidbits from Chris' article...
1. There are two main things that gamers need to realize about PC games, the first being that as technology evolves, development time for the games unavoidably lengthens.
2. Many gamers seem content with the irresponsible attitude taken by some of today�s developers that if they can�t complete 100% of a title on time that patches later are an acceptable alternative.
Chris has a lot more to say on this subject, make sure and check out the entire article.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Remedy Entertainment & Future Crew
This news tidbit comes from Samuli Syv�huoko's .plan file...
It seems like there is a common misconception about the link between Remedy Entertainment and the old demo group Future Crew. In order for the credit to go to the right people, I want to set the record straight.
In a nut shell, Remedy is not Future Crew.
There are only four members of the original FC working at Remedy, and considering that we currently have 18 people working here in total, it's safe to say that Remedy and Future Crew have very little to do with each other.
So, in other words, Max Payne is not being made by Future Crew, but a different team that comprises of highly talented individuals who come from various kinds of backgrounds and who, together, are what define Remedy.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Realms on False Duke Nukem Virus
We've been getting a bunch of Emails lately about a possible occurrence of the Romeo & Juliet virus turning up on pressings of the v1.3d version of the Duke Nukem 3D CD-ROM. Bryan Turner of tech support here did some investigating, and it turns out that the program that is detecting this "virus" (PC-Cillan) is generating a false positive in our help files!! It is a problem with their virus scanner, not our game CD's. We did receive an Email from one of their representatives on the matter, and this is what they said:
From: TSC Help
To: "'Bryan Turner'"
Subject: Duke Nukem virus
Pattern file 403 is causing false alarms of the Romeo_Juliet virus. This will be corrected in a future pattern file release.
Jon Mortensen
Electronic Support Specialist
So, to summarize, if you are using PC-Cillan and you get a report of a "Romeo & Juliet" virus on your Duke Nukem CD, it is false - there is no virus on the CD. Please check with the makers of your virus scanner for info on updates.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Portal
3D Portal is back online. Sort of. As you may or may not know, 3D Portal has moved hosts. They used to be with PlanetQuake, but now they're with telefragged. However, since they just made the change this weekend, it's possible you are seeing a screen that says that they are in the process of moving.
If that's the case, then your DNS has not updated to the new location. Keep trying, and you'll get there soon enough. If possible, nag the person who runs your LAN or ISP about updating their DNS more frequently. This may also affect you if you run through a proxy server or do not update your local disk cache very often. 3D Portal is online, so make sure you can see the latest updates there.
In other 3D Portal news, Chris Day has had a change of heart, and is staying onboard the 3D Portal team. Glad to see ya back, Chris!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Assembly '98 Winner Announced!
What's that?
As you may or may not know, several of the Remedy Entertainment folks were heavily involved in the PC demo scene before they formed Remedy and did Death Rally. Assembly 98 is a place where these demos are judged and rated. Well, the 1998 awards have been handed out, and the winner is a group called Trauma, and their demo is called "Gateways".
Notable for Gateways is that one of their members is Tero Kostermaa (shown here), who is part of Remedy Entertainment, and is working on Max Payne!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Dopefish Petition Online
 James Edgar and his RSFTUOTDI3DRG site have sent out a petition to several game developers about one of the most well known 7 year old characters in our industry , Dopefish. Here's what he had to say about the fish..
Why do we want this? It's very simple. Everyone loves the Dopefish, and it's a great thing that shouldn't be ruined by a couple of party poopers. A Dopefish cameo or reference makes the game worth it's price, and it never fails to put a smile across anyone's lips.
Check out James's site (Royal Society for the use of the Dopefish in 3D Realms Games) as well as Joe Siegler's Official Dopefish site for more info on Dopefish!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Dallas Gaming Scene
The "American City Business Journals" web site has an article online about the gaming industry in this area, and they credit the founding of the entire local industry to Apogee. Here are a couple of tidbits from what they had to say in the article..
People in the industry trace the genesis of the computer gaming industry here to Garland-based Apogee Software Ltd., a maker of shoot-em-up arcade games. Scott Miller founded the company at his house in 1987 and kept it there until 1990.
Miller says Apogee also contributed funding that helped launch id, Rogue Entertainment and Terminal Reality, a Lewisville maker of games for Microsoft.
You can check out the entire article here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Mark Announcement
Markus Maki of Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Death Rally) updated his plan today with this text:
Final Reality's "follower", 3DMark, has then now been officially released. If someone's interested, the press release is at http://www.futuremarkcorp.com.
It's gonna be cool.
Futuremark could also use a good full-time producer / graphics "lead" with a vision what looks cool. Because I don't have enough time to give. Or alternatively Remedy could use an Operations Manager so I could focus on producing... You can also check out the other jobs from Futuremark's site. But you need to be GOOD :)
We're thinking of using MP3 file format in 3DMark.
If anyone knows a good, free (cheap?) & lighting fast MP3 player lib / source that is or can be ported easily to Win32 platform (Visual C++ 5.0), is possibly a DLL or lib, e-mail [email protected]!
More specifically we need:
* no actual "player" interface, no sound card interface etc....
* just something that would decode MP3.
* it would need to be able to seek to locations in the middle.
* no encoder
* Uses max. 4% of CPU time on a P2-266 while playing a 128kbit stream
* Good quality, preferably adjustable (->if more speed is needed).
What we can offer -- that's largely negotiable. Name in the credits and a *large* audience at least. All offers answered :) - so e-mail me!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Gaming News in Washington, D.C.
Our friend Mark Shander sent me this Email this morning about a political happening in Washington that has importance to us. Check it out. Thanks to Mark Shander for Emailing this to me...
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
GamePAC SHOUTS, OUR VOICE IS FINALLY HEARD IN WASHINGTON
Atlanta, GA - June 26th, 1998 - GamePAC (Political Action Confederation) is an organization which intends to represent the interests of the computer and videogame industry in Washington and at the state and local level.
The group officially launched during a trade industry organization meeting at the E3 Expo in Atlanta last month.
GamePAC (Political Action Confederation) was formed by rank and file members of the computer game industry, and is a grass-roots lobbying effort. The group intends to develop a political action confederation made up of people who develop, promote and publish computer games, as well as consumers.
At his 1998 Computer Game Developers Conference presentation, 'Playing Games with Washington: Government Report '98', Daniel Greenberg said, "The bigger and more profitable our industry becomes, the more we'll attract government attention. We can no longer rely on our obscurity to avoid regulation. In the past, computer game developers were caught off guard by the government's scrutiny of our games and vital new technologies. In the future, we can continue to sit out the fight and hope for the best, or we can have a place at the table."
GamePAC was created to assure our place at the table, and that our voice is heard.
Members of GamePAC believe our industry is under siege. In a successful campaign waged by the IDSA, a bill that would have banned violent videogames was defeated in the state of Florida. An even tougher fight is expected next year, and the coordinated efforts of our developers and publishers together with others in our industry is key to maintain our liberties.
It is time that our voices be heard. As an industry, we have more political power than we can even imagine. Except for a few voices -- such as the IDSA, an industry trade association representing software publishers -- our industry is not heard in Washington and state capitals. However, the voices of lawmakers who want to blame our industry for violence in our society - who want to mandate a ratings system - who pass Internet censorship laws - ARE heard, while WE remain silent. As Thomas Paine pointed out, it is up to each generation to guard its liberties.
When Congress convenes, our liberties are in jeopardy. GamePAC is here to help facilitate and focus the political voice of the gaming industry, to investigate and inform game developers about government intrusion, and to help the game industry represent itself better in the halls of Washington and state capitals.
The GamePAC Web site, currently in development, will provide a conduit for support from game developers and publishers, enabling it to protect their industry's right to exercise creativity and imagination. To produce truly entertaining games for their audience, developers must have a strong voice in the outcome of laws that affect their ability to create. This freedom of expression is at the heart of the expansive growth of our industry. We need donations, contributions and your support NOW, to begin the real work of protecting our mutual rights. Protect your freedom to produce the games YOU want to produce.
For more information, please contact:
Verin Lewis - CKO MRI/CyberROM MINDS Alliance 541/488-0595, [email protected]
Michael Bendner, Former Editor, PC Multimedia & Entertainment Magazine 604/728-6443, [email protected]
Special thanks to the following people for their early support of GamePAC:
Vince Desiderio, CEO, Running With Scissors
Gail Markels, General Counsel, IDSA
Derek Smart, Ph.D - Designer/Lead Developer, Battlecruiser: 3000AD
Bobby Seale - Founder & Former Chairman of the Black Panther Party, head of production for R.E.A.C.H. Cinema Productions, Inc.
Mark Shander - President Club Gameholio, Director or Marketing, IcePick Games
Daniel Greenberg - President of Paradigm Productions and Washington
Correspondent, Computer Game Developers Association (for his inspiration)
...and to all of the other game developers who have helped us get here.
More on this developing situation later...
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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E3 Booth Babe Update - Nell McAndrew
This isn't really 3D Realms related, but it is related to our Booth Babe story, so here goes... :)
As many of you know, when we were at E3 in Atlanta last month, we took rather a lot of pictures of the "Booth Babes" that were at the various booths. One of the most popular was the woman playing Lara Croft at the Eidos booth.
Well, I've been tipped off to an article about her on the net by a user who goes by the name of "Negative Nine". This woman's real name is Nell McAndrew, and the website "The Croft Times" (dedicated to all things Lara Croft) is currently running an article about Nell called "The Many Faces of Nell". This article talks a great deal about Nell, as well as the other three women to play Lara (briefly). This picture is apparently taken from a promotional tour she's doing for the Tomb Raider movie. You might want to check out the article, as it has several other pictures of Nell from other things she's done (including more E3 shots - including some of ours).
The Booth Babe Report Returns! - To commemorate this news article, we've managed to unearth three more E3 Booth Babe pictures. Two of them are from our own Martinus, and the other is from our own Steve Blackburn. Check 'em out! While you're thinking about it, make sure to check out our 1998 E3 Picture archive for our own pictures of Lara, including several with Duke Nukem!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Apogee/3D Realms & Windows 98
As I'm sure you already know, Windows98 is set to be in the stores tomorrow. Putting aside the DOJ talk about Microsoft for a minute, I wanted to answer a few questions about our titles in advance on Windows98.
We have only one native windows game, that being Balls of Steel, and that has been tested on Windows98, and it runs just fine. Of our three games under development, all are Windows native game, and are currently geared towards Win95/98. Final release info (and NT compatibility) will come later when the games are closer to release.
Our older DOS games will generally run under Windows98 with the same kind of restrictions that they had on Windows95, which is.. "It will run if your system is powerful enough and it's configured correctly". We do have info online about creating multi-boot configurations for Windows95 here. You might want to take a read, it can be useful when dealing with problematic computers, Windows95, and MS-DOS games.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Final Reality from Remedy
3D Portal now has online a feature article on Final Reality from Remedy Entertainment (the makers of Death Rally & Max Payne). What's Final Reality? It's a program from Remedy (& VNU Labs) that is a Direct3D Benchmarking program that will test the performance of your graphics hardware.
3D Portal has several areas online for this program. First, they have their feature article on it, a public forum dedicated to it, and an area where you can download your own copy of this freeware program.
The engine that is used in this utility is a very early version of the engine that will be used in the forthcoming game, Max Payne!
NOTE: 3D Portal no longer exists, all links have been removed.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:01 PM
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Getting into the Industry
There's probably not a day that goes buy that someone here doesn't get an email from someone wanting to know how to get a job here or in the game industry. Scott Miller spent a few minutes writing the following answer, which he posted in his plan file last week. I decided that the information was worth reposting here, since it might be very helpful to wannabee game designers:
How to get into the game industry as a developer:
1. Unless you love to play games, don't bother. Unless you've played a hundred plus games, you'll have little chance. Playing games, studying their gameplay, strengths and weaknesses, is like going to game developer college. I've spent 22 years in this college, and I'll never graduate--no one ever does. Don't feel like you've ever learned all there is to know about game design.
2. Pay your dues. This includes playing games, but it's much more. If you want to be a level designer, then design levels. If you want to be an artist, then draw art. If you want to be a programmer, then learn C, and program things that interest you, like small games and graphics demos. Most of the best game developers I know learned very little about their craft in school, they were mostly self-taught. This isn't to say school/college isn't important, but the best developers, those who are passionate and would be doing it anyway as a hobby, extended their talent and knowledge by being self-motivated and by devouring, learning and living their passion on their own time. For example, would we ever hire a programmer who doesn't own a computer at home? I think not.
3. Take the initiative. It's up to you to develop friends and contacts within the industry--a people network. If you look at most of the people who have been hired (especially off the Internet), they were people who were proactive in letting it be known they had talent and were available. They got involved with the game community somehow.
Try to get involved in game development on a amateur level. Release your work (levels, mods, art) freely on the web. Contact game sites and fan sites to distribute and write about your work. Doing this is a great way to get noticed by real development companies.
4. Sending samples and/or demos is the key to getting hired! A programmer must have several impressive demos to show, an artist needs a portfolio, and a level designer needs at least four to six impressive levels. Without samples and demos, you're not going to make it far at all. (Don't send ideas, game concepts, or other text only treatments. Publishers and developers are not looking for idea people, instead they're looking for people with the talent, desire and means to implement these ideas. Ideas on their own are next to worthless in getting you a job.)
Scan developers' web sites to see what's available, and what projects are getting underway, then send them samples of your work.
Send your samples in a way that's easy to review. For an artist, for example, it's best to send hardcopy samples, a burned CD full of samples, and even a video tape showing animations. The hardcopy work will be the first impression, and determine whether looking at the other material is worth the effort or not.
5. Visit game design sites, participate in newsgroups about game design, and join game design organizations. Here are a few sites worth checking out:
http://gamasutra.com/
http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~permadi/gamelink/gamelink.html
http://www.videogamedesign.com/
http://www.inside3d.com/gdc/
http://www.igdn.org/
http://www.cgdc.com
http://www.godgames.com/
Also, there are magazines, like Game Developers magazine, and plenty of great books that cover game design, but too many to list here.
Overall, the important points are to play games and learn from them, be proactive in networking with others in the industry (build up a list of contacts), and spend much of your time bettering your talents and building a portfolio. Do these things, and luck, the final factor, usually works in your favor. :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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US Senate Attempting to Ban Violent Games
Government meddling in computer and video games isn't a new thing; Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) has been advocating some sort of restriction over interactive entertainment since he first caught a glimpse of Mortal Kombat. While Lieberman's crusading didn't result in any firm legislation, it did result in a heightened sensitivity to the issue of violence and sex in computer games (witness the creation of the ESRB). Apparently, the ESRB (and other groups like it e.g. RSAC) aren't doing a good enough job because laws banning certain types of computer, video, and arcade game-related-content are currently being considered in Florida and Ohio.
When the Florida legislature meets this March, they'll be considering a bill proposed by Rep. Barry Silver (D) and Sen. John Grant (R) that would prohibit "the display, or other exhibition of video games containing graphic violence." The proposed law would be all-encompassing; while the "display or exhibition" mentioned above might make you think the bill only applies to arcades, the two lawmakers are quick to point out that they "intend to weed violent games out of retail, as well." Meanwhile, Ohio's Attorney General Betty Montgomery is hawking a law that would make online content considered "harmful to minors" illegal. If this law is passed, expect it to have far-reaching effects on video and computer games websites that cover violent games.
Before you start preparing a heart-felt eulogy for interactive entertainment, though, take solace in the following facts. A law strikingly similar to the one being proposed in Florida has already been struck down in Missouri because it was unconstitutional. Still, though, Rep. Silver insists that his law "has passed constitutional muster under other contexts." With respect to Attorney General Betty Montgomery's proposed law, it should be noted that a similar law was killed in New York because that state found it to be unconstitutional. In the unlikely event that either of these laws ever comes close to seeing the light of day, you can be sure that a $5 billion/year industry (which video and computer games is) isn't going to sit idly by; The IDSA (The Interactive Digital Software Association), with the help of Gail Markels - their General Counsel - is already contesting the constitutionality of the proposed laws. If the laws come any closer to reality, The IDSA will be the focal point of a very large and very vocal constituency that views censorship of interactive entertainment with similar distaste.
Clearly, these proposed laws have the chance - however small that chance might be - to have a profound impact on the games we play. We'll track the development of each law and let you know if/when a cause for real concern arises. In the meantime, if you feel strongly about the topic, use the info below to express yourself.
Florida Rep. Barry Silver, 954.917.1300
Attorney General�s Office, Betty Montgomery, 614.466.4320
[ This article reprinted with permission. It originally appeared on OGR's News Net and was written by Glenn Broderick. ]
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Misc News & Tidbits
APOGEE NEWS BITS:
ITEM #1: In the new issue of Next Generation magazine, Scott Miller, founder of Apogee, is named as one of the gaming industry's 75 most powerful players. Scott is listed under the "Pioneers" section, specifically for creating the multi-episode marketing of shareware games ("The Apogee Model", as it's called in the industry), which is now used by many other game publishers, such as id Software, Epic MegaGames, Interplay, and many others.
ITEM #2: Realms of Chaos is nearing release. We're in final prep on it,and it could possibly be released within a week! Keep your eyes peeled to this WWWsite, it will be released right here!
3D REALMS NEWS BITS:
ITEM #1: 3D Realms recently hired Billy Zelsnack, giving 3D Realms arguably the best group of 3D programming talent in the gaming industry. Billy is considered by John Carmack, lead programmer at id Software, to be one of the best in the business. Billy, along with Ken Silverman (author of the Build 3D engine), and the 3D Realms' Prey team (William Scarboro, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dose'), give 3D Realms an incredible foundation of 3D programming talent that no other company can match. The results of this talent will soon be seen with the release of Duke Nukem 3D, and many future 3D games.
ITEM #2:3D Realms will publish (as shareware) Parallax Software's next big 3D game (as of yet untitled)! Parallax, who previously authored the super hit Descent, expect this next-generation game to come up in early 1997. Interplay Productions will handle the retail release of this game.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:01 PM
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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. 
Do you have a custom license plate for your car that is somehow related to 3D gaming? If so, we'd like to see it! Our new "Gaming License Plates" page is now open, and ready for your submissions. If you have a license plate for your car, now's the time to show it off!
In a rather silly piece of news today, I received word that Illusion over at prey.net did an editorial piece entitled "Joe's other obsession" about my E3 Booth Babe Picture Archive. It's obvious he liked 
If you have children over the age of nine or 10--particularly boys--they are probably playing computer and video games that you aren't likely to see reviewed in the pages of Computers Made Easy. These games have titles like Redneck Rampage, Total Annihilation and Resident Evil. They feature scantily clad women, testosterone-crazed men and enough weaponry to obliterate a small country. And while they are billed as entertainment, these games have a far greater--and potentially more damaging--impact than the arcade games played by younger kids.
