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Quake II Killers
 The premier issue of PC Accelerator (http://pcxl.ign.com/) just arrived, with a feature story titled, "Quake II Killers." Five Q2 Killers were chosen and scored (in parenthesis): Duke Nukem Forever (51), Prey (50), Half-Life (47), Daikatana (47), and Sin (46).
For Prey, PCXL wrote: "Portal technology is the hot, upcoming technology, and Prey kicked that off. From what we've seen [it's] truly the next step in 3D gaming. The realistic environments and complete interaction with them create a virtual world unlike any other we've seen."
Just missing the the cut for the top 5 "Q2 Killers" was Max Payne. PCXL commented: "A high action quotient working within the story-powered framework. Max has a real purpose. A murdered boss and slaughtered family provide a backbone for many twists and turns."
Also in this issue we find a fun, original article called, "The 25 Greatest Guy Games." What's the greatest manly game of all time? Need we state the obvious?! Hail to the king, baby! Duke Nukem scores another victory. Says PCXL, "No game can even come close to this near-flawless combination of all things we cherish...Drinking, sex, violence, and expletive-loaded one-liners."
This issue is out on the newsstands now - make sure to pick up a copy of it today!
UPDATE: More from the premiere issue of PC Accelerator: On page 121, in their "X-TRA" department, there's a top 10 list entitled The Power Meter, which shows the editor's choices for the most notable companies in the PC game industry. We're surprised and pleased that 3D Realms tops the list! The issue states: "With Prey, Duke Nukem Forever, and Max Payne stealing the show at this year's E3, 3D Realms established itself as the one to beat in 3D gaming."
Also on the list, Epic MegaGames takes #2, GT Interactive grabs #4, and id Software nails down #9.
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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Another Interview with Paul Richards
The information about Paul Richards just keeps coming!!! There is another interview with Paul online now. This one was done by Universal Gaming Network. In this interview, he speaks of his love for Crystal Caves, what he will be doing here, and what he used to do at the top of the Chase Tower when he was with Ion Storm.
Oh yeah, and he professes his love for his toaster, which can be seen here. Unfortunately, this toaster does not say "Howdy doodlie doo!"
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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PC Games Spooges
 The September 1998 issue of PC Games Magazine is on the stands. There is some spooging going on over there about our games, and what we have planned. Here's a sample of what they have to say (make sure to go get the magazine yourself on the newsstands):
1. "The Engines of 99" Article (Pg. 29) - They speak highly of both our Prey technology, as well as the switch from Quake II tech to Unreal tech for Duke Nukem Forever.
2. "State of the Game" Article (Pg. 62) - They talk about Duke Nukem Forever, Max Payne, & Prey (incorrectly listing it as a game done by another company).
3. "Stunners & Bummers" Article (Pg. 77) - They spooge about Duke Nukem Forever and what they saw at E3 '98.
Here's some quotes from the various articles they have about us:
1. (About Prey) - The wait's been long, but it looks like it will be worth it.
2. (About Max Payne) - This game doesn't have aliens; it has bad mobsters, crooked cops, grungy NY alleys and sparkling high-rises, modeled guns that behave and sound as they should, excellent lighting effects, and cool comic book style cut scenes.
3. Party on, 3D Realms. I'll admit that the DNF I saw at E3 won't exactly be what I see out of the box, thanks to an engine change from the Quake II engine to the Unreal engine. But I believe. I'm a sucker for big bosses, big weapons, and big hooters. What stunned me was the new stuff, like any character/player being able to pick up and use any weapon and interact with any model, and face animations with true lip-syncing. Oh, and the amazing built-in mods such as "spread the disease" and a variation on "kill the guy with the ball".
Plus much more. Make sure to check out the magazine at your newsstands. They also have our E3 floor video for Duke Nukem Forever on the companion CD-ROM with the magazine. You can also download the video (as well as the Max Payne and Prey videos) from our master download page.
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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Max Payne Preview
3D Portal brings us the news that there is a new Max Payne preview online. It's over at pcfan.com, and their preview is entitled Digital Woo. Some of the more notable quotes from the article:
* if Max enters an area occupied by a significant number of enemies, the action will slow down in an effect very similar to that seen in films such as 'Face-Off'
* There are a wave of third-person action games set to hit the market, and Max Payne looks to be perhaps the most promising of the lot.
Make sure and check out the entire article at http://www.pcfan.com/pcfan/previews/maxpayne.html.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Apogee Software, Ltd.
Every once in awhile we get asked about this, so I thought I'd mention it here. :)
Officially, our company is named "Apogee Software, Ltd". We are not (by far) the only company named "Apogee" around. There's rather a lot of them, including several that have something to do with computers and eight of them that have something to do with computer software. When we first started this web site, we had wanted apogee.com, but that was already taken by Apogee Software, Inc (a maker of compilers in California), so we took apogee1.com instead (later on we added 3drealms.com).
I had forgotten there were so many of them. If you'd like to see some details about them, check out the "Other Companies named Apogee" page.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Build Just Won't Go Away
 Build, the venerable game engine from 3D Realms just won't stop rearing it's head.
A game using our Build engine is about to be released. It's called "Redneck Deer Hunting'". Part of the description on the back of the box... "From the creators of Redneck Rampage� comes a hunting game that's so real, you'll be expecting' the Game Warden to be checking' tags! But don't worry, this is All Season, All Weapons, All Thrilling' and Killing' with your helpful local backwoods guide, Leonard. You'll explore acres and acres of prime habitat, including forest, woodlands, lake, snowpark and shooting range - using all your available tracking' skills to follow, find and finish off your prey. Use attractant scent and choose between rifle, shotgun, pistol, or crossbow for varying levels of difficulty."
This game was written by Xatrix, and is distributed by Interplay. I had a look at Interplay's web site, and couldn't find anything about the game there, nor could I find anything on Xatrix's site, either. I'm told that this game is either out now, or is due to be on the shelves any day now.
This brings the number of games released that use the Build engine to eleven. We ourselves have released two games using the Build engine, those being Duke Nukem 3D & Shadow Warrior. The other games that use Build are TekWar, Witchaven, Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance, Blood, Powerslave, Redneck Rampage, Redneck Rampage Rides Again, & NAM. There was another game under development using the Build engine (a paintball game), but we're not sure if it will see the light of day at this point.
UPDATE: The paintball game did eventually come out, it was called "eXtreme Paintbrawl".
UPDATE 2: We also believe there was an "eXtreme Paintbrawl 2" that used the Build engine. There were several of these in the Paintball series, but we're only positive #1 used Build.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Unreal Status Update
Blue's News brings us the news of an Unreal Status update on the Epic MegaBoard. Some of the highlights..
Multiplayer - Tim is still working hard on this. I believe he's finished his portion of the next patch and is working with Green Marine on some server querying issues. I'm not going to venture an estimate except to say that the next multiplayer patch is pretty close.
Just to remind folks, Duke Nukem Forever uses the Unreal engine, and this news is welcome to just about everyone. :)
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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Max Payne Preview
Next Generation Online has an interview with two of the guys at Remedy Entertainment about the making of Max Payne. Petri Jarvilehto & Sam Lake are the two interviewees; here's a tidbit from the full interview:
We feel that a character based, plot-driven action is just the right way to maximize the impact value of the game experience. The plot gives reason and motive for the action, and the plot must happen to someone. The character makes it all personal, and brings tons of attitude to the mixture.
Max Payne is hardboiled cinematic action with a strong storyline to back up and give meaning to the action.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Movie
3D Portal has a link up to an article over on PC Gamer Online where they talk about movie versions of video games. In the article, they speak highly of the forthcoming Duke Nukem movie (no, no actor has been cast yet - when there is one, we will let you know here). Here's a tidbit where they speak of 3D Realms and Threshold...
Threshold seems to be heading in the right direction, though, by working closely with Duke's creators at 3D Realms and treating them as collaborators, not just licensors. Again, it's not uncommon for a movie company to shut out the game guys and become deaf to their attempts at input once the deal is signed -- what do they know about movie-making, after all? But in the case of Duke and 3D Realms, the guys who signed the license deal are the same guys who created the character in the first place, and when it comes to deciding how Duke should talk and act when he's up there on the movie screen, not to listen to his creators would be suicide. Props to Threshold, and to 3D Realms, for what looks like one of the more forward-thinking, collaborative game-to-movie efforts currently in production.
In other Duke Nukem Forever news, Theholo.net has a preview of Duke Nukem Forever online. There's really nothing new in the article, but it's still worth a look.
NOTE: Link removed Aug 2006 due to it not existing anymore.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Development Update
This update on the game's progress comes from George Broussard's .plan file:
We're about where we wanted to be after the switch. The mappers are all 100% up to speed now and can do anything and everything with the editor. There is nothing in Unreal that they don't know how to do, and they've done some new things that make people go 'Whoa!' when they walk by their desks. The guys are all working on "real" levels now.
Textures and models have been continuing as if the switch never happened. Actually we seem to be able to have higher res textures under Unreal and still run fine, so you can expect that. We also know a few tricks to speed up Unreal and/or the maps to make it run acceptably on a P200 64 megs. I think 90% of the bog people are reporting are map abuse or texture usage related. These are things that are easy to control.
The programmers have been busy as well. We added a significant low level piece of tech I will talk about later, as well as basic stuff like the USE key. We also enhanced the Unreal keyframe, moving object system A LOT and now we seem to have nearly unlimited freedom. It's great to walk up to a switch, USE it and see something happen. Something very complex at that. Also reworked the resource system so we don't have to recompile a 10 minute file every time we add a piece of art. Very hand for fast updating of data. In short, the foundation is there, and we're ready for the new and "fun" stuff. The programmers will be moving to AI, guns, and game play type things ASAP.
Keith is prototyping his "back of the truck" map we showed at E3. This is mainly to test out the new object system and get any last little things that would keep that type of map from working.
At this point, we are really in full production mode again on the game. We expect to have gun and guys walking around any day like we never switched engines.
The progress from here should be exponential, as we just drop in new data, and the programmers focus on gameplay more than tech additions.
Don't be surprised if we're silent for awhile. We plan to just keep working hard on the game and keep our mouths shut about what we are doing.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs
 The original Wolfenstein 3D was released May 5th, 1992. In the time since, it's been ported and released on several computing and gaming systems. Some of these were the Super Nintendo, the Atari Jaguar, and the Apple Macintosh.
Some time ago, there was a port of Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs system started, but (I thought) abandoned. I found out this weekend that it wasn't completely abandoned. The project is still alive out there. Here's some text I wrote on the matter for the Apogee FAQ...
In the fall of 1994, it was revealed that Vitesse was working on a version of Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs. This version was being written by none other than "Burger" Bill Heinemann, as the original Castle Wolfenstein was written for the Apple //e. My knowledge of WolfGS ended at the plan to sell WolfGS by Vitesse. Jay Wilbur (then of id Software) told me that this was against a licensing agreement, and as such, distribution was stopped before it was released. That was it I thought. Until now. On August 2, 1998, I received an Email from a user saying this..
I wanted to let you know, in case you hadn't heard, that Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs was finally released this year, on Valentine's Day, as freeware.
This was news to me. Well, I wrote to John Carmack at id Software about this issue (saying what happened, relaying what I just said above), and this is what I was told by him..
The contract negotiations had dragged on for a long time for very little potential money, so we finally just said that it could be released as freeware. At the time, they still wanted to try to make some money off of it and didn't release it, but we never specifically rescinded the offer, so I guess they finally took us up on it.
So, it would appear that Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIgs was finally released on Feb 14, 1998. I have had a copy of it since it was first written almost 4 years ago (from the author), but it's been changed a bit since Burger Bill was working on it. Here are some links about WolfGS:
http://www.logicware.com/Products/Wolfenstein3D/wolf3d_gs.html
http://www.sheppyware.ml.org/software/wolf3d_gs/index.html
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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Duke Nukem Time to Kill Info
There were a few developments in the Time to Kill world recently.
videogames.com has updated their Duke Nukem: Time to Kill preview with some new screenshots. They now have a total of 19 different shots for the game. You can check out the preview here.
Wipeout over at 3D Portal tells us this... "There is a new Playstation Jam Pack Demo CD available that features many demos of some of the hottest Playstation games. Among that CD, there is a playable demo of Duke Nukem: Time To Kill! You can get your hands on this disc for around $5, a very good price, so be sure to pick up your copy!"
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Max Payne Preview
David Laprad of the Adrenaline Vault wrote us over the weekend telling us about a preview he's done for Max Payne over at AVault. This is an outstanding article about the game, you should really go and check it out. Here's a quote from the article:
"If action is a religion, Max Payne is the new messiah."
A longer tidbit from the article:
Games do not get gutsier than this. 3D Realms is breaking new ground again with strong characters, hard-core realism, and blistering action with a cinematic edge.
Make sure to check out this article!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Today we had a new member of the Duke team come onboard. His name is Paul Richards, and he is a concept sketch artist. We'll have more info on Paul online in the next day or so - keep your eyes peeled. He previously worked with Ion Storm on a few of their upcoming games, as well as with id Software (briefly) on Quake Arena.