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George Broussard Interview
If you haven't seen it already, make sure and check out the recent Dukeworld interview with George Broussard, project leader for Duke Nukem Forever. In the wake of the recently released Duke Nukem Forever screenshots, George was asked several questions about the game by the folks over at Dukeworld. Here's a sample of what he had to say:
* Q: Why make this decision now (Ed Note: Implementing the UT code) despite the fact that you've stated in the past you had broken off from the Unreal code base?
A: We broke off our code at Unreal 220. But unfortunately that was a fairly unstable version of the engine. We had intended to continue on our own, but Epic simply did too good a job with UT. It's faster, has better net code, better interface, better video drivers. All in all UT is the culmination of all the Unreal tech work and the focus of Epic's efforts since Unreal shipped last year. Not patching to it would be a colossal mistake.
* Q: Duke Nukem: Music to Score by was recently released, the music CD included what could be the title song for Duke Nukem Forever done by the band Megadeth. Have you guys reached a final decision here yet?
A: No. We weren't really happy with the final version, and had some changes to it. Politics and lack of communication led to things falling apart. Next time we'll deal with bands directly instead of through publishers and record company agents. Things tend to get muddy then. Had we and Megadeth talked directly I'm sure we both would have been a lot more happy.
* Q: Have you finalized the weapons in Duke Nukem Forever, and can you talk at all about what they might be?
A: We're not talking specifics as it spoils the surprise of the game. But only about half of the weapons currently exist. All of them are planned out on paper though. It's just getting to the work of getting them in the game and making them fun.
George had a lot more to say about Duke Nukem Forever, so make sure and check out the full interview today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem's Third Dirty Dozen
Last year about this time we brought you the news of Duke Nukem action figure making the annual "Dirty Dozen" list of the web site "Lion & Lamb". Their list is published as a service to parents to warn them against (what they believe to be) harmful and violent toys. For the third year in a row, we're on their list. This year, they've named the "Nightstrike Duke" action figure to their list; here's what they have to say about it.
NightStrike Duke, ReSaurus, $8
Recommended age: 10+
Description: From the package: "NightStrike Duke Nukem wears all black combat clothes and comes with a stocking cap and a ball cap. He carries a specially-modified MP-5 Submachine Gun with a silencer and rifle stock, a regular MP-5 Submachine Gun, a Knife, and a rope!" Blood is splattered on Duke�s hand, chest and knife.
Why we chose it: This action figure is being heavily marketed to children, but is based on an adult-rated video game set in smut shops and strip bars. "If it moves, shoot it," reads one web review of the video game. "If it doesn�t move, shoot it. Anything and everything can be destroyed." Another action figure in this series is called "Pigcop."
Last year, we hit their 98-99 list with the original Duke Nukem action figure, and in 97-98, we were on the list with our Shadow Warrior game. That's three years running - the feeling that we'll be on the 2000-2001 list with Duke Nukem Forever occurs at this moment, for some odd reason.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Revealed in PC Gamer
 It's been over a year since the media blackout for Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) began, taking place when the switch was made from the Quake to the Unreal technology -- but finally, the just-out December issue of PC Gamer tells all and shows all in an amazing cover story!
"For the past two years, information about this highly anticipated game has been so closely guarded that you'd think national security...were at stake...So we stormed the 3D Realms stronghold to bring you the first updated look at what will be one of the hottest games of the new century."
-- PC Gamer
"[We bring you] the exclusive first look at the most anticipated game currently in development, Duke Nukem Forever...prepare to be blown away."
-- Gary Whitta, Editor-in-chief, PC Gamer
So, if you've seen the amazing screen shots (or not), now you can read all the juicy details behind them, and also hear directly from DNF's project leader, George Broussard. There's also concept art (including a color sketch of Bombshell, the new female character in DNF), and a great shot of the entire team. This will be the only official DNF article for several months, don't miss the Dec. issue of PC Gamer. Look for Duke busting his way through the Christmas cover!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Gameslice on Duke Forever Screenshots
Geoff Keighley, an old friend of ours runs the Gameslice gaming news site. A few days ago, he wrote about the Duke Nukem Forever screenshots we released back on the first of the month. Here's what he has to say in his weekly "The Gist List" article..
Although Duke Nukem has been enjoying massive success on the console format, he's been noticeably absent from the PC since Duke Nukem 3D arrived over three years ago. Well, last week the Internet was abuzz with the first screenshots released from the Unreal-engine powered Duke Nukem Forever, set to arrive in the new millennium. First off, it was refreshing to see a group of screenshots that actually showed a game that's well into development, as opposed to the usual first batch of screenshots from a game where all you get are desolate environmental shots with nifty fog (Can we all say Rune?).
Geoff has lots more to say about the Duke Nukem Forever shots, so make sure and get the gist of it!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Interview with Scott Miller
RPOV Interviews has a new interview up today with Scott Miller of 3D Realms. This interview covers the usual subjects our guys get asked (What's in Duke Forever, When will it be out? What else is going on?), as well as a few original questions you don't normally see. Here's a sample:
Q: You recently stated that DNF is using the Unreal Tournament version of the engine but that "a LOT" of new technology has been added. Could you give a few examples of enhancements that the DNF team have made?
A: A few general things:
* Model/animation system on par or better than anything I've seen in PC gaming. (This system, combined with our motion captured animation, will give DNF perhaps the best looking characters and enemies seen on the PC.)
* The scripting system is greatly enhanced and far more flexible.
* Realtime backward and forward level-of-detail, which scales down models to increase framerate (when characters are at a distance), and also adds detail to models when close up (meaning that characters will look more detailed than even the source model).
* There are other major tech additions, but I cannot go into them now. However, I can add that DNF's scripting system is so advanced that we can make practically anything in the game interactive. For example, we've released a screen shot that shows a video poker machine. It ain't just for looks. ;-)
Q: Music can be a crucial element to creating an action movie feel. Who have you (or Remedy) hired to do the music in Max Payne?
A: A very good in-house sound artist, Tero Kostermaa, who's making highly appropriate mood- setting music that'll be context sensitive. Making original music usually produces better end results than hiring a well-known band and hoping that the band understands the vision for the game.
Q: It was announced in 1997 that Pocket Books was going to be creating some Shadow Warrior and Duke Nukem novels. The Duke books were slated to be released in conjunction with DNF. Is this still planned?
A: No, because DNF is introducing so many new characters and ideas that until the game is done we don't want to have any novels written that might wind up being based on old or incorrect background information. Also, just because Duke is a great video game star doesn't mean that he'll translate into a great book character. I think Duke could make a great comic book, but I have my doubts about doing novels. We'll see. If we get a great writer on the project, then we might still do some novels.
Scott has a lot more to say in this interview, so head on over to RPOV today, and check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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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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Duke Nukem Forever Screenshot Reaction
 The reaction to our release of Duke Nukem Forever screenshots the other day has been nothing short of phenomenal. As good as we thought the game is now, we see it day in and day out, and you always wonder if the public will take to what you have been doing - we're relived to see the positive response they have garnered. An example of this is the web cartoon strip Penny Arcade, whose strip yesterday touched on the Duke Nukem Forever shots.
Shown here is the first panel of the strip. If you want to check out the entire strip, click here (or on the strip). The author of the strip (Tycho Brahe) apparently is a big Duke Nukem Fan, and he had this to say about the shots (and Duke itself):
Is today's strip really, really weird? Probably. Is it pretty god damned funny? We certainly think so. I wouldn't say that we're exactly yardsticks for determining that kind of thing, though. The fact of the matter is, those Duke Nukem Shots have got us just giddy. See, back when they made compelling games that were cooperative, you could while away the hours on your 14.4 modem (ah, it's squeal of delight!), and play through an entire game with your friends. Duke Nukem was the second game I ever played like that (the first was Descent), and as a result, it has a very special place in my heart. Besides the fact that it's single player game was far and away more compelling than anything else in it's time period in terms of interactivity and ingenuity, hooking up at odd hours of the night to continue our adventure always carried a silly, clandestine quality. It was an experience that we haven't had since.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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New Duke Nukem Items Available!
UPDATE Dec 2008: These items are no longer available for sale - we long ago ran out of stock.
This news item has been left here for historical purposes.
In the wake of yesterday's announcement of the Duke Nukem Forever screenshots, we have two new Duke Nukem items available for purchase direct from 3D Realms! The two new items are a Duke Nukem T-Shirt as well as a Duke Nukem cap. Shown below, these items are available for shipment direct to you immediately.
The cap is black, and is an adjustable one-size fits all cap. The front has the Duke Nukem logo, and the back has the Duke trademark phrase "Come Get Some" emblazoned on it.
The T-shirt on the front has the Duke Nukem logo, and on the back has a large Duke Nukem nuclear symbol on it (in addition to the trademark phrase "Come get some"). The T-Shirt is available in black only, and we have three sizes, L, XL, & XXL.
 
Both items are $14.95 each, and you can click on any of the thumbnails shown above for a larger picture of the items. These can be ordered now direct from 3D Realms via our normal ordering methods. If you need ordering information, it is available by clicking here. We also have an order form available for you to print out and use for mailing or fax. You can also just call 1-800-3DREALMS with your Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or Amex card and order these Duke items today!
Don't forget, the "Every 100th Order Free" promotion is still going on, and if you order these, it's possible you might be selected as a winner, and could receive these items totally free! For more details on the 100th Order Free promotion, click here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Screenshot Update
The demand and response to our release of the Duke Nukem Forever screen shots yesterday was just just Unreal (OK, bad joke). Seriously, the response was far beyond anything we expected, and our web site got extremely overloaded. We're working to relieve that situation, but in the meantime, you can grab the shots below, or you can visit any one of these mirrors that have popped up since yesterday afternoon.
Individual JPG images:
* http://legacy.3drealms.com/catalog/duke4/screenshots.html (Our page)
* http://www.dukeworld.com/?screens/pcgamer1.html
* http://www.shugashack.com/
* http://www.stomped.com/
* http://www.evilavatar.com/screenshots/dnf/dnf.htm
* http://www.planetunreal.com/index.asp?features/dnf/duke1.shtm
* http://www.op3dfx.com/ie4_onearticle.x?id=13022&daysago=0
* http://www.gamefan.com/hotinfo.asp?s=3439&rs=
* http://www.unreality.org/news_small.asp?Number=1265
* http://www.unrealuniverse.com/features/articles/dnfscreenies.shtml
* http://www.gameaddict.net/news/november99/dukescreens.html
* http://www.dnfworld.com/screenshots/pcgamer1999.html
The Zip archive of all the shots
* http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=45147 (Our link)
* http://www.3dgamers.com/3daction/00archives/duke4ever/
* ftp://ftp2.stomped.com/pub/stomped/duke4/screens/dnfJPGs.zip
* http://www.3d-unlimited.com/games/files/dukenukem/
* http://www1.sharkyextreme.com/games/glimpses/3drealms/duke4/download.shtml
* http://www.voodooextreme.com/files/dnf.zip
* http://www.planetunreal.com/index.asp?features/dnf/duke1.shtm
* http://www.unrealuniverse.com/media/file...a/files/dnf.zip
* http://www.unreality.org/index.asp?mode=redirect&id=1388
* http://www.gamesrealm.com/files/dukenukemforever/dnfJPGs.zip
* http://boomgames.com/files/dnf-pics.zip
* http://www.dnfworld.com/downloads/dnfjpgs.zip
* http://www.qgl.org/misc/dnfjpgs.zip
Thanks to everyone who is carrying the shots on their pages. If you have the scans that first appeared online on your site, we ask that you remove them, and use these. Thanks for your cooperation. A few remarks about the shots from George Broussard:
1.
Shots were taken on a Voodoo 3 at 1024x768. All textures are 256x256 and below. Skin sizes on characters are the same as Unreal Tournament (although what we are doing with the same space is quite different... thus squeezing out a *lot* of detail).
2.
DNF will not be out in the immediate future. This was merely a "preview" of things to come for PC Gamer. The good news is that this is also the worst the game will look and it will only get better from here.
3.
"We've been working really hard. Virtually every texture in the game is photo source from a digital camera, so things look "real". Once we move the code to Unreal tournament's code base November/early Dec), we'll be ready to rock and finish the game up."
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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New Site Design Underway
Just a short note to our fans - we've begun work on a complete redesign of our web site (which would be the fifth major version of our website). What you see here will go away totally, and will be replaced with a new streamlined look and feel. We've given some thought as to how to present all the information on our web site in a way that makes it easier to navigate than the current way of doing things, and we believe that we've come up with a design that does this.. The final stages of pre-design are currently underway (laying out things, designing the graphics, etc), and then the actual work of converting over all our old content will begin. We're excited about this new look, and we're sure you will be, too. Here's some web site history for 3D Realms:
* Our first site design was using the (now defunct) WebBBS package by Dan Linton's Software Creations (which required you to log in in order to see anything). Our first web site went online back in November of 1995, and we used that format from then to October 20, 1996.
* Our second design had two variants, and had no internal codename. The first version was a plain text site, as opposed to the "brown button" version that came after it. The brown button shot is a black and white image, because we have no screen dump of that version of the site, and had to scan that image from a game manual that happened to have that version in it. These versions ran from October 21, 1996 to July of 1997.
* Our third design was referred to internally as the "Green TV" site. It was the first of our site designs that had major art in it, as opposed to the earlier ones which were all text based, or had minimal art. This site ran from July of 1997 to February 7, 1998.
* Our current design (referred to by our webmaster as the Apogee98 site) has been online since February 6, 1998. This version of the site is our biggest in terms of using graphics as part of the site design. For awhile, we used Java on the front page, which did slow things down when loading. This version ran from February 8, 1998 till...
* The fifth design, currently underway (codenamed y2ksite by our webmaster) is going to be our sleekest design ever, with graphics being used minimally to get a sleek and well organized design across. It's currently slated to go online late in November of 1999. Look for it!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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George Broussard on Duke Nukem Forever
The Shugashack did a piece on Friday with George Broussard and Duke Nukem Forever appropriately titled "GeorgeB on Duke4". Anyway, there were several choice comments by George about the game. Here's a couple of them.
* Q: and oh make sure to include The Stadium map or a version of it in your final game.. that's the best multiplayer deathmatch mayhem...
A: Noted. Once again we know what you want. Seems it'd be stupid to release DNF and NOT have some of the favorite DM maps appear in an updated form. We'll also have plenty of new maps for you as well. The hard part will be selecting the old favorites, although a few are obvious.
* Q: When it's released, it's going to be like C&C Tiberian Sun... look how much it SUCKED. why can't developers learn that they need to develop innovative AND fun games at the same time? AKA Quake 3 and HOPEFULLY Duke 4??
A: Agreed. That's why DNF is taking so long. We flat out refuse to make a TC for Unreal. Innovation and fun take a long time to create.
George had a lot more to say - make sure to check out the Shugashack article for all of it. Also, you can participate in our own web forums, where our guys drop in from time to time with more Duke Nukem Forever tidbits.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Screenshots are Here!
Well, here you go Duke fans. You've screamed about it for months and it's finally time. We're posting the first shots of Duke Nukem Forever using the Unreal engine. These were done for the December issue of PC Gamer. It appears that their German counterpart has already released their version of the article. As a result, the DNF shots are being scanned and posted like mad across the net. Since this is inevitable and we'd like people to see the game as it's intended, we're releasing the real shots now, a little ahead of schedule. Apologies to the fine folks at PC Gamer (and Gary Whitta in particular), but they will still sell a zillion copies of the magazine Make sure to go buy a copy and get all the inside scoop of Duke Nukem Forever. Enjoy the shots, and please set up mirrors as fast as you can, so our site doesn't explode.
There's a total of 10 of them. You can click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger image that will load in another window. If you care to download a zip archive of all 10 of them, you can grab that file here. (These shots are large - they range in size from 450k to 710k)
NOTE: The screenshots were removed later, as we feel they no longer represent the way the game looks in it's current state.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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