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Duke Nukem Forever Background
Below, you can see a Duke Nukem Forever Windows background file. This was sent to us by 3D Realms fan Jeff "Xealous" Hart. We wanted to share it with everyone here, too! We love it when people send in stuff like this, so if you have a fan submission, send it our way!
The background is available in three sizes - 1024x768, 800x600, & 640x480. To make it your Windows background, click on any of the links above, and then right click on the picture, and you'll see an option that says "Set as Wallpaper" (or similar wording, depending on what browser you're using). The links above are actually jpg files, you can just download them too, if you want.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:30 PM
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Duke Quiz
3D Action planet has a new entry in their Action gamer's test. The new entry is based off of our own Duke Nukem. There's a total of 30 questions, and they cover a wide range of Duke Nukem historical facts. Here's a couple of the questions they ask:
*Apart from shooting at it normally, is there another, faster way to destroy a Pig Tank?
*The first level of Duke Nukem 3D episode 4 is a spoof of which movie?
*When will Duke Nukem Forever be released?
It's a pretty good quiz, so if you think you know your Duke Nukem - go check out the quiz today today, and test your knowledge of Duke's history.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:45 PM
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Dukesbury
One of our regular site visitors (Greg Golds) alerted us to this rather funny Doonesbury comic strip that ran recently on March 17th. Check it out below (you can click on the image below for a larger version):
The strip is pretty funny - and makes references to the Doonesbury joke of an "Uncle Duke" (apparently a Doonesbury character) running for President in the Year 2000. We'll leave it up to your imagination as to whether or not the strip actually refers to our own Duke Nukem or not.
For more on Doonesbury, make sure to check out the Official Doonesbury Site. Thanks Greg Golds.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:50 AM
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Duke Nukem: Color Gameboy Review
The IGN gaming news site has posted a review of the Duke Nukem: Color Gameboy game that came out a few months ago. They really liked the game, here's a bit of what they had to say:
*As side scrolling platformers go on the Game Boy Color, this is definitely one of the best.
*I'm really surprised how well Duke Nukem came out on the Game Boy Color� Torus managed to put together one of the best side-scrollers on the Game Boy Color thus far.
*What Torus has done is base a Game Boy Color game based on the original PC series of Duke Nukem games.
The review has a lot more to say - as well as including a few screenshots for you to check out. If you have a Nintendo Color Gameboy - you should check out this latest edition of Duke Nukem - it's a blast! Go check out the full review, then come back here and check out our Duke Nukem: Color Gameboy pages.
Once you've checked out those those, click here to purchase your own copy (from Amazon.com) of Duke Nukem: Color Gameboy! Don't have a Color Gameboy? You can get one of those at Amazon, too.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:50 PM
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New Web Stuff
This afternoon brings a few more minor enhancements to the 3D Realms Web site. Check 'em out...
*.plan updates - This update you can see right now on this page - it's a small plan update box to your left underneath the poll. This will contain the 6 most recent .plan file updates from the 3D Realms staff. It updates every 15 minutes, so you'll be right up to speed with everything we're saying.
*Web Forums - Our web forums have moved! For quite some time now, we've had them on a different server than our web site is at, but with our new web host, we finally have the server horsepower to run the forums right - so they've been moved to our new server. There's nothing new there, except that the URL is different. You need to update your bookmarks with the new location (click on the forum button to your left to get there). Also, if you're a returning user, you'll need to reset your preferences once you do get there.
Regarding the forum move - everyone's user records at the time of shutting down the forums yesterday has been preserved, as have all the messages (save for a tiny handful posted right around the time of the shutdown) are all here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:30 PM
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Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes Press Release
We've just been alerted to the existence of a press release online regarding the forthcoming Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes, and we wanted to bring it to you now. The press release has several quotes from GT Interactive, as well as some game information. We've mirrored the press release locally, and here's a few choice tidbits from it:
In Earth's distant future, an alien race has launched a full-scale invasion, sinking the human population into anarchy and terror. The aliens then embark on their hideous primary objective: wiping out the male population so they can enslave women for use in their hybridization program. However, some women managed to escape, and united to form the Unified Babe Resistance (UBR). But the scanty UBR defenses are being annihilated by a powerful new alien weapon, and with all hope nearly lost, they turn to Earth's long distant history and legendary hero, Duke Nukem. Using a time portal device, the UBR track down Duke and make his choice very simple: Help them or there will be no chicks in the future. Without hesitation, Duke answers, ``Let's Rock.''
``Planet of the Babes shoots high and scores, a true milestone release in the Duke Nukem franchise,'' said Tony Kee, Vice President of Marketing for GT Interactive. ``Planet of the Babes delivers mature, compelling game play that pushes the envelope with no-holds-barred combat, high-resolution graphics, a new and very innovative Duke survival system that replaces the typical health system found in all other shooters, and lest we forget, lots of babes.''
There's lots more in this press release about the game, so make sure to check it all out in our press release area. Also, you can read more about Planet of the Babes, including checking out some screenshots, and learning about the game developers over at our Planet of the Babes page
One other thing to mention - this press release was issued by GT Interactive, the publishers of the game. In it, they mention a May release date. Please keep in mind, the official release date for any 3D Realms title that is not out yet is "When it's done".
If you are interested in pre-ordering it, you can do so at Amazon.com by clicking on the buy it graphic below!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:30 PM
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More George - More Duke
Over the weekend, Shugashack put Part II of an interview with George Broussard. Last Friday they published a rather interesting interview with George, and they're back with more. Take a look at a few things George had to say the second time around:
Shack - Don't you think your game will look dated if you don't finish the game this year? Hell it's going to look dated anyways no matter how many cool textures you guys use. But If it's not out before all the q3 engine games don't you think you people will have missed your technology window?
Broussard - This is a very narrow, elitist 5% online gamer view. Your mass market player (that will push a game over 1 million sales) can't even tell between UT and Q3A tech. In fact a lot of die hard gamers don't even care. Further, there isn't that huge a leap between the two engines. They both do different things, and each do things the other doesn't do. In my opinion it's a draw and a toss up. If you think someone will look at a UT based game, then a Q3A based game and say "ugh, I'm not buying that because it looks dated", then you are simply wrong.
Shack - Have you gotten rid of the "cheap" feel of the Unreal Engine? Unreal engine technology plays like shit, especially online (yes, UT netcode is still a joke) I would hate to see it spoil a promising game.
Broussard - This is just flat out wrong. UT net code a joke? Tell that to all the servers running UT (which seems to always be neck in neck with Q3 servers). If it's crap, there wouldn't be all those servers. We play UT online all the time and it's just fine.
There is a ton more in this follow-up - check it out here. Make sure to check out Part I of this interview as well - check out the news story right below this one for more details on the first part.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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George interviewed about Duke Nukem Forever
The Shugashack gaming news site hasa new interview with George Broussard online this morning. This rather large four page interview covers a wide range of topics from Duke Nukem Forever, Prey, online message forums, and more Duke. However, most of the interview is about Duke Nukem Forever. Take a look at a few things George had to say in the interview:
Shack: Realistically, what sort of system will DNF run on acceptably? , and will DNF have software mode?
Broussard: Software is a debate now. It think it will go away, but we will see. Put it this way. If software gets in our way at all, it's gone. Dead and buried. We aren't going to spend time making things run fast or look great in software. As for system specs, look for Unreal Tournament for a good example. I think something like a P2/400 with Voodoo 2-3/TNT 2 and 128 megs would be a good base system for the game. A P2/600 with Voodoo 4/GeForce and 256 megs would be better.
Shack: Will the city levels be big? Big meaning, will the level have dozens of city blocks with dozens of buildings that the player will be able to enter and explore?
Broussard: No, probably not. That's more suited to an adventure/RPG style game. There will be big, large areas, but you aren't going to be presented with "Here is a city, now go any direction and explore it". That is, however, a great idea for a future game.
There is a ton more in this interview, you owe it to yourself to go read it immediately. Head on over to Shugashack for the whole thing. Thanks to Greg Miller.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:15 AM
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Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes Screenshots Online
One Man. One Mission. One Million Babes. Ten screenshots!
Online today are ten screenshots for the forthcoming Sony Playstation game, "Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes". Planet of the Babes is the sequel to last year's extremely successful game, "Duke Nukem: Time to Kill". Made by the same folks, n-Space, Planet of the Babes will be a must have for any Sony Playstation Duke fan. One of the screenshots is shown here - if you want to see all ten of them, check out the Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes pages here on the 3D Realms site.
If you'd like some insight into the minds of the game's makers, check out the interview we did with Phil Gelber of n-Space. Phil is the producer of the game, and has a lot to say!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:20 PM
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Tim Sweeney on Unreal Engine
Gamespy has a new interview online with Tim Sweeney of Epic Games, programmer of the Unreal engine. As one or two of you out there might know, we're using Unreal technology in Duke Nukem Forever, and this article is probably an interesting read for you.
In it, Tim talks about the Unreal engine, Unreal technology, and issues around the subject of working with code that's been licensed out to others (such as us).
Make sure and check it out today, there's a lot of good stuff in this article.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:30 PM
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Duke Nukem 3D is a top game!
PC Gamer magazine has published their list of Top 50 games of all time, and our own Duke Nukem 3D is in the list! It placed #13 on the list. Some of the other games on the list are Doom, Warcraft II, Civilization, Diablo, Half Life, & Quake. All impressive games indeed, and it's always cool to be in a list of top games. If you want to check out the entire list, go pick up a copy of the magazine today - it's on newsstands now!
In other PC Gamer news, their web site has recently undergone a rather large overhaul - it has an all new look and feel to it. Make sure to check it out today by heading over to http://www.pcgamer.com.
Thanks 3D Portal.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:30 PM
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New 3D Realms Site Launched!
From Joe Siegler...
"As you can see by reading this, our new web site has been launched! It's been a long time coming, but the new site has finally been released. It's very different than the last site we've had online, both in visual style, and in the content area. The new design layout was put together by Brian Cozzens, who did all the framework graphics as well - once again doing an awesome job in making everything look good.
In honor of the launch of the new web site, we've done something that has never been done in the 13 year history of the company - that is a comprehensive, across the board price restructuring of all of our games. Virtually every game in our entire product line has had it's price dropped, some as much as $35! If you've been thinking of purchasing some of our games, now's the time. Make sure and check out our Ordering Information Page for how to order from us, as well as updated pricing lists, and a new order form.
Speaking of purchasing games, one feature yet to come with the launch of our new web site is an Online Store. You will very shortly be able to purchase games direct from 3D Realms online and have them shipped to you. We had intended to have this feature launch with the new web site (this was the mysterious "Part 2" referred to in my .plan files), but some paperwork from our bank was holding things up, and we didn't want to wait any more to launch the web site, so we decided to hold off on the store a bit more until we're ready to go there.
There's much more that's new in our web site this time around than what's listed above. also a bunch of new items on our web site now that have never been here before. They are:
*Price Overhaul - It's worth mentioning again the price overhaul - if you haven't checked it out, check out our Ordering Info page for more details.
*.plan updates - You're familiar with the .plan update systems such as QuakeFinger, Blue's Finger, and Webdog. We now have our own plan updates that track our employees. They're available under Company Info.
*Quick Poll - Our old poll system was OK, but never really did what we wanted it to. Our new poll system which appears on the main page will be where you can leave your input on several relevant questions
*Banner System - The top of each page on our site now has "ad banners" - but they're for things internal to this site - they're not conventional advertisements as you know them, they'll be there to alert you to contests, sales, and other 3D Realms related information.
*News Replies - As you saw at the top of this news update, we have added news discussions, a popular feature on many gaming news sites. You can reply to (just about) any news story you will see here on the 3D Realms site.
*Tech Support Area - We've decided to place the entire knowledge base about all of our games online. In the new Tech Support area, you can check out our answers to every known issue relating to any of our games. The information here is extensive, and has been built up over many years of the company's existence.
*New ISP - At the same time we've brought the site online, we've switched hosts. During the release of the Duke Nukem Forever screenshots, we realized we needed a better hosting solution, so we are now with a new company, with much better hardware and bandwidth. Details are on the "About this Site" page under Company Info.
*No Frames - Frames are gone. This is our first web site since 1996 that doesn't have frames in it.
One of the biggest goals with this new site design was ease of navigation. Our old design, while great in the beginning, grew into a bit of an unwieldy mess. For example, if you wanted to get to the Duke Nukem sound bloopers page, you had to click on "Our Games", then "Duke Nukem 3D", then News, and finally the bloopers page. On our new system, you click on "Games", and Duke Nukem 3D, and that's it! A lot of care went into the design of the new site's navigation. The goal was to make every piece of information on our site no more than two clicks away from any other piece. With very few exceptions, this has been achieved, and the menuing system on your left has also been trimmed down. Several other sections to the site that are still here have been revised to be more streamlined. These sections include the game catalog, personal bios, and other areas. There's too many minor changes to list here, but regular site visitors of ours will notice the changes instantly.
There's still more to come, too. Two features that are not ready with the site's launch are the aforementioned Online Store, and an update to the Virtual Tour. The old tour was great, and still is, but is wildly out of date both in terms of people who work here, and in terms of people changing offices here. Next week, the work to replace the Virtual Tour will begin in earnest, we hope to have that online by the end of the month.
It's taken a long time to get this new site up, and of all the site designs we've had in the past, this one is the best in terms of navigation, visuals, and content. This was the hardest to get done, and at the same time, by far the most satisfying. I look forward to a long time working with this new layout, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed putting it all together.
Also, since we're changing servers at the same time, you may find if you go to http://www.3drealms.com, you get the old server. This is normal behavior, as the DNS change wasn't made until about 4:15PM on March 2nd. It can take up to a week for some DNS servers to pick up the change, but there will be a message on our old server telling you where exactly to go. Eventually, you'll get here with the correct domain name, so keep trying http://www.3drealms.com - We don't recommend you bookmark the new IP address location, as it won't be needed shortly.
One final note - if you used to link directly to information on our forums, please be aware that a lot of directories have been changed, moved, or likewise. You should probably check out the new layout.
And to the folks who regularly visit our Web Forums... "Hey, it's done!"
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:45 PM
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