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Merry Christmas from 3D Realms
Or if you celebrate something besides Christmas, merry that, too. We at 3D Realms wish to extend a safe and happy holiday wish to all our site visitors. We hope your holiday season brings you something joyful, and something fulfilling. We'll see you on the flip side of the holidays.
In the meantime, we head out to Christmas break with this small treat for you. Due to (how shall we say it), "popular demand", here is a new Duke Nukem Forever wallpaper image.
We have several image sizes available. You can click on your selected image size to download the one you want.
Those of you who follow our forums regularly might remember this image turning up in a posting from George's twitter feed. It was used on wrapping paper by Allen Blum in our company gift exchange.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:56 PM
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Two new Duke Nukem Forever Screenshots!
As we've been telling you, this past week, Duke Nukem 3D was released on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. One of the features of the game was a cool concept art gallery. It was tied into the Xbox 360 Achievement system. As you got more achievements, you would unlock more old concept art. However, if you completed the game, and got all 200 Gamerscore, the entire art gallery would be unlocked, revealing two new Duke Nukem Forever screenshots that had not been released anywhere before.
These shots leaked out to the net over the weekend, so we decided to bring you some official versions of the shots. You don't want to read us talking about them, so let's get to the shots..
Click on the thumbnails above for larger versions of the pictures!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:06 PM
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DNF Footage in High Def!
A short update to the Jace Hall show announcements of the last couple of days.
You can now check out the game footage shown from Duke Nukem Forever in high definition on your television! All you need to do is fire up your Xbox 360, and check out the Games Store. If you go into the Games Store, you need to look in the "Games Videos" area, and then the "Independent Videos" subsection. From there you can select the Jace Hall Show!
Episode 1 which includes the interview with Scott Miller & George Broussard, and the footage from Duke Nukem Forever will run you 80 Microsoft points. Jace Hall is working to get the show visible in a slightly more prominent location than this, but in the meantime, this is how you can get to it. Future episodes of his show will be available here as well!
Check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:08 AM
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Jason Hall Show Blooper Reel
Earlier in the day, the first episode of Jason Hall's new show hit the net, and the Duke Nukem Forever footage contained within was quite popular. On Thursday evening, an interview with Jason turned up over at 1up.com, where he talks about his show, and how he came to have access to the footage used in Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a small bit from the interview:
1UP: The biggest gaming score from the first episode of your show is that you got a sneak peek at Duke Nukem Forever, including footage of the game. With such a long-awaited, secretive game, this is a pretty major deal. How did you manage to pull this off?
Hall: Honestly, I simply asked. George [Broussard] and Scott [Miller, of 3DRealms] are great guys, and I've known them for like 15 years. We have a long history together and they know for a fact that I am a HUGE Duke fan. Because of our relationship, I knew that they were building greatness down there in Texas, and I felt that it might be a good time to let the world see a little of the game but through my eyes. I had no interest in doing a "preview" or "feature look" or anything like that, as I am not a journalist and when Scott and George are ready for that they can talk to the professionals.... No, all I wanted was to kick it with Scott and George, and then maybe check DNF out simply as a gamer who wants to buy it -- and they let me do that.
Jason has more to say about Duke Nukem Forever, you should go check it out. Additionally in the interview is a video which we've copied here. This is a "blooper" video that 1up.com is running. It has a short additional piece that was not used in the main video (although no more game footage than you've already seen). Check it out below:
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:27 PM
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Rumor Alert! Does the Jace Hall Show Scoop Duke?
 Word on the street has it that long-time game industry vet, Jason Hall, has a new episodic show debuting on Xbox Live and Crackle.com on June 4th, and the first episode reveals his recent undercover visit to 3D Realms. There's a surprise in this story, but you'll have to watch the show to see it.
The Jace Hall Show episodes will be weekly recurring, each about five minutes long. Most people remember that Jace Hall was a founder and CEO of Monolith Studios (Blood, Tron, No One Lives Forever, Condemed, F.E.A.R.), and then became head of Warner Bros. Interactive Studios division for several years. Hall is still on the Warner lot with his own company HDFILMS, and is now producing feature films, full scale television shows and online internet programming.
We expect an announcement very soon to confirm the June 4th launch date rumors.
The first episode also has been rumored to contain one of the stars of NBC’s hit series “Heroes.â€
This show may have landed the greatest scoop of all time in the history of gaming… We shall see!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:34 PM
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Wanted for Pigslaughter
This is Duke's Mug shot. We were sent a poster by the Liberty City Police Department about Duke. They say this about him:
Suspect was observed for the first time in January 29, 1996 in Hollywood. Witnesses last saw suspect in a teaser trailer, Wednesday December 19, 2007. Investigators remind the public that he is considered heavily armed and extremely sarcastic.
You can view the entire mugshot poster image here. Print it and hang it where people might find the suspect. Others under investigation at Liberty City can be viewed here.
This is of course a fan creation by forum member RedSplat. We thought it was funny, and wanted to bring it to your attention.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:15 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Screenshot Released
When we released the teaser trailer last December, the one thing people asked us all the time was when we were going to release more media. Well, today, we're here to bring you some new media.
This is a new piece of conceptual art. One thing we weren't happy with in the teaser from December was the pig cop design. Shortly after the video was released, we happened upon a really hot new artist by the name of Alex Huenick. Here's Alex's take on the classic pig cop.
We're really excited about Alex's work, and had him redo the 3D Realms corporate logo as well. You can see that work below. Wait till you see this new pig cop design in action. It'll be like nothing you've ever experienced in a game before!
Stay tuned....
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:03 AM
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Scott Miller on Radar Group, Prey 2, and more
Some pretty exciting news broke yesterday that will be of interest to 3D Realms fans. Formally announced yesterday are two new ventures that 3D Realms is involved in, those being the Radar Group, and Depth Interactive. What are these? Well, to answer that, we'll go straight to Scott Miller, the founder of Apogee / 3D Realms, and the Chief Creative Officer of the Radar Group:
Q: First, the obvious question: What is Radar Group?
Scott Miller: Radar Group is neither a publisher nor a development studio. We're something new. We believe that the best ideas in the game industry are original ideas, and so we will incubate, nurture, co-design and co-produce ideas that are tailor-made for the game industry, versus using existing licenses from other media. Think of us as the anti-Brash. lol!
 Not only are we something new, we're something our industry desperately needs. Radar will team up with many of the industry's top independent studios to help them create original IP in which they own a substantial ownership stake. Why is this important? Because in today's industry it's nearly impossible, unless you're Epic or Valve, to create original games and not give away full IP ownership to the publisher. Radar believes that creators should share ownership, and all of the long-term benefits that come from that.
Another key part of the Radar plan is that all of our projects are built around a rich storyverse. Think about properties like Star Wars, Harry Potty and Lord of the Rings. All of these fictional creations have a vast and deep storyverse that can support numerous stories, with numerous compelling characters. Quite simply, a storyverse is the possibility space for stories, and all of our projects are being developed as a storyverse that can then support not only games, but linear media, too, like film, comics, TV, novels, webisodes, and so on.
Radar has every intention of leveraging our games in these other media, through our sister company based in Los Angeles, Depth Entertainment. The Max Payne film, currently filming in Toronto, is Depth's first production, by the way. Depth will specialize in respectful, high-quality game-to-film adaptations.
Q: Is there anything that you wanted to tell our readers about Radar Group or any of its titles that we hadn't hit on yet?
Miller: In part, Radar is an extension of 3D Realms' long history of working with external teams to co-create hit games, going back to 1990 when we teamed with Id Software on Commander Keen and then birthed the FPS category with Wolfenstein 3-D. It's not as well known that we were also involved with the inception of Descent, funding that game and giving design guidance for its first 16-months, before selling the publishing rights to Interplay. And then of course we played a huge role in Max Payne, working with Remedy, and also Prey, working with Human Head. If you include Duke Nukem into the mix, all of these franchises have sold over $1.1 billion at retail.
Scott also spoke in some detail about Prey 2, giving some previous unknown detail about that title.
IGN: Prey is obviously the most well-known franchise of the bunch. Since the original's release, we've also played a little game called Portal. Has said title's use of portals influenced how the technology is being used in Prey 2?
Miller: Absolutely! While Prey pioneered the portal concept, Valve's Portal took it to an all-new level. It really shows what you can do when you focus on a single core cool gameplay concept. So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favor to Valve and hopefully leap frog them as they did us. We believe we have new ideas for portals that will keep the portal race interesting.
In the original Prey, the lead character, Tommy, was too reluctant, and didn't realize his hero status until late in the game. So, in the new game we're making him a hardened, take-charge character who's learned fast from his previous experience, and ready to accept his status as a galactic savior. We're definitely beefing up the combat—expect more enemies onscreen simultaneously versus 3-4 in the original—as well as the spirit powers. And while the original was too much of a corridor shooter, Prey 2 will have much more variety and wide-open areas: think CoD4 to get a good idea of what we're shooting for in terms of open-world look and feel.
Scott also talks about the other previously announced title, Earth No More, in addition to a new title that had not been mentioned before, "Incarnate".
The quotes above are taken from a lengthy interview over at IGN where Scott talks more about Prey 2, the Radar Group, and other things you will definitely want to read. Head over to IGN and check out the full interview. For further details, make sure and check out Scott's blog at the Radar Group website here.
One final note about this announcement. It does now mean that Prey 2 & Earth No More, which had previously been announced as 3D Realms titles, are now no longer so. These are Radar Group titles. Before anyone asks, this won't affect Duke Nukem Forever. Duke Nukem Forever remains a 3D Realms title, and all this Radar stuff will not affect DNF in any way, as none of the internal DNF 3D Realms staff is working on any Radar titles, other than Scott Miller in an advisory fashion.
These titles look and sound quite exciting, you'll want to keep your eyes on the Radar Group website for all the latest!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 AM
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Duke on HD-DVD
If you're reading this website, then you're aware that we released a teaser video for Duke Nukem Forever back in December. At the time we told you that it was originally done as an internal gag for the company Christmas party. That part of the story is true, but what we didn't tell you at the time is that the video was only half of it. There was a second half of the video which we didn't announce, nor release.
As part of the "present to the company", we got Jon St. John to participate as well by recording an audio track as Duke which runs about 4 minutes or so where he "talks" to the development team about Duke Nukem Forever. This was audio only, there was no "video" with it. For the majority of the team, it was the first time they had heard the clip; it was quite funny. At the time we didn't consider releasing it, since we wanted the teaser video to stand on its own. Furthermore, it was made up of an awful lot of inside jokes and remarks about the staff; things we never expected most people to “getâ€.
So why are we telling you about this now? Well, when Toshiba announced earlier this week that they were dropping support for the HD-DVD format, we remembered that Duke was prophetic about this in the unreleased clip. In it Duke Nukem says that Blu-Ray was the future of high definition, before everyone else except maybe Sony realized it. This was a joke about one of our programmers here who was a seriously hard core internal advocate of HD-DVD, but Duke predicted Blu-Ray would win. "The King is never wrong." :)
So as Duke’s little going away present to the HD-DVD format, we decided to toss the small audio clip out there. You can download it here.
No, we’re not prepared at this time to release the entire audio clip, but as we said back in December, "Stay tuned" - one never knows what the future might bring,.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:08 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever
Here is a message from George Broussard, the president of 3D Realms as posted in our forums this afternoon..
I'd like to address the article the Dallas Business Journal put up today.
In what appears to be an unfortunate turn of events, there seems to have been some confusion between what was 'off the record' and what was not. I suppose we're used to dealing with gaming press and not mainstream press. Lesson learned.
While we have internal targets, dates and goals, like every developer, we are not ready to share them. What's amazing about this is that the DBJ must have assumed that we'd actually announce a date to them, and not gaming press, and that even in the light of Scott's quote of "We can't make an official announcement.", the DBJ effectively did that. Lesson learned.
The release date is still 'when it's done', and will be until the appropriate moment. Platforms have not been finalized or announced. You can rest assured that we are moving toward a goal and that the recently released teaser trailer is the start of that process and seeing more of the game, sooner than later.
We apologize to gamers and websites everywhere for this series of events. Sometimes, you can be too trusting of people and assume things that come back to bite you. Lesson learned.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:35 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Trailer Released
As promised yesterday (actually an hour earlier than promised), we are proud to finally bring you an all new teaser trailer for Duke Nukem Forever. I'm sure you don't want to read us blab about it, you want to go watch the video. Here is a list of places that are hosting the video.
Also, if you have an iPhone, there is a version of the trailer specifically formatted for that. You can get that file here or here.
In addition, Shacknews has a story about the history of Duke. You can read that here.
Thanks to Shacknews for the HD stream.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:02 AM
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DNF Teaser Video coming tomorrow
Last Saturday we had our annual company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun as usual but it featured one special surprise. It turns out that several people had been secretly working late nights and into the wee hours of the morning preparing a special video for those at the party. They created a short teaser for Duke Nukem Forever.
After seeing the teaser we thought it was something we should share with all of you and while it's just a teaser, rest assured more is coming.
Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, there has been a screen shot taken from the teaser and posted in our forums. Check it out here.
Thank you for being fans of the game and for your continued patience.
We'd like to thank the people on the team that worked so hard to create this teaser and the friends of 3DR that helped create it (Jeremy Soule and Julian Soule, Frank Bry, Jason Evigan and of course, Jon St. John).
UPDATE: Here is an update that George Broussard made online this evening:
Guys just to manage expectations...
This is a teaser. It's not a full blown trailer like the 2001 trailer (but something like that is coming). I tried to be clear about that in the message board post, so just bear in mind that it's a teaser :)
Enjoy.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:13 PM
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Duke Nukem is... Master Chief!
A pretty funny comic strip was brought to our attention in the last couple of days. We here at 3D Realms thought it was pretty darned funny, so we wanted to make sure you saw it too. It's from a webcomic called "God Mode".
This particular strip ran on Monday September 24th. You can view the entire strip on their website here.
Thanks to Chris Crosby over at God Mode for the laugh. :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:37 PM
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Earth No More
 We've got some exciting news to bring to you today. Hitting subscribers mailboxes today, and newsstands later this week (likely Thursday) is the July 2007 issue of Game Informer Magazine.
What makes this issue so special, and of great interest to 3D Realms fans is the huge four page spread which talks in great detail about us, our past (including a brief look back at titles like Wolfenstein 3D, Prey, Max Payne, & Descent - yeah Descent), and how we work with external companies. One of these external companies is Recoil Games, a new game company founded by ex Remedy staffer Samuli Syvahuoko. Samuli worked on Max Payne with Remedy and us (and as well as 1996's Death Rally), but the exciting part here is the future. In this article is some detail on our newly announced game, "Earth No More".
Earth No More will be produced for the PC, the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 and is currently slated for 2009 according to the article. There's plenty of info in this piece about Earth No More, including text, a few screenshots, and interviews with Samuli Syvahuoko from Recoil, as well as Scott Miller & Raphael Von Lierop from 3D Realms. Here's a few quotes from the article:
"The development team is specifically moving away from what they call the 'lone hero,' while also avoiding a squad-based direction."
"'We're going to design almost every weapon in the game to where it's going to have a sort of collaborative mode to it,' says Miller. One gun called the Linker works like a reverse proton pack from Ghostbusters."
"The good guys aren't the only ones who can team up, however. Enemies are being designed to complement each other's skills as well."
"The team is intricately analyzing how group dynamics work in movies like the Alien, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and 28 Days Later, hoping to emulate that kind of tension in game form."
We don't want to give away too much here - you are going to want to go to your newsstands and check out the full article. We think you're going to like it.
Oh, and it can't be a magazine article about 3D Realms without talking about Duke Nukem Forever. There is a small sidebar article about DNF in here, including... a new screenshot from the game that hasn't been seen before anywhere. Go check it out.
Finally, you'll also want to keep your ears open for another big announcement coming soon (which doesn't have anything to do with DNF).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:25 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Someday
 Today brings some rather funny news; we were mentioned in today's FoxTrot comic strip. In this entry, Bill mentions Duke Nukem Forever as a reason for one of the characters (Jason) to buy an iFruit (the FoxTrot nickname for one of the new Macs that runs Windows). As usual, the toon is darn funny. Check it out by clicking on the thumbnail.
Thanks again to Bill for the mention! You can read more info about FoxTrot either at it's official site here, or over at Wikipedia.
UPDATE Wed 4/26: A couple of us wrote to Bill saying we enjoyed the strip, and Bill Amend wrote back to Charlie Wiederhold, and said this:
"Thanks. Fun to hear from you.
Of course, given how chronically late I am with my strips, I'm probably the last guy who should be poking fun at slow-to-ship games. Hope it's going okay.
Bill Amend"
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:33 AM
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The Duke and I
In addition to their Prey cover story, Computer Games Magazine (in their May 2006 issue) had a small piece on Duke Nukem Forever, which they titled "The Duke and I". Here's some small quotes from George Broussard from this piece: - 3D Realms' trademark sense of humor is still intact. "Duke is a man's man. He drinks He smokes. He enjoys women. Every other game that comes out is World War II or dead serious. Duke is about being the ultimate alien ass kicker".
- "We've been tech complete for a year. The last year has been making the game, putting the pieces together."
There are no screenshots with the article, but there is some more Duke goodness there for you to check out. Don't want to give away all the good bits here in this story (there's a cool bit where Tom Chick from CGM was asked for his email address).
Oh, and as usual, "When it's done".
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:54 PM
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Physics Code Chosen for Duke Nukem Forever
We have many news items to cover today, so we'll just get to it. The biggest one of the day is about Duke Nukem Forever. No, it's not finished, but there is some news available about it.
As has been reported in several places on the Internet over the last day or so, an announcement was made yesterday that the Meqon Game Dynamics SDK has been purchased by us for use in Duke Nukem Forever. Meqon put out a press release regarding this yesterday on their site (which crashed from all the net traffic that got sent their way). Here's a copy of the press release:
3D Realms buys physics for Duke Nukem Forever
27th of September, 2004
Meqon is glad to announce that 3D Realms have decided to buy our Meqon Game Dynamics SDK for their upcoming title Duke Nukem Forever.
Meqon�s product strategy has always been to create the most easy to use and flexible physics engine on the market, but without compromising the computational speed. George Broussard, CEO of 3DRealms comments � �We evaluated several physics SDK's and Meqon was really fast, had the cleanest interface and integrated into our game very quickly.�
The Meqon Game Dynamics SDK does not only handle basic rigid body simulation but also contain highly advanced character and vehicle modules. Mr Broussard comments � �With its advanced feature set, we feel confident that Meqon's next generation physics engine can help us create the next generation of action games.�
It's being discussed on our forums right now in this thread (plus these two as well). 3D Realms President George Broussard has weighed in on the announcement in these threads, so if you're interested in the latest, you should check 'em out.
Furthermore, there is an interview online with Marcus Lysen, CMO of Meqon about their game technology, and this announcement. Make sure to check that out over at HomeLAN Fed.
UPDATE Aug 2006: The various links from this story have been removed as they were all no longer valid due to age.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:35 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever FAQ Updated!
The Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ maintained by Abe Rahey over at PlanetDuke has been updated with some new information and updates. Gleaned mostly from posts and information taken from our forums, the new update covers such questions as:
* When will I be able to pre-order Duke Nukem Forever?
* What are the weapons in DNF?
* Does DNF have bot support?
* How will 3DR handle beta testing?
Just about any question you might have about Duke Nukem Forever is answered here (except for the release date, of course ). If it's not been answered in this FAQ, then it hasn't been answered, and isn't likely to be. However, have a read, there's lots of goodness in here!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:30 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever for the Atari 2600!
You've waited a long time for information about Duke Nukem Forever, and today we have some for you. We're proud to announce that the first console system to have Duke Nukem Forever on it (as a matter of fact, the first appearance anywhere) is the Atari 2600 gaming system.
Many folks have wondered why it's taken us so long to get any information out on the game. Well, the reason for that is that we've had to spend an enormous amount of time and effort figuring out how to make the Unreal engine work on the Atari 2600 system.
For more information on DNF 2600, you can visit our our Duke Nukem Forever 2600 page where you can read about it, see screenshots from the cartridge, as well as check out a video of the cartridge in action. We hope you're as excited about this news release as we are!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:15 AM
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Never Say Never
It's funny that our news piece a few days ago said "We're still here" when some game magazines think we're dead. That's what it appears we are to Computer Gaming World. They have a monthly section in their magazine called "Pipeline" where they talk about their "educated guesses" on game release dates. As everyone knows (or should know) by now, the release date for Duke Nukem Forever is "When it's done".
Last month we were labeled "Never", and now we're labeled "RIP" by the article's author Rich Laporte. Be curious to see what Rich has to say when DNF is released (When it's done, of course).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Where is Duke Nukem Forever?
That's a question we get asked a lot, and we finally have an answer for you!
Just not the answer you want, probably. Seriously, there was a pretty fun fan parody of the Duke Nukem Forever development time done entitled (simply enough) "Where is DNF"? It was done by the same folks who did the extremely excellent parody earlier this year "Commander Keen: 10 Years on". This new one focuses on Duke Nukem Forever, and is quite funny.
We have a local copy here on the 3DR servers, so check it out today and have a laugh.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:10 PM
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Official DNF FAQ Updated!
The Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ maintained by Abe Rahey over at PlanetDuke has been updated with some new information. Gleaned mostly from posts and information taken from our forums, the new update covers such questions as:
* Will DNF support demo recordings?
* Who did the E3 2001 Trailer music, and can I download it?
* Does DNF have bot support?
* How will 3DR handle beta testing?
Just about any question you might have about Duke Nukem Forever is answered here (except for the release date, of course ). If it's not been answered in this FAQ, then it hasn't been answered, and isn't likely to be. However, have a read, there's lots of goodness in here!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:30 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever is the Most Anticipated
...according to the gaming news site Gaming Groove. In their article on most anticipated games for 2002, Duke Nukem Forever comes in as the most anticipated. Here's what they had to say about it..
Duke, Duke, Duke. We just had to stick him in first place - even if this title was Super Mario Brothers the hype for this puppy alone would slip it into the first place slot. Personally, we are surprised all the hype still exists after 3Drealms' time-consuming development process. Perhaps the hype still does exist because the people know that hype isn't the only thing this game has going for it. The graphics are looking great and as visually pleasing as far as blowing someone's head off can go. The gameplay itself is guaranteed to be an absolute blast and the multiplayer is sure to be one of the best things in the game. Those reasons plus more is why we crowned DNF with the most anticipated game for 2002. We know these are certainly the sentiments of the GamingGroove staff as well as most of you reading this too!
Gaming Groove isn't the only one who rated DNF at the top of their list of most anticipated. Voodoo Extreme also published their list, and they rated DNF at the top. Here's what VE had to say..
Was there really any doubt that Duke would be number one? No way, Jose! If Duke Nukem Forever lives up to half of the expections people have for it (and what's been boasted on various forums), I think we could have a new FPS king crowned this year. 3D Realms is walking a very tight rope with the long development cycle however, as the FPS scene is very picky when it comes to visuals & technology. With other first person shooters coming out this year boasting insane poly counts, 3D Realms has a window to either release the game, or suffer the Daikatana syndrome of "we should've released it two years ago". I hate to add to the hype, but I think that Duke Nukem Forever is going to be all that, plus much more.
The release date for Duke Nukem Forever remains, as always, "When it's done".
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:30 AM
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Official DNF FAQ Updated!
The Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ (by Abe Rahey of PlanetDuke) has been updated. It contains all the available information about Duke Nukem Forever - if you have a question about the game, go read this. If your question isn't answered there, well then - we haven't said anything out that yet, and the answer is either "When it's done" or "It falls under Area51 rules".
Seriously - Abe's DNF FAQ is a great source of information about the game, so go check it out.
Also, don't forget to check out the Apogee FAQ (an awesome source of info about our company history), as well as the other FAQ's we have in our FAQ area.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:15 PM
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Best of E3 Awards
It's turned out to be a big news day, so let's get to it.
Voodoo Extreme has handed out their best of E3 awards, and they gave awards to two of our games. First up is Duke Nukem Forever, which they list in their Top 20 games of the show. They had this to say about DNF (which they listed first on their list here).
The movie that 3D Realms released of the game was nothing short of remarkable. The last time we saw Duke was a couple years back using the Quake 2 engine. With Unreal, the game looks generations better, and if the trailer is any indication of what the final game will be like, we should be in store for something very special.
They also included three screen shots, which were just dumps from the E3 video. Then, they also awarded Max Payne "The Winner of the Voodoo Extreme Best of E3 2001 Award" . That's a very cool award, and they had this to say about Max Payne..
Max Payne was back at E3 this year and is looking better than ever. Unlike last year when Max�s moves consisted of some simple slow motion spins, Remedy has expanded Max Payne�s gameplay to full-blown "Matrix" effects, where Max can literally slow down the speed of combat and perform dives, dodge bullets and other amazing feats of superhuman prowess. Graphically, Max Payne was stunning. The weapon models are all based from real-world counterparts, and the entire world uses photo-realistic textures as source material, making the maps almost as gritty as the seedy underbelly of New York City itself. Using hand-painted story boards to tell the tale of how Max Payne went from a good undercover cop to a man wanted dead by the mob (and worse), Remedy combines still images, with full voice acted dialogue to tell the story�s torrid tale. Max Payne is currently in heavy QA testing, and should be released early this summer, or "when it�s down" (you know, whichever comes first).
Head over to Voodoo Extreme, and check out their E3 awards today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever "Best of E3"
In addition to the Max Payne award above, we also have a report that Duke Nukem Forever was given the best of E3 award by gamersclick.com. This is interesting, considering Duke Nukem Forever wasn't at the show. The only thing at the show was the DNF trailer, which you can download from our site here.
Anyway, their award goes to Duke Nukem Forever, in their words:
DNF had a great showing at E3, backed by an awesome demo video. The game still has a few months until release, but it's shaping up to be an awesome FPS. It was just too good. A single demo movie, showing off the rewards of four years of labor, stunned the gaming community.
Yeah. Duke's back, baby, and don't you forget it. 3DRealms has been working on this bad boy for years, and at E3, they finally gave the public a little peek into the game. Amazement ensued, and everyone who had previously been shouting, "Vaporware, vaporware" was silenced. The first-person shooter genre is advancing faster than any other, technologically, and DNF is at the top of a very large heap of hot-looking shooters.
In addition, they also gave 3D Realms the best PC developer award for the show. Here's what they had to say about us:
With Duke Nukem Forever and Max Payne on display, George Broussard's boys had a huge show. It's not often that a developer can make everyone walk away from a show with their jaws wide open, but 3DR did it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:15 PM
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DNF E3 Video News Update
No, this is not some kind of sick joke on our site visitors, we actually have some Duke Nukem Forever news to report. Work has begun on the video to be shown at this year's E3 in Los Angeles. George Broussard has posted an update on the progress made on the video at our forums. Here's what he had to say.
Well, we recorded the video footage. It took us about 3-4 hours, then we went to dinner. We came back and were about to rip the shots from the digital video, when we noticed - the sound was all too low. DOH! In our excitement to record footage, we neglected to check the sound levels. Sigh...
At 3am we finished re-recording all the footage...again But it went faster since we had a dry run.
We ripped shots from one hour of tape and we'll do the second hour tomorrow. We're going to have a lot more shots than can fit in the video, but it's always good to have more.
The guys from Gathering that are editing the video have their equipment setup in our conference room. We'll be working closely with them Tuesday to cut the video together, then we hope to polish/tweak it and be done Wednesday.
Will keep you posted. I think you're all going to like it a lot. The DNF team has put an incredible amount of work into what you are going to see.
That was posted very early this morning (around 6AM), and then the team went to catch some sleep. This afternoon, the God guys returned to the office, and we bring you these two shots of the '01 DNF video in production (click on either for a larger image):
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:45 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever & the Bermuda Triangle
We love winning awards before a game even ships.
It's come to our attention that C|Net Gamecenter awarded us the "Bermuda Triangle" award for Duke Nukem Forever - in their words, "So this year's final, and most well-deserved, award--the Bermuda Triangle Award--goes to the can't-be-present-at-the-ceremony Duke Nukem and 3D Realms."
One thing the article mentioned needs correcting though...
"...Maybe the folks at Infogrames knew more than they were telling when they jettisoned Duke to the Gathering..."
Nothing was jettisoned. 3D Realms initiated the deal with GT at E3 2000 and worked for months to get the game moved to a new publisher. Obviously Take 2 saw something interesting in DNF or they wouldn't have paid a gazillion dollars for it. Once Infogrames bought GT we noticed a change in company atmosphere and philosophy and we thought Duke's politically incorrect antics would be better served elsewhere.
But thanks for the award C-Net, we will cherish it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 12:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever is Unwanted
In an odd story, FamilyPC has posted their top 10 list of "least wanted" games. In their own words, "For every family-friendly game that's available this season, there are probably three that aren't suitable for the enlightened den or living room. Yes, the usual offenders - blood, gore, misogyny - are out in full force." There are some would think that these things are reasons to want the game, but still. Their article lists games such as Deus Ex, Kiss Psycho Circus, Panty Raider, and our own Max Payne & Duke Nukem Forever! That's kind of odd, as neither Duke nor Max are out yet! Anyway, here's what they had to say:
In 1995, Duke Nukem 3D lent a much-needed dose of humor to the then-fledgling first-person shooter genre. But it also had plenty of blood and guts, and the long-awaited sequel is no exception. This new version adds an eerie human quotient: In addition to monsters, human soldiers are now among Duke's targets.
If renowned director John Woo started making computer games, they'd probably look a lot like this edgy, ultraviolent first-person shooter. Expect gore galore and slow-motion replays of particularly provocative kills. While Max Payne does earn points for style (and incredible graphics), it's definitely not appropriate for young teens.
They even list prices for the games, which is even more bizarre, because that information has yet to be decided! If you want to check out their complete list, take a look at the article.
Old Link: http://familypc.zdnet.com/fungames/family/feature/10unwanted/
Posted by Joe Siegler at 6:15 PM
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Fake Screenshot Contest
Check out this Duke Nukem Forever screenshot that we're posting to the site today! Looks kind of funny, doesn't it? Well, it should - it's a fake. This was sent to us by one of our forum users (Tip). It gave us a good idea - we're running a contest where you can send in your best fake Duke Nukem Forever screenshots.
We're going to run the contest through the start of January, and at that time, we'll pick the five best ones that we like, and award prizes to the winners. The winners will get a collection of "Duke Nukem goodies" such as a Duke T-Shirt, some coasters, Duke pen, a copy of Music to Score By, etc (no, not a copy of DNF - it isn't done yet ).
What we want from you is your best "Fake" Duke Nukem Forever screenshot. You can either alter one of our existing shots (like the one above from Tip), or posting one that looks like it's real, but isn't (see example).
So, fire up your copy of Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or whatever, and send in your best submission! Please send all entries to [email protected]. Entries sent to another place (or posted on our forums) may not be counted - make sure to send them to [email protected] only. Thanks, and good luck!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:40 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Fan Song
Recently, one of our UBB Forum users went beyond the usual fan contribution. Usually, a fan contribution is something like a level, or a piece of art - but this time out, we got an MP3 song called "Duke Nukem Forever". It's a quite funny song written by our forum user Devil Master.
We're presenting it here for you to download. Click here to download the zip archive (which contains the mp3 file, as well as a text file with the lyrics). Speaking of the lyrics, here's a sample to get you in the mood.
It was 1996 when Duke3D came out
Just a year later they decided to start
A brand new Duke game looking much more advanced
Based on Quake2 to make it kick ass
Oh... we're all fed up with waiting, everything they are saying
Is that it will come out, the release date is When It's Done.
We're all fed up with waiting, everything they are saying
Is that it will come out but the wait is no more fun.
I've been waiting too long for Duke Nukem Forever,
Who knows when it'll come out, maybe now or maybe never.
We all thought it was hysterical - download it today, and check it out for yourself! You can also check out some of our other fan submissions at our Fan Stuff page.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM
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Ch-Ch-Changes
George Broussard (DNF project lead) issued a plan update today regarding a few changes here at 3D Realms. Here's some of the text from his plan update:
GOODBYE
We say goodbye to Chris Hargrove tomorrow. Chris will be missed and has been with DNF since it's start. Chris is leaving for mainly personal reasons and it is 100% amicable. Also, Chris has done a small interview on GameDev.net that will clarify his leaving to put the rumor mill to rest. You can read it at:
http://www.gamedev.net/columns/interviews/chargrove2.asp
Chris picked a perfect time to leave, and we appreciate that. His skeletal animation and model system are essentially done and no major work has been done on them in a few weeks. Lately he's been working on AI as we've moved to the game play phase of the project.
I know I speak for the entire team when I say, good luck Chris and stay in touch.
HELLO
Jess Crable will be joining us in a week or so from Legend Entertainment. Jess worked on Wheel of Time, the Unreal add-on pack (Return to NaPali) and is currently working on Unreal 2. We look forward to Jess bringing his experience with Unreal to the project.
THE FUTURE
As we head into finishing DNF, we've identified two positions we want to fill to handle the increased workload.
You can find out more information on these positions at:
http://legacy.3drealms.com/gethired.html
The complete text of George's .plan update can be found here.
Here's a bit of what Chris had to say about his departure, and how it will affect Duke Nukem Forever:
After all, when I resigned it wasn't because I was trying to get away from here, it was more that I just wanted to get back home. Since I've enjoyed being here at this company, and I've enjoyed working with these people, the last thing I would want to do is screw them over by leaving and making a mess of things. I want DNF to succeed just as much as anyone. So I tried to pick a time when the work on my plate that I had a critical role in was mostly wrapped up, and where the remaining work could be picked up by other programmers without much trouble. When you're one of only a few programmers on a major project like this, it's a rare occurrence to find a window of time like that. Luckily this is one of those times.
Click here to check out the entire interview with Chris Hargrove.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:00 PM
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Follow up to E3 Announcement
Two days ago, we announced that we would not be showing Duke Nukem Forever at next month's E3 show. Since that announcement, there's been a lot of response to the decision, mostly positive. George Broussard updated his .plan file today with some follow-up to the announcement. Here's that text:
The response to our E3 decision was very positive. It seems most gamers want the following:
*More surprise in games, and less telling of all the features beforehand
*Don't announce a game until it's well underway and near release, so as to avoid hype (We will be doing this next time around gang).
I got emails from developers, publishers, web site guys and of course, fans. And the following message sums up the general feeling I saw in most people.
"I have been reading the recent activity on the Voodoo Extreme Comment Boards. I just want you to know that there are hardcore gamers such as myself who support your decision to keep a lid on DNF 110%. Honestly, I hope I don't see *anything* on Duke until it comes out. It goes back to what you've been saying for a while: the surprise factor. The game will be much cooler if gamers don't know every weapon, item, locale, and monster. Please keep it this way as long as possible.
I don't think I've been surprised by a game since the original DOOM. Back then, none of us knew anything about it, we just fired up the game and the experience was heavily peppered with exclamations of "Cool!" and "Whoa!" The first time we got the chainsaw, the first time we saw the CyberDemon, etc. I sincerely hope DNF can bring back this "virgin" experience that the internet and print gaming media have taken away."
I think we can all recall the old Doom days, or Duke 3D, where a game came virtually out of nowhere and blew you away. You didn't have a list of all the locations, items, weapons and monsters. You just loaded it and went "Wow". We are returning to those days long past.
Thanks to those of you that understand.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:20 PM
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3D Realms, Duke Nukem Forever, & E3
George Broussard (head of development on Duke Nukem Forever) posted this update today on our web forums about the status of 3D Realms and the forthcoming E3 show next month in Los Angeles. Here's what George had to say:
Before rumors start, we want to clarify our E3 plans. We will not be showing Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) at E3, not as a video, nor in back room demos.
This is the same policy we had last year. We do not believe including DNF in the E3 dog and pony show will benefit our goal with the game, which quite simply is to surprise the player with unexpected content and gameplay. E3 can be a the great spoiler of game content and we believe this to be the case for DNF if we show it there.
Pros of doing an E3 video:
*Mainly an ego boost for the team. You get to show off. But this showing off is best saved for the game's release.
*Fans see what you are up to and much press and buzz can be generated.
Cons of doing an E3 video:
*You can greatly spoil the game for fans. We do not want to show you specific details of the game because we'd rather you experience them when you play for the first time.
*You tip off competitors months before your game ships and devalue your hard work which can easily be replicated once seen.
*You depreciate your game content. Once it is seen, it becomes "expected and known" and people naturally want upon release.
*You have to show too much. We don't want to show everything and spoil the game and we certainly don't want to waste time doing some "teaser" video.
By not doing the video we get:
*Backlash from disappointed fans or people crying Vaporware. This is fine, because it all goes away when the game ships. We have thick skins, see the game daily and are confident with it's progress and position in the gaming food chain.
*We protect the players experience. When they play the game it will be fresh and new and they will say "wow" every 10 seconds. They will thank us for not spoiling the game for them.
So after some internal debate and re-affirming our position, we will not show DNF at E3 in any form.
For what it's worth...we turned down PC Gamer and PCXL requested exclusive screenshots of DNF for small roundup previews in May/June issues. We like these guys a lot, but we did this for the same reason as above. If those same magazines (or anyone in the world) called and asked us for 3 minutes of video footage of DNF for a May/June coverdisk, we'd turn them down flat. So why then, would we do it for E3? For the press, coverage and hype? No thanks, we have enough of that.
We will never over-expose the game before its release. You won't ever see mass releases or screenshot-of-the-day for DNF. You won't ever see a full weapon and character listing in a preview, spoiling the many surprises.
We hope the die hard fans out there understand that we're just trying to protect the game's experience, and we hope that you support us in this decision. See you on the message boards.
/me puts on his flame resistant suit.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:20 PM
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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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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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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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Eurogamer's Picks for 2000
Recently, the gaming site Eurogamer ran an article entitled simply, "Picks for 2000". This article covered their games that you should watch out for this year. In the article, they picked Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne. Here's a bit of what they said about each game:
*Duke Nukem Forever: "Duke Nukem Forever. Hail to the King baby!" So says Nick Loman. And who can blame him for getting excited at the prospect of a new Duke Nukem game based on the gorgeous 3D engine used by Unreal Tournament?
*Max Payne: Our hardware specialist, Peter Male, has his eye on this one. "Looking at 3D Mark 2000, which uses the same engine technology as Max Payne, I think that Remedy's first game will be truly awesome."
Make sure to check out the entire article to check out the other games Eurogamer says you should be on the look out for in the year 2000!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:00 AM
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Gamespy Looks Forward to DNF & Max Payne
The Gamespy site is currently running a piece all week entitled "Gamespy Preview of 2000". Each day this week, they are posting what they're looking forward to from several games over a few different genres. For example, Monday the 20th was Action games day, today is Strategy games day, and Friday is a hardware preview.
Two of our games made their article, both on the Action Games day; Max Payne & Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a bit of what they had to say about each:
Duke Nukem Forever: Duke Nukem Forever will use the beautiful Unreal Tournament engine from Epic, while keeping the sheer Cool Factor(R) that made Duke 3D such a hit. In this latest Duke installment, expect to see Dr. Proton and his evil cohorts, law (ahem) enforcers, and, hopefully, lots of scantily clad women who like dollar bills. Also expect lots of classic Duke quotes, as well as new ones. Hail to the King, baby!
Max Payne: Remedy is taking pains to deliver a realistic game, going as far as to send a team of artists to New York City to get ideas for environments. You can also expect top-notch graphics from Max Payne as well, since it is an accelerated-only game. If action gaming with an action movie theme is what sends your heart pounding, then Max Payne may be what you are looking for.
There's more on both of these games at Gamespy's Preview of 2000, so make sure to check it all out today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:33 AM
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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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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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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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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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A Duke Quickie
 If your Max Payne quickie wasn't enough, then you can also get a Duke Nukem quickie!
3D Gaming Net has a Duke Nukem quickie online too. It's their preview of Duke Nukem Forever (with the same cool header graphic, some of which is shown here - Duke would like it ). The preview has a few screenshots, but they're from the video we released at the 1998 E3. They seem to be really jazzed for the game, check out what they said about it.
* They (3D Realms) have said they have "God-like" control over their brushes and models allowing for a level of interactivity surpassing any current game.
* If you aren't excited about Duke Nukem Forever then you're obviously not human but rather an alien.
* Some fun things that are rumored to be reappearing in Duke Nukem Forever are the Shrink gun and pipe bombs, blowing holes in walls, the exotic dancers (now motion captured!), and the aforementioned Dr. Proton from the Duke sidescrollers (Duke Nukem 1 and Duke Nukum 2).
They really seem to be eager for this game to come out, go check out why!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever IV
The folks over at AGN3D are still at it. They've posted some more questions asked of George Broussard of Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a sample from their latest offering...
Q: Will DNF maintain the EXTREMELY GREAT sense of humor that poured from Duke Nukem 3D?
A: Yes. Duke is Duke, and he won't change, although he might move a bit beyond only saying one liners in the game. But don't worry, there will be plenty of those as well.
There's more, so make sure and check out AGN3D's latest, as well as the other questions they asked (see below for more links).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Broussard on Duke Nukem Forever
The folks over at AGN3D have several Q&A sessions up with George Broussard, project leader on Duke Nukem Forever. It's somewhat short (only four questions), but is the absolute latest (as of today) on Duke Nukem Forever. Here's one of the questions:
Q: Considering that Unreal didn't, will DNF feature any engine modifications that allow for bullet marks and other marks created by gunfire?
A: Yes. Duke Nukem 3D & Rise of the Triad were the 1st FPS games to feature things like bullet holes and blood splats on walls, so you can be sure they are coming back.
The question here is from just one of three sessions, actually. Over the last three days, they've posted severeal questions asked of George about Duke Nukem Forever. Make sure to check out all three of them! (June 15th, June 16th, & June 17th). There's some good stuff in here, so make sure and check 'em all out!
While you're at it, make sure to check out our FAQ area, which includes links to the Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ (by 3D Portal's Dukeworld). That is the best place to learn anything about Duke Nukem Forever. If we've said something about Duke Nukem Forever, then it's in the FAQ. If it's not in the FAQ, then we haven't said anything.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever
A short update to let everyone know that we updated the the list of team members working on Duke Nukem Forever today. We are aware that we have little to nothing in the way of Duke Nukem Forever info on our web site, but that's by design. We may (keyword is may here) do some work on putting some info on the web site shortly, but nothing solid has been discussed here. If you're looking for Duke Nukem Forever info, here are two places that it's good to look at:
*Our Web Forums - We have a section set aside for Duke Nukem Forever, and various team members drop in from time to time to say something.
*3D Portal's Duke Nukem Forever FAQ - This is the official FAQ for Duke Nukem Forever, and contains any info that we've released about the game. If you're looking for something and it's not in this FAQ, then we haven't released any info about it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever FAQ
3D Portal's Dukeworld has updated their Duke Nukem Forever FAQ. This new version (v1.02) includes several new items. Here's what's new in this revision:
* Updated information on the people behind DNF to reflect the addition of the content developers behind Prey now working on DNF
* The news that Megadeth will be recording the theme song for the game.
* Updated IRC section and acknowledgments.
* Added information on Sven Technology�s MRG technology for level of detail rendering
* The decision to not show DNF at E3 �99.
Make sure and check out this FAQ - it's probably the most comprehensive listing of Duke Nukem Forever information. If you have a question about the game, the answer is in here. If the answer isn't in here, then we haven't said anything about it!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Rumor Control on Duke Nukem Forever & Prey
Several rumours have popped up today in regards to Duke Nukem Forever & Prey. Here is some text taken from George Broussard's .plan file about these issues. Have a read...
I'll make this brief because we're busy working and don't have time for silly rumor distractions.
FACT: Duke Nukem Forever will NOT be shown at E3 in any capacity, by OUR choice. We have decided to stay focused and work through E3, and not let the distractions of a trade show dictate "when it's done". GT fully supports our decision and should be applauded for it. Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (N64) will be the Duke Nukem focus and man, let me tell you what, it rocks! We've been testing and tweaking it for 2 months and I see a million seller there.
FACT: GT has not "dropped, cancelled, pulled support, or poo-poo'ed" any part of Prey. They have always been supportive of our products.
FACT: Prey has had it's problems, but this is not news to anyone. We're designing a new engine (announced late last year when we hired Corrinne Yu). We parted ways with two key Prey developers last November (lead coder and project leader). These moves were made because we weren't happy with the tech in Prey. This is all old news. While new tech is being developed all content developers in the company are busy on Duke Nukem Forever. We didn't think this was such big news, but apparently we should have called 60 Minutes? ; )
NOTE TO OUR FANS: We'll update everyone on Prey when the time is right. But, if anyone is anticipating Prey anytime soon, you shouldn't be. We thought it was obvious that this game was a long way off, since we're creating a new engine. We probably should have been a little more clear about that and we apologize. Meanwhile, our sleeves are rolled up and we're all busy making one of the coolest games you've ever seen (DNF).
COMMUNITY NOTE: Seems to me that today's rumors were fairly inaccurate and something to take into account in the future. It'd sure be nice if "respectable" web sites would email us for clarification FIRST before posting wild claims from known rumor sites.
Jason "loonyboi" Bergman (http://www.loonygames.com)
Billy "wicked" Wilson (http://www.voodooextreme.com)
David Laprad (http://www.avault.com)
Jason Bates (http://pc.ign.com/)
Kudos to kick ass web guys above for emailing us about the facts BEFORE posting anything. Responsible journalism at it's finest.
We're going back to work now.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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A "Round" Interview with George Broussard
There's a new question and answer style interview with George Broussard out and about today. It's over at HardOCP, and it definitely sets a record for interviews. This sets the record for the highest percentage of "boob questions". Seriously, there is some decent game information in this interview, here's a sample:
Q:Will DNF also integrate Sven's technology into the Unreal engine, and what other groovin benefits have come to surface from that?
A: We have had Sven's MRG Level of Detail code in for 6 months. It saved us months of re-inventing the wheel and creating our own LOD system. The benefits come from dealing with less polygon's that you have too. And the perceived poly drops in the meshes is negligible. I think everyone agrees that framerate is more important than keeping a model at full poly count when it's 1 inch tall on the screen.
Q: There are quite a few 3D API�s out there, Direct3D, Glide, OpenGL, will DNF offer the same level of visual effects and performance with all these API�s or is the game optimized for a specific API? Or maybe you prefer software only?
A: Software only is dead now. We will support whatever Unreal ends up supporting. Right now Glide is the best API for Unreal. Clearly we want to support D3D as well, since it will reach every other card. OpenGL is fine, but considering the state of the drivers, I think D3D is a better way to go. The bottom line is that drivers SUCK for 3D cards now. People need to get their acts together and give developers a good, solid, supported API.
Q: Lastly, where do you hang on the weekends so I come try to scam a couple of frosty adult beverages off cuz I never see you at Hooters.
A: This last weekend a few of us scouted out local strip clubs like the Million Dollar Saloon, looking for models for the stippers But usually, we're here working 6-7 days a week.
There's some good stuff over at HardOCP - check it out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Realms & 1999 E3
As has been reported in a few places recently, 3D Realms is not going to be attending E3 this year, nor will Duke Nukem Forever or Prey be shown on the show floor (or a back room, for that matter). It was decided that the time spent working on materials to show at E3 would be far better spent working on the game itself. There is always a period before a show such as E3 where development energy is spent in putting something together for the show - it's a lot more than just a day or two, and it was felt that this time would be better spent working on the actual game, than on short show piece that is generally not used again after the show itself.
Here's a summary of the coverage elsewhere. It all started with this tidbit from the current Gist List from Gameslice..
Take, for example, the fact that both Duke Nukem Forever and Prey from 3D Realms will be no where on the show floor. And they won't be in a back room or on videotape either. 3D Realms' made the decision to forgo the madness of E3 a few weeks ago. Although this news will surely cause speculation about the current status of these projects,it exemplifies the latest thinking on trade shows: Don't show something unless it's just about to ship.....
Chris Hargrove, one of Duke Nukem Forever's programmers, had this to say in a thread on our Web Forums...
The choice of our not going to E3 this year shouldn't be construed as some kind of measure of our progress, or anything of that sort. We just decided not long ago that we really didn't feel like dealing with the time and effort needed just for another "dog and pony show" demo. Despite its size and popularity, that's all E3 really is in the end. Right now our time is better spent working not towards a demo, but the final product.
We're determined not to fall victim to the hype machine until the time is right, unlike many others who have made that mistake and paid for it. The secrecy is deliberate. It's possible that sometime in the near future we'll toss out a screenshot or two just to keep the lynch mob at bay (sometimes I feel like a thousand Dr.Evils are looking at us yelling "throw me a frikkin' bone here!" in tandem), but please be patient. We're doing what's necessary to make sure this game will be worth the wait.
George Broussard, head of development on Duke Nukem Forever said this in email to Billy at Voodoo Extreme:
Honestly the real word is that we're sick of jumping through pointless pr hoops for demos. Going to E3 will delay any game in progress, because you tend to focus on the more visual whiz bang effects to wow press than solid, fundamental gameplay that finishes a game.
The priorities are simply screwed. Why should a trade show dictate when a game should be shown? It's insane. You do not HAVE to show at E3 to be successful. Duke 3D never went to any show, and if anything I think that might have helped the game sell, because it came out of nowhere.
The bottom line is that we decided to stay and work, and not lose a man week going to E3, plus losing coding time the month or more before preparing an E3 demo. When you start asking questions in Jan/Feb like "what are we going to show at E3. What will wow the press?" and you start working towards that goal. And we're not doing that anymore. E3 is a lower priority than getting the game done.
Finally, George had this to say in another thread on our Web Forums when asked about info about the game even though we're not going to E3...
We'll probably release a couple of new screen shots after all the E3 hoopla has died down. But rest assured, things are looking good.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Interview with Lee Jackson
The "Ear on Games" Website has an interview with Lee Jackson out today, and the subject is music and sound in Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a few tidbits from the Q&A session:
EOG: Megadeth will be doing the theme song for DNF? Can you give some info on this?
Lee: They are doing a recording inspired by the extended version of Grabbag (the actual title of the theme song) that I wrote for the Plutonium Pak and Atomic Edition CDs. Anyone who has ever played track #2 of these CDs in a regular CD Audio player knows what I'm talking about. Megadeth is taking that version and running with it, so to speak. We plan on using this version as the "main titles" theme. I'll still be doing the rest of the music, with maybe one or two surprise exceptions that I can't talk about.
EOG: Can you give us some info on DNF's sound?
Lee: We're using the same sound engine that Unreal uses. Any hardware supported by that engine will be supported in Duke Nukem Forever.
To see what else Lee has to say about music and Duke Nukem Forever, check out the the full Q;A session today!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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More on MRG Tech for Duke Nukem Forever
The Gurutech Web site over at http://www.gurutech.com has a mini interview with George Broussard (actually, it's just three quick questions) about the usage of the new Multi-Resolution Geomorty technology recently announced as licensed for Duke Nukem Forever. Here's what was said:
I had a small Q&A with George Broussard of 3D Realms concerning the Multi-Resolution Geometry technology they licensed for use in Duke 4.
Intaglio: How is Duke 4's development moving along with the addition and integrationin it? How do you feel the game has benefited from it? Are you planning to of Sven Technologies' Multi-Resolution Geometry technology? How long did the implimentation take, and what measures were involved use this technology in other upcoming games?
George Broussard: We've had the stuff in for something like 5-6 months. It dropped it in initially in a couple of days. We tweaked things over a couple of weeks and have had no problems. The game will benefit from drawing less polys than it needs to. DNF is a test bed for the technology for us, but I see no reason not to consider it for future games. It saves you from re-inventing the wheel.
Kind of interesting. I got motivated by yesterday's news of the technology being licensed.
Thanks to Greg Miller for pointing this out.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever & MRG Technology
Adrenaline Vault has a news story entitled "Duke Nukem Forever Proves Size Counts". What's this? It's an article that talks about some technology we licensed from Sven Technologies and have put into Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a bit from the Avault article..
However, a company called Sven Technologies has spent the last 18 months coming up with a code-based solution that should put some of the meat into 3D games again. It is called Multi-Resolution Geometry and it offers something called continuous level of detail. What this does, in layman�s terms, is increase framerates and enhance the visual quality of real-time 3D scenes by drawing polygons only where needed and smoothly increasing and decreasing the resolution of polygonal objects one vertex at a time. How impressive is the technology? Enough for 3D Realms to license and integrate the technology into its upcoming 3D action title Duke Nukem Forever.
The current industry standard is something called discreet level of detail, which requires 3D game designers to create several versions of each model with varying levels of detail; the engine then selects one according to the distance of the object relative to the camera. When a model is close to the player, the higher resolution model is used; when it retreats into the distance, the lower resolution model is used to salvage processing resources. When a model crosses the boundary from one level of detail to the next, the change is often glaring and results in something called "object popping." MRG eliminates object popping by smoothly adding and removing polygons.
George Broussard adds... "MRG easily met and exceeded our expectations. We were able to integrate Sven's technology into Duke Nukem Forever in a matter of days, saving us tremendous development time, hassle and cost. More importantly, though, it is one of the factors that has helped contribute to what will be [our] most visually stunning and playable game yet."
There's a lot more over at the Avault article about this, so make sure to check it out! You can also read the full press release by Sven Technologies on this licensing agreement here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Update
George Broussard updated his .plan file this afternoon with a short Duke Nukem Forever-related update. Check it out:
 Well we finally almost have the motion capture room setup. The ceiling has been yanked (so we can jump up and not hit our heads) and the stage will be installed tomorrow. Then we just setup the equipment (We opted for the MotionStar Wireless system from Ascension), calibrate it and start capturing motions for the game. The 3 animators (Chris, Allen and David) are in Canada now getting training on the mo-cap cleanup software we're using (Kaydara FilmBox).
Chris Hargrove already has the full skeletal system in the game and it all works great. A character can be doing his animations and you can use the bones in the skeleton to override various animations like: Have enemies heads track Duke's position, shoot them in the shoulder and they can recoil, independent things like ponytails or tails, while doing another animations.
We've spent a good deal of time re-working Unreal's character system, and it's time for it to all start paying off. Once you have skeletal control and motion capture data, putting animations in the game becomes trivial (the cleanup is very minor with the right software), and capturing complex motions like strippers becomes easy
Add to this, a fully dynamic real-time LOD system for every mesh in the game, and you have a character system that we are very, very happy with.
Motion captured strippers, eh?
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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More on Megadeth
Over the weekend, George Broussard (head of development for Duke Nukem Forever) posted this message on our Web forums offering some clarification regarding Megadeth's involement in Duke Nukem Forever:
 It's important to clear something up before rumors get out of hand. Megadeth is only doing one song for DNF. They are doing their own version of the Duke 3D title theme song (by Lee Jackson). It's very cool and fits the attitude and mood of Duke, and the original song.
Lee Jackson will still be doing the remainder of the music for DNF, although a surprise or two could pop up along the way.
We are very excited about the Megadeth cover of the theme song and if we all love it, we know you all will as well.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Megadeth to do Duke Nukem Forever Theme Song
There's a couple of very new news stories floating around the next we wanted to bring to your attention...
From 3D Portal:
The folks at Megadeth.com have reported that Megadeth (heavy metal group, for those who don't know) have already recorded the theme song for an "upcoming Duke Nukem game." It's not known at this point which game will use this version. Be sure to check back often, as we'll bring any new information on this as it becomes available.
From Megadeth's Official Site:
The band has recorded the theme song for a future Duke Nukem video game. Further details have not yet been released, as is the case regarding with details on A Tout Le Monde II. More to come as it's released...
Well, I guess we couldn't expect this exciting news to not leak sooner or later. We've been working with Megadeth (and GT) to record the opening theme song for Duke Nukem Forever. So far, things kick ass, and they are going to record another version of the song soon. We'll release more info later regarding the song, but rest assured it will be cool.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever FAQ
Do you have a question about Duke Nukem Forever? Well, then we have a link for you. It's the Official Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ. This FAQ (by Dukeworld) covers a wide range of topics about Duke Nukem Forever such as:
* How many weapons will Duke Nukem Forever have? What will they be?
* Will DNF be available for any platforms other than Win95/98/NT?
* What are the System Requirements?
* And finally, "When will the game be released?" (Astute 3D Realms fans should know the answer to this before looking.
Please note that this FAQ was not done by 3D Realms, it was done by Chris Day & Andy Morris of Dukeworld. It was approved by 3D Realms, but it was not authored by us. As such, any information contained within the FAQ is subject to change, and should not be taken as gospel. That said, this is a good source of information on Duke Nukem Forever, and you should check it out today!
For further information on our games, check out the 3D Realms FAQ area, which contains FAQs to several of our games, including a text version of the Duke Nukem Forever FAQ.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne Win Gold!
The Feb. issue of the always great PC Accelerator (www.pcxl.com) features a story entitled, "The 1999 Crystal Ball Awards," and when it comes to balls, both Duke and Max have what it takes to score. The article previews this year's coming games that they believe will "revolutionize PC gaming in '99."
Under "The Shooters" section, Duke Nukem Forever takes top place with the gold medal. PCXL says, "[This game] is all but guaranteed to be one of the biggest and most-hyped games of 1999." (Please note, though, that it is not 3D Realms that has been hyping this game--we've been staying very low-key so that most of the game will be a surprise to players.)
In the next section, "More than just Shooters, Max Payne gets the gold medal. PCXL says, "Remedy Entertainment manages to stuff more ATMOSPHERE into Max Payne than a dozen typical first-person shooters contain."
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Games in 1999
There are a couple of articles online that talk about 1999 and games coming out this year.
First up is one by 3D Realms fanatic, Jonathon the Grape from over at Grape's Thoughts. He has thrown up a new article entitled, "Happy Bloody New Year!" The article gives his predictions and thoughts on the year to come, and all the games involved. Our own Duke Nukem Forever is spooged over quite a bit in the article. Here's a bit of what he has to say:
*First of all, there's our beloved Duke (who, in my opinion, will shrink all competition to a pitiful pulp with his trusted shrink ray).
*DNF, obviously, is pretty much the most anticipated FPS game ever.
If you want to see what else Jonathon has to say about 1999 and 3D Realms, check out the full article. Thanks 3D Portal.
The second article is one by extremegame.com entitled "The
Upcoming games of 1999". This is a longer article that talks about several games from various companies, including our own Max Payne, and Duke Nukem Forever. Here's a bit of what they had to say:
*Max Payne (your character), coming from two of the most successful gaming companies, 3DRealms and Remedy Entertainment, plays an under cover DEA agent. He reveals a major break in his fight against the mob. The story will illustrate back-stabbing, plot-twists and a nail-biting finale. All of this is portrayed (in-game) by scripted sequences and eighty (plus) hand painted comics.
*Duke Nukem fans better be pumped for the new game because they will love Duke Nukem Forever! Duke Nukem Forever has improved drastically over the original. The revamped features include an in-depth story, amazing graphics (courtesy of the Unreal engine) and advanced level design! Multiplayer we will just have to experience for ourselves.
You can check out what they had to say about several games over at extremegame.com.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever Update
Early this morning, George Broussard (3D Realms Partner, and Duke Nukem Project Leader) posted a message on our Web Forums detailing some of the recent happenings regarding Duke Nukem Forever's development. This is what he had to say...
I'll try to clue you in a little:
Code: Been adding lot's and lot's of neato features so our mappers can do insane, and I mean insane amounts of interactivity. Also working on things like skeletal character system, level of detail, and preparing to do a major patch to Unreal's version 220+ code base (January).
Maps: the guys have been working steadily on majorly detailed level scripts, so that we know where you are and what you will be doing on a level per level basis. This is analogous to a blueprint for a house, or a script for a movie. They are about to start on "real" maps according to the scripts we've drawn up. Major design meetings and level reviews have been taking place as we continue to refine the game.
Art: Modelers have been building some characters and smaller decorative objects for the game. We are amassing a library of items that can pop into the game at any time and they know how to react to being shot or used. Texture guys are always jamming on textures for the levels, or skins for the characters.
Concept sketches: Been working on nailing final looks for Bombshell, and storyboarding some cinematic sequences. About to start doing sketches of level locations so the mappers have a good visual to build off of. Will continue with character sketches as we refine what will/will not be in the game.
That's a brief run down of what we've been doing. The major part of the last 2-3 months has been uplifting Unreal to do a lot of what we wanted DNF to do. We are now 95% happy with the interactivity we can do and are moving to more mundane things like Unreal patch upgrades, weapons coding and neat little interactive touches.
All in all, things are going great and we're about in our stride in full production on the game. We'll also probably be building a small motion capture studio in house and getting the equipment in here ASAP (as we've done the research and demoed a couple).
We've still got an immense amount of work to do, to bring the game up to playable "game" status, but all the separate parts are coming together and we're all really, really excited at what we see forming.
Thanks for the patience and support. DNF will rock you.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever
George Broussard was interviewed by Gamespot UK as part of their "Duke Week" feature. George had a few things to say about Duke Forever, so make sure to check out the full interview! Here's a small bit of what he had to say..
Gamespot UK: Lara Croft is scrambling to add intelligence and respectability to a female character where Duke presumably still plays on the hung ho not-too-bright maschismo. Isn't that getting dated now?
George Broussard: I think Eidos is screwing up by changing Lara. You can't try to please everyone and in the end they will have such a watered down politically correct action hero, nobody will care. You shouldn't change the one thing that made Lara popular. Her body. As for Duke, I don't think it's getting dated at all. People seem to want more and more of him. There are versions of Duke games coming out on the PSX (Time to Kill) and an exclusive title under development on the N64. I think Duke represents the ultimate macho action hero, and he's someone that most people want to play and listen to for a couple of hours.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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3D Realms at ECTS
A lot has happened over the US Labor Day Weekend, and we're back in gear to let you know what's going on. First up is coverage of the 1998 ECTS Show (That's the UK equivalent of E3). There's been several previews and comments about our titles there, so here's what we've found...
1. Max Payne Preview - Set in contemporary New York, the game will not draw upon science-fiction elements for its weapons array. Instead, each gun has a real-world equivalent. While this may not be so revolutionary, the modeling of the weapons is. Max Payne will feature a 3D particle-based system, so that muzzle flashes are both randomized and ultrarealistic.
2. Duke Nukem: Time to Kill Preview - Move over Lara Croft, Duke's coming to get a piece of your third person action.
3. Duke Nukem Forever Preview - The two chaps charged with keeping the laughs � John St John and George Broussard - have plenty of source material. Ideas being kicked around include a visit out in the desert to a place called Slick Willy's - where rooms will be called Paula Jones or Monika Lewinsky. Vocal jokes will abound too as the ever cynical Duke "Borrows some guy's ass..." to get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
4. Prey Preview - Prey is widely touted as the true next generation in first-person shoot 'em-ups, with a powerful, original engine, advanced geometry and mind-bending potential for interactivity. Its 3D engine adopts a new system known as Portal Technology, which allows a full six degrees of freedom in a very, very smooth environment.
Also, the Max Payne Preview has a couple of screenshots, make sure to check them out, too. All four of these links come from Gamespot UK, a European Gaming News site. Thanks to 3D Portal for the link info.
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Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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George Broussard
George on IRC: Lon's Prey Page brings us the IRC log of George Broussard when he dropped by IRC the other day. George talked about a bunch of topics - Duke Nukem Forever & Prey were a few of them. Head on over to Lon's page to pick up the IRC log (in his news section).
George Interview: There's another new interview with George online over at game-interviews.com. In it, George talks about (what else) Duke Nukem Forever. George had this to say when asked about DNF interactivity... I expect DNF will be the most interactive environment to date, much like Duke 3D was. We are doing things that are just insane as far as interaction goes.
Speaking of IRC.. If you ever want to catch us, you need to head over to the Undernet servers, and join the #3drealms channel. That's generally where folks from 3D Realms will pop up when they do visit IRC.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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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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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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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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Duke Nukem Forever / Unreal Coverage Continues
Today's Daily Dementia program has Mark Rein of Epic MegaGames as the guest. Mark talks about several Unreal topics, not the least of which is the recent announcement that Duke Nukem Forever will now be using the Unreal engine. Check it out!
There is also a new interview with George Broussard on PlanetQuake. This interview was done at E3, before the Unreal announcement broke, but otherwise has tons of great info, (plus they have a bunch of commentary on the Unreal switch, too) so make sure to check it out.
The Unreal News site, "Unrealized" has updated their Duke Nukem Forever preview with a new angle taken from the recent DNF/Unreal announcement.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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More Reaction to Duke Forever / Unreal Decision
The reaction to our announced decision yesterday to switch to the Unreal engine for Duke Nukem Forever continues to pour in. Here's some more of the reaction, including several polls that have popped up on several web sites about this (thanks 3D Portal).
1. Our own msg boards - In the Duke Nukem Forever area, several discussions are active.
2. The Daily Dementia - TC and Lithium talk about the decision on the Real Audio program.
3. Gamespot - Their news article about it, with some remarks from Craig Lafferty of Epic.
4. 3D Gaming Experience - Another article about the switch, focusing on why it happened, not simply a "reaction".
5. Lights Out - An Editorial on the switch.
6. Meccaworld - They're running a poll asking which game engine you think DNF should use.
7. C|Net's Gamecenter - A poll online asking if you agree with the decision.
Yesterday, the Adrenaline Vault ran a poll asking if you agreed with the decision. The question was Do you agree with 3D Realms' decision to switch to the Unreal Engine for Duke Nukem Forever? That poll is now over, and here are the results:
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Duke Nukem Forever to use Unreal Engine
From George Broussard's .plan file:
We are switching to the Unreal engine to finish the game. You will be able to find a press release online at www.3drealms.com in the next 24 hours. We are very excited about this decision, and we think our fans will be as well.
We don't feel there will be a significant development delay, but there will be a slight one as we move over to the new engine. But this is analogous to people moving from the Quake 1 to the Quake 2 engine. Our game data will convert right over, without a hitch.
It's very important to note that this was a tough decision for us. It does not stem in any way from hard feelings, nor in fact, anything to do with id software. Our relationship still remains very good. This was a business decision and based on what we wanted to do with Duke Nukem Forever as a game.
Now, if you will excuse us, we have a lot of work to do ;)
UPDATE: The press release from 3D Realms regarding this decision (with explanations as to why we did this) is now online. You can view it at http://legacy.3drealms.com/press/dnfunreal.html.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The E3D Realms Report
Well, we finally have all of our (usable) pictures put online. This finishes our E3 Photo Archives for 1998, so if you've glanced at them before, take another look. Enjoy!
In other E3 News, games.net's E3 review of Max Payne is now online. Here's some of what they had to say:
1. This third-person action game heavy on the storyline was as close to a movie as gaming has gotten without FMV.
2. File Max Payne on the games-to-get-in-'99 list.
Also, David Laprad of the Adrenaline Vault has written a very cool wrap up of his attending E3. Check out the article, he has several things to say about our games, such as:
1. Duke is back, flexing all-new polygonal muscles in the sequel of the year, though this time he has some on-screen competition in the form of the sharp and sensuous female protagonist Bombshell.
2. 3D Realms is known for taking an established genre and innovating it to the max, and this game will be no different. (Duke)
3. There is enough energy contained in this single, dazzling sequence to fuel a dozen action games. (Duke)
4. The level of detail and sense of scale Schuytema flaunted (in Prey) is unprecedented in a 3D action game.
5. A lot of naysayers have been poo-pooing the use of portals, but the implementation here is definitely worth noting, and will leave you slack-jawed with disbelief. (Prey)
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Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The E3D Realms Report
3D Realms has been nominated in several categories of the UGO Best of E3 Show awards. These awards are given out on June 22nd, but in the meantime, here's a list of what we're nominated for..
1. Most Promising New Game - Prey (Awarded to a title not part of an existing franchise)
2. Best PC Game - Duke Nukem Forever
3. Best Action Game - Duke Nukem Forever
4. Best Action Game - Prey
In other awards news, The All Games Network has handed out their awards from E3, and this is what we won:
1. Best Action Game - Prey
2. Most Anticipated Game - Duke Nukem Forever
3. Titles to Watch - Max Payne
In Photo Archive news, I've placed 20 more pictures online. That brings it to a total of 80 regular shots, and 70 Booth Babe shots. I'm probably about halfway done with the regular shots - I hope to have them all online before the end of the week.
UPDATE @ 7PM: 20 more pictures put online! That's a total of 100 now. I've got about 40 left to go.
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Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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The E3D Realms Report
UPDATE (5:00PM): OGR has given out their E3 "Best of Show" awards. Among the awards were:
1. Game of Show (Runner Up): Max Payne
2. Most Promising First Person Shooter - Prey
3. Most Promising Action Game - Max Payne
4. Most Promising Software Technology (Runner Up): Prey
They also ran a separate "Best 25 Games of the show", and all three 3D Realms PC Games (Duke Nukem Forever, Max Payne, & Prey) all placed. Click on any of the links here to see what OGR had to say about the games.
Also, we have more shots of Lara Croft! That's right, more Booth Babe shots! (I thought I was done). The first two were given to me by Onethumb from Ritual Software (shots #64 and #65) - Thanks Don! The remainder (#66-70) come from our own Keith Schuler. The Babe Shots Return! :)
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Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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Joe Siegler Goes Mad With Digital Camera!
In a photographic frenzy, Joe Siegler raided the Duke Nukem Forever offices and starting snapping shots. The Duke guys, having not seen bright light in many moons, were naturally startled and alarmed. Here are some shots of the results of Joe's abrupt and unwelcome appearance in the Duke hole.
 Allen Blum |
 Chris Johnson |
 Keith Schuler |
 Ruben Cabrera |
 Gus |
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:27 PM
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When It's Done
 The UK version of PC Gamer has a monthly chart tracking the readers' most wanted coming games. The April '98 issue shows that Duke Nukem Forever is their readers' most wanted game, with a 35% rating. Prey also scores well on this list, at position number five. The article states, "Duke Nukem Forever has leapt straight into your hearts, got the bivouac out and settled down for a very long stay, leaping, as they say, light years ahead of Tiberian Sun, who sits and sulks at number two (15.5% share)." Click on the image to the right to see a large version of this article.
In all, there are six first-person shooters on the list, showing quite clearly the popularity of this style of game.
There hasn't been a lot shown of Duke Nukem Forever (or Prey), but we just got finished sending a bunch of screen shots to several top magazines. These magazines should appear around the time of E3, late May. Don't expect the hype machine to crank into full gear for either Prey or Duke until a few months before each game's release. With all the surprises we have in place for each of these games, the last thing we want to do is spoil them early.
When will they be released? All together now.. When it's done..
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
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