FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Garland, TX - April 25, 1997

3D Realms hires two talented developers -- one each to join Prey and Duke Nukem
Forever

Brian Cozzens, a.k.a. Whaleboy, joins 3D Realms today on the Duke Nukem Forever team, a game expected to release before summer of 1998. Cozzens joins the project as a texture artist, modeler and sketch/concept artist. His exceptional talents in these areas first appeared in the first total conversion Quake add-on pack, Shrak, by Quantum Access. From there Cozzens joined Ion Storm as a lead artist and animator, working on John Romero's game-in-progress. Certain situations resulted in a parting of ways with Ion Storm, opening the door for Cozzens to join the highly anticipated Duke Nukem Forever project.

Also on the Duke Nukem Forever team is lead coder, Todd Replogle, who has been lead coder for the three previous Duke Nukem games, plus Allen Blum, associate producer & lead level designer (a.k.a. mapper), who held the same position with Duke Nukem 3D. Rounding out the Duke team are George Broussard (project manager), Dirk Jones (artist), Brian Martel (artist), Michael Wallin (artist), Stephen Cole (mapper) and Keith Schuler (mapper).

"I feel like we have the strongest, most talented Duke team yet," commented Broussard, head of 3D Realms. "We've gone to great lengths hiring and selected new developers who meet and exceed very tough criteria and standards. The people who we select to join us are truly cream-of-the-crop in talent, passion and creativity. Our games' successes rely on the talent of those who make them, and without the best people, we can't make the best games. We've been both lucky and persistent in finding the best people."

The Prey project also struck gold in hiring Matthew Wood, a die-hard gamer who's been making 3D levels in his spare time since the release of id Software's superhit, DOOM. Wood has since been making highly imaginative levels for Descent, Warcraft, Dark Forces, Quake and Duke Nukem 3D, and is joining Prey as a mapper. Besides his level design talent, Wood is a highly competitive multiplayer of these games, saying, "I can be found on many online services playing these games, including TEN, Kali and sometimes Mplayer. I take my gaming very seriously." And although Wood is being hired as a level designer for Prey, his artistic talent might be put to use, too. Wood has taken art classes throughout his education and won numerous awards, including four Keystones (awarded to the top one percent of all state entries).

Paul Schuytema, project leader for Prey, said of Wood: "We held a two-month long contest over the Internet and our Web site, in which we evaluated hundreds of Quake and Duke maps. Wood's maps stood out as the most ingenious, devious, structurally imaginative and fun map submitted. And with his total passion to game design, he was the clear choice to join the Prey team, which in my opinion as a long time professional industry writer and game designer, is one of the most talent rich teams I've ever seen. Wood is joining the best of the best, and should consider himself on par with his team mates."

Also on the Prey team: William Scarboro (coder, 3D engine & editor), Tom Pytel (coder), Scott McCabe (artist), Stephen Hornback (artist), Allen Dilling (3D modeler), and Randy Pitchford (mapper). "We're still looking to hire another mapper in a few months plus a network coder to handle all of Prey's multiplayer functionality," notes Schuytema.

"If games are the sum of the individual talents of the team," adds Broussard, "and I believe that's the case--then both of these projects are reason for players to be very excited about the future of 3D gaming."

Press contact:

George Broussard at [email protected]

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