Duke Nukem Forever – A Myth?
September 11, 2006
Shacknews recently published an article claiming that “up to ten major team members have left 3D Realms” – does this mean that Duke Nuken Forever’s development team are now into single figures?
The staff who have apparently left filled positions such as rendering, animation and physics and names confirmed to have left since Christmas include Scott Alden, Will Bate, Brian Cozzens, Kyle Davis, Andy Hanson, Keith Schuler, and Charlie Wiederhold. Schuler was a 16-year veteran at both Apogee and 3D Realms.
George Broussard commented that the recent departures were individuals who had finished their work on the game. Further more, Broussard also revealed that the game is currently in the polishing stages.
For the younger people among us, Duke Nukem is a platform video game released in 1991, featuring the adventures of Duke Nukem. The game was notable in its time because of its smart level design which allowed very fast gameplay. Additionally, it allowed almost everything onscreen to be shot: obstacles, as well as enemies, could be destroyed by gunfire.
Duke Nukem was followed by Duke Nukem II in 1993, also featuring the same hero still without the dark shades, and later Duke Nukem 3D in 1996. DN 3D is a first-person shooter and is mainly notable for the often crude humor it introduced into what had previously been a fairly humorless genre, including a stream of one-liners. For example when Duke finds an arcade machine (“Hmm… don’t have time to play with myself.”) or when the player comes upon a c
orpse that closely resembles the player character in Doom (Doomguy), Duke comments, “That’s one doomed space marine.” More than hundred quotes and funny easter eggs are embedded into the game and makes it hilarious to play.
Today, almost 10 years after the release of Duke Nukem 3D, the long-promised sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, is still in development. It last made a public appearance at the E3 of 2001, where a video trailer of the game was released, citing again the “When It’s Done” release date. However, even that recent appearance no longer represents the true state of the game, which, according to 3D Realms President George Broussard, has been rebuilt from the ground up at least twice.
Duke Nukem Forever was officially announced on April 27, 1997 with the purchase of the Quake engine. One year later, 3D Realms announced that they switched to Unreal Engine 1.0. After the 1.5 update, the team switched to Unreal Engine 2.0. Also the physics engine needed an update and 3D Realms replaced the Karma engine with one designed by Swedish developer Meqon.
Rumors in April 2005 suggested that the game would appear at 2005 E3, along with 3D Realms’ previously cancelled Prey. While Prey did make an appearance, the rumors of DNF’s appearance turned out to be false.
In October 2005, Broussard reported that the game size was now at 9.6 gigabytes, although the size will be optimized somewhat for release.
In February 2006, Broussard gave an interview and updated the status on Forever. He reported that everything was together and in full production; that the guns, creatures, and everything else had been finished. Broussard said that the development team was tweaking and polishing the game and putting it all together.
On August 30, 2006, shacknews.com made a post regarding the departure of several key employees from 3D Realms. They further speculate that this cannot bode well for the future of Duke Nukem Forever:
“…Developers confirmed to have left 3D Realms since last December include Scott Alden, Will Bate, Brian Cozzens, Kyle Davis, Andy Hanson, Keith Schuler, and Charlie Wiederhold. Some of the former employees headed up crucial game systems such as physics, animation, and rendering. Notably, Schuler is a sixteen year veteran of Apogee and 3D Realms. Our sources indicate that while the game’s team has reached a size of about 24-28 developers, recently it has been closer to 18, meaning these current departures may actually comprise a majority of the team. Several sources have indicated that further information regarding these matters is expected next week…”
On September 7, 2006, George Broussard commented that the recent departures were individuals who had finished their work on the game. Further more, Broussard also revealed that the game is currently in the polishing stages.
So parhaps we will see Duke Nukem again soon. But nobody knows how it will look like. We are very interested in any case.
