Duke Nukem Forever may not be dead yet, Trilogy still coming

With 3D Realms shut down and the team disbanded, what happens to Duke? We explore the possibility of Duke Nukem Forever seeing release, and take a look at the upcoming portable Duke Nukem Trilogy. Duke's not dead, not by a long shot.

Read the whole story

 

[Nagumo]

FUCK!!!!!!!!

This sucks more than any kind of toothless crack-whore.


Let me repeat myself - FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chromal]

Every now and then, a story of, for lack of a better term, brand necrophilia comes up, and I sort of boggle that anyone cares. File AmigaOS stories under this. And, yes, most definitely file Duke Nukem stories here. I remember playing Duke Nukem in all its EGA glory, and then in 1995, Duke Nukem 3D. That was 14 years ago, and as near as I can tell, the last Duke Nukem franchise game that mattered.

So, why the obsessive coverage of this stuff? Duke Nukem's no Half Life or Quake, Doom, L4D, Portal, FarCry2, or TF2 so meh.

 

[eldonyo]

What will the gaming industry use as a metaphor for vaporware or an extremely-long-in-development project now?

 

[Windsong]

Originally posted by Nagumo:
FUCK!!!!!!!!

This sucks more than any kind of toothless crack-whore.


Let me repeat myself - FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh I dunno..I suspect not having the two front teeth does have its advantages..

cept for the crackhead part.

 

[Aurich]

Does anyone who doesn't write about games really care anymore? Honestly?

 

[blasikov]

Yes.

 

[jakattak]

Duke Nukem Forever may not be dead yet

DNF is dead. It has been since 2000. It's not a "may not be dead yet" or "may still be released" situation. In 12 years, for whatever reasons, a decent sized team was unable to complete this game. Regardless of any rumor or conjecture presented I don't see how anyone can have any faith that this game has any chance whatsoever of seeing a release. I would have loved to have played the game, and I'm sad that it never came out. It also sucks for all the folks working on it, as a lot of those guys likely had nothing to do with all the delays, etc. I just faced facts and gave up on it a long, long time ago.

If I end up being wrong, I get to be pleasantly surprised.

What will the gaming industry use as a metaphor for vaporware or an extremely-long-in-development project now?

For all projects in development less that 12 years, I think DNF still offers a great metaphor. If anything passes it, it will be the new DNF. In fact, I think DNF should now be a title for such projects... or maybe a scale: "On the DNF scale, how would you rate the progress on this project? 1 being the best. 10 being the worst."

 

[severusx]

Originally posted by Aurich:
Does anyone who doesn't write about games really care anymore? Honestly?

I think that at least some gamers do. For many of us, Duke Nukem 3D (along with Doom) represented our first experiences with the shooter genre of video games. It would be nice to see a product that is spiritually related to what is a fond memory of a great game.

 

[makross]

It's all an elaborate ploy.

 

[Tundro Walker]

To pull something off half-way successfully, they're going to have to let a really crappy, lackluster DNF come out that will totally bomb everyone's expectations. That'll remove the stigma of the title from everyone. Then, they can go about re-inventing it, and come out with something half-way good that will once again get peoples hopes up. As it is, peoples' expectations are so high and extreme for this, that you'd have to get Jesus walking on water for folks to be impressed, and even then a majority would still feel ripped off.

Either let it die, or publish a crappy title to "reset" brand expectations and follow up with a good title, or just lay low for a couple of years and then spring a re-invented Duke on everyone.

Unfortunately, I think the target audience has matured beyond just titty bars and salty language. Since Half-Life and other plot-motivated games have come out, folks would be expecting something more from Duke, too. Sadly, I don't think Duke could offer more than blasting aliens and making wise-cracks. He was impressive and novel for his time, but his pony has long-since dropped out of the race.

 

[mathrockbrock]

Originally posted by chromal:
So, why the obsessive coverage of this stuff? Duke Nukem's no Half Life or Quake, Doom, L4D, Portal, FarCry2, or TF2 so meh.

See, I think those games are mostly either boring or different enough from Duke3D to belong in another category. Half-Life is too linear and scripted, and saved primarily by the physics and polish. Far Cry, Quake, and Doom mostly take themselves too seriously. TF2 and L4D don't make good comparisons since they're multiplayer and team-based. And Portal is more of a quirky puzzle game than an FPS (you get one gun and no powerups!).

Nothing had the combination of destructible environments, easy modding/mapping, dynamic multiplayer, AND crude campy humor of Duke3D. Sure, you can move crates and fling 'splodey barrels in HL2, Doom/Quake had similar level editing, GLaDOS had at least as much character as Duke, and TF2 gives plenty of opportunities to trick your friends into untimely death... but none do all of it.

 

[Big Show]

As you can tell from the included screen shot, however, this isn't the Duke you're used to.

Knowing nothing about this game other than the screenshot, it looks like a return to a platform-based Duke. Or at least an approximation of that. I've got plenty of nostalgia for that style Nukem, in all it's EGA glory, as chromal put it.

 

[Merovingian]

Has anyone considered that this is one of the greatest marketing strategies on the planet? That 3D Realms "closed", is putting on this huge ruse, and in reality DNF is being stamped on discs right now?

It's a stretch, but man would I be impressed.

 

[mathrockbrock]

Originally posted by Tundro Walker:
Unfortunately, I think the target audience has matured beyond just titty bars and salty language.

Haha -- you mean males age 13-35? No, dude. There's a reason dirty jokes, beer, and internet porn are wildly popular. Go read some YouTube comments if you want a better look at our intellectual zeitgeist. Those users can't all be living in their parents' basements.

 

[Demondeluxe]

Let's boil this down to what made Duke cool.

Interesting weapons
Wise cracks and one liners
Adult (but rather immature) content
The boot

To be honest I don't see how they didn't manage to get this out, and frankly as long as someone who has played and enjoyed Duke 3D is tasked with making it I don't see how this would not be great.

Honestly just follow the same formula with updated graphics, new levels and a new story (as much story as Duke ever had)

All they really need to do is make sure they include all the old weapons with fun and updated sfx. Make sure the pig cops are there. Make sure Duke spits out a few clever one liners once in awhile (both scripted, and on kill). Toss in some strippers, nudie mags, and maybe a porn shop. Add to parts messy kills, and 1 part shit talking. Whip into a cream state and serve on pie. I think maybe they just tried to make it more complicated than it needed to be.

 

[scorpicon]

Originally posted by Demondeluxe:
Let's boil this down to what made Duke cool.

Interesting weapons
Wise cracks and one liners
Adult (but rather immature) content
The boot

To be honest I don't see how they didn't manage to get this out, and frankly as long as someone who has played and enjoyed Duke 3D is tasked with making it I don't see how this would not be great.

Honestly just follow the same formula with updated graphics, new levels and a new story (as much story as Duke ever had)

All they really need to do is make sure they include all the old weapons with fun and updated sfx. Make sure the pig cops are there. Make sure Duke spits out a few clever one liners once in awhile (both scripted, and on kill). Toss in some strippers, nudie mags, and maybe a porn shop. Add to parts messy kills, and 1 part shit talking. Whip into a cream state and serve on pie. I think maybe they just tried to make it more complicated than it needed to be.

Yeah, I would still play this. Duke is great for when you just want to have fun and not worry about the story, or puzzles, or how realistic the scenario is.

 

[maas]

Just wanted to add that I also have very fond memories of playing Duke Nukem 3D, modem-to-modem, with a friend of mine. At the time, it was an amazing experience to be able to play against a real person.

And I think there was definitely something especially interesting to playing against one person - a friend - rather than a level full of anonymous people from all over the world (of course, that was also cool and revolutionary). Few things were more satisfying than hearing your friend die from the laser trip bomb you planted on the other side of the map 10 minutes ago.

 

[MoistDinosaur]

DNF= Did Not Finish now

 

[Werfu]

Either it's a huge marketing thing, or the direction at 3D Realms are realy dumb. From the just released video, the work on the game seems to be mostly finalized. The engine was running smooth, the gameplay looks fine-tunned, textures and models looked to be ok. Maybe there's some level missing, that's far from being the hardest part of game conception. They should be at most 3 months away from release (assuming a realy thin testing phase).

 

[pebblesonthemountain]

Since Half-Life and other plot-motivated games have come out, folks would be expecting something more from Duke, too.

You must be joking. Half-Life was one of the most over-hyped, under-plotted messes in the last decade.

 

[ReaderBot]

DNF can now rightly take its place beside Bigfoot, the Lochness Monster, UFO conspiracies, and religion.

 

[pebblesonthemountain]

Oh and as usual Ben Kuchera makes a moderate clown of himself by making a christian analogy to the release/publishing of a game. Classy Ben. Really classy.

 

[Pygmy Surfer]

Originally posted by pebblesonthemountain:
Oh and as usual Ben Kuchera makes a moderate clown of himself by making a christian analogy to the release/publishing of a game. Classy Ben. Really classy.

And as usual, someone gets all bent out of shape about it.

 

[Ben Kuchera]

Oh and as usual Ben Kuchera makes a moderate clown of himself by making a christian analogy to the release/publishing of a game. Classy Ben. Really classy.

Have I done that in the past? I'm not sure I understand why what I wrote could be offensive.

 

[TheFerenc]

Ben, I have to say, I actually laughed when I read it. I think what pebblesonthemountain was trying to say was he doesn't appreciate humor, if said humor has anything to do with his personal religion.

Which, considering the content, the hype surrounding it for years, the untimely death, and the reasonable chance of resurrection...yeah, it was appropriate. Though, I would recommend next time using mithraic based humor, rather than christ based humor.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

Originally posted by blasikov:
Yes.

++++

 

[madmikefisk]

Honestly, though, with Take-Two killing off 3DRealms by no longer funding Duke Nukem Forever's development, while still asserting exclusive publishing rights... I don't see it coming out, in any form, ever. Short of 3DRealms being able to convince a judge that T2 operated in bad faith, and thus their contract should be nullified, I think T2 is just going to sit on what's left.

 

[Deleted member 1]

Duke Nukem Forever is closer to being Hell. And Duke himself is Satan. And he wants to eat your SOUUUULLL11!!8*!*!!!

Seriously, though.. can Christian analogies stay out of the gaming articles, please. -- --

 

[Shades047]

Stopped caring years and years ago. The only thing that makes sense to me is the creative control must have kept switching the plot/setting ("Great news! We're changing it so Duke is now fighting on Earth, the Moon, and Sarlax 3, so now the art department needs to change all the assets, and coders need to make a new engine to accomodate corkscrew gravity! Go go go!"). This really could only be a total failure of project management.

 

[Cherlindrea]

Really, guys? Why the big hubbub about the one little brief passing Christian analogy? I thought it was hilarious, and I even shared it with my conservative Mormon father who also thought it was hilarious. Grow some sense of humor. (Although I do agree that the Mithraic reference would have been even more hilarious in a far more subtle way--but then you risk the ire of the staunch Christians.)

I've not played Duke Nukem since early in the 3D days, and I don't think I even finished that one as it was right before I went off to college (and I wasn't a cool enough kid to get my own desktop to take with me at the time). But, I know my dad and brother both finished it and loved it. Hopefully Forever will see the light of day, at least for the likes of them to get their campy killing fix.

 

[StuckInaCube]

I think the bigger question is; if you don't care right now, would you if it was suddenly announced that DNF was in production and set to release in 2010?


I think a lot of us are afraid of Duke turning into the Sonic of PC games, and then the rest of us are mostly indifferent. But I think that, regardless of where you stand, if concrete details and a release date ever materialized, Duke would definitely have everyone's attention.

 

[Zak]

Originally posted by pebblesonthemountain:

You must be joking. Half-Life was one of the most over-hyped, under-plotted messes in the last decade.

Eh... what?!

Z.

 

[Lbaxter]

Originally posted by Aurich:
Does anyone who doesn't write about games really care anymore? Honestly?

Jesus Christ ++++ plusity plus and judge to top it off. -- --

@Ben, let it go!

 

[darkowl_1]

It's very simple:

Quake pour homme. Duke pour femme.

 

[Deleted member 14629]

Originally posted by Aurich:
Does anyone who doesn't write about games really care anymore? Honestly?

Absolutely. Duke Nukem 3D was a defining experience in my youth when it comes to gaming. I absolutely care about the ultimate fate of Forever matters to me quite a lot.

 

[Kalkin]

I'm still hung up on Tommie Frazier's potential NFL career. Maybe that's just me, but I'd love to see him play...

 

[jx3000]

I am going to buy this Trilogy even though I don't play games.

I am going to put it in a vacuum sealed container, and place it in the centre of my house.

It will be a museum piece and I will ask people to pay to see it.

I will make so much money that I will invest in recreating 3D Realms. Then I will proceed with making the game you've all been waiting for DN3D Forever II Online Multiplayer.

It will be so grand you just wait and see it.

 

[stepnsteph]

meh. Frankly I'm disappointed in any of you who thought that this was actually going to release at any point in the last 4 to 5 years. As an adult you should have known better. It simply was not going to happen even before the company closed, but to think that it may still, somehow, possibly in some way yet be released is taking this to a level of near-religious belief.

If you have a considerable amount of nostalgia attached to the title then I understand the _desire_ to see it released. I'm not contesting that at all, but you should have known better than to think that it actually _would_ be. Thinking so NOW is just... disheartening.

I know how this is going to come across, especially since this is text. I apologize. This isn't me saying that I'm somehow smarter or better than anyone else, but what more could you possibly need - in addition to a 12 year "development" cycle - to open your eyes? Now the company's officially gone, yet some of you STILL somehow cling to the notion that DNF will somehow see release.

For goodness sakes, let the lie die.

 

[Vipre77]

Originally posted by stepnsteph:
Stuff.

See, the thing is, though, many of us think that 3D Realms was the problem here, not the game itself. With 3D Realms out of the picture, there may be incentive for them to sell off their assets to pay off their debts (likely to be huge what with the amount of time and resources dumped into this game). If they sell off the assets to a competent developer that recognizes that there is still huge demand for a DNF game to be released, then they just might actually give the title the attention that it deserves. I believe this is where this renewed hope is stemming from and, to me, seems like a very plausible scenario.

To the guy wondering what the new joke will be, well, we already have it. Gran Turismo Mobile. Thank you, Yamauchi-san.