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In June 2006, in a filing with the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]], Take-Two revealed that they had renegotiated the deal and will receive $4.25 million instead of $6 million upon the release of the game. <ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/000112528206003343/b413621-10q.htm Form 10-Q: Take-Two Interactive Software]. Quarterly report ending [[April 30]], [[2006]]. Retrieved [[August 7]], [[2006]].</ref> The filing also revealed that Take-Two was offering a $500,000 bonus if ''Forever'' was commercially released by [[December 31]], [[2006]] <ref>Thorsen, Tor. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152594.html "Take-Two stock tanks, Duke Nukem Forever due by Dec. 31?"]. [[June 9]], [[2006]]. GameSpot.</ref>. However, Broussard denied the rumors that ''DNF'' would be released, saying that 3D Realms never cared for or asked for it. He stated that he would "never ship a game early...for 500K." <ref>Thorson, Tor. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152687.html "Broussard: We won't rush Duke Nukem Forever"]. [[June 13]], [[2006]]. GameSpot.</ref>
In June 2006, in a filing with the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]], Take-Two revealed that they had renegotiated the deal and will receive $4.25 million instead of $6 million upon the release of the game. <ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946581/000112528206003343/b413621-10q.htm Form 10-Q: Take-Two Interactive Software]. Quarterly report ending [[April 30]], [[2006]]. Retrieved [[August 7]], [[2006]].</ref> The filing also revealed that Take-Two was offering a $500,000 bonus if ''Forever'' was commercially released by [[December 31]], [[2006]] <ref>Thorsen, Tor. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152594.html "Take-Two stock tanks, Duke Nukem Forever due by Dec. 31?"]. [[June 9]], [[2006]]. GameSpot.</ref>. However, Broussard denied the rumors that ''DNF'' would be released, saying that 3D Realms never cared for or asked for it. He stated that he would "never ship a game early...for 500K." <ref>Thorson, Tor. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152687.html "Broussard: We won't rush Duke Nukem Forever"]. [[June 13]], [[2006]]. GameSpot.</ref>


In August 2006, 3D Realms let out information regarding the release of many of their developers, most likely putting the last nail into the coffin of the game's development. Between late 2005 and August 2006, the team has been ruduced to about half the size from early 2005.<ref>Chris Remo. [http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/43655 "3D Realms Sees Major Employee Departures, Fate of DNF in Question?"]. [[August 31]], [[2006]]. ShackNews.</ref>
In August 2006, 3D Realms let out information regarding the release of many of their developers, most likely putting the last nail into the coffin of the game's development. Between late 2005 and August 2006, the team has been reduced to about half the size from early 2005.<ref>Chris Remo. [http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/43655 "3D Realms Sees Major Employee Departures, Fate of DNF in Question?"]. [[August 31]], [[2006]]. ShackNews.</ref>


== Reception ==
== Reception ==

Revision as of 13:58, 31 August 2006

Template:Future game

Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever artwork
Duke Nukem Forever artwork
Developer(s)3D Realms
Publisher(s)Take Two Interactive
EngineModified Unreal Engine 2.5
Platform(s)Windows
Release"When it's done." [1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, Multiplayer

Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) is a yet-to-be-released first-person shooter video game being developed by 3D Realms, and is the next game in the popular Duke Nukem series. It is notorious for its protracted development, which has been ongoing since 1997.

Plot

Although two E3 trailers and a series of screenshots have been released, the game's plot remains only vaguely defined, as most of the publicity is now out of date and development has changed direction many times since their release. In the November 1997 issue of PC Gamer, Scott Miller stated that Doctor Proton, Duke's original nemesis, would return. Originally, it was planned that Duke would be teamed with a female sidekick named Bombshell, who appeared in a 1998 trailer for the game. However, she did not appear in a later trailer released in 2001, and it has yet to be confirmed if she still plays a role in the final release of the game.

The second trailer, released in 2001, showed an alien invasion in Las Vegas. It featured Duke fighting with several weapons, most notably a rifle, his Desert Eagle and the shrinking gun. Duke was fighting the aliens in many areas: a mine, some rural areas, the streets of Las Vegas, on water, indoor areas, etc.

It featured:

  • Duke fighting an alien while in a moving car, driven by a fellow soldier.
  • Duke riding several vehicles (a boat, a spaceship). He also slid a motorbike under a tanker.
  • Duke was interacting with several characters, most notably some spooked civilians, in a scene where Duke and they were hiding in a restaurant, while the entrance door was being smashed by the aliens from the streets (other interactions include:an interaction with a general, regarding the President of The United States being kidnapped by the aliens)

Development timeline

Duke Nukem Forever was officially announced on April 27, 1997 [2] with the purchase of the Quake engine [3]. Original prototype work on the engine began as early as January before its announcement. In August and September, the first screenshots of Forever were released in PC Gamer. In its November issue, Scott Miller stated that the intended release date was 1998. At the May 1998 E3, 3D Realms released the first video footage of Forever.

Change to Unreal engine

In June 1998, the 3D Realms team switched to Epic's Unreal engine 1.0. [4] All previous work except for textures had to be started over from scratch. (The textures were replaced later, however.) [citation needed] George Broussard predicted the transition will only take approximately six weeks, but later said that it took much longer than expected. [citation needed]

In 1999, 3D Realms announced that they had upgraded to the Unreal Engine 1.5. In December, they released a second batch of screenshots, the first batch showcasing the game on the Unreal Engine. [1]. Later in December, 3D Realms releases a Christmas card that suggests that DNF will be released in 2000. [5] However, in 2000, they released another Christmas card, suggesting DNF would be released in 2001. [6]

In 2001, 3D Realms released a second video that showed the game in action with the new Epic engine.

In 2002, after hiring several new programmers, the team completely rewrote the renderer and other game engine modules, beginning work on a new generation of game content. Broussard estimated that around 95% of the previous level design work had been scrapped. The development team also stated that the game would now be based on the Unreal engine 2.0. This engine was more sophisticated, supporting such features as pixel shading, normal mapping and high dynamic range based lighting.

George Broussard has stated several times that the only parts of the Unreal engine that are still part of their code base are UnrealScript, the networking code, and the UnrealEd. Everything else, except Meqon, which is the physics engine, has been written from scratch by 3D Realms. The principal technical reason given by Broussard for the extensive delays was the unstable tech base. Now that this problem seems to have been solved, 3DR have expanded their team considerably, from 22 to 31 members, marking what many hope to be the final stage of the development cycle.

Conflict with Take-Two

On May 20 2003, Jeffrey Lapin, then CEO of Take Two, told reporters that the game would not be out by the end of 2003. [7] In response, George Broussard commented on Shacknews that "Take Two needs to STFU imo" — Internet parlance for "Take Two needs to shut the fuck up, in my opinion." [8]

Later in the year, December 18 2003, an article from GameSpot revealed that Jeffrey Lapin had a recent conversation with 3D Realms. Discussing a revised released date with the developers, he was told that Duke Nukem Forever was expected to be finished by the end of 2004, or the beginning of 2005. [9] 3D Realms' CEO became infuriated with Jeffrey Lapin for releasing confidential information regarding Duke Nukem Forever, and had neither denied nor confirmed the information that Jeffrey Lapin revealed.

On September 9 2004, GameSpot published a conversation between Take Two CEO Rich Roedel and UBS analyst Mike Wallace which alleged that Duke Nukem Forever had switched to the Doom 3 engine [10]. Many gaming news sites mailed George Broussard to have him confirm or deny the rumor, but after receiving no answer from him, they published the rumor as fact, ending the article with "Attempts to contact 3D Realms for comment were unsuccessful as of press time." Later that day, George Broussard explicitly denied the rumor and explained that he was not able to answer the emails only because he was working elsewhere in the building. [10] As of May 2005, it is believed that Rich Roedel had mistaken DNF for Prey, which Human Head (supervised by 3D Realms) developed with the Doom 3 engine.

Physics engine switch

On September 14 2004, 3D Realms announced that they had replaced the Karma physics engine with one designed by Swedish developer Meqon. Several sites have also speculated that DNF will be using the latest generation of this technology, designed for next-gen consoles. [11]

2005 and beyond

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. [12]

In October 2005, Broussard reported that the game size was now at 9.6 gigabytes, although the size will be optimized somewhat for release. [13]

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. [14]

  • April: In an interview with Computer Game Magazine George Broussard made the following statement.

The problem is that when we show it, people are going to be like, 'Yeah, whatever'. Honestly, at this point we just want to finish it.

Broussard also demonstrated samples of the game, including an early level, a vehicle sequence, and a few test rooms [15]

In June 2006, in a filing with the SEC, Take-Two revealed that they had renegotiated the deal and will receive $4.25 million instead of $6 million upon the release of the game. [16] The filing also revealed that Take-Two was offering a $500,000 bonus if Forever was commercially released by December 31, 2006 [17]. However, Broussard denied the rumors that DNF would be released, saying that 3D Realms never cared for or asked for it. He stated that he would "never ship a game early...for 500K." [18]

In August 2006, 3D Realms let out information regarding the release of many of their developers, most likely putting the last nail into the coffin of the game's development. Between late 2005 and August 2006, the team has been reduced to about half the size from early 2005.[19]

Reception

Wired News has awarded Duke Nukem Forever its Vaporware Awards several times. It placed in second in 2000 [20] and topped the list in 2001 [21] and 2002 [22]. Wired News created the Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award exclusively for Forever and awarded it in 2003. George Broussard accepted the award, simply stating, "We're undeniably late and we know it." [23]. It did not make the list in 2004, but Leander Kahney noted that they had received a lot of nominations for the game. [24] By popular demand, it topped the list again in 2005 [25].

Forever has drawn a number of jokes, related to its development timeline. Gamers have subsituted Forever in place of several names, calling it Never, Whenever [20], If Ever [22], Taking Forever, and Neverever [24]. In the April 24, 2006 edition of FoxTrot, computer geek Jason Fox compiles a list of reasons why to get an iFruit. One of the reasons was to "play Duke Nukem Forever someday." [26]

When the GameSpy editors compiled a list of the "Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming History," Duke Nukem Forever placed #18 [27].

Many speculate that this title will never see the light of day, although the developers continue to insist that it will ship "when it's done" [1]

Here is an quote from shacknew.com regarding developers leaving 3drealms resolting in DNF to be in more danger of never being released.

The many delays and long development history of 3D Realms' anticipated Duke Nukem Forever, first announced in April 1997, are well known to gamers, but it appears that at present the game may be undergoing even more troubles. Shacknews has learned from numerous reputable sources close to the game's development that, since approximately the end of 2005, 3D Realms has had something of an employee exodus. Apparently, up to ten major team members have left the company, with multiple departures having occurred as recently as within the past few days.

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.

3D Realms' George Broussard, who heads up the Duke Nukem Forever project, is known to hold a perfectionist attitude towards the game, which is in large part responsible for its many delays. The game has been revamped with new engines multiple times, further prolonging development time as game assets and levels have had to be rebuilt. Some sources speculate that, unless major changes are made to the development process, the game may never see the light of day. A Prey-like rebirth under a new developer supervised by 3D Realms may be a potential consideration, but descriptions from those close to Broussard suggest that he would be unlikely to approve such a direction.

3D Realms officials have been contacted for formal comment by Shacknews, but did not respond by press time.

Update: Shacknews has learned that four of the employees named above--Brian Cozzens, Kyle Davis, Keith Schuler, and Charlie Wiederhold--are now working for Brothers in Arms series developer Gearbox Software. Wiederhold's employment at Gearbox was already public knowledge. These four employees were key members of the Duke Nukem Forever team and led various aspects of development.

References

  1. ^ a b 3D Realms Site: Duke Nukem Forever. 3D Realms. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
  2. ^ Broussard, George. "3D Realms Licenses id Software's 'Quake II' Engine for `Duke Nukem Forever'". Planet Duke. April 28, 1997.
  3. ^ "The Official Duke Nukem Forever FAQ". Planet Duke. Last updated January 8, 2005.
  4. ^ Keighley, Geoff. "Duke Gets a Dose of Reality: Duke Forever Now to Use Unreal Technology". GameSlice. June 16, 1998.
  5. ^ 1999 3D Realms Christmas Card - Page 2. 3D Realms. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  6. ^ 2000 3D Realms Christmas Card - Page 3. 3D Realms. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  7. ^ Varanini, Giancarlo. "Take-Two reveals new games in lineup". GameSpot. May 29, 2003.
  8. ^ Morris, Chris. "Duke Nukem vs. Take Two". CNN Money. June 11, 2003.
  9. ^ Thorsen, Tor. "No Duke Nukem Forever 'til 2005?". GameSpot. December 18, 2003.
  10. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor. "3D Realms denies Duke Nukem Forever using Doom 3 engine". GameSpot. September 10, 2004.
  11. ^ "GDC: Duke Nukem Forever physics surpass Half-Life 2". Gameindustry.biz. September 3, 2005.
  12. ^ McNamara, Tom. "E3 2005: Duke Nukem Forever Not Here". IGN. May 19, 2005.
  13. ^ "How big is DNF?" 3D Realms Forums. October 16, 2005.
  14. ^ George Broussard Interview from 1UP.com. January 31, 2006. 1UP.com. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  15. ^ Carless, Simon. "Broussard Updates Duke Nukem Forever Status". Gamesutra. April 12, 2006
  16. ^ Form 10-Q: Take-Two Interactive Software. Quarterly report ending April 30, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  17. ^ Thorsen, Tor. "Take-Two stock tanks, Duke Nukem Forever due by Dec. 31?". June 9, 2006. GameSpot.
  18. ^ Thorson, Tor. "Broussard: We won't rush Duke Nukem Forever". June 13, 2006. GameSpot.
  19. ^ Chris Remo. "3D Realms Sees Major Employee Departures, Fate of DNF in Question?". August 31, 2006. ShackNews.
  20. ^ a b Kahney, Leander. "Vaporware 2000: Missing Inaction". December 27, 2000. Wired News.
  21. ^ Manjoo, Farhad. "Vaporware 2001: Empty Promises". January 7, 2002. Wired News.
  22. ^ a b Kahney, Leander. "Vaporware 2002: Tech Up in Smoke?". Wired News. January 3, 2003.
  23. ^ Vaporware Team Null. "Vaporware: Nuke 'Em if Ya Got 'Em". Wired News. January 20, 2004.
  24. ^ a b Kahney, Leander. "Vaporware Phantom Haunts Us All". January 7, 2005. Wired Nes.
  25. ^ Kahney, Leander. "Vaporware: Better Late Than Never". Wired News. February 6, 2006.
  26. ^ 3D Realms News: Duke Nukem Forever Archives.
  27. ^ "Never Bet on the Duke". Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming History. GameSpy. June 10, 2003.
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