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Prerelease:Duke Nukem Forever

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This page details prerelease information and/or media for Duke Nukem Forever.

Hmmm...
To do:
Everything, not limited to..
  • Development timeline is mostly complete, just add a few more things to it.
    • Make sure to only add noteworthy content to the timeline (e.g. Broussard giving an update through official channels and not a random comment of his that isn't even very infamous)
  • Gigaton of screenshots and development material floating around the web. Do note a lot of it was uploaded as jpgs, so when in doubt consult this wiki's image and JPEG policies on how to handle uploading images here.
  • Sources for anything and everything mentioned here.
  • Info to add can be found here.
  • A bunch of interviews with George/Scott/Randy/etc developers floating around.
  • The Duke Nukem Forever™: Balls of Steel Limited Edition Hardcover Strategy Guide contains a lot of art and information about the game that's not on the DNF Meusem, or really accessible easily (as far as I know). Try to find a full, clean scan of it online.

Where to begin? Duke Nukem Forever's 15-year-long development led to it being the butt of many jokes, such as "Forever" referring to the game's development time.

Summarized Development Timeline

1994-1995

  • Early 1994 - New Zealand-based developer Darrin Hurd and his friends begin work on a Prince of Persia-like side-scrolling platformer for Apogee Software Productions (Who would later adopt the name 3D Realms by the release of Duke Nukem 3D.
  • June 1994 - Hurd receives a contract from Apogee to continue working full-time on the platformer game.
  • 1995 - During the development of Duke Nukem 3D, George Broussard, Forever's future lead project manager watches Batman Forever and decides that a sequel to Duke 3D should use "forever" as a subtitle.

1996

  • Duke Nukem 3D's shareware version releases on January 29th, with the full game coming out on April 19. During or just after either of these dates 3D Realms asks Darrin and his team to change their platformer into Duke Nukem 4 to leverage hype.
  • C. early/mid 1996 - Duke Nukem Forever (stylized as Duke Nukem 4 Eva) enters development as a 2D platformer going back to Duke’s original roots.
  • September 7th - Joe Siegler on Usenet, announces that 3D Realms is working on a new a new side-scroller and namedrops Duke Nukem Forever.
  • October 8th - Compiled date of the first and earliest of the leaked 1996 builds.
  • October 21st - Compiled date of the second leaked 1996 build.
  • October 24th - Compiled date of the third leaked 1996 build.
  • November 8th - Compiled date of the fourth and last of the leaked 1996 builds.
  • December 15th - Internal development of Duke Nukem Forever begins at 3D Realms in the Quake iteration of id Tech 2. The fate of the side-scroller is likely decided not long after this.

1997

  • Early 1997 (circa February?) - The 2D platformer iteration of the game is scrapped due to the huge popularity of Duke Nukem 3D, and 3D Realms choses to develop a proper successor to Duke Nukem 3D. The 4 Eva styling is also dropped.
  • Early 1997 - A group of developers and programmers from 3D Realms leave to form Rebel Boat Rocker.
  • April 28th - The game is officially announced by 3D Realms in a press release, with GT Interactive set to be the publisher, the game to utilise the Quake II engine and a planned release date of mid-1998.
  • May - Randy Pitchford, who would serve as an executive producer of the final game, leaves 3D Realms to join Rebel Boat Rocker.
  • September - The first screenshot of the game is released
  • December - 3D Realms switches the game to the (now completed) Quake II engine.

1998

  • January - 3D Realms receives further id Tech 2 development tools.
  • January 13th - Dallas-based Gathering of Developers (GODGames), Duke Nukem Forever's soon-to-be publisher, is founded.
  • May 28th - The game is shown off at E3 1998, little shown would appear in later builds.
  • June 15th - 3D Realms announces its switch from the Quake II engine to the Unreal Engine, due to the latter having an easier time at rendering wide-open spaces. This marks the first engine change.
  • June 22nd - Scott Miller quickly produces a game outline with ideas and things he would like to see in Duke Nukem Forever.

1999

  • February 16th - Gearbox Software is founded by Randy Pitchford and a couple of his colleges from Rebel Boat Rocker (some of whom were originally from 3D Realms) after their first and only game Prax War is cancelled in January.
  • March 5th - 3D Realms reveals that the band Megadeth will perform the main theme of Forever, Grabbag. This cover wouldn't end up in the final game.
  • March 8th - Motion capture setup is confirmed to have nearly been finished.
  • August 23rd - The album, Duke Nukem: Music to Score By is released, containing Megadeth's unused cover of Grabbag.
  • October 22nd - Scott Miller confirms that the team is working in the Unreal Tournament version of Unreal Engine in an interview.
  • November - 10 screenshots of the game now in Unreal Engine are released.
  • December 23rd - A CD comprising of assets from 1998 and 1999 is made.

2000

  • May 1 - GODGames is acquired by Take-Two Interactive.
  • December 4th - Gathering of Developers acquires publishing rights from GT Interactive.

2001

  • May 3rd - Douglas Wayne Myres Jr., one of the co-founders of Gathering of Developers, passes away from an asthma attack. GODGames announces his death the following day.
  • May 8th - According to legal documents during their lawsuit with them, 3D Realms enters into a license agreement with Take-Two Interactive.
  • May 17th - A new trailer is shown at E3 2001. It includes a tribute to Myres and the infamous quote, "When It's Done."
  • August - Parent company Take-Two Interactive closes GODGames' Texas offices and moves them to New York.
  • August 21st - Compiled date of the first leaked 2001 build.
  • September 13th - 3D Realms sends a letter to Mark Rein of Epic Games proposing the use of Unreal and Unreal Tournament levels in Duke Nukem Forever as deathmatch levels, Rein agrees to this on the 19th.
  • October 26th - Compiled date of the second leaked 2001 build, along with its source code.

2002

  • January 7th - Duke Nukem Forever wins Wired Magazine's annual vaporware awards for 2001. Miller accepts the award stating "The proof will be in the pudding."
  • Unknown - Broussard decides that a winter level should be in Forever after playing The Thing, no such level made the final cut.
  • August - 3D Realms implements MathEngine's Karma physics engine, into the game.

2003

  • Unknown - According to a former employee, there were only 18 people working on Forever this year.
  • January 3rd - Duke Nukem Forever wins Wired's vaporware awards again. Broussard accepts the award, stating "We're undeniably late and we know it."
  • February - Take-Two announces that it is taking a $14.5 million write-down; $5.5 million of this being thanks to Duke Nukem Forever.
  • April 1st - The source code of Duke Nukem 3D and a "port" of the game for the Atari 2600 is released to compensate for the lack of Forever.
  • May 29th - Jeffrey Lapin, the then CEO of Take-Two Interactive, states that the game won't release by the end of the year, George Broussard responds with a post on Shacknews saying that "Take2 needs to STFU IMO."
  • December 18 - Lapin states that he was told by 3D Realms they expected the game to ship in the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005

2004

  • January 20th - Wired Magazine awards DNF it's very own Lifetime Achievement Award, in an attempt to get it off the vaporware awards.
  • Unknown - Scott Miller, seeing the game was in deep trouble, gets in contact with Digital Extremes so they can help finish the game, everyone was in favor except many at 3D Realms.
  • September 27th - The physics engine Meqon Game Dynamics SDK is announced to be used in Forever, replacing the Karma engine. Broussard encourages everyone to download a few demos for the engine to demonstrate what it is capable of doing.

2005

  • December - Owing to burn-out and little progress, developers begin leaving 3D Realms for new jobs and greener pastures.

2006

  • January - George Broussard states that the game's assets have been finalized (they weren't).
  • February 6th - Thanks to reader demand, DNF wins Wired's 2005 vaporware awards after being removed.
  • Unknown - Journalists are shown the game at a presentation, with a very nervous Broussard as their host. Broussard tells a guest there "We fucked up. Basically, we threw everything out and started again", implying that another restart of development has happened.
  • August - The game's staff is now only 18 people again; Between 7 - 10 employees have left since last December.
  • December 27th - Forever win Wired's vaporware awards again for 2006.

2007

  • January 25th - Broussard posts an ad on Gamasutra, including a single screenshot showing Mark Skelton's Duke model in action.
  • May 22nd - Broussard posts another ad on Gamasutra; With it, a new screenshot with a Pigcop.
  • October - 3D Realms gives a license to Take-Two allowing them to make a console-exclusive Duke game.
  • December - Gearbox Software is hired to work on Take-Two's Duke game, which became known as Duke Begins.
  • December 19th - A new trailer is released. This trailer features Duke curling, aliens attacking and no gameplay.

2008

  • January 20th - Forever wins thrice in a row for Wired's 2007 awards.
  • June 4th - New footage of the game debuts on The Jace Hall Show, shot with hand-held cameras and from six months earlier according to Broussard.
  • June 20th - Broussard posts one more job listing on Gamasutra, with another image of Duke.
  • September 24th - The Xbox Live Arcade version of Duke Nukem 3D is released, two new screenshots of Forever are unlocked if every achievement has been earned.
  • December 29th - Wired considers removing Forever off of its vaporware awards for 2008, but reconsiders when the footage from The Jace Hall Show surfaces. DNF wins first place.

2009

  • January 12th - Broussard says in a post to Twitter: "Game developers often say "Cutting is shipping". We begin this year with a vengeance and a chainsaw." meaning that anything that wasn't running well on Xbox 360 was scrapped and as such the game is made to be more linear.
  • April - Duke Begins is put on hold after $2.5 million in advance royalties were delivered to 3D Realms to continue Forever's development. Some assets from Duke Begins would seemingly make their way into the final game when Gearbox continued development.
  • Early May - 3D Realms demands an additional $6 million to complete development. Take-Two Interactive only offers $2.5 million.
  • May 6th - Broussard suspends development of Duke Nukem Forever.
  • May 8th - 3D Realms lays off the game's staff. Screenshots, concept art, pictures of models, design documents and a goodbye message from former employees are released/leaked in the following days.
  • May 11th - 3D Realms is given an order not to alter the source code or assets of DNF by the New York court.
  • May 12th - Take-Two sues 3D Realms for being unable to complete the game.
  • May 18th - 3D Realms issues a statement to the press regarding the lawsuit.
  • May 29th - The case is transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  • June - Nine former 3D Realms employees form Triptych Games to continue development.
  • June 19 - 3D Realms responds to Take-Two's allegations through a court document.
  • November - Triptych Games finishes work on the singleplayer campaign. A trailer is made around this time as well.
  • December 21 - Duke Nukem Forever is excluded from Wired's 2009 vaporware awards, as the game was seen to be finally dead (at the time).
  • Late December - A compilation video of gameplay is leaked.

2010

  • January - Triptych Games and Gearbox Software begin negotiating a deal so that they can finish development.
  • January - At Magfest 2010, Jon St. John gives hope to the game's future by stating people should "Read between the lines" as for why he can't discuss the game.
  • February - Triptych moves to Gearbox's offices to help polish the game and develop console ports. Piranha Games is also brought in for support and to help development multiplayer.
  • May 14th - 3D Realms and Take-two settle the lawsuit and dismiss it with prejudice. Miller on his Facebook status states: Ripped off its head, and read the newspaper.
  • August 11th - Kotaku reports that Gearbox is continuing development of the game.
  • September 3rd - Duke Nukem Forever is re-announced, this time at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle.
  • September 5th - Gearbox announces that it has acquired the intellectual property rights to the Duke Nukem Franchise and those that bought the Game of the Year Edition of Borderlands would get early access to the demo.
  • December - Gearbox releases two new screenshots of the game.

2011-2012

2011

  • January 3rd - Duke Nukem Forever returns to Wired's vaporware list for 2010 after Gearbox resumes development.
  • March 24th - Randy Pitchford, in a tongue-in-cheek video, announces that game has been delayed one last time from its original May 3rd (North America) and May 6th (International) release dates to June 10th (International, barring Japan) and June 14th (North America).
  • May 24th - Gearbox announces that the game has gone gold, 3D Realms re-posts the news on their blog.
  • June 1st - The Windows version of the demo is complied.
  • June 3rd - The demo for Duke Nukem Forever is released to members of the First Access Club.
  • June 10th - Duke Nukem Forever is released worldwide expect in North America and Japan (on consoles).
  • June 14th - Duke Nukem Forever is released in North America.
  • June 21st - The demo is released to the wider public.
  • August 2nd - A patch for the PC version of the game is released, notably allowing the ability to carry 4 weapons instead of 2.
  • August 18th - A port of the game to Mac OS X from Aspyr Media is released across all regions.
  • October 11th - the multiplayer DLC Hail to the Icons Parody Pack is released. It contains new weapons and maps based on other popular first-person shooters.
  • December 13th - the singleplayer DLC The Doctor Who Cloned Me is released. It sees the return of Doctor Proton, a recurring villain of the series. Proton was once the main antagonist of Forever before being replaced later into development.

2012

  • March 8th - The DLCs are released for the Mac version on Steam.
  • March 29th - The game releases in Japan on consoles, complete with dubbed Duketalk and censored content.

Subpages

Overview

An analysis of certain aspects of development.

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 Differences
Every difference, change and graphical upgrade (or downgrade!) throughout development.
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 Characters
Characters, from those who appear in the final game, ones only in early builds and everyone in between.
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 Concept Art
With so much discarded concepts for this game, its bound to need its own page!

Development Timeline

The full complete timeline of Duke Nukem Forever.

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 Early Development
Random ideas for the game, including when it wasn't even a Duke game or sequel talk when 3D hadn't shipped yet!
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 1996
The almost 15-year journey begins as a side-scroller.
FirstDukeForever1997.jpg
 1997
With the 2D platformer discarded, internal development at 3D Realms begins the in the Quake engine.
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 1998
The game moves into the Quake II engine with it's first gameplay and trailer shown off at E3, but it's not too long before the change to Unreal Engine.
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 1999
The transition from the Quake II engine to Unreal engine begins.
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 2000
3D Realms continues transitioning to Unreal but hey, at least Duke found his way with G.O.D.
DNF2001.png
 2001
The game's second appearance at E3 produces a lot of hype thanks to the trailer.
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 2002
The KARMA physics engine is implemented into the game.
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 2003
Fancy new lighting tech is implemented into the game, but this causes all the maps to black out, requiring another restart.
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 2004
The game also gets a new physics engine from Meqon.
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 2005-2006
Developers have been living en masse since the end of December 2005. Many post their work on portfolios as seemingly another restart occurs.
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 2007-2008
Updates for the game become scarce, with a new screenshot or video showing up every now and then.
DNF2009-teamphoto.jpg
 2009
With additional funding unable to be negotiated and a pending lawsuit from Take-Two, Broussard suspends development and 3D Realms lays off its entire staff. For a brief while, it seemed like things were done for Duke...
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 2010
But never fear, Gearbox Software is here! Triptych Games moves into Gearbox to get help with finishing the game.
DNF-GoneGold.jpg
 2011-2012
The homestretch for development, one last delay and the eventual release!

Gearbox's Official Timeline

Gearbox included a timeline of their own as a part of the extras in the final game. Located in Extras/Development Timeline. While this is a fun extra, the timeline has no sources, has many gaps of information and in some cases is just plain incorrect. Be sure to find at least another source before you add anything from this in to the article.

DNF DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
  • May, 1996 - Version 1.3d of Duke Nukem 3D (Retail) is shipped to game retailers worldwide. Duke Nukem 3D is a massive success that for many defined an entire generation of gaming. Conceptualization and discussion of a sequel immediately begins inside 3D Realms headquarters near Dallas, Texas.
  • June, 1996 - Duke Nukem 4Ever, a 2D side scrolling game produced by Keith Schuler, has development suspended in favor of prioritizing a Duke Nukem 3D add-on pack and a sequel.
  • June, 1996 - GT Interactive acquires the publishing rights for Duke Nukem Forever in a licensing agreement with 3D Realms.
  • December, 1996 - The Quake 1 engine is licensed by 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever, permanently replacing the Build engine. Most of the Duke Nukem 3D team, led by original Duke Nukem developers Todd Replogle and Allen H. Blum III, begins research and development with the technology for the game.
  • April, 1997 - Duke Nukem Forever is officially announced by 3D Realms with the intention to release in1998. Likewise, 3D Realms also officially announces that DNF will be created with the Quake 2 Engine.
  • May, 1997 - Randy Pitchford and Brain Martel, founders of Gearbox Software, leave 3D Realms to help form Rebal Boat Rocker and then later Gearbox Software.
  • November, 1997 - Duke Nukem Forever appears on the cover of PC Gamer magazine. Inside are the first screenshots ever released for the game.
  • May, 1998 - The first reveal trailer for Duke Nukem Forever is released to the public during the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
  • June, 1998 - 3D Realms announces a change to the Unreal Engine for Duke Nukem Forever.
  • March, 1999 - 3D Realms announces that Megadeth is to cover and record the theme song for Duke Nukem Forever.
  • November, 1999 - PC Gamer's infamous 'Miss Me?' cover story, featuring Duke Nukem Forever, hits newsstands. Inside are a large number of new screenshots for Duke Nukem Forever that expose how the game looks with a new engine.
  • December, 1999 - GT Interactive, the publisher of Duke Nukem Forever, is purchased by Infogrames. Publishing rights for Duke Nukem Forever are transferred.
  • May, 2000 - Gathering of Developers, a publisher comprised entirely of developer members (including 3D Realms), is purchased by Take-Two Interactive.
  • December, 2000 - Gathering of Developers announces that the company has acquired publishing rights for the highly anticipated Duke Nukem Forever. Take-Two Interactive also acquires the publishing rights for the complete catalog of already-released Duke Nukem products including publishing rights to certain future products.
  • May, 2001 - At E3 2001, the highly regarded Duke Nukem Forever 10th anniversary trailer is released. It is arguably considered to be one of the best video game trailers of all time.
  • September, 2004 - 3d Realms announces that anew in-game physics system, Meqon Game Dynamics, has been chosen for Duke Nukem Forever.
  • August, 2006 - Shacknews reports and confirms a rumor that a large contingent of employees had left 3D Realms. Most of them have relocated to Gearbox Software which is in the Dallas area.
  • July, 2007 - The famous "Ventrilo Harassment" video using the voice of Duke Nukem to torment on-line game players was uploaded to YouTube and has been viewed more than 6 million times.
  • December, 2007 - Shacknews breaks the first video teaser for Duke Nukem Forever in over 6 years. Included were small snippets of in-game footage.
  • September, 2008 - Users discover Duke Nukem Forever unlockable screenshots in the re-release of Duke Nukem 3D.
  • December, 2008 - The last official Duke Nukem Forever screenshot from 3D Realms is released to the community.
  • May, 2009 - The story that 3D Realms has laid off the Duke Nukem Forever development team breaks and tops gaming news websites around the world.
  • May, 2009 - Take-Two Interactive and 3D Realms submit legal arguments regarding disagreements about the business arrangement for developing and publishing the game.
  • June, 2009 - Gearbox and 3D Realms begin negotiation of an asset purchase agreement for the Duke Nukem franchise and Duke Nukem Forever. The business agreement is finalized and executed approximately six months later and ownership of the game and brand is transferred to Gearbox Software.
  • June, 2009 - Triptych Games is formed from several ex-3D realms employees and a couple of new individuals.
  • July, 2009 - Triptych Games signs paperwork with 3D Realms to complete the Duke Nukem Forever single-player campaign.
  • August, 2009 - Duke Nukem Forever's narrative is written at Triptych and approved by 3D Realms. Triptych gets to surprise Jon St. John - the famous English language voice actor who originally played Duke Nukem - with a phone call: 'Hell has finally frozen over.'
  • November, 2009 - Single-player work on Duke Nukem Forever content is complete.
  • December, 2009 - Gearbox and 2K games begin renegotiation of the publishing agreement for Duke Nukem Forever. The business agreement is finalized and executed approximately six months later with 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive, securing long-term publishing rights to Duke Nukem.
  • January, 2010 - Triptych Games locks down their single-player version of the game and begins negotiations with Gearbox Software.
  • February, 2010 - Triptych relocates to Gearbox's offices in the plano, Texas Bank of America Tower and resumes work alongside Gearbox and Piranha to help port Duke Nukem Forever to consoles, add multiplayer, and polish features within the game.
  • May, 2010 - Take-Two and 3D Realms resolve and settle all differences regarding legal complaints from the previous year.
  • September, 2010 - Gearbox and 2K Games surprise the public by showing off the first playable build of Duke Nukem Forever at PAX 2010.
  • September, 2010 - Gearbox publicly announces that it has acquired the Duke Nukem brand.
  • October, 2010 - 2K Games and Gearbox Software announce the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club to be included in every copy of the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, allowing participating customers first access to the Duke Nukem Forever consumer demo.
  • December, 2010 - Duke Nukem Forever reappears in the holiday issue of PC Gamer with the same headline as his cover 11 years prior - 'Miss Me?'
  • January, 2011 - Gearbox Software announces the release date of May 3rd for Duke Nukem Forever along with the first reveal trailer with 2K Games for Duke Nukem Forever since 2007.
  • February, 2011 - Duke Nukem, with the help of Borderland's Claptrap, opens the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas. The show, hosted by comedian Jay Mohr is streamed live over the internet and broadcast on television via G4 TV.
  • June, 2011 - Gearbox Software and 2K Games release the first consumer demo for Duke Nukem Forever.
  • June 2011 - Gearbox Software, alongside Triptych Games, Pirahna Games, and 3D Realms, release the approved gold masters for Duke Nukem Forever. After 15 years since work first began on a Duke Nukem 3D sequel, 2K Games launches and ships Duke Nukem Forever video games worldwide to an eager and patient audience.
(Source: DukeNukemForeverVaul)

References

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