Prerelease:Duke Nukem Forever/1997

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Duke Nukem Forever.

To do: Screenshots, developer interviews, you name it.

The 2D Duke Nukem 4 Eva Project is scrapped in favor of a squeal proper to Duke Nukem 3D. Most of the year is spent experimenting in the Quake Engine and later the Quake II engine, the game as we know it today truly begins.

March 1997

The Adrenaline Vault holds an interview with Broussard on the 22nd, an article of this is published on their site on March 29th.

The Future:

AV: So, when do you guys get sleep over there?

George: We work 80-100 hours a week now on Shadow Warrior. We don't want or desire sleep? :) We just want to make killer games. With the next Duke 3D game and Prey also in production, we have plenty to do. We just put a DSS satellite and leather couches at the office. So we work hard, but we play hard. That and tons of free snacks and drinks, keep us alive.

AV: You said recently, I believe, that Duke Nukem Forever will be released before Prey?

George: Did I? See, there I go running off at the mouth again. We will be issuing info on the next Duke 3D game real soon. As for now, I'm mum.... One final word on Hipnotic. I wish them luck with Scourge and their next game. I'd like to put all this pointless bickering behind us and move on, but they have to be realistic about what they did in Duke 3D. They know the truth. Wow, I feel like I just purged my soul.... :)

AV: Cool! :) Can you at least give us some storyline info on DN Forever?

George: No, we really aren't talking about Duke Nukem Forever yet. It will be cool. It will be Duke. And it will utterly kick the last game's ass.

AV: With DN Forever - the engine. We know it will not use Build, it will not use the Prey Engine. It will be a True 3D Engine. Can you give us a little hint? Is there a game in development currently using the engine?

George: No comment. Prey engine looks cool though, eh? :)

The Hardware:

AV: Will we need to get a specific 3D accelerator card? (Before we go buy one and get the wrong kind)

George: Prey will support all the cool hardware like 3Dfx and Rendition, as will the next Duke 3D game.

However, one question that was not published was the following:

AV: How about another company licensing a [sic] engine to 3D Realms? (DN Forever hint, hint)

GB: No, we're set on doing our own engines for now...

In addition, Planet Quake also publishes an interview with Broussard as well.

FM: Alright... now on to 3DRealms current projects. What's coming up?

GB: Shadow Warrior will be the next 3D Realms game out. We hope to have the shareware ready in April or so. We are also doing the next Duke 3D game and Prey as internal 3D Realms designed games.

FM: What's the Duke sequel going to be like? Will it use the Build engine? Is it true that Duke Nukem Forever will be a side-scroller?

GB: The side scroller Duke game was cancelled. We wanted to focus only on Prey, Shadow Warrior and a new Duke 3D game. The new Duke 3D game will be called "Duke Forever", but that's all we're going to say at the moment. There should be more information coming soon.

April 1997

April 25th

Jason Bates of PC Gamer Online reports on details about Duke Nukem Forever prior to 3D Realms' own announcement such that it will use the Quake II variant of id Tech 2, a prospective release date of Spring 1998 and that Total Entertainment Network (TEN) would have exclusive rights to online.

In addition, the now-scrapped side scroller is mentioned but stated to have been developed in Australia, the developers were actually based in New Zealand.

Also on this day, 3D Realms announces the hiring of two new developers for Prey and Duke Nukem Forever, with Brian "Whaleboy" Cozzens joining the Duke Nukem Forever team. Only the relevant parts about Duke Nukem Forever are noted here.

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 press release concludes with a quote from Broussard.

"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."

April 27th

George updates his .plan about PC Gamer's report where the first known use of the phrase "When it's done" for DNF.

4/27/97 - 10:49pm

The news is pretty nuch [sic] out that we have licensed the Quake/Quake II engine for the next Duke Nukem game called "Duke Nukem Forever". We see this as an awesome deal with awesome potential. Mixing Duke's innovative gameplay with the amazing Quake engine should yield a massively fun game to play. See our web site for press releases pertaining to this. Here are some general answer's [sic] to common questions I've been getting.

Q: Why license the Quake engine and not use your own Prey engine?

A: It is simply a buisness [sic] decsion [sic] and a matter of timing for us. The Prey engine is in good shape and the project is marching along, but we are skipping a generation of tech with Prey and going 100% hardware only. By the time Prey comes out, the market will be there. In the meantime we wanted to make a new Duke Nukem game, and our goal is to have it out in mid 1998. The obvious choice was Quake. It is production code that is stable and out. id Software is 5 minutes away and we have a good relationship with them. It seems like a slam dunk decision.

Q: Will you maintain Quake's free play on the Internet model?

A: Yes. Duke Nukem Forever will be on TEN, but will also be available across the net in the same fashion Quake is.

We aren't discussing any more about the game at this time. We have been doing R&D and design work since December and suffice to say, we have a fairly solid game design plan to follow. We know what we want to do to push Duke Nukem as a character and a game, and for the most part we know how to do it all. We will be posting some survey's [sic] to see what you want in 1) a Quake engine game and 2) a Duke Nukem game. We will then go into a cave for the next year and work steadily on the game. When we emerge, you should be able to play something really cool. The official release for the game is, as always "When it's done".

April 28th

3D Realms officially announces Duke Nukem Forever through a press release on April 28th. They announce that Duke Nukem Forever will run in the Quake II engine, however 3D Realms only had access to the Quake engine at the time.

3D Realms Licenses id Software's 'Quake II' Engine for `Duke Nukem Forever'

GARLAND, TX -- In an unprecedented convergence of industry titans, GT Interactive Software Corp. (NASDAQ: GTIS), 3D Realms, a division of Apogee, and id Software are teaming up on Duke Nukem Forever, the sequel to the best-selling PC game Duke Nukem 3D. Under the agreement, GT Interactive obtains all interactive publishing rights for personal computer and video game systems to 3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever, which will utilize id Software's proprietary cutting-edge Quake II game engine. In addition, GT Interactive obtains merchandising rights for all derivative works, including films, home video and books for Duke Nukem Forever, as well as rights on a future title, tentatively called Duke Nukem 5.

The "Contract Signing" for Duke Nukem Forever at id Software

L-R: Scott Miller, Todd Hollenshead, & George Broussard. Scott is holding the source code, Todd is holding the "fat check", and George has the contract.

"`Duke Nukem 3D' has become a premier interactive entertainment franchise and shows no signs of slowing as the title continues to sell-through at retail," said Ron Chaimowitz, president and chief executive officer of GT Interactive. "Obtaining the sequel rights allows us to expand the amazing growth and popularity of this dynamic property via integrated marketing campaigns and multi-platform versions." Duke Nukem 3D has captivated gaming enthusiasts by combining strong character development, gripping graphics and irreverent humor with an advanced 3D gaming engine. The resulting game play experience "raised the bar" for first-person action games prompting such leading industry publications as Boot and Wired magazines to respectively call Duke Nukem 3D the "absolutely best first-person action game of the year, bar none" and "the undisputed king."

"Teaming Duke Nukem, perhaps the most recognizable character in the PC industry, with the Quake II engine, the most advanced currently available 3D engine, is an amazing quadruple-win situation: for 3D Realms, id Software, GT Interactive, and especially players and fans of both Duke Nukem, Quake and high-action 3D gaming in general. What more can players ask for than combining the technology of Quake with the attitude and interactive gameplay of Duke Nukem!" said George Broussard, head of 3D Realms. In a recent article on the success of Duke Nukem 3D, The Wall Street Journal wrote, "Action-game hero Duke Nukem gives players something they can't get elsewhere: a hero with attitude." The article also quoted industry publication GamePro who said, "This is the first game where personality has taken hold and become something unto itself." Duke Nukem Forever will further emphasize Duke Nukem as a strong action-game character who has already endeared himself to gamers worldwide.

Acclaimed for its technological 3D brilliance, id Software's Quake joined Duke Nukem 3D at the top of the charts. id's Quake II engine has enhanced capabilities over its predecessor, the end result of which will allow gamers to fully immerse themselves in a 3D environment like never before. "id Software has long been known as a [sic] innovator in 3D gaming and we are excited to be teaming with 3D Realms, a leader in their own right and Texas neighbor," said Todd Hollenshead, chief executive officer of id Software.

Offering multi-player competition via networks and the Internet, Duke Nukem 3D has consistently performed in the top 10 PC charts and later this year, GT Interactive is releasing the original Duke Nukem 3D for play on the Nintendo N64 and Sony PlayStation console systems. 3D Realms Entertainment, a division of the long-standing Apogee Software, Ltd., founded in 1987 and headquartered in Garland, TX, is 100 percent focused on creating highly innovative real-time 3D action games and nothing else. Apogee is the pioneer of multi-episode shareware marketing for games and has won numerous industry marketing and game awards. Previous hit releases include Raptor, Rise of the Triad, Wolfenstein 3D, Terminal Velocity and Death Rally. On the web, visit www.3drealms.com for more information.

id Software, founded in 1991, is a development company located in Mesquite, Texas. id's team of talented developers continue to make gaming history by creating and publishing one sensational game after another. Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, HEXEN and QUAKE have created a frenzied demand worldwide and have managed to consistently break shareware and retail sales records at home and broad [sic]. id Software, founded in 1991, is a development company located in Mesquite, Texas. id's team of talented developers continue to make gaming history by creating and publishing one sensational game after another. Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, HEXEN and QUAKE have created a frenzied demand worldwide and have managed to consistently break shareware and retail sales records at home and broad [sic]. Headquartered in NY, GT Interactive Software Corp. is a leading global publisher of entertainment and edutainment software under the GT Interactive, Humongous Entertainment and Cavedog Entertainment brands for personal computers as well as video game systems from Sony, Nintendo and Sega; and Macintosh software under the MacSoft brand. Among GT Interactive's best-sellers are Duke Nukem 3D and QUAKE. The company is also a leader in value-priced software. Located at http://www.gtinteractive.com on the World Wide Web, GT Interactive is publicly traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol GTIS.

For more information contact either:

Scott Miller: scott@3drealms.com

George Broussard: george@3drealms.com

John Carmack would update his .plan file discussing the deal.

Apr 28:

I'm sure you have all heard about the 3drealms / quake deal by now. It took a long time to get everything nailed down, but it should be worth it.

The "quake 2" terminology is a little confusing. They have all the quake / glquake / quakeworld stuff right now, but they will be picking up the quake 2 codebase after we finish it.

I'm quite excited about this -- it should be a very complimentary arrangement. We would never have done a game like Duke at id, but there are many valid styles of design that are mutually exclusive. Todd and the rest of the Duke team are hard working developers with a pretty clear vision of what they want. It happens to be different than our vision, but the market is plenty big enough for both of them.

Broussard

3D Realms also released another press release, explaining the decision about using the Quake II engine over 3D Realms' own engine in use for Prey (at the time).

Here's why we didn't use our more advanced Prey engine to make Duke Nukem Forever...

The big announcement leaked Friday night, scooped by Jason Bates of PC Gamer Online, and immediately caused a shockwave through Internet gaming newsgroups and IRC channels for Duke Nukem and Quake. Today, GT Interactive made public this big news: Duke Nukem Forever, the next all-new game starring icy confident, attitude busting, Duke Nukem, will be created using id Software's leading-edge Quake technology and tools.

3D Realms, at the same time, is developing Prey, a next-generation 3D game using technology that skips over the technology seen in today's current and soon-to-come 3D games.

This leads to the question being asked most about the Duke meets Quake connection: Why is 3D Realms using the Quake technology rather than using their own Prey technology?

Head of 3D Realms, George Broussard, responds: "It's a very good question, but we have a very good answer. Our Prey technology is predicated on 3D hardware, such as the 3DFX card and the Rendition card. Prey will not work without the current best 3D cards on the market. When Prey is released late in 1998 only then do we believe there will be enough of an installed base to support sales of a high-end 3D hardware game."

"Obviously, we considered developing Duke Nukem Forever with the Prey engine," said Broussard, "but that would have put us in the position of releasing both Prey and Duke at nearly the same time, and we didn't want both games competing so close together and taking attention away from each other. Both games would have been hurt under that scenario."

Scott Miller, head of Apogee, adds, "We want to give Prey as much space as possible, so this meant getting Duke Forever done early in 1998, and to do this we need a ready-to-go, track proven engine. I called Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, and got the ball rolling."

"We've actually been working on the game since January," said Miller, "prototyping new effects, adding game features, models, weapons, etc. We'll be showing Duke Forever in a back room at E3, at the GT Interactive booth, which will be the press' first glimpse of the game. Our goal is to release Duke Nukem Forever no later than mid-1998 and Prey late that year, making 1998 a big year for us."

Broussard continues, "Duke Nukem Forever will have all of the functionality of Quake and bring in the new Quake II functions, too, including support for 3D hardware, colored lights, Internet multiplayer capability (including a QuakeWorld similar setup) and other cool things too soon to mention. The Quake engine is a joy to work with and players have yet to see its full potential, which we plan to exploit. As Duke would say: 'This is gonna rock!'."

For more information contact

Scott Miller: scottm@3drealms.com

George Broussard at georgeb@3drealms.com

April 30th

PC Gamer Online reports that Duke Nukem Forever will use TEN online play exclusively but still allow for people to run their own servers.

Scott Miller is also interviewed over the phone by Nintendo 64 fan site N64.com, Miller tells them “We have every intention of converting Duke Forever to the Nintendo 64. We'll probably have the same companies working on Quake 64 do the port." With Miller adding: "Our policy now is that we don’t plan on making any games in the future unless they have the potential to be ported.”

A press release about Duke Nukem 3D winning the Spotlight Award in the "Best Action Game" category at the annual Computer Game Developers Convention (CGDC) two days prior would be published. Broussard is quoted throughout the press release, with the final paragraph discussing Duke Nukem Forever.

This news comes at the same time that 3D Realms announced that the next Duke game (Duke Nukem Forever) will be developed using id Software's leading-edge Quake technology, due for release in 1998. "Players can and should expect the same quality of gameplay, innovation, Duke's attitude and environment interaction as in Duke Nukem 3D," commented Broussard. "We will not let our fans down."

May 1997

May 5th

Scott Miller would particulate in an interview with The Adrenaline Vault. While the interview is mainly focused on Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem Forever is discussed a bit.

Duke Nukem Forever

AV: The Apogee/3D Realms website just announced that Duke Nukem Forever will use the new Quake 2 technology. Your website states: "In an unprecedented convergence of industry titans, GT Interactive Software Corp. (NASDAQ: GTIS), 3D Realms, a division of Apogee, and id Software are teaming up on Duke Nukem Forever, the sequel to the best-selling PC game Duke Nukem 3D." Can you explain the nature of this team-up? How involved will id Software be in the development of the game?

Scott: id will not be involved with the development of Duke 4 other than to provide us with their engine and tools, like the editor. All of the game's content will be created by 3D Realms only. We're simply licensing id's engine for a confidential fee.

AV: What will Duke Nukem Forever be like in terms of gameplay? How will this new technology affect the Duke Nukem fun-factor?

Scott: We're hoping to keep all of the fun things in Duke 3D, and make use of the obvious enhancements possible in a true 3D engine. Fans of Duke 3D will not be disappointed with Duke 4.

AV: What is your estimated release of Duke Nukem Forever? Has any preliminary work already begun?

Scott: Work began in Dec. of '96. We expect the game to release in the second quarter of 1998.

May 9th

To do: Add a Youtube video of all the parts edited together

Miller would appear on episode 119 of the internet-based gaming radio show The Mark Shander Show.

119-1OF3.RA

09:00
Shander: Which brings us to the most controversial thing (laughs) (Miller: Ok) that suddenly become popular I guess in terms of people talking a lot about, you know one particular thing and that is, that I guess it was Jason Bates from PC Gamer who first broke the story (Miller: Mm hmm). there is, I guess for lack of a better explanation here, some id technology going into a Duke Nukem 3D sequel.

Miller: Alright, the next Duke Nukem game, which we're titling Duke Nukem Forever. We'll use id's Quake technology.

Shander: Is that the original Quake or is there a Quake 2 engine or whats the story?

Miller: id actually calls it all Quake, we've been saying Quake 2 just to let people know that we are using, not the current Quake technology but the Quake technology that id is using for Quake 2 (Shander: Ok) which will have some enhancements over, that weren't seen in the first Quake.

Shander: It can do more things then the original...engine.

Miller: Its just a few more things that are being added that will make it better for players. People will see this thing in Quake 2 first as Duke Nukem Forever is coming out after Quake II. Yeah, thats kinda our big news then.

Shander: So Quake II will be out first then?

Shander: So, the question is many of us following whats going on at your place. we kinda realise that Prey is being worked on and has been worked on for a while and if Prey is kind of state-of-the-art technology, why did you feel like licensing a different engine other than your own technology for a sequel game?

Miller: That's the big question we've been asked, and we really have a solid answer for it. the Prey technology is actually ahead of the art right now. (Shander: Really?) it absolutely requires high end.. a high end 3-D card like 3DFX. we don't think a market for that will exist for a game that requires that kind of high end hardward, quarter 1998.

Shander:

Miller: Yeah, Intel has something like that. 3DFX is the only card that Prey will work on and work on really well. In 1998, every card will be at least as good. If we were to use the Prey Technolgy. If we were to have gone ahead and use the Prey Technolgy two games of that quality. (Shander: compete against each other.) Get duke out as fast as possible. Keep that going, not let duke lay dormant for too long. It makes sense.

Shander: Is the Quake' engine the best available engine in its class in your opinion right now?

Miller: We have looked at the Unreal engine, we did look at the Unreal engine ,it hasn't been road-tested yet. Go with the Quake engine.

Shander: Had the Unreal engine had been tested, would you have selected the id engine?

Miller: I can't answer that question. We've known id since 1990. The guys that did Unreal Megagames is based in Maryland and Canada. advantage,

119-3OF3.RA
26:55
Shander: Ok, maybe one more quick question before you go, (Miller: Sure), is Prey going to be on TEN?

Miller: Yes.

Shander: Ok, and...

Miller: TEN has an exclusive, when we first signed the deal, it was for five years, there's like three and a half years left in that so, anything that comes out over the next three and a half years will defiantly be on TEN,

Shander: Oh ok, great.

Miller: However, Prey and Duke Forever will be playable over the internet, freely though, we will have those options in there kinda like, what you can do with Quake.

Shander: Ok, so they will have direct support for TCP/IP?

Miller: Ah-ha.

May 10th

Broussrad updates his .plan with a small FAQ about Duke Nukem Forever.

[Duke Nukem Forever Info ]

This is sort of a mini FAQ since I keep getting the same questions over and over. It also gives people something to put on the dozens of Duke Nukem Forever sites I've seen go up. (Thanks for the support guys).

[NEW INFO]

* Yes, we will maintain Quake C, so you can modify Duke Forever all you want? DLL's? Don't know, but don't count on them. [OLD INFO]<br> <nowiki>* If you want to know why we didn't use the Prey engine, see www.3drealms.com, under About Us/Press Releases

* We plan on maintaing all of Quake's functionality in the free play over the Internet. To save some text space, since it's based on the Quake engine, you can assume we will keep most of what is already there and add to it, where we can.

* We are developing for the Quake 1 engine and will get Quake 2 at a later date, and try to add what we can from it. If you want Quake 2 info...you will have to wait.

* 3Dfx? Yes, we will maintain GLDuke, and will probably do extra stuff for the version to make it cooler.

* Yes, we will have super interactive environments like Duke 3D

* Yes, we will keep Duke's voice, sense of humor and character in place and expand upon it.

* And finally, the most asked question so far? "Strippers?" Hey, it's Duke, and we're 3D Realms.

May 20th

N64.com interviews Broussard, asking him about the possibility of a port of Duke Nukem Forever to the Nintendo 64.

N64.Com: First of all, how's life been at 3D Realms? Can you tell us a little bit about what the company has been doing as of lately?

George: Lately we've been working hard on the release of Shadow Warrior (our follow up game to Duke Nukem 3D). The shareware version was just uploaded to the net this last Tuesday. Other than that, we've also been working hard on our other internal games (Prey and Duke Nukem Forever).

N64.Com: Could you talk for a minute about Duke Forever, your highly anticipated sequel to the Duke Nukem series?

George: There's not a lot to tell at the moment, other than the news that we officially started the game and licensed the Quake technology from id. Duke fans can count on all the interactivity and Duke-ness that made Duke 3D a hit, in an all new state of the art engine. We think that mixing our game design and attention to realistic environments (as well as Duke's bad ass attitude) with the Quake engine should yield something really special to fans of 3D action games.

N64.Com: This brings us to our next question: What plans do you have to port Duke Forever to the Nintendo 64? (and would this be a straight port or are you looking into taking advantage of the N64's hardware abilities)?

George: Sure. We see no reason not to do that. I'm sure that future Duke Nukem Forever plans include a port to the N64, but we have to finish the PC game first.

June 1997

June 6th

* I did a lot of work on Duke Forever's plot line and level progression. We have it about 80% nailed down. After a few group meetings to exchange design ideas for the levels, we'll likely start working on "real" stuff, now that we have direction. Allen continues to do some amazing "tricks" with the Quake engine, that reminds me of the early days when he and Todd were playing with Build. "Wow, you can do that? Wonder why nobody did?" ;) Expect coolness. p.s. My "design doc" for Duke Forever is like 12 pages and is overtaking my life ;) ;) ;)

* We welcomed Ruben Cabrera (artist for Duke Forever) this week. He's pretty cool and comes from the now defunct Capstone/Intracorp. Don't hold that against him ;) His art rocks!

Brussard would also included an updated version of his "mini FAQ".

* Release: "When it's done", but we think sometime in Mid 1998.

June 9th

3D Realms adds a graphic of Duke called q4.gif depicting his model from the game to the product page for Duke Nukem Forever.

June 20th

Cult of Phoebus publishes an interview with Brain Cozzens. The interview had been done prior to E3.

Brian Cozzens of 3D Realms

Brian Cozzens is somewhat of a celebrity to the Quake community. When the news of his hiring at Ion Storm hit the internet many people were envious and jealous, as he made it to where many artist, level designers and coders wanted to be. After a short stay at Ion Storm, Brian Cozzens was hired by 3D Realms to work on Duke Nukem Forever. Brain hasn't publicly done an interview since his days at Ion Storm, and many people, have wondered what he's been up to: So it is with this thought in mind that I asked him for a brief interview. Thankfully, he agreed to one, and here it is, in it's entirety:

[J.Fudge] After your departure from Ion Storm, how did you come to work at 3D Realms?

[B.Cozzens] Well, I wanted to work for a cool game company.. Was going through names off the top of my head, 3D Realms came to mind.. And best of all, they were in my area.. Too good to be true..

[J.Fudge] How is the work atmosphere there? Is it laid back or are you under a constant deadline to get things done?

[B.Cozzens] The atmosphere here is great.. I never get distracted, and it is a laid back environment.. The nice thing is 3DR's motto is, "its not done till its done".. That takes alot of pressure off the developers here, and really helps with the whole process..

[J.Fudge] What parts of Duke Nukem Forever are you working on?

[B.Cozzens] Hmmm.. textures, models, skins, concept sketches, gameplay.. Pretty much anything art related..

[J.Fudge] Do you think Duke Nukem meshes nicely with the Quake engine, theme-wise?

[B.Cozzens] Very, I think its a perfect combo.. I mean, just from a logic stand point.. Quake, as it is now - is an awesome piece of tech.. Plain and simple. Duke's gameplay was excellent in my opinion.. The general consensus is this combo is so great because you've got this awesome tech, and then you've got the awesome gameplay... Between the two, I honestly have to say I think it's gonna rock...

[J.Fudge] Many people in the Quake community have said that they won't play Duke Nukem Forever because it has Duke Nukem in it. What would you say to them to let them know this will be a good game?

[B.Cozzens] I try to stay as unbiased as possible, and I do think thats being a little judgemental.. I mean, not playing a game because of a character? Would you not go see a movie because so-and-so actor annoys you - despite it getting great reviews? Besides, Duke is kinda equivalent to Arnie (don't ask me to spell his last name damn it, I don't have a clue.. hehe) .. How could you not like an action hero? All in all, I'm not really sure there's anything I could actually say to anyone to get'em to play.. The majority can do the speaking.. :)

[J.Fudge] Will you be at E3? If so which booth will 3D Realms be in?

[B.Cozzens] I won't be going to E3, I already had my trip for this month.. Not sure what booth 3D Realms will be in... But will be there, none the less... ;)

[J.Fudge] You are obviously a very talented artist: Are these learned skills or do you have to be born with your kind of talent?

[B.Cozzens] Hmmm.. Thats a really tough topic.. Alot of people feel differently about this...

I do think there's something to account for an artistic eye, and I do believe to be *good* you do need a natural talent.. But there's plenty of artistic related jobs our there this can get real fuzzy on - like ad layout. I've been Through art school, and myself have seen many people try to "learn to draw", and its not that they can.. Many can, and still be good.. But the best one's I've seen, always had the natural talent..

[J.Fudge] What are the hardest types of graphics to work on in Quake/the Quake engine?

[B.Cozzens] Hmmm, skins.. Skins can sometimes be difficult and downright annoying, especially when you have an object with intense geometry.. Very time consuming, no matter what utility you might be using..

[J.Fudge] Are you responsible for ALL the graphics in Duke Nukem Forever?

[B.Cozzens] Nope, right now me and 2 other artists are working on Duke Nukem Forever .. Michael Wallin and Reuben Cabrera, which was most recently brought on board..

[J.Fudge] What are some of the projects you worked on that we might not know about?

[B.Cozzens] Hmmm, off the top of my head.. Capture The Flag, Shrak, and some skins for the upcoming Rangers movie.. Other then that, I've donated stuff to other projects here and there in the past, but I cant seem to recall any.. :)

[J.Fudge] What is your impression of Shrak? Do you think it has been a success?

[B.Cozzens] My impression of Shrak? Well, in all honesty I thought it was good for what it was.. In my opinion, it was still put together too quickly and could've been alot more.. Now thats not that I'm saying the guys that worked on it didn't do a great job - 'cause they did.. Nor am I saying I'm not proud of my work, I just wish the title could've been different... All in all, it was good for what it was...

[J.Fudge] Is there anything you'd like to add?

[B.Cozzens] Sea shells by the sea shore...

Thanks again to Brian Cozzens, who was gracious enough to take a few minutes out of his hectic schedule this interview. By the time this interview is up, E3 in Atlanta Georgia shall be afoot, and 3D Realms will be impressing the crowd with Prey. Maybe by this time next year we will have the pleasure of seeing our favorite Ruffian in our favorite engine. When this happens, and we see how refined Duke Nukem Forever Looks, I will give the credit to the artist of 3D Realms, and to Brian Cozzens.

June 23rd

Scott Miller would update his .plan file discussing E3 and some of 3D Realms' upcoming projects. Duke Nukem Forever is discussed, mainly about its absence from the event.

* Duke Nukem Forever didn't make a showing. First, it's still at a stage where a lot of critical decisions are being made about it, and second we didn't want to let the competition see many of the incredible new innovations we already have in place. With Duke, we don't need to build up the hype--it's already there. So we can afford to keep the game in our back pocket during this stage of its development. I expect by Xmas we'll crank the Duke hype into high gear, but until that time news will be slow. Above all we don't want Duke to be grouped into the current confusion of Quake-engine games, so we'll let these other games battle it out for several more months.

June 29th

Broussard updates his .plan with a brief update about Duke Nukem Forever.

Duke Nukem Forever

==================
We continue to hammer on the design of the game. We have all the locations the game will take place in mind and are starting to brainstorm what will happen in each etc. I'm really pleased with the fact that we will build Duke Forever from a solid game spec, meaning we'll get done faster and have a more cohesive product that Duke 3D was.

July 1997

July 12th

Broussard updates the

* We don't want beta testers. Sorry. If we need some later, we'll let you know.

July 18th

* The game will be set in and around Las Vegas, and that's about all you're going to get out of us for the time being.

July 29th

* We finally got our Quad PPRO machine in to [sic] vis Quake levels at light speed. Thanks to American McGee for coming over asap after a phone call to help us get it set up.

August 1997

August 2nd

* Allen is loving the Quad PPRO for vising levels and Duke Forever is starting to shape up with some "real" art and level construction taking place.

August 11th

Duke Forever: This continues to grow and take shape, as we make more progress on art and level concepts. Keith and Stephen (Shadow Warrior) have taken to moonlighting and creating Duke Forever maps late at night (as they will be working on the game). I continue to refine the design stuff that comes up and try to polish the spec. We will be adding a new programmer to the game to help Todd in the near future. Also a new artist will be joining us soon. All in all, the Duke machine is gearing up and moving forward. Be afraid and expect great things.

August 22nd

We will kick back and relax for the weekend, but we also have a major little Duke Forever project to wrap up, so will be slamming on that all next week. I cannot express in mere words how friggin' cool Duke Nukem Forever is going to be. I have never seen such a pumped up, eneregized team in my life, all with one goal. To be the best.

August 27th

3D Realms announces the hiring of three new developers for Prey and Duke Nukem Forever, with Mark Morgan and Chris Hargrove joining the Duke Nukem Forever team. Only the relevant parts about Duke Nukem Forever are noted here.

3D Realms hires three developers: two joining Duke Nukem Forever and one joining Prey

3D Realms is excited to announce the hiring of three important developers, who will be taking key positions among our two internal development teams.

Also joining 3D Realms are Mark Morgan and Chris Hargrove, both coming from the well respected development house, Raven Software (best known for Heretic, Hexen 1 and 2, Take No Prisoners, Mageslayer, and Shadow Caster). Both developers are joining Duke Nukem Forever, making the Duke team stronger than it's ever been.

Morgan, a texture artist specialist (with strong modeling and sketching skills, too) was a key texture artist on Hexen II. Morgan is excited to be back in the Dallas area where he grew up. "I applied to 3D Realms over a year ago before going to Raven, but at the time they didn't have any positions open," Morgan revealed. "I learned a lot working at Raven alongside a wealth of talented developers, but I'm thrilled to have finally landed a job at 3D Realms working on a game that is destined to be a breakthrough for the genre."

Hargrove, who was a key programmer on Mageslayer, will add a lot of muscle to the programming power needed to help Duke Nukem kick ass against his toughest opponents ever. Hargrove will team with Todd Replogle, one of the industry's unsung talents and lead programmer on all three previous Duke Nukem hits.

The press release concludes with a quote from Miller.

"Getting developers of this talent level is not easy--any of these three could pick where they want to work in this industry," said Scott Miller, head of Apogee Software, Ltd. (3D Realms is a division of Apogee). "Both Prey and Duke Nukem Forever are going to be noticeably improved by their creative contributions."

Click here for more information on Prey, and here for more information on Duke Nukem Forever.

August 28th

Mark Morgan joins us on Team Duke as a texture artist from Raven, working on Hexen II. Welcome aboard Mark!

Chris Hargrove will be here in a couple of weeks, joining Duke Forever as a programmer (from Raven and MageSlayer).

John Anderson (Not from ion) will be joining the Prey team soon as a map designer. Prey is about to launch into overdrive as the tools are nearing completion. Tom even has rudimentary net code up and running. Prey is....well....scary. It's got us Duke guy's scrambling to outdo it ;) So customers will benefit from this firendly [sic] little intra-compay [sic] competition.

We are working this week to prepare materials for the November PC Gamer (which will feature Duke on the cover and a large preview). Be sure to check it out for some "scoop". We won't release any shots online until this hits the stands, then we will go into a dark hole and work on the game until we go blind ;)

September 1997

September 19th

George Broussard would partake in an interview in the id.lobosoft.com IRC group.

Q: What types of modifications are you going to do to the Quake engine for Duke Forever?

GB: Things we are thinking about are issues like going 16 bit on the source art. We're not sure we want the 20% speed hit. The Quake 2 enigne is pretty damned good. They've added about anything you'd want in it at the moment. We have a couple of other things we want to try, but have to get the engine first. The bottom line is we will add what's necessary to keep a competitive edge and make the game "fun".

Q: Will Duke Nukem Forever have the same interactivity as Duke 3D did? Will it possibile (sic) be better?

GB: The interaction in Duke Nukem Forever will utterly destroy that in Duke 3D ;) Everyone says that, but the thing is, we broke the interactivity barrier 2 years ago in Duke 3D, and we were just learning then. We have a whole new set of ideas now ;) So, yes, youc (sic) an expect more intricate and better interaction in Duke Nukem Forever.

Q: George, In DNF will you be able to create really great TC's? Changing almost everything except the .exes?

GB: Again, since Duke Nukem Forever is being built on the Quake 2 engine, I'd suspect you could make killer tc's with ultimate expandability. That's what id is expert at creating.

Q: Will the levels be interconnected, as Quake 2 & Hexen 2's levels ? (sic)

GB: We're still discussing the level situation in DNF. For the most part we really dislike traversing levels over and over again to do things. I think we prefer ideas like flipping a lever on one level migh (sic) open an alternate path on another level, that might make your job easier or harder.

Q: Why are the bosses in games all ways so much bigger than you?

GB: You want to scare the player and give them something larger than they've seen before, hence the huge bosses. I know in DNF we're getting away from the circle strafe a boss and shoot it 50 times with a rocket to kill it. I'd like to move towards bosses that make you "think" a little more instead of just "twitch" bosses.

Q: Is there anyway 3D realms is gonna (sic) improve internet game speed with DNF?(Kill Lag, Make it go faster, etc...)

GB: one of the reasons we licensed Quake 2 is that we know it's about as good as you can get at the moment (sic) and we wanted a new Duke game out there asap. I'm not sure you can get any better at the moment that Quake/QuakeWorld play with a 3D game. We'll see what happens when Jedi Knight and Unreal come out and how they play on the net.

Q: Have you decided how we will be able modify DNF or Prey? Like dll's or a scripting language?

GB: Quake 2 supports DLL's. We'll have to get it all and see if we do any extensions to it. I think we might want to put a small scripting layer on top of it so people don't have to buy compilers to modify the game. In short...we'll see..

Q: when are we gonna see some screenshots from Duke Forever, it's been a while and haven't seen anything, how about some artworks, or anything of the sort...

GB: I was tempted to release a DNF shot tonight ;) It will be soon. We have a big cover story in the Nov PC GAMER with lot's of Duke shots and info. We might very well release a single shot soon, just to tide you over. the guys in the other room here are screaming "DO IT"

Q: If no-one has already asked, I'd like to know if they have been given any Quake 2 code or are they still using Quake code.

GB: We're still using the Quake 1 code, but should get Q2 "soon". The cool thing is we haven't been modifying the Q1 engine like other licensees, so we'll be able to jump into Q2 right away, instead of trying to convert all the Q1 stuff over.

Q: Is it to early to tell if you are going to keep cameos and other hidden gags and surprises?

GB: Duke games are about gags and inside jokes. Expect lot's more in DNF ;)

Q: The shotgun has been a trademark weapons in multiple games from 3dr and others. Will you continue the tradition with Duke Nuke Foerever? (sic)

GB: Probably. I see the shotgun as a staple weapon for 3D action games. We will try to add a twist to it as we did in Duke 3D.

Q: what level editor does the DNF team use?

GB: QE3/4 from id.

Q: What do you think the minimum hardware requirements will be?

GB: DNF should be ok on a P150 or so. That's the specs for Quake 2 from what I hear.

As promised, Broussard would reveal the first screenshot of Duke Nukem Forever.

Miller also updates his .plan file discussing ideas planned for Duke Nukem Forever and Prey.

* We've got several totally breakthrough ideas with Duke Nukem Forever and Prey. Both these games, I truly think, will be seen as genre-expanding standard setters. Anything you've seen or played or heard about in other 3D shooters will not prepare you for the coolness we've got in store for you. ;)

September 22nd

Scott Miller has an interview with Voodoo Extreme.

VE: 3DRealms and ID together at last eh? Is it something you ever thought would happen? I mean the best of Duke and the best of Quake all rolled into one...

SM: Together at last? :) We were the company that got id into this the shareware business, and we've licensed many engines from them before, going back to the Command Keen engine used in Bio Menace. We've been together in one form or another since the beginning.

More to your point, though, it will be fun to see id's technology melded to our ability to delivery gameplay, content, a realistic environment, and interactivity.

VE: Duke Nukem' [sic] Forever should be a cracker on paper anyway. How far on is that?
SM: Making great progress. Should be out well before Prey

VE: What's going to happen in the not to distant future at 3DRealms then? I mean there's Max Payne to think about too?
SM: Between Prey, Duke Nukem Forever and Max Payne, we're in a [sic] enviable situation of having three sure-fire hits. With 3D action games being our pure focus and speciality, it only makes sense that we're going to be one of the best developers in this genre. We think it's better to be a specialist than a generalist.

Miller is asked in the final question of the interview to describe Duke Nukem Forever, Prey and Max Payne in one word, he describes Duke Nukem Forever as "kickass".

September 24th

Broussard also has an interview with Voodoo Extreme two days later.

George Brousard is currently developing Duke Nukem' [sic] Forever and Max Payne not that any of you will have heard of any of these titles though. Of course [sic] Prey is some way off yet but how's it shaping up eh?

VE: George, can you give us a brief description of what you do at 3drealms?
GB: My primary job is being a Project Leader and main design filter for the games. When I'm leading a game like Duke Nukem Forever, I make most of the calls on what we do or don't do. A lot of the ideas come from the entire team, as we often sit and discuss options, but I get the un-enviable position of making the hard decisions and plotting the general course for the game.

VE: How is Duke Forever coming along? Any ETA on that?
GB: Duke Nukem Forever is coming along great. There is a huge feature article on it in the Nov issue of PC Gamer. The team is 99% complete and we're working on it every day, and have some cool things planned for you (Duh! Like everyone says that).

VE: Being that Duke Forever is built on the Quake 2 engine - - are there any other things that you are implementing over what the Quake 2 engine will have? Such as a 16-bit palette, etc.?
GB: We're looking closely at 16 bit art. I don't like the speed hit (about 15-20%), but in a year pc's will be faster and make up for it right? It will be interesting to see how Half Life and Sin run in 16 bit, since they will be out sooner.

VE: What other kinds of things are you going to implement in Duke Forever other than visual enhancements, like Surroundsound, etc.? Also, any built in editors?
GB: Probably no editors. There should be plenty of Quake 2 tech editor's on the net by the time DNF ships. We'll basically just go along and add cool stuff where and when we can. I'm obviously not going to talk about specific's this early, with this many Quake clone's on the horizon. ;)

October 1997

October 13th

Scott Miller would send an email to then Prey project leader Paul Schuytema, suggesting an idea for the project that he also had thought of for Duke Nukem Forever.

This is for Duke primarily, but Paul you might want to consider this for Prey, too.

I think in Duke we should have two classes of inventory items. The first class is contains stuff like we've seen in Duke 3D's inventory and other 3D game's inventories.

The new class is what I call the "adventure game class." Accessed by a different method or button, this class contains items that are likely only used once or twice in the game to solve a puzzle. For example, a wire-repair kit to repair a panel to open a door. It's used once and disappears forever from your inventory. Or a can of oil that you poor into a machine to get it working. Or a piece of paper containing a code to be used later. Basically, inventory items like you found in adventure games, and you hung onto them until you figured out how and where to use them.

Sure, we'd already thought of this idea, but I think we need to push it and make it integral to the game. The idea of making these inventory items a separate key helps solidify this idea. And when this key is pressed a full list of all of the items appears on the screen along one side, and a moving highlight bar can scroll up and down through the list to pick the item you want to hold in your left had (which allows you to *use* the item where you want).

For the most part, these items replace keys. I think it'll add a lot to Duke (maybe Prey) to find special items and figure out where they should be used.

In Duke, for example, you could find a can of gas, empty bottles, some rags, and make a Molotov cocktail. Imagine the player's excitement in figuring this out. On the other hand, the player might put the can of gas somewhere and attach a proximity fuse to it, making a gas mine. Giving the player this freedom to make objects will be seen as ultra-cool.

October 19th

11 new screenshots of the game debut in Issue 42 of PC Gamer magazine. Like the screenshot above, it is more mock-ups and prototyping with the game before the Quake II engine arrives.

November 1997

November 4th

We will have a new programmer joining us tomorrow on the Duke Nukem Forever project. More info to follow soon.

DNF is starting to really hit a stride. Allen, Keith and Stephen have gotten over the hump in learning Quake mapping, and are cranking out astonishing things. The artists are cranking out 16 bit textures so fast, we have trouble keeping them busy. Damn Photoshop and Wacom pads ;)

We've done some cool 16 bit sky textures (like you see in Quake 2) and we really like the look and feel of things. Was a day or two of work getting 6 faces of a cube to look like it was a sphere, but that's all behind us now and the backdrops in DNF will rock.

We are due to get Q2 code "soon" from id, when they release Q2 to stores. At that point, we will be unleashed. We've got three weapons in the game and are playing with the look and feel a bit. Lee has been doing some sounds for them as well. (Don't ask what they are this early). Just "stuff".

Michael is animating Duke at the moment, and Brian is working on more weapons.

We've been playing a lot of Total Annihilation lately at night when the real work is done. Haven't seen a game grip the office like this since Warcraft 2.

November 20th

Duke Nukem Forever:

* Nick Shaffner joined us as a programmer a couple of weeks ago. He's a low level guru with 3D engine experience and we think he and Chris will make a hell of a programming team.

November 21st

Miller also updates his .plan file with the news about Shaffner, alongside other news various news

Nick Shaffner, previously with DigiFX, joined the Duke Nukem Forever team last week as a lead coder, along with Chris Hargrove.

December 1997

December 4th

George Broussard updates his .plan file giving a update about Duke Nukem Forever.

Duke Nukem Forever:

Bunch of random stuff. Chris finished a tool we use for mapping and creating the 16 bit skins for the models. The artists are using it now and tweaking things. Nick, Chris and I have been trying to nail down the technical specs for what we intend to do with the Quake 2 engine, and have a long list of stuff to work on. More later.

Michael is animating Duke and creating more conceptual sketches for other game characters. Brian is working on weapons and starting a character of his own.

The map designers and myself [sic] are overdue for another jam session on map progression and nailing down overall plot/story. We'll be dealing with that more over the next few days. In the meantime, they are creating really cool concept levels to drive the texture dudes, and get a massive pool of art laid out to work with.

All in all, things are becoming a "machine" now, and with the impending release of the Quake 2 code, we expect to continue the progress we are making. There's a lot of work left to do, but things are starting to solidify and take hold. We like what we see.

December 8th

Broussard updates his .plan file stating the team has received Quake II's source code.

* Got the Quake 2 code dump cd's today ;) Coolness. We go off and work our butt's off for the next year now.

December 31st

Joe Siegler posts a final update on 3D Realms' website for the year, he states that he doesn't have any news to post but states to look out for 3D Realms' upcoming games, Duke Nukem Forever included.

References

To do: Incorporate/reference this information below into article.

• https://web.archive.org/web/19970607215241fw_/http://www.allgames.com/3D/voodoo/news/04-97-w5.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/19980614013428/http://www.gamespot.co.uk/pc.gamespot/features/quakekillers/duke_forever.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/19980502012643fw_/http://golem.skygate.de/games/apogee_interview_9706/english.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20060506071058/http://finger.planetquake.com/3drealms/plan.asp?userid=scottm&id=3708
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070105142941/http://finger.planetquake.com/qfplan.asp?userid=georgeb&id=3265
• Have Levels, Will Travel - September 13th interview with mappers Keith Schuler and Stephen Cole (and then-Prey mapper Matt Wood).
• https://web.archive.org/web/19970606045948/http://www.apogee1.com:80/misc/job.html
• These comments from Broussard from an IRC chat session:

I'd like to address a small issue here: "Why aren't there any Duke Forever shots online?" "Why didn't you show at E3?"1) There is simply no benefit in our showing shots for the game this early. I DO NOT want to start hyping the game a year before. That dilutes interest over the long haul.2) We're been focusing on game design and r&d 100% of the time, with little thought or care to art.3) The artists have been on other projects while we nail down the Duke Forever design.4) Duke Forever has nothing to prove. I'd prefer to let the other 3D games fight it out in screen shots while we workThe ONLY reason Prey was at E3 was 1) to show people it wasn't dead...and kill that lame rumor and 2) to get press excited in the next generation of technology..which they did. Duke Forever had no business being at E3, as it's not going to be out in the next 6 monthsWe've been working on Duke gameplay, instead of making it purdy ;)

• Source for this Broussard comment.

There is NO market for scrollers in the US. They suck sales wise. A good 3D game like Duke or SW can sell a million copies. No way a side scroller can. Simple economics with the scroller. Plus now we can focus more on new Duke game and Prey. PC players demand more than a scroller (no matter how good). We gave it all the chances we could. We though Duke char would make a difference. Really didn't...