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Prerelease:Duke Nukem Forever/2009

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

Hmmm...
To do:
The works...
  • Screenshots, Developer comments/statements, some portfolio images (namely screenshots) and leaked videos.
  • Elaborate more on the suspending of development and layoffs, things that occurred and the aftermath of the news.
  • Videos in question
    • Portfolio videos from James Houska, Bryan Brewer, and Jay Brushwood.
    • Extra footage from The Jace Hall Show.
    • Leaked compilation video of gameplay (that one with the crappy Duke impersonation) that leaked in december.
    • Internal trailer created by Triptych, including in final game. (Not sure if it actually was from 2009)
  • Expand info around the lawsuit (and summarize it as well.) Shacknews has plenty of good articles outlining court documents.
  • Sources for the article.

Now creeping into its 12th year of development, many at 3D Realms are hopeful of a 2010 release date, but things would quickly go array by early May...

January 2009

January 12th

George Broussard makes this following post to Twitter.[1]

Game developers often say "Cutting is shipping". We begin this year with a vengeance and a chainsaw.

January 26th

George posts another tweet saying that he is flying over to Take-Two's offices in New York to demonstrate the game. He presents the game to Take-Two either on the day or the day tomorrow.[2]

Packing up to go visit our publisher and show them the game and cool sh!t to get them hyped and excited. Cold and rainy day to fly.

January 28th

[3]

Working on item interface and 360 d-pad layouts.

February 2009

February 9th

[4]

Looking at item interface on screen again. We're trying to finalize some core systems and polish them up.

February 11th

[5]

A peek inside our task database at some resolved issues.

DNF2009-TaskDatabase.jpg

February 13th

[6]

Working on hud impact and hit effects today. Been in a while but need polish and attention. These things really contribute to the "feel".

April 2009

George posts a tweet stating that the team is closing out another milestone, says that they have 71 more tasks left to complete, and claims that the team probably started with 800-900.[7]

Closing out a milestone this week. 71 more tasks to do and we started with probably 800-900. Been a good push. Next one starts Monday.

May 2009

Early this month, 3D Realms demands an additional $6,000,000 to finish the game. Take-Two allegedly agreed to this but would only offer $2.5 million upfront and another $2.5 million when the game is completed.

May 6th

George Broussard suspends development of Duke Nukem Forever.

May 8th

3D Realms lets go of not only the DNF team, but their entire staff. A farewell message on the website is published.[8]

SITTING/KNEELING L-R: Chris Cummings, Randy Forsyth, David Riegel, Pat Jones, Pete Knepley, Jay Brushwood, Dave Ratti, George Broussard, Allen Blum, Chris DeSimone, Brian Hook (pink tie), Quinn DelHoyo (GDC shirt), Scott MacLean, Rob "MacGuvyer" Faison, Andrew "Sonic" Kerschner, Bryan Turner, Steve Blackburn, Kaiser the dog.
STANDING L-R: Brian Lawson, John Pollard, James Houska, Andrew Baker, Eric Von Rothkirch, Chris Skelton, Mark Skelton, Gary Buchanan, Kevin Green, Joe Siegler, Rick Huenick, Chris Smith, Ben "Too Happy" Eoff, Trammell "T-ray" Isaac, David Carter, Bryan Brewer, Layne Johnson, Brad Jacobs, John Anderson.

Portfolio Leaks

James Houska, Bryan Brewer and Jay Brushwood.

Tramell "T.Ray" Isaac would publish a series of screenshots

  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam1.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam2.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam3.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam4.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam5.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam6.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam7.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-Dam8.jpg

Notably he would also post screenshots of areas later seen in The Doctor Who Cloned Me DLC.

  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-EDF1.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-EDF2.jpg
  • DNF2009-TramellIsaac-EDF3.jpg
(Source: Tramell Isaac's Blogspot)

May 11th-12th

Take-Two has had enough and has filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms for their failure to deliver the game among other things. While the documents are dated on the 11th, the documents have stamps that state they were filed in the New York County Clerk's office on the 12th. Also, around this time an order is given to 3D Realms not to temper or transfer the source code and assets of the game.

May 14th

When asked if 3D Realms had received the $12 Million from Take-Two in a Shacknews Chatty thread, Scott Miller states that they had received nothing.[9]

No. We didn't get a penny of that money. This, along with so much else, is 100% spin, being eaten up by those who have no clue whatsoever. But, we cannot talk yet. We will, soon...

May 17th

A user known as "DukenukemForeverXX" claiming to be a former developer makes this comment in a thread on the r/programming subreddit.[10]

Dear Reddit:

Don't panic. I was one of the programmers for 3D Realms and I assure you that Duke Nuke'm [sic] Forever will be finished. While this is the end for 3D Realms; several of those key persons involved have purchased the rights for Duke Nuke'm [sic] Forever.

Our resources may be limited but we are dedicated to finishing the game. We now have a open schedule and freedom from those not directly involved in the creative process. We have set a tentative beta release date of Spring 2010.

Thanks to all those supporting us through this.

May 18th

3D Realms issues a press release to several media outlets explaining their side of the story regarding the lawsuit. These outlets go on to write articles about the press release.

3D Realms Release Pertaining to Recent Events Surrounding Duke Nukem Forever

Dallas, TX (May 18, 2009) - In light of recent press articles and statements by Take-Two (to the media and in a lawsuit), we want to set the record straight on some issues.

Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing. 3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6th, while we regroup as a company. While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.

As some of you may know, Take-Two filed a lawsuit last week containing various accusations and claims against 3DR and the uncompleted DNF game. Take-Two never paid 3DR advances or any signing bonus or any other funds related to DNF, up until July 2008, at which time they paid $2.5m in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game. This is the sum total Take-Two has paid 3DR in connection with DNF. Take-Two claims that they paid $12m to GT Interactive/Infogrames to acquire the publishing rights for the DNF game. To be clear, 3DR was not a party to that transaction and did not receive any money from it. When the DNF game was originally signed with GT Interactive in 1998, GT paid 3DR a $400,000 signing bonus. Up until July 2008, this was the only publisher money we received for the DNF game. Meanwhile, 3DR put over $20m into the production of DNF.

Take-Two retains publishing rights for the DNF game, although 3DR retains certain rights to sell the game directly to the public. Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game. In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized. Take-Two was well aware that 3DR needed the funding to continue the DNF game development. Suddenly, after months of negotiations, Take-Two materially changed the parameters of the proposed funding agreement. 3DR informed Take-Two that it could not financially afford the changes Take-Two was suggesting and would be forced to release the team if an agreement was not reached. Take-Two made a last minute proposal to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team. Take-Two's proposal was unacceptable to 3DR for many reasons, including no upfront money, no guarantee minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game. From 3DR's perspective, we viewed Take-Two as trying to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise in a "fire sale." Those negotiations fell through on May 4th, a deal never materialized, and the DNF team was sadly released a few days later.

Less than a week after the DNF team was released, Take-Two filed its lawsuit in New York, seeking immediate temporary injunctive relief. The court denied Take-Two's request for a temporary restraining order. While we cannot comment on the details of the ongoing lawsuit, we believe Take-Two's lawsuit is without merit and merely a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher.

May 29th

The case is transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.(citation needed)

Hmmm...
To do:
Locate source of this

June 2009

Nine former employees of 3D Realms would continue work on the game at their homes, and later form Triptych Games.

3D Realms files a response to Take-Two's lawsuit on June 19th, becoming noticed by gamepolitics.com on the 22nd. In the document, 3D Realms responds to the allegations. The full document can be read here.

August 2009

[11]

The Future

I've read that 3D Realms is closing. Is that true?

SM: No, 3D Realms is not closing. The internal development is no longer a part of this business, though.

It seems like the whole blog world exploded talking about Duke Nukem Forever stopping production.

SM: There's a lawsuit around this, so I really can't get into any details on that.

I'm just worried about the future of 3D Realms.

SM: Our future is fine. We have, I think at last count, 11 or 12 projects in the works. One of them is coming out next week. Another one is coming out in about six weeks. Both of those are on the iPhone. We have some major games in production still. So we're fine. That's not an issue at all.

So did you just lay off the development staff for Duke Nukem Forever? Is that what happened?

SM: Right.

November 2009

Triptych Games finishes their work on the singleplayer campaign.

November 28th

DNF2009-FacebookDday.jpg

December 2009

December 21st

Wired magazine publishes online and later in their January 2010 issue the famous article: Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem.[12] In it, journalist Clive Thompson provides an autopsy of the game's development. Much of the information known about the game's development is sourced from this article, including on this wiki.

December ?

in the first printed issue of gaming magazine Gamesauce, Scott Miller discusses upcoming Duke projects, many of which never come to pass. On the topic of Forever he says the following:[13]

we've never said that Duke Nukem Forever has ceased development,"... "yes, we released the internal team, but that doesn't correlate to the demise of the project.

References

  1. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, January 12th 2009
  2. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, January 26th 2009
  3. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, January 28th 2009
  4. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, 2009
  5. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, January 28th 2009
  6. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, February 13th 2009
  7. ↑ Post by @georgebsocial - Twitter, April 13th 2009,
  8. ↑ Goodbye - 3D Realms, May 8th 2009
  9. ↑ Chatty thread - Shacknews, May 14th 2009
  10. ↑ Comment from 3D Realms shuts down. No Duke Nukem ever forever :( - Reddit, May 17th 2009
  11. ↑ 20 Years Of Evolution: Scott Miller And 3D Realms - Gamasutra, August 21st 2009
  12. ↑ Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem - Wired Magazine, December 21st 2009
  13. ↑ http://www.shacknews.com/article/61747/3dr-teases-numerous-duke-nukem
  • @georgeb3dr I'm a UI guy in the industry and I'm curious, are you guys using some kind of middleware like Scaleform or something custom?
@shawnomatic77 Just basic custom stuff. Being a shooter you don't tend to need EA sports/racing style interfaces.}}
  • "Putting in some new main menu sound effects. Beefy sounding."
  • Mark Skelton response to his portfolio gaining attention:

What exactly does that matter to you? These characters have already been seen in the trailers and released screen shots. Why would you be worried about it? This is a Zbrush site, and Im posting zbrush work.. lets just go with that and leave the other stuff to me... yeah? Im trying to get a job and support my family, if youve got a problem with that... then I dont know what to tell you...

I was at 3drealm almost exactly 2 years. a lot of the staff were under 3 years. I took the job because if any company on the planet needed help finishing a game, 3d realms did, and we ALMOST pulled it off. In 2 years of being there, we were able to take this convoluted mess and make it into a badass game. I wish the world would have seen it to realize how cool and fun it was. The team we had was fantastic. But, no one will ever know..

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