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Development of Duke Nukem Forever
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Development of Duke Nukem Forever
The video game Duke Nukem Forever spent more than 14 years in development, from 1997 to 2011. It is a first-person shooter for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software and Piranha Games. It is the sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, as part of the long-running Duke Nukem video game series. Intended to be groundbreaking, it became an infamous example of vaporware due to its severely protracted development schedule. Director George Broussard, one of the creators of the original Duke Nukem game, announced the development in 1997, and promotional information for the game was released from 1997 until its release in 2011.
After repeatedly announcing and deferring release dates, 3D Realms announced in 2001 that Duke Nukem Forever would be released "when it's done". In 2009, 3D Realms was downsized, resulting in the loss of the game's development team. Statements indicated that the project was due to "go gold" soon with pictures of final development. Take-Two Interactive, which owns the Duke Nukem Forever publishing rights, filed a lawsuit in 2009 against 3D Realms over their "failure to finish development". 3D Realms responded that Take-Two's legal interest was limited to their publishing right. The case was settled with prejudice and details undisclosed in 2010.
On September 3, 2010, 14 years after the start of development, Duke Nukem Forever was announced by 2K Games to be in development at Gearbox Software, with an expected release date of 2011. Duke Nukem Forever was released on June 10, 2011, to mostly negative reviews. It holds the Guinness world record for the longest development for a video game, though this period has been exceeded by other games since.
Scott Miller was a lifelong gamer who released his text-based video games as shareware in the 1980s. By 1988, the shareware business was a $10 to $20 million a year market, but the distribution method had never been tried for video games. Miller found that gamers were not willing to pay for something they could get for free, so he came up with the idea of offering only the opening levels of his games; players could purchase the game to receive the rest. George Broussard, whom Miller met while he was in high school, joined Miller at his company, Apogee, which published and marketed games developed by other companies. While Miller was quiet, with a head for business, Broussard was an enthusiastic "creative impresario". Apogee (from which a new brand name was made in 1994, 3D Realms) grew from a small startup to a successful corporation. Among the games they published was id Software's Commander Keen in 1990 and Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. Commander Keen was met with great success and inspired the development of many sidescrollers for the DOS platform, including many developed by Apogee and using the same engine that powered the Keen games, and Wolfenstein was highly successful, popularizing 3D gaming and establishing the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.
In 1994, Broussard began working on 3D Realms' own first-person shooter. Rather than the faceless marine of other games, players controlled as Duke Nukem, the protagonist of two 2D platform games from Apogee, Duke Nukem (1991) and Duke Nukem II (1992). Broussard described Duke as a combination of the film stars John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger. After a year and a half of work, Duke Nukem 3D was released in January 1996. Aspects that appealed to players were environmental interaction and adult content, including blood and strippers.
In the mid-1990s, 3D Realms began developing a new 2D Duke Nukem game. It featured pre-rendered graphics, achieved by rendering Duke Nukem 3D graphics as sprites, creating a style similar to the 1994 game Donkey Kong Country. According to the developer Aaron Hurd, Duke would fall in love with a Russian soldier named Eva; as this was the fourth Duke Nukem game, the developers chose the title Duke Nukem 4 Eva, which became Duke Nukem Forever. This game was canceled due to the rising popularity of 3D games and the title was used for the next 3D Duke Nukem project.
3D Realms announced Duke Nukem Forever on April 27, 1997. Barely a year after the release of Duke Nukem 3D, its graphics and its game engine, the Build engine, were antiquated. For Forever, Broussard licensed Id Software's superior Quake II engine. The licensing cost was steep—estimates were as high as $500,000—but Broussard reasoned that it would save time used to write a new engine. Because the Quake II engine was not finished, 3D Realms began development with the Quake engine, planning to incorporate the Quake II features as they were completed. Broussard and Miller decided to fund Duke Nukem Forever using the profits from Duke Nukem 3D and other games, turning marketing and publishing rights over to GT Interactive.
In August and September, the first screenshots of Duke Nukem Forever were released in PC Gamer. As 3D Realms did not receive the Quake II engine code until November 1997, the screenshots were mockups made with the Quake engine. 3D Realms unveiled the first video footage of Duke Nukem Forever using the Quake II engine at the 1998 E3 conference, showcasing Duke fighting on a moving truck and firefights with aliens. While critics were impressed, Broussard was not happy with progress.
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Development of Duke Nukem Forever AI simulator
(@Development of Duke Nukem Forever_simulator)
Development of Duke Nukem Forever
The video game Duke Nukem Forever spent more than 14 years in development, from 1997 to 2011. It is a first-person shooter for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software and Piranha Games. It is the sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, as part of the long-running Duke Nukem video game series. Intended to be groundbreaking, it became an infamous example of vaporware due to its severely protracted development schedule. Director George Broussard, one of the creators of the original Duke Nukem game, announced the development in 1997, and promotional information for the game was released from 1997 until its release in 2011.
After repeatedly announcing and deferring release dates, 3D Realms announced in 2001 that Duke Nukem Forever would be released "when it's done". In 2009, 3D Realms was downsized, resulting in the loss of the game's development team. Statements indicated that the project was due to "go gold" soon with pictures of final development. Take-Two Interactive, which owns the Duke Nukem Forever publishing rights, filed a lawsuit in 2009 against 3D Realms over their "failure to finish development". 3D Realms responded that Take-Two's legal interest was limited to their publishing right. The case was settled with prejudice and details undisclosed in 2010.
On September 3, 2010, 14 years after the start of development, Duke Nukem Forever was announced by 2K Games to be in development at Gearbox Software, with an expected release date of 2011. Duke Nukem Forever was released on June 10, 2011, to mostly negative reviews. It holds the Guinness world record for the longest development for a video game, though this period has been exceeded by other games since.
Scott Miller was a lifelong gamer who released his text-based video games as shareware in the 1980s. By 1988, the shareware business was a $10 to $20 million a year market, but the distribution method had never been tried for video games. Miller found that gamers were not willing to pay for something they could get for free, so he came up with the idea of offering only the opening levels of his games; players could purchase the game to receive the rest. George Broussard, whom Miller met while he was in high school, joined Miller at his company, Apogee, which published and marketed games developed by other companies. While Miller was quiet, with a head for business, Broussard was an enthusiastic "creative impresario". Apogee (from which a new brand name was made in 1994, 3D Realms) grew from a small startup to a successful corporation. Among the games they published was id Software's Commander Keen in 1990 and Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. Commander Keen was met with great success and inspired the development of many sidescrollers for the DOS platform, including many developed by Apogee and using the same engine that powered the Keen games, and Wolfenstein was highly successful, popularizing 3D gaming and establishing the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.
In 1994, Broussard began working on 3D Realms' own first-person shooter. Rather than the faceless marine of other games, players controlled as Duke Nukem, the protagonist of two 2D platform games from Apogee, Duke Nukem (1991) and Duke Nukem II (1992). Broussard described Duke as a combination of the film stars John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger. After a year and a half of work, Duke Nukem 3D was released in January 1996. Aspects that appealed to players were environmental interaction and adult content, including blood and strippers.
In the mid-1990s, 3D Realms began developing a new 2D Duke Nukem game. It featured pre-rendered graphics, achieved by rendering Duke Nukem 3D graphics as sprites, creating a style similar to the 1994 game Donkey Kong Country. According to the developer Aaron Hurd, Duke would fall in love with a Russian soldier named Eva; as this was the fourth Duke Nukem game, the developers chose the title Duke Nukem 4 Eva, which became Duke Nukem Forever. This game was canceled due to the rising popularity of 3D games and the title was used for the next 3D Duke Nukem project.
3D Realms announced Duke Nukem Forever on April 27, 1997. Barely a year after the release of Duke Nukem 3D, its graphics and its game engine, the Build engine, were antiquated. For Forever, Broussard licensed Id Software's superior Quake II engine. The licensing cost was steep—estimates were as high as $500,000—but Broussard reasoned that it would save time used to write a new engine. Because the Quake II engine was not finished, 3D Realms began development with the Quake engine, planning to incorporate the Quake II features as they were completed. Broussard and Miller decided to fund Duke Nukem Forever using the profits from Duke Nukem 3D and other games, turning marketing and publishing rights over to GT Interactive.
In August and September, the first screenshots of Duke Nukem Forever were released in PC Gamer. As 3D Realms did not receive the Quake II engine code until November 1997, the screenshots were mockups made with the Quake engine. 3D Realms unveiled the first video footage of Duke Nukem Forever using the Quake II engine at the 1998 E3 conference, showcasing Duke fighting on a moving truck and firefights with aliens. While critics were impressed, Broussard was not happy with progress.