Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Duke Begins

Showing posts with label Duke Begins. Show all posts

2010/09/28

Duke Nukem 3D Remake Using Unreal Engine 3 In Early Stages

There’s an interesting mod that I read about on Bluesnews the other day. Someone over at the new Gearbox Duke Nukem forums (which are now the official ones instead of over at 3D Realms), has undertaken a project to create an unofficial remake Duke Nukem 3D, using Unreal Engine 3 technology – the engine of choice nowadays for most mods.

It’s been said that it basically uses the same core features as seen in Duke Nukem Forever.

There are several screenshots up showing off the work done so far by one guy. And apparently he’s all ready contacted the likes of Scott Miller of 3D Realms to secure permission to carry on with the project. Scott says he would like to see the work done so far and so would George Broussard.

A screenshot of early work on the project, with comparison.

The man behind this project, known as Fresch, previously worked on a Daikatana remake, which was abandoned due to lack of interest, despite some fanfare from none other than John Romero. Then a SiN remake, which was cancelled after a Cease and Desist was issued – not to the guy working on it directly, but to the ModDB people, who subsequently deleted the mod’s pages.

There are of course worries over whether the mod will allowed to carry on in development. Seeing as Scott says he’s interested and hasn’t outright denied permission, that’s a start. Upon contacting Gearbox reps, they said that even though they have the rights to the Duke Nukem IP (acquired from 3DR last year), and are working on Duke Nukem Forever, and possibly Duke Begins, they do not have any say based on earlier Duke Nukem titles - such as DN3D, DN 2, and the original Duke Nukem.

But in an update, Scott did get back to Fresch, and said that it would have to go through Take-Two, the former publisher of DNF. That’s the publisher that caused 3DR all the legal woes in the past. This has aroused some debate seeing as 2K now owns the publishing rights to DNF, and had nothing to do with Duke Nukem 3D. But if it is true, then hopes of getting a green light for a remake of “Red Light District” are slim.

Still, like most of the pessimistic posters on the forums say: these projects are very rarely followed through until completion, and there’s not much one guy can do, although the maker claims he will assemble a team if given the go ahead from 3DR or whoever has the final say.

The screens do look amazing though. And if you thought that the Polymer renderer for EDuke32 and the HRP looked shiny, then you’ll have to wear sunglasses, just like the Dukester, when taking a look at these.

Sources:

http://www.bluesnews.com/s/114567/duke-3d-mod
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=111335

2010/04/07

George Broussard Comments on 2010 “Official” DNF Trailer

He’s very cross

Another video clip of collected Duke Nukem Forever footage that was uploaded last year and came to our attention is purported by some to be “official”. This has created waves on the internet, and seems to have irked George Broussard of 3D Realms – the man behind the Duke.

“FYI gaming press. That "new" DNF trailer that's going around is not official. Someone used leaked footage from portfolio sites and cut their own trailer with official logos and it's fooling people. Not legit. Most of that voice in the trailer was done by whoever made the trailer. It's not Jon St. John.”

I’ve seen the trailer myself and I noticed right away. It’s not the Duke’s voice. And people are trying to fool others into thinking it’s official, even calling it an official release trailer. He also denied this when asked on Formspring:

“No. That second trailer is not official and is a low quality fan made trailer created out of some leaked footage a "fan" grabbed from a level designer portfolio site. The music and voice was all added by the video creator.”

So there you go. But I have to admit, besides the cr@ppy voice acting and sound, it was good seeing some new footage of the game. Some parts, like the one at the beginning with the gambling scene, reminded me of a scene from the E3 2001 where Duke was fiddling with a vending machine.

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Sources: Twitter - Formspring

2010/02/04

New Duke Nukem Forever Footage Surfaces

Recently a new video on YouTube popped up, showing some gameplay footage of Duke Nukem Forever. But it wasn’t like the Demo Reel footage, which showed the latest build of the game, and the Unreal Engine 2.5 in action.

This was apparently footage collected from different sources, like footage from the E3 1998 trailer, as well as newer stuff. It's not an official trailer, even though it has logos at the beginning. As far as I know, Gearbox didn't have anything to do with this game. They were supposedly working on Duke Begins however. Odd to see that. I guess it just proves it's unofficial. But it does look like DNF.

I went over to YouTube to see it, but the video that was posted on other blogs that have covered the story has been taken down, and this message was in pink at the top:

“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by 3D Realms Entertainment.”

Damn, I wanted to see it!

Apparently this might be the guy who caused it to be removed:

“I WANT MY VIDEO REMOVED FROM THIS SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am the creator of that video! get that off of here! There is a huge possibility i could get in trouble with george!!!!! How do I contact the people of this site!”

Yeah right. You can still find others on YouTube search results. Whether they’ll work or not or have been taken down, I’m not sure. I’m not going to embed it here in case.

Update: I watched it. Some of those videos on YouTube still work, so get there while you can. There's the short version at 1:34 with some really crappy music, and then there's the full thing which clocks in at just over 3 minutes. That's the trailer you want, since it has sound, music, and not to mention Duke Talk!

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Source: YouTube - Kotaku

2009/12/03

Apocalypse Then: Duke Nukem II

On this day in gaming, December 3, 1993, Duke Nukem II was released for MS-DOS. It was a 2D platform game developed and published by Apogee Software, a major company back in the eighties and nineties and still alive today, albeit known as 3D Realms. The name Apogee Software is also still going, but under a separate company known as Apogee Software LLC.

Duke Nukem II is the second game in the series, preceded by Duke Nukem, and succeeded by Duke Nukem 3D, and the fourth game in the series, Duke Nukem Forever, which is in limbo at the moment after a dozen years in development.

Duke Nukem II was not as popular as it’s sequel, Duke Nukem 3D, and wasn’t ported to any other consoles.

The game consisted of four episodes, the first one being available as shareware, with each episode containing 8 levels, making 32 in total. The story kicks off with Duke Nukem on talk show (supposedly Oprah, seeing as it was revealed in the first game that Duke like watching her show), promoting his autobiography Why I’m So Great in an interview. During this period, the Rigelatins, an alien force, kidnap Duke and aim to use his brain for nefarious purposes. Duke Nukem breaks free from his cell where he was being kept prisoner using an explosive molar hidden in his mouth.

It’s been said that Duke possessed more personality in this game than the first one, and instead of his purple shirt in the first game, he now wears the red wifebeater that people now associate him with, as well as blue jeans and boots. A couple of things about his appearance that changed in the sequel and thereafter was that in this game he wore silver bicep rings and didn’t have on his trademark sunglasses. Duke didn’t talk much either in this game, with the “I’m back!” line in the opening movie being one the only ones uttered in the game. Duke Talk and more adult themes became a mainstay in DN3D and every Duke Nukem game after that.

In the game’s levels you collect weapons, health, powerups, and Duke Nukem merchandise, often found in crates, while proceeding towards the exit. At the end of the level your score is added up. Health includes soda cans, which can also be shot in order to earn points, a six pack of soda, turkeys, and atomic health. This last health item reappeared in Duke Nukem 3D.

Collectable items include glass orbs, Letters spelling NUKEM, and the crystal ball.

I seem to recall other items as well, like sunglasses…

Monsters ranging from robotic spiders, to mutants, and Rigelatin guards as well as others populate the levels and Duke can dispatch them with weapons he finds along the way, like the Laser, Flamethrower, and the Rocker Launcher. You can’t switch between these weapons, and have to use each one up at least a little before collecting another one. If these weapons are used up entirely after several shots, then you will revert back to you normal weapon. The last level, level 8, squares you off against the boss enemy.

The player can jump, climb ladders, use elevators and climb on pipes and girders. If the player stopped while climbing on these, he could hang there with one arm while firing his gun with the other. Duke can also use a sky car of some sort in some levels, which was recreated in Duke Plus, a mod for Duke Nukem 3D.

The music accompanying the game’s levels was composed by Bobby Prince and he once again was influenced by metal music like in Doom, using tracks like “Angry Again” and “Skin O' My Teeth” as the basis for the MIDI soundtrack.

The opening movie in the game has him in a shooting range firing a smiley face in to the target, a scene taken from Lethal Weapon. After that he says “I’m back!”, a line taken from The Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger was an obvious influence on Duke’s character, and The Terminator movies as well as other Arnie films served as inspiration for the series as well. “Angry Again” appeared on the soundtrack to the film Last Action Hero, also a film starring Arnold.

The cover art of Duke Nukem II was also visible in the first level of Duke Nukem 3D, “Hollywood Holocaust”, as an arcade machine . If you try to use the machine, Duke says, "Hmmm, don't have time to play with myself."

Duke Nukem Manhattan Project, although more of a spin-off of the main series, paid tribute to the original two games by also incorporating more of a platform element in the game.

You can pick up Duke Nukem II here if you want to play a classic.

2009/06/23

The End for Duke Nukem, or is it Only Just the Beginning?

Lately there's been a resurgence of news regarding Duke Nukem Forever and the whole 3DR-T2 situation. The latest is that 3DR has filed a countersuit against Take-Two.

Apparently another Duke Nukem game was in development at 2K Games until this year when all of a sudden the project was either halted or cancelled. This game was to be titled Duke Begins- a working title, and was scheduled for a 2010 release. This was the game reportedly involved in the publishing deal between T2 and 3DR back in 2007 for $ 2 500 000.

3DR now believes that there's some sort of conspiracy, or another bully tactic, conducted by Take-Two and 2K Games to pressure 3DR to sell the Duke Nukem IP (Intellectual Property).

Some people report that 3DR might still be working on Duke Nukem Forever, even though the DNF team is gone.