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Thrills, drama, a long grind, and a twist ending—these are the sorts of things you normally expect from a videogame. They are not what you expect from the story behind a game. But then, Duke Nukem isn’t any ordinary game, and the saga of its development has been anything but normal. For more than 13 years, the gaming world’s been waiting for Duke, and now the end is in sight. But first, let's review what's happened until now.
It all started back in 1996, with Duke Nukem riding high. The game for which he was known, Duke Nukem 3D, was a megaton hit, and gamers clung to the cocksure hero’s every machismo-laden word. He was, quite literally, the king. He was on top of the world. Then in 1997, the follow-up, Duke Nukem Forever, was announced and, shockingly enough, it was all downhill from there. Duke disappeared. Year after year passed, and short of a few quick glimpses of the game, Duke was a disappointing no-show. His once-loyal fan base declared him dead. Anticipation rotted and festered, boiling over into angry cynicism.
The nail in Duke’s supposed coffin, however, came in the form of developer 3D Realms closing up shop in 2009 and a subsequent lawsuit from publisher Take-Two Interactive. And then everything went silent. Game Over. Continue? 5... 4… 3… 2… 1…
But wait! At the last second, Borderlands developer Gearbox Software stepped in and saved the day. Now, Duke Nukem Forever’s back on track and—get this—it’s actually going to come out this time. So, how’s the game? Who’s in charge now? After more than a decade of waiting, will it all be worth it?
We traveled deep into the heart of Texas—to Gearbox’s only-slightly evil lair—for three interviews with the men responsible for the past, present, and future of Duke Nukem. We’ll tell you what they have to say about the legendary franchise and we’ll share the details of our hands-on experience with the upcoming game. Yes, Duke fans, it’s safe to dream again.
Original Duke Nukem designer George Broussard explains the series' turbulent development history
Maximum PC: Duke's come a long, long, long way. So we're just gonna ask: what took so long? What made you shy away from releasing DNF for all these years?
George Broussard: I wish there was an easy or dramatic answer for what took so long but there just isn't. It was just never ready. We had lots of development issues along the way. It wasn't a quest for perfection as some silly article in Wired implied last year.
I think what hurt us the most was licensing engines and trying to change them too much. Shit happens and after delays the options are to continue or kill the game. I never wanted to kill the game. We got things turned around dramatically in 2007-2009, with a lot of new hires, and most of the game as it exists today was created in that timeframe.
Do you worry that, in your pursuit of technological superiority, you allowed Duke Nukem to become a relic himself? Do you think Duke, with his crass and juvenile ways, can still be relevant in today's super-serious shooter world?
Duke offers contrast and something very unique and different from the cookie cutter, cardboard, generic game heroes that don't have an ounce of personality. It's ok to not like Duke or think him juvenile, but at least he's not boring and vanilla. Most people play games to escape and enjoy a fantasy for a while.
What do you think makes Duke so endearing as a character? Why have people continued to care so much for so long?
I think like Darth Vader is an ultimate archtype of a villain, Duke follows the archtype for the alpha male action hero. When we created Duke's character outline we wanted him to be a combination of Arnold Schwarzennegger, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. Combine those characters with a distinct look, attitude and one-liners and the result is that Duke is just an iconic character.
Expect to relive this football stadium battle in Duke Nukem Forever.
How'd the Gearbox deal come about?
First, we had a relationship with Randy and Gearbox. Randy worked for us in 1996-97 and I play poker with Randy and some Gearbox guys every week. Second, we were in a bitter lawsuit with Take 2 that was going to last for years as they had shown no interest in being reasonable. Third, behind the scenes, there were 9 or so ex-3DR guys (Triptych Games) that were working on DNF in secret, on their own money, out of a house, because they believed in the game.
Summer of 2009, I played Borderlands at Gearbox, prior to release. That afternoon, Randy and I talked about the suit and how things were going. He mentioned that he'd love to help or get invovled, and while it wasn't clear what that meant, it was clear he was passionate to somehow get involved with Duke.
A couple weeks later I mention Randy's interest in passing to my partner Scott and everyone got to talking. Around Xmas 2009 a strategy was planned that would leverage Gearbox's positive relationship with Take 2 (due to Borderlands' success), settle the suit, and get the game published.
How do you feel about that deal? Is it a best-case scenario for DNF? How much input do you have on the game now, if any?
It's the result of several back to back miracles that people will get to see this game. Imagine flipping a coin 5 times and getting heads each time. It should be win win for everyone involved. From what I've seen the game is still largely what we had in May 2009, but with a year of work and polish from the guys at Triptych Games. We provide feedback when asked about all things Duke but it's largely out of our hands now so we'll see what happens.
Is it difficult letting someone else finish up and ultimately take the reins on your creation? Do you regret not getting to finish the game yourself?
Sure, but it is what it is, and at some point you get enough distance and perspective to let things go. It probably took about a year. I'm just glad we worked it all out.
How did you originally envision Duke Nukem Forever? Gearbox’s goal seems to be a sort of tribute to all that Duke stands for. Their mantra seems to be “It’s the Duke you’ve always known, but bigger, better, etc.” Was that your goal throughout Duke Nukem Forever’s development process as well?
Part of why we did this deal is that we knew Randy pretty well and he worked on the add-on for the original game and he loves and gets Duke. So, it's probably in pretty good hands and I think they will treat it as a top series inside Gearbox. It's hard to continue an ip that someone else created, but by them owning it now, they are incentivised to care about it and not treat it as a middle tier licensed project.
What’s next for you? Do you still want to develop games? Or does the future hold something entirely different?
To be honest I haven't thought much about it. I'm just enjoying the time off. I still play games and love making them.
Next page: Duke Nukem Now with Gearbox cofounder Brian Martel »
Comments are closed on this article
Zazubovich
November 22, 2010 at 7:07pm
Will that little dude with the long hair try to make us "suck it" all over again in the twentyteens?
strangelove9
November 22, 2010 at 12:27pm
First of all, the article talks about Duke's one-liners as innovative. They were. Back then.
There are at least two other game characters, that I can think of, who filled the void after Duke Nukem with various jokes: Serious Sam and Postal Dude.
Serious Sam even poked fun at Duke, with one of the characters saying, at some point "Man, we've been waiting for that blond guy to come and rescue us... forever!"
Also, whenever I look at Duke Nukem, I can only think "Billy Idol with sunglasses"....
dankirk
November 20, 2010 at 7:29pm
The only game I'm really waiting for is HL3. Maybe they'll be interviewing Gabe next week...
cpuking2010
November 20, 2010 at 11:42am
Of having a subscription to max pc magazine if all the articles are released on here the same day I get the magazine, and the ads are less intrusive online?
arch20002013
November 21, 2010 at 11:29pm
Thats why I cancelled my subscription a while ago. Saw no point in seeing the article online around the same time as I got the magazine. Love the job Maximum PC does, even joined their folding team.
Mighty BOB!
November 20, 2010 at 3:30pm
Yeah I've been wondering that myself.. same with my Popular Science subscription.
Nickompoop
November 22, 2010 at 2:48pm
I keep my subscription because there are more reviews in the magazine, more features, and it's more convientiant to not have to turn on my computer to look up a specific product that MaxPC reviewed.
aCi11i3s
November 20, 2010 at 9:15am
The hype from this game is lonnngggg gone, and I simply do not care anymore about a tuff cool guy with one liners, going around killing aliens. Yes it was an awesome game, but the window for another sequel is past in my opinion. I mean it's been almost 15 years, and now we are supossed to be excited. Take a lesson from Blizzard and release current content, and keep it coming. Stop trying to copy Valve like they have with the HL series. By the time they release that sequel, no one will care about it either. Hate to be negative, but Duke is all I have been seeing, and I and many others in the gaming community could care less.
mesiah
November 22, 2010 at 12:45am
What in the hell are you talking about? Are you just typing to see your words in print? What you just wrote has to be the most idiotic thing I have seen today. First, take a lesson from Blizzard and release current content? Could you have have picked a worse example to bash Duke with? Blizzard has the most ridiculously long development cycles of any game producer. It was 12 years between the last SC expansion and the release of SC2. Diablo II came out in 2000 and they have been teasing us with tidbits of info about Diablo 3 for years. So please, get off Blizzard's nuts, because their track record when it comes to releasing games in a timely fashion is almost at the bottom of the list, right above 3D realms. Blizz releases games when they are good and ready, which apparently takes about 12 years.
And as for copying valve... I'm pretty sure it would be the other way around if you are referring to a game taking a long time to release. Hopefully you weren't referring to anything else because Duke and Gordon Freeman are about as similar as fire and ice.
Fr0gg0
November 21, 2010 at 10:33am
The ones that dont care are Halo, Modern Warfare etc. fanboys that like sucky games.
I guess you're one of them.
Spirrwell
November 21, 2010 at 8:25am
The hype is not gone. I know I haven't been waiting as long as you most likely have, I found out about Duke3D and the sequel when I was four, (ten years ago) I played with my brothers, it to me, is the greatest game of all time. Duke3D will always be a great piece of history. Some of my friends even know Duke, and they're waiting for the sequel. Even with people that I've introduced Duke to over the years, they loved it. Also, they aren't copying Valve... I mean, if Valve even had one choice in Duke's production and they copied Valve's choice, Duke would be worst fucking disappointment on the face of the Earth. Valve SUCKS, you can't compare it to 3DR or Gearbox. I care about the sequel, and always will, proving your theory that nobody will care about it when it's released has been proven wrong. That's completely ridiculous. There's many of us that browse the Gearbox and the Duke4.net forums that love Duke. Duke4.net's forums has 1,623 members, that's over one thousand Duke followers. That would mean that there would also be more people out there that like Duke. I care, and just because you don't, that doesn't mean everybody else doesn't either.
Cy-Kill
November 20, 2010 at 7:54am
Why is it, that when there's talk about DNF, they always and only refer back to DN3D, forgetting that there were two previous games..?!
Spirrwell
November 21, 2010 at 8:04am
Duke Nukem Forever is the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, and even if that weren't the case, they're the only two alike Duke games, both are 3D first person shooters.
Skrýmir
November 20, 2010 at 12:55am
Tons of former 3D Realms employees say that They were never actively developing DNF, that they spent most of their days browsing the forums before they made Prey. That the video they did at E3 was not ingame footage but a Scripted Cutscene they botched to make the investors money keep flowing in. They were never Actively developing the game and that is why the game was never released. 3D Realms made asses of themselves when their investors finally got fed up, now George is a fat lying piece of shit because you shouldn't be bitching when YOU FAIL TO DELIVER ON A JOB THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE OVER 10 YEARS AGO! At least Gearbox is trying to fix YOUR MISTAKE GEORGE! At least Gearbox is trying to redeem pre-orders on a game that was supposed to be out OVER A DECADE AGO! It doesn't change the fact that DNF is going to be a generic boring shooter WITH TITS! Just like the ORIGINAL! Don't waste your money on DNF, save it for Portal 2, and Deus Ex: The Human Revolution.
Fr0gg0
November 21, 2010 at 10:38am
I see that you can predict the future and knows everything about games that are gonna be released. How the HELL do you know that portal 2 or deus ex will be good? I hope they will suck so you will feel ashamed and cry a bit. (Well, i dont hope that Deus Ex will suck, but Portal i could care less about.)
So.. shut the fuck up until then, please.
Spirrwell
November 21, 2010 at 12:49am
George isn't a liar, if he were, Gearbox wouldn't be backing him you jackass, and you say Gearbox is cleaning up his mess, which would imply that Gearbox is better than he is, if that were the case then that would mean Gearbox is a liar too in your eyes. Also, if no work was done before other than a cutscene, then Take 2 would have never agreed to be a publisher in the first place. I'm a modder with quite a bit of programming experience, I know how things work. I have an idea to be an indie game developer myself someday, so I would need to study such things. More, you said "DNF is going to be a generic boring shooter WITH TITS! Just like the ORIGINAL! " If that's the case, you must have never played Duke Nukem 3D, or have never played it online, it was no generic boring shooter. It's one of my most favorite games to date, and I'm a fourteen year old, I'm a part of the modern gaming world. I'd prefer to go online to play some guy on Duke Nukem 3D any day than play Call of Duty, Halo, or whatever. Those games suck ass. Bottom line, you haven't been following Duke Nukem day by day, or else you'd have a little more respect for Duke.
straightawaykid
November 19, 2010 at 10:46pm
I love Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition, and I'm still playing it on my Athlon XP2700 A7N8X with XP. I always liked Duke's dry comments as he kicks ass. Guess I can upgrade now.
Scandata
November 19, 2010 at 8:51pm
I was thrilled to see that Duke is (once again) back from the dead. Your article implies that Duke 3D is the last release in the franchise, with no mention of the 2002 3D Realms release "Manahttan Project." Was this not considered an official Duke Nukem release? Granted, there have been other, smaller DN releases available for consoles, hand helds, and cell phones, but Manhattan Project is the only follow-up that's Windows compatible, a common thread shared with its predecessor. And adding to its credibility, Manhattan Project was just released for XBox Live Arcade in June.
straightawaykid
December 28, 2010 at 12:14am
True, it was the successor. Probably it's not included since it's not "real" 3D,
it's a side scroller. But it still has the great one liners, as does Duke Caribbean,
another skin for DN3D atomic edition. Hail to the King, Baby!
Spirrwell
November 21, 2010 at 8:02am
If that were the case they wouldn't have a demo. The game will most definitely be released next year. The demo that I'm referring to is the PAX demo. Also, with the GOTY edition of Borderlands, you can get early access to the demo that will eventually be released to the public, which is not the exact same thing as the one at PAX. The odds are in Duke's favor once the demo is released, because, we've never had a demo of Duke Nukem Forever in the past. It's simple math.
