Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever, the fourth incarnation of 3D Realms venerable hero, will be powered by the Quake 2 graphics engine. This decision came as a surprise to many fans of both games.
- "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.
A press release quickly followed explaining why 3D Realms was not using the graphics engine from Prey, another 3D game in development at 3D Realms, for the next version of Duke Nukem.
In Duke Nukem Forever, the wise-cracking hero moves from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Duke will battle aliens in casinos, drive vehicles, gamble, and display his trademark attitude. Here is the first screenshot to emerge from Duke Nukem Forever:
Duke Nukem Forever is sure to introduce new and interesting elements into the world of first person shooters. Duke Nukem 3D was much maligned by many fans of Quake, but their can be no doubt that Duke was highly competitive with Quake even with an admittedly weaker graphics engine. This success cannot just be attributed to the wise-cracking hero or the abundance of bikini-clad women. Duke had innovative weapons and several improvements in realism. Duke Nukem will undoubtedly carry on this tradition.
Thus far, we only know some basics about the features Duke Nukem Forever will support. Since it is based on the Quake engine, the game will allow the Duke Community to modify the game extensively once it is released. There will be a version of Duke that will support Open GL. We also know that 3D Realms will do their best to squeeze every possible feature out of the Quake/Quake 2 engine to deliver a strong game.
Spotlight
Duke4.com is a very professional looking site dedicated to the next incarnation of Duke. This site, created by Matt Anderson, is relatively new, but has an impressive layout, design, and organization. Stop by Duke4.com before you go anywhere else.
Duke4Ever.Com is one the largest site dedicated to following the development of Duke Nukem Forever. This is the place to go for current information about the game. Unfortunately, the site suffers from the same plight as all Duke Nukem Forever sites: slow updates because of a lack of news coming from 3D Realms.
Other Duke Nukem Forever sites
The Myths and Facts of Duke Nukem Forever is a solid site with a great news page, maintained by Bunso. Nuklear Meltdown and Planet Duke Nukem Forever are two other good sites that will undoubtedly become even better when the game comes closer to release.
This page is maintained by Darren L. Tabor,
aka DaKoTa