Duke Nukem is set to make a big comeback in 2011 – just in case you haven’t heard, Duke Nukem Forever has risen phoenix-like from the ashes of development limbo. Gearbox Software has picked up the rights to finally finish Duke Nukem Forever, and we’re all expecting it sometime next year – for real this time.
Duke Nukem 3D first hit our gaming screens in January 1996, over 14 years ago. Few titles of this age are still spoken of with such fondness and reverence. The drawn out Duke Nukem Forever saga has been a bitter pill for fans.
Duke 3D was one of the pioneering games to break into the 3D arena at a time when 3D technology was still in its infancy. Duke 3D was also one of the first to feature local and online multiplayer, giving rise to a number of Internet matchmaking services.
Over the years there have been countless modifications, total conversions, community map packs, texture overhauls, engine ports and source code rebuilds.
One of the finer examples of such projects would be EDuke32, a Duke 3D source code port into a homebrew 3D engine, spruced up with high resolution textures. The project boasts contributions from an Nvidia software engineer and 3D Realms employees.
Following in the footsteps of Duke’s legacy, comes Frederik “Fresch” Schreiber, a man determined to re-imagine Duke Nukem 3D as if it were developed in today’s modern gaming environment. Schreiber’s project, currently code named Duke Nukem: Next-Gen, hasn’t been in the pipe for all that long.
It started as an experiment but soon after revealing his work, Internet-based Duke 3D fans were going nuts for the idea. Schreiber jumped through numerous hoops before finally getting in contact with PJ Putnam, vice president of Gearbox Software.
Perhaps in a bold marketing move, or perhaps a demonstration of why Gearbox has remained a respected development company, it was decided to grant Schreiber a personal non-commercial license to Duke Nukem.
Schreiber has put together a small team and they have begun the process of creating this ambitious fan project. With the original Duke Nukem 3D’s legacy of technology contribution in mind it’s fitting that the mod is using another fantastic 3D engine as it’s backbone – the Unreal 3 engine. The final product will be released for free and will feature a 3 episode single player campaign and a full multiplayer component. Of course, it will be released “when it’s ready.”
The video below offers a taste of the project as it stands so far. It might only show off the roof area of the first level of the Hollywood Holocaust episode, but already things are looking spiffy. Features such as bump-mapped high resolution textures and proper lighting and shadow effects are evident. It’s a little rough around the edges, but at this early stage that’s to be expected.
The Duke Nuken: Next Gen team intends to release a publically playable deathmatch milestone test which will include some of the maps, the weapons and items. The team already has an internal date for this release, and “its sooner than you think.”
One might wonder about the motivation behind such an ambitious project. Aside from fan adoration, the developers of this project stand to gain a lot of experience and perhaps some development prestige and street cred.
It is not uncommon for developers of successful game modifications to find themselves sought after by large dev companies. It is an especially good idea to gain experience on the Unreal 3 engine tech, as this is still one of the most popular engines used by the current generation of developers.
To keep up with the development process, visit the Gearbox Software forum thread dedicated to the Duke Nukem: Next Gen project.
Discuss Duke Nukem: Next Gen on the MyGaming forum.
