Legal Settlement 'Paves The Way' To Release Of Duke Nukem Forever?

from the i'll-believe-it-when-i-see-it dept

Wed, Jul 14th 2010 1:54pm — Mike Masnick

What, you thought that the fact that just because the developer of the world's most famous vaporware game, Duke Nukem Forever, had gone out of business that the game might really never come out? Yeah, well, after the company shut down, there was the little matter of a lawsuit with Take Two over the game. Michael Scott points us to the news that Take Two and 3d Realms have now settled their legal fight over the game, meaning that this "could pave the way to the release of the game."

Ah, but there's a caveat. You see, the game "now reportedly needs to be completed." Ah, right. Same thing we've been hearing for 13 years now. So, I think we can go back to considering the game permanent vaporware.

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Filed Under: duke nukem, vaporware
Companies: 3d realms, take two

34 Comments

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Jamie, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:07pm

This makes me happy. I think not releasing DNF should become a corporate tradition - like stealing gnomes and sending pics of them enjoying far away vacations, or disastrous, wealth destroying mergers.
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A Dan (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:15pm

Games
Mike, you never struck me as a gamer. The topic doesn't really fit in with the general set of stories here.

I really enjoyed the first couple Duke Nukem games. I never understood the popularity of the 3D one, though.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:22pm

I have Duke Nukem 3D. I liked playing it for a while. Eventually the sound stopped working with newer computers and sound cards (I'm not going to bother with an emulation and work arounds either. I went to their site and tried the patches and it didn't work) and the game became more and more obsolete as much better free games came out. Also, the Duke Nukem 3D thing wanted you to pay some monthly subscription fee to join a network of others over the Internet and I never bothered with that. Free games now have all that with much better graphics, controls, functionality, and everything.

So now there is Duke Nukem forever and the problem? It hasn't been released yet and it's already obsolete. It probably still runs on DOS and requires a 16 MB video card to play :)

So now they figure, dang, all this and the game became obsolete. Releasing it would be an embarrassment in this day and age. Well, I suppose it can have historical value in computer history museum sites and such, but still. So now they figure it's not complete because it needs to be upgraded to meet today's standards. By the time they do that it'll be obsolete again. Better to just forget about it.
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PolyPusher (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:22pm

I don't think it will lead to a release. The amount of work required to start a production like that up again, using existing assets is tremendous. By the time they actually assemble a new team, get them up to speed and back to work, the engine and original game art will be too dated.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:25pm

Re: Games
The 3d one was the best nothing like playing one on one by literally calling your friends computer. I believe it was the first multiplayer computer game I ever played.
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Danny, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:26pm

But how good could it be?
"Ah, right. Same thing we've been hearing for 13 years now."

13 years. In console years that was back when the PS1, N64, and Sega Saturn were going at it. Its funny to joke about still wanting this game but in all serious how hungry can people be for a game that has been promised for that long. It would be like console gamers being promised a Goldeneye 2.

Either this game is going to be WAY outdated and people will only play it for sh1ts and giggles or the makers will try to bring up to today's standards in pc gaming and people will then still only play for sh1ts and giggles while complaining that they should have just kept the old engine.
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Modplan (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:31pm

Re:
The entire reason the game has been delayed this long was because every time another game came out with visuals or features that they didn't have, they HAD to outdo it in DNF.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:33pm

Perhaps:
Perhaps they could release it episode style, a la the new Monkey Island and Sam And Max games from Telltale? Seems like a good way to dip your foot in the water and gauge public interest (something I'm probably going to do w/Scribd for a book to be released chapter by chapter once goals are hit)....
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Blatant Coward (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:36pm

Re: Games
Technology meets lawyers. Seems of a kind to me. Whens DN5 coming out?
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interval (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:36pm

If you're a fan/follower of the running gag (at least in the tech circles I run in) that is DNF, and tear up a little at the thought that DNF might actually be released; fear not! Broussard will go to a convention, see some technology that he SIMPLY MUST HAVE for DNF, and it will continue to be the laughing stock and vaporware king that it is.

Actually, I understand that Broussard likely isn't involved with 3D Realms anymore, so just maybe they'll actually trot that puppy out. No one will give a damn though.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:37pm

Re: Re:
I think that's a bad strategy altogether. No matter when you release a game these days it will become obsolete in well under a year.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:50pm

Re:
"I think not releasing DNF should become a corporate tradition"

You mean like not releasing ACTA?

Maybe it'll leak and then they'll release it.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:52pm

Re: Re:
but what they release will just be a draft, then they will continue working on the rest of it in secrecy again. It'll leak again one day, they'll release it again and continue working on it in secrecy. Duke Nukem Forever will be worked on forever, hence the name.
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Chris "Jesdisciple" (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:58pm

Accurate title, I s'pose...
Maybe the "Forever" title is a joke by the original creators on their intentions of spawning an immortal publicity stunt? Regardless, it seems to be accurate in that sense at least by coincidence.
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Chris "Jesdisciple" (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 2:59pm

Agh...
I see someone beat me to a similar notion by a few minutes. Oh well.
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weneedhelp (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:02pm

now reportedly needs to be completed
Most likely will need a total re-write as technology has grown so quickly.

I'd still buy it... when it drops to $9.99.
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Jamie, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:03pm

Re: Re:
No, it is entirely unlike not releasing ACTA.

I'm looking forward to being 70 and, while eating my Soylent Green in the morning, hearing via my brain implant how some random game distributor just resolved a series of meta-lawsuits and ritual combats, and, despite the regrettable destruction of 4 colony asteroids, has secured the intellectual property of Take-Seventeen, Inc., and is finally about to release the game.
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Ron Rezendes (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:10pm

WoW
WoW took forever and a day to come out and it still did well. I played Asheron's Call for 9 years always hoping and waiting for WoW to be released - it took so long I finally lost interest. I also cancelled the AC subscription as well. Thoroughly enjoyed playing the later GTA games.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:20pm

Re: WoW
Of course, WoW was made by Blizzard, and Blizzard's release dates are a running joke on their own.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:28pm

Don't worry!
It's almost done!
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Trerro, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:31pm

Money was never the issue.
Get someone else leading the project, and it'll be done in 1-2 years, even if they have to start from scratch.

The title is just so perfect for the ultimate in vaporware though. :P Not only is "Forever" its release date, but DNF is exactly the problem - they Did Not Finish.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:56pm

Re: Don't worry!
Just another eternity left!!
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BruceLD, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:59pm

Subject
I can only suspect after reading about all of the delays and troubles that went in to polishing the game for release is:

The manager/owner who had the final say on the game suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and no doubt some type of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The guy spent millions of dollars of his own money constantly making changes over and over and over again causing so many of his staff to quit in frustration.

I think whoever puts it out is going to earn a kings ransom in profits.

I for one will buy it (yes, I'd buy it...not pir8 hate)
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BruceLD, 14 Jul 2010 @ 3:59pm

Subject
*it. ;)
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 5:06pm

Re:
Dang, I hate seeing a fellow gamer stumped because some moron forgot to add a support layer for old software (yes, I'm looking at you microsoft).

If you have a decently powerful pc, you can try running duke3d (or any other dos game for that matter) in DosBox http://www.dosbox.com/.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 6:59pm

Re: Re:
I tried messing with that already and it didn't work either.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 7:08pm

Re: Re:
I found it and just tried to install it on this computer just for kicks and it won't even install on my 64 bit Windows 7 operating system. It says

"The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you are running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an X86 (32-bit) or X64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher."
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 7:19pm

Re: Re: Re:
I just tried a new simulator and it works.

http://www.eduke32.com/#download

sound and everything.
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Tom Landry (profile), 14 Jul 2010 @ 9:06pm

from what I understand there is quite a bit of content and all it needs is to be tied up and polished.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2010 @ 10:48pm

Re:
It's almost done, just one more eternity.
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Chris "Jesdisciple" (profile), 15 Jul 2010 @ 1:53am

Re: Re:
I suppose some might say they've already gone through two or three eternities, so that means they're about 2/3 of the way finished! That leaves... 6 or 7 years average. 20 years is a long development cycle.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2010 @ 5:16am

Yeah, like they can release something that doesn't even exist. DNF has gone through at least 6 iterations, none of them ever past the level/gameplay design phase. All those trailers of the game were prerendered, and not even in the graphics engine that DNF was supposed to be using.
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Rekrul, 16 Jul 2010 @ 7:43am

Re:
I have Duke Nukem 3D. I liked playing it for a while. Eventually the sound stopped working with newer computers and sound cards (I'm not going to bother with an emulation and work arounds either. I went to their site and tried the patches and it didn't work) and the game became more and more obsolete as much better free games came out. Also, the Duke Nukem 3D thing wanted you to pay some monthly subscription fee to join a network of others over the Internet and I never bothered with that. Free games now have all that with much better graphics, controls, functionality, and everything.

The best way to play Duke Nuk'Em 3D is with the JFDuke3D port, which you can find below. Installing it is easy, drop in the data file from DN3D, and you should be good to go. There are enhancement packs if you want to spruce it up a little. I played through the whole game, and also Duke it out in D.C. using this program;

http://www.jonof.id.au/jfduke3d
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sprearson81 (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 6:29pm

3D version is just too much fun.
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