> Since when has 3D Realms been working on Duke Nukem Forever (DNF)? 

We started working on the game about January 1997, and we're in the process of building the
team and getting into high gear now. 

> Why will you use the Quake 2 engine, not the Prey or Build engine? 

You can see out press releases on that topic at www.3drealms.com. But it basically scame down
to a timing issue. Prey is slated for late 1998 at the earliest and will also be a hardware
accelerator (3Dfx for example) game only. We wanted a new Duke Nukem game out before that,
and the Quake engine fit all the criteria. It was a production engine, out and tested, and id was
only 5 minutes from our offices. 

> Is it true that you thought about using the Unreal engine (if yes, why haven't you done so)? 

Timing issues as stated above. Unreal looks cool, but 1) it's not out yet and 2) I didn't think we
could have a game ready fast enough with it. 

> Compared to Build, what are the advantages of the Quake 2 engine? 

Clearly the abilities of a true 3D engine and polygonal characters. 

> Will DNF run under DOS or Win95? 

Undetermined at this time, but we are working in Win-Duke now. I'd imagine we'll try to go Win95
if possible. 

> Which 3D-accelerators will be supported? 

Whatever Quake supports now, which is OpenGL and Verite. We can add other cards, or
optimized current cards (like 3Dfx specific code) near the end. 

> Will DNF support Intel's MMX? 

Probably not. 

> I guess there will be a shareware of DNF? 

That's what we've done in the past, as we pioneered the whole shareware game concept. 

> Can you tell me anything about your ideas for the gameplay (story, weapons, leveldesign)? 

Not at the moment. All we can say is expect Duke 3D's gameplay and more in the Quake engine.
We will obviously try to develop the Duke character a little more, and push the interactive
environment's that we started in Duke3D even farther. 

> Do you take design ideas from gamers? 

We listen to what gamers want and try to add what we can. We get most of the gamedesign
ideas from people inside 3DR, but we pay very close attention to what people online want, as they
are the ones that will buy the game. 

> What about multiplayer? Will players be able to set up their own servers for internetplay as they
could do with Quake? 

The multiplay aspects of Quake will all remain in Duke Nukem Forever. 

> When will you show the first screenshots/artwork to the public? 

Unknown. When they are ready ;) And we have something to show. We want to avoid too much
early hype. 

> GT Interactive obtained the merchandising rights "for all derivative works, including films,                 home video and books". Are there any concrete plans (for a film etc.)? 

We've been in talks with movie houses for sometime. GT thinks there is a good chance for a Duke
movie at some point. But the process is slow and frustrating...so don't get too excited yet. 

> DNF was at first the name of a new side-scroller. What happened to this project? Will it be
finished under a new name? 

No, we cancelled the project. It was mainly due to the fact that sidescrollers are dead on the pc.
Nobody cares about them. Even if one sells reasonably well, it can never hope to achieve the
sales of a game like Quake or Duke Nukem 3D. So, we decided to pear down our projects and
focus on the big games. 

> Duke3D got in conflict with the law here in Germany (cause of the violence) Note: I live in
Germany. Will you make a special (censored) version of DNF for the German market? 

If we have too, but we're about of the mind to stop censoring our games. If certain countries don't
want them. Fine. 

> The last question: the release date is "hopefully early 1998"? 

I wouldn't say early ;) But I think 1998 is reasonable. We have a great deal to do, following a hit as
big as Duke3D. So we will take our time and do it right, as with all 3D Realms games. 

> Well, thank you for answering these questions. 

Thank you for the interview. 

<----------------------------------------------------------->

This is Interview with George Broussard by G-Force of EDF 

            George Broussard Interview

G-Force: Are you going to incorporate a QSpy type program into Duke Nukem
Forever eliminating the need to an external program? 

George: I'm not sure we can't use QSpy or some derivitive. 

G-Force: I'm sure you keep up with your competitors, I'm also sure you know of
QuakeWorld and how most Quake server have gone to this new Internet interface
and programming. Is Duke Nukem Forever going to use a QuakeWorld type
internet protocol or is it going to stick with the old Quake tcp/ip programming? 

George: We will get all the QW stuff, so yes, it should be the same. 

G-Force: You stated that your keeping with the old QuakeC in Duke Nukem
Forever but do you have plans of improving on it in any pacific way and if so what
ways?. 

George: Sure, we will add what features we can, but we're not sure of them yet.
We might also pursue a DLL route. Also unsure. DLL's are a pain but there so
much faster 

G-Force: Here is an important question for me is, Duke going to have a use
button. Something I think that Quake sorely misses, making it difficult for Quake to
add any real inactivity to its levels. In short are you going to add light switches and
shotable lights, playable pachinko games? I just find it hard to believe that much
interaction in a Quake type game. 

George: Yes, we already have way more finctionality and interativity than Quake.
We might keep some doors and buttons like Quake does (but the cool stuff, you
will get to do). 

G-Force: My finally question as you and Steve Cole has stated there will be
strippers in the game and they will be polygon models, who gets to make the skin?
 =D 

George: Some lucky artist ;)


<------------------------------------------------------>

   This is Interview with George Broussard by Stagger of The Nukleus

    6 Questions with George Broussard 

Stagger: Are there any new concepts/features you have in mind for
Duke Nukem Forever that you can reveal as of now? 

George: Not really. We're keeping a lot of the design issues close to
us at the moment. 

Stagger: Is there any sort of storyline in the works? 

George:Yes, but we aren't discussing much yet. It's Duke, it's action,
and we will expand on our interactive environments and Duke's
character even more than the first game. With Duke's gameplay in the
Quake engine, what can go wrong? ;) 

Stagger: Will DNF have any editting utilities available for it? DukeC? 

George: We will maintain everything that Quake did. That means
Quake C (unless we go a DLL route), free Internet play and the rest of
it. 

Stagger: What (if anything) do you expect to have ready to show off at
E3? 

George: We're not sure what we will show at E3. We are pretty busy
finishing Shadow Warrior at the moment. If we show anything at all, it
would be a very early sneak peek behind the scenes to some key
press people. We're not real big on showing early alpha's to most
people. 

Stagger: Quake had Nine Inch Nails... is there a possibility DNF will
have a special guest band do the soundtrack? 

George: Yes, possibly, and we are in talks with some people now. But
we can't give out any specifics. If we did do anything like that for music,
it would likely just be for a title theme song or something and not the
entire game. 

Stagger: Who would win in a fight, Duke Nukem or Lo Wang? 

George: I suspect that is a debate that will be talked about on the net ;)
I've already seen a few threads like that. Perhaps they will meet in a
game some day. 


<----------------------------------------->

This is Interview with Scott Miller by Stagger of The Nukleus

6 Questions with Scott Miller

Stagger: Duke3d ended up having very original settings such as
Washington DC, strip bars, etc... what kind of settings do you plan on
having for Duke Nukem Forever? 

Scott: Duke Nukem Forever will center around Las Vegas, which is
obviously very fertile ground for Duke and his exploits (casinos, strip
bars, Area 51, Hover Dam, Grand Canyon, etc.). We've already
modeled the MGM casino and have working slotmachines, roulette
wheels and other similar items. There will also be levels in space. 

Stagger: Any news on new weapons/items yet?

Scott: Most have already been spec'ed out, and you can expect to see
very original weapons along with some of Duke's old favorites. I can't
give any details yet, because they're are too many closely competing
games currently being made and we don't want to help anyone out. ;) 

Stagger: Will there be a shareware version out first a la Shadow
Warrior? This year possibly? 

Scott: Yes. We always release games in this manner. (We invented
this method, in fact.) 

Stagger: When do you plan on actually starting the full-time design of
DNF? 

Scott: Currently it's being developed by a solid team of five people. A
new top-talented artist is joining the team in two weeks, and as soon
as Shadow Warrior is done then two more mappers will join as well as
George Broussard. Things are rolling along fine. 

Stagger: Will Duke have any sweet rides like our favorite ninja, Lo
Wang? 

Scott: You betcha! And much cooler, too. Expect to see Duke's Harley
among the rides. Imagine jumping over areas, like the Grand Canyon,
on his Harley. :) (Duke might say, "Heh heh, this wasn't such an evil
jump." -- A reference to Evil K.'s failed attempt.) 

Stagger: How often do you play Quake? :) 

Scott: Not too often, actually. Just enough to study the good and bad
points and learn from it. However, most of the core team members
have played Quake a *lot*. 

I want to add that players who liked the level interactivity and realism
that 3D Realms pioneered in Duke Nukem 3D can expect the same
level of attention to detail and realism in Duke Nukem Forever.
Everything that players like about Quake, feature-wise, will be included
in Duke, plus we'll add our own stuff, of course. Players should have
high expectations, because we're going to deliver :) 



<------------------------------------------>

        The Team

        Todd Replogle 
Lead Programmer - Has been the lead programmer for all previous 3 Duke Nukem games. 

George Broussard 
Project Manager - Also was Executive Producer of Duke Nukem 3D, and is president of 3D
Realms. 

Allen Blum 
Associate Producer & Lead Level Designer 

Stephen Cole 
Level Designer - Also worked on Shadow Warrior & Duke Nukem Atomic Edition. 

Keith Schuler 
Level Desinger - Also worked on Shadow Warrior & Duke Nukem Atomic Edition. 

Ruben Cabrera 
Artist - Ruben joins us from IntraCorp and is a welcome member to the Duke Forever Team. 

Michael Wallin 
Artist - A new hire to 3D Realms hired on for the Duke Nukem Forever Project. 

Brian "Whaleboy" Cozzens 
Artist - A New hire to 3D Realms (from Ion Storm) hired on for the Duke Nukem Forever
Project. 


<-------------------------------------->
This is sort of a mini FAQ since I keep getting the same questions over and over. It also gives people
something to put on the dozens of Duke Nukem Forever sites I've seen go up. (Thanks for the support
guys).

* Release: "When it's done", but we think sometime in Mid 1998.

* Yes, we will maintain Quake C, so you can modify Duke Forever all you want? DLL's? Don't know,
but don't count on them.

* If you want to know why we didn't use the Prey engine, see www.3drealms.com, under About
Us/Press Releases

* We plan on maintaing all of Quake's functionality in the free play over the Internet. To save some text
space, since it's based on the Quake engine, you can assume we will keep most of what is already there
and add to it, where we can.

* We are developing for the Quake 1 engine and will get Quake 2 at a later date, and try to add what we
can from it. If you want Quake 2 info...you will have to wait.

* 3Dfx? Yes, we will maintain GLDuke, and will probably do extra stuff for the version to make it cooler.

* Yes, we will have super interactive environments like Duke 3D

* Yes, we will keep Duke's voice, sense of humor and character in place and expand upon it.

* And finally, the most asked question so far? "Strippers?" Hey, it's Duke, and we're 3D Realms.

<------------------------------------------>
George Broussard's Finger .plan:

    * I did a lot of work on Duke Forever's plot line and level progression. We have it about
    80% nailed down. After a few group meetings to exchange design ideas for the levels, we'll
    likely start working on "real" stuff, now that we have direction. Allen continues to do some
    amazing "tricks" with the Quake engine, that reminds me of the early days when he and
    Todd were playing with Build. "Wow, you can do that? Wonder why nobody did?" ;) Expect
    coolness. p.s. My "design doc" for Duke Forever is like 12 pages and is overtaking my life
    ;) ;) ;) 


    * We welcomed Ruben Cabrera (artist for Duke Forever) this week. He's pretty cool and
    comes from the now defunct Capstone/Intracorp. Don't hold that against him ;) His art
    rocks!
                           General Duke Forever News

    The information on Duke Nukem Forever is scarce to say the least, mainly because the
    game is in an early development stage, but we do know some things about the game. 3D
    Realms had chosen to use the Quake II gaming engine developed by id software's game
    engine genius John Carmack. Quake II will feature more interaction that the original Quake
    engine. Duke Nukem Forever will have all of the functionality of Quake and bring in the new
    Quake II functions. 

    *Support for 3D hardware
    *Colored lights
    *Internet multiplayer capability (including a QuakeWorld similar setup)
    *Driveable vehicles
    *Quake C, so you can modify Duke Forever all you want

    In addition 3D Realms plans to maintain all of Quake's functionality in the free play over the
    Internet. To save some text space, since it's based on the Quake engine, you can assume
    they will keep most of what is already there and add to it, where they can. They are
    developing for the Quake engine and will get Quake II at a later date, and try to add what
    they can from it. If you want Quake 2 info...you will have to wait.

    *3Dfx? Yes, we will maintain GLDuke, and will probably do extra stuff for the version to
    make it cooler.
    *Yes, we will have super interactive environments like Duke 3D
    *Yes, we will keep Duke's voice, sense of humor and character in place and expand upon
    it.
    *And finally, the most asked question so far? "Strippers?" Hey, it's Duke, and we're 3D
    Realms. 

    The same core team of developers will be heading up Duke Forever with additional help
    from specifically hired people that 
    were brought in for the assignment.

    Todd Replogle - Lead Programmer
    George Broussard - Project Manager/President of 3D Realms
    Allen Blum - Associate Producer & Lead Level Designer
    Stephen Cole -Level Designer
    Keith Schuler - Level Designer
    * Ruben Cabrera - Artist 
    * Michael Wallin - Artist 
    * Brian "Whaleboy" Cozzens - Artist 
    Lee Jackson - Music & Sound Director 

    * designates new people especially hired for Duke Forever