Have any of the builds of Duke Nukem Forever ever leaked?

[Shinji]

Bike

 

[Baron Dupek]

Another day, another 4Chan leak

"Duke is coming. Here's a taste:"
"Not just the editor, we will be releasing the full source code too."

something in June

 

[lightbane]

Looks good, but why is Duke fighting regular/human-looking cops instead of pig ones? Brainwashing?

 

[Turtle-Zone 3000]

Loud Audio Warning.

Weapons

 

[Tacgnol]

2001 build looked superb for the time. Those character models are really detailed, wouldn't have looked out of place in a game released 2 or even 3 years later.

 

[Dodo1610]

Those graphics are absolutely insane for 2001, Max Payne was the best-looking shooter at the time and this demo has better lightning, character model and even VFX how did this even run on consumer hardware back in 2001?

 

[Wunderbar]

Those graphics are absolutely insane for 2001, Max Payne was the best-looking shooter at the time and this demo has better lightning, character model and even VFX how did this even run on consumer hardware back in 2001?

NOLF 2 came out in 2002 and looked about the same, if not better.

 

[Tacgnol]

Those graphics are absolutely insane for 2001, Max Payne was the best-looking shooter at the time and this demo has better lightning, character model and even VFX how did this even run on consumer hardware back in 2001?

NOLF 2 came out in 2002 and looked about the same, if not better.

NOLF2 did indeed have very good models and lighting for the time, though old Monolith were superb at engine development so I guess not that surprising.

 

[Bester]

You gotta admit that the game does look dark. And if I remember right, that was one of the reasons they decided to switch engines.

Let's hope someone adds raytracing to this build and solves the issue.

I'm super excited.

 

[Dayyālu]

Looks good, but why is Duke fighting regular/human-looking cops instead of pig ones? Brainwashing?

From 2001, methinks.

 

[Wunderbar]

You gotta admit that the game does look dark.

Unreal engine 1 has a weird quirk of making captured footage darker than the game really is.

I had a similar problem when playing The Wheel of Time - the actual game was bright, but screenshots were so dark I couldn't discern anything barring hud.

 

[schru]

You gotta admit that the game does look dark.

Unreal engine 1 has a weird quirk of making captured footage darker than the game really is.

I had a similar problem when playing The Wheel of Time - the actual game was bright, but screenshots were so dark I couldn't discern anything barring hud.

Screenshots and probably also videos of Unreal engine games don't capture the in-game gamma setting; this applies to the in-game screenshot function too. This can be got around with by using a program like Fraps or using one of the new user-made renderers that include the option to capture gamma-correct screenshots.

At any rate, I don't think it could have been a problem with the engine as Unreal and Unreal Tournament are bright and colourful enough, it's just that the original Direct3D renderer (this applies to Deus Ex too) doesn't work correctly on newer systems and the brightness setting can't be adjusted (and Unreal is even darker because of the MultiTexture feature). I think 3D Realms just intended for those levels to be somewhat dark or didn't finish the lighting work.

 

[Riskbreaker]

There is a cynical part of me that cannot but draw connections between this leak happening just now, after so much time, and Nu3DR announcing their "AAA reboot" of some as yet unspecified classic FPS series.
But hey, if there really is a connection then this would be a helluva nice move on their part (and, given their track record, it might even be the only worthwhile thing to come out of that new project of theirs).

schru
I had this issue with the Dark Engine games, Thief 1/2, where I generally had to touch up the gamma in screenshots to make them intelligible whereas the visibility is just fine in game

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Since we have lived in the time of retro shooters for the last few years I have at several times asked myself why Gearbox doesn't just release the old version on DNF as a "boomer shooter"? Anyway nice to see that it's coming with source code and all. Looks great!

 

[geno]

Looks good, but why is Duke fighting regular/human-looking cops instead of pig ones? Brainwashing?

From 2001, methinks.

I assume they are possessed by aliens or something.

 

[Dodo1610]

Since we have lived in the time of retro shooters for the last few years I have at several times asked myself why Gearbox doesn't just release the old version on DNF as a "boomer shooter"? Anyway nice to see that it's coming with source code and all. Looks great!

DNF was never finished so there is nothing Gearbox can sell. Randy Pitchfork certainly isn't going to give it away for free

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Good ol' Unreal 1 engine. Crisp, clean, graphics.

Will play.

 

[toughasnails]

Stellar news, I think that most people p much gave up hope on this ever happening.
Given the way early builds of HL and Stalker were received in their respective communities, I can see us getting multiple projects that try to restore the "original vision" on the basis of this... and probably a fair bit of drama.

 

[randir14]

Nice that we'll finally get to play it. Years ago Randy Pitchford claimed he would released all the old material in some form, but obviously he's full of shit.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Since we have lived in the time of retro shooters for the last few years I have at several times asked myself why Gearbox doesn't just release the old version on DNF as a "boomer shooter"? Anyway nice to see that it's coming with source code and all. Looks great!

DNF was never finished so there is nothing Gearbox can sell. Randy Pitchfork certainly isn't going to give it away for free

But how much would it actually cost to finish it? The PR is for free since everyone will be talking about it. Other companies can make profitable boomer shooter so why can't Gearbox? And DNF 2001 would be the boomer shooter that outsells them all.

 

[Sodafish]

So Pitchford is indeed a lying, greasy sack of shit?

 

[CyberModuled]

I can understand wanting to cover his ass and even downplay it a bit since if Gearbox tries to investigate who the leaker is, he's probably be a prime suspect but man, this reeks of, "This is my fault it never came out but I don't want to admit it."

Regardless, I hope the people who have it are being honest with the release date. There was a bit of a song and dance with this back in 2020 with someone also leaking videos if I recall, but at least these guys seem a lot more forthcoming about it.

 

[randir14]

Probably leaked by Schreiber himself, other than Randy Pitchford he's the only one with confirmed access to all the old data. A few years ago he said he wanted to release it:
https://forums.duke4.net/topic/9930...-to-be-almost-complete-but-it-probably-wasnt/

Also why would supposed "leakers" announce a release date instead of just putting it out right away, and why would they waste their time doing things like adding widescreen support

 

[rusty_shackleford]

retreading a painful past

you'd think he watched his family get massacred or something

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Broussard, that fat useless fuck, is the reason we never got to see this finished. His mismanagement and his misplaced sense of perfectionism buried DNF and 3DR.