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

[Morenatsu.]

With piracy, you can make sure your money doesn't ever go to people who don't deserve it.

 

[flyingjohn]

Someone is backing up George.

Wtf is a ZOOM platform?
"ZOOM’s mission is to design, create, and publish traditional and interactive entertainment with a Generation X trans-media appeal".
What a surprise that George "do not release Duke until ray tracing has been implemented in 1999" Broussard would have friends like these.
Edit:Also Randy screwing George puts a smile on my face.

 

[Melan]

Remember, this is one of the few industry guys who owned a honest-to-goodness money printer. Duke and the rest of the Build family continued selling waaaaay into the 2000s, generating a fat revenue stream and letting him and his team work on the expected sequel FOREVER... ...okay, almost forever. He could just fuck around and trash talk fans all day, every day.

No man in the game industry has been given this deal, perhaps not even Romero.

Now he's got a resume that stops at "bestselling game franchise", and continues with 15 years of "uh.....". Well done. The only surprising thing is he is still alive, and not a hobo in San Francisco or wherever.

 

[Ravielsk]

Remember, this is one of the few industry guys who owned a honest-to-goodness money printer. Duke and the rest of the Build family continued selling waaaaay into the 2000s, generating a fat revenue stream and letting him and his team work on the expected sequel FOREVER... ...okay, almost forever. He could just fuck around and trash talk fans all day, every day.

No man in the game industry has been given this deal, perhaps not even Romero.

Now he's got a resume that stops at "bestselling game franchise", and continues with 15 years of "uh.....". Well done. The only surprising thing is he is still alive, and not a hobo in San Francisco or wherever.

I have literary no idea who he is but just from his tweets I get the impression he is a major cunt.

 

[randir14]

Someone is backing up George.

Wtf is a ZOOM platform?
"ZOOM’s mission is to design, create, and publish traditional and interactive entertainment with a Generation X trans-media appeal".
What a surprise that George "do not release Duke until ray tracing has been implemented in 1999" Broussard would have friends like these.
Edit:Also Randy screwing George puts a smile on my face.

Never heard of them either. Looks like they somehow got the rights to sell Manhattan Project and Atomic Edition.

 

[Reever]

Let the drama begin

Least I've had the class to keep thoughts private.

As private and professional as throwing a tantrum on a social media platform like a little baby.

 

[Bad Sector]

On the other hand, Digital Extremes was fully responsible for Pariah, a linear, narrative-driven shooter on Unreal Engine 2 from 2005 which is one of the most amusingly atrocious games of that kind ever made.

Pariah is ok, as was their Warpath (not to be confused by the recent Warframe) multiplayer shooter, but that is basically the issue IMO - they were able to do at most "ok" titles at the time. And their previous experience at around 2004 seems to be helping Epic other developers with their games, with a couple of DOS arcade games being their only original titles before that. So Scott's "experienced developers" seems a bit stretched - if anything, if Digital Extremes are experienced nowadays is because of their fumbles during the time he wanted them to take over DNF.

In early 2000s tech was still advancing pretty fast. Just compare Deus Ex (2000) to Doom 3 (2004).

Indeed and that is my point, DNF2001 was built on essentially Deus Ex-level of tech, while id revealed Doom 3 in the same year (with the video i linked, this was shown in 2001 too). It made perfect sense in an industry that at the time was so preoccupied with being at the state of the art tech-wise to not want to be seen as using last generation tech - especially on shooters that at the time were leading the tech side of things.

Wtf is a ZOOM platform?

A DRM-free store, they are also a bit more strict in what they accept on their store when it comes to "DRM" (even if they technically do not consider all of it DRM) in that if a game has online elements then they must also be available offline / local too (so, e.g. a multiplayer game needs to provide a way to run your own server). They have also worked on some patches/fixes on old games as well as source ports to make them available and working on modern computers. For some older games they also provide high resolution box and manual scans and, if available, they provide the different versions per territory (e.g. the Aliens Trilogy downloads include both the US and the UK versions). I posted about it some time ago here.

 

[Riskbreaker]

On the other hand, Digital Extremes was fully responsible for Pariah, a linear, narrative-driven shooter on Unreal Engine 2 from 2005 which is one of the most amusingly atrocious games of that kind ever made.

This reminds me how years back there was this ex Digital Extremes guy posting on QT3 forums who'd write how he was ashamed of having worked on that game, heh. But even there some folks defended it somewhat.
I never played the thing myself: it never seemed to be uniquely bad to me, just utterly generic and so very... brown.

 

[Ravielsk]

On the other hand, Digital Extremes was fully responsible for Pariah, a linear, narrative-driven shooter on Unreal Engine 2 from 2005 which is one of the most amusingly atrocious games of that kind ever made.

This reminds me how years back there was this ex Digital Extremes guy posting on QT3 forums who'd write how he was ashamed of having worked on that game, heh. But even there some folks defended it somewhat.
I never played the thing myself: it never seemed to be uniquely bad to me, just utterly generic and so very... brown.

I have beaten it this year and the best way I can describe is as "wasted potential". It has a solid artstyle, reasonably interesting premise and on top of that it has a couple of interesting design ideas(for the time). Problem is that none of them are used to any great effect and end up only producing a "OK-ish" game. Not really worse than Halo by also hardly better. I could see it becoming a real stand out game in sequel or a remake but on its own its really not worth playing.

 

[Bad Sector]

I have beaten it this year and the best way I can describe is as "wasted potential". It has a solid artstyle, reasonably interesting premise and on top of that it has a couple of interesting design ideas(for the time). Problem is that none of them are used to any great effect and end up only producing a "OK-ish" game. Not really worse than Halo by also hardly better. I could see it becoming a real stand out game in sequel or a remake but on its own its really not worth playing.

Yeah i also played it recently (last year IIRC), it was in a pile of PC game DVDs i bought from ebay some time ago and i remember reading about it years ago before it was released so i was somewhat curious since then (but i never really heard about it much later). IIRC while it has a real ending, it feels as if they were trying to build a new world/universe for potential sequels as up to the end the world is expanded bit by bit and new elements are introduced. But i guess that was put to a stop after the game didn't receive much attention.

"OK" describes it best IMO, it is clear they wanted to do more with it but weren't able (for whatever reason) - which is also why i do not think them having Duke Nukem Forever at that time would have worked either.

 

[toughasnails]

Both Pariah and Dark Sector were "alright", the problem is that they conspicuously wear their inspirations on the sleeve without doing their own thing very well.
Their The Darkness 2 was better though, I prefer the first game for other reasons but purely in terms of enjoyable action I think the sequel is better.

 

[Morenatsu.]

What is this, Codexers are decline. Pariah isn't merely some okayish game, it's like a weird dream you'd have if you played too many Xbox generishooters. But I guess most terrible games are like that.

Daikatana was much better.

 

[Ravielsk]

"OK" describes it best IMO, it is clear they wanted to do more with it but weren't able (for whatever reason)

I think it was mostly bad planning because a large chunk of the game is effectively just a prologue where not much happens and then the plot is just dropped on you in the span of like 3(?) levels. Its really abrupt but its not like the game is exactly short so I can only assume they wanted to do way more but underestimated how much time it would take to fully realize their vision and course corrected only at the last minute.

 

[The Decline]

Both Pariah and Dark Sector were "alright", the problem is that they conspicuously wear their inspirations on the sleeve without doing their own thing very well.
Their The Darkness 2 was better though, I prefer the first game for other reasons but purely in terms of enjoyable action I think the sequel is better.

I liked Dark Sector, but I'm having trouble remembering what inspired it. Gears of War I guess?

 

[schru]

On the other hand, Digital Extremes was fully responsible for Pariah, a linear, narrative-driven shooter on Unreal Engine 2 from 2005 which is one of the most amusingly atrocious games of that kind ever made.

Pariah is ok, as was their Warpath (not to be confused by the recent Warframe) multiplayer shooter, but that is basically the issue IMO - they were able to do at most "ok" titles at the time. And their previous experience at around 2004 seems to be helping Epic other developers with their games, with a couple of DOS arcade games being their only original titles before that. So Scott's "experienced developers" seems a bit stretched - if anything, if Digital Extremes are experienced nowadays is because of their fumbles during the time he wanted them to take over DNF.

This reminds me how years back there was this ex Digital Extremes guy posting on QT3 forums who'd write how he was ashamed of having worked on that game, heh. But even there some folks defended it somewhat.
I never played the thing myself: it never seemed to be uniquely bad to me, just utterly generic and so very... brown.

To be more polite towards Digital Extremes, Pariah is a sub-mediocre console shooter—dull combat that involves little mobility, with the player trudging around and largely repetitive encounters in which the enemies stay at a convenient distance and move sideways a little, while there is usually a big object in between that can be conveniently used for cover. What makes the game comical is the disjointed and confused state of the narrative, as Ravielsk has mentioned, and also rather awkward cutscenes and dialogue.

However, it does seem like Digital Extremes were a bit more involved in the development of Unreal than just doing additional contracted work. The original idea was a collaboration between the creators of the two companies when they were still one-man businesses, but it's hard to say which teams did what work later. All things considered, it's interesting how much decline Epic has been involved in, directly and indirectly, after Unreal and Unreal Tournament, with the single reversal in the form of UT 2004.

I have beaten it this year and the best way I can describe is as "wasted potential". It has a solid artstyle, reasonably interesting premise and on top of that it has a couple of interesting design ideas(for the time). Problem is that none of them are used to any great effect and end up only producing a "OK-ish" game. Not really worse than Halo by also hardly better. I could see it becoming a real stand out game in sequel or a remake but on its own its really not worth playing.

Isn't that rather unfair to Halo? It is the early definitive console shooter, but I heard that its combat is nevertheless somewhat engaging.

 

[Ravielsk]

Isn't that rather unfair to Halo? It is the early definitive console shooter, but I heard that its combat is nevertheless somewhat engaging.

Halo, especially Combat Evolved, is grossly overrated mainly because for many it was their first shooter. But just like Pariah when measured against other A-listers from in the genre its just an OK-ish game with a couple of neat ideas that however are not used to any great effect. The thing is no one really makes those comparisons, instead they give Halo its own category where its the benchmark for quality. This how you get people to parrot at you how engaging the combat is despite the slow move speed and being limited to two weapons with the enemy rooster from the first level being representative of about 90% of other levels.
Yes, its engaging. Exactly once and then you figure it out and its just the same over and over again. It also does not help that the balancing is crap and weapons are either useless or OP. Thing is that when people praise these games they either talk about the multiplayer, the story, or this really cool level but rarely about the game as a whole because Halo has good parts but is not an overall good package. I have beaten the entire MCC collection on legendary and these are issues baked into every single game because at the end of the day Halo is just consolised Quake.

 

[The Decline]

Halo's level design, especially the indoor levels, was dog shit.

 

[Bigg Boss]

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd....591/98B17B145C096CA4CFBE49763BA040C7C4699CC3/

 

[Turtle-Zone 3000]

Someone is backing up George.

 

[Morenatsu.]

Isn't that rather unfair to Halo? It is the early definitive console shooter, but I heard that its combat is nevertheless somewhat engaging.

Halo, especially Combat Evolved, is grossly overrated mainly because for many it was their first shooter. But just like Pariah when measured against other A-listers from in the genre its just an OK-ish game with a couple of neat ideas that however are not used to any great effect. The thing is no one really makes those comparisons, instead they give Halo its own category where its the benchmark for quality. This how you get people to parrot at you how engaging the combat is despite the slow move speed and being limited to two weapons with the enemy rooster from the first level being representative of about 90% of other levels.
Yes, its engaging. Exactly once and then you figure it out and its just the same over and over again. It also does not help that the balancing is crap and weapons are either useless or OP. Thing is that when people praise these games they either talk about the multiplayer, the story, or this really cool level but rarely about the game as a whole because Halo has good parts but is not an overall good package. I have beaten the entire MCC collection on legendary and these are issues baked into every single game because at the end of the day Halo is just consolised Quake.

Halo is overrated but it is still way better than Lolriah. Looked nice, good vehicles, and yes, the story and atmosphere were appealing for what they were. If Pariah were a launch title, it'd be the one that everyone forgets after the first actually good game comes out. Not everything mediocre or worse is the same.

btw bungie games were already crappy to begin with, no consoles required

 

[Funposter]

You're fucking retarded if you think that Pariah is anywhere near as good as Halo lol

 

[schru]

Pariah is ok, as was their Warpath (not to be confused by the recent Warframe) multiplayer shooter, but that is basically the issue IMO - they were able to do at most "ok" titles at the time.

I have beaten it this year and the best way I can describe is as "wasted potential". It has a solid artstyle, reasonably interesting premise and on top of that it has a couple of interesting design ideas(for the time). Problem is that none of them are used to any great effect and end up only producing a "OK-ish" game. Not really worse than Halo by also hardly better. I could see it becoming a real stand out game in sequel or a remake but on its own its really not worth playing.

Sorry for quoting your posts twice, but it's interesting to note that Warpath was actually meant to be a sequel to Pariah; however, after the latter's failure it was made into a stand-alone game. Some elements appear almost unchanged from the first game, like the HUD and the healing tool.

The visual design is also somewhat similar, but if you compare it with that of maps with high-technology interiors in Unreal Tournament 2003 or 4, it also becomes apparent that it's the same style. It really does seem then like Digital Extremes worked rather closely with Epic up until that time, and it makes one wonder if Pariah wasn't meant to be a new major singleplayer shooter on Unreal Engine 2 after the failure of Unreal II. The wooded areas in Pariah also seem similar to some earlier demonstrations of the engine's ability to render natural environments, but I might be wrong about this.

At any rate, as far as these two games are concerned, I would say that the officially released version of Duke Nukem Forever is better, or at least more interesting and occasionally fun.

 

[talan]

Someone is backing up George.

George: You screwed around for over a decade and turned Duke from a very popular game series to a complete industry joke. You deserve nothing.

Zoom: You tried to do some things that never went anywhere. All you did was waste everyone's time and delivered absolutely nothing of value. You also deserve nothing.
Also, Charlie Sheen is not Duke Nukem, that's dumb.

 

[Parsifarka]

All things considered, it's interesting how much decline Epic has been involved in, directly and indirectly, after Unreal and Unreal Tournament, with the single reversal in the form of UT 2004.

UT2k4 was decline though, regardless of UT2k3; UT3 was actually an improvement. Only 100% inclined game they've been involved in since the 90s was UT4, and of course they pulled the plug —'twas too good to be true.

 

[toughasnails]

Halo's level design, especially the indoor levels, was dog shit.

Some of Bungie guys were trained, professional architects weren't they? I know that was the selling point for Oni, that the levels were designed by the real architects... and then people complained that they were repetitive and boring to look at. But the answer would be, have you ever seen the insides of modern office buildings and the like? You could say they were true to the form.

I got that impression with the facilities in Halo, angular geometry and lots of repetition. But then if you think about it from within the game's world, the facilities on the ringworld were utilitarian in purpose, their makers wouldn't have them looking aesthetically interesting for other spacefaring races that might stumble on them in the future exactly high on their list of priorities lol.

The exteriors with their landscapes were attractive and memorable though. In some ways when you played those parts the game was closer to being proper Unreal sequel that the actual Unreal 2 was. Beautiful alien landscapes, sense of scale, the sense of openness to levels, even the way the enemies were kinda agile, would keep moving or go for covers...