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How Success Killed Duke Nukem

Submitted by: KnightMare @ 11:00 AM | Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | (url: http://www.wired....)

On the last day, they gathered for a group photo. They were videogame programmers, artists, level builders, artificial-intelligence experts. Their team was finally giving up, declaring defeat, and disbanding. So they headed down to the lobby of their building in Garland, Texas, to smile for the camera. They arranged themselves on top of their logo: a 10-foot-wide nuclear-radiation sign, inlaid in the marble floor.

To videogame fans, that logo is instantly recognizable. Its the insignia of Duke Nukem 3D, a computer game that revolutionized shoot-em-up virtual violence in 1996. Featuring a swaggering, steroidal, wisecracking hero, Duke Nukem 3D became one of the top-selling videogames ever, making its creators very wealthy and leaving fans absolutely delirious for a sequel. The team quickly began work on that sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, and it became one of the most hotly anticipated games of all time.

It was never completed. Screenshots and video snippets would leak out every few years, each time whipping fans into a lather and each time, the game would recede from view. Normally, videogames take two to four years to build; five years is considered worryingly long. But the Duke Nukem Forever team worked for 12 years straight. As one patient fan pointed out, when development on Duke Nukem Forever started, most computers were still using Windows 95, Pixar had made only one movie Toy Story and Xbox did not yet exist.

On May 6, 2009, everything ended. Drained of funds after so many years of work, the games developer, 3D Realms, told its employees to collect their stuff and put it in boxes. The next week, the company was sued for millions by its publisher for failing to finish the sequel.


12-22-09 - 02:03 PM
Originally posted by Lemon  
yea how the hell is this success?

sounds like complete, repeated failure


the article isnt referring to the success of duke forever... rather the initial success of duke3d that pushed the lead designer to try and trump that success beyond reason.
12-22-09 - 02:07 PM
Perfect example of game theory and economics of moral hazard.

This is why you have a Boss that sets deadlines. To prevent shit like this.
12-22-09 - 02:15 PM
nope... blizzard doesnt follow doesnt follow deadlines and every game is finished eventually and receives game of the year.

if 3dr wanted some revolutionary they should have written their own engine and written it several years ahead of its time. that way the game would be in sync with the current tech upon release.

in other words their boss was an idiot with regard to design/planning not scheduling.
12-22-09 - 02:41 PM
There is nothing magical in this. Others have blown titles too (Tribes). If anything, it is a study and story of how persistent entropy can destroy fun.
12-22-09 - 02:56 PM
I made the mistake of reading this thread through the front page formatting. Bad times.
12-22-09 - 03:02 PM
It's always an interesting read when seemingly intelligent people are so self-defeatingly boneheaded
12-22-09 - 03:52 PM
Maybe self-defeatingly intelligent people are being seemingly bonehead.
12-22-09 - 03:52 PM
Maybe I'm a chinese jet pilot.
12-22-09 - 03:58 PM
Originally posted by SuicideTaxi  
Maybe I'm a chinese jet pilot.


Are you a naked chinese jet pilot?
12-22-09 - 04:08 PM
This is an acceptable option, to me.
12-22-09 - 04:36 PM
Originally posted by HaPpY  
nope... blizzard doesnt follow doesnt follow deadlines and every game is finished eventually and receives game of the year.


the difference is blizzard doesn't make decisions based solely on graphical fidelity. Their games look good, but they have never been technical (in terms of graphics) achievements. Dumping a basically finished game to switch engines for a small improvement in graphics is incredibly stupid.
12-22-09 - 04:37 PM
i am pretty fucking sure blizzard employees follow deadline
12-22-09 - 04:41 PM
Originally posted by HaPpY  
nope... blizzard doesnt follow doesnt follow deadlines and every game is finished eventually and receives game of the year.


Ghost.
12-22-09 - 04:43 PM
Originally posted by downarmy  
i am pretty fucking sure blizzard employees follow deadline


blizzard is notorious for delays. deadlines my ass
12-22-09 - 04:44 PM
Originally posted by CarpeIppon  
the difference is blizzard doesn't make decisions based solely on graphical fidelity. Their games look good, but they have never been technical (in terms of graphics) achievements. Dumping a basically finished game to switch engines for a small improvement in graphics is incredibly stupid.


ya id be curious how many people would actually be capable of playing dnf if it ever came out.

duke3d didnt really push graphics to some extreme level for its time and they werent so much the selling point as the personality and gameplay (imo)... so i dont get the captain ahab mentality of the dnf designer to push visuals so hard. probably would just end up like crysis.
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