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Dec
22
Wired´s Rise and Fall of DNF and 3D Realms
Three months ago, I was contacted by Wired magazine to do an interview for a feature article on the rise and fall of Duke Nukem Forever. Little did I know about how awesome Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem would turn out, or how informative it would be--there are details about the game in the article that I never knew about, including the possiblity that DNF had five hours of gameplay even back in 2007:
Ironically, the end was within reach, even if Broussard couldn’t see it. Raphael van Lierop, who was hired in 2007 as a creative director, was given several pieces of the game to play. It took him about five hours. Broussard was stunned; he’d thought those levels would take half that time to get through. “You could see the gears turning, with him thinking, ‘Oh wow — maybe we’ve got more game than we think,’” says van Lierop. Broussard had been staring at the game for so long, he’d lost perspective.
The article talks about how George Broussard and Scott Miller kick-started their career and how 3D Realms rose to power with Duke Nukem 3D, but hit the ground hard after constantly delaying DNF and in turn being sued by their publisher. The amount of money involved (millions!) and the figures pertaining to 3DR/DNF as mentioned in the article are pretty mesmerizing. There are various anonymous quotes from former employees in there as well, describing some of the internal problems arising from bad management:
But because the technology kept getting better, Broussard was on a treadmill. He’d see a new game with a flashy graphics technique and demand the effect be incorporated into Duke Nukem Forever. “One day George started pushing for snow levels,” recalls a developer who worked on Duke Nukem Forever for several years starting in 2000. Why? “He had seen The Thing” — a new game based on the horror movie of the same name, set in the snowbound Antarctic — “and he wanted it.” The staff developed a running joke: If a new title comes out, don’t let George see it.
The arranagement of events regarding the development of Duke Nukem Forever, in addition to the supporting quotes, are quite fantastic. Much of the drama dancing around the game's development is covered, and it would be a shame for any fan not to give this article a quick look, if not a nice thorough read.
Many thanks to Rafael and Clint for bringing the release of this article to our attention!
