Former 3D Realms community manager Joe Siegler has just posted a very touching blog article about a special Nuke logo that existed on the 3D Realms office floor until the company went belly-up.  Long story short, the $10,000 floor piece glorified the 3DR lobby until its demise earlier this year, when Goodwill overtook the building and tore down the tiles.

As a testament to the original work, longtime fan MrBlackCat has recreated the Nuke logo on the floor of his game room--and boy does it look awesome.  Check out the photos below for a comparison--but do yourself a giant favor and read Joe's post while you're at it.  As a bigtime Duke fan, I found it to be a great read.
 

Now that both add-ons for Duke Nukem Forever are available through the Mac App Store in addition to Steam, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it seems a good time to reflect back on the new single-player campaign contained within The Doctor Who Cloned Me.

For that, Gearbox community manager Chris Faylor caught up with David Riegel and Allen Blum of Triptych Games --  the studio formed by several 3D Realms veterans to ensure that the legendary unshippable game actually saw release -- to see what they had to say about the making of The Doctor Who Cloned Me.

Chris Faylor: The Doctor Who Cloned Me starts off in Area 51, a location that the Duke Nukem Forever team had discussed at various points but one that wasn't fully realized until now. Can you shed some light on that?

David Riegel: There was never a definitive script at 3D Realms, although there was always a plan. The plan was for Duke to start in Vegas, then go to the Hoover Dam, and then to end up in Area 51. The game was constantly being worked on, and there were always some levels that were close to done and always some levels that had atrophied. When Triptych took over Duke Nukem Forever, we talked a lot about how to take the most fun parts of the game and to put them into a full story with a full plot and how to put everything together. Looking at the levels that were most important, we felt that the Duke story was really about Vegas and the Hoover Dam.

Allen Blum: We wanted to focus on the Duke aspects and flair. All that Area 51 stuff, it wasn't very far along.

Chris Faylor: And now, Area 51’s finally come to life in The Doctor Who Cloned Me.

Here's another great episode of an ongoing Duke3D machinima.  Make sure you watch it to the end so you won't miss out some of the great eye candy and outside creativity that Open Maw Productions put into this.
 



Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Discussion Thread

This past Christmas, we announced that the release of the AMC Total Conversion for Duke Nukem 3D.  Now, we've received word from  the upcoming mods.duke4.net programmer, Hank, that "the AMC TC team is quietly updating their game. James, head honcho of the AMC TC game, issued a preliminary list of improvements and bug fixes. Version 1.10 will see pin point accuracy for shooting enemies, enhanced weapon imagery and mission updates to name 3 out of 143 now known updates."

 

For all the details and excitement, enter our forums.

Recently there's been a release of not just one, but fifteen new high quality maps all packaged in an action-packed episode for your convenience and pleasure. The authors MetHy (aka MetHunter), Aymeric "MRCK" Nocus, Mikko Sandt, and Merlijn van Oostrum are all veteran mappers with numerous high quality releases and countless years of combined mapping experience behind them. Having joined forces, they focused their efforts into making classic maps in the same style as the original Duke 3D levels you played and loved all those years ago. Debuting to unanimous acclaim, many have commented that this episode has made them feel like teenagers again playing Duke Nukem 3D for the first time, and if you try out the maps, then you'll probably see why.

This is what the authors have to say about the episode:

Naturally, it's recommended that you play the maps in classic (vanilla) style--that is, 8-bit classic renderer, no mods (e.g DukePlus), and no HRP. If you disregard this advice you will either a) burn in the eternal fires of hell or b) nothing will happen. But if I were you I wouldn't take my chances with the first one.



[Download]
[MSDN Review]
[Discussion]

Submitted by Micky C.

In an interview with The Verge, Randy Pitchford has said that Duke Nukem Forever was the victim of high expectations that were built up over the 15 year development cycle of the game.

Randy also added that out of all the games that Gearbox Software has shipped, they get more positive fan mail from players of Duke Nukem Forever then any other title, adding that he believes this, above all else, is the indicator that Gearbox hit the mark in terms of quality.
 



Duke Nukem is an icon in video gaming history, and Forever, despite its long development time, left room for improvement in the areas of graphics, interactivity, and general gameplay.  So what are hardcore fans of classic Duke looking for in a future title? 

1) Creativity and Interaction

Games in 2012 are different beasts, and in order to keep up with games like Modern Warfare 3 which pass for "shooters" these days, the next installment in the Duke Nukem franchise is going to need to have more originality.  Duke Nukem 3D and the various Duke Nukem console games (Zero Hour, Duke Nukem 64, et al) all brought new weapon ideas and gameplay mechanics to the table, and DNF could have gone beyond relying on these same decade-old ideas.  In 1996, Duke Nukem 3D was hailed as a game changer because it let players do things like shrink monsters and play pool.  In 2011, Duke Nukem Forever was criticized because these features standing on their own were not viewed as being as innovative as they were 15 years earlier.

2) Challenge

Many of those who played Duke Nukem 3D have long since moved on to other games of all types, from other shooters to high-stakes PartyPoker.  The one thing that might tempt them back to the King is legitimate challenge, in terms of combat, level exploration, and game objectives.  Duke Nukem 3D was famous for its non-linear maps and weapon/health mechanics, and the next Duke game should follow in this line. 

3) Hidden Areas and Secret Levels

This was one the best features of any shooter back in the nineties.  Secret areas, often containing bonus power-ups, were hidden just well enough to evade discovery by the casual gamer, but also cleverly enough to reward players who would take their time to smell the roses.  Duke Nukem Forever sought to offer a return to this classic notion, and Gearbox President Randy Pitchford hinted about secret levels in a short video interview.  Unfortunately, the game contained little actual secrets to speak of.  Understandably, creating an entire secret level is a pretty daunting task in a day and age where content creation is so difficult and time consuming, but a few more secret rooms wouldn't hurt.

 

These were just minor suggestions, seeking to remind everyone that we've always got our hero's back.  Duke Nukem is a legend and Gearbox has a big legacy to live up to in continuing the franchise.  In the mean time, we'd like to start posting more Duke Nukem 3D map updates to keep the website updated more frequently.

 

2012 is looking like a promising year for Duke Nukem 3D as not one, but two new user maps have already emerged. With one having a city theme, and the other being a space station, there's plenty of variety to start off the new year.

For the city themed map, we have Parkade from Micky C and Paul B, a joint effort showing just what talented mappers can do with EDuke32's true room-over-room features. For those used to the traditional Duke Nukem 3D architecture: this map will blow you away! No effort has been spared here; the map is filled with all sorts of beautiful detail and players are encouraged to think vertically as well as horizontally due to the heavy use of new engine features in this Polymer-only map.  You'll see Duke fight through a multi-level parking garage, an apartment, an office building, and a secret EDF facility, all in the name of good old-fashioned alien ass kicking.
 

And for those of you craving some space action, Supertanker has been polishing Cherenkov Station, a twenty-minute romp through an abandoned russian space station. Duke must first travel into the bowels of the station to activate the slumbering nuclear reactor, then fight his way back out to the final showdown in the docking bay! Feeling more mechanical than high tech, Cherenkov Station isn't your typical space map, managing to strike a perfect balance between action and atmosphere, with great texturing, shading, and gameplay. Even if you're not a fan of space stations, give this one a chance to change your mind!
 

Both of these great maps can be found on our forums:
 

Cherenkov Station

Give them a try and be sure to leave feedback for our friendly neighborhood map-making fiends!

3D Realms • Nuking the 3D Realms Lobby Floor • Interview with DNF CG Artist Joe Wampole • Our Five-Question Interview with 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller	Console Duke • Penguin United Eagle Eye Contest Winner • Duke4.net & Penguin United Eagle Eye Contest • Duke Nukem Critical Mass Trailer	DNF • DLC Behind-the-Scenes Interview with Triptych • Expectations for Duke Nukem Forever Were Too High, Says Gearbox • Singleplayer DLC Released - Plus a Trailer!	Duke Nukem • Apogee Shooters 50% Off This Weekend! • What fans want from the next Duke game • Our Interview with Jon St. John
Duke3D • Duke Nukem the Series - Ep. 3: Bacon Factory • AMC Mod v1.10 in the Works • Metropolitan Mayhem 15-Map Episode Released	Gearbox • Request Your Invitation to the Duke Nukem Forever Launch Event! • Gearbox Multiplayer Survey	Site News • YicklePigeon`s Exclusive Fan Article • First Access Codes Contest Winners • Fan Art 2011