Fan-made Duke Nukem 3D remake green-lighted by Gearbox

by James Ransom-Wiley on Oct 14th 2010 5:20PM

Project lead Frederik "Fresch" Schreiber has received a non-commercial license to proceed with Duke Nukem: Next-Gen, his Unreal Engine 3-powered Duke Nukem 3D remake. Fresch secured the license in just under three weeks after his first announcement -- a credit to rights holder Gearbox's openness to share the franchise with the community -- and has aleady assembled a team of nine other contributors (though he is still "hiring" for a number of positions).

Fresch, who abandoned similar "next-gen" remakes of Daikatana (too unpopular) and SIN (shut down by MumboJumbo), has plans to release a public multiplayer demo of Duke Nukem: Next-Gen "sooner than you think." Of course, the full version will be released "when it's done" -- and he notes that "Duke Nukem: Next-Gen" is, wisely, just a codename.

Check out the freeware project's first test video after the break.

Via: Big Download
Source: Gearbox Software Community

Tags: DNNG, Duke-Nukem, Duke-Nukem-3D, Duke-Nukem-Next-Gen, fan-made, fanmade, Frederik-Schreiber, freeware, Fresch, Gearbox, license, pc, remake, UDK, Unreal-Engine-3

Reader Comments (48)

Is it wrong that I liked duke nukem more than the first Half Life?

@spacemonkey086

It is not my friend. Duke Nukem is what started all awesome in video games

@spacemonkey086
nope!

@spacemonkey086

Wrong? No.

Unusual? Yes.

The original Duke Nukem was fun and all but there's a reason Half-Life received countless "greatest PC game of all time" awards. I've played HL and HL2 probably 100 times since they came out. I played Duke Nukem a couple times in the 90's and haven't really thought much about it since. It did a few cool things that Doom didn't but at the end of the day it was just another Doom clone with strippers and some one liners ripped from They Live.

@spacemonkey086

Is it wrong that I like neither?

@sonicspike41

Yes

@Prboi

I just don't like many older FPS games. I played all the original greats, Duke Nukem, Doom, Quake, Serious Sam, UT, etc., but none of them really interested me.

It wasn't until Q3A and later UT games that I started liking PC FPS games. As for consoles my first favorites were Goldeneye and Halo.

@spacemonkey086
nah. They're both incredible games. I liked Half-Life better, but I REALLY liked DN3D.

@sonicspike41

So you went from good single player FPSs to crappy single player but better multi player(well UT03 was trash UT4 was better but a bit to hampered by technology...)..... I still hate newer games more than the classics the classics worked they didn't need story/characters to get in the way of the action theses days its not just the story but setting and target demographics have utterly gutted depth in design and gameplay narrative... Daikatana is better than Halo tho its MP was so so and story crap it was more fun SP wise tho Halo is better SP wise than most FPSs made after it.... that includes Halo 2 and Halo ep 3....

@ZippyDSMlee

"Daikatana is better than Halo tho its MP was so so and story crap it was more fun SP wise tho Halo is better SP wise than most FPSs made after it.... that includes Halo 2 and Halo ep 3.... "

what.

That was a bit hard to understand, but anyways I have to say I completely disagree with you in regards to Halo. The first time I played Halo was on PC and since I only played singleplayer it was an incredibly underwhelming experience, I couldn't figure why people liked it so much, it brought nothing new (except health regen) and was bland and boring. A few years later I finally played multiplayer with some friends during an student exchange program, and I had some of the best FPS multiplayer experience since Quake 3.
So yeah, just making my point: Halo's strong point isn't singleplayer, it's multiplayer. SP is probably the game's weakest point (Halo 2, 3 and Reach included).

That's just me though :)

Duke Nukem 64 > (Duke Nukem 3D)*100

@ZippyDSMlee

Daikatana?! Really?! God, I haven't seen mention of that game in a loooong time. I thought that once it finally came out everyone was already ok with forgetting all about it. What a terrible waste of time it was waiting for that game to come out only to see that it sucked on all fronts.

@ZippyDSMlee

I reject your opinion and substitute it with my own.

I've immensely enjoyed everything Halo (1/PC, 2, 3, ODST, Reach) has had to offer so far (out side of Halo Wars, which I found to be mediocre due to lack of depth in unit/structure types).

As for the classics, I just never liked their design decisions. Pretty much any Doom-like game or Half Life-like game I can already tell you will be wasted on me. Now if we're talking Metroid Prime, Halo, Goldeneye, Killzone, or even Uncharted, then we're talking about something I can get behind.

Hell, I thought FEAR was 20x better than any Doom-like game I've played. That's obviously my opinion, and probably not a popular one, but still...

Groovy. Keep it classy, Mr. Pitchford.

@WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco

Gearbox has become one of the most righteous developers out there - here's to hoping they don't get lost in the machine.

The only complaints I have about Gearbox is their obvious jealously of Valve. I mean seriously, the head guy rants all the time how Valve owning Steam is "unfair", and how they should be split into two companies. And how they ported Halo to the pc. Microsoft told them to not make it better than the XBox version for fear of loss of sales. There is no reason a pc twice as powerful as the XBox should stutter on that game.

As for the video, ok, we get it, the textures are pretty. How about doing something? Like jumping down the shaft? I want to see the street.

You dont often see companies allowing something like this. Nice to see them respond to people as a people not as a company.

I'm sorry, but this just proves how incompetent Gearbox is.

@TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2

Err... I mean 3D Realms

It sure does.

Wait, why?

@KazamaSogetsu

This was created in 3 weeks on virtually no budget.

@KazamaSogetsu He's saying that it's embarrassing that this guy threw together a test that looks as good as this in a short amount of time, when it took 3D Realms forever to get as far as they did. Of course, this guy just threw a level together in the UE, but if they ARE able to turn out a competent mod in less than a year or two...

@rowd149

Guess that's why they called it Duke Nukem: Forever...

*cricket noise*

@Prboi

Don't quit your day job.

wonder if this will come out before or after Duke Nukem Forever...

(yeah, I know, that was an easy one...)

@ThaRaven403

It would serve them right if it did come out before DNF

Good for Gearbox, very nice to see someone not come down on fan made "love letters" to original games.

And yes spacemonkey, it is wrong.

@Evil Alaska

Bah, I didn't like the original Half-Life that much either. Much preferred Duke Nukem 3D back then. It was so groundbreaking when it came to the intense level of interactivity.

Finally someone owns a license that isn't a total asshole. We love you Gearbox.

@Anticrawl Agreed wholeheartedly.

how are the chicks gonna look on UE3?

@NoirR

Hi-res strippers!

@NoirR Who cares, everyone knows you play Duke Nukem for the rooftops! Oh sexy rooftop, you're all I think about girl. With you glistening textures and subtle lighting effects.

@NoirR

Probably lots of tearing and things popping out from thin air...

...maybe UE3 is the best choice after all? :P

Awesome!

i was just playing that game the other day and thinking how badly it had aged. I would love to play it again with updated controls. (the graphics could stay the same.)

@WC

I thought the XBLA version was magnificent. A buddy and I played through several times. I was still amazed at what all you can do. I often find myself playing games and seeing an object then thinking to myself, "I wonder if I can..." and Duke Nukem is one of those few games where you /can/.

That looks sweet, and it's nice to see Gearbox not being jackasses about it, fans like to make dedications to what they love, if they aren't making money off of your game without permission and bringing down its credit, I don't see the harm. So kudos to Gearbox.

bravo gearbox. it is times like this that i wish i had some level of skill to help these sort of things most i can do is a crappy level in hammer, or bethseda editors (tes:cs, geck)

Always bet on Duke.

Anything that brings me back to my teenaged years in the 90's is okay by me.
I played Duke 3D for a looong time. First game that got me into level editing!
Actually... the only game that got me into level editing.
The games that came after were too complex for my short attention....Hey! It's dinner time!

Cool roof top bro

Gearbox is quickly becoming one of my favorite developers. More companies should have their attitude toward the industry: games are supposed to be fun and screwing with the customers leads to them not having fun. Good job, guys.

I kinda want to play this more than the actual Duke Nukem: Forever

this is so awesome. The end.

I'm still waiting for Half Life Black Mesa Source, this will probably never come out either.

Good on Gearbox for doing this. I wish more companies would once in a blue moon.

Take note, Square-Enix, you bastards!

Nooooooo... you have to send a cease and desist letter to your fans.

hearkens back to the days of old when putting out mods and levels and new versions was part of the game per the publishers. nice to see some companies can still be open minded and not such property control freaks.

It's so cool that Gearbox is allowing this. It looks freaking sweet. I wonder when it will be done.

Duke Nukem 3D

Fan-made Duke Nukem 3D remake green-lighted by Gearbox

Reader Comments (48)

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:25PM spacemonkey086 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:33PM Prboi said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:33PM Hayatoblaze91x said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:46PM gshauger said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:49PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:27PM Prboi said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:39PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:42PM Levi said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 12:15AM ZippyDSMlee said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 12:49AM vmenge said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 1:56AM Tiptup300 said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 2:07AM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 2:11AM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:26PM WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 10:33PM FakeJamaican said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 11:50PM Drakkenfyre said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:26PM MoonWalkerCTE said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:26PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:28PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:29PM KazamaSogetsu said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:40PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:01PM rowd149 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:29PM Prboi said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 4:40AM Obelix the Gaul said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:26PM ThaRaven403 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:37PM GroundControl2MT said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:29PM Evil Alaska said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:45PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:32PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:22PM TUROK1134 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:35PM NoirR said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:39PM TheyDidItFirst said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:48PM gangcar said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:49PM PreGHz said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:36PM WC said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:53PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:37PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:43PM Decanus said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:44PM Dr Acula said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 5:53PM Nova Hands said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 6:38PM Brando Calrissian said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 8:49PM Zorque said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:10PM DrMacTavish said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:42PM Levi said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 9:50PM Jovrick said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 11:19PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Oct 14th 2010 11:45PM moominsean said

Posted: Oct 15th 2010 10:46PM jtsuth said

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