30 Years of "Duke Nukem 3D": Come Get Some!
"Duke Nukem 3D" turns 30 years old. We look back at a first-person shooter that was as exciting as it was shocking upon its release.
(Image: Gearbox)
When the shareware version of "Duke Nukem 3D" was released in January 1996 (the full version followed in April), the world of first-person shooters was still manageable. id Software had created and dominated the genre with "Wolfenstein 3D" (1992) and „Doom“ (1993). Competitors smelled big money and often dumped uninspired "me too" products onto the market in the following years, which were mostly summarized as "Doom clones" in the gaming press of the time.
However, there were some games that stood out from the soulless crowd – games like LucasArts' 1995 release „Star Wars: Dark Forces“, which made an effort to spice up the shooter monotony with interestingly designed missions, a thrilling storyline, and more playfulness. And then 3DRealms came along with "Duke Nukem 3D" and showed that shooters could also be completely insane. Because the Duke was very different from the space marines of this world: louder, funnier, and with an almost anarchic lust for crossing boundaries.
The Birth of the Antihero
The character of Duke Nukem was not an invention of the first-person shooter era. Strictly speaking, he originates from the world of jump-n-runs: after id Software proved with "Commander Keen" at the end of 1990 that fast-paced console-style platformers were also feasible on the then still very cumbersome MS-DOS PCs, imitators quickly followed this innovation. Among others, "Duke Nukem," developed by Todd Replogle and released by Apogee in the summer of 1991, which received a very similar second part at the end of 1993. Both revolved around a blond muscleman with a big gun, both were entertaining games, and both sold very well.
But for the third part, Replogle and his team had significantly more ambitious plans: the whole thing should be fast, colorful, interactive, loud, explosive, completely over the top – and above all, 3D.
Technology as an Experience
After a short search, the developers landed on the "Build" engine, which came from the hands of teenager Ken Silverman. The enthusiastic young coder had already released "Ken's Labyrinth" in 1993, a nice fantasy shooter with graphics that were good for the time and, above all, interactive elements in the wall textures. It was precisely this aspect that made the programmer interesting to 3DRealms, who licensed the new 3D engine, then still in development and named "Build," for "Duke Nukem 3D."
„Duke Nukem 3D“ wird 30 Jahre alt (15 Bilder)
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)The development of the game took quite a while, with "Duke Nukem 3D" being in development for about two years in total. Ken worked on improvements to the Build system the entire time; an early (and significantly less mature) version of the engine was used in the two Capstone shooters "Witchaven" and "William Shatner's TekWar." But it was "Duke Nukem 3D" that truly made Build famous, and the main reason for this was its interactivity: at the time, first-person shooters were largely static. Sure, there were always operable switches or doors, but the levels themselves were fixed, they didn't change, and there was generally nothing to do in them except kill enemies.
With "Duke Nukem 3D," that changed: Flip switches change the lighting of individual sections, certain walls, window panes, and even entire level parts can be destroyed, and usable objects everywhere invite you to press the "Use" button. Duke can relieve himself at toilets (accompanied by a relieved "Ahhh… much better."), refresh himself at water dispensers, use telephones, view the real-time video feed from security cameras, or belt out "Boooorn to be wihihihiiiild." in a karaoke club. In the second level, "Red Light District," there's a billiard table whose balls you can click around, with results based on a simple physics engine. That was mightily impressive for the year 1996.
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Everything is so nice and high here.
Just like the pronounced verticality of the levels. Shooters of the "Wolfenstein 3D" generation took place exclusively on one level. "Doom" and its ilk simulated height differences, but this was only possible with tricks – overlapping sectors were technically not possible. This only changed with "Star Wars: Dark Forces," and "Duke Nukem 3D" took it a step further: the game begins on a rooftop from which you jump down, many stairs create height differences, and entire levels sometimes take place on many different levels, with canyons, suspension bridges, and angled walls.
Despite all the technical innovation, "Duke Nukem 3D" was still a typical 2.5D game, whose levels were based on two-dimensional sectors and whose characters used flat sprites – the era of true 3D shooters based on polygon calculation only began later that year with the release of id Software's "Quake."
Just like at home
Another prominent feature of "Duke Nukem 3D" was the suggested realism in level design. "Doom" and its ilk largely took place in abstract scenarios like hell, which was mainly due to technical reasons: the limitations of the 3D engine did not allow for credibly constructed real-world scenarios, as can be seen from the extremely simple city levels in "Doom 2."
"Duke Nukem 3D," on the other hand, drew heavily from the well of realism. Players run and shoot their way through skyscraper canyons, cinemas, bars, police stations, and nightclubs; subways run through the levels. There are even mirrors that not only reflect the room with all its contents but also the pixelated Duke himself – who comments on his reflection with "Damn, I'm looking good." However, "Duke Nukem 3D" was not the first game to offer this sensational feature – "William Shatner's TekWar," released a few months earlier, also featured mirrors.
Of course, the word "realism" must be viewed with skepticism after 30 years. But what was shown in "Duke Nukem 3D" was simply revolutionary for the year 1996.
