Motherlode of Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior betas found in 3DRealms' archives - Polidicks

Source: [URL]http://forums.duke4.net/topic/7366-duke3d-sw-earlyalphabetagold-material/[/URL] One of 3D Realms new owners has spent the last month or so digging through 3D Realm's archives to see what they have. Turns out that 3DR was sitting on a lot of Duke Nukem 3D betas. As in, hundreds of them. [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6723152/Duke3D/DukeBuilds.JPG[/t] The archive has a ton of betas for each month the game was developed. It's basically a full history of the game's development. A video has surfaced from a member of the Duke Nukem community, showing one of the betas in action: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwEqS1UHJxk[/media] They've also discovered a ton of betas from the original Shadow Warrior's development. Here's some sprites from Shadow Warrior...from 1994. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/oksJw5b.png[/IMG] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/a6l50oS.png[/IMG] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/12hDwT9.png[/IMG] And for good measure, have a screenshot of an August 1996 build of Shadow Warrior: [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6723152/Duke3D/SW_Alpha1.JPG[/t] Will it eventually be released? These quotes point to yes: [quote][URL="http://forums.duke4.net/topic/7366-duke3d-sw-earlyalphabetagold-material/page__view__findpost__p__192304"]We've spend the weekends, the last 1.5 months digging through it, organising, and backing up :) A lot of interesting history. It's great to uncover everything 3D Realms/Apogee has been working on - and the different states of these games - from the past 2 decades. We can't wait to share more with you guys. These things belong with the fans :)[/URL][/quote] [quote] [URL="http://forums.duke4.net/topic/7366-duke3d-sw-earlyalphabetagold-material/page__view__findpost__p__192233"]We already have Hendricks and TerminX working on some of the old builds with us, and are going to bring more of you along in the future :)[/URL] [/quote]

Does the archive have that version of Duke Nukem Forever that actually looked good.

We'll, I get the nostalgia angle, that's great for them I guess...but we already have the full releases of Shadow Warrior and DN3D. Hell, 3D Realms already released the source code for that stuff close to a decade ago. I can't say as I've ever opined about how I wish I could go back and play v0.26 or v0.72 of a game.

[QUOTE=IGotWorms;44575488] I can't say as I've ever opined about how I wish I could go back and play v0.26 or v0.72 of a game.[/QUOTE] minecraft.

[QUOTE=Rahkshi lord;44575415]Does the archive have that version of Duke Nukem Forever that actually looked good.[/QUOTE] I seriously hope they scavenge the fucking version and release it for the internet to finish.

[QUOTE=Rahkshi lord;44575415]Does the archive have that version of Duke Nukem Forever that actually looked good.[/QUOTE] I thought that version turned out to be fake, scripted cutscenes.

[QUOTE=Rahkshi lord;44575415]Does the archive have that version of Duke Nukem Forever that actually looked good.[/QUOTE]3D Realms doesn't own the rights to Duke Nukem Forever. If they found anything, they'd need Gearbox's permission whom they're not on great terms with right now. [QUOTE=Omali;44575930]I thought that version turned out to be fake, scripted cutscenes.[/QUOTE]Former 3DR developer Charlie Wiederhold [url=http://forums.duke4.net/topic/4164-dnf-2001-breakdown/]confirmed most of the 2001 trailer was real and playable[/url]. This is a video breakdown using his info: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvuQEJWLqv4[/media]

They found Prey from 1996.

[QUOTE=IGotWorms;44575488]We'll, I get the nostalgia angle, that's great for them I guess...but we already have the full releases of Shadow Warrior and DN3D. Hell, 3D Realms already released the source code for that stuff close to a decade ago. I can't say as I've ever opined about how I wish I could go back and play v0.26 or v0.72 of a game.[/QUOTE] The *official* DN3D beta (Lameduke) had a few features that were stripped from the final build of the game and still haven't been added in later engine versions and ports. Two notable features that were removed were elevators that supported room over room that went to more than two floors (RoR elevator would be like the one on E2L1.) The other feature was reflective floors (seen in the above video at 0:36.) There were numerous other minor sector features that were also removed that would have made the engine a lot more fun to map on. There were also content assets like maps, sounds, music and weapons that would be nice to port into the full versions of the game. [QUOTE=Omali;44575930]I thought that version turned out to be fake, scripted cutscenes.[/QUOTE] Even if that was the case, it'd still be better than what DNF turned out to be.

I want to play it all. [editline]18th April 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Rahkshi lord;44575415]Does the archive have that version of Duke Nukem Forever that actually looked good.[/QUOTE] If not you can always [url=http://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-forever]play the fan remake[/url].

I want that 2001 Duke Nukem demo. I need it in my life.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;44576023]They found Prey from 1996.[/QUOTE] On the topic of Prey: I remember hearing rumors that Prey 2 was about 75-90% done when Bethesda/Zenimax canned it. The trailer for that game and some of the media released for it really makes me wish we could see that leak out.

What I find interesting is the music. I heard one completely unused track, and one track that was normally hidden on a multiplayer level. Makes me wonder if the "faces of death" map was ever supposed to appear in singleplayer normally

These betas' sprites could be useful for the doom modding community, i hope they'll release their stuff as soon as possible

[QUOTE=Grimhound;44576701]On the topic of Prey: I remember hearing rumors that Prey 2 was about 75-90% done when Bethesda/Zenimax canned it. The trailer for that game and some of the media released for it really makes me wish we could see that leak out.[/QUOTE] Prey is now Bethesda, and anything related to DNF is gearbox' stuff. Also, if there's any Blood thing on there, that would be Atari's property. Which means that you won't get to see any betas of these games.

My dream is for the Blood source code to be leaked, so we can fucking FINALLY see a source port of the best if not one of the best FPS games ever made.

Now I'm thinking about it, a long time ago I played a Duke Nukem game on dad's PC. The thing is, it was a fps, but it definitely wasn't Duke 3D. It felt like not so polished version of it, like a beta or something. Any idea what was it?

Very cool that all this stuff still exists, I'd love to see more

I just wet my pants.

That pulse rifle type gun in the vid looks badass, wonder if that was the SMG replacement cause it looks more or less the same.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;44576023]They found Prey from 1996.[/QUOTE] Too bad they can't release it, since they don't own the rights to prey

Considering these guys tried to make a Duke Nukem game without permission, I'm sure that a couple of betas might be able to "slip" out.

Can someone explain me why they can't release betas they don't own? didn't someone sell in ebay a half life alpha?

[QUOTE=xianlee;44577594]That pulse rifle type gun in the vid looks badass, wonder if that was the SMG replacement cause it looks more or less the same.[/QUOTE] The ripper evolved from that gun.

[QUOTE=Marphy Black;44576022]3D Realms doesn't own the rights to Duke Nukem Forever. If they found anything, they'd need Gearbox's permission whom they're not on great terms with right now. Former 3DR developer Charlie Wiederhold [url=http://forums.duke4.net/topic/4164-dnf-2001-breakdown/]confirmed most of the 2001 trailer was real and playable[/url]. This is a video breakdown using his info: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvuQEJWLqv4[/media][/QUOTE] For all we know it could have played like total arse though. I mean, this trailer looks fun but we all know how that turned out... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVuuyRGB_BA[/media]

Oh man it would be amazing for the public to access this.

[QUOTE=Marphy Black;44576022]3D Realms doesn't own the rights to Duke Nukem Forever. If they found anything, they'd need Gearbox's permission whom they're not on great terms with right now. [/QUOTE] I know but if it still existed there's always hope, plus that was the first thing that came to mind when I read this thread.

All of tcrf.net is probably going to have a field day.

[QUOTE=Batandy;44577002]These betas' sprites could be useful for the doom modding community, i hope they'll release their stuff as soon as possible[/QUOTE] Not the DN3D modding community?

Holy shit, this is preety fucking great! Can't wait to see what they find in those old versions.