Duke Forever out 'when pigs fly'

By Ellie Gibson Published 1 February, 2006

Joshes 3D Realms boss.

More than eight years after work first started on Duke Nukem Forever, 3D Realms bigwig George Broussard has hinted at the game's release date, suggesting it'll finally hit the shelves "when pigs fly."

At least, that's what he jokingly said in an interview with 1up before getting a bit more serious and stating: "It's definitely going well now.

"Things are together; we're in full production. We're basically just pulling all the pieces together and making the game out of it. There's a lot that's finished."

And that includes the guns and the creatures, Broussard went on. "We've kind of got all these disassociated elements that make up a game, and you put them together and things happen.

"And then you just tweak it and polish it until it's fun, and that's kind of the phase we're in now, just trying to make something that is really fun to play and interesting."

About time too. Duke Nukem is out... Eventually.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (64) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • quantumsheep #1 6 years ago

    You just know it'll do a Daikatana don't you?

    Just got the same feeling in me bones :o

  • Xerx3s #2 6 years ago

    When pigg cops fly? :D

  • dbeamish #3 6 years ago

    not even one screenshot ? :(

  • reality_cheque #4 6 years ago

    I've got a catapult, bait it with doughnuts and pigs will be flying before you can say "Internal Investigation".

  • d0bbo #5 6 years ago

    This is gonna suck big time. That's all I have to say :)

  • mrsquare #6 6 years ago

    sounds like some talented designers they have working there...

  • reality_cheque #7 6 years ago

    TBH I didn't like any of the previous duke nukem games, I just feel like launching cops from a catapult.

  • teabagger #8 6 years ago

    "We've kind of got all these disassociated elements that make up a game, and you put them together and things happen."


    No, that is not how you make a game. This is why you're eight years in with no product to show for it.

    'tards.

  • trevd72 #9 6 years ago

    past the point of caring to be honest. its never goign to be more than average now.

  • Sockatume #10 6 years ago

    So, that's just the level design to do now.

    Five, six years, and they're just getting onto the level design.

    At this rate, it'll just take another ten years or so.

  • gypsumfantastic #11 6 years ago

    Longest running practical joke in history.

  • Treze #12 6 years ago

    When pigs fly?

    Is this about RoboCop 3?

  • El_MUERkO #13 6 years ago

    i was young when Duke Nukem went into production

  • PearOfAnguish #14 6 years ago

    "Things are together; we're in full production. We're basically just pulling all the pieces together and making the game out of it. There's a lot that's finished."

    It's the same crap we've been hearing for years. Brossard ctrl+v'd this out a document with a creation date of 1999.

  • stoopidgreg #15 6 years ago

    haha there's no chance it's coming out this year then if what he says is true. basically he's saying they're got most of the art assets but the gameplay and levels have hardly been touched.

  • Tomo #16 6 years ago

    Well... I'm still looking forward to it, if none of you grumpy sods are.

  • smelly #17 6 years ago

    It's amazing how many of you know more about game development than the developers themselves!

  • Psi #18 6 years ago

    ahahahahahah Tomo! thats some dry wit! best laugh i've had today!

  • drumbaby #19 6 years ago

    So...they've got some PCs. Some ideas. Some code. All they need is a game.

    Great!

  • quantumsheep #20 6 years ago

    "It's amazing how many of you know more about game development than the developers themselves!"

    Some Eurogamer readers are developers as well ;)

  • peak_performance #21 6 years ago

    Well, at least they haven't been hyping it for all the time with "OMG WE'VE GOT ZEE FEATURELIST HUUUUUUGE" like many other developers do. They want to make the greatest game possible. I'm still looking forward to it since they haven't triggered my hype-meter the slightest.

    Edit: and come on, joking about this game's release date is sooo -00.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/06 @ 15:34

  • Artemus #22 6 years ago

    This game is 10 years too late.

  • JSX #23 6 years ago

    I remember seeing screenshots for this years ago. Can't wait to play it. I loved the old duke nukems on the pc.

    None of those pants ps1 games though. They were arse.

  • Kon #24 6 years ago

    Frankly, i doubt the game even exists.

    My only real question is how long until they concede that this was just a VERY long running joke.

    Edit: He's something to really look forward to :
    http://hom.payn ereactor.com/news.html
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/06 @ 16:06

  • Sko #25 6 years ago

    It's all going to make for one of those wonderful "What we spent nearly a decade doing and where we fekked up" books.

  • matrim83 #26 6 years ago

    Longest running practical joke in history.

    Can't put it better than that myself. This would have been news three years ago. Now its just ridiculously silly. George justs pops up on the radar every two months or so to say how well its going, or what is the latest big change made to it. And the only thing we've got as a proof of life is some footage from E3 2001 that looked decidedly average.

  • dk_rare #27 6 years ago

    -Insert joke about Duke Nukem time frame and 4EVA!!!oneoneone here-

  • Eldritch #28 6 years ago

    1. Phantom launch title
    2. Romero's new game
    3. The first game to celebrate its 10th anniversary before release.

  • Tyronne #29 6 years ago

    8 years on just one game,who says the game industry cannot do comedy.

    In my heart of hearts I would like it to be good,to be something outstanding but then a growing evil part of me wants it to stink and be a complete waste of man hours on a turd.

  • Kain_Cross #30 6 years ago

    "There's a lot that's finished."

    Wow!

  • asphaltcowboy #31 6 years ago

    Well, it's gonna have to be the most astounding, earth-shatteringly amazing game-playing experiences of all time in order for it not to get an astounding earth-shatteringly amazing "MEH!" from everyone on the planet at exactly the same time which will knock the Earth out of orbit and cause us to go crashing into the sun.

    Please help us 3D Realms! You're our only hope!

  • Razzajazz #32 6 years ago

    No one more than me hates it when a game is rushed and released below its full potential, but this is ridiculous! I am simply not convinced that this game will be any good now, purely because if they stick to the same original design outlines as they had 8 years ago, this game will be outdated, whereas if they do choose to update bits, it will be a horrible mish-mash of old and new.

    If you want my advice, Broussard, call it a day, close the coffin lid on this one, and start again on a brand-new Duke Nukem game, maybe using Unreal Engine 3 or something. Just, please, put this fucking game out of it's misery!

    If this game was a horse, we'd all be hearing gunshots from behind the barn now....

  • peak_performance #33 6 years ago

    Of course they restarted with the project about a year ago if I remember correctly. After seen time run away from them with the UT-engine they simply did what they now think they should have done from the start: rewriting the engine to suit their exact needs instead of pushing it into the engine.

    So no need to worry about it being a mish-mash of old and new graphicswise, gameplay of course is a completely different thing...

  • malloc #34 6 years ago

    "It's amazing how many of you know more about game development than the developers themselves!"

    Err.... this is 3D Realms we're talking about right?

    Must admit that I'm eagerly awaiting the reviews when the thing is released.

  • Tyronne #35 6 years ago

    So at the drop of the hat they drop everything they have done ( i know they have done but come on enoughs enough - half life engine to unreal engine to unreal engine 2 and now no doubt unreal engine 3) and chase after the lastest shiny game engine,only for a even better one to come out as they work on the previous one for all that work to be dropped to work on the new new game engine.

  • Frumper #36 6 years ago

    LOLOLOL @

    El_MUERkO "i was young when Duke Nukem went into production "

    Me too!

  • mastertigurius #37 6 years ago

    What the??!!

    This is basically what Broussard is telling us:

    "For the past eight years, the guys at 3D Realms have been having a good time, playing around with designs, making a few creatures here and there, all in between golfing and paintball-matches". I don't care that they've switched engines a couple of times...anyone else would still be able to ship the game in reasonable time.

    3D Realms was a respected developer, and they blew it by taking an eight year vacation (with some casual homework done now and then).

  • Bates #38 6 years ago

    Are they still making this? Jesus, George Lucas eat yer heart out, you're not the only one that can leave people treading water for a sequel for years and years it seems.

  • L0cky #39 6 years ago

    'Must admit that I'm eagerly awaiting the reviews when the thing is released.'

    That's the only reason I want them to hurry up and release it, there'll be about two weeks of fun reading to be had.

  • yegon #40 6 years ago

    Sad thing is, even in the very unlikely event that it IS amazing, 99% of people will dismiss it out of hand purely because of its history.

    The joke about DNF standing for Did Not Finish is as old old old as the hills, but still makes me chuckle.

    In fact he whole episode strongly reminds me of that guy in the early 1900s, Harry Grindell Matthews, who claimed he'd invented a "Death Ray". He piqued the interest of hacks, governments and the public for years about his "invention", yet no-one ever saw the thing in action beyond a staged mock-up, and a shonky short film...hmm sounds familiar.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/06 @ 19:02

  • Freek #41 6 years ago

    The Galeon reviews weren't verry funny though, was more sad that all the grand ideas turned to shit.

  • smelly #42 6 years ago

    I enjoyed galleon!

    And i didnt see a REALLY bad review of it anywhere either.

  • smelly #43 6 years ago

    8 years on just one game,who says the game industry cannot do comedy.

    Most big budget games take around 4 years to complete. Sometimes even more if it's a brand new engine, look how long half life 2 took!

    So 8 years isnt that bad. Especially if they've started from scratch a few times, etc.

  • Oneiroscope #44 6 years ago

    Looking forward to this game. They're making the game they want to make and are taking the time to ensure its quality. They can afford to do it, so why not salute them for doing what they think is right, and not just releasing the clearly not up to standard previous iterations the game have gone through? I can't find anything wrong with this myself.

    On paper they're doing with DNF what pretty much no other developer in the industry can afford, because of ties to publishers and so on. The only other developers I can think of that do this is Nintendo and Blizzard, as they usually don't cancel games just because development isn't going right.

  • Ryuken #45 6 years ago

    "And the only thing we've got as a proof of life is some footage from E3 2001 that looked decidedly average. "

    With all due respect but that's simple untrue. From a pure graphical point of view I could agree with you that it isn't up today's standards but back then it looked pretty good. Comparing it with today's standards from a gameplay/artistic point of view that E3 trailer STILL manages to convince me it is in fact the best trailer ever made, with the WarCraft III CGI trailer (released at the same E3) coming in at a close second. Best trailer doesn't mean best game but the content it showed was very promising imo.

    After 2001 they completely started from scratch for some reasons we'll probably never know but what they showed in 2001 still proves that 3D Realms 'got it'. And btw, people seem to forget that without the patience of 3D Realms we might have never seen Max Payne, a game that also took long to develop and had many 'looks' in the years before release.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/06 @ 20:16

  • Lothar Hex #46 6 years ago

    I was fucking THIRTEEN when they started that!

  • Xerx3s #47 6 years ago

    So, we can expect flying pigg cops now then?

  • AOFanboi #48 6 years ago

    <em>I was fucking THIRTEEN when they started that!</em>

    My hat's off to you, Sir, that takes some stamina! Well done that man!

  • Artemis_Matsas #49 6 years ago

    Who cares about this anymore???

  • kalel #50 6 years ago

    Its worrying that they're eight years down the line and they've only just started thinking about making it fun. Sounds like an absolute mess. It's one thing however to make an absolute mess of a game, and its quite another to already be giving it shit PR!

  • Tyronne #51 6 years ago

    I am quite surprised that by the very mention of duke nukem,that the board has not been taken over by the fankids.

  • urban #52 6 years ago

    8 years old...eck...

  • Talha #53 6 years ago

    "We've kind of got all these disassociated elements that make up a game, and you put them together and things happen. "

    Things happen? Like, characters, stories, set pieces - they just HAPPEN? When you put a few maps and textures and scripts together? This person is sounding so random and irresponsible, not to mention really unconcerned. Eight years, and all they have is these elements they plan to put together and see if it is fun. Pathetic really - anyone waiting for this after reading these enlightening revelations is just....nuts.

  • Daikon #54 6 years ago

    I think they're holding off the release until Amiga Inc. comes out with the new Amiga, so they can do a simultaneous XP - Next Gen Amiga launch. Should be quite soon, I can hardly wait!

  • thefilthandthefury #55 6 years ago

    Haha, someone give Daikon an award, almost spat my coffee all over the place reading that :D

  • Sko #56 6 years ago

    8 years old...eck...

    Well, nine years this April.

  • Netfreak #57 6 years ago

    3DRealms loves to take the spotlight and do interviews just to take credibility from HH.

  • glaeken #58 6 years ago

    Stories on Romero and Broussard both on the same day. Must be a full moon I guess. Actually maybe those two should get together for a new project. It could be comedy gold.

  • BillGaitas #59 6 years ago

    grow up will you(all)

    I am a big Dukle fan and i believe this game will rock.

    Its easy to make fun of it but it isnt like the duke fans havent been living their lifes and playing whatever they want. I want to play this game, but im not wating for it. If its released its released, if not ... well whatever.

    In fact, I wish Deus Ex 2 was still in production ...
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/06 @ 19:07

  • CatWeazle #60 6 years ago

    Tyronne said : "I am quite surprised that by the very mention of duke nukem, that the board has not been taken over by the fankids."

    Yeah. Except the fankids who were into Duke Nukem 3D are now all pushing 30 - with jobs, children, mortgages & shit.. They ain't got time to troll on forums anymore! Talk about letting a franchise rot through neglect!

    CW

  • oerhoert #61 6 years ago

    Ah, you're all hopeless.

    Just tell me one thing here: How much do you lot actually <em>know</em> about this game? The state it's in and the qualities it has? It has to be quite a lot more than any of us other people around here, since you feel it's fair to be slagging the project as profoundly as you do.

    George was just saying that "everything is going fine". They haven't even hinted towards canning the game, so until they do, I'm going to believe the things they say. That is: The game is in production, it's proceeding smoothly and it's still going to be Duke Nukem.

    Whether or not it will turn out to be any good, we'll have to see. It very well may, just as all other games made by generally talented people. But given the state of things, and given that they haven't actually said much about the project AT ALL for a long time, I don't see how anyone outside of 3DR themselves could actually make a fair judgment on the game as of now. It's just stupid to pretend so.

  • ozgamer #62 6 years ago

    it's gonna fail, you just know it.

  • AOFanboi #63 6 years ago

    Even the old joke about how the Mars Rover mission was planned, financed, implemented and executed in the time DNF has been in production is getting old... and we can add 3-4 other space programs to the tally: The Sun particles thingy, that meteor thingy, and a few outer-solar-system exploration robots that probably will reach the Kuiper Belt before DNF is out.

  • mrman #64 6 years ago

    I'll have evolved into pure energy by the time this sad vaporware ever happens.