My concern isn't that modders will do their damnedest to finish this; It's Duke, they will absolutely try, even if it takes years. My concern is Gearbox or Embracer group sending out a C&D and killing all hope of that ever happening.
I can see Randy Pitchford personally doing that, not out of the usual corporate reasons but pure spite since he said he likes being able to sit on the license and keeping the franchise dead
@@cyberninjazero5659 Randy said he wanted to do something with the 2001 DNF build... for a price. Like as a bonus with some other Gearbox product. He said that years ago and did nothing since then, so it's his own fault we get to enjoy this for free and he doesn't get a penny.
Apparently there is a build of this "iteration" of DN:F that's 90% complete (only one level is left incomplete and there's a good lot of placeholder assets/sounds throughout), which is from around 2002; it's basically this build but with an additional year of development done to it. Not even a month ago we had basically come to terms that we'd never see any of the scrapped DN:F builds. Now here we are playing and dissecting one from 2001. So I suddenly have hope that maybe, just *maybe*, that 90% complete 2002 build will surface and the community will do it's thing and finish up that last 10%!
@@alexsilva28 At this point, they might as well. With this build out in the wild, they should know the community's gonna finish this game for them no matter what, so just release the most complete build, or get a small team to finish the rest and sell it. Either way we win.
When you shot that glass, and the damage spread through the glass like a wave, I was honestly pretty blown away. You're absolutely right, that is more impressive than even modern glass.
If the fact that this was trending on twitter for almost two days doesn’t clue Randy in to the fact that people do still in fact love Duke, then nothing will.
Duke has its place, but sadly it will take least few years for overtons window slide back to normal, otherwise far left loonies will cancel it before its even released.
Seeing this version of DNF and knowing about all the stuff 3D Realms had gone through and how it ended for them makes this whole story even more depressing
@@gerv55 This version of DNF got scrapped after Broussard saw Doom 3 in 2002 and decided he must have its real time lighting and shadows in DNF (I'm not even exaggerating). This completely fucked up their lighting, so every single map had to be re-lit manually, and every asset had to be given normal, specular and diffuse maps for them to work properly
This honestly just makes me hate the eventual 2011 release much more than I ever thought I would. Even in this state, they had such an awesome and promising foundation to work from.
The 2011 game was just an absolute abortion, totally wreckerd what Duke was about, I mean remember the Console considerations and compromised, 2 weapon limit only initially.
definetely dont understimate the community, they have a road map already, plus I know inside there are so many talented coders and modders that they stated to pump patches already
@@fojisan2398 It's arguable if the final game even really represented what dnf was originally meant to be. It honestly just felt like they took maps that were mostly done stitched them together and kicked it out the door calling it complete.
@@lugbzurg8987 I'm not sure what experience the team at gearbox had, but DNF (2011 the actual release) was rushed like crazy. the game we got, was basically made in a year after scraping almost everything, once gearbox got it. btw i spent hours getting that pinball achievement in DNF and then the one in the DLC. it was pretty bad compared to other pinball games.
As someone who doesn't really have a deep attachment to duke (I've always been more of a doom guy, no pun intended) I still find this release to be fascinating, I always like seeing in development builds of beloved franchises because even through all of the unfinished jankiness it can't stop the fact that talent or at the very least visible effort shines through, like with the Half Life 2 beta stuff.
I like the idea of Duke being placed in a military operation he doesn't belong in, as well as being able to recall the price of all his gaudy furniture
9:46 Actual rope swinging in first person was a Half Life Opposing Force thing first. I guess Randy did have some influence in the best version of Duke Nukem Forever after all.
@@Lucios1995 Indeed, but it was in Duke 3D before Opposing Force and before then it was also in Marathon and Doom. Marathon's night vision worked like a powerup based version of the VISR in Halo 3: ODST and Doom's merely turned every sector's lighting temporarily to fullbright. In fact, it was even in System Shock 1 as one of the augs you could find, Metroid style. It made navigating the dark maintenance level a lot easier.
Thank you. Opposing Force's rope swinging needs to be top comment. You know the sushi limb chopping in Soldier of Fortune but not the boot camp of Opposing Force?! C'mon man!
Duke shoots up a human enemy: "Remember kids, I'm a professional. Don't try this at school" Jesus christ that's tasteless. 2 years after Columbine, they add this sort of line? I love it.
same, there's something about those sharp edges and flat textures that feels comfy and seeing real world locations and items rendered like that still fascinates me. modern games have so much detail, lighting effects and filters that it just gets overwhelming at times.
@Deondre Nelson true, Berserk has some beautiful pictures in it, but some have so much detail (combined with it being only in black and white) and it's honestly hard to make out some of it.
@@knightofjustice5475 That's why they could never finish DNF. They could never get something out to take advantage of the latest technology in a timely manner that could be competitive in a manner than wasn't left wanting.
THIS game version still looks more fun and better than the version we got in 2011. My favorite kind of level design are highrise like levels exactly at: 6:37. Just something about fighting in these kind of enviroments in a first person gets my blood rushing.
I feel like if this version was the one to come out, it would be hailed as a classic in line with something like Deus Ex. Also, absolutely play Dark Messiah. Story's not super remarkable, but the gameplay and environmental interaction is top tier, especially if you're a Duke fan.
Tbh i really like the ego system in this version In DNF 2011 it was regenerating like in Halo or CoD But in 2001 you only get health only when you kill the enemy. I kinda like this idea more. I feel like i'm being rewarded for offensive playstyle instead of having to hide like a pussy
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project had an ego system akin to this and I found it pretty solid. You had to work to get your ego back up. not just wait behind cover for it to magically refill. I'm rather fond of this DNF build's version, where you lose Ego for shooting civilians. It makes sense and helps make Duke come across as much more likeable.
My video covering the Duke Nukem 2001 Restoration Project - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SkBHvkOAJWs.html I was really not expecting to make a new video soon, but Duke Nukem coming back into our lives was a sudden plot twist that needed unpacking, even if for personal therapeutic reasons. So, as long as nothing else randomly breaks down my wall, I will be reviewing a cute indie game next. Cute, but... crafty, like some smart woodland animal or something.
The glass breaking reminds me of how the glass break on the first Ressistance game. And that game came out in like 2007. That just proves how impressive the early build of Duke nukem forever was.
I was watching a playthrough of the DL C The Doctor Who Cloned Me and I swear the glass breaking is the exact same. They even had the EXACT same touch screens and monitors.
No way. It’s so sad that DNF kept getting delayed because they were always chasing the moving goalposts of tech advancements, but if this had actually released, it really would have been impressive for 2001.
Honestly, that motorbike is pretty great for the time. It has better turning than the one from SiN, and better physics than the one from No One Lives Forever. (And it's especially better than the final game's damn truck). Also, I've checked, and that lady's dialogue might actually be placeholder audio from Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes.
Embracer Group to-do list: - Deport Randy Pitchford - Resurrect Duke Nukem, Red Faction, Timesplitters, Deus Ex, Kingdoms of Amalur, Legacy of Kain and Thief - Continue the resurrection of Homeworld, Destroy All Humans, Gothic, Space Marine and Star Wars KOTOR - Have a moment in the Evil Dead game where Ash Williams calls out Duke for stealing his lines - Have Randy Pitchford arrested if he tries to re-enter the country
It's funny how much more appealing this looks compared to the 2011 version - graphically and gameplay-wise. There's just something about shooters released around the turn of the millennium. Man, if someone got their hands on, and finished, the 2002 build... I'd probably sit down to play it and still not believe it actually happened. There just something _so_ appealing about this! I need this version of the game in my life and I need it bad!
All e3 scenes are in this build. You can load maps with map command. and all e3 scenes have a separate map. The general talking and the soldier saying "are you going to save the world all by yourself" also !!! And some of these scenes also are placed in levels.
As a person who was not really into Duke until after he sorta got a revivial thanks to Gianni doing funny Duke Nukem videos, I really would've wanted to at least try this game out. The 2001 Demo is honestly insanely promising even today and I hurts that so many things went wrong so badly behind the scenes that it screwed over DNF being a proper good game.
Fun fact about the second level, if you push that juke box in the corner and open the ventilation shaft you can go into it and drop into the next level.
8:50 Ya that Vegas skybox in 2001 is honestly fucking mind blowing. Looks really good and I'm pretty sure I've seen way worse many times in the last 5 years alone.
The crazy part for me is that this unfinished build has better gameplay still than the final game, for what it's worth, I hear you can play until just after the Slick W section with working level transitions, even if the unfinished level design makes it sometimes probably a bit harder than intended to find the way forward.
I would love a finished release of THIS game. Even the funny titles of items when you look at them is great. The devs had serious fun with this and the game itself has fantastic mechanics
Flushing a toilet in duke nukem was MIND BOGGLING. Games dont even really allow you to interact with inanimate objects anymore. Its a lost "gag". Seeing the shower turn on in this makes you feel like something is missing from modern games. Why not be able to interact with common domestic items?
I just know that this has been leaked, and holy moly this janky unfinished build looks absolutely more better than whatever gearbox released in 2011.... it's such a shame we never get this 😔
I've played a lot of industry prototype leaks over the years thanks to lurking various boards, and this looks a lot more complete than people (or even it's own creators apparently) are giving it credit. A LOT of what's missing here (other than the lack of voice acting) is low hanging fruit the developers could've thrown together in a day per level, and the rest is content that was almost definitely still under Unit Test and wasn't yet merged into the main build repo yet, like the pig cops. If they'd stuck with this build for a couple years more, I'm certain they'd have had the game out. Instead they got hung up on internal bickering and ended up being forced to release a half baked, half broken, heavily up ressed version of the 2001 build almost exactly 10 years later anyways, just to pour salt on the gaping wound.
Great video mate! The thing that I took away from this video. especially as someone who tried the build for themselves, is this constant feeling of "man, thats pretty funny" or "man, that's so cool that this was in here". Especially looking at the discourse regarding this build, to see so many people talk about it and how interesting it would've been if THIS was the game that got released, shows that there is still an interest in the Duke. One could only hope that Embracer Group can do it right, and considering they also bought franchises like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, and promised future titles for each...one can only hope. Great video mate, you got a sub.
I dunno.... this looks really up there in completion. Most assets are there, most gameplay is there, most models are there, most of the physics are there, most of the everything is there. It merely needs, well... like... another ten percent. Even the keys and speedo on the motorcycle are working items. With his hands working the clutch, the lights, the buttons... this is impressive for 2000/01. Very VERY impressive. Far more so than the final product. And as far as the community finishing this, I feel you're selling them short... The community fixes everything, and fast. The WORST most INCOMPLETE of BROKEN games are fixed in mere moments, while the companies spend years trying to "officially" do the same thing. I mean, look at CP2077 for one.... Day two of release saw the same type of fixes from the community as was present on day 438 via CDPR themselves. And most of day 2 community fixes were better than the ones CDPR spent over a year working on... Also also.... Man, I had that Voodoo 5 5500 and a dual P3 750Mhz OC'd to over 1Ghz each on an Abit vp6 with dual TEC / copper water block cooling through a trans cooler running sub ambient. I think I could have run this back then, lol. And since I'm not exactly checking dates here, if it wasn't the dual P3 on a vp6 build, TEC/Water cooled and clocked to the stars, then it was the dual Celery 433's at 750-800 each, with the same cooling in a more primitive config. And if not the V5 5500, then a more powerful GF. . . Regardless, it was capable... dumb capable. I really wanted to play this game back then... seeing this screenshots in magazines or on GR's website, I never thought this game would turn into what it did. Heck, I preordered this title back when it was announced... first and one of the only games I'd EVER pre ordered.... wonder what even happened to the store entity I ordered through. I'm sure it's all long dead now.
"like... another ten percent", nononoono the 90% complete build was from 2002, in this video is 2001 build. So yeah, DN:F 2002 build must be far more better, polished and cooler.
The 10% is that of a grueling hard work of trying to fit it all together. And the futher it goes the harder it will be. For example, Dinosaur Planet build that similarly was 90% complete is still in works, it was in the far more progressed state than this DNF build with first few hours being almost completely finished, and yet after that the water gets murkier and we don't even know how the ending sequence works or even seen anything of it.
4:45 The hacking minigame looks like the one from System Shock 1, although that one was treated more as a Hotwire puzzle or lockpick minigame: basically it was the same as DNF except the wires were crosses or Xs that could be toggled. Most had a side effect that would change nearby wires too if you clicked on one which the strategy guide described using chess piece terms. The main hacking minigame was the Descent style cyberspace mode. The DNF hacking looks like it’d be much easier than System Shock’s.
I'm really glad I found you through your doom house video. You are my new comfort RU-vidr. The doom video is my favorite video on RU-vid and I get eat edibles and watch it all the time, but this one's awesome too!
I wrote notes for my own hypothetical Duke game with a version of the "Duke museum"; the Cycloid Emperor's eye in a jar was actually one of my first ideas for a display. Seeing it here, in a legit Duke "game" makes me happy that it was almost real. 😁
The rope swinging mechanic was also in half life opposing force, also made by gearbox. Seems like they reused some of the code cause it looks extremely similar to it. But it also definitely seems to control better
Man, if the community finishes this (please do it, ignore Randy!), it'll be the best thing ever! I'm literally hyperventilating with excitement from watching this, however broken it is. All these years!! 🤤🤤🤤 And it blows the official, final release out of the water and into another galaxy. 😭😭😭
The sky box looks like RainbowSix Vegas , impressive stuff , I still remember the 1998 trailer that looked phenomenal for the time , I wonder if there's actual builds of that in existence ?
OH MY GOD! The keychain on the motorcycle's keys not only has physics, it's the coat of arms of Amsterdam (a city I'm proud to say the Duke would absolutely love) edit: check at like 19:30 onwards! edit edit: I'm apparently a little stupid, the Duke does in fact go to Amsterdam in the first level of Duke Nukem 3D - and I gotta say, given the graphical limitations of the time, its actually pretty damn accurate for what the red light district looks like. Good shit yo
God I have images from that build imprinted in my brain, I remember just having my imagination run wild when I saw that you could interact with the world. I can't believe the nostalgia if I actually get to play a little of it, I always dreamt of what it would be like
The best part about the leak is that we got the actual source code with it. Meaning, it's actually POSSIBLE to fix all these rendering errors and in game bugs without janky workarounds. Still a lot of work, but it's possible.
DNF multiplayer is still surprisingly fun. Shoutout to the one guy always on checking for games. great guy I'm steam friends with him. Had a full game going in 2021, shit was wild!
Given that they've got the entire leaked source code to work with, as well, and several "holy grail" projects have happened with much less to start, I'm confident some group or other will come around to "finish" DNF 2001. Like you said though, I doubt a 2001 PC could run the final product -- it definitely doesn't run perfect even on my 2004 powerhouse P4 build. I shudder to think what a Pentium III with a GeForce2 would look like trying desperately to run a "finished" version even made to 2001 spec with 2001 developer tools.
@@markhirsch6301 The decompilation and modification efforts for OOT, Super Mario 64, the source port of Diablo 1, just to name a few. These were all things thought impossible at one point. Much like DNF's source leaking in the first place.
Yeah, he's meant to be a parody of 80s/90s action heroes. The DNF we ended up getting didn't realize that, leading to numerous instances where characters would be like "OH GOD, DUKE, YOU'RE SO AWESOME, I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY EVEN THOUGH I AM A MAN." It'd be like having an episode of Johnny Bravo wherein men and women glorify Johnny for minutes on end as a sexy, suave, intelligent manly man with no irony.
If you shrink yourself through the mirror (f12 if opening console, type AllAmmo for all weapons) you will see 1) body horror of uneven shrinking 2) you will notice that he actually pissing from the correct spot in tiny size
I would _love_ to hear more about how Digital Etremes almost became involved with this - DE's known history is pretty foggy in the spots between Unreal, Dark Sector, and Warframe.
There's an Easter egg in the 2002 xbox version of Serious Sam, some graffiti on the wall That the proclaims "DUKE IS NOT DEAD!" Took me years to connect that dot. And I had it around launch.
6:38 - I genuinely had a good laugh there :D It seems that many of the female voice lines were recorded by Lani Minella, a voice actress who appeared in a lot of games and she was the one who landed Jon St John the job to play Duke :)
long time megadeth fan and i never realized they did the duke nukem intro until just recently when it played on my Megadeth Radio on Pandora, really cool tbh
George Broussard trying to throw shade about the "unfinished state of DNF" is real funny considering he's Prime Suspect in the reasons it never went anywhere, considering his penchant for "Latest and shiniest tech." No wonder he didn't like talking about the "90% build" leaking; wonder how many other similar builds he himself helped strike down for what essentially amounted to ego.
It's sad to see that Scott Miller and George Broussard hate each other now, with how long they were partners and friends. Can't say I'm surprised though, amazing either manager could just sit by and let things to off the rails for so many years.. sure they blame each other.
the hair rendering looks like its supposed to be two-sided 3d plane, but probably didn't enable the two-sided rendering, and we are seeing the inside of the hair render but not the outside. This is called backface culling, and is typically used for more transparent objects, where it culls or disables showing materials on the inside surface normals. Thanks for coming to my Duke talk
After seeing all the commentary of former developers and employees, it's pretty clear George Broussard is sustaining himself on huge amount of copium. If this build was finished, it would have been the perfect successor to DN3D: thematic, flash, and a bit behind the tech curve. DN3D was never a technical powerhouse; it did ship with its own mod tools. DNF had the chance to follow suit.
The first level can be completed in its entirety without using noclip. Walk to the man wearing the polo in the beginning, and don't move until he stops moving. Keep doing this until he opens the door at the end of the hall for you. There's a trigger in the level to have him move as soon as the player gets to the trigger, but if a player hits the trigger before he reaches it the game softlocks the level. It's an easy fix that has already been patches by some modders.
Its incredible to think they looked at what they had and said "Lets scrap it and redo it in a new engine". Its extremely innovative, has loads more character in just its initial setting then the entire 2011 release, and the visuals are stunning. Had this been the build that came out it would have been Duke 3d all over again, and very much a better game then that by the looks of it (I felt the 3d game became pretty stale after a certain point). If there is a 90% complete version I really hope someone decides to complete it cause even if Modders are great I'm not holding out hope they can reassemble this game and actually release it without getting a takedown copyright notice.. Something that's happened to soo many great remade games released by mods.
A lot of game developers are captive to publishers and retailers, e.g. in the 90s and 2000s it wasn't uncommon for devs to want a RTS or some other strategy game in 2D only to be told "no, it *has* to be in 3D, that's the hip new thing gamers want!"
@@IsmailofeRegime Doesn't make it any less of a face palm moment. They had a game, they could have released that one and saved their running after the next trendy engine for their next game.
@@VancoreAMVs Yeah I'm not excusing the mania for scrapping a perfectly fine game just because it isn't on a cutting edge engine, just saying that it isn't unknown in the gaming industry to feel pressure to adjust to the "latest and greatest" for marketing purposes. Of course, what happened with DNF's constant engine changes went far beyond that.
Some of the stuff looks amazing for 2001, that city skybox was so well detailed. I hope someone can remake or recover these properly and make it playable
"my mom called me down for dinner so I turned off the game. When I turned it back on Duke became hyperrealistic and he was crying piss. Me screen went black but I could see a hand with paint on it reaching out for me in the screen reflection. When I turned around I heard an ominous voice in my head say 'come get some.' I put on my halo 2 masterchef replica helmet and ran to my mom, but when I got to her she just stared with blank eyes before eventually whispering 'power armor is for pussies.' I blacked out for 7 hours. When I woke up I was back in front on my computer but the cd was nowhere to be found, and the desktop icon turned into a picture of Randy Pitchford. I was covered in grease."
Don't know if it's been said before, but Half-life's expansion Opposing Force had Rope mechanics. DNF 2001 really could of been on the competitive edge back in the early 2000's for many games, Half-life, Deus Ex, Postal 2, Soldier of Fortune 2, almost even F.E.A.R., Resident Evil 4 and Bioshock. Had this been released after proper polishing and completion, it may of either fit right in or became a trend setter for future games, instead of just following the old Military shooter linear experience for 2011. Fuckin' shame what happen this game.
I really love how this feels like an advanced Half-Life 1 mod. I wish they could have cleaned it up and finished it in this state It would've become a cult classic, despite the flaws. Just like similar games around the time. Perhaps this alternate timeline then got a Half-Life 2-esque DNF sequel in 2011, or a mix with mechanics from all kinds of popular shooters then
Found a fix on twitter for the debug assertion error! Disable DEP Protection on the Duke Forever executable and it works! I'd had issues with DEP on older games before, why didn't I think of that?
When I heard about this leaked build I kinda wished someone would cover them in video format. So when this appears in my sub-box I was really happy haha
Man, I just gotta say that this came on while I was taking a nap and I must’ve not been deep asleep, because my dream was ENTIRELY my brain making up visuals for this video. There was a magic whale at one point for one of the broken levels.
I think Cliffy B had the right idea about a modern Duke. Make him kind of a fish out of water type of character, think Johnny Bravo. I think a good example is the Battletoads remake where they had them existing in this simulation only to be rescued by construction workers. Revealing that they aren't the world famous heroes they thought, and now have to exist as such. They were also on the right track for the DLC. Duke just needed more fine tuning is all.
Yeah it reminds me of Roger Ebert criticizing the second Austin Powers film: "'The Spy Who Shagged Me' seems to forget that Austin is a man out of his time. . . Even when he's in the '90s, however, the women seem to take him on his own terms. Myers and his collaborators, flush with the victory of the first film, have forgotten that Austin is a misfit and not a hero."
5:37 To be fair, I can't imagine a pinball table is all that hard to program. It was probably something they added in like a day as just a fun little side project to break up the monotony of the bigger parts.
Even though I’m happy about this and I can’t wait to see the modding community possibly complete this. I’d love to see the 2003 and 2006 builds leak from the gameplay videos shown way back it’d be cool to see what changed and what stayed over the development timeline.
