9 ms·

I guess it's because I'm slightly too young to have enjoyed it in its prime, but I don't get the excitement over the Duke franchise. It seems like a standard F

by eavc 16y ago

I guess it's because I'm slightly too young to have enjoyed it in its prime, but I don't get the excitement over the Duke franchise. It seems like a standard FPS with some cheeseball bravado, sexism, and sex wrapped around the mechanics. Also, I can't imagine why anyone would think the same people could make a modern game, which is 1000x more complex and expensive to produce than the games of old, with the same success that they made the old, relatively simple one. So what's the major excitement here? Humor? Pure nostalgia for the days when the cheeseball stuff was really satisfying?

mattmanser 16y ago
Oh god, I feel a little sorry for you. This game was like seeing The Matrix without anyone telling you the basic plot. Your first hacker news post where pg actually responds to it. Your first bungee jump. Your first go on a real gun. Your first pvp kill in eve online. It was ground breaking. It blew your mind and sent a chill up your spine. It's just one of those things that when it came out it was so ahead of its time. It opened your eyes to what could be done. Now it seems dated, then it was amazing. I guess those that had that the first time round are all hoping it will do the same thing again.
- eavc 16y ago
  Ha--great answer. Thanks. So it was technologically groundbreaking? Novel game-play? Both? My game like that was either Ocarina of Time or maybe Goldeneye 64.
  - bd 16y ago
    Technologically it looked very well for its time, but mostly it stand out as a game with "character" (art design, levels, weapons, sound effects, voice acting, writing). It was so cheesy and over the top that it became masterpiece (like Tarantino / Rodriguez movies, or recent Old Spice commercials). id soft may have had technologically superior games (Quake is about the same age and had full 3d models instead of just sprites) but they were incomparably bland compared to Duke Nukem. Also, gameplay was really fun. There were some very inspired gameplay elements: shrink and freeze guns, laser traps, remote triggered pipe-bombs, jetpacks. I still fondly remember multiplayer Duke sessions late in the night at lab in my university.
    - enjo 16y ago
      I had a CAD class in high school that was basically Duke Nukem 101. It was awesome:)
  - Splines 16y ago
    Both. IIRC, the only alternative FPS to play was Doom 2 or Quake, which had very little character and focused on the action. The Duke Nukem engine was (from my point of view) on par with Doom's engine, but their level design made playing the game a lot of fun. From seeing yourself in the mirror, to kicking toilets and fire hydrants, the world seemed much more alive than any other game at the time. The game had a fun boy-ish "I'm gonna kick ass" vibe to it that isn't really seen today. Most FPS action games nowadays, while fun and entertaining, seem to take themselves too seriously. Musclebound Marcus Fenix is too brooding, and Roach too focused on terrorist plots to really portray the giddiness that was found in kicking a pig in the face with your manly boot.
    - Das_Bruce 16y ago
      Dude, none of the things you mentioned in the level design were possible in Doom's engine.
      - Splines 16y ago
        Ah, chalk it up to fuzzy nostalgia. I swore that the mirrors actually were functional, and you could damage stuff that was on the sidewalk with the boot-kick. Maybe I'm mixing it up with other FPS games of the time. It's been a while.
        chbarts 16y ago
        > I swore that the mirrors actually were functional, and you could damage stuff that was on the sidewalk with the boot-kick. Both true. Neither possible with the Doom engine.
        Splines 16y ago
        (and chalk the reply up to poor reading comprehension. I understand what you mean now)
      - ks 16y ago
        I think you are right. I remember Duke as technically more advance than Doom 2 I found something here: http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D "While Doom and Duke Nukem 3D feature similar technology, Duke Nukem 3D could in most respects be considered technically superior. The player can jump, crouch, and aim up or down. The rendering engine features slopes, overlapping and moving sectors, arbitrary scaling of textures and strong scripting capabilities"
  - gaustin 16y ago
    There is a lot of technical detail about the engine from it's creator here: http://www.advsys.net/ken/default.htm http://www.advsys.net/ken/default.htm I have to note that Ken's story is one of the things got me into programming as a kid, back when DN3D was still fresh.
- eru 16y ago
  Compare "Seinfeld is Unfunny" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny).
- flomo 16y ago
  To be honest, the 80s Movie Tough Guy parody was derivative and already tired when DN3D was released.
Vulture 16y ago
I think that the major point here is that you consider Duke Nukem 3D to be a "standard FPS". You have to understand the 1996 context in which it was released. Prior to that, the "best and most advanced" FPS was Doom. There was no "real 3D", whole maps where flat. You could never stack monsters and players and items over a Z axis. Duke Nukem 3D brought the 3D into FPS. Because of this 3D, aiming with the mouse became the standard for generations of games. A few months later ID Software published Quake, which was also mind bending. I don't feel like FPS have evolved at all since that time. Better story lines, more guns and spells, more details in the physics engines, but the 3D is still the same for the vast majority of large studio productions. This is why Duke Nukem is so mythical (and Quake 1), it set the foundation for modern FPS games. Over the time, people forgot about their 1996 experience but where kept on the bandwagon by "Duke Nukem Forever in the following year". Now I'll agree that the probability that this game lives up its expectations tends toward zero but hey, its like a software game soap opera going on!
- sid0 16y ago
  > I don't feel like FPS have evolved at all since that time. Halo later brought in regenerating health, but yeah, that's all I can think of.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    Vehicles?
    - sid0 16y ago
      Oh, yeah -- that was Halo too, right?
      - decadentcactus 16y ago
        I think technically Halo did however I'd also suggest Battlefield 1942 as really fleshing out vehicles. And saying that, multiplayer in general seems like a big step (although not sure how well multiplayer was in the 90s)
Tycho 16y ago
I think DN was the first game I played where you walked about a real environment with realistic objects and furniture etc. instead of empty rooms on a spaceship. I remember seeing it at a friends house and being totally blown away that... he was running around outside on a street. It was also the first FPS game 'with attitude', Grand Theft Auto style. Also had some cool gameplay mechanics like CCTV terminals. In fact I think I only had a demo of it, not even the full game, and it still made an impact on me.
shaunfs 16y ago
Every FPS before it was super serious. Then comes Duke, a trash talking, stripper payin, badass mofo who is all out of bubble gum. Also it has holo-duke which I contest is the best FPS feature ever created. Many a friend parished from my holo-duke + room lined with pipe bomb combo.

by eavc 16y ago

mattmanser 16y ago

Oh god, I feel a little sorry for you. This game was like seeing The Matrix without anyone telling you the basic plot. Your first hacker news post where pg actually responds to it. Your first bungee jump. Your first go on a real gun. Your first pvp kill in eve online. It was ground breaking. It blew your mind and sent a chill up your spine. It's just one of those things that when it came out it was so ahead of its time. It opened your eyes to what could be done. Now it seems dated, then it was amazing. I guess those that had that the first time round are all hoping it will do the same thing again.

eavc 16y ago
Ha--great answer. Thanks. So it was technologically groundbreaking? Novel game-play? Both? My game like that was either Ocarina of Time or maybe Goldeneye 64.
- bd 16y ago
  Technologically it looked very well for its time, but mostly it stand out as a game with "character" (art design, levels, weapons, sound effects, voice acting, writing). It was so cheesy and over the top that it became masterpiece (like Tarantino / Rodriguez movies, or recent Old Spice commercials). id soft may have had technologically superior games (Quake is about the same age and had full 3d models instead of just sprites) but they were incomparably bland compared to Duke Nukem. Also, gameplay was really fun. There were some very inspired gameplay elements: shrink and freeze guns, laser traps, remote triggered pipe-bombs, jetpacks. I still fondly remember multiplayer Duke sessions late in the night at lab in my university.
  - enjo 16y ago
    I had a CAD class in high school that was basically Duke Nukem 101. It was awesome:)
- Splines 16y ago
  Both. IIRC, the only alternative FPS to play was Doom 2 or Quake, which had very little character and focused on the action. The Duke Nukem engine was (from my point of view) on par with Doom's engine, but their level design made playing the game a lot of fun. From seeing yourself in the mirror, to kicking toilets and fire hydrants, the world seemed much more alive than any other game at the time. The game had a fun boy-ish "I'm gonna kick ass" vibe to it that isn't really seen today. Most FPS action games nowadays, while fun and entertaining, seem to take themselves too seriously. Musclebound Marcus Fenix is too brooding, and Roach too focused on terrorist plots to really portray the giddiness that was found in kicking a pig in the face with your manly boot.
  - Das_Bruce 16y ago
    Dude, none of the things you mentioned in the level design were possible in Doom's engine.
    - Splines 16y ago
      Ah, chalk it up to fuzzy nostalgia. I swore that the mirrors actually were functional, and you could damage stuff that was on the sidewalk with the boot-kick. Maybe I'm mixing it up with other FPS games of the time. It's been a while.
      - chbarts 16y ago
        > I swore that the mirrors actually were functional, and you could damage stuff that was on the sidewalk with the boot-kick. Both true. Neither possible with the Doom engine.
      - Splines 16y ago
        (and chalk the reply up to poor reading comprehension. I understand what you mean now)
    - ks 16y ago
      I think you are right. I remember Duke as technically more advance than Doom 2 I found something here: http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D "While Doom and Duke Nukem 3D feature similar technology, Duke Nukem 3D could in most respects be considered technically superior. The player can jump, crouch, and aim up or down. The rendering engine features slopes, overlapping and moving sectors, arbitrary scaling of textures and strong scripting capabilities"
- gaustin 16y ago
  There is a lot of technical detail about the engine from it's creator here: http://www.advsys.net/ken/default.htm http://www.advsys.net/ken/default.htm I have to note that Ken's story is one of the things got me into programming as a kid, back when DN3D was still fresh.
eru 16y ago
Compare "Seinfeld is Unfunny" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny).
flomo 16y ago
To be honest, the 80s Movie Tough Guy parody was derivative and already tired when DN3D was released.

Vulture 16y ago

I think that the major point here is that you consider Duke Nukem 3D to be a "standard FPS". You have to understand the 1996 context in which it was released. Prior to that, the "best and most advanced" FPS was Doom. There was no "real 3D", whole maps where flat. You could never stack monsters and players and items over a Z axis. Duke Nukem 3D brought the 3D into FPS. Because of this 3D, aiming with the mouse became the standard for generations of games. A few months later ID Software published Quake, which was also mind bending. I don't feel like FPS have evolved at all since that time. Better story lines, more guns and spells, more details in the physics engines, but the 3D is still the same for the vast majority of large studio productions. This is why Duke Nukem is so mythical (and Quake 1), it set the foundation for modern FPS games. Over the time, people forgot about their 1996 experience but where kept on the bandwagon by "Duke Nukem Forever in the following year". Now I'll agree that the probability that this game lives up its expectations tends toward zero but hey, its like a software game soap opera going on!

sid0 16y ago
> I don't feel like FPS have evolved at all since that time. Halo later brought in regenerating health, but yeah, that's all I can think of.
- philwelch 16y ago
  Vehicles?
  - sid0 16y ago
    Oh, yeah -- that was Halo too, right?
    - decadentcactus 16y ago
      I think technically Halo did however I'd also suggest Battlefield 1942 as really fleshing out vehicles. And saying that, multiplayer in general seems like a big step (although not sure how well multiplayer was in the 90s)

Tycho 16y ago

I think DN was the first game I played where you walked about a real environment with realistic objects and furniture etc. instead of empty rooms on a spaceship. I remember seeing it at a friends house and being totally blown away that... he was running around outside on a street. It was also the first FPS game 'with attitude', Grand Theft Auto style. Also had some cool gameplay mechanics like CCTV terminals. In fact I think I only had a demo of it, not even the full game, and it still made an impact on me.

shaunfs 16y ago

Every FPS before it was super serious. Then comes Duke, a trash talking, stripper payin, badass mofo who is all out of bubble gum. Also it has holo-duke which I contest is the best FPS feature ever created. Many a friend parished from my holo-duke + room lined with pipe bomb combo.