DF Retro Extra - Ion Maiden Tech Interview: A Brand New FPS - Built On The Duke Nukem 3D Engine!

[@plainlake]

I used to play Ken's labyrinth back in the 90s. I even sent him a fan-mail for his music in it. I did not know that Ken Silverman made the original build engine, what a legend.

[@AFarCryAway]

Funny how some might look at this game and say "Ew, that looks old". Then others will look at what Ion Maiden has achieved on the Build Engine and praise it for years to come! XD

[@libertyprime9445]

AFarCryAway People who grew up with these type of games like it, also known as real gamers. Newcomers and casuals care more about graphics than gameplay.

[@AFarCryAway]

I just played through Ion Maiden's preview campaign again, and I got a greater sense of pride and accomplishment than any modern EA AAA title could provide xD

[@libertyprime9445]

This game over any game in the last 6 years.

[@glitchyjoe64]

Lighting is shit. Inexcusable.

[@DaleonM4]

I like playing doom mods cuz im poor so I'm already used to it )': waiting for the realese of this game.

[@majmunx9703]

This game, Dusk and Amid Evil are one of the best FPS-es that I played for a last few years. Can't wait for the full game!

[@keithbrisbane7775]

The lighting on eduke32 and ion maiden is fantastic. I really want to play this.

[@icetrey8662]

Glad to see 3D Reals going hard again. My childhood. Picking this up ASAP.

[@SuperFirstSecond]

Everything about this is exciting. Not only is it a new game on the Build engine, but its being made with 20 years of hindsight and optimization. Its also something of a promising future for the 3D Realms name. Even if there's a lot of new faces, their hearts are in the right place. There's just something to the look of the world here that I love. I'm very excited to see where they go from here, the possibility of the Prey engine stuff is awesome.

[@LfunkeyA]

this game is actually very unoptimized. it runs poorly compared to eduke32 and blood gdx.

[@LfunkeyA]

eduke32 and blood gdx look and play great today, widescreen and all. they should've just stuck to lower res stuff, would have been more true to the inspiration and it honestly looks better. games with so many jaggies need simpler geometry, they cluttered the place with a lot of tiny sprites and unnecessary light textures, etc. it's just painful to look at compared to duke or blood.

[@todesziege]

@@LfunkeyA Ion Maiden *is* EDuke32, if it runs worse it's because of more detailed levels and art and more complex physics etc.

[@josephgarfield3363]

Finally, a game my PC can run.

[@claudiolluberes111]

Joe1up I feel u bro. Now I have a decent laptop but before I couldn't even play Halo CE at 30 fps.

[@nikkobor6254]

@@claudiolluberes111 same problem, my laptop is very weak so it can run Duke nukem 3D only in software mode, i cant even put a true 3D on! The pain is real

[@zyriuzstorm9971]

wouldnt count on that, the framerate dips alot when i enter large detailed areas in ion fury, and i have titan XP, ion fury should be more optimized.

[@AWISECROW]

Something for my iBook G4 to munch on

[@Videogems]

Now I want a Saturn version of Ion Maiden from Lobotomy. :s

[@ColpoRosso]

So, it's not coming out? Bummer

[@Grandmastergav86]

Exhumed aka Powerslave was fantastic on Saturn. I had to search high and low to get it back in the day...it was worth it though.

[@marscaleb]

With a unique custom level where you sit helplessly being dragged by a crane until you literally get flushed down a giant toilet!

[@88oscuro]

Saturn version with support for the 3D-gamepad! Would be so dope!

[@smokeydops]

Well, Exhumed and Quake on the Saturn were.. AWESOME. But don't get your hopes up, Ion Maiden is definitely beyond the capabilities of the Saturn!

[@bes5164]

Ion Maiden has everything to become a modern classic.....great name, great visuals, great nostalic feeling, great shooting feeling....i love it

[@3rodox]

Man DF really is my favourite channel on youtube. Hope it's around for many years to come.

[@HueyTheDoctor]

This is seriously the very best gaming-related channel on KZbin. Nothing else comes close. When I see a notification for a new upload from you guys, I'm instantly hyped.

[@frosty6845]

Scott Douglas the best channel but the absolute worst comments section

[@eddierios831]

Youre trying to hard

[@libertyprime9445]

Which comment section on KZbin isn't toxic?

[@HueyTheDoctor]

JEDI MASTER YODA Mate, expressing appreciation for something you genuinely enjoy isn't trying too hard. It's just showing gratitude. Your comment is the sort of thing a virgin manchild with zero world experience would write. When you grow up a bit, you'll realise there's nothing uncool about authentic appreciation. Until then, best of luck getting laid for the first time.

[@pegasusdrive12]

Scott Douglas that was fucking epic man

[@MrEdcar007]

Frederik Schreiber is trying to release the 2001 build of Duke Nukem Forever, free of charge. Randy Pitchford wants to charge for it in a Duke Nukem Collection and doesn't think much of it. I hope the reach a deal or at least it gets leaked...

[@archivey-h8e]

DNF 2001 build shits on the version Gearbox released, so Randy won't do it out of pride.

[@BADC0FFEE]

fucking Randy Pitchford...

[@Soonjai]

Honestly, if it´s a (near) complete game I would be willing to pay up to 15€ for that, if it´s mostly incomplete with tons of bugs I would prefer a free release though.

[@archivey-h8e]

It's been said the 2001 build is mostly complete, except the final level & lacking a bit of polish here & there, but they want to release it, it plays like a mix of deus ex & half life.

[@ghost085]

Ultizer You think it was Gearbox who made Duke Nukem Forever the way it was? It was 3d realms own doing, they took that 2001 "kick-ass' build (which was mostly a collection of cool scenes) and scrapped it for the final version of the game we got.

[@johnrich7879]

Ion Maiden has captured the rare aesthetics of classic FPS games. Great video Digital Foundry!

[@iluvcarz1]

At first I thought this game was made in a modern engine, but damn, the Build engine? That's impressive. I also love the aesthetic of this game. Thank goodness they're not trying to make it look modern or else I may overlook this game.

[@elimalinsky7069]

DriftinGorillaz the Build engine looks beautiful when scaled to modern resolutions and widescreen. It has a charm to it no modern game has.

[@madfinntech]

Love these tech interviews with the developers!

[@claudiolluberes111]

They're awesome!

[@danFenix]

Oh boy! I remember when I created a map for Duke Nukem using that map editor a long long time a go. Now, I cant wait to play this game.

[@trZomB]

Hearing 'Finnish demo scene' makes me very happy. I haven't heard any of the tracker music from Ion Maiden yet, but that gives me a lot of confidence that it'll be great. Looking forward to playing the game!

[@Eispfogel]

At first i thought that Andrew Sega had something to do with the Soundtrack, but he is not Finnish. I cannot find the name of Artist for Ion Maiden, just that he is some guy from the Demoscene. :/

[@Astfgl]

The composer is Jarkko Rotstén. I can't say I really know him, but Finnish demo scene is usually a seal of quality in and of itself.

[@RealDavoX]

Astfgl goes by Roz

[@leopard3993]

Thanks for the Linux version. By the way , i didn't know Plagmann from Valve was a modder back in the days.

[@aaadj2744]

I think he got hired by Valve

[@thetranya3589]

This is one of the best game tech oriented interviews I have seen. Very interesting and informative. Thanks!

[@adnanrafiqui8730]

Love the the art-style and good to see something old still being shown in this generation. Gonna get it asap

[@akisey1]

As a developer myself, this interview with the visuals was super interessting. Thanks a lot!

[@dreammfyre]

"In the year 2000..." Ken Silverman released the source code to the build engine.

[@ColpoRosso]

Please, include the GOG drm free version in the physical release.

[@DennisRamberg]

remember using the build engine to create multiplayer levels for duke3d back in the days. It was an extremely comprehensive and easy tool to use (even for a kid like me, without any kind of documentation). I was actually thinking of developing a game using the build engine before I settled for a artistic 2D game instead. But I am glad I opted for something else. Ion Maiden is looking really cool and it would definitely overshadow my effort in creating something cool in the same engine. :)

[@EspireMike]

Frederik and his team are doing amazing work. Can't believe these games are actually a reality. I hope they find great success so they can continue making more!

[@SuperAlZero]

I just finished playing the preview campaign and damn, it was good! It left me wanting for more!

[@OmarChida]

Finally someone who know what they are talking about! Usually its just Manager, Team Leads and senior management people out of touch what the actual engineers are doing. Also I can tell that these folks guys are very talented and passionate about what they are doing ! The game look absolutely gorgeous and the idea is novel and brilliant. I'm quite happy for them !

[@wallacerigby4393]

My dad had Quake, Hexan, Duke, All Dooms,etc...and playing Ion Maiden really brings back great memories. Great video as usual.

[@k76bk15]

This was seriously the best One hour I have spent in any games in recent years. Finally devs are starting to understand the importance of hand crafted good level design in retro revival. Dusk & Amid Evil also have some good level design.

[@vladurban6036]

Ion Maiden and Quake Champs are the best things PC has right now. Thank you, John!

[@larsmuldjord9907]

Really interesting interview that goes in-depth with just the stuff I was wondering about with this game. It looks amazing! It's instabuy for me when it goes out of EA.

[@NothingHereForYou]

I'm getting a half life vibe from this. This game looks so good. Since Indies pretty much perfected the 80s pixel art style and this looks like the perfect 90s art style I'm really excited to see how 00s style Indies look.

[@olzhas1one755]

They won't.

[@consumetheliving]

When they got to the part about mobile tech, I couldn't stop thinking about this on the switch

[@nagah0]

John, another great video. To echo another comment below, your videos are quickly becoming my favourite on KZbin. Keep up the good work!

[@ioannisdenton]

Oh look its ION MAIDEN again with classic hits like THE TOOPER, NUMBE OF THE BEST, THE PISSONE AND FEA OF THE DAK.

[@cg28270]

It wasn't until I heard him say Ion that I realized this wasn't some Iron Maiden game.

[@martin9662]

POWERSLAV

[@ioannisdenton]

Mardin dk it does not work that way. Its ion maiden not iron maidn..

[@BossZnakemaster]

I think he meant POWESLAVE, and lets not forget BING YOU DAUGHTE TO THE SLAUGHTE

[@VideosbySteve]

i read all of those with arnold schwarzenegger's voice because thats how he would say it.

[@slot9]

This was awesome! The look of this game is so cool and I love the concept they are going with for what this 'rebooted' 3d realms will shoot for! Thanks for all the hard work DF and 3DR!

[@fromfilmtocode]

Masterpiece. Handcrafted goodness, none of the lazy automations of new engines.

[@SebastianSkadisson]

Thank you for the video. Ion Maiden is awesome, i'm so hyped for the release. The Preview Campaigns together with the little hordemode really help to show that this is not an old game and as a player you dont feel any of the limitations old Build Engine games had - many great design ideas and super fast and polished FPS gameplay set it apart from modern shooters aswell (at least if they're not called Doom 2016 or Quake Champions). Also attempting to speedrun the preview is great fun, i recommend everyone trying it once they played it through the first time, no matter how experienced of a speedrunner you are. I can't wait to try to optimize my routes through the full version since the level design is so open and dynamic and thanks to the enemy AI the way enemies walk after spawning is never 100% the same, giving it some extra spice and also setting it apart from the scripted paths in modern shooters.

[@seivyjk]

That was a wonderful interview, thanks !!

[@Bob_Beaky]

I really really hope that these guys can go back and do something similar with Rise of the Triad. The reboot was fun, but there's nothing like that original spritey goodness!

[@loganjorgensen]

Wow super impressed, you don't often see that level of care and attention to detail for older games when it comes to adapting it to modern platforms. Really cool taking it from the RNR Build level and taking it to what it's next step would have been. With other "retro" FPS games I look at many only to say "That's not what those games were like." but this project is really looking very authentic to the era. Good stuff. :D

[@jrc16ify]

Really enjoyed watching this, great to get detailed insights from the devs about Eduke / Build engine, and other related tech. Cheers.

[@elimalinsky7069]

The old Build engine games were so much fun!!! I still play them to this day and enjoy the heck out of them much more than modern AAA games. The mid to late 1990s were a time when gameplay was the no.1 priority and each game tried to push the limits on how awesome, fun and complex the environments and interactions can be.

[@RyuRanXII]

Great episode! I really enjoyed the format! You should bring New Blood Interactive to talk about DUSK and AMID EVIL, or Night Dive Studios to talk about their amazing Strife and Turok source ports.

[@GiacomoVaccari]

What a fantastic game! Frederik and Evan sound like cool down to earth devs too. Looking forward to more from them

[@tominatorxx]

It looks really good. Love the idea of going back to older engines and use them to create a modern game. Good luck to the devs on their project.

[@HuGiv5]

41.09 minutes of pure gold.

[@TheOttomatic91]

Excellent work John can't wait to here more devs being interviewed about the games they're working on

[@Nightmare78hAlo]

Would be cool if you guys also covered Dusk and AMID EVIL too. This recent resurgence of classic old school fps games is fantastic and i have so far been loving all three of em'.

[@AverageDaveVideos]

It's so nice to see this classic engine reborn. The game looks excellent and I am anxious to play it. I am hoping that it makes its way to the switch as that's simply the most convenient way for me to play games now. All the same, looks great and very interesting interview!

[@MatheusLB2009]

These Tech Interviews should become more frequent

[@InnuendoXP]

"From the last Apogee branded game" The earlier Apogee years were pretty golden too. Apogee-essense spinoff if the 3dRealms-essense revival takes off?

[@the_real_foamidable]

EXCELLENT! This looks great.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

That is absolutely fantastic. Seriously, that's wonderful. Now I want to see a build engine game with a Half Life level of AI. So, enemies that do more than just chase and shoot like those early 90s games. Actually I want to write it.

[@BADC0FFEE]

woah so the opengl renderer I guess still streams vertex data? I guess even just building a cache system that implements vertex\index buffers could fix the performance issues then! probably the main issue is with doors and stuff like that that needs to be updated evey frame, instead of being a single object that translates with it's own transformation matrix I guess those are probably still handled as per vertex transformation... incredibly interesting video! Good luck with the project guys! :)

[@BADC0FFEE]

I've just watched the ending part and I'm even more amazed, so the engine still runs with the fixed pipeline? I was betting you guys recreated the "old school" shading model with a pixel shader and a lut... there must be a lot of work, not just to use the old mapping tools, but even more to port EDuke to more modern standards

[@ebb8870]

if you're not getting crushed in doors it isn't a real build engine game

[@Astfgl]

I think it's a question of how far do you want to go in modernizing this engine? Right now it's still mostly based on Ken Silverman's original work, which is kind of the point of the game. Using vertex buffer objects and a proper shader pipeline would do a lot to improve the performance of this game, but would it still be the same engine then?

[@SteelSkin667]

That interview was interesting, as it also explained in part why they didn't use Polymer, which supports shaders but has from the same issues with CPU overhead. I hope the work they are doing for Ion Maiden trickles back down to eDuke32.

[@RealDavoX]

SteelSkin667 all improvements on ion maiden land FIRST on eduke32 :)

[@itswillz7222]

Super amazing video, can't wait to play this once it's finnished !(I never play games in early access)

[@Grandmastergav86]

Good interview, v promising title. My first playthrough was stuttery but the update improved gameplay significantly. Now to hunt for those devious secrets. I adore Build engine games and old school FPS period tbh.

[@Dex99SS]

Also, the individual present here, Mr. Frederik Schreiber that is... He eventually gets there, but he should indeed sound as confident as can be. The man has much to say, and he says it well. So much so that everything he's gone on about here was not only interesting, but easily understood via myself, who is in no way a graphical anything... Enthusiast perhaps, but not an artist or someone who has actually made anything in this regard. Yet all of this information was perfectly delivered. Great episode, and if it isn't obvious I am most certainly a customer, and this is namely what brought light of the title to my eyes. Great exposure, great content, excellent job all around. Come on man... Boxed copy... Floppy disk USB incognito deal.... whaaaat. Son of a ... here goes whatever price tag that ends up at. Shit. Noooo... whhhhhaaaaaattttt!??? Other games in older engines???!!! Old unused Prey engine!!!??? Come on BETHESDA, give up the goods on who owns it and if its you, do the right thing here! This has rekindled a dying flame that I thought went out decades ago, but no.... This video alone has sparked a flicker. I want more! Okay I know I've gone on now too much, but I immediately went to Steam and bought this game, it then installed in a split second and informs me that it is 9.5Kb in size. How is this? Am I still asleep or something, did I die? None of this is real huh?

[@RealDavoX]

Brett Prior Evan Ramos spoke for 80% of the interview hehe.

[@Dex99SS]

Yes he did, and it started and continued in a very nervous and shaky tone... which toward the end got more confident and stable... Not biggie at all, was just saying that he should feel all the confidence in the world with the knowledge he was dropping, no need for the vocal shakes.

[@n64ever]

DF Retro "Extra"... episode is 41 minutes. Now THAT'S an extra!

[@StevenJShow]

LOL, Frederik talking about this like he had anything to do with making Ion Fury is just so funny. The guys at VoidPoint, Duke4 veterans, came up with the idea.

[@laughingoctopus8556]

I forgot duke had a full sprite model, that makes me want a over the should 3rd person game in this engine/style

[@JustAnotherGamerUS]

Answered most of my questions, thank you I’m ecstatic about this game!

[@carlosalbertobravopantoja8333]

A DF RETRO episode of Killzone Mercenary would be awesome. I have always wandered how it was achieved

[@EdwinJones1234]

Wow, that’s some interesting stuff. I can’t wait for the full release.

[@zzador]

Excellent interview. Loved the technical details.

[@evergaolbird]

This is awesome - can't wait for this to become available.

[@fabiomccaree9218]

I want this on Switch, badly

[@almighty1984]

brings back memories of making Duke3d maps

[@killer1one1]

Frederik Schreiber is the hero we fucking need right now!

[@SuperHns]

Thanks man great interview, just purchased the game on Steam I am exited for it!

[@Texshy]

I remember my brother and I trying out the editor for Build Engine. I remember it being an easy editor to learn.

[@pinokotsbeer6453]

Nice interview and love these indepth episodes

[@dreamcastfan]

I’m really looking forward to playing this game, I hope it’s full of hidden rooms and in-jokes like Duke Nukem 3D (who can forget Captain Picard’s Really Ready Room?) as well as some crazy weapons like the freeze gun and the shrink ray. Modern shooters definitely have their plus points, but I miss the days when levels were much more non-linear and were honeycombed with secrets. That said, Doom 2016 definitely lived up to the spirit of what I’d want from a ‘90s shooter.

[@keyboard_g]

Ion Maiden for Switch.

[@Outrunboy]

Finally! The genious game devs star to make games on brilliant and atmospheric build engine again! Nice job! Take my money!

[@curryking1]

great interview questions to facilitate and great responses from the developers, very good video

[@XenonG]

Man, those firing and reload animations!

[@SinisterPuppy]

I'd kill for a 32bit executable even if it's labeled as a big fat beta. I still have my old AMD K6-2 pc kicking around and would get a kick out of playing a 2018 game on a 1999 pc. :) /me begs 3drealms

[@pelgervampireduck]

it should be able to run on a pentium 1, I hope they make a DOS exe, or even a win9x exe. I felt so disappointed when they mentioned 64 bit :(

[@SinisterPuppy]

I can understand wanting to stick to their original goal as much as I want this. If a true retro version drops after I'd be super excited. Like Retro city rampage getting ported to true NES hardware after the game was shipped.

[@pelgervampireduck]

and 486, the retro city rampage guy gets it, he ported it to DOS and it comes on a floppy disk, it runs on 486 with vga! that's awesome!.

[@Banzeken]

I don't think a Pentium1 could handle it very well if it does run on a modernized version of Build (eDuke32 etc.) with added lighting effects. I have had more success with open-source versions of Duke3D on a Pentium II so even if that ends up being the absolute hardware minimum it would still be quite impressive.

[@todesziege]

The source code is available and so are instructions for how to build a 32-bit exe.

[@MrVonSchiller]

Ken Silverman released the BUILD2 engine just this month. I seriously hope to see some games using that engine.

[@moosemaimer]

So weird watching this and hearing them talk about using simple blending techniques to create the illusion of light sources, when I was just reading today about nVidia working on hardware support for realtime raytracing in games, and going from the futuristic to the ultimate throwback.

[@WilfredBrimleyGaming]

constraints can be benificial for creativity, i like their attitude.

[@igorthelight]

Guys! Are you talked about Dusk! It's like Quake 1 kind of game (but in Unity engine).

[@YouCantParkThereMate]

I hope they get to work on the prey engine eventually :D I love these lengthy videos. I really enjoyed the technical analysis. Wishing you all the best!

[@RetroChiZ]

Very impressive, I'm away to check this out

[@tero581]

Iron Maiden looks fucking awesome! Just recently played through the Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition. If they can get the old school level design in this Imma be a happy man.

[@christianna3561]

I'm on board especially seeing the original Turok and Turok2 cleaned up and running on the Xbox One. Those games were all about great gameplay and fun and this looks no different. Can't wait! BTW Serious Sam was fun and the HD remake on the Xbox 360 was very well done.

[@TamarinPamarin]

Really cool interview.

[@FoxDie77777]

I realised that i didn't watched this episode before! I'll be psyched if they released a new game with the PREY engine!

[@MrThankman360]

I plaid the demo level of this. This game is really fun. Between this and Amid Evil, I'm really enjoying this revival of old school FPS games.

[@ItDaBiz]

Interesting point about the game being cpu intensive for consoles, I think this may actually be a very rare instance of the Nintendo Switch getting the strongest port of a game due to it's emphasis on the CPU rather than GPU.

[@petrlazar5240]

Wow, sprites sure can look nice with decent resolution and more colors!

[@todesziege]

This game is still 256 colors, just like the old Build games.

[@ebb8870]

You guys need to do a DF retro on the Descent series now that the spiritual successor Overload is in the final stages of development.

[@bigchuzzle2117]

This better get a switch port, would be a day one buy if they did

[@adamcrawford1390]

I threw moneys at this almost immediately after hearing about it from Icaruslives. Since my computer has a built-in Intel hd 3000 it only does opengl 3.1 and apparently the current eduke32 doesn't support that. thankfully they left in the software mode which works smoothly enough on my computer, even in 1280x720 resolution. I contacted the developers asking for a possible Direct X version but it can't be done without heavily modifying eduke32 but I think I influenced them to keep the software mode indefinitely! this makes me very happy because not only does it help me but it might help others with even lesser PCs who game on a budget. I love the way the build engine looks in general and I own all of the main Build games from GOG, Duke, Shadow Warrior and Blood. I only wish my PC had a VGA out so I can play these, including Ion Maiden on a CRT, that'd be amazing! Just thought I'd give my personal input on this. BTW, if anyone know of any other great build engine games, perhaps not made specifically by 3D Realms I'd love to know about them!

[@goobydntfear]

i love the build engine so much, i hope they just make yet another build engine game after this

[@johnjackson9767]

This looks fucking beautiful.

[@xCROWNxCrew]

so much great information and detail. i really liked listening to this and looking forward to future content :-) your work is very much appreciated, thank you john and df

[@pentiumradeon]

that seriously looks amazing

[@Cybolic]

Quick note about the lack of 6DOF shooters these days: You guys should really check out Overload if you haven't already. There are a number of others on Steam that have come out in recent years, but Overload is by far the best by my standards.

[@LfunkeyA]

yeah blood needs more respect, it's by far the best build engine game