Duke Nukem Forever - Restoring A Lost Game

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#dukenukemforever #gaming #memes
0:00 Intro & Duke Nukem History
03:42 Restoration Project
05:57 Penthouse, Rooftop & The Duke Cave
10:23 Hotel Rooms & Casino Floor
15:45 Wrapping Up Chapter 1
17:34 Closing Remarks
20:29 Outro & Amazingly Awesome Patrons

[@Gggmanlives]

Hey nerds, check out the mod here: www.moddb.com/mods/dnf2001-restoration-project

[@denis2381]

GayAnalDildo

[@nek211]

@@denis2381 ur pfp 🤨🤨

[@denis2381]

@@nek211 whats wrong with it?

[@cesarhernandez6861]

You know what? Fuck it, I like Duke Nukem Forever. Even a dumpster fire is fun when your the one burning it.

[@kelvincasing5265]

Prey 2 still hurts. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJerdI13gJyjY9U&ab_channel=BlurStudio

[@GianniMatragrano]

Eyy thanks for checking this out. That team has really worked their asses off and it's good to see players finally get to experience at least some kind of taste of all this cool stuff this game had in store for them. I'm glad to be part of the project, I'm no JSJ but I'm honored to contribute to this. I'm doing it for free, because enough folks wanted me to and I'm thankful for how much love and support I've gotten from Duke fans over the past few years. I reckon given the nature of the project stemming from a leak, it might as well be me since I'm lucky enough to not risk *toooo* much by helping out with it. Probably still a little professionally stupid for me to do it, but hey, stupidity is what my entire name is built off of. And what can I say, I'll always bet on Duke. ☢

[@FeRu.Raprodukcja]

Your impressions are awesome and I love it. I don't know that you better in Duke or Caleb because in both voices you are spot on :). Cant wait for complete restoration Project. And I don't think this is stupid move to use your talent in mod....This is great opportunity to be more recognizable in industry and I know that it will bring much more goods than bads. Cheers!

[@LazyBuddyBan]

Love your memes dude! some of them fit the character so well i even recommend putting them in game as extra one-liners.

[@8Paul7]

To be honest when I played it I thought it was JSJ, Duke sounded spot on. So great work and keep it up, I want to play the full game with you in it.

[@Flesh_Wizard]

I read this entire paragraph in the Duke Nukem voice

[@damagekritical]

Can I borrow your voice to pickup chick's 🤔 🤣🤌

[@VanTemplar]

I actually spoke to Jon about this project. He expressed interest in joining this project! He was also upset about how Gearbox completely abandoned Duke. Really cool guy. Mighty Foot actually approached him regarding this and he initially declined, as he needs to be careful with all the lawsuits surrounding Duke. Hopefully he can join the project and voice Duke!

[@alfo2804]

Yeah - if this was an official release, I have zero doubt that Jon would have been on board. Better to not risk potentially cutting ties with the rights owners for the sake of a legally grey fan project. And I mean "rights owners" not Gearbox, because the day Randy Pitchford greenlights another Duke game will be a cold day in hell, so we're not getting one unless some other company wants to buy the rights, or buy Gearbox entirely.

[@simondaniel4028]

let's hope so. gianni needs a vaca.

[@Mastersnake392]

@@alfo2804 Embracer Group owns gearbox now, and i think they own 3DR as well. So there might be a chance in the future.

[@alfo2804]

@@Mastersnake392 Oh wow, no way. In that case, if anyone in Embracer Group has their head screwed on right, then maybe that dream could be realised one day. Ion Fury proved that 3D Realms definitely still have the talent knocking around to make a good-ass Duke Nukem game, so it's honestly perfect.

[@Gatorade69]

@@alfo2804 Yeah also Randy stepped down as CEO of Gearbox and now Gearbox is owned by Embracer group. I find it a bit funny (tin foil hat time) that this leak happened right after Gearbox was folded into Embracer group. Embracer bought Gearbox in Feb last year and it would take 3 months for the purchase to finalize, this build was leaked exactly 3 months and 7 days after that purchase, right as Gearbox was fully owned by Embracer group. Obviously it could totally be a coincidence or maybe not...

[@Elemtree]

I think the world needs Duke more than ever, I can see him working perfectly as a walking, talking Johnny Bravo who motivates men to work on themselves just without the unnecessary “influencer” adjustments.

[@DiscoBallGaming]

Duke Nukem really does fit that role, he's absolutely ripped sure, but not in a "gym bro that complains online" way. I would love to see Duke Nukem come back

[@ghost085]

Johnny Lawrence from Kobra Kai is a perfect example of how they could write Duke. He is totally oblivious to current trends, he is happily stuck in the 80's and yet he is a hero you can root for.

[@reviewtechgermany8091]

Do you really want a modern Duke Nukem game? I can already imagine how the game will look like. You know that Duke will be toned down to fit the “modern audience”. He will probably be an idiot doing many mistakes, and his companion will probably be a woman that scolds him, and she has no flaws compared to him and does everything right.

[@Atrahasis7]

Absolutely, even an older Duke would work.

[@slayerboi7008]

Maybe Wildhogs who created the shadow warrior series might have the talent to create a good one. Then again the writing might be a challenge for them. However the gameplay would be very good.

[@StarJackal]

It's not too crazy to see how little work 3D Realms actually accomplished. Broussard was very keen to constantly give updates on their Pog collection, going to the race track with the guys from id and showing off what office furniture they just bought while being completely radio silent on what development was going on with the game.

[@andrewomahony9260]

You forgot going to line up for Star Wars tickets all day.

[@willh7352]

Apparently there is a verison of that game that was 3/4s way of completed, its out there somewhere.

[@debonaire_nerd]

@@willh7352 ...the 2003 version, I believe.

[@Jacksoft]

Remember that this is not the only build they made. Broussard "rebooted" the work with two other engines at least, where the game were rebuilt from scratch everytime and with many differencies! (Check out on YT)

[@EbonyPope]

What about those Jon St. John moments? What did he say?

[@KubinWielki]

Honestly, the guy voicing Duke is absolutely spot on. I get the idea of "Oh, it's not Jon", but honestly, it sounds nitpicky. If noone told me that in the restoration project, Duke isn't voiced by Jon, I probably wouldn't have known. Give the new voice actor a chance, lol.

[@Nergalsama01]

Yep. Considering that hiring Jon for this project is out of the question anyway, this is the next best thing we can have. And it works fine.

[@GuntanksInSpace]

@@Nergalsama01 besides the legal stuff, I bet it'd cost the small team a hefty sum to get Jon to voice Duke for this. Gianni is aite, though tbh his Caleb impressions I like more

[@surgefire4845]

and how can he expect them to change that there is no way they are gonna get the original to voice him, unless he wants reused duke 3d voice lines

[@EbonyPope]

What about those Jon St. John moments? What did he say?

[@RedSageGames]

I didn't even notice till he said something. I think he is good.

[@Crackers0106]

I remember hearing somewhere that this version of DNF 2001 that leaked was actually an earlier version, and that the one that was apparently 90% done is a later build that hasn't been leaked yet

[@Kannamoris]

Pretty much this. This build was made specifically for the trailer and is missing a lot of things previous 3D Realms employees said were in the game at some point.

[@Unchainedful]

Until actual proof comes out about this, then we have to assume that what the devs said were false and that this is all they worked on.

[@ChaplainDMK]

@@Unchainedful Id assume for sure there would be tons of in works stuff not in the build yet, left on other drives, other builds etc.

[@BlazingOwnager]

If you heard anything about the day to day activities at 3D Realms.. you wouldn't believe this.

[@WolfeVon]

You're talking about the 2002 build which is confirmed to exist.

[@vgfan4ever]

There was a unique hell for those of us who watched this game in development for over 11 years, (I remember WHEN it got popular to say 'it's been 11 years' referring to DNF) but it pales in comparison to the hell that was being a programmer and coming SO close, SO many times to what was the only game more hyped than Half life 2, only for your boss to once again scrap the entire project because he had another dream about high fidelity graphics.

[@avr8844]

And then some people waited 14 years for scorn, and it actually came out. And yeah. Fuck

[@GraveUypo]

@@avr8844 the only reason i don't say "i'd rather it (duke) didn't come out" is because serious duke used its asset to make what is easily the best thing to come out of duke nukem after duke3d. it's serious sam mod, if you haven't tried, do. it's fucking awesome

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

and now Beyond Good and Evil 2 is on its way to beating its development time, and remember, this is from a studio that abuses its staff and hides it up with panderless virtue signaling of "Diversity and Inclusivity" which seems to be a recurring trend in today's media.

[@Jeyeyeyey]

people who buy and ""play"" games CUZ MUH GRAPHEEKS are the fucking worst

[@sean8102]

It really is sad. Playing around with the leak and esp reading the source code (so glad the entire source code for everything was included). I'm no programmer but it's fascinating to look at the leak and read the code. Esp the comments. But so many of the guys at 3D Realms were doing a ton of cool stuff with Unreal Engine 1. They basically had created their own D3D8 renderer for UE1 at this point (well with help from Tim Sweeney, there are comments from him in there). The glass breaking physics/feature was one guy at 3D Realms. From what I understand looking at the code 3D Realms added support for meshes to UE1 themselves. Just so much work that was cutting edge back then. There was already a test map for dynamic lighting (yes I know about the lighting change that required everything to be thrown out). I'm so glad at least the leak finally happened so their work can at least get some attention.

[@TodayiAteMyCat]

With a lot of classics like doom, serious sam and shadow warrior coming back, I think this is the best time for dukenukem to make a grand entrance again

[@wildwest1832]

Disagree. None of those were any good vs the originals. Better off not bringing anything back. Stick to the classics. Want duke nukem? Play duke3d.

[@NoahDaArk]

@@wildwest1832 Except we CAN’T play Duke 3D without giving greasy Randy Pitchford our money. Also that is so clearly bait I won’t even ADDRESS the other part of this comment

[@EvilDeadFan1995]

@@wildwest1832 Both Dooms are incredible. You don't know until you try. Better than limbo.

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

@@wildwest1832 Did this guy just say the new Doom games were not good? ....Ok XD

[@mortenera2294]

@@wildwest1832 The new Doom games aren't good? ...Are you a fucking idiot?

[@DiscoBallGaming]

I actually heard about this leak and I was Hyped, I saw a video where someone found the source code and I am absolutely shocked it never came out. It would have changed the earth forever if it came out in 2001. Even being unfinished, it's amazing someone finally found this and fixed it.

[@RedCLR]

It would have changed the earth forever. Duke Nukem Forever

[@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585]

It is too edgy the truun restoration team is removing jokes.

[@sean8102]

@@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585 Source? And what jokes. Having played through the leak (as much of it as you can "play" or at least explore with console commands). You can get rough ideas of the story from that, plus interviews and just public knowledge about development. But there def aren't jokes setup in the leak

[@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585]

@@sean8102 newest vid on my channel

[@RetroGamerBB]

The saddest thing about this is it could have went down so much differently. Instead of the Devs jumping from one "engine" to another, we could've had several badass Duke games. 1 right after the other. Instead of almost nothing due to continuous "feature creep"

[@Mastersnake392]

Feature creep is also what killed StarCraft Ghost. Devs would literally be only a few months away from being done, then Blizzard would ask them to add features that were in some other new game that just came out. Eventually the devs got burned out and the money dried up

[@Dee-tc7lo]

They only changed engines once, funnily enough Forever uses the same engine as this build. Unreal engine 1 lol.

[@luminosity01]

@@Dee-tc7lo kzbin.info/www/bejne/e32aeXiKi6acjrs you're wrong

[@trblemayker5157]

There's actually an npc in the leaked build with a flashlight who'll follow you around in the dark areas. The pathing wasn't so great so I see why it wasn't in the Restoration Project.

[@kikoano111]

In the fan project its also fixed and has whole quest where the npc with the flashlight needs to find his kid.

[@DNFHistory]

I am on the team and it seems he did miss Harold who provides light and if he dies you can take the flashlight. Also in OpenGL dark hotel is missing the fog which helps make the area brighter. All stuff we’ve fixed since. First patch is coming!

[@matchmakerchris7617]

@@DNFHistory You are doing a great job guys!

[@thehatalwayswins505]

Big fan of how gory this game is in its current state. Love 2000’s gore it’s always charming and endlessly entertaining.

[@Max_Payn3]

@Druid of Scosglen yea I actually like the more silly over the top stuff as opposed to the uncanny valley realistic stuff because it feels more lighthearted and less of a glorification of violence

[@KasumiRINA]

@@Max_Payn3 if you look actual war footage, it's closer to over the top stuff than "realistic" red puffs... most shots to head split it, bodies get dismembered. I don't remember last time I've seen a russian with all limbs in place.

[@mars___sumner]

As flawed as the Restoration Project is right now, we are really lucky to be able to play this time capsule of a game and I truly appreciate the work being done. Games need a return to the kick ass attitude of the Duke and other characters like him that helped define not just a genre but a hobby back in the 90s

[@cenciende9401]

We still have plenty of it if you actually pay attention to what's released

[@vincentpistoia9034]

I wish I could play it but I'm running into a serious button mapping problem to where I cannot save my controls I cannot get out of the elevator because I can't map dukes kick it's a shame really cause I've been waiting for this game forever 😏

[@matteste]

Well there is a sort of sequel to Ion Fury currently in the works that seems intent on scratching that itch.

[@sean8102]

Im so glad the leak contained the source code for everything. That is such a huge help for the modders etc.

[@UnchainedEruption]

You need to play Shadow Warrior. Lo Wang was always the Asian Duke, but the current version in Shadow Warrior 3 is hilarious! He might even be funnier than Duke. And the gameplay is amazing, like the spiritual sequel to Doom Eternal.

[@armoredgeo6621]

That old Duke nukem forever trailer still looks good. I wanna play it even with the graphics it has in the trailer. I think they still look good for a old game. It'd be really nostalgic

[@TyroneBruinsmaFilms]

GmanLives went from a Sonny Jim to a King in the time it took for Duke Nukem Forever to be released

[@M0rshu64]

And now he's been promoted to Daddy Jim.

[@eponymous7910]

But is he Penske material?

[@JohnnyBg2905]

1) Gianni sounds 90% like John St John, so it's much more than just "impression" 2) Don't compare it please to modern shooters, see it for where and when it was planned. If it is finished, it will be a phenomenal retro shooter 3) I like changing pace - shooting marines, then zombies in darker areas, then some empty spaces etc

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

i feel like when people say they’re not used to how Duke sounds here it’s because his voice isn’t bitcrushed the way it is in Duke 3D. Gianni’s done a lot of shitposts as Duke with the bitcrushed voice and it sounds just like you remember Duke.

[@LateNightPerson]

​@@crimson-foxtwitch2581it seems like people are used to duke 3d's bitcrushing as opposed to a lot of other duke games without it

[@WinstonHofler]

Mad respect to these modders for trying to build the original Duke Nukem Foever. Just goes to show that modders are becoming far more talented and competent than most AAA studios in the industry.

[@denis2381]

Missmanagement is the Problem. I wouldn't say developer from aaa games are bad. Its their bosses who make poor decisions.

[@RetroGamerBB]

All the nerds grew up.

[@nejatolgunturk3702]

Sometimes devotion leads a stronger motivation than money.

[@Kotka1986]

I'd say maybe modders have better motivation/ focus on finishing a project/fixing bugs than a huge bloated studio does , especially when dealing with a tight schedule , regardless how talented are the people working there .Remember, modders fix and add cool stuff after launch of the official game when the game devs had to assemble and ship the whole original product for (usually) less time than needed.

[@selphconscious]

.. it's always been this way.. passion over profit.. all-day..

[@scarletcrusader5431]

Gosh Gianni voicing Duke in a Duke game is just sublime

[@VERsingthegamez]

There's even a mod for Duke Nuken Forever 2011 called DNF Enchanced that makes the game much more playable, giving you the ability to hold all weapons and improve some of the visuals. Tried it out recently and did a full playthrough, and it was actually really fun.

[@Solarnova]

Will def check this out, thx!

[@UnchainedEruption]

Removing the weapon limit? Sign me up!

[@wolfgangfrost8043]

You absolutely can interact with the slot machines. You have to use the action key on the coin slot first before hitting spin.

[@sebaprime6411]

he missed a lot of things

[@CoolSs]

i never was part of the hype for Duke Nukem Forever 2001 and did not watch any trailer but from what i understand and stuff . if they finished it and at least released it in around 2003 . we probably would have got the equivalent of Doom 2016 for Duke by now .

[@buzzsawgr81]

"you think those sunglasses make you look cool?" yeah, I'd love to see this game get fully restored and even get jon st. john to come back in to record all the lines for duke.

[@TheAwsomeuser]

Whenever I see old games with impressive rain effects, I just remember hw much of an embarrassment GTA: definitive edition's rain effect was.

[@0uttaS1TE]

That shit looked like TV static

[@LazyBuddyBan]

well yeah no wonder. It was basically an asset flip of massively copypasting assets onto different engine, with a shoestring budget. no wonder everything was so broken and low effort and quality. the only impressive thing was if it even worked half the time.

[@Chuked]

@@LazyBuddyBanwell it was War Drum Studios, which who were responsible for the mobile port and xbox 360 ports of GTA san andreas, they are not experienced with consoles at all

[@Anuskasv0]

I didn't even notice it was different guy doing the Duke voice, he did a great job. And Postal dude has many voice actors, not a big deal. Jon st John is not irreplaceable.

[@UnchainedEruption]

He’s iconic, but honestly Duke isn’t that hard of a voice to do. Anyone can do Duke Nukem, really. Some voices are completely unique to the actor who came up with them. I don’t think anybody else can do a Homer Simpson justice. But Duke? Jon even explained how he came up with the voice. Slightly angry sounding, aggressive action movie voice. Gets that testosterone the character exudes. I mean Duke himself is already a spoof of Stallone and Schwarzenegger.

[@SonicStarLord]

9:56 is clearly a nod to Max Headroom. Gman, I'm only a couple of years older than yourself, but this guy was a massive pop culture icon in the late 80's. Crazy suff!

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

he was born in 1987, doubt he would have known

[@DrunkJackal]

That Las Vegas skybox still looks awesome today.

[@DCGMatthew1]

I remember hearing about this. Very awesome. Wish we'd get a new Duke Nukem game but at the same time know we probably never will and that might be a good thing.

[@jeffyp2483]

hey hey! we absolutely need a new duke game! and DNF(2011) ported to switch!

[@suzysuzuki8865]

You can play the whole campaign of bulletstorm as duke and it’s fucking great lol

[@jeffyp2483]

@@suzysuzuki8865 it has some funny+entertaining ways of dealing with character dialog, but as far as i can tell thats it. i was hoping for something a little more than that. bullet storm itself is a good game. i had fun with it, but playing through a second time as duke, it just didnt add anything aside from a few jokes in cutscenes/talky parts. i wish they had made it so, for example you get some duke weapons when playing as duke, and/or you can jump higher, or run faster or something like that. its not bad as is, just not worth it for the duke character swap. if you already have bullet storm, the duke of switch isnt going to justify buying the game again. if you dont have it and/or want to perforate aliens while on the toilet, then get it on sale.

[@Eevolved32]

Agree whoever will release a new duke game will fuck it up and tone it down heavily guaranteed

[@guilhermehank4938]

A new duke nukem would be demasculated because "toxic masculinity" or some bs like that

[@CssHDmonster]

its crazy how nearly 20 years later, that glass shattering is still impressive

[@sean8102]

Written by one guy at 3D Realms. Sad looking at the source code knowing none of his work would make it into the final game in anyway.

[@DrundeFPS]

Red Faction also did this before.

[@UnchainedEruption]

Eh..not really. Loads of games did that in the 00s. Would it have been impressive in 2002 though? Yes.

[@kylejohnson423]

I see Duke as kind of the antithesis of postal dude. Postal dude kinda just wants to be left alone, while he is thrust into increasingly ridiculous situations. Whereas, Duke is the person who has the confidence to solve a ridiculous situation.

[@KooL_D]

I hope this revitalizes the franchise. I hope they inspire a new trilogy of more old school styled Duke games

[@karpai5427]

I did not notice that Duke's voice was different. He does a good job.

[@Snyperwolf91]

Im on the opposite . I think this game ( even unfinished ) isnt outdated in every aspect and even much better than DNF 2011 . Maybe the graphics but they somehow still look good in a stylistic way. But outdated ? No way . Basic ? Maybe . Has it still much potential? Absolutely!!

[@todesziege]

The accomodations made to DNF '11 to make it more "modern" has kind of made it more dated today than this build.

[@TastySnackies]

This is what I think about when I hear the term “game preservation”.

[@thatguywithoutahead]

After obtaining a Duke Nukem 3D big box a few years back I remembered the DNF special edition I couldn't afford in 2011 and since I thought the bust was pretty cool I opted to get one and did for a mere 15 bucks. And now, after playing the leak as well as the first part of the restoration Project, I have to say: I'm still pretty glad about that section of my shelf, next to Doom and Alien (Trilogie), that Hails to the King. Im looking forward to a "full release" and still hope Duke comes back one day (and not only as a DLC for the fantastic Bulletstorm) Great video (like always). You are THE reviewer I trust in since we seem to have about the same taste, so I'm always looking forward to your videos. As it is: keep that good shit coming and stay well!

[@ragnakak]

From what I remember, the reason little progress was made was because George Broussard kept switching to newer engines every time one would come out. It started out on the Quake 2 engine, then Quake 3, then several iterations of the Unreal Engine before someone said enough was enough and handed over the project to Gearbox

[@LazyBuddyBan]

Yeah but it was very necessary! otherwise there wouldn't be... uhh.... the.... Oh right, there was basically no reason to do this outside of "new" label, even if it ironically looked even older because of this.

[@KasumiRINA]

@@LazyBuddyBan tbh switch from Quake 2 to 3 is justifiable, SO many classic games were made on Q3 engine it's one of most legendary ones: Medal of Honor Allied Assault, original Call of Duty, two Star Wars Jedi Knight games, American McGee's Alice and Soldier of Fortune 2. These games still look crisp on modern devices since it supports high resolutions... console is also incredibly easy to work with, bind custom commands, launch mods etc. Shame we didn't get a Duke on it!

[@bsaintnyc]

It was never on quake 3 . it went quake 2 then unreal , then a fully customized re-written unreal engine , that got massive rewrites each time it was re booted

[@UnchainedEruption]

There was another iteration on a Doom 3-style engine, and then finally one last engine upgrade in mid/late 00s by which point they ran out of money. They were totally broke and forced to sell the rights of Duke in order to pay back investors/creditors. Gearbox did the bare minimum to finish that last late 00s build and released it finally in 2011. It was meant to simply recoup some of the losses.

[@sebaprime6411]

@@UnchainedEruption nope, it only went Quake to Quake 2 to Unreal 1 to Unreal 1 tournament version, from there they made their own rendering in 2003 and upgraded some things such as models in 2006

[@Itscodega]

Duke Nukem Forever is a guilty pleasure of mine, especially the Doctor Who Cloned Me. I’m praying that the 2002/3 builds get leaked (it’s the 2001 build but more complete and with doom 3 like shadows) apparently Duke Nukem Endangered Species got leaked as well as the PSP third person shooter Critical Mass whoever’s releasing these build are doing Gods work.

[@kroman6083]

Another one got released as well- a 2d game. I forget what it's called but could've been a prototype to Manhattan Project.

[@cenciende9401]

They're doing better than an evil cult's fairy tale character's work, they're doing genuine non-toxic gamer's work.

[@jetrifle4209]

@@kroman6083 not a predecessor

[@kroman6083]

@@jetrifle4209 You're right. I'll edit it.

[@elgatofato3555]

fun fact: jon st john actually tried to actively "persuade" gianni out of not doing the duke nukem voice, even going as far as to tell him that his impression sucked and also messaged gianni telling him if he even makes a single penny out of doing the duke impression on patreon that "randy pitchford might hunt you down".

[@Nergalsama01]

Really? Hm, that's disappointing. :/

[@Gatorade69]

@@Nergalsama01 He has since apologized.

[@RagingDrew]

No surprise. Go Gianni! Hopefully Duke makes a comeback somehow in the world of woke and you surpass Jon.

[@HydraSpectre1138]

Jon just didn’t want Gianni to suffer the grease curses of Randy. We all know how Randy is.

[@klutzspecter3470]

@@RagingDrew The world of what?

[@eebieabbyobie6854]

19:09 -- with the main difference being one actually feels like a Duke game, and is fun to play. There's enough deviation here that it warrants a playthrough, with what feels like a proper direction for Duke. Also, the slot machines were playable. They just had lower resolution textures, so unless you tried to click on the blurry button you wouldn't have known.

[@jetrifle4209]

Lmao I was like I'm 100% sure those slots work

[@eebieabbyobie6854]

@@jetrifle4209 My brother, you were never alone.

[@mjohnsimon1337]

This video was surprisingly depressing. Back when I was a kid, I used to play Duke Nukem 3D on our family's old Macintosh with my dad (we never told mom of course). We both loved the crude humor, the cheesy references, and of course the gameplay. So imagine us seeing the trailer for Duke Nukem Forever. It blew us both away! I remember dreaming about playing it and wondering what the story would be like or how the gameplay would be like. Then after a while, little to no information was given about the game, the screenshots of the game's development slowly disappeared, new games were coming out, and eventually, there was no news at all. I remember being a bit disappointed but I just moved on with my life. Eventually, as we know, the game was re-announced and some people were excited, but by that point, the game was doomed from the start (or re-start). 10 years had passed and no one really cared about Duke anymore. Plus, there was no way the game could live up to the hype it had generated. Of course, and just as I feared, the game was pretty bad. It was as if they took a game straight from 2001, updated the graphics to be the crappiest version of "modern" graphics at the time, slapped on a label, and released it. I was beyond disappointed. Seeing this gameplay and footage, I couldn't help but wonder what could've been? A game like this would've blown my dad and me away back in 2001, and it probably would be viewed favorably as other groundbreaking titles like Halo, Half-Life 2, etc. It's pretty depressing because I'm watching this footage thinking "This is what _I_ should've played 22 years ago, but now I have to play it as a near 30 year old who's already experienced other games that took everything 3D Realms wanted to do with Forever but improved upon it further. Basically, there's no blank canvas. And that to me is beyond disappointing.

[@dcikaruga]

I felt I was playing a FPS game made in the early 2000's, not just graphically but gameplay and level design as well, nostalgic at least.

[@Caydiem]

To be fair if you didn't mention that it's not Dukes original VA I wouldn't even have noticed. That's one pretty damn accurate impression if I've ever heard one.

[@steelgriffin7716]

In my case, I admit I could tell it was Gianni... Because I've heard his Duke impression enough. HOWEVER, I still love it. If we can't have Jon St John give us Gianni. (or they could do what RWS did in Postal 4 with having Rick, Corey, AND Jon as options. But that also depends on what the involved parties do.)

[@TheMC1102]

I hope someone will leak the prototype build of Prey 2. Also, you missed the opportunity to call this video "2001: A Duke Odyssey".

[@IIIOldSchooLIII]

I would seriously die happy if a playable build of Prey 2 got leaked.

[@hudsonk1racer]

To be honest, casting Gianni is beyond the best case scenario since he sounds the most like Jon, which is something other series fail to do on the regular (Sega being an exceptionally straightforward example)

[@volvo145]

I think that Duke Nukem Manhattan project was a really really good Duke game it was pretty much a good sequel to the original treaty and it had all the right humor at Cetera it’s crazy right it’s 20 years old now

[@TsjuunTze]

That guy from LGR sounds more like the real Duke.

[@AlexeiVoronin]

Ah yes, I remember being in high school and waiting for this game to come out... then I wasn't really following gaming news for a while, so when I went to university in 2004, I actually assumed the game had already come out and started digging for info about it, to see how good it turned out to be. Imagine my surprise when I found out it still wasn't released. And then I saw the 2001 trailer and I was like "Whoa, this looks awesome, why isn't it done yet?"

[@MithrilRoshi]

People put time and effort into giving something free for people Gggman : "Do we NEED it tho?"

[@josephsouza9599]

I'm pretty sure that "dukes version of cortana" was meant to a reference to Max Headroom from MTV back in the day lol, and also even with all the criticisms and complaints in mind this version of the game would have been a huge successful title if it actually got finished and came out in that 2000-2001 time frame, it looks really good for the time all things considered

[@nicksjacku9750]

In the hotel you're supposed to protect a father with a flashlight giving you light through the level to find his son. And then Graves calls you that your sunglasses are getting a night vision upgrade.

[@fredstone4395]

They gave us the first slice now I want the whole pie

[@alphaenterprise2232]

Duke is the man our society needs

[@AbsurdShark]

Red Faction predates Half Life 2 with these kind of advanced glass shattering physics.

[@NthReview]

Rolling into this, I thought it was a redo of the 2011 game, but... better. Maybe hack out a bunch of the levels and make the remaining ones better, but this is an interesting idea. Like you, I was hot for that 2001 trailer even though I had never played D3D and I was excited for what that was going to be when 3D accelerators were just barely making it into gaming PCs. But I don't know, I see this and I don't quite feel my excitement to play THAT 2001 version of DNF overriding my feelings that this just looks and plays like an old game that I don't want to play anymore. I appreciate the work they're putting into it, but there was a time when I would've enjoyed this kind of "boomer shooter" and I don't even play the ones they build from scratch today. What a niche to be in! EDIT: Also, I appreciate the "flatter" look of this restoration versus the "everything looks like it was baked in a kiln" look of the 2011 game.

[@Eldzey99]

Gianni did pretty good job in my opinion. Dark levels made scary atmosphere for me. I really like what Mighty Foot team did with this leaked mess.

[@wbblueye1387]

Anyone Remember Duke Nukem: Manhatten Project? Loved this Game...

[@F10F11hm]

Absolutely! Terrific platformer, and one that got the "Duke" vibe right.

[@PFPRoco]

I honestly have a lot of faith in this project, and I think it could really turn out great in the end. Of course, it certainly helps that they have 2011's rendition to work off of story-wise, because it seems like 3D Realms didn't deviate too much from the original plans. With that, they could keep the good, rework/cut the bad, and still have room to take their own liberties with it. It's gonna be awesome.

[@blackmetalbreadstick]

As a huge MGS fan since I was a child.. Kiefer sounded awesome as Snake lol

[@HydraSpectre1138]

I still think David Hayter should’ve voiced him in Ground Zeroes and voiced Ishmael in The Phantom Pain. Keifer could replace Snake’s voice in The Phantom Pain, and they could handwave it with some of Kojima’s signature quirky explanations. Also, it would foreshadow the game’s biggest twist.

[@Akabane101]

There's a certain charm to these environments and 3D models that really sings this era of gaming. I love it.

[@RagingDrew]

I'm cool with the new Duke voice. Since Forever, they've been dialing back the Dirty Harry cool for his lines and making him sound like a Family Guy character. I like what I'm hearing here.

[@psycold]

Duke Forever made me angry at Randy Pitchford, but Aliens: Colonial Marines made me want blood. I've never given gearbox a penny since then.

[@mandaloin]

Not to mention how they ruined Halo 1 with their piss poor port. Man, Gearbox is a really crappy company, huh?

[@TheZackofSpades]

RIP Kevin Conroy, great shout out. He was the Knight.

[@garrybug907]

i love your content so fucking much man, you relit the spark i had for games, your videos are the best!

[@joaopaulo-ms5it]

If they can't get Jon St John they should have tried to get LGR to do this. Best Duke impression I've heard.

[@archimagirus_sancti]

Last time I was this early, Duke Forever was as finished as Chinese Democracy

[@TrippingHawk]

Another thing severely lacking with the new Duke lines is era-accurate pop culture references. I heard a Django Unchained line dropped in there, kinda takes me out of the moment playing a game thats a snapshot of 2001 referencing a movie from 2012. They have a shit load of mid-late 90s action movies they can reference to keep it all consistent.

[@jothain]

I honestly think Clint could actually do voiceover actually fooling to be in place of Jon. He's remarkably good at imitating him.

[@Samaelx.]

Dukem nukem was one of the first ever pc games I've played back in 2000's👏🏽 great memories

[@exilealchemist9100]

17:53 Blade would be proud

[@leightul]

5:36 FUCK YEAH GIANNI GOT TO (at least sort of) OFFICIALLY VOICE DUKE. Its no longer just a meme. I think 2023 might just be alright, but lets not get our hopes too up.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

FUN FACT: Last year Beyond Good & Evil 2 eclipsed DNF for the title of "longest time spent in development hell", passing 15 years. Is there still any hope that there eventually will be a finished product that can avoid Duke's fate of massive disappointment after all the waiting? Of course there is- _and my ass could sprout wings and fly me into space!_

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Considering the studio making Beyond Good and Evil, I highly doubt it

[@LazyBuddyBan]

BG&E2 Is just a moneysink done in someones spare time, even if it miraculously comes out (which i highly doubt) it will be a mostly reboot openworld waste of time. Their Skull&Bones game is in very similar position, they changed entire game about 5 times in about 7 years with no idea what they doing (they eventually settled on f2p pvp mobile-game trash lol)

[@Scout-Fanfiction]

I'm 35 (been playing Duke games since i was 8). I think when/if i retire in 30 years, we "might" see a new Duke game. Thank you Gman for covering this (i didn"t know about Batman's VA til just finishing this, shit). A hearty thank you to all the folks working on this restoration project as well.

[@rabidguineapig]

The cool thing about this project is that not only is it a chance to bring to life the original vision of the game that was once thought lost to time but it's also a chance to bring some more modern sensibilities to it in order to make it even better than it was ever going to be to begin with. I feel like this is the perfect time for it too because of the rise of boomer shooters and the amazing things people have accomplished by taking classic shooter gameplay and refining it. I will always point to Dusk for reference because I feel like that game did almost everything right. As long as they don't try and keep things too much the same in this game or try and stray too far, if they can find that perfect balance this could end up being an absolute amazing game!

[@hypertensionfilms5439]

It's my sincerest hope that when this...era...in society lightens up a little bit, there will be room for characters like Duke to thrive again. Great video, as always.

[@primesuspect8567]

15:45 you can pick up objects to throw into the laser beam to detonate the mines instead of dancing around them. Atleast the whole game doesn't end if one of them goes off like in Half Life.

[@TheHappyKamper]

As someone who played through a borrowed copy of Duke 3D in highschool when it first came out, and frothed over that Duke Nukem Forever trailer a million times, I honestly don't know how I feel about it finally coming out in that form that was teased decades ago now. It's pretty funny and sad to see how much 3D Realms, a company that I loved, was so lazy with their most popular franchise. I guess I'll give the restoration project a go, if for nothing else, a little nostalgia hit.

[@LtPliers]

Lets not forget James McCaffrey as Max Payne as memorable voice actors. RIP. Glad we got to hear him one last time in Alan Wake 2 as Alex Casey.

[@MADVILLAIN669]

I want actual Duke game back in action. I just hope when it inevitably comes out that it wont be updated 'for modern audiences'

[@cenciende9401]

'I'm a toxic clueless mouth-breather' the comment. Way to embarrass yourself. Media has never pushed the envelope and the line further than it does today, in fact by saying you want things how they were you are actively saying that you want more censorship. Lame.

[@MADVILLAIN669]

​@@cenciende9401 Not even the second reply and I'm getting insulted for neutrally expressing my want to preserve Duke's artistic integrity as a 90's badass character. What a surprise.

[@theblobconsumes4859]

It wasn't the 2001 version which was said to be 90% complete; It was the September 2002 build which was referred to as 90% complete, which is unlikely to be true as well. Also, Jon isn't great anymore. I prefer Gianni's voice.

[@LordClydeofOMAR]

After 21 years, the real Duke Nukem Forever is finally out. Honestly, I actually liked the 2011 version. The thing is, I didn't wait 14 years for it. I literally only heard about the whole situation upon its release.

[@xxx-pliskin-sniper-xxx8538]

I want the Duke to return, in all his glory. Give me a game with fantastic, well designed gameplay and levels, a semi funny plot and just go balls to the wall with the references and one liners 😂 please someone!!

[@MysticBGaming]

I went to PAX East in 2011. They had the booth where you could sit on Duke's throne with booth babes and have a photo taken. That line was huge all day long. I wonder how many regret that photo after the game dropped.

[@wallyhackenslacker]

Imagine that, a ragtag team of Internet fans may actually finish in a reasonable time what George Broussard couldn't with 14 years of continous work.

[@SkipidyFlipity]

Love your channel! You made me fall in love with old FPS games all over again ❤

[@blueshit199]

gmanlives discovering that a build of a game that was not finished is, in fact, unfinished

[@TheG_Boy]

the guy doing Duke's voice is giving a very solid impression

[@LordVader1094]

Yeah Gianni is great as Duke

[@rhysholdaway]

This fills me with hope. Not going to play this iteration but going to bookmark. If it ever gets finished I'll definitely give it a playthrough.

[@KnoxCarbon]

You should also check out the Enhanced mod for the 2011 version. It removes the weapon cap and fixes a lot of sluggish gameplay elements that the game was criticized for. Duke Nukem Forever is just one of those games that refuses to stay dead.

[@HydraSpectre1138]

The game may have come out in 2011, but the real development story is not over yet. Over 25 years later, and Duke Nukem Forever is still finished yet.

[@Calculon1712]

Im glad you got round to doing this. Have you thought about looking at the enhanced mod for DNF 2011?

[@KappaCow]

Yesss, thank you so much for covering this!!! The world needs this

[@diddlenfiddle7311]

Hats off to the team fixing this. Gotta say it's a hard job to make everything run nice and play good. Like not seeing the enemies could be fixed by something on the model to glow, maybe the mutations. But that takes a whole different skill set.

[@Disconnect350]

Ironic how everyone is trying to restore this 2001 version of the game, but if it had been officially released back then people in 2023 would be asking for a Remake instead.

[@MrSickNoodle]

This actually graphically impressed for the time. Like really

[@maroonstarsface]

You know what I love about you gman? One of the few gaming KZbinrs that don't make me feel old!

[@theboogaloohelper1388]

I think what really is sad about this is all the lost memories that could have been,I could totally see my cousins and I playing this and having a blast

[@toxicavenger7073]

Rip Duke nukem gone but not forgotten

[@darthcinema4262]

I hope he returns someday

[@VonBoche]

With the restoration project and Phantom Fury, it's like this game is finally coming out... twice.

[@killercodyj658]

Honestly when i was a kid, i had never played a Duke game before and i had an absolute blast with forever.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I really appreciate everything that the gaming & modding community have been doing to save & upgrade beloved game's & trying to bring out their true potential.

[@MurcielagoAI]

We all know JSJ is Duke and he has the fans back against Randy Pitchford, and love him for it, but I think keeping a grown man who can't stop tweeting politics like an angry 15 year old off your indie mod project is a good thing.

[@squadass99]

Well it's his personal account and he can do whatever he likes on his personal account, if you started tweeting about your own politics on your own personal accounts I doubt people would be upset at your for doing the same. Unless you disagree with what he says, that's a different topic entirely and it seems like you just disagree with him.

[@Daedalus4]

@@squadass99 The only reason people bitch about things being "too political" is because it's not their politics being voiced. It's always right wing reactionary belly-aching.

[@DD-fs9xt]

@@Daedalus4 Seems like its St John doing the reactionary bellyaching through his account

[@Daedalus4]

@@DD-fs9xt Seems like you should pick up a fucking dictionary one of these days.

[@DD-fs9xt]

@@Daedalus4 So I can find the word "whore" and show you the included picture of your mom?