Footage leaks of 2001 Duke Nukem Forever build, source code leak expected in June

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Some footage has leaked on 4chan of 3D Realms' infamous Duke Nukem Forever, well known for having one of the longest and most troubled development times in video game history, dragging on from its announcement in 1997 to its eventual release by a different studio in 2011. This leak is a build of the game from around E3 2001; though it isn't the exact build featured at E3 2001, it does feature all of the content from that presentation.

The leaks come from an unidentified user calling themselves "x0r," and are being catalogued on Duke Nukem fansite Duke4.net. Several short videos and some screenshots can be seen on that page, and some selected quotes from x0r, compiled by Duke4, gives us an idea of what content is in the leaks:
Almost every chapter is present in some form. A huge chunk is playable, a huge chunk is block-outs with no enemies. All of the E3 content is there.
Not just the editor, we will be releasing the full source code too.
All weapons are functional with the exception of the chainsaw and the freezer.
Do you have any date on when you are gonna leak it then? June.
The editor works. We also have the engine and UnrealScript source code and have written instructions for compiling it.
Two builds, but only the content for one.
It is Unreal Engine 1, like the final game.
There is no complete game. It was never finished.
The E3 2001 iteration but not the E3 2001 build.
The shrink ray is in the game, it’s the first weapon in slot 4.
The theme is just the Megadeth version. It starts playing as soon as you boot the game.
Bombshell is not visually present in the game at this point, there is a log file showing that her model was deleted.
The strippers can be seen and interacted with when you first enter the club. By the point in the game that was recorded, most of them are dead.

As of right now, x0r has only released screenshots and footage, but claims to have access to the source code and will be leaking that, along with instructions on how to compile it, sometime next month.

George Broussard, co-founder of 3D Realms and one of the heads of development from 1997 to the IP's acquisition by Gearbox in 2010, has said on Twitter that the leaks "look real," but warns fans to keep their expectations in check. "There is no real game to play. Just a smattering of barely populated test levels." He also says he has no knowledge of who is behind the leaks.
 

ChiefReginod

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Prototypes of good games are kind of boring if you think about it, since they're about the same as the final game but shittier. Prototypes of bad games show what could have been.
 

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Apparently it already leaked

*snip*

Also gameplay out



Can confirm that link on the 4chan thread leads to the real leaked build. Even scanned it with Malwarebytes, just in case. The build and megapatch are available to test it on modern PCs. Glad that it was leaked, this version of the game looked really good for 2001 standards and could have been better than what we got in 2011.
 
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Kioku

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What we could have got vs what we did get. This would have been a fantastic send-off for Duke. Can't even begin to understand the events that lead to the shit show we have. Even more concerned that Gearbox got final rights.
 

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Looks pretty cool from the gameplay video above.. Would be interesting to see how the console build compares to the PC's, for the consoles that were at the time (PS2, Dreamcast?), if there even was one..
 

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Groovy. Only a matter of time until the fans will recreate the rest of the content and put everything together.
 

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Prototypes of good games are kind of boring if you think about it, since they're about the same as the final game but shittier. Prototypes of bad games show what could have been.
Considering that anything and everything should be preserved on a historical standpoint, the particular case with this game here is it went through several revisions, engines and restarts before the end product was released. As a result the leaks here will show an entirely different game before they decided to scrap it and restart again.

What we could have got vs what we did get. This would have been a fantastic send-off for Duke. Can't even begin to understand the events that lead to the shit show we have. Even more concerned that Gearbox got final rights.
There are videos out there detailing the development history and troubles it had throughout the years. Given that this is the 2001 UE1 build this is probably the third revision/rebuild of the game since Rev1 and 2 Used id tech engine's 1 and 2 in its early development. The reason for this was the creator really was chasing waterfalls with trying to get his hands on the best and latest engine technology to base this game on. An outcome of constant restarts, obsession and feature creep.

I hope the talented fans out there will be able to use this and make a complete game out of it. That would be a badass outcome.
 
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Kioku

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Considering that anything and everything should be preserved on a historical standpoint, the particular case with this game here is it went through several revisions, engines and restarts before the end product was released. As a result the leaks here will show an entirely different game before they decided to scrap it and restart again.


There are videos out there detailing the development history and troubles it had throughout the years. Given that this is the 2001 UE1 build this is probably the third revision/rebuild of the game since Rev1 and 2 Used id tech engine's 1 and 2 in its early development. The reason for this was the creator really was chasing waterfalls with trying to get his hands on the best and latest engine technology to base this game on. An outcome of constant restarts, obsession and feature creep.

I hope the talented fans out there will be able to use this and make a complete game out of it. That would be a badass outcome.
That would be phenomenal. I do remember reading or watching something detailing how there was always a new engine, or new platform and it became a problem. Hell, if we got this on the Xbox or Ps2, that would have been amazing.
 
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DinohScene

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What if it's on archive.org? That's a legal website, if I'm not misinformed - it's essentially the library of the internet.

Still not here on GBAtemp.
There's plenty of copyrighted code on Archive which reguarly gets deleted.
 

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