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3D Realms Buys Physics For Duke Nukem Forever

Posted by Zonk on from the don't-hold-your-breathe dept.

sp00 writes "In a press release, Meqon announces 3DRealms has purchased the Meqon Game Dynamics SDK engine for the upcoming title Duke Nukem Forever. There are some neat demos of the engine here. Is DNF finally a reality?"

20 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Other News: by sithkhan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pigs Fly.
    Hell Freezes Over.
    I get a date.

    --

    is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
    1. Re:Other News: by fullmetal55 · · Score: 3, Funny

      no no no, it was never meant to be out the next year. It was all a y2k like bug. they idiotically type in the date 07 for the release date the program dropped the leading 0 and seeing a one digit year added 199 to the front, completely changing the intent of the date "7" which was of course meant to be 2007. so see they're still on track for a 2007 release!!

  2. Heh by cjpez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While not really knowing much about typical game development processes, I imagine that getting the SDK to your basic game engines would be some of the first steps you'd take before development. Wouldn't that imply that development on DNF, er, has yet to start? Or is being restarted again to use yet another new engine? Too funny.

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    Al Qaeda has ninjas!
    1. Re:Heh by cgenman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This doesn't appear to be a basic game engine, but rather a bolt-on physics and character animation module, Ala Havok. Buying one generally means that they have a game engine to attach it to, and have tried it out and liked it in-game. The rigid-body and ragdoll collision code on the last game I worked on didn't go in until about three months before the end of the project, as it wasn't integral to the gameplay. Very few FPS games have taken their physics model seriously as a gameplay element, and as such I'd (Id?) be surprised if DNF's gameplay had to be reworked for such a thing. If any other game licensed this engine today, I'd put them roughly 6 months from ship. Now with DNF, on the other hand, all bets are off. This won't be the first physics solution they have tried, and it may not be the last.

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      The ______ Agenda
    2. Re:Heh by cgenman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, but you don't bolt on your physics engine late in development, because physics affects so much of the gameplay. It needs to be integrated with the rest of your engine. Game and level design needs to take it into account.

      If you're talking 3rd party rigid body and ragdoll physics solutions, you're not talking about how far the character can jump, or gets blasted by rockets, or most of the other things one would normally associate with physics. You're talking about kicking around chairs and tables. In Doom 3 there are roughly four places where you can get bonuses by kicking rigid objects near other objects. Other than that it just serves to increase immersion and make explosions more fantastic... not to mention get in the way of the player and be annoying. The same was true with Max Payne, the hallmark of the Havoc engine: beautiful physical movements with little gameplay relevance. Even Deus Ex 2's physical model was functionally gratuitous, as the game would have worked just as well if the crates didn't have a coefficient of friction

      Actual freeform physics with gameplay relevance is pretty rare. 1: They are unpredictable 2: They are computationally expensive 3: QA will find a million ways to break it until you have to completely neuter the process. I don't mean to disagree with you... stronger physics engines allow for a tremendous amount of freedom for the player, and as such should be integral to the design rather than bolted on afterwards. But quite frankly, right now they're not.

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      The ______ Agenda
  3. No by PrvtBurrito · · Score: 5, Funny
    Is DNF finally a reality?

    No.

    --
    Laboratree - Scientific collaboration based on OpenSocial.
    1. Re:No by mog007 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I read an interview with some guy who's writing a book about the development of Half Life 2, and he said that after the physics engine was introduced to the Source engine everybody spent about a month making random machines to play with the physics. Valve is bad, but this is 3drealms, they'll get back to work in a year or so.

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      Learn something new.
  4. Enginer by Silicon+Mike · · Score: 5, Funny

    The real question is how does the new engine interact with vapor?

    1. Re:Enginer by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Pretty damn well.
      Download the tech demo from the site in the story. And check Custom Elements -> Particles.

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      ^_^
  5. Upcoming by nick_davison · · Score: 5, Funny

    for the upcoming title Duke Nukem Forever

    Upcoming kind of implies that it's actually going to happen some day soon. As opposed to "the upcoming sun going supernova" - which is on about the same timescale as Duke Nukem Forever.

    1. Re:Upcoming by cephyn · · Score: 4, Funny

      4 hurricanes and now an upcoming unavoidable supernova?

      crap. Florida is going to be pissed...

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      Moo.
  6. DNF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the abreviation used in a race to mean DID NOT FINISH

  7. Breaking news... by badfrog · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most awaited game of 1998.....Just picked ANOTHER 3D engine to start the development cycle all over again with!

    1. Re:Breaking news... by Luigi30 · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's not a 3D engine, it's a physics engine.

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  8. My God by togofspookware · · Score: 3, Funny

    The engine demos are more fun than Doom 3.

    (well, unless you've bound some keys to spawn projectiles and chaingun ammo :D)

    --
    Duct tape, XML, democracy: Not doing the job? Use more.
  9. The DNF Timeline by ryder · · Score: 5, Funny

    Check it out! My Favorite bit: The rovers Spirit and Opportunity were proposed, authorized, announced, designed, launched and successfully landed upon Mars within the timeframe of Duke Nukem Forever's development.

  10. Re:Spirit and Opportunity by Anti_Climax · · Score: 4, Funny

    They'll probably make it back before it releases too...

    What's that? They aren't supposed to come back?

    Oh well, my original comment stands...

    --
    Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
  11. Another Engine???? by darthtrevino · · Score: 4, Funny
    Goodness! DK4EVA has gone through more engines than my uncle on his '66 mustang. Honestly..how about just get some guys to make the damn game with a good engine and get it the hell out there!

    There has to be like 3 people working on this game just laughing their asses off about it. It's going to be their life's work, like the statue of David, or the Sistine chapel. I mean, it's been in production for about a decade!

  12. Um, shouldn't a physics engine... by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    be one of the first things you get done in the game? I know, beating a dead horse and all... I gave up on DNF when the big headed morons took the Jetpack out because they didn't want to risk me missing one second of their fantastic level design. Here's a hint idiots, if it's that good, I'll go back and play it with and without the jetpack, like I did for the first Duke Nukem 3D.

    --
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  13. They will change physics engines again... by JavaLord · · Score: 5, Funny

    The laws of Physics will change before this game comes out.