I’m forever in two minds about projects to graphically update olden games. On the one hand, shiny! On the other, snarling hand, there’s a risk of messing up or losing the originally intended aesthetic effect – you’re replacing the artists’ work with that of someone else. Case in point, the just-released update for the Duke Nukem 3D High Resolution Texture Pack. Decide whether you’d snog, marry or avoid it below.
Here’s our Dukey before and after:
So, on a purely technical level, it looks much better – sharper edges, crisper textures, sprites that don’t simply flip 90 degrees when they turn, and flashier lighting. It’s probably kinder on the eyeballs than blowing DN3D up to crazy-high resolutions too.
But does it look like DN3D? I would argue no – you can recognise the characters, but other than that you mightn’t guess that it was DN3D if you were shown a screenshot on its own. Of course, much of DN3D’s original appearance is down to the technological limitations of the time, so there’s not necessarily much merit in claiming the aesthetic high ground. If I’m honest, were I to replay DN3D now I’d do it with this pack installed, but there’s something about the chunky pixels and indistinct faces of the original that sits much more comfortably with my memory and perception of Duke Nukem.
(On a related tangent, I found this fascinating – an attempt to make old Atari games look more as they did at the time by emulating not simply the technology but also the imprecisions and vagaries of the VDUs at the time. They may have been limited, but they had side-effects that genuinely added to our experience of these games,babies that porting them to a high resolution digital display throws out with the bath water. For instance, the luminescence of the sunset in the restored Enduro screen is strangely and accidental beautiful because of such peccadilloes).
I may be behaving like a puritanical asshat, but DN3DHRTP (gasp) will certainly be more to the tastes of others, however. Plus it’s clearly a labour of love, and a valiant attempt to keep the Duke flame burning even as his creators seem to keep on dousing it by mistake.
Thanks to Earl-Grey for the tip.
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Loved Caleb’s totally random blurbs when playing, in that creepy voice of his…humming ’strangers in the night’, ‘how much for that doggy in the window’, ’somewhere, over the rainbow’, etc etc.
Good times.
That CRT simulator link is very interesting. I’d really like a version of this adapted to MAME, with some random elements. Most of the arcades in my local (whitley bay) were of varying quality and some would be extra blurry, some would have wonky colours.
The idea of randomly selecting a ‘filter’ when you start a game is appealing to me, even if it means you have to play Splatterhouse with one corner of the screen being predominantly green chroma since the monitor is on its way out.
regarding the Duke pack, personally i’d switch the 3d models off. Are there HD versions of the NPC sprites aswell as the background textures? if not, that’d be quite a cool (if labour intensive) project.
Re: Blood
Still great. WHY DO I SUCK AT IT SO BAD NNNGNGNNGN
Also, bhlaab is right. If you think that the HRP kills the flavor (I don’t, clearly some do), but still wanna pick up Duke from GOG.com or dust off your old yellow-and-black CD, PLEASE do yourself a favor and download the EDuke32 source port (eduke32.com). Old school art assets can have a lot of character, agreed… but wonky old school control schemes are just a pain in the ass. Plus there are no compatibility issues (not even with Linux, you kooky open-source creatures, you) so you don’t have to run it through DOSBox. Plus a command console and bug fixes and vsync and glowmaps and a bunch of other blah-dee-blah you probably don’t care about. Just get it regardless.
One last note on nostalgia: sometimes aesthetic direction is why I remember a game so fondly (Morrowind, Oddworld, Earthworm Jim). That’s not the case in Duke Nukem 3D. What was your favorite monster? The angry lizard man or the crawling green blobs? And yes, we all remember the stripper levels for their SCENERY, eh wot? The reason I love Duke so much is the attitude (still present), the violence (still present), and the innovation (shockingly, still present). Shrink ray! Freeze ray! Remote-detonated pipebombs! Wire traps! Underwater swimming! Jetpacks! Decoys! The Mighty Foot! Breakable glass! Pig cop vehicles! All of the neat stuff that blew our minds when the game first came out (and some of which is sadly neglected in modern games) is still there, no matter how much the graphics change.
Speaking of graphics, Plagman’s working on a new OpenGL renderer for EDuke32, for anyone who’s ever wanted Duke Nukem 3D to look like Doom 3.
http://www.duke4.net/images/newspost_images/plagman/1.jpg
Now I will escape before the crowd cries foul. Away!
I tried this 2 years ago or somesuch. It was very nice of course, fantastic makeover. Unluckily i got to a point where the engine failed and brought my pc to it’s knees, arriving at an unplayable framerate of <1.
What A Shame.
I guess I will just have to try again next time I can be bothered.
old news ; ) but yes….its nice to play it with 3d models and better res textures. I like the older graphics myself even though I did enjoy the updated version on my last play through.
I know the “new” version of Duke Nukem Forever (or “Whenever” in some circles) runs off of some fancy new gaming engine, but I would love to play the original version that debuted on the original unreal engine. Even if you watch the video now, almost 9 years later, it still looks pretty amazing for turn of the century tech. 3dRealms should release that as an extra incentive for buying the new version of the game. :)
looks like shit and totally unnecessary.
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ps j.edgar hover: I sure agree that the 2001 video looked interesting. But I don’t think they actually completed that version of the game, I’m sure they just did a bunch of scenes for the trailer and that was it.
@Serondal
I’m a big DF fan (and roguelikes in general) already, but thanks for the suggestion.
As for high res remakes, I seem to remember Another World being tickled up somewhat.
I used to play DN3D on LAN with a couple of my dads friends. Oh my god was it fun.
We moved to HL OppForce but I missed the DN3D jetpacks :(
Got it and am loving it. Strange thing to realize that my original duke nukem cd is still on my desk after all these years and after moving house twice. I do wish they could have gotten an actual artist to help update the posters, all the women are clearly dropped out of the free version of poser and lack the absurd charm of the original art. Quite impressed with the update of the cocooned woman who mutters “Kill me.” Strippers who flash you in game while ignoring the gunfight happening all around them are exactly as odd now as they were then.
That model makes Duke Nukem a piece of shit. The model is nice, but it destroys the entirely experience.