the cutting room mirror

2001

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Duke Nukem Forever.

Bugs General DifferencesMuch of the cool stuff that didn't make the final cut. Weapons and ItemsOld designs, cut weapons, removed alternate fires, heat vision, and more. LevelsIncludes campaign levels, test maps, and maps used for the E3 trailer. Minigames and Touch Screen DevicesAll the stuff to get sidetracked and distracted with. EnemiesMeet the many enemies that didn't make the final cut. TextVarious text from the build. MultiplayerFunctioning multiplayer with a taste of Unreal and Unreal Tournament. MenusNot one, but two very different menu systems compared to the final game.

Plot Differences#

As the game would continue to linger in development hell for another decade, the plot was subsequently rewritten a ton. The plot in the prototypes is mostly different from the final.

  • The US president was kidnapped, rather than working with the aliens.
  • Bombshell, an infamously cut character was set to play a major role here.
  • The Hoover Dam was not planned to be the final major set piece of the game.

Programs#

CannibalED#

The skin mesh tool used by 3D Realms is present in prototypes. It's icon uses the head of the Overlord from Duke Nukem 3D who ironically was largely absent from the final release barring the intro video.

Two earlier versions of the software would leak in 2023 with the Asset CD.

Shortcut#

O:/DUKE4/dist/System

A shortcut labelled as "EditModel" left in the System directory. Opens CblMacEd.exe.

Character Models#

Duke Nukem#

The model used for Duke in this build is a very rough placeholder that had yet to be replaced with a more final in-game model. It has no pupils, a cartoonish yellow hair-style, and a somewhat older-looking face. His finger gloves are not quite UV'd correctly. It uses the same humanoid animation sets as other humanoid characters in the game.

(Source: Matt T. Wood on Twitter: "Super temp. The newer duke model that I made isn't in this build.")

NPC_M_FatB#

DNF2001-NPC_M_FatB.png

A reskinned version of NPC_M_FatA to have a different face and a Duke Nukem 3D t-shirt. Based on the existence of an unused multiplayer model icon in the files, this was presumably intended as a depiction of George Broussard.

Textures#

Unused Graphics#

Key Art#

File directory: System\oldlogo.BMP

An image of key art, was used as a mock-up of box-art. Judging by the filename was likely used as an early splash screen logo. An edited version of this image appears as one of the menu background options.

Early Duke and Bombshell textures#

File directory: Textures\m_al_models.dtx

Early textures for Bombshell and Duke are present. The Bombshell texture appears to stem from the Quake II engine iteration of Duke Nukem Forever. An identical copy of Bombshell's texture can also be found in m_bombshell.dtx.

DNF2001_m_al_models_bombshellskin12.png DNF2001_m_al_models_dukeskin1.png DNF2001_m_al_models_handcraneskin1.png

Unused DukeEd Splash#

File directory: System\EdSplash.bmp

A splash image featuring Rei Ayanami and Pen Pen from Neon Genesis Evangelion, more specifically Groundwork of Evangelion Vol. 1. When booting the editor up, the Duke Nukem Forever logo is shown instead.

Unused Freeze Cannon Kill Icon#

File directory: Textures\hud_effects.dtx

Since the freeze cannon does not do any damage, this kill icon for it in DukeMatch goes unused. Killing a player with the alt-fire uses the M16's kill icon instead, as the projectile is only a reskinned 40mm grenade.

Internal Names#

The 2001 prototypes have a few internal names. Many of these still made their way into the final game's files.

  • "dn" - Various files/text strings.
  • "duke4" - Found in default.ini and makebuild.bat.
  • "Duke4" - Source code compile strings/folder.
  • "DUKE4" - Internal directories found in various files.
  • "Duke220" - Found in editor.int and editor.dll.
  • "Duke4_UT400" - Folder/various files. Was not retained for the final release.
  • "UDuke" - Text strings.

Prey Leftovers#

There exist several reused assets from an early version of 2006's Prey, specifically the 1996-1998 "Talon Brave" iteration helmed by Paul Schuytema.

This isn't too surprising, seeing that with the Prey project's collapse due to technical issues with the engine in October 1998, much of the team was moved over to Duke Nukem Forever. Who could blame 3D Realms for wanting to recycle a few assets?

As development of Duke Nukem Forever continued, it would seem that these assets were replaced with original ones or outright removed.

Since no build of this version of Prey is publicly available, with only grainy prerelease screenshots and video as a guide, the full extent of assets may not be known. Also do note that it is possible that these assets might have been modified during DNF's development, so they may not be exactly like they were in Prey.