''Duke Nukem'' is a 1991

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

developed and published by

Apogee Software 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game '' Kingdom of Kroz''. In the ...

for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

. The 2D, multidirectional scrolling game follows the adventures of fictional character

Duke Nukem ''Duke Nukem'' is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various co ...

across three episodes of ten levels each. The name was briefly changed to ''Duke Nukum'' to avoid copyright issues. ''Duke Nukem'' was followed by the similarly-styled ''

Duke Nukem II ''Duke Nukem II'' is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Apogee Software. The game consists of four episodes (of eight levels each), the first available as shareware. It is the follow-up to 1991's ''Duke Nukem'', and followed by ''Du ...

'', in 1993. The series made the jump to 3D graphics with ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem (video game), Duke Nukem'' and ''Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures ...

'' in 1996, which became the most popular of the three games.

Gameplay

The main objective of the game is to get to the exit of each level, while destroying enemies and collecting points. Many objects onscreen can be shot including boxes, obstacles and blocks. Besides points, some collectibles include health powerups, gun powerups, and some inventory items with special abilities. The final level of each episode has no exit, and is instead completed by finding and defeating Dr. Proton. At the end of every level (with the exception of the last level in each episode), the player can receive up to seven 10,000 point bonuses, earned by making certain

achievements Achievement may refer to: *Achievement (heraldry) *Achievement (horse), a racehorse *Achievement (video gaming), a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters See also * Achievement test for student assessment * Achiever, a personality type ...

in the level, such as destroying all

cameras A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

Plot

The game is set in the year 1997. Dr. Proton is a madman, determined to take over the world with his army of Techbots. Duke Nukem, the eponymous hero, takes upon the task of stopping him. The first episode takes place in the devastated city of Los Angeles. In the second episode, Duke chases Dr. Proton to his secret moonbase. In the third episode, Dr. Proton escapes into the future, and Duke pursues him through time, to put an end to his mad schemes.

Development

According to programmer and co-creator Todd Replogle, John Carmack helped him program some low-level parts of the game code in assembly language. The game world scrolls by shifting 8x8 "blocks" rather than individual pixels. The game's original title was ''Heavy Metal'', but producer Scott Miller hated the name and chose to name it after the lead character, similar to comic books. He proposed Duke, which he felt sounded strong, and Replogle proposed Nukem as his last name. The graphics borrowed heavily from other games, such as ''

Turrican ''Turrican'' is a 1990 video game developed by Manfred Trenz. It was developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, and was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz programmed ''Turrican'' on th ...

'' and the MS-DOS version of '' Mega Man''.

Legal concerns with the game name

After the game's release,

became aware that the ''

Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Ca ...

'' animated series featured a character with the same name (

) and therefore to avoid a lawsuit, the

software house A software company is a company whose primary products are various forms of software, software technology, distribution, and software product development. They make up the software industry. Types There are a number of different types of softw ...

renamed the 2.0 version of its game ''Duke Nukum''. It later turned out that ''Duke Nukem'' was not a registered name, so Apogee registered it and used the original Duke Nukem name in the sequels. Apogee also received a legal letter from Duke University alleging trademark violation. Apogee successfully fought back, and agreed to use the full Duke Nukem name in all their marketing materials.

Reception

Scott Miller estimates that the game eventually sold between 60,000 and 70,000 copies. In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the game 39th on their Top 100 Video Games writing: "Without a doubt, the best platform game for the pc ever created."

References

External links

Official ''Duke Nukem'' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke Nukem (Video Game) 1991 video games Apogee games DOS games Duke Nukem MacOS games Linux games Platform games Action-adventure games Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Video games set in 1997 Side-scrolling platform games Games commercially released with DOSBox