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DNF #1
Duke 3D #1
I get e-mails about this all the time, and I figured you guys deserve to know what's going on. A few days before Christmas 2009, a public Internet folder containing some unseen videos of Duke Nukem Forever was discovered on an ex-3D Realms employee's online portfolio.
Back when that stuff was leaked, I got dozens (literally) of e-mails from George Broussard asking me to cooperate with him to prevent the videos' spread (probably because a leak would show how primitive the game looked, and would further embarrass George and cause more lawsuit problems).
I still get e-mails from time to time from people asking me for the videos and promising they won't share it--and they're probably telling the truth--but the truth on my part is that I no longer have the files after George's disapproving e-mails. On a brighter note, I can assure you that you're not missing much, as the videos looked like crap even to someone who loves DNF.
I'm pretty sure DNF looks pretty good and has a lot to offer in the last version of the build that was compiled back in May 2009, but the leaked videos were not an accurate representation of that because they were limited to small portions of levels that an individual employee had contributed to--the same employee whose unlocked public portfolio led to the leaks.
With that said, I would hint that you'll eventually see the videos (or rather, a trailer I had created out of them, which somehow spread to people who weren't supposed to see it). The only thing I wish is that the guy who posts those "lolwut" videos stops doing that, because he cuts them up and makes them look even worse than they really are. It's also annoying to people who care about the game and want to see the footage, and end up getting teased with 2-second clips every time. Once the lawsuit stuff is over, I'm certain someone will leak the videos or my trailer (and maybe even more, who knows?). That person, however, cannot and will not be me or someone who is involved with me.
As much as I would like to have shown you the video, I was sent repeated e-mails from George Broussard (I was on the brink of collapsing from the stress and the possible trouble that could have arisen had the leak not been contained) asking for me do everything I can to have the videos removed from my website and from any place where it could be distributed.
Wanting to avoid trouble for myself, others, and this website, I had removed the video or references/content from the video from every venue under my control, including Duke4.net and my personal computer. I had also been sending chain mails asking others to do the same, as per George's request. He was very serious about this and I did not want any serious problems to arise from the ordeal. However, let's be clear that I did this because I did not want headaches, not because I believed he had any legal way of coercing me (see red text).
But again, on a side note, I can tell you that you're not missing much. The footage was fuzzy, had no original sound, and contained virtually no content of gameplay that would be of interest. It was solely "test" footage that a former employee had been using for their portfolio. The low quality screenshots Steve posted a while basically sum up the meager contents of the footage.
However, I did try to make the footage a bit more interesting with a trailer I created, which added sound to all the footage and even featured new Duke voices I had a friend do for me to go with some of the things in the footage. I think you guys would actually love it, and I cite George for being the reason why you can't see it. I never planned on sharing it even before he contacted me, knowing that he would probably disapprove due to his fears over his own career and the lawsuit.
