[Hool]

I came across this article today on Polygon:

http://www.polygon.c...ary-of-congress

Someone came across the unreleased PSP version of Duke Nukem Critical Mass deep inside the Library Of Congress on a DVD-R. Not only that but it seems the entire game is completed and is available with source code included and a program to compile it for storage on a UMD.

Since, Gearbox don't technically "own" the unreleased Trilogy games (since they where being published by Apogee) do you think the should release this? Or keep it well away from Duke Fans considering it didn't look very well put together?

[HulkNukem]

How long until Gearbox sues the Library of Congress?

If its a completely new game, I'd like to see it. If its just the DS except with PSP controls, then no thanks.

[Hool]

HulkNukem, on 06 August 2014 - 09:22 AM, said:

How long until Gearbox sues the Library of Congress?

If its a completely new game, I'd like to see it. If its just the DS except with PSP controls, then no thanks.

It was sort of similar to the DS version but it played more like a third-person shooter than a side-scroller. You could swap between "Over-the-shoulder" and "First-Person View" then go "Over-head" for some of the sequences. Judging from the screenshots, it looks quite linear in terms of gameplay with long downtown streets heading to a pre-defined location.

One Third-Person Duke game I enjoyed most was Time To Kill due to the hub world the game had that changed throughout the game. You could explore certain areas like sewers and subways, go inside a strip club or climb fire escapes to unlock secret rooms. I hope the PSP version is like this and not what I said above where it feels like a corridor more than an open area.

As much as you're joking about Gearbox suing the Library of Congress, I don't think they can do anything about the Duke Nukem Trilogy. The Duke Nukem Trilogy was done by Apogee and Critical Mass DS was even published after Duke Nukem Forever's release. According to some things I've read, Gearbox Software don't "own" the rights to the Duke Nukem Trilogy because Apogee owns them. The deal with 3DR and Gearbox said that Gearbox own Duke Nukem Forever and any future Duke Nukem games. Since Duke Nukem Critical Mass on PSP was created and apparently finished before Duke Nukem Forever was released, they cant really do anything about it.

[HulkNukem]

WheatleyNukem, on 06 August 2014 - 09:32 AM, said:

It was sort of similar to the DS version but it played more like a third-person shooter than a side-scroller. You could swap between "Over-the-shoulder" and "First-Person View" then go "Over-head" for some of the sequences. Judging from the screenshots, it looks quite linear in terms of gameplay with long downtown streets heading to a pre-defined location.

One Third-Person Duke game I enjoyed most was Time To Kill due to the hub world the game had that changed throughout the game. You could explore certain areas like sewers and subways, go inside a strip club or climb fire escapes to unlock secret rooms. I hope the PSP version is like this and not what I said above where it feels like a corridor more than an open area.

As much as you're joking about Gearbox suing the Library of Congress, I don't think they can do anything about the Duke Nukem Trilogy. The Duke Nukem Trilogy was done by Apogee and Critical Mass DS was even published after Duke Nukem Forever's release. According to some things I've read, Gearbox Software don't "own" the rights to the Duke Nukem Trilogy because Apogee owns them. The deal with 3DR and Gearbox said that Gearbox own Duke Nukem Forever and any future Duke Nukem games. Since Duke Nukem Critical Mass on PSP was created and apparently finished before Duke Nukem Forever was released, they cant really do anything about it.

I really enjoyed Zero Hour the most, I just wish there was a legit port to PC and not just an emulation. Also don't like playing it on N64 anymore because crap like not having checkpoints or being able to save at all really screws everything up, especially instant death traps at the end of a long level.

Even though Apogee may own the rights to the trilogy I don't think they can actually release the games for anything except DS and PSP, thats probably what the rights were for. For instance, Interceptor can't port any old Duke games because Gearbox has the rights to those. Also thats what people speculate about Mass Destruction that Interceptor was making, that 3DRealms was acting like it was safe according to the trilogy rights but in fact its not. I don't know though, I just want the damn lawsuits to stop.

[Hool]

HulkNukem, on 06 August 2014 - 09:42 AM, said:

I really enjoyed Zero Hour the most, I just wish there was a legit port to PC and not just an emulation. Also don't like playing it on N64 anymore because crap like not having checkpoints or being able to save at all really screws everything up, especially instant death traps at the end of a long level.

Even though Apogee may own the rights to the trilogy I don't think they can actually release the games for anything except DS and PSP, thats probably what the rights were for. For instance, Interceptor can't port any old Duke games because Gearbox has the rights to those. Also thats what people speculate about Mass Destruction that Interceptor was making, that 3DRealms was acting like it was safe according to the trilogy rights but in fact its not. I don't know though, I just want the damn lawsuits to stop.

If they can't release the game on anything other than DS or PSP then Interceptor can step in and put the game up on the PSN store for download. You can emulate PSP games on PS Vita too.

Inteceptor/3DR own all the Duke Nukem rights for games prior to Duke Nukem Forever, apparently including Time to Kill as Fred teased the source code for the game. So, they could port that to PC with HD graphics or release the source code so people can port it.

Looking further into it, it seems that the developer of the PSP version, Frontline Studios, ceased operating a while back. This could mean the game reverts back to the publishers which are either Apogee or Deep Silver and I can't seem to find Duke Nukem on Deep Silver's new website so I would assume Apogee own the rights to it now.

One thing I might add to this whole "who owns what" is that when I made the Duke Nukem Critical Mass thread on the Gearbox Forums, after the DS version was released the thread was locked by AdamF because they didn't want us to "promote a product they didn't own". That sentence speaks volumes.

[Oook]

That's... interesting? Let's see what happens. If something happens.

BTW, we can expect an Interceptor port of Time to Kill, Zero Hour and Land of the Babes to PC, don't we?
I think I read about that here in the forum, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Gif of Duke Nukem in Critical Mass

Duke’s Legacy: Video Game Source Disc Preservation at the Library of Congress

[NUKEMDAVE]

I highly doubt Apogee will allow them to leak it. I'd rather see the DNF editor leaked myself.

[HulkNukem]

Oook, on 06 August 2014 - 10:25 AM, said:

That's... interesting? Let's see what happens. If something happens.

BTW, we can expect an Interceptor port of Time to Kill, Zero Hour and Land of the Babes to PC, don't we?
I think I read about that here in the forum, but maybe I'm wrong.

They said they couldn't, especially with the currently lawsuit going on. I don't think they can even show prototype art from Prey, Duke, etc etc (except Duke3D apparently)
See what Nukemdave said below

[NUKEMDAVE]

3DR/Interceptor can do whatever they want with Time to Kill and Land of the Babes, as long as they don't try to remake them on a new engine. Frederik already teased Time to Kill's source code and I was told personally that I'm going to like what they're doing when I asked about it, so they're doing something.

[OpenMaw]

Honestly the PSP version looks about as lackluster as the DS version ended up. Yeah, it's a TPS/FPS hybrid, but the gameplay is so goddamn straightforward. You walk this way and you shoot things, and there's a cover system, and sometimes you take control of a jetpack. All very step-by-step and controlled. It wouldn't really be anything like TTK, LOTB, or ZH were.

[NUKEMDAVE]

Apogee is aware of this:

https://twitter.com/...128480593936384

If anyone wants to see it released, let them know. It's up to Apogee whether it's released or not. I wouldn't mind seeing it released. I was more interested in the PSP version than I was the DS version.

[xMobilemux]

It doesn't look that impressive, but it does look like more fun than the DS version of CM.

[MusicallyInspired]

It would be fun to mess around with.

[Altered Reality]

MusicallyInspired, on 07 August 2014 - 05:06 AM, said:

It would be fun to mess around with.

It definitely would. I love examining alpha or beta material, it lets you discover all kinds of interesting stuff, almost like digging an archaeological site.

Sometimes you discover interesting stuff in retail games too, like all the various models and textures you see in the various unreachable zones of DNF. Specifically, those made me wonder whether free roaming in those zones was planned, before George went all "cutting is shipping"-happy. I reasoned that it makes no sense to have jokes (or even just detailed signs with directions) in areas you can only see while zooming with the railgun, and even then, only if post-processing is disabled.