Well this was unexpected! 3D Realms is back, teaming up with Voidpoint for a brand new FPS named Ion Maiden [Steam, Official Site] and the first part is now available in Early Access with Linux support.
It's using an upgraded version of their "Build engine" to include bigger levels, more colour support and many more modern features. However, they said it's being built using original old-school tools and methodologies. They say it's the "true successor to classic shooters such as Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood".
Direct Link
From the press release I got sent today:
Ion Maiden laughs at the idea of constant checkpoints and straight paths through shooting galleries. But just because this is a true old-school first-person shooter doesn’t mean there won’t be all the good new stuff the last two decades have brought. Headshots? Hell yeah. More physics and interactivity? You betcha. Widescreen, controller support, and Auto Saves? 3D Realms and Voidpoint took the best of both worlds and cooked it all into a bloody stew.
3D Realms and Voidpoint are proud to bring back the Build engine, which powered Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, and Shadow Warrior, in all of its hand-crafted pixelated glory. They’ve spent a lot of time tinkering under the hood to take advantage of new technology and techniques. Bigger levels, hundreds of new colors, and morphing maps that transform mid-level are all just a few of the advancements made to the engine.
On top of crafting an oldschool FPS with modern touches, they are also hinting at some form of multiplayer too.
"Bringing back classic build-engine shooters has been our aim for years, so we’re diving right into a spiritual successor to the games which put 3D Realms on the map,” Frederik Schreiber, Vice President, 3D Realms. "The team assembled for this project knows exactly how to execute our vision, and we couldn't be more excited to finally bring back a true 3D Realms shooter."
Pretty nice that it has full Linux support—exciting! The current version is a "polished exclusive multi-hour preview campaign", with a plan for the full game to be ready in "Q3" of this year.
You can grab it from Steam, or from their official site for a fully DRM free build. From what I understand it will also head to GOG sometime as well, but I've not been told when.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: kneekooBut I don't see any of these games as cash grabs.Granted. That was more of an aside to some of the general negative feelings expressed about Ion Maiden, rather than what you wrote in particular.
Quoting: kneekooRebuilding an old game on a new engine takes a lot more effort than the other way around. You need great textures and great visual effects to begin with, because that's the first thing people see. But then there's the need for accuracy in terms of maps and gameplay, which are essential for remakes and "reloaded" stuff. If it doesn't have the proper identity, it's a failure. So a new game on any engine seems a lot easier by comparison.Sure, it does takes effort, but so does creating an entire new concept from the ground up, and Ion Maiden by virtue of trading on nostalgia had to jump many of the same hurdles in terms of presenting itself as authentic with the added burden of having to create something new. The art burden is certainly no less, and may even be even more difficult as the Ion Maiden developers insisted on using old fashioned techniques for creating the artwork.
I am reminded of how in the newer series of Red Dwarf where they have switched back to physical models rather than just using CGI they have really struggled to find people still capable of shooting physical models effectively, as so much of the industry has switched over to CGI entirely. There are hundreds of developers that could create a new Duke Nukem game on a modern Unreal Engine today, but only a handful that could still create a Build engine game effectively in 2018.
I am not sure if anybody wins in an argument over which is more difficult, but I highly doubt the creation of Ion Maiden is as easy in comparison to a modern remake as you have made out.
1. The graphics and effects must be modern, but the players need to feel like it's the old stuff brought up in higher definition. While this is easier for static art, it becomes difficult with in-game characters, which have to resemble their old counterparts. For instance, I dislike almost all the 3D models (monsters) in the Duke 3D High Resolution Pack. They just don't feel right to me. I might be a lot more picky than most people, but I'm sure there are others who would've liked better models.
2. DN3D:R didn't aim strictly at pumping up the graphics on the original game, but also bring something new to the table. With Duke Nukem Forever out of the picture for so long and high expectations from the gamers, it's a tough job already to make the game believable with completely revamped art. And then you have to please the masses with everything new you bring to the table, so they don't get upset for ruining their beloved game. Sure it was a fan-made remake, but some gamers can be quite brutal if they don't like what they get.
3. DN3D:R is also about movement - as a 3D shooter. That engine must've been carefully configured to reflect the way Duke moved in the Build environment. I suspect it's not easy to make Duke move exactly the same, but I think they tried to replicate the physics as much as possible, because that's part of the experience that the fans expect to feel right.
Now about Ion Mainden, I won't say it's easy to make - just easier than. It requires time, patience, talent, skill, just like other games. But the good thing is:
1. It's new, so there's no need to conform to hard expectations (textures, models, effects, movement) other than to make it fun.
2. With a retro engine, the textures and models don't need to be pixel-perfect and the gamers are also less demanding by comparing this game with a modern one.
Now what requires a lot of work and it's quite hard as well, is the creative part - designing levels, textures, sprites and a good difficulty balance. But again, the good thing is none of this has to be like any other game. And the number of developers and designers knowing Build doesn't matter considering 3D Realms has enough of them in the know. :D
I don't have first hand experience with any of their work, so it's a lot of speculation here. But it's still educated speculation. And I miss DN3D:R and I will Forever (pun intended) hold a grudge on Gearbox if they don't grow a pair and work together with 3D Realms on Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded.
Last edited by Mezron on 4 March 2018 at 2:32 am UTC
Mblackwell Mar 4, 2018
Mblackwell Mar 5, 2018
Quoting: EndeavourAccuracyThey really couldn't finish the game first, and have to release into Early Access, huh?
No money left to add Steam Cloud support (or Achievements)?
I'm willing to bet Voidpoint just reused a (mildly tweaked) old 3D Realms engine.
Other than the nostalgia factor, nothing about this looks appealing.
Thanks for supporting Linux, I guess. Now, can we get more real games?
It's Eduke32 based. There's a Linux binary that runs in the GOG preview. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/80wxiw/ion_maiden_a_new_3d_realms_fps_has_launched_in/dv89dcs/
Comandante Ñoñardo Mar 16, 2018
You must download the file ion_maiden_preview_campaign_update1.zip and install the game again.
The older saves will not longer work.. You will have to play it again.
New save games are stored in /home/your_username/.config/maiden
Mblackwell Mar 18, 2018
Not that there should be a point in trying to run the game on an old Pentium II, but it would be seriously cool if you could do that, at lower resolution, with a Voodoo graphics accelerator or something pushed as far as the technology can offer for that period of hardware possibilities. Or maybe a Pentium III with 256MB of RAM? It's still insanely far below the 2GB of RAM minimum requirement, but it would be cool to know exactly what's the lowest hardware and software requirement possible, because many people still have some old PCs catching dust, and reviving them for a new retro game would add more greatness to the feeling.
Now with Build being so CPU-intensive and Ion Maiden having much larger sprites and other we're probably better off running Ion Maiden on a reasonably good Pentium 4 with a decent graphics card, but I still wonder why DirectX 11 is a requirement. For instance, both the GeForce 8600 GT and Radeon HD 4670 are DirectX 10 cards. But wouldn't DirectX 9 be enough? That goes way back to the Windows 98 era, up to Windows XP, and I bet there still are some old and crusty PCs that sit around doing nothing with Windows XP on them. :P Firing up those oldies with a modern game would be awesome.
So what kind of PCs have you people tried Ion Maiden on so far?
Oh, and the 64-bit requirement seems a bit funny for a game based on EDuke32. :D We do have 32-bit builds, so why not a 32-bit Ion Maiden? At least at some point in the future. Is 64-bit really required for a 256-color palette retro game?
Last edited by kneekoo on 18 March 2018 at 9:23 pm UTC
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