Duke Nukem (video game)

Did You Know?

• Scott Miller estimates the game sold between 60,000 and 70,000 copies.
• Flux magazine ranked the game 39th on their Top 100 Video Games in 1995.

Plot

The year is 1997. A mad scientist named Dr. Proton unleashes his Techbot army to conquer the world, leaving only Duke Nukem to stop him. The first episode finds Duke in a ruined Los Angeles after the invasion. He then pursues Dr. Proton to a hidden moonbase in the second episode. Finally, the scientist escapes to the future using a time machine, and Duke follows him through time to end his plans.

Development and release

Programmer and co-creator Todd Replogle received help from John Carmack in programming low-level parts of the game code in assembly language. The game world scrolls by shifting 8x8 blocks rather than individual pixels. Originally titled Heavy Metal, producer Scott Miller disliked that name and chose to name the game after its lead character, similar to comic books; Miller proposed Duke, and Replogle proposed Nukem as the last name. After release, Apogee learned that the Captain Planet and the Planeteers series had a character named Duke Nukem, so version 2.0 was renamed Duke Nukum to avoid a lawsuit.

Duke Nukem was later found not to be a registered name, so Apogee registered it and used the original name in sequels. Apogee also received a legal letter from Duke University alleging trademark violation, which Apogee successfully fought back against, agreeing to use the full Duke Nukem name in marketing. Duke Nukem Collection 1, including remastered versions of Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II alongside a port of Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown, was released for the Evercade retro gaming console in November 2023.