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88-525: Developed by Nightdive Studios in partnership with Throwback Entertainment , an enhanced port for the PC and modern consoles combining elements of the Saturn and PlayStation versions, PowerSlave Exhumed , was announced on August 14, 2021, and released on February 10, 2022. PowerSlave is set in and around the ancient Egyptian city of Karnak in the late 20th century. The city has been seized by unknown forces, with

176-492: A Reddit AMA in 2016. In February 2015, Kick announced that the studio was working on re-releasing PowerSlave for digital distribution services with the bonus of porting the Sega Saturn version into the package. Kick also announced that he was working with the original developers of Noctropolis and the original source code and the updated package will feature remastered music, widescreen support and bug fixes . Using

264-474: A "white skull" attack, or a partly homing red one, that when hit, turns the player into a mummy momentarily, additionally granting him with the most powerful weapon in the game, the Mummy Staff, which can be used once to destroy all enemies within range of the player. Checkpoints are placed throughout the level by indication of golden scarabs and saving happens automatically between levels. Levels are conducted in

352-434: A developer that same year, releasing only Shadow Warrior (1997). The sole exceptions were Prey (2006), which stayed in development until 2001 when it was transferred to Human Head Studios , and Duke Nukem Forever (2011), which famously stayed in development at 3D Realms as vaporware until 2009. The "Apogee Software" name, library, and logo were licensed to Terry Nagy in 2008, who formed Apogee Software, LLC as

440-502: A job as a video game critic for The Dallas Morning News and minor game-centric papers. After four years of writing for the newspaper, he decided that he was capable of creating games that were better than those that he had to review and quit his job. Miller acquired a 16.5k modem , which he installed in his parents' house in Garland, Texas , and started operating as a full-time independent game developer. Most games developed by Miller at

528-467: A model known as shareware distribution. As the prior option seemed too expensive to Miller, he had to choose the latter, despite being urged not to by friends and colleagues. Miller released Beyond the Titanic and Supernova as shareware games in 1986 and 1987, respectively, but income was low, at roughly US$ 10,000 donated in a year for both games combined. Miller's next game, Kingdom of Kroz ,

616-462: A more linear format; players can replay previously completed levels, but there is no incentive to do so any longer, as backtracking is not present. The Manacle of Power fires a lightning cloud above the enemy, rather than firing lightning bolts from the player's hands. Most of the artifacts from the console versions are not present (except the Sobek Mask, which is a spell in this version). The powerups in

704-500: A nine-month-long road trip from San Diego through Mexico and Central America. To pass the time during this trip, Kick brought a netbook and several classic video games to play. While staying in a hostel in Guatemala, he wished to play the 1999 game System Shock 2 but found that the CD-ROM version he had brought no longer worked on his netbook. Kick looked for fan-made patches for

792-495: A one-player quest it starts off a bit dull, but later on its brilliance becomes self-evident." The PlayStation version received comparatively little attention from critics. GamePro said it was "not as polished as the Saturn version," but still outstanding in absolute terms. In his review of the PC version, Stephen Poole of GameSpot called the game flawed but fun, worth buying on discount. Both Poole and Next Generation compared it unfavorably to leading first-person shooters of

880-536: A patch for System Shock 2 that allowed it to run on modern computers. Kick was unsuccessful in contacting the developer but still used the patch as the new version's groundwork, asserting that it was the IP holder's legal right to use it. Night Dive Studios worked with Kick's former SOE colleagues and GOG.com on updates and further bugs fixes. The updated version was released onto GOG.com in February 2013. According to Banegas,

968-531: A possible earnout of $ 10 million in cash over three years. Wade Rosen, Atari's CEO and chairman , had previously bought 13% of Nightdive Studios under his company Wade J. Rosen Revocable Trust. Atari expected the acquisition to be completed in April 2023. It was finalized on May 15. Nightdive released a remaster of Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion in November 2023. The game's original source code had been lost, so

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1056-614: A prospective release date; it was subsequently released on February 10, 2022, for Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One , and Xbox Series X/S . Instead of remastering any single version of the game, PowerSlave Exhumed combines various gameplay, visual and level design elements from the PlayStation, Saturn, and DOS versions of the original, alongside graphical enhancements such as support for higher resolutions, anti-aliasing , and visual CRT emulation. In November 2020, new license holders Throwback Entertainment re-released

1144-521: A release on the PlayStation , with tweaked gameplay, added architecture, some different levels, and other changes. Both of these versions are based on Lobotomy Software's SlaveDriver engine and feature a true 3D world, similar to Quake . The same engine was used to power the Sega Saturn versions of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake . Because the levels designed for the Saturn version were not well-suited to

1232-560: A rescue signal and be extracted from the Valley. After reclaiming the mummy of Ramses, the Pharaoh thanks him for his effort, and promises the protagonist that he will inherit Ramses' Earthly kingdom, and that the Gods will bless him with eternal life and make him ruler of the world. After escaping the collapsing tomb, the protagonist is indeed rewarded as such, and becomes a powerful and benevolent Pharaoh of

1320-561: A restraining order and a preliminary injunction, to make 3D Realms keep the Duke Nukem Forever assets intact during proceedings. On May 18, 2009, 3D Realms key executives announced that "3D Realms has not closed and is not closing", but that due to lack of funds development operations were ceasing and the company would continue to "license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise." They accused Take-Two of trying to acquire

1408-428: A separate company that would handle distribution, remakes, and other developments related to older Apogee games. 3D Realms retained the corporate name of Apogee Software, Ltd. Apogee Software, LLC was renamed Apogee Entertainment in 2021. After Prey was transferred away from 3D Realms in 2001, the only project under development at the company was Duke Nukem Forever , originally announced in 1997. The release date of

1496-615: A special crack team of hardened soldiers sent to the valley of Karnak, to uncover the source of this trouble. However, on the journey there, the player's helicopter is shot down and the player barely escapes. The player is sent in to the valley as the hero to save Karnak and the World. The player must battle hordes of extraterrestrial insectoid beings known as the Kilmaat, as well as their various minions, which include mummies , Anubis soldiers, scorpions , and evil spirits . The player's course of action

1584-475: A special interest in the Turbo Pascal programming language and its easy integration on IBM Personal Computers . Miller subsequently figured that his knowledge on video games should earn him more money than he made at The Twilight Zone, wherefore he, with assistance by Broussard, wrote a manual-style book on "how to beat video games". The book fell into obscurity due to an oversaturated market but landed Miller

1672-499: A tool called PeepShow that we used to set up all of the animations in the game, and Jeff Blazier developed an editor for object placement and ambient lighting. When all of these elements were ready, we started putting it all together to make a game. At one point, the MS-DOS version was to be released by 3D Realms as one of their games to show off the power of the Build engine . During this time,

1760-473: Is an American video game developer based in Vancouver, Washington and a subsidiary of Atari SA . The company is known for obtaining rights to abandonware video games, updating them for compatibility with modern platforms, and re-releasing them via digital distribution services, supporting preservation of older games . Many of the company's releases use the internally developed KEX Engine. Nightdive Studios

1848-427: Is directed by the spirit of King Ramses , whose mummy was exhumed from its tomb by the Kilmaat, who seek to resurrect him and use his powers to control the world. The game's mid-game boss is the god Set . In the console versions, there are two endings, depending on the player's course of action during the game. In the good ending, the protagonist has collected eight pieces of a radio transmission device, so he can send

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1936-515: Is the giant Ammut miniboss which has ramming and biting attacks. There is additional story text. The transmitter, which was a set of eight key items needed in the console versions to get the better ending, is not in the MS-DOS version per se , but it is seen before the final stage of the game, where the player receives orders to attack the Kilmaat ship. Likewise, the Team Dolls are not in the MS-DOS version. On May 24, 2015, an unofficial port based on

2024-489: Is too similar to previous "Doom clones" to be of interest. Sushi-X added, "The enemies and traps are a little weak, relying more on your mistakes than your ingenuity." Crispin Boyer agreed that the game lacks originality but felt it was well-executed and enjoyable. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot also said the game lacks originality, and argued that "Graphically, Power Slave doesn't really break any new ground." He also criticized that

2112-515: Is unlocked by collecting all 23 Team Dolls hidden in the game. Because it was released in PAL regions before Death Tank was complete, the PAL Sega Saturn version does not include Death Tank. The MS-DOS version of PowerSlave features many differences from the console versions. The MS-DOS version was built on the Build engine , licensed from 3D Realms . The version used is a slightly earlier version of

2200-472: The Metroid series. Additionally, there are eight pieces of a radio transmission device hidden in eight of the stages. Stages with a hidden transmitter piece will emit a steady beeping noise on the overworld map, and can be heard beeping when the player is near their location. Collecting these pieces will affect the ending of the game. Exclusive to the Sega Saturn version is a hidden minigame: Death Tank , which

2288-482: The Duke Nukem franchise in a " fire sale ". On September 3, 2010, Take-Two Interactive announced that development of Duke Nukem Forever had been shifted over to Gearbox Software , effectively ending 3D Realms' association with the game after 12 years of development. 3D Realms remained credited as a co-developer on Duke Nukem Forever , due to their involvement in developing most of the game. The rights and intellectual property were sold to Gearbox, however, who became

2376-484: The Duke Nukem franchise, and permission had not been granted by them to develop the game. 3D Realms soon after released a statement admitting its wrongdoing. The lawsuit was settled in August 2015, with Gearbox stressing that it was still the lawful owner of the Duke Nukem intellectual property. In March 2014, SDN Invest, the part-owner of Interceptor Entertainment, acquired 3D Realms for an undisclosed sum. Mike Nielsen,

2464-456: The Duke Nukem intellectual property. The lawsuit was dropped in September 2013 with 3D Realms apologizing with an announcement that they had resolved any differences they had with Gearbox. In February 2014, Gearbox sued 3D Realms, Interceptor Entertainment and Apogee Software, LLC for developing a new game called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction . Gearbox stated that it was still the rights holder of

2552-472: The No One Lives Forever franchise. Kick responded to these rumors by saying that the company could not comment on future releases for the time being. Kick later revealed that they had indeed been working on trying to acquire the publishing rights for both No One Lives Forever and its sequel, to the point where they had the original source code to construct a remake of the title, but could not get

2640-609: The Slipgate Ironworks -developed Kingpin Reloaded . In mid-December, "at least half" of 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks was laid off as part of Embracer's restructuring. Layoffs continued into January 2024. On January 24, 2024, 3D Realms co-published (with Fulqrum Publishing ) the Slipgate Ironworks-developed Graven out of early access . On February 27, 3D Realms co-published (with Fulqrum Publishing)

2728-479: The System Shock series, and are considering developing a third title in the series, as well as remakes for both previous titles, working with original concept artist Robert Waters for some of the design. In August 2015, Night Dive announced it was working on remasters for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil . The first game was released in 2015, followed by the sequel in 2017. In December 2015,

PowerSlave - Misplaced Pages Continue

2816-481: The Trilobyte games The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour . In 2014, Night Dive Studios re-released 28 edutainment games from Humongous Entertainment , as well as the adventure game Bad Mojo . The company also generated speculation that it might be planning to re-release The Operative: No One Lives Forever , as news sources took notice of a Night Dive Studios trademark filing that included material referencing

2904-538: The chief financial officer . The company name was inspired by their shared passion for diving, especially night diving , and Kick specifically recalled one night dive he had experienced in the Great Barrier Reef . Night Dive Studios was initially located in Portland, Oregon , later moving to nearby Vancouver, Washington . Around the time of the company's foundation, a French developer known as Le Corbeau released

2992-480: The 1996 Duke Nukem 3D under the name, with the other titles released in those years still under Apogee. In late 1996, however, Apogee renamed the company itself to 3D Realms to associate their brand with newer, 3D titles, and stopped using the Apogee brand name. The last game to be published under the Apogee name was Stargunner in 1996. Most of the proposed brands were never used, as 3D games like Duke Nukem became

3080-457: The Apogee brand and relaunched Apogee Software LLC as Apogee Entertainment , an independent games publisher. In August 2021, 3D Realms Entertainment was acquired by Embracer Group subsidiary Saber Interactive , which was spun off from Embracer in March 2024. In the early 1980s, Scott Miller often spent time in the computer lab of the high school he was attending, programming text adventures on

3168-440: The Apogee name from 3D Realms and relaunched Apogee Software LLC as Apogee Entertainment . In 2022, Miller stated in a blog post that he was now uninvolved with 3D Realms and that "[the company] no longer has any link to the past, other than in name only" because he was no longer there to help design and fund games. In August 2021, Embracer Group announced that they acquired the company through Saber Interactive , which will be

3256-524: The DOS version of the game as PowerSlave (DOS Classic Edition ) . This version of the game is also supported by the BuildGDX, PCExhumed and Raze source ports. The Saturn version of PowerSlave sharply divided critics. GamePro gave it a perfect 5/5 in every category (graphics, sound, control, and FunFactor) and said its only weak point was that the variety of enemies could have been better. The reviewer found that

3344-522: The Egyptian theme, varied and distinctive scenery, light-sourcing effects, and platforming elements set it apart from other first-person shooters, and concluded, " PowerSlave should wake up some people: This awesome Saturn shooter combines puzzles, pyramids, and pulse-pounding excitement into one tight package, all using the Saturn's processors like no game has before." Rob Bright of Sega Saturn Magazine also bestowed it high praise, calling it "the game to set

3432-499: The PlayStation technology, Lobotomy redesigned them to take better advantage of the specific hardware. Besides some changes in the levels (rooms in one version that are not in another, added architecture in the PlayStation version), the levels Amun Mines, Heket Marsh, Set Palace, Cavern of Peril, and Kilmaat Colony are almost completely different between the two versions. In the Sega Saturn version, ammo and health pick-ups dropped by an airborne enemy remain airborne, as opposed to falling to

3520-592: The PlayStation version called Powerslave EX was released by Samuel "Kaiser" Villarreal for free . On January 2, 2017, Kaiser released the source code to his port under the GPLv3 license on GitHub . In May 2015 it was announced that publisher Night Dive Studios had acquired the game rights for a digital distribution re-release. Villarreal, who had since joined the studio, was set to continue his work on this new, official remaster. The game would be formally announced as PowerSlave Exhumed on August 14, 2021, without

3608-415: The Sega Saturn version are included as spells (invisibility, invincibility and double damage). The Ring of Ra weapon is not included. Weapons pause to reload after a certain number of shots are fired. Some enemies have different death animations when killed by fire/grenades; bosses have longer death animations. There are extra lives instead of health extensions. The Amnit enemies are not included; instead there

PowerSlave - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-523: The United States. Arriving in New Mexico, Kick began phoning with Star Insurance Company's legal counsel and eventually reached a deal. He raised money from his friends and family to pay the license fee for System Shock 2 and establish a company. Subsequently, Kick and Banegas founded Night Dive Studios on November 7, 2012. Kick assumed the role of chief executive officer (CEO), while Banegas became

3784-442: The bomb on time, the Kilmaat retreat from the planet, but the main character is stuck on their ship and needs to find a way off. Gameplay in both the original PC version and console versions follows the standard first-person shooter formula. Familiar elements from the genre, such as health refills and a selection of different weapons, are present. However, in the console versions as well as the remastered PC version, Powerslave EX ,

3872-470: The company employs 40 people, including Larry Kuperman as the director of business development . Most staff work remotely, with locations including San Francisco and New Zealand. According to Kick, this distribution allows the studio to operate "on pretty much a 24/7 basis", while employees collaborate via GitHub , Jira , and Slack . However, he noted that this setup also caused a lack of in-office socializing and camaraderie . While researching for

3960-511: The company had licensed the System Shock IP to OtherSide Entertainment , headed by former Looking Glass Studios creative director Paul Neurath, for the development of System Shock 3 . In May 2016, Night Dive Studios rebranded as Nightdive Studios. In March 2023, Atari SA announced that it had agreed to acquire Nightdive Studios for US$ 10 million . The price is to be paid half in cash and half in newly issued ordinary shares , with

4048-708: The company itself to 3D Realms to focus on traditionally-published 3D titles. Duke Nukem 3D (1996) was released under this name to great success. 3D Realms largely ceased its publishing and development operations afterwards to focus on two extensively delayed games: Prey (2006), which was under development until being taken over by another studio in 2001, and Duke Nukem Forever (2011), which remained under development until 2009. The "Apogee Software" name, library, and logo were licensed to Terry Nagy in 2008, who established Apogee Software LLC to develop and publish ports and spinoffs of Apogee titles. In 2009, 3D Realms, citing financial issues, laid off its development team and

4136-489: The company returned to distributing its own titles with a digital anthology collection. Bombshell was released on January 29, 2016, as 3D Realms' first published title since 2005. On February 28, 2018, 3D Realms announced the game Ion Maiden , a prequel to Bombshell , developed by Voidpoint and using Ken Silverman 's Build Engine . In May 2019, the company was hit with a $ 2 million trademark infringement lawsuit by heavy metal group Iron Maiden who claimed Ion Maiden

4224-549: The company's Turok 2: Seeds of Evil , Forsaken Remastered , System Shock: Enhanced Edition (via a 2018 update), Blood: Fresh Supply , Doom 64 , Quake , Shadow Man Remastered , PowerSlave Exhumed , Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition , Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition , Quake II , Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered , and Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster , PO'ed: Definitive Edition , and Doom + Doom II , as well as

4312-413: The company's focus. 3D Realms launched a brand for pinball games, Pinball Wizards, in February 1997, but only published Balls of Steel (1997) under the name. Beginning in 1997 3D Realms shifted from episodic MS-DOS titles to non-episodic console and personal computer games. In the process it abandoned the shareware model in favor of a traditional publishing model; it also largely ceased its activities as

4400-455: The console versions after seeing Loaded on the PlayStation, since the walls in PowerSlave were already being gouraud shaded for the static torch lights. Though Lobotomy, like most developers, found it easier to make 3D games for the PlayStation than for the Saturn, they elected to develop the Saturn version first so as to beat other upcoming Saturn first person shooters to the market. One of

4488-403: The console versions. Though each weapon has its own separate supply of ammunition, ammunition pick-ups are general, and apply to whichever weapon the player is using at the time they are acquired. Level progression is non-linear, letting the player go to any previous unlocked level at any time. Some levels have areas which are only accessible after getting a certain ability or weapon, similar to

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4576-460: The console's two CPUs was used for drawing walls, while the other handles everything else in the game. The U.S title PowerSlave is a reference to the Iron Maiden album of the same name , which also features an Egyptian-themed cover. The game is narrated by iconic film trailer announcer Don LaFontaine . The first version of the game to be released was on the Sega Saturn , shortly followed by

4664-560: The developers had to reverse engineer the N64 version and update the textures. Initially due to be released on November 14, Turok 3 was delayed to November 30 shortly before the intended release. Despite the announced delay, the game went live in Europe and Australia on the 14th by mistake. Nightdive Studios is headquartered out of the Kicks' house in eastern Vancouver, Washington. As of February 2022,

4752-463: The development of an updated version of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter , Nightdive Studios became aware of a reverse engineering project of the game's Nintendo 64 version by Sam "Kaiser" Villarreal. The company hired him and developed his custom game engine into the KEX Engine, allowing the developers to add modern features to older games. Aside from Turok: Dinosaur Hunter , the engine has been used for

4840-399: The development was using up much of the company's funds as they struggled to bring in new 3D rendering technology for the game, leading to the decision to cut their staff and sell the company. On May 14, 2009, Take-Two , holders of the publishing rights of Duke Nukem Forever , filed a breach of contract suit against 3D Realms over failing to deliver the game. Take-Two Interactive asked for

4928-659: The engine, made sometime before the version used in Duke Nukem 3D . The light sourcing from the SlaveDriver engine is not used; the Build engine's own light sourcing is used instead; the game also uses "fake" dynamic lighting where sectors light up as projectiles or "glowing" objects in general pass through. The HUD interface is different; featuring an ammo counter, lungs (oxygen levels) for swimming and animated mana and blood vessels. Players have usable Mana energy that can cast spells once

5016-430: The entire planet. In the bad ending, the player has failed to collect all eight pieces of the radio transmitter, and the protagonist is subsequently buried in the tomb of Ramses, only to be excavated centuries later by the now ruling forces of the Kilmaat and put on display as the last human corpse. In the MS-DOS version, there are two slightly different endings, again depending on the player's course of action, but only in

5104-535: The facility's Apple II and getting to know fellow student George Broussard . Following graduation, both of them took jobs at local amusement arcade The Twilight Zone, allowing Miller to attend college and increase his interest in video games at the same time. Following his sophomore year , Miller dropped out of the University of Dallas to focus entirely on video games, including participating in tournaments as well as programming his own games. At that time, he found

5192-412: The final stage. The final stage takes place aboard the Kilmaat mothership, where a nuclear weapon has been armed and is set to go off in 15 minutes, and has enough power to obliterate the planet. In the bad ending, which occurs if the player loses all of their lives or fails to disarm the bomb in time, Earth is destroyed in a massive nuclear blast. In the good ending, which occurs if the player makes it to

5280-660: The first one over BBS while retaining the other two for sale. Released on November 26, 1987, Kingdom of Kroz was the first game to bear the name of Miller's one-man company, Apogee Software Productions. The game proved successful, with checks sent to Miller amounting to roughly US$ 80,000 – US$ 100,000 and him receiving between US$ 100 and US$ 500 every single day. Broussard later joined Apogee, merging his own, lesser-known game company Micro-FX into it. In 1994, Apogee decided to launch different brand names for each genre of games they published; it created 3D Realms for 3D games , publishing Terminal Velocity in 1995 and developing

5368-553: The founder and chairman of SDN Invest, became the new chief executive officer of 3D Realms, headquartered in Aalborg , Denmark and incorporated in 2015 as 3D Realms Entertainment ApS. Miller remained with the company as a creative consultant, while Apogee Software LLC retained the license to the Apogee brand and library. In May 2014, 3D Realms announced they were to publish Bombshell by Interceptor Entertainment, and in October 2014

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5456-407: The funds generated by past releases, Night Dive Studios acquired the System Shock IP from Star Insurance Company in August 2015, intending to create a remake of the first System Shock . The company released an enhanced version of the original game, which adds support for more resolutions and mouselook, in September that year. Night Dive Studios has since announced it has acquired full rights to

5544-517: The game and tried purchasing an updated version via GOG.com to no avail, and he discovered that there no longer was a legal way to obtain the game. The rights to the System Shock franchise had been acquired from its defunct developer, Looking Glass Studios , by Star Insurance Company (a subsidiary of Meadowbrook Insurance Group), while the trademark was retained by the game's publisher, Electronic Arts . Starting in October 2012, Kick sent various emails to Star Insurance Company to inquire about

5632-445: The game functions more as a hybrid of a first-person shooter and a Metroidvania , as the player obtains new weapons and ancient artifacts over the course of the game, providing them with abilities that allow them to explore previously unreachable areas, all of which are connected with an overworld map. Such abilities include being able to jump higher, levitate, breathe underwater, walk in lava and walk through force fields. PowerSlave

5720-410: The game starts with mundane enemies like spiders and birds, and takes too long to introduce genuinely menacing opponents. In early 1997 Sega Saturn Magazine ' s Rich Leadbetter ranked PowerSlave the best of the five first person shooters released for the Saturn in Europe up to that point (the others being Hexen: Beyond Heretic , Alien Trilogy , Doom , and Robotica ), remarking that, "As

5808-519: The game was "when it's done." 3D Realms continued some operations as a publisher as part of the Gathering of Developers publishing group, but otherwise served only as the publisher and licensee of Duke Nukem -related spinoffs and mobile games for the next few years. On May 6, 2009, the development of Duke Nukem Forever was halted, and major staff cuts were initiated with the entire development team and most other employees laid off. According to Miller,

5896-406: The game was known by its working title Ruins: Return of the Gods . Apogee Software released screenshots of the early working version with a slideshow of another of its published titles, Mystic Towers . 3D Realms eventually dropped the title, which was then picked up and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment. Programmer Ezra Dreisbach thought to incorporate dynamic light sourcing into

5984-685: The game's returns in its first month painted Night Dive Studios as a viable business. Kick decided to continue Night Dive Studios in similar efforts to bring back older games to modern systems. The company's first hire was Daniel Grayshon, a writer of System Shock modding guides based in the United Kingdom. Night Dive Studios brought System Shock 2 to Steam in May 2013. Later that year, it released updated versions of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream , Harlan Ellison 's 1995 game based on his eponymous short story ; Wizardry VI , VII , and 8 ; and

6072-465: The ground in the PlayStation version. There are exclusive powerups on the Sega Saturn such as the All-Seeing Eye, Invisibility and Weapon Boost. Also exclusive to the Sega Saturn is the ability to bomb-boost, which is similar to rocket jumping in other FPS games. Sprites are represented in 2D, similar to games such as Doom and Duke Nukem 3D . The game features colored dynamic lighting, but only in

6160-479: The idea of updating System Shock 2 for modern platforms and re-releasing it via digital distribution services, including GOG.com and Steam . He argued that the game was highly sought after, as over 34,000 people had placed it onto their GOG.com wishlists, and that a re-release would be profitable. The insurer was fond of this idea, so Kick and Banegas, who had then almost reached the Panama Canal , returned to

6248-449: The late 1980s and early 1990s, the company popularized a distribution model where each game consists of three episodes, with the first given away free as shareware and the other two available for purchase. Duke Nukem was a major franchise created by Apogee to use this model, and Apogee published Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D the same way. Apogee began using the brand name 3D Realms for its 3D games in 1994, and in 1996 rebranded

6336-470: The majority of its staff, effectively ceasing operations. In March 2014, the company was acquired by SDN Invest, a Danish holding company and part-owner of Interceptor Entertainment , and relaunched later that year as 3D Realms Entertainment ApS, headquartered in Denmark. 3D Realms Entertainment has since served as a games publisher. Miller remained an advisor for the company until 2021, when he and Nagy acquired

6424-516: The owners of the Duke Nukem franchise. An external developer, Interceptor Entertainment , started work on a fan-project remake of Duke Nukem 3D in 2010. They received a limited authorization from Gearbox to proceed with the game, which was named Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded . However, after Duke Nukem Forever ' s release and negative reception in 2011, Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded was put on hold indefinitely. In an interview conducted with Scott Miller in April 2011, Miller specified that 3D Realms

6512-852: The parent company. 3D Realms published Cultic on October 13 (2022). In March 2023, 3D Realms announced that they hired Justin Burnham (formerly of Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd) to the position of CCO. On September 30, 2023, 3D Realms held its 4th annual Realms Deep event modernizing the company's branding and announcing release dates for several previously-unreleased titles. Two days later on October 2, they published Ion Fury : Aftershock in collaboration with developer Voidpoint. On October 24, 2023, 3D Realms published Ripout into early access in collaboration with developer Pet Project Games. On November 16, 3D Realms published The Kindeman Remedy in collaboration with developer Troglobyte Games. On December 5, 2023, 3D Realms co-published (with Interplay )

6600-427: The spell has been acquired (e.g. collecting a torch allows the player to use energy to illuminate dark areas). Ammo is not universal, instead of blue orbs usable for all weapons, separate ammo is needed. Grenades are used instead of Amun mines. Some sprites are different (e.g. M60 machine gun), sprites are larger and more animated in general. Audible words are used for the player character instead of grunts. Mummies fire

6688-461: The standard for the first-person shoot 'em up genre." He especially complimented the fast pace, light-sourcing effects, need to unlock new areas by acquiring new abilities and revisiting levels, Egyptian scenery, and sound effects. However, the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly expressed more misgivings; while Shawn Smith hailed it for having more intelligent gameplay and plot than other first-person shooters, Dan Hsu and Sushi-X both said it

6776-404: The status of the series' intellectual property (IP). To his surprise, the company's legal counsel responded within a few days, asking Kick what he was planning to do with the IP. Star Insurance Company had recently acquired the System Shock trademark from Electronic Arts but was wary of producing a new entry in the series given the high cost associated with such a production. Kick pitched

6864-498: The three companies with stake in the games' IP, Activision , 20th Century Fox , and Warner Bros. , to negotiate the rights. In December 2014, Night Dive Studios coordinated the re-release of the 1996 first-person shooter role playing hybrid game Strife as Strife: Veteran Edition , after acquiring rights to the game. Because the game's source code had been lost, a derivative of the Chocolate Doom subproject Chocolate Strife

6952-431: The time used extended ASCII characters as graphics. The format appeared popular to him but ultimately proved unsuccessful when pitching them to publishers, adding to him not having a college degree or any professional experience in game development. As such, he considered self-printing copies of his games, or distributing them freely through bulletin board systems (BBS), where the boards' users make voluntary donations,

7040-542: The time, particularly Duke Nukem 3D . Both of them criticized the small weapons arsenal and inability to save at any point. Next Generation praised the level design and enemies, but ultimately felt PowerSlave failed to distinguish itself in the wave of first-person shooters being released for PC. A 2005 1up.com article on the Sega Saturn mentioned that "PowerSlave featured one of the most impressive 3D engines in any 32-bit game." Nightdive Studios Night Dive Studios, Inc. ( trade name : Nightdive Studios )

7128-428: The upcoming SiN Reloaded and System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition . Villarreal remains Nightdive Studios' lead engine developer as of February 2022. 3D Realms 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

7216-581: Was "nearly identical to the Iron Maiden trademark in appearance, sound and overall commercial impression" and was "attempting to trade off on Iron Maiden's notoriety." In July 2019, 3D Realms and Voidpoint changed the name of Ion Maiden to Ion Fury to end to the lawsuit. Ion Fury was released on August 15, 2019. Since then, 3D Realms published Ghostrunner (2020) and announced several projects which have been under development for multiple years without further notice. In April 2021, Miller and Nagy acquired

7304-458: Was Lobotomy Software's first full game, with development starting in May 1995 for the PC. Lobotomy co-founder Brian McNeely recounted: As work began on the 3D engine, our art and design teams began putting the framework of the game together on paper. We devoted a few weeks to this until we were happy with all of our concepts. At the same time, David Lawson began modifying and adding new features to BREW, our world editing tool. Paul Schreiber created

7392-488: Was acquired by Atari SA in May 2023. Nightdive Studios was founded by Stephen Kick and his wife, Alix Kick ( née  Banegas ), both former character artists at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). Kick was with Sony for three years, working on Free Realms and PlanetSide 2 . While Banegas had left the company earlier to establish a plushie business, Kick remained in his position until 2012. After also quitting his job, he and Banegas, then his fiancée, commenced

7480-502: Was developed to include 60 levels, more than what he wanted to release to the public for no cost. As such, he developed a new distribution model, dubbed the "Apogee model", in which only a fraction of the game would be made available to play for free on BBS, which, upon completion, would display Miller's mailing address to the player and ask them to contact him to buy the rest of the game. He applied this model to Kingdom of Kroz by breaking it up into three parts, named episodes, and sharing

7568-451: Was founded in November 2012 by Stephen and Alix Kick, former video game artists for Sony Online Entertainment , after Stephen Kick was unable to purchase a copy of the 1999 game System Shock 2 . He negotiated with the rightsholder Star Insurance Company, which had acquired System Shock and other assets from the defunct developer Looking Glass Studios , and Nightdive Studios re-released the game via GOG.com in February 2013. The company

7656-523: Was involved with several projects: "we have several projects underway, all fairly small—not any big console games. Once [ Duke Nukem Forever ] comes out we'll be definitely looking to invest into other projects, and maybe other up-n-coming [ sic ] teams who are blazing new trails on smaller platforms, like smart phones and XBLA." 3D Realms did not publish any released titles over the next few years, however. In June 2013, 3D Realms sued Gearbox for unpaid royalties as well as unpaid money for selling

7744-418: Was used as the game's engine, with its original programmers being contracted to do additional coding for the re-release. The source code of Strife: Veteran Edition was made available under a GPLv3 license on GitHub on December 12, 2014. While this was the first source code opened for a Night Dive Studios release, Kick announced his commitment in recovering, preserving and also opening of more source code in

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