Duke Nukem Forever Took Over 6000 Man-Months to Finish

[Andy Chalk]

Duke Nukem Forever Took Over 6000 Man-Months to Finish

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford estimates that it took more than one million man hours to finally finish Duke Nukem Forever [http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Nukem-Forever-Pc/dp/B002I0JAJ2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303407598&sr=8-3].

Duke Nukem Forever is the most famously-delayed videogame of all time, but how much time has actually been sunk into it? We'll never know for sure; at this point, current DNF studio Gearbox isn't even entirely certain PlayStation Blog [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108011-Gearbox-Seeks-Out-Duke-Nukem-Forever-Contributors] and it's a whopper.

"I have estimated that 3D Realms invested between 3,500 and 4,500 man-months of effort into the game, a lot of which has been lost to the ages," he wrote. "Meanwhile, by the time Gearbox ships the game we'll have put in another 2,500 man months of effort. I've never been involved with a project of this magnitude."

That's six thousand man-months of work at the low range of his estimate, which according to Shacknews [http://www.shacknews.com/article/68184/duke-nukem-forever-totals-over] works out to an astounding one million man-hours of work. That's just sheer craziness no matter how you slice it and to be frank, unless the game is going to cure cancer or bring peace in our time, I don't think it's something to be terribly proud of.

Which is by no means meant to point a finger at Pitchford and the Gearbox gang. After all, its involvement after more than a decade of screwing around by 3D Realms is what brought the game back from the precipice of oblivion. But what could possibly justify the need for that kind of effort is beyond me, especially since, as Pitchford noted, Borderlands [http://www.amazon.com/Borderlands-Game-Year-Xbox-360/dp/B0041OWQUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303407752&sr=8-1], which "involved the invention of an entirely new universe and new technologies to support crazy features like millions of guns," took 3500 to 4000 man-months to complete.

Maybe it'll be awesome, but will it be a million man-hours of awesome? We'll find out in June!


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[Best of the 3]

I'd laugh if the next announcement. "Delayed so we can get the man months to OVER 9000! Love from the Duke"

 

[ZeroAE]

Why I have the feeling its not gonna be worth the wait?

 

[Weaver]

One Million Man-Hours = One Duke Hour.

 

[Invariel]

In Valve time, that's roughly six weeks, right?

 

[AndrewC]

Here's hoping the game isn't awful

"HURR DURR LOOK HOW LONG THEY SPENT MAKING IT AND IT SMELLS LIKE BUM."

I'm sure it'll be a good game

 

[Icehearted]

Why I have the feeling its not gonna be worth the wait?

Because it won't be.

Is that Rod Blagojevich getting the autograph?

 

[mjc0961]

"I have estimated that 3D Realms invested between 3,500 and 4,500 man-months of effort into the game, a lot of which has been lost to the ages," he wrote. "Meanwhile, by the time Gearbox ships the game we'll have put in another 2,500 man months of effort. I've never been involved with a project of this magnitude."

So, in 10+ years, 3D Realms put in that much. And then in about a year, maybe two, Gearbox put in that much, which isn't too far off from what 3D Realms did.

Seriously, what the fuck were 3D Realms doing all that time?!

But what could possibly justify the need for that kind of effort is beyond me, especially since, as Pitchford noted, Borderlands [http://www.amazon.com/Borderlands-Game-Year-Xbox-360/dp/B0041OWQUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303407752&sr=8-1], which "involved the invention of an entirely new universe and new technologies to support crazy features like millions of guns," took 3500 to 4000 man-months to complete.

Yeah okay. 3D Realms is just shit then. That's how I'm taking this. They couldn't poo out another standard (for the time they were starting DNF, anyway) FPS, but given roughly the same timeframe, Gearbox made Borderlands?

 

[Realitycrash]

So THAT's why it took so long: They only had one guy working on it!

Do the math. That would either be one very reincarnated guy (over and over), a zombie, a vampire, Man-months counted in Valve-time, or Jesus.

..And I'm pretty sure Jesus doesn't want the competition.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

So, in 10+ years, 3D Realms put in that much. And then in about a year, maybe two, Gearbox put in that much, which isn't too far off from what 3D Realms did.

Seriously, what the fuck were 3D Realms doing all that time?!

They had an article on it a while ago, it must've been several months before Gearbox picked up the project. Basically, the lead designer was trying everything in his power to make sure the game was perfect -- and delayed it each time. Engine changes were huge set backs, and I think they had several of them.

 

[spectrenihlus]

You know what.

I still can't believe DNF is actually coming out.

 

[beema]

So are man months like... bigger burlier months with chest hair?
Or does it just take that much manliness to make a Duke Nukem game?

 

[RuralGamer]

In Valve time, that's roughly six weeks, right?

Not forgetting that six weeks in Valve time is at least a year in our time. Hehe.

OT: That's a scary amount of time; what the heck were they doing for all of it? If just making the game, then that's a ton of messing about.

 

[craddoke]

Here's a question: Are the figures for Borderlands average for a AAA title or an aberration in their own right?

Also: Pitchford has clearly never heard of sprezzatura.

 

[Mr. Socky]

Basically, I figure at this point it's been in development too long to be any good. Programmers tend to do things their own way. At this point they've had approximately a billion (yes, I'm exaggerating) different programmers. That's going to make a terrible mess out of the coding. Throw in gameplay that's literally ten years stale, graphics that look about Xbox 360-launch-quality and I've given up hope on this one. Even if it is good, it'll probably be a massive financial loss given the ridiculous amount of time spent making it.

 

[Wolfram23]

The picture to go along with this article makes me very happy. Can't freaking wait for all the gloriously ridiculous shit DNF will contain.

"After a few days thousands of months of R and R, I'll be ready and back for more action."

 

[Stevepinto3]

I think it's important to note that not all man-hours are created equal. Hiring 3000 people to work for an hour on a game and 30 people to work for 100 hours will produce vastly different results.

That being said, WTF 3D Realms. I'm glad you're gone. I hope the people that were calling the shots on DNF are out of the industry for good. "LOL, changing engines again!"