In the 80's, off-brand computer makers would claim their home PCs were either IBM or Apple compatible. These clones would usually cost less, and include more bundled software. I never bought one, but I was often tempted to.

A letter I wrote from 1988, back when I sent 100's of letters to shareware vendors & catalogs to make sure they distributed my shareware games. At this time I was working a full-time job but 18 months after this letter I quit to give Apogee all of my attention.

Back in 1998 when we first tried to get a Duke Nukem film in production. We ended up seeing 3 different scripts over the following year, but they just didn't capture the right Duke vibe so we never approved them.

Who has these Duke comics?

We tried to make the Atomic Edition retail box look radioactive. Back in the 90's, studios were always looking for ways to make their boxes standout because catching someone's attention in a GameStop or Walmart store was everything.

Ads from the past.

I have this article by Richard Gray (aka Levelord) talking about designing Quake engine levels (he was working on a Quake level pack at the time, Scourge of Armagon).

RIP

The designer of one of my all-time fave games, M.U.L.E., this interview likely took place while that game was being developed because both came out the same year, 1983. M.U.L.E. was my first exposure to a multiplayer game (up to four local players).

Danielle Bunten Berry (she assed in 1998 and is cemented as one of the top designers from the foundational years of our industry.

In 1998, Richard Gray (aka Levelord) wrote an article on Loonygames explaining why he thought Duke Nukem 3D was so popular. Real, grounded environments is one of the keys he points out.

A hung jury in Duke 3D. Levelord's sense of humor...

RIP

I've seen such a huge outpouring of posts and comments for Richard "Levelord" Gray, plus I've gotten many DMs/texts. And it's all so deserved. He was graciously helpful to both industry vets and newcomers, and I know many devs who are in our industry thanks to Rich's influence 's a shot from E3 1997 or 1998, I think, with (L to R) George, Levelord and me.

A heartbreaking day. Richard was a stellar talent who joined the game industry in his 40's when Apogee hired him to join the Duke 3D team. He was a relentless hard worker, a fun teammate, and an overall great human.

His levels in Duke Nukem 3D and Sin will live on forever. And Richard created one of the best easter eggs in gaming history: "You're not supposed to be here! -- Levelord"

RIP

An email I wrote in 1994. Not sure who I wrote this to, probably a fan or someone in the press. At this time we had four Build engine games underway (Duke 3D, Blood, Shadow Warrior, Ruins) so that's why I was excited about our future.

After we made Duke Nukem 3D we hired a few more devs and set to work on making the Plutonium Pak expansion episode (also bundled with Duke 3D and called Atomic Edition). Here's most of the team who made it. The back two (L to R): Keith & Randy. And the front six: Brian, Todd, Doug.

🔴 The Apogee Weekly Stream is LIVE!

@JaredRBair returns to Fort Oasis to descend into Total Chaos: Retro Mode and its DOOM II WAD roots.

📺 twitch.tv/JaredRBair

I wrote these two shareware screens late in 1990 for Id to put into the first episode of Commander Keen. The text could only be 40 chars wide so that's why I put the numbers at top & bottom.

Free game.

A computer I once drooled about owning but never did.

So Turbo Overkill has a Halloween mode that gives some enemies a pumpkin head. But, we're not turning it on this holiday month because the last time we turned it on, we suddenly got a lot of negative user reviews on Steam about these heads. I can't imagine a more silly reason to review, but that's the world we live in. 🎃