Duke Nukem 3D has officially turned 30! According to a social media post from Joe Siegler, the former webmaster at Apogee/3D Realms, it was on January 29th, 1996, that he officially uploaded the shareware version to Apogee's BBS Software Creations, unleashing the 1.0 PC version of the legendary first-person shooter out into the world.
As had previously been the case with the shareware versions of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, this specific version of the Duke only included the very first episode ("LA Meltdown"), essentially serving as a playable tease to generate hype and feedback, ahead of its full release a few months later.
Duke Nukem 3D, in case you're somehow unfamiliar with its brand of over-the-top violence and action film one-liners, was the third game to be released in the Duke Nukem series, which had begun five years prior with the launch of the 1991 MS-DOS title. However, it proved to be something of a significant departure for the series.
Not only was it the first Duke game to take advantage of Ken Silverman's Build Engine, moving the series from 2D to a "3D" first-person shooter for the very first time, but it was also the first to feature the vocal talent of Jon St. John as the titular hero (who took over the role from Siegler & Todd Replogle, who voiced the character very briefly in Duke Nukem II).
As history tells us, Duke Nukem 3D went on to become a huge hit for Apogee/3D Realms, but was also subject to some criticism, too, thanks to its mature content. This led to certain regional versions of the game, including the Australian version, being censored to remove enemy blood splatters, references to adult magazines, and more.
In the aftermath of 3D's success, Duke would later appear in various console-related spin-offs, including Time to Kill, Zero Hour, Land of the Babes, The Manhattan Project, and Duke Nukem Advance — all of which traded on the character's popularity. A direct sequel to 3D, meanwhile, named Duke Nukem Forever, was announced in 1997, but following various issues related to engine changes and poor planning would end up in development hell. It was eventually completed in 2011, with the help of Gearbox Software, but went on to receive mostly unfavourable reviews upon its launch on Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Today, Duke Nukem 3D still stands as the series high point, and was also recently the subject of a brilliant new voxel mod from the developer Dan Peterson.