These modders are reconstructing the Duke Nukem Forever of the Good Timeline

pcgamer.com:

A group on ModDB is attempting to finish the in-progress build of Duke Nukem(opens in new tab) Forever that leaked online back in May. The DNF2001 Restoration Project(opens in new tab) team is taking the bones of that mythical 2001 build and filling in the gaps, extrapolating its story and direction while also looking to make it playable from start to finish with minimal hassle. The team recently released a "first slice(opens in new tab)" teaser trailer of their work so far, featuring previously unused DNF trailer music by Lee Jackson(opens in new tab), a retired 3D Realms composer who wrote Duke's iconic theme, Grabbag(opens in new tab).

Duke Nukem Forever has long been the shorthand for a troubled development cycle, with multiple reboots and years of silence culminating in an underwhelming Xbox 360 shooter. It didn't have to be this way though⁠—Duke Nukem Forever's E3 2001(opens in new tab) trailer long remained a glimpse at what could have been.

Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, you say, or the enticing draw of the road not travelled, but when I saw the gameplay of that leaked '01 build, I couldn't help but think «Wait, this looks rad as hell.» I was really tickled by the protracted "Duke on a Late Night Talk Show(opens in new tab)" bit whose dialogue remains in the game in text form, an idea that was only briefly touched on in the 2011 game. The FPS action looks great too, with more sprawling levels and Boomer Shootery gunplay than the final release. As Gloomwood creator Dillon Rogers(opens in new tab) pointed out, Duke Nukem Forever '01 might be right at home in the thriving retro shooter scene of 2022.

While extensive, the leaked DNF build is not yet a cohesive game, and still needs quite a bit of TLC to be