Ken Silverman
Encyclopedia
Ken Silverman is a game programmer
, best known for writing the Build engine
used in Duke Nukem 3D
, Shadow Warrior
, Blood
, and more than a dozen other games in the mid- to late-1990s. Once considered the primary rival of John Carmack, Silverman started work on the Build engine
sometime before his first semester at Brown University
in 1993, under a contract with Apogee Software
. Prior to this, Silverman created Ken's Labyrinth
, which was later completed and published by Epic Games
.
game coded by Silverman. It was originally released in 1993 as shareware by Epic Megagames
. The source code to the project and even older versions can now be found on Silverman's website.
source code was released, Silverman added the Polymost renderer to the Build engine
.
. In addition to the engine, a Voxlap-powered tech demo was produced in cooperation with Tom Dobrowolski. The source code to the engine was released by Silverman in 2005, allowing commercial derivatives with permission. Since 2003, development on the engine has been fairly static. Notably, in 2011, Ace of Spades
an online multiplayer shooter was developed from the Voxlap engine.
file archiver KZIP, the EVALDRAW programming environment and the PNG file-size optimizer PNGOUT
. In 2006, a GUI-driven version of PNGOUT known as PNGOUTWin was released by Ardfry Imaging, a small company Silverman co-founded in 2005.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
, best known for writing the Build engine
Build engine
The Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
used in Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
, Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior, often known by its initials SW, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and released on May 13, 1997 by GT Interactive. Shadow Warrior was developed using Ken Silverman's Build engine and improved on 3D Realms' previous Build engine game, Duke Nukem 3D...
, Blood
Blood (computer game)
Blood is a PC game developed by 3D Realms and Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive. Development was underway at 3D Realms in parallel with a number of other well-known titles. Following the success of Duke Nukem 3D, development progress was made public starting in June 1996 with...
, and more than a dozen other games in the mid- to late-1990s. Once considered the primary rival of John Carmack, Silverman started work on the Build engine
Build engine
The Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
sometime before his first semester at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1993, under a contract with Apogee Software
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
. Prior to this, Silverman created Ken's Labyrinth
Ken's Labyrinth
Ken's Labyrinth is a first-person shooter DOS game, released in 1993 by Epic Megagames . It was mostly coded by Ken Silverman, who went on to design the Build engine that was used for rendering a first-person viewpoint in Apogee Software's Duke Nukem 3D...
, which was later completed and published by Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
.
Ken's Labyrinth
Ken's Labyrinth is a first-person shooterFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
game coded by Silverman. It was originally released in 1993 as shareware by Epic Megagames
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
. The source code to the project and even older versions can now be found on Silverman's website.
Build engine
The Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms from 1993–1996. The engine was used in a number of popular games of the era, and its source code is now released. Shortly after the Duke Nukem 3DDuke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
source code was released, Silverman added the Polymost renderer to the Build engine
Build engine
The Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
.
Voxlap
In 2000, Silverman started work on Voxlap, a voxel-driven graphics engineGame engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
. In addition to the engine, a Voxlap-powered tech demo was produced in cooperation with Tom Dobrowolski. The source code to the engine was released by Silverman in 2005, allowing commercial derivatives with permission. Since 2003, development on the engine has been fairly static. Notably, in 2011, Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades (video game)
Ace of Spades is a free-to-play sandbox building and FPS game developed by Ben Aksoy for the PC. The game notably uses Ken Silverman's Voxlap engine.-Summary:...
an online multiplayer shooter was developed from the Voxlap engine.
Other projects
Other creations by Silverman include the ZIPZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
file archiver KZIP, the EVALDRAW programming environment and the PNG file-size optimizer PNGOUT
PNGOUT
PNGOUT is a freeware command line optimizer for PNG images written by Ken Silverman. The compression is lossless, meaning that the resulting image will have exactly the same appearance as the source image...
. In 2006, a GUI-driven version of PNGOUT known as PNGOUTWin was released by Ardfry Imaging, a small company Silverman co-founded in 2005.
External links
- Ken Silverman's Official Home Page
- MobyGames' rap sheet on Silverman
- 3D Realms "Legacy Interview" with Silverman
- Ardfry Imaging, LLC - Ken is CTO and co-founder of Ardfry
- PNGOUT Tutorial