Joe Siegler

Spent two decades with Apogee, 3D Realms, & Gearbox. #AlwaysBetonDuke - Now I work for a social media company in the UK. I also run a fairly popular website for the band Black Sabbath. Bit of a #DoctorWho nut too.

What I'm missing is true emotion,
I get lost in this digital ocean.
Rise up, find some compassion! (Journey, "Human Feel")

@matt The funny thing is it was never intended to be permanent. It was just a scratch line recorded by Mark Dochtermann during programming. We just ended up thinking it was too funny and left it there.

They'll bury you in a lunchbox!

I can't decide whether to open this bad boy or not. #RiseOfTheTriad #ApogeeDays

30yrs ago today (1 May 1995) the first game with the 3D Realms label was released - Terminal Velocity. #ApogeeDays

That version is no longer available, but the OG dev has a newer "boosted edition" on modern hardware. It's cool to me that you can still get it in 2025.

I wrote about the game a bit on my blog here: joesiegler.blog/2020/11/my-sto

Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition Title Screen.Terminal Velocity Game (1995) poster.

OK, this is ALL KINDS of cool. Doom's E1M1 music done a cappella.

youtube.com/watch?v=PKebn_Ly9T

Been playing games for decades. This man's work has always been there. Absolute fucking legend he is. #NintendoDirect

This one is for @civvie11.

In your Extreme Rise of the Triad video you say it’s mostly shooting monks with pistols in @ThatTomHall's “A Tomb With A View”.

Here’s one with me completing the level without dying and not using a pistol at all. #RiseOfTheTriad #ApogeeDays

@DelaneyKing Played a crap ton of that at Apogee/3DR HQ back in the day. :)

@datn Correct.

People laugh about how cats love boxes, but if there was suddenly a box bigger than you in your living room, you'd go in it, too.

#CatsOMastodon #Cats

AI generated image of a human sitting inside a giant box.

Just saw via Jon at GenXGrownUp there will be a physical handheld unit for Balls of Steel from Atari. It’s not like a proper full sized table it’s a small tabletop thing but still.

Have to say I was surprised to see an old friend like that pop up.

youtu.be/Rv37MZM48P4

Atari Balls of Steel handheld pinball game

@spazcosoft /EKG.

Stood for Engine Killing Gibs. Given we were under DOS restrictions back then there were things that were designed that required more memory than the min requirements. Hence the cheat code - had to cheat to get at it, knowing it could cause problems with lower memory computers.

30 years ago (21 Dec 1994) I uploaded the original shareware episode of Rise of the Triad to the Software Creations BBS and the HUNT began! That game remains one of the fondest of my time at Apogee - so much fun to make and put out. Loved the 2013 remake & the 2023 re-release. #ApogeeDays

RIP William Scarboro!

Rise of the Triad Loading ScreenRise of the Triad logoMark Dochtermann & William Scarboro during the character capture sessions for Rise of the Triad.Joe Siegler (seated) & Tom Hall during recording sessions for the Sebastian Krist character in Rise of the Triad.

@obsurveyor I worked for the new 3DR at the time. I know what was in the there as I helped organize it.

There were two versions of the anthology. The standalone 3DR one didn't have Balls of Steel in it, the Steam one did. There were other differences around the id games (Keen, Wolf) as they were already on Steam through id directly.

I'd have to go dig into it, it's been awhile since I looked at what it was exactly, I might be misremembering something.

@obsurveyor Well, they're the same because the OG developer (Terminal Reality - Mark Randel) owns the rights to the original and the remake. It's why they have the same dev and publisher now. But back when you got the anthology, it didn't.

Plus the anthology was a self contained sku - it didn't grant you a license to all the games individually (if memory serves).

@obsurveyor I'm fairly sure OG Terminal Velocity and TV Boosted Edition are separate items on Steam, but I'd have to to go look it up.

I'd be shocked if buying the OG TV would grant you the Boosted Edition, because they're from different publishers.

@obsurveyor That anthology was published by 3D Realms in Denmark which is legally the OG Apogee from the 80's. The newer Apogee was originally an LLC that rebranded and whose project director is the OG founder, Scott.

Some of the rights have swapped in recent times - TV's rights were always held by the OG dev, he re-published. Balls rights reverted to OG dev who published in 2024 through Atari.

@obsurveyor That version was published through the version of 3D Realms owned by the guys in Denmark and hasn't been available for a few years now. No, that's the old OG version, not the newer version.

27 years ago (12 Dec 1997), the pinball game "Balls of Steel" was released. Was a fun game, and the first pinball game to get a violence rating. Always thought it should have got more attention than it did.

The OG developers re-published the game earlier this year through Atari -- contains 5 of the 6 OG tables (swapping out Devil's Island for Duke Nukem) and adding two new Atari themed tables (Centipede & Missile Command). It's available over on Steam here: store.steampowered.com/app/205 #ApogeeDays

Balls of Steel 1997 Retail BoxBalls of Steel 1997 Retail BoxBalls of Steel 2024 Re-release Art

@aeva That it does.

Who says you can't TP something INSIDE the building?

Here's a pic of one of the artists' desks at 3D Realms HQ during Duke Nukem Forever development - 15 Feb 2008.

#ApogeeDays

Office desk covered in toilet paper (clean).

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