Posts Tagged ‘id software’
Id Software’s Rage unlikely to use dedicated servers
Hot off the heels on the whole Modern Warfare 2 PC dedicated server debacle, Id Software, long time PC developers and enthusiasts, have revealed that it’s unlikely that Rage, their new IP slated for 2010 release, will support dedicated servers on the PC, and this comes from Id head honcho himself, John Carmack, who revealed the news in an interview with Variety. We’ll see if this news is met with the same controversy and revolt as Modern Warfare 2 was.
id Software is commited to fixing RAGE
In response to an Edge Magazine article regarding RAGE’s performance on the PlayStation 3, id Software has posted on their Twitter page that they are “committed to ensuring that gamers on all platforms have a great RAGE experience.”
id Software’s John D. Carmack commented that the “PS3 lags a little bit behind in terms of getting the performance out of it.” The article reported that the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game were running at a full 60 fps, while the PlayStation 3 port was falling behind at a mere 20-30 fps.
I don’t think that the Twitter post was necessary though, it’s in any developer’s best interest to fix a game, especially one with as much reputation as id. The comments were most probably directed on the development stages of the game, and not the final product.
Rage runs poorly on the PS3, 360 and PC superior
id Software’s very own John D. Carmack had a few words to say on the performance issues Rage is seeing on the PlayStation 3. According to Carmack in an interview with Edge Magazine, the post-apocalyptic FPS runs better on the Xbox 360 and PC than its console counterpart.
“The PS3 lags a little bit behind in terms of getting the performance out of it,” John Carmack told Edge. “The rasteriser is just a little bit slower – no two ways about that.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear if the PS3 version will be fixed. The alleged framerate is only 20-30fps, as opposed to the full 60fps the PC and 360 are getting.
“The RSX is slower than what we have in the 360. The CPU is about the same, but the 360 makes it easier to split things off, and that’s what a lot of the work has been, splitting it all into jobs on the PS3,” he said.
Rage will be out sometime soon next year. The Mac version is currently under development.
Read (ComputerAndVideoGames)
Quake Live update rolls out today
A new Quake Live update has been release today by the folks over at id Software. The focus of the patch is to work on competitive changes, such as shoutcasting. Client side updates and general fixes have been added, as well.
Here is the full changelog:
- Fixed lightning gun sound, no more loud enemies.
- Added team_say for spectators so they can chat only among spectators.
- Increased the speed of nailgun nails.
- The powerups now spawn at the same time after match start.
- cg_lagometer 2 will now display the client ping estimation along with the standard lag-o-meter graph.
- cg_chatBeep allows you to enable/disable the audible beep when you receive a message.
- cg_teamChatBeep allows you to enable/disable the audible beep when you receive a message from a teammate.
- cg_selfOnTeamOverlay toggles whether you see yourself in the team overlay.
- cg_fov lower limit is now 10.
- Changed demo autorecord naming to more easily sort and locate.
- cg_autoaction 0-3
0 – do nothing
1 – auto record demo
2 – auto record a screenshot at end of game
3 – auto record demo and screenshot - cl_autoRecordDemo has been removed in favor of the new cg_autoaction system.
- cl_demoRecordMessage 0/1 allows you to toggle the “RECORDING…” message on the hud when recording a demo.
- cl_conTimestamps can now display values in game time.
0 – Do nothing
1 – Show values in game time (affected by cg_levelTimerDirection)
2 – Show values in servertime - Fix for several keys becoming unbound (2,e,u,o,s,m)
- Spectators will no longer get the “Internal combustion” message upon respawn after following a player that was mined.
- Fix for a dropweapon bug that could cause other players in the game to auto switch to another weapon.
- Removed setu/sets commands.
- Fix for odd sv_maxclients values.
- Warmup delay is now disabled for bot games.
- Zoomed fov calculation now takes aspect ratio into account.
- Some FireFox users were experiencing crashes while loading into maps, these issues have been resolved.
Competition mode changes:
- Added support for limiting the amount of timeouts called, and configuring their default duration. Time outs remaining are indicated on the team scoreboards.
- Server owners can deop other clients with the ‘deop’ command.
- Pause and Timeout events print to the console.
Quake Live patched
Quake Live has been patched today with a large list of changes. Changes range from bug fixes to competitive gaming server options.
Select organizations will now be able to launch private servers directly from the official Quake Live website, meaning league play will become a lot easier to handle. These private servers will “include extensive competition features such as calling timeouts, locking teams, aborting matches and designating match referees.”
New commands and prerequisites for game modes have also been added, making customization go even further with the game. Several user interface changes have also been made to the website.
Make the jump for the very extensive changelog.
Wolfenstein delayed?
Online retailers like GameStop and GameCrazy are listing the id Software’s Wolfenstein for an August 18th release. This is contradictory to what the game’s publisher, Activsion, announced as an August 4th release back in May.
BluesNews also points out that id Software is also using this year’s QuakeCon to promote the game, which will be held from August 13-16. Still, no official word from either the publisher or developer on the delay.
The sci-fi first-person-shooter will be released for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Linux platforms.
Read (BluesNews)
Rage teaser site debuts
A website for id Software’s upcoming first-person-shooter Rage has spawned. Players can navigate the site, hunting for subtle clues about the game’s storyline and such in a “Follow My Journey” theme. As shown by a Tweet by id, the site will be updated every day this week with new content.
The post-apocalyptic FPS will be out for the PC, Mac OS X, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Linux operating systems and will be out sometime next year.
ZeniMax raised $105 million in order to acquire id Software
In a new filing with the SEC, media house ZeniMax, owner of Bethesda Softworks, revealed that the company had raised $105 million USD in order to buy id Software. The company noted that it raised the money in “convertible notes and promissory notes issued in connection with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Id Software, Inc.”. We don’t know exactly what Promissory Notes are, but we now have an idea what ZeniMax paid for id Software: around $100 million. The company did not reveal the price, but one can only think that it’s north of $100m, as ZeniMax isn’t exactly cash strapped (at least if you count the success of Fallout).
id Software: Doom Resurrection will probably get DLC soon
With the release of iPhone OS 3.0, games downloaded from the App Store now have the ability to recieve downloadable content released by the developers.
In leui of this, id Software’s John Carmack has confirmed that there will be a DLC pack released for Doom Ressurection at some point in the near future. He also told Joystiq that in the coming weeks multiplayer add-ons will be released for the game.
Will id Software’s intuitive utilization of the iPhone platform have other big game developers doing the same? Perhaps an iPhone version of Halo? Hey, I can’t dream, can’t I?
Tags: addon, app store, DLC, doom resurrection, id software, iphone, ipod touch, john carmack, Multiplayer
Bethesda parent company acquires id Software
There are only a few large independent game studios left; Valve, Epic, Id Software, no wait, Id Software just got acquired by the parent company of Fallout 3 developer/publisher Bethesda, ZeniMax. Darn!
ZeniMax has noted that they expect Id Software to continue operating independently, as before, which is always good, all things considered. Id Software are the developers of classics such as Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake. And the upcoming Rage.
Doom Resurrection trailer hits web
We just learned yesterday that id Sotware’s App Store exclsuive Doom Resurrection would hit sometime next and today we are greated with a trailer showcasing actual gameplay from the title.
The above trailer does a great job showing off the game-changing visuals featured in Doom Resurrection but it also reveals something to us that was before unknown; Doom Resurrection will be an on-rails shooter.
So, just like Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii, players will not be able to run around in a true 3D environment but instead be restricted to a pre-set path. Oh well, at least it has cool graphics, right?
Doom Resurrection hitting App Store next week
According to VentureBeat, id Software is gearing up to launch a “true next-generation” iPhone game next week which is none other than Doom Resurrection. Also according to the article this new game will feature 3D graphics unmatched by any game currently on the App Store.
While the game’s development was relatively easy considering they were able to take textures from Doom 3 and port them to the iPhone, it wasn’t all peaches. id Software’s Jack Carmack says that deep into development him and his team were forced to redo much of the “core shooting/aiming” mechanics included in the game.
Doom Resurrection will hit the App Store complete with 8 full levels making up for 5 ful hours of gameplay. Considering the game will run flawless on current-gen iPhones and iPod Touchs, just imagine when it is played on the iPhone 3G S. Yeah, I think Sony and Nintendo really have a new competitor thanks to Apple.
Wolfenstein dated for August 4th, Nazis take cover
Activision has finally given a date for the highly anticipated Wolfenstein. The science-fiction first person shooter will be hitting North American stores on August 4th, and Europe a bit earlier on June 26th.
If you’re impatient and need to kill some Nazis as soon as possible, the original Wolfenstein 3D will be making its way to both the Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network early June.
Wolfenstein is set to ship for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC systems.
Read (GameSpot)
Wolfenstein 3D coming to Xbox Live Arcade
If a product listing on Microsoft’s official Xbox website isn’t enough confirmation that Wolfenstein 3D will be hitting the Xbox Live Arcade, I don’t know what is.
This will come as great news to retrogamers and moderngamers a like as the 1992 Wolfenstein 3D was pretty much responsible for popularizing the PC FPS genre.
Unfortunately the listing doesn’t give us any word as to when the title will drop but let’s hope its soon. Oh yeah, it lists HDTV 1080i in the details, perhaps some remastered graphics? We can only hope.
id CEO Teases Major Announcements
Following on from word yesterday that id Software is going multiplatform, the Gamespot interview carries a teaser from company CEO Todd Hollenshead who noted that they plan on revealing some unannounced “new stuff” at E3 this June.
"I’ll leave that as a tease," said Hollenshead when pressed for more details. The studio is currently working on three projects – Wolfenstein, Rage and Doom 4. Additionally, they are working on improving the beta project that is Quake Live.
The CEO did tease that Doom 4 will “not [be] a sequel to Doom 3, but it’s not a reboot either.”
"It’s a little bit different than those, and if I told you why, I would get my ass kicked.”
However, it won’t abandon its gorey, action-ey roots anytime soon. "Everything I’ve seen on it is classic Doom, so I don’t really have worries that people aren’t going to like it and start talking about it.”