Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Quake First Person Shooters (Games)

High-End VR QuakeIII Arena 46

Posted by michael from the full-body-immersion dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes: "Saw this over at vrsource.org. Paul Rajlich has released CAVE Quake III Arena (cq3a). cq3a is a Quake3 engine that runs in VR environments from desktop HMDs to high-end multi-wall projection systems like the CAVEs and fully-enclosed C6. The original announcement is here. There is also an article describing what he had to do. The main cq3a page is here at visbox where you can download the code for multiple environment types (VR Juggler, CAVElibs, FreeVR, SDL, GLUT, and GLX). It currently runs on Linux, Irix, Win32, MacOS, and FreeBSD. You also have to check out the cool pictures on the site."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

High-End VR QuakeIII Arena More

High-End VR QuakeIII Arena

Comments Filter:

  • Augmented Reality Quake (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Here's something that's quite interesting as well...the University of South Australia is doing research into an Augmented Reality version of Quake: http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/projects.php#ARQuake
  • Does anybody remember the video walls in that book? This is exactly how I pictured them. To bad nothing was mentioned about playing quake.

    I wonder if in the future people addicted to this sort of thing will spent a large chunk of their salary on buying one. Just like in the book, and just like people do now with their entertainment centers.

    It's eerie how books like this one and 1984 and come true. At least some of the stuff seems cool on the surface tho.
  • Imagine consuming a hit of acid and then playing virtual quake3. You'd problaby get arrested for murder 10 minutes after you take off your VR goggles. I'm sure the military could problaby use this as a way of conditioning their soldiers though.
  • Classic Quake Arena [planetquake.com] is a mod for Quake 3 that changes the physics so they're pretty close to Quake 1's.

  • This isnt' quake3... (Score:5)

    by mindstrm ( 20013 ) on Thursday April 26, 2001 @02:29AM (#264955)
    This is a new rendering engine, built from scratch, that can read q3a datafiles, and has similar advanced features as the q3a engine (though not identical). It's not a game, you can't play q3a on it.
  • Now if they only had full-body tactile feedback you would have something pretty damn close to a holodeck.

  • C6 (Score:2)

    by Necroman ( 61604 )
    My part. I am a student here at Iowa State, and yes the VRAC (the c6 cube) is the shit. First off, how we got it. Howe Hall was built just last summer, and was built completely from money give by aerospace engineering alumni.

    As far as writing code for the VRAC here, all it is, is a special toolkit for c++ that does all the cool stuff for it, and is powered by 6 SGI systems (dont remember what kinda processors). The VRAC team consists of around 5 people, all graduate students with degrees in computer science and computer engineering.

    A newly formed game developers club here (I am friends with all the guys that started that) have been talking with the VRAC team to start writting games for the C6, and they were hoping to do Quake 3 (but that has already been done).

    I will tell some people today, and I might be able to see it run before the end of the semesters.. (gotta set those hopes high).

    (Howe Hall webpage)
    http://www.eng.iastate.edu/etrc/

    Its not what it is, its something else.
  • Each of the 4 projectors is displaying a two separate images (because the CAVE is in stereo 3d). That makes 8 DIFFERENT images that must be calculated by the Onyx2 atleast 15 times a second.
  • Um, actually, a C6 system probably has, um, er, thinking... Six projectors. At least the similar system [pdc.kth.se] here in Sweden (the world's first six-walled Cube) does. ;^) And the muscle is needed (or at least intended) to run the applications, some of which are very heavy indeed. It's not enough to just drive the display system, you know.
  • The "VRAC [iastate.edu] team" is actually about 150 people. the VR Juggler [vrjuggler.org] team (the one that writes the software that runs the C6, and many other VR devices), is actually about 4 grad students (allen [iastate.edu],chris [iastate.edu],patrick [iastate.edu],kevin [iastate.edu]), the original inventor of the CAVE (Dr. Cruz-Neira [iastate.edu]), and a few others...

    VR Juggler [vrjuggler.org] is an opensource virtual reality platform. It is the next generation of CAVE software. It runs caves, c6, HMD, powerwall, desktop VR, etc... highly configurable and highly extensible.

    For background info: Dr. Cruz wrote the original CAVElib (closed source) at EVL for the original CAVE system she designed. NOTE: that all CAVE(tm) systems are only 4 walls! The C6 at VRAC is the worlds first 6 sided cave-like device.

    VR Juggler is her next endeavor, it doesn't suffer from the problems that CAVElib does, and whats best is that VRJuggler [vrjuggler.org] is completely open source (LGPL).
  • The "VRAC [iastate.edu] team" is actually about 150 people. the VR Juggler [vrjuggler.org] team (the one who write the software that runs the C6), is actually about 4 grad students (allen [iastate.edu],chris [iastate.edu],patrick [iastate.edu],kevin [iastate.edu]), the original inventor of the CAVE (Dr. Cruz-Neira [iastate.edu]), and a few others...

    VR Juggler [vrjuggler.org] is an opensource virtual reality platform. It is the next generation of CAVE software. It runs caves, c6, HMD, powerwall, desktop VR, etc... highly configurable and highly extensible.

    For background info: Dr. Cruz wrote the original CAVElib (closed source) at EVL for the original CAVE system she designed. NOTE: that all CAVE(tm) systems are only 4 walls! The C6 at VRAC is the worlds first 6 sided cave-like device.

    VR Juggler is her next endeavor, it doesn't suffer from the problems that CAVElib does, and whats best is that it is completely open source (LGPL).
  • 'the dangers to health increase exponentially as the size of the screen'.

    I can only assume we're talking about the angular size of the screen: a 14" screen will produce exactly the same image on your retina as a 28" screen twice the distance away.

    'The researchers attributed this change in brain activity to high frequency components in the rapidly changing images at the side of the screen'.

    So if you're completely surrounded by screens, there are no edge effects to worry about?
    -- Andrem
  • The cave is very cool, PERIOD! I got to use the CAVE at brown about a month ago, and it was the best experience of my life. Cave painting completed my existence. It was amazing.

    -Erik
    • The computer image generator system is a SGI Onyx2 InfiniteReality2 Monster. It includes six InfiniteReality graphic displays, 24 R12000 processors, 12 gigabytes of memory, and access to large disk I/O and gigabit ethernet networking.
    Just to run 4 projectors and a wireless glove or two? Good grief.

  • But it is patented [delphion.com]

    You would not want the Worlds.com [worlds.com] Legal team after you, correct?

  • When will there be head-tracker support for Quake III? particularly for i-Glasses? I've been baffled that for all the attention given to quake, and the simplicity of the i-Glasses head-tracker, there is no link between the two. It's a lot cheaper than a CAVE.

  • I have a set, but it stays in the box because there's nothing worth using them for. Magic Carpet II was the last game with decent support. Descent supported the head tracker a bit too much, requiring the player to do physical summersaults fairly often.

    I've long expected i-Glasses head-tracking support in Quake *, and am surprised it never happened (a few faltering attempts - one's head is not a joystick).

  • However, his Quake2 version IS a game....
  • 'Virtual Immortality' makes a bit a little bit more sense...

  • UT (Score:1)

    by Fervent ( 178271 )
    Why don't they do this with UT? (By the way, what's the fascination with Quake on this site? Its small open source clause? UT has a free Linux version too, you know. And to me, the Game of the Year for 2000 should get more recognition than "number two". Then again, Diablo gets a lot of recognition here for some unknown reason too...)
  • I'd argue against that. The phobos level in UT, with the red planet shining in the background, is absolutely breathtaking.

    Just because an engine can do curved surfaces doesn't mean the artists used them to the best of their ability.

  • Somebody rated both my comments "Overrated" simply because they didn't like UT. Give me a break.
  • Sorry, but I see Virtual Reality looking rather like this [sciam.com].
    Quotes:
    • Petabit communication pipes and perhaps thousands of high-definition cameras will enable someone to manipulate a "soft camera" that will elicit a view from thousands of angles throughout a stadium dome or from down on the field.
      "This will let you watch the Super Bowl from the vantage point of the quarterback"...
    • Forget helmets and data gloves. Nanobots, robots the size of a molecule, will travel through the bloodstream of your brain beaming messages to neurons that will enable the simulation of sight, sound, smell and hearing as well as emotion and sexual sensations. You'll also be able to travel to St. Barth's, attend every game of the World Series or engage Al Gore in a debate.
    • Virtual immortality will come if the petabyte storage capability provides a "rapid simulated learning environment" that infuses your biological clone with the totality of your experiences. Maybe mind is portable after all.
    Ouch, frightening.
    --
  • Which waste of skin modded this up as "funny"?

    Nazi skinheads have more hair than brains
  • ... although I've only played Quake 2 on it... spectactular experience actually... equipped with wireless shutter-goggles which modifies FOV and other aspects depending on where in the cave you are actually LOOKING. Using a MS Sidewinder Gamepad for control, me and my friend were spending some time playing Q2 in the CUBE at KTH (Royal School of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden)... so, anyone else been playing with these kind of toys?

  • Will this be dangerous? (Score:3)

    by Donald Kerr ( 207020 ) on Thursday April 26, 2001 @12:00AM (#264976) Homepage
    I recently read some research (in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), but I can't find the article at the moment) which proved that some 3d game engines are potentially dangerous to health. The researchers reported that the dangers to health increase exponentially as the size of the screen on which the games is played increases.

    The problem is to do with the way the game engine handle 3d images around the edge of the screen, and the way in which these images are processed by the brain. The researchers measured the EEG (electroencephalogram, "brain waves") of gamers whilst playing 3d games. The researchers noted that the EEG changed from its normal "beta" activity (characterised by 14-60Hz oscillations), and gained a low frequency component (delta waves, in the 0.5-2Hz range, which normally only occur during deep sleep).

    The researchers attributed this change in brain activity to high frequency components in the rapidly changing images at the side of the screen in some 3d engines. The effect of these high frequency images on the gamer's peripheral vision caused desynchronisation of the gamers EEG rhythms, leading to headaches, irritability, nausea and (in the worse cases) epileptic attacks. The researchers found that these unfortunate side effects got considerably worse when the games were played on large screens.

    My question is, will playing Quake on a huge screen like that in a CAVE be responsible for causing serious health problems in gamers?

    --

  • The C6 is extremely cool, but Iowa State paid far to much money to do it. They probably could have cut many structural costs and even system costs to have gotten an equal job done.
  • I agree, much cost went to artistic design. In my oppinion though cost put towards harware could have been further reduced from using more non-brand name technology (i.e. not SGI).
  • The patent refers to realistic 3d worlds that are interactive, mainly refering to chat based 3d worlds. The C6 and C2 type systems are not necessarily this. These are systems for creating 3D environments for simulation of a variety of things. Worlds.com can't pattent 3D....and i would love to see them try issuing a lawsuit against someone for building a 3d environment.
  • Any of us who have played an intense deathmatch know how psyched up you can become and how twitchy you are for a while afterwards. With a VR game this will be more extreme.
    Perhaps when these games are finally marketed, it would be a good idea to sell 'post VR Quake sedatives' or offer therapy for those who have become unhinged after a playing too much.

    Yes, they already sell this. It's called "pot."
  • They say that hate is the opposite of enlightenment, and you've proved this beyond the shadow of a doubt.
  • Spent too much time in Reponngi?

  • WireGL (Score:4)

    by srichman ( 231122 ) on Thursday April 26, 2001 @12:46AM (#264983)
    Stanford's Graphics Lab's WireGL [stanford.edu] project is quite a bit cooler than this, in my opinion. I saw a demo of Q3A running on a large tiled display there last month, but that's not the goal...

    The point of the project is to develop "a new distributed graphics system that is designed to allow an application to render to a large, tiled display." It is an OpenGL implementation that allows a cluster of one or more machines to render to a tiled display with one or more tiles. So the system allows a cluster of N computers to render a single image, and also allows one computer to render to a tiled display, and also allows N computers to render to M displays in a tiled display.

    And, of course, it's OpenGL, so you can put together a rad tiled Quake demo just as easily as you can put together a rad JoesStupidOpenGLTestGame demo.

    No HMDs, though.

  • I run a local Lanparty here in Champaign-Urbana, and Paul always gives our group a tour of the technology over at the NCSA. Quite facinating! It should be noted that Paul's CAVE Quake2 Engine is in many regards better than the original. One unique aspect that stands out in my mind is are the hit boxes. You can actually shoot a rocket between an enemy's legs! The newer CAVE that's being built at the U of I is HUGE in proportion to the older caves (20' high walls, if I'm not mistaken) Can't wait to see that. Paul's Visbox (or home CAVE version) will definatley be an amazing machine as well. He's scheduled to demo it at LanFest 6, (www.lan-fest.com) , so if you're into large lan tournaments, and would like to see both the CAVE and the Visbox prototype, check us out! There's also some cool CAVE pix on the site, from the 5 walled and the single walled machines. -subghandi insert witty sig here

  • Many /. reader (including myself) believe that the recent law suite [slashdot.org] against (big) gaming companies is a money grabbing exercise. But you have to wonder with a project like this...

    As "games" became more and more realistic, first in terms of graphics and sounds, and now with CAVE that gives a new meaning to "first person". I think a system like cq3a is great cannon fodder for this sort of anti-game lawsuits. "Your honour, we belive the defendent spent years on SeeQueThreeA to perfect his stalking and killing skills..."

    To be honest I am a bit disappointed that promising technology like VR are being used for violence entertaining (and possibly p0rn :-) than in recreating historical places and events; like the holodeck. But then the holodeck always go berserk at least once a season ;-)

    Yeah, I don't know what my point is either. Maybe someone can say something really insightful on this.

    ====

  • If anyone is insane enough, we have it working on HP-UX with glut and *kinda* have it working with CAVELibs. I have to say, Paul is a super guy to talk to. He's been really helpful. The best part of this is the fact that anyone with 1/2 a clue can use something like GTKRadiant, make a 'space' and be able to view it. that's really cool, I think. It makes modleing available to people at a much lower cost than things like FormZ, even...

    Anyhow, back to my little hole in the wall...

  • CAVES are cool! (Score:3)

    by dbowden ( 249149 ) on Thursday April 26, 2001 @03:55AM (#264987)
    I got to play with one of the ones at the University of Illionis-Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory [uic.edu] about five years ago. I was considering going there for a graduate degree and took a tour to check out the facilities.

    Boy do they have cool stuff there!

    The best part was when I got to play with a CAVE [uic.edu] . It's a cube about 10ft square with 3D projections on three walls and the floor, which really gives you a feeling of immersion. My favorite program was the cathedral, which imitated the interior of a cathedral (who'd have guessed?). You could "walk" around the interior, which was mostly bare, except for a stairway leading up towards the roof. The stairs had no railing, and I had trouble getting up to the top without falling off. The person who was giving the tour told me that most people's favorite thing was to climb to the top, and then jump off, so I tried it. It's almost as good as a roller coaster! I really got a feeling of falling, as I watched the walls go by, and the floor zoom up at me.

    Unfortunately, (well, not really) I got offered a job with Hewlett Packard, and decided to buy a house and have a life instead of being a poor student and playing with really cool geek toys.

    I have a set of i-glasses [i-glasses.com], but they don't even come close to the CAVE in terms of immersion.

    Hmmm. I should pull the i-glasses back out of the box and try playing with them again. The only game I ever liked with them was Descent, because it actually worked in 3D. It was pretty neat to strafe around a corner, and be able to see the corner wall with one eye, and an enemy ship with the other eye.

    Do any other /.ers have i-glasses? What games do you like to play with them?

  • no becuase i have since graduated, adn my account access has been revoked
  • I remember playing people in amsterdam from the CAVE in beckman @ UIUC...nice
  • ya i use to use them hooked up to an sgi o-2 for 3d modelling... the vizlab @ beckman institute [non-affiliated with NCSA @ UIUC but same building] has all kinds of cool toys..
  • it can be dangerous, but so can any video game. The 4 10 sq. foot screens flash very rapidy [2k/sec?], while in perfect sync running off SGIs. It is very rare, but can cause seizures..
  • when you use a CAVE, your sgi/monitor windows output your screen on the CAVE walls if the projectors are on, so when you surf the web, it shows up on the cave walls too. Talk about porn in your face...um , ya.. so ive heard of course...

  • NCSA Rocks (Score:3)

    by mackermacker ( 250587 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2001 @11:52PM (#264993) Homepage
    I must say CAVE quake is very cool, I worked with the cave @ ncsa and we tried to slip away when we could. Even more cool was playing someone across the hall in a deathmatch using the idesk and CAVE. Paul is truely a top notch programmer @ he also worked on a vrml generator [uiuc.edu] thats pretty cool, check out more news about cave quake here [uiuc.edu]
  • The computer image generator system is a SGI Onyx2 InfiniteReality2 Monster. It includes six InfiniteReality graphic displays, 24 R12000 processors, 12 gigabytes of memory, and access to large disk I/O and gigabit ethernet networking.

    Just to run 4 projectors and a wireless glove or two? Good grief. Well, it's running a SGI port of Windows XP and those are the minimal requirements.

  • Well, it's fun to play Zelda 3 on your favorite Gigahertz chip, you know?

  • Asylum bait (Score:3)

    by Mantis69 ( 446522 ) on Thursday April 26, 2001 @01:43AM (#264996)
    I've been waiting for someone to do a good VR shooter for a while and I think it will be good but I can imagine it could have strong effects on some people. Any of us who have played an intense deathmatch know how psyched up you can become and how twitchy you are for a while afterwards. With a VR game this will be more extreme.

    Perhaps when these games are finally marketed, it would be a good idea to sell 'post VR Quake sedatives' or offer therapy for those who have become unhinged after a playing too much.

    Seriously though, with a lawsuite against 'violent' video games being started by some of the columbine massacre victim's families and the political reactions to these games, you have to think it will be a matter of time until the first post VR Quake shooting occurs. Sooner or later the line between game and reality will become sufficiently blurred that someone will think reality is one big deathmatch.

    Personally I can't wait to give it a go, but I will make sure that all firearms are locked away and secure afterwards! :)

Slashdot Top Deals

Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun.

Close