Dr. Eggman writes "This past week quite whispers and rumors became fact as two FPS giants, id and Valve joined forces to bring id games back catalog to Valve's Steam. This marks a huge influx of old classics as well as opening up the possibility of bringing some of the newest, most anticipated id games to Steam. That wasn't the only news, of course. There were many announcements by the FPS veteran: Quake Wars is slated for October 2nd release. Quake 3 is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Their next big game is called Rage, and will feature the id Tech 5 platform technology. All the details can be found in Eurogamer's full convention report. Probably the most interesting news from id was the revelation that they're working on a web-browser based version of Quake 3. It's going to be completely free, supported by ad revenues."
How are they going to do it? Java? Flash? ActiveX? DHTML and JavaScript? AAlib and a text box? Something like Java and JOGL [java.net] seems most likely, but I have a hard time imagining it rendering at any decent framerate.
At any rate, I'd guess they're targeting the casual gamers. I have a brother-in-law that spends at least two hours a day playing Flash games. Carmack must be going after those people.
I've experimented with a simple FPS engine [lazyilluminati.com] using the HTML5 <canvas> element (which provides a 2D graphics API for JavaScript). It's not exactly Quake (it's much more like Duke Nukem 3D minus the gameplay), but it works in most browsers and it's not too terribly slow. It can even do multiplayer AJAX deathmatch, though that's not available online right now...
That's just PR talk from the console companies... They say similar things with each new generation of consoles. They "speculate" about the "end of PC gaming". When in reality, its not speculation, its a sales pitch. Also the PC always ends up with more powerful processors and graphics cards than the consoles. They want us to believe their consoles are so much better than the PC.
If anything, we could be nearing the end of the consoles. Within 5 years we are likely to have che
If anything, we could be nearing the end of the consoles. Within 5 years we are likely to have...
Right, we'll have huge improvements that are available for the PC.
But what makes you think a console won't have them?
The only advantage the PC has over a console is its openness -- that I can download a few simple tools and start to develop a game, for free. Or I can download games for free, or pay for them, as well as buy them on disc. Or that it's easy and cheap to upgrade things like disk space...
"I know what you meant -- they limit homebrew and indie games. But it's precisely because of that that consoles get to start out so much cheaper than an equivalent PC, if, indeed, an equivalent exists."
Think further than just games. 10 years ago, consoles made a lot of sense, as back then, far less people were on the Internet. So non-technical people had less need for a PC. Now a lot of non-technical people have a PC.
Also in the past, it was possible to make big cost advantages between building a PC and
In order for PC gaming to retake developers from consoles, it will have to lose the openness that makes the PC great. Mostly, the reason that PC gaming is dying is because of the relative ease in copying games compared to consoles. It's why most game stores will not buy used PC games, but will buy used console games. Now consider that it's easier, cheaper and faster to develop games for PC versus consoles. Those three reasons are very important to publishers, yet the PC market is being neglected in favor of
"Mostly, the reason that PC gaming is dying is because of the relative ease in copying games compared to consoles. "
Which means they are going to want DRM on PCs to stop copying. As they are already pushing adverts in games (which I hate), its not much more to make every PC game a client which requires phone home authorisation from a server each time the game starts up etc. They can also serve patches this way as well. We are just seeing the start of online distribution of games. Up until very recently th
It is, in fact, possible -- even easy -- to download and burn many games and play them on consoles. It's even safer than doing the same for PCs, because it's a lot harder to put spyware on a console.
Piracy is really no more a threat to PC games than it is to music or movies. Which is to say, it's not a threat.
Now consider that it's easier, cheaper and faster to develop games for PC versus consoles.
I don't know how you could have arrived at this conclusion.
10 years ago, consoles made a lot of sense, as back then, far less people were on the Internet. So non-technical people had less need for a PC. Now a lot of non-technical people have a PC.
And the typical PC is far, far less powerful than the typical console.
You're not going to find a "non-technical person" who bought a PC for web and email playing Bioshock on it -- probably not even Oblivion. For that, you need something much more powerful. Which means that for many people, it's not a question of whether
Why are we getting a free version of Q3 when we still have to pay $10 for Doom? The game is so old, I've had to re-buy it 3 times-- once because the disc actually decomposed, and again when I left it by a tree and the tree grew over it, and finally when MIT procured it for carbon dating. Come on, give us old-school gamers some slack!
I hope you're not being serious. I mean, really, disc? I've still got the original Doom 2 floppies - the game isn't as recent as you make it sound. I think he may have been referring to the original sanskrit on clay disc distribution that failed early on.
Oh, so you're one of the high-tech folk whose PCs could handle a monstrous 15Mb game. I played the shareware until we finally upgraded to a 486DX 100. Plus, it's not like I could just drop $20 on the allowance I was getting (or not getting, because of my grades).
Carmack also said yesterday in an interview with Game Informer that "there will be a Doom 4" at some point and "there's going to be a Quake Arena sequel." The Quake Arena sequel will be built with the id Tech 5 engine. Also, Carmack stated that id Tech 5 will probably not be changed to Direct3D 10 for the PC version of Rage (the engine uses OpenGL). http://gameinformer.com/News/Story/200708/N07.0803 .1731.12214.htm?Page=1 [gameinformer.com]
This marks a huge influx of old classics as well as opening up the possibility of bringing some of the newest, most anticipated id games
Great, the variety of Id's library is amazing. Futuristic/Horror Shooter 1, Futuristic/Horror Shooter 2, Futuristic/Horror Shooter 3, and of course the legendary Futuristic/Horror Shooter 4.
From what I've heard the various DOS games that id has put on steam seem to use the DOS emulator DOSbox to work. DOSbox is GPL but it seems id has neglected any idea of following this license agreement. Do you think this could cause some problems?
May I quote from the GPL? The bit that says "...give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
along with the Program." could possibly be relevant here. Also the stuff about providing source code if distributing a binary.
So yeah... the GPL is license and notice to those who use the code... but they're not following it.
Ugh. They have yet again left the music out of the Quake 1 and 2 games from Steam (they left the music out of Quake 2 that was bundled with Quake 4).
While it is certianly a sad thing for Quake 2, it is a TRAGEDY for Quake 1, which had it's soundtrack done by Trent Razor.
It is a shame to leave the music out of these great games...
I agree-- the sound effects and haunting music in Quake 1 were top notch and really created a dark, creepy atmosphere. Playing the game without Reznor's music ruins the atmosphere.
We need to get together and demand that they provide the music we paid for! They should rewrite part of the game to make it play the songs as MP3s. If not, they should at least provide the music for downloading so we could burn it to CD. Can anyone provide contact numbers for these folks? If we call enough times, they have to listen to us, right?
...that in his keynote, Carmack stated that Quake Zero was probably going to be more along the lines of 2.5d than 3d. Also, and I find this odd that nobody has written about it, Carmack talked for a bit about what they were originally working on before Rage, a game called Darkness, which was more of a survival horror game and got shelved because they didn't feel it was coming together at the time.
I was both at QCon and at the Keynote... and I gotta say it was pretty awesome. The best part of the Con by far was the release of public beta 2 of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. My crew spent billions of hours over the past two days (with little sleep) battling it out in that game.
Another highlight for me were the tourney finals last night. Watching Toxiq and that other guy (can't remember his name sorry) go at it through all 4 Quake games was a blast...
The keynote was _very_ good... with a lot of little bo
Just what we wanted! (Score:5, Funny)
Boy, I hope this can satisfy us while we wait for the colaboration with Infocom to bring us a text based version of Quake 4.
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At any rate, I'd guess they're targeting the casual gamers. I have a brother-in-law that spends at least two hours a day playing Flash games. Carmack must be going after those people.
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I've experimented with a simple FPS engine [lazyilluminati.com] using the HTML5 <canvas> element (which provides a 2D graphics API for JavaScript). It's not exactly Quake (it's much more like Duke Nukem 3D minus the gameplay), but it works in most browsers and it's not too terribly slow. It can even do multiplayer AJAX deathmatch, though that's not available online right now...
I expect id would do something more sane, though.
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If someone spends 2 hours a day playing games, can (s)he be considered a casual gamer?
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The PC is here to stay (Score:2)
That's just PR talk from the console companies
If anything, we could be nearing the end of the consoles. Within 5 years we are likely to have che
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Right, we'll have huge improvements that are available for the PC.
But what makes you think a console won't have them?
The only advantage the PC has over a console is its openness -- that I can download a few simple tools and start to develop a game, for free. Or I can download games for free, or pay for them, as well as buy them on disc. Or that it's easy and cheap to upgrade things like disk space...
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Think further than just games. 10 years ago, consoles made a lot of sense, as back then, far less people were on the Internet. So non-technical people had less need for a PC. Now a lot of non-technical people have a PC.
Also in the past, it was possible to make big cost advantages between building a PC and
The PC is here to stay, PC gaming is not. (Score:1)
Now consider that it's easier, cheaper and faster to develop games for PC versus consoles. Those three reasons are very important to publishers, yet the PC market is being neglected in favor of
PC gaming is here to stay. (Score:2)
Which means they are going to want DRM on PCs to stop copying. As they are already pushing adverts in games (which I hate), its not much more to make every PC game a client which requires phone home authorisation from a server each time the game starts up etc. They can also serve patches this way as well. We are just seeing the start of online distribution of games. Up until very recently th
Have you even glanced at ThePirateBay lately? (Score:2)
It is, in fact, possible -- even easy -- to download and burn many games and play them on consoles. It's even safer than doing the same for PCs, because it's a lot harder to put spyware on a console.
Piracy is really no more a threat to PC games than it is to music or movies. Which is to say, it's not a threat.
I don't know how you could have arrived at this conclusion.
That may be true if you're making a Flash game o
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And the typical PC is far, far less powerful than the typical console.
You're not going to find a "non-technical person" who bought a PC for web and email playing Bioshock on it -- probably not even Oblivion. For that, you need something much more powerful. Which means that for many people, it's not a question of whether
Think of the mods! (Score:1)
Still paying after all these years (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Still paying after all these years (Score:5, Funny)
I think he may have been referring to the original sanskrit on clay disc distribution that failed early on.
Parent
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Quake (Score:3, Informative)
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Carmack's other announcements... (Score:3, Informative)
ooo we definitely need all those games available (Score:3, Funny)
Great, the variety of Id's library is amazing. Futuristic/Horror Shooter 1, Futuristic/Horror Shooter 2, Futuristic/Horror Shooter 3, and of course the legendary Futuristic/Horror Shooter 4.
Re:ooo we definitely need all those games availabl (Score:2)
Re:ooo we definitely need all those games availabl (Score:2)
Historically Innacurate/Horror Shooter 1,Historically Innacurate/Horror Shooter 2, Historically Innacurate/Horror Multiplayer Shooter 1
Rage trailer (Score:2)
Games on Steam... (Score:2, Interesting)
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So yeah... the GPL is license and notice to those who use the code... but they're not following it.
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Much Ado About Nothing (Score:2)
No music in Quake 1 or 2 on Steam. (Score:2, Informative)
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We want our Quake music! (Score:1)
Browser FPS (Score:2)
http://www1.rasterwerks.com/game/phosphor/beta1.a
Y
It would be fair to note... (Score:2)
I was there... (Score:2)
The best part of the Con by far was the release of public beta 2 of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. My crew spent billions of hours over the past two days (with little sleep) battling it out in that game.
Another highlight for me were the tourney finals last night. Watching Toxiq and that other guy (can't remember his name sorry) go at it through all 4 Quake games was a blast...
The keynote was _very_ good... with a lot of little bo