id software
Latest
Quake Zero announced: Free browser-based Quake 3
During its QuakeCon 2007 press conference, id Software announced plans to form a second development team tasked with creating Quake Zero, an updated, possibly sugar-free version of Quake 3: Arena. The 'Zero' in the title refers to the game's price tag -- it'll be made available for free (supported by advertising dollars, natch) and playable in web browsers for PC and Mac, reports Shacknews. Said id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead, "We appreciate what you guys have done over the years in building the popularity of [Quake 3]. "We also like 'free.'" We'll keep you informed as to when you can expect to play Quake Free, er, Zero.
id announces Quake Arena for Xbox Live Arcade
The finest railgun in the business will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade as id announces Quake Arena for Microsoft's download service. Previously, this release was merely a rumor fueled by a surprise listing on the ESRB website, so it's great to finally have an official word to go on.Also true to the ESRB listing is that Pi Studios -- best known for their work on the Call of Duty series and the upcoming Mercaneries 2: World in Flame -- is behind the port.No comment as to when Quake Arena will see release was made by id.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars coming Sept 28 to Europe, Oct 2 to North America
The PC version of id Software's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is coming to Europe on Friday, September 28 and to North America on Tuesday, October 2, according to an announcement made at Quakecon. The public beta is still going strong, but the final product is now just two months away. Though previously announced that the game is also coming to home consoles, no details or information have been given. We wonder if this will be made available on Steam. %Gallery-1618%
Joystiq interviews id Software's Todd Hollenshead
Just minutes before he takes the stage, along with John Carmack, to deliver the QuakeCon keynote address, we bring you our E3 interview with Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software. We had a chance to ask him about id Tech 5 and id's future in engine licensing, that new IP they keep talking about (and will be showing off any minute now), the Games for Windows initiative, their announcement of a Nintendo DS game, and more. You guys have been laying low for a while. Laying low, but busy. I'm quite certain. At WWDC you guys come back out swinging, and I'd like to find out what your goal was there. Probably a good discussion of that would start with all of the projects that we're working on that are sort of announced just so you get up to speed. And I think some of these things, people forget this is actually id working on this stuff. You guys are working with Splash Damage and Nerve over here and then you've got ... That stuff is all going on at id too, because we have internal resources that are devoted to that. For example, the guy who is programming all of the AI bot work for PC, 360, and PS3 is actually an id employee and he's devoted full time to the project. Of course, Kevin McCloud is the executive producer for id so he's overseeing not only the Splash Damage work but also others. So there's a significant amount of id effort that goes into a project like Enemy Territory because we're working hand in hand with all of the developers, and Activision trying to coordinate stuff. It's resources and managerial? Managerial? I guess it depends on how you define that word. It's design input, it's working with Activision and Splash Damage to make sure the workflow stuff that is set up is something we think is achievable and doable and is working towards the right direction. So, yeah, there is a lot of what ends up being management but not like what I would call production management work. Nobody is sitting down and going, "I've got twenty people and this person is working this many hours on this little thing and he needs to be done with that by Thursday at noon."
Joystiq impressions: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
I have a confession to make ... I didn't know that much about Enemy Territory: Quake Wars going into this. I'd heard of the title and knew that it wasn't your normal entry in the Quake series, meaning that it's not the typical first-person shooter where your goal is to run around looking for bigger and better weapons while fragging the enemy back through the gates of Hell. Instead you'll be building those weapons, like turrets and anti-aircraft guns, ordering your teammates to repair your vehicles, and generally trying not to get killed. Just be prepared to fail at that ... a lot. In fact, imagine yourself failing at staying alive, and then multiply that by a lot. At least you'll be mentally prepared. %Gallery-1618%
Video: killing some Strogg in Quake Wars
This new Quake Wars video came across the proverbial desk this weekend. Unfortunately, it was at the bottom of the virtual "IN" pile, so we've only now just gotten to it. News about the title has been fairly scant so far, so we're happy to take what we can get. The video is taken from the PC public beta that's going on right now. The game looks decent, though we wish there was more weapon variety present in the video. What do you think? Does Quake Wars stand a chance against the likes of Halo 3 and Team Fortress 2?
Today's shootingest video: Quake Wars
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is one of the next big shooters from Id, and GameTrailers shows some in-game multiplayer footage. We've seen better demos of the game, but this video gives an idea for some of the gameplay and style of the title, just in time for the public beta. Is Quake Wars on your FPS radar? See the video after the break, or view the HD version if unimpressed with the embedded clip.
Quake Wars enters the in-game ad wars
Splash Damage has announced that Quake Wars will feature in-game ads. The reasoning behind this decision, according to Managing Director, Neil Postlethwaite, is that Quake Wars will require ongoing support for things like stats servers, and Splash Damage doesn't want to pass that cost onto gamers. Postlethwaite assures readers that the ads will not be intrusive or interactive in any way. What's more, they will be appropriate to the game and all ads must be approved directly by Splash Damage. In-game advertising is still fairly new, and opinions toward it vary wildly, but we're glad to see Splash Damage taking care not to ruin its game. Hopefully they make good on their promise. Oh, and if you happen to be part of the PC beta, then you'll be among the first to see the ads in action. [Via Joystiq]
Quake Wars to have in-game ads
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars producer Neil Postlethwaite has announced on the community site that the upcoming game will feature in-game advertisement. The ad revenue is to help the developers to "provide a higher level of on-going support to the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars community than would have been possible otherwise," he said. Postlethwaite explains that the ads will be appropriate in content and placement (e.g. the side of container trucks), non-intrusive and non-interactive. The developers have absolute approval rights. "If it's not appropriate or it's distracting, it won't go in," he said. No personal data will be collected. "All they track is if an how long you look at the advertisements." Since we've yet to see any in-game ads in the screenshots, we don't know how well developer Splash Damage will implement them. However, that Postlethwaite is being open about the process is always appreciated, and he keeps to his word and it does mean more substantial support (e.g. free content packs in the future), it doesn't sound like a bad trade-off to us. The first sign of the advertisements will be seen in the upcoming public beta.
Quake Wars public beta keys coming this week
The community site for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars has announced that it plans on doing a public beta of the game soon; no start date has been given, but license keys will start to be given out "in the middle of this week." There will be 60,000 slots available and only one map for testing -- Sewers, according to a dev blog post, which is said to feature "an interesting mix of outdoor and indoor, vehicle and infantry combat, deployables and counter-deployables and good old-fashioned FPS combat." It's likely the map with the most possible situations for bug-testing. All slots will go to FilePlanet users, with half of the slots set aside for those who pay for the premium subscription. The post makes it very clear that this is not a demo. "If you want to just play a game for free you may find it a frustrating experience," it said. It also cautions that the beta will be taking data about your hardware configuration, "so you shouldn't apply unless you're comfortable with that." %Gallery-1618%
John Carmack id tech 5 demo from WWDC
Here's the demo of id tech 5, id Software's new graphical engine, running on a Mac at the WWDC keynote. It looks very nice (it should, at 20gb of textures), and Carmack says the engine will allow programmers to come in and get the game right first, and then let their artists loose on it. Levels can be designed before anything else, and then artists can come and design the landscape and the colors around that.I'm not sure how well that works, but we'll see soon: Carmack also says he'll have this showing on both consoles and desktops (Mac and PC) at E3, as well as "another Mac related announcement" that he can't quite bring himself to tell us about at this point. Considering all of id's games are already available on OS X (released by Aspyr, who have to be shaking in their boots after all the announcements this week), we have no idea at all what that might be.
John Carmack of id Software unveils new ultra high detail game engine
Yesterday, during the keynote address at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, John Carmack revealed some footage of a new game engine. The video above is the best quality you're going to get for a little while. At least until id release some footage themselves. Despite this, however, it still looks stunning.Dubbed "id Tech 5," the new engine promises to almost completely remove any limitations on texture size, allowing "for the unique customization of the entire game world at the pixel level." Examples include changing material colours on the fly and etching fine detail, such as initials, into existing geometry. As the video says, the footage above uses over 20 gigabytes of texture files. Presumably, with their developments into new compression methods, we'll be seeing all this fit onto a 9 gigabyte DVD. It'll have to if they plan on releasing games that run on this engine onto the PC and Xbox 360. Games on the PS3, on the other hand, will be able to take advantage of the 50 gigabytes of storage on Blu-Ray discs, allowing for lower compression and, we assume, faster loading as a result.This is all just speculation for now, however. Other than the above video and the blurb that has been posted on the id Software official website, there's no specific information. We'll have to wait until E3 for that.[Via CVG and Engadget]
Quake Wars shoots for July release, fragged
The latest entry in the Quake series, sporting the title Enemy Territory: Quake Wars has been talked up every now and then, but a true release date was never really set in stone. Activision wants to change that -- kind of. They have come out to say they expect the game to ship out for the PC, PS3, and 360 any time from July through September of this year. We've heard that developers id Software like to polish and tinker with a product until they feel it's good and ready for release, so we're not sure if the release date schedule will properly reflect the release date for this game. September, maybe, but if they go that long, they'll probably just keep tweaking until it's holiday shopping time. Which starts in August, oddly. Stupid holiday shopping lasting five months ... That aside, who's excited for this game? More than Haze? More than Unreal Tournament 3? We'll take 'em in that order: Haze, UT3, then this game. But that's just us.
Some new Quake Wars screenshots seem explosive
Everyone loves the Quake franchise. Even those directly opposed to FPS titles from birth should be able to appreciate the nuances and intricacies the Quake games have brought to the -- oh, whatever. They're a good FPS series, but that's about it. However, with the newest upcoming entry, Quake Wars, they might actually change things up enough to appear fresh and delicious. The action shooter combining real-time strategy elements is showing off some new screenshots today and they look fantastic. Whether in a tank, on foot, or some kind of jet, the game looks intense. The game will hit the PC in mid-June, but a console release is expected shortly thereafter for the 360 and PS3. We don't know if the final result will merit all the hype, but we can hope so! Anyone else pumped for this game?
Quake Wars to rage on Macs in 2007
Multiplatform game publisher, Aspyr Media, will stay current with its Mac roots by publishing that version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars sometime this year. (Aspyr had previously mentioned those plans but today's statement marks the official announcement.) Aspyr has already released Doom 3-engine games on the Mac, and its port is being developed by in-house coders. Quake Wars will be a tactical- and objective-based first-person shooter instead of the traditional Quake deathmatch. No release date has been named, but assuming that Aspyr is accurate when saying the Mac version will be out this year, PC and console versions may be out by the fall. %Gallery-1618%
Min-E3 exhibitor list shows signs of shrinkage
Arriving like an obituary for the thoroughly deceased E3 of yore, the exhibitor list for the E3 Media and Business Summit 2007 (or Min-E3, if you prefer) provides an interesting glimpse of the event's new format. The list, as unfurled by Chris Remo of Shacknews, represents the exact opposite of E3 in many ways. It's short, manageable and entirely devoid of scantily-clad ladies. And we just lost half the readers with that last link, didn't we? For those that use tabbed browsing: Remo observes that the list has gone from bursting with over 400 exhibitors last year, to containing a mere 33 this year. Of those, two are independent developers (id Software and Foundation 9 Entertainment) and two are peripheral manufacturers (Nyko Technologies and Logitech). Despite the list being primarily filled with major publishers, the event will also host the IndieCade festival, an independent games showcase. While July's Min-E3 represents a welcome departure from the lax entry requirements and inhibitive masses of E3, its reduction to a series of meetings with a focused group of publishers still seems tragically dull when compared to the glitz and clamor of previous spectacles. It's clear that smaller industry groups aren't well represented either, but then, there's only so much room in an aircraft hangar. The full list of exhibitors can be found in the second part of the post.
id Software poised for a comeback, says id Software
It's been a long time since id Software defined the first-person shooter with Wolfenstein 3D, and later took it to a new level of insanity with Doom. The company got rich not only off their own revolutionary games, but also by farming out their powerful engines to other developers.In recent years, id has fallen from prominence. Doom 3 and Quake 4 were mere shadows of their predecessors. id began to lose FPS market share as other people's engines got more play. Even id founder/visionary John Carmack seemed to be losing interest in the genre he created, and spent his time building rockets and cell phone games.But in a new interview with Next Generation, id CEO Todd Hollenshead makes it clear that his company has a few tricks up its sleeve, the most exciting of which is Carmack's "brand new shooter that is not based on any previous IP." While Hollenshead refuses to reveal much about this mysterious new game, he does say that "[Carmack's] approach allows us to do some things visually that we haven't ever been able to do before. He is really unfettering the ability of artists to go absolutely nuts."Do you hear that, video game artists? Are you tired of those fetters on your ability to go absolutely nuts? Get a job at id.
Quake III Team Arena on XBLA?
The ESRB is becoming a better resource for leaking Xbox Live Arcade titles than we could have dreamed. This time, it's an entry for Quake III: Team Arena. Granted, the Xbox 360 is not short on shooters, but Quake III is one of the best. Quake III provided some great multiplayer thrills back in tha' day, and it would be a perfect addition to Xbox Live Arcade, especially at a budget price. Quake III is graphically more sophisticated than most XBLA titles, so it's a safe bet that the game will utilize the new 150MB size limit.Would you buy Quake III for Xbox Live Arcade, or do you have enough shooters already? Frankly, we miss good old fashioned rocket jumping, so we're willing to give it a try.[Via Joystiq]
ESRB leaks 'Quake III: Team Arena' for Xbox 360 (XBLA?)
The ESRB is always a great place to spot upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles with the word "arena" in the title (Wing Commander Arena, anyone?). Without the enormous lead times of their retail counterparts (see Shadowrun above), these digitally distributed darlings will often sneak in under the radar. Take the Xbox 360 listing for Quake III: Team Arena above. The 1999 multiplayer classic would be a perfect fit for the Xbox Live service (right alongside older brother DOOM), and the newly enlarged 150MB size limit could make it a possibility. Or maybe this is just a retail port, though we can't imagine it faring well in today's competitive FPS environment. We've asked Microsoft and Pi Studios to comment on the listing.[Via GameAlmighty]
Live Anywhere nowhere to be found in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
As the first game to support Live Anywhere, Shadowrun has erected a rickety bridge between the realms of the PC and the Xbox 360, allowing players to dash across and kill each other using their peripherals of choice. Perhaps it is in the interest of peace then, that id Software has ruled out the possibility of cross-platform multiplayer for their upcoming shooter, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. "Console players will not play against PC players," says id co-owner and creative director, Kevin Cloud, in an interview with GameZone. "Consoles require a certain [adaptation], and that wasn't something that we wanted to take on." While there's no immediate framework to necessitate play between the PS3 and PC just yet, Live Anywhere promises to bring more convergence between Microsoft's Vista and 360 platforms -- but could the $50 Live entry fee for Xbox-PC multiplayer prove to be a turn-off for developers and gamers alike? %Gallery-1618% [Via CVG]
