Topic: id Keynote going on now...omgomg....

[idolminds]

Read!

So far: Every single id game is on Steam. Quake Arena Arcade = Quake 3 on XBLA. Quake Zero...free Quake 3, runs in a browser, ad supported.

[idolminds]

6:41: "That is the name. Rage is the game we've been working on internally, and there's quite a story behind it." Talking about when id was deciding on next game. Initially, after Doom 3, id was working on a different game. First working on dark survival horror island game codenamed Darkness. "Obviously somebody else has already picked up that name now." Worked on it for about a year, but it wasn't really panning out, and eventually decided to can it. id has that freedom as independent studio, not all devs have that luxury. Lots of love within id for the road warrior kind of atmosphere--running over people, not just shooting them.

6:39: Carmack on stage, talking about his unveiling at the Apple show. "Everybody knows we're going to do a good job with the run and gun action stuff...but we are branching out." Driving, other gameplay as well. Trailer time! Incredibly detailed character models and environment, depth of field, camera following fly buzzing around, even fly is incredibly detailed. NPC addresses screen, good facial animation. Numerous driving scenes, looks sort of Motorstorm-esque. Game title is Rage.

[idolminds]

So all the id games are on Steam now. Link

Prices aren't too terrible. I'm going to see if you can pull the data files out and run them in default installs or source ports. I'd be interested in the Quake 2 mission packs, Q1 mission pack, some Heretic and Hexen love...man...

[idolminds]

Interesting:

6:45: "I have a specific strategy we're attempting to pursue here." Bottom-up approach to IP. Traditional route is have a smash movie or whatever, then bring out triple-A content across platforms, then start chopping game down to fit on all the different platforms. "Its this downgrading process, basically." "All too often, you end up getting things that are pale shadows of what was great originally." "Everybody knows that the game industry is risk-averse, and for good reason." Rage is costing tens of millions of dollars. People ask why developers don't try new things. "It's all well and good when it's not your $20 million." On the other hand, something like Orcs & Elves starts with a relatively modest project, get people interested, then bring up to a more powerful platform like DS. "Instead of porting down, porting up is wonderful." More memory, faster processing speed, etc. You have existing proven game, but everything about it is better. If Orcs & Elves DS is a success, bring the mobile sequel to DS, if that's a success, redesign and bring franchise to Wii. Maybe eventually, do a spinoff in id Tech 5. Trying things out on the lower end allows lower-risk innovation and ability to build up an audience. DS is 1/1000th of the power of a top-notch platform like the ones that will run Rage. Rage is apparently massive, will ship on 2 DVDs or one Blu-ray.

[Quemaqua]

Interesting stuff.  Boo Steam, but interesting stuff.

[Xessive]

Hmm, I'm kinda glad the classics are available online.. But I already all the Quakes + expansions.. The prices they're coming at are ridiculous though. Quake 1 for $9.95?? Seriously?! I got it from a retail store for about $4 like 7 years ago! And not to mention that now the games would be Steam-locked!

The beauty of Quake 1, 2, and 3 involved setting them up very easily and quickly on a LAN. How easy? Copy the files and boom you're set. Thanks to Steam that's virtually impossible. Quake 1 is old enough that it should be free.. Kinda like abandonware.

[MysterD]

I also got all the Quake stuff -- from Quake 1 to 4.

"Yay!" for Id putting up ALL their old games! Awesome!
"Boo!" for them putting it ALL on STEAM.

[Quemaqua]

I still don't have Quake 4.  I really need to pick that up.

[MysterD]

I still don't have Quake 4.  I really need to pick that up.

The Q4 SP feels like Q2 SP, but w/ AI-controlled squad members and awesome graphics.

(click to show/hide)

Plus, you become a Stroggified, somewhere in the middle of the game.

The Q4 MP feels like Q3: Arena w/ awesome graphics.

In short, Quake 4 rocks.
Yeah, you really can't go wrong w/ Quake 4.

It's nothing innovative, but damn -- it rocks.
 

[Jedi]

The Q4 SP feels like Q2 SP, but w/ AI-controlled squad members and awesome graphics.

(click to show/hide)

Plus, you become a Stroggified, somewhere in the middle of the game.

The Q4 MP feels like Q3: Arena w/ awesome graphics.

In short, Quake 4 rocks.
Yeah, you really can't go wrong w/ Quake 4.

It's nothing innovative, but damn -- it rocks.

D's spoiler is nearly totaly worthless and underplayed in a story sense, and I wouldn't say the game rocks, but you should should pick it up on the cheap if you can.

[scottws]

I had a great time with Quake 4.  In fact, I liked it more than Doom III.

I'm liking Steam less and less.  It was one thing when it was just Valve's stuff.  But now everybody is putting stuff on there.  Let's say you spend $500 on games over time through Steam, and then something happens to your Steam account somehow.  There go all of your games, because Valve said so.

I would be different if it was simply a digital downloading service, but it's not.  Does Direct2Drive work like Steam in the sense that it seals up the stuff you download?

[Quemaqua]

One of the many, many reasons I hate Steam.  I think that people aren't going to really figure out exactly what you just said until its too late. Fortunately, barring Valve's games and a few tiny exclusives it may get, I don't have to worry about it because I avoid it like the plague.  And I don't consider that much loss after being relatively bored with HL2 after getting to the end.  I have no desire to ever play it again, and I don't really have any interest in further HL titles.

I would again point people to Stardock's system of doing things.  Games aren't tied to program, get hard copy in mail (at least with GalCiv II) while you download and play right away.  This is what all systems should conform to.  I consider anything less to be complete and utter design failure.

[idolminds]

Yeah, as tempting as some of the id deals are (I'd like the Hexen/Heretic pack, just to get my hands legally on the .wads), the fact that Valve can deny you access to any and all of them at any time is just such a turn off. For me, I may use it for things like Geometry Wars. A couple bucks for some entertainment, no long term deal.

Luckily for me, DEFCON isn't really tied to Steam. As long as I save one tiny file out of the Steam version, I can plug it into the "demo" version and play without Steam. Other than DEFCON, Red Orchestra, and GeoWars...everything else is Valve owned. And honestly, I havent played any of them in a long time. I keep them around hoping for mods but so far even that isn't exciting.

As for Stardock, I agree with Que. If Steam was more like Stardock I would be all for it. I give them money, they give me product. No tie downs, no requirement to run the program to run the game. Its great. I didnt buy GalCiv2 off it simply because it would have been a huge download. But looking at the other games they offer it might not be a bad idea.

[MysterD]

I had a great time with Quake 4.  In fact, I liked it more than Doom III.

Same here.

[Quemaqua]

Also, it should be noted that for DEFCON, as it was pointed out to me on the Bit-Blot forums, though you don't have to play it through Steam, you do have to apparently reauth it every month or something like that.

[idolminds]

I did not know that. Damn.

[MysterD]

From what this says, Id and Valve are using DOSBox to run all their old games under STEAM, but they didn't give credit to DOSBox for using their program

[idolminds]

Thats been fixed already.