5 ms·

I will agree with one thing from the article, he's John freakin' Carmack. This is a man who has been pushing the boundaries of realtime graphics since Wolfenst

by 5hoom 15y ago

I will agree with one thing from the article, he's John freakin' Carmack. This is a man who has been pushing the boundaries of realtime graphics since Wolfenstein3D. We owe him a lot, and I think he has earned the right to work on whatever project he damn well chooses. People seem to imagine all the amazing things he could have done with his time while glossing over the amazing things he has done right here, right now. No, Rage is not the panacea of interactive entertainment. It is, however, a stunning showcase of some amazing new technologies in the form of a fairly conventional shooter. It is what it is, don't like it, don't buy it. Nowdays, anytime an id game is mentioned you can't help but be overwhelmed by the "id games are teh suck!" noise. Fine. Don't buy them. But concocting some conspiracy about Carmack being held hostage by the artists or whatever is just nonsense. He has a team of artists who help realise the (visual) potential of the awesome new tech he has developed. The gameplay itself comes second. Heresy, I know, but this has been the pattern for a number of releases and if the id team are happy with that then more power to them. No gun to anyones head.

palish 15y ago
Minor (very minor) quibble: You said "since Wolf3D"; but "since Commander Keen" would be more accurate. Keen was possible due to a stroke of genius, letting him trick the monitor itself into becoming part of his "adaptive tile refresh" system. I'm a little hazy on the details, but... it's just a cool, little-known fact that Carmack made the very first "Mario-style" side scroller for the PC -- a feat that no one else managed to pull off.
- 5hoom 15y ago
  Minor quibble accepted! It's easy to forget how crap PC graphics were at the time of Commander Keen. It was the first PC platform game I can remember that wasn't an obviously-CGA sprite flickerathon :)
ary 15y ago
> He has a team of artists who help realise the (visual) potential of the awesome new tech he has developed. The gameplay itself comes second. Heresy, I know, but this has been the pattern for a number of releases and if the id team are happy with that then more power to them. What it really comes down to is that id games are basically showcases for their latest engine tech. The licensing income from the engines (which they call idTech if I recall) probably overshadows the games within a year of release.
- 5hoom 15y ago
  And that is an argument that has merit. The counter to that would be that if you hadn't noticed this pattern by now with recent id games you haven't been paying attention. To say that id's releases are more tech demos than games is one thing. To come up with harebrained theories as to why this is the case is another.
- yannickt 15y ago
  I don't think they license engines anymore. I just hope their tech makes it into Fallout 4 or whatever Bethesda (which is now under the same corporate umbrella as id) ends up calling it.
  - wtallis 15y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech Still being licensed, just with less demand, and with the new restriction that games developed with id Tech have to be published through Bethesda Softworks. id Tech 4 is due for a GPL source code release sometime in the next few months.
    - reidmain 15y ago
      Carmack definitely mentioned that they were not going to license id Tech 5 to companies that aren't being published by Bethesda. All existing licenses they probably have to continue supporting because of the contracts that were signed before they were bought by Bethesda.
      - phaus 15y ago
        I really love most of the games they make, but Bethesda is a terrible company and lately they have been actively attempting to destroy the game industry. The only thing keeping Id software relevant is their ability to create amazing graphics engines. They haven't made a truly memorable game since Quake 3 Arena. John Carmack designs 3d engines, not video games. If Bethesda is restricting Id software's ability to license their engine, then Id software is being left to die. I had high hopes for Rage, I watched all of John's interviews and almost believed that this game would put them back on the map. Unfortunately when it released it was just like doom 3, a good game released in a market that is flooded with phenomenal games.
angrycoder 15y ago
Carmack is a programmer. He is THE tech guy. He isn't a game designer, he isn't the one doing the gameplay. It isn't the artists or Carmack.
Zarathust 15y ago
Well he was right too when he said that Doom 3 was some kind of rupture with the previous titles. I can't remember the last game when I fought more than 10 enemies in one room

by 5hoom 15y ago

palish 15y ago

Minor (very minor) quibble: You said "since Wolf3D"; but "since Commander Keen" would be more accurate. Keen was possible due to a stroke of genius, letting him trick the monitor itself into becoming part of his "adaptive tile refresh" system. I'm a little hazy on the details, but... it's just a cool, little-known fact that Carmack made the very first "Mario-style" side scroller for the PC -- a feat that no one else managed to pull off.

5hoom 15y ago
Minor quibble accepted! It's easy to forget how crap PC graphics were at the time of Commander Keen. It was the first PC platform game I can remember that wasn't an obviously-CGA sprite flickerathon :)

ary 15y ago

> He has a team of artists who help realise the (visual) potential of the awesome new tech he has developed. The gameplay itself comes second. Heresy, I know, but this has been the pattern for a number of releases and if the id team are happy with that then more power to them. What it really comes down to is that id games are basically showcases for their latest engine tech. The licensing income from the engines (which they call idTech if I recall) probably overshadows the games within a year of release.

5hoom 15y ago
And that is an argument that has merit. The counter to that would be that if you hadn't noticed this pattern by now with recent id games you haven't been paying attention. To say that id's releases are more tech demos than games is one thing. To come up with harebrained theories as to why this is the case is another.
yannickt 15y ago
I don't think they license engines anymore. I just hope their tech makes it into Fallout 4 or whatever Bethesda (which is now under the same corporate umbrella as id) ends up calling it.
- wtallis 15y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech Still being licensed, just with less demand, and with the new restriction that games developed with id Tech have to be published through Bethesda Softworks. id Tech 4 is due for a GPL source code release sometime in the next few months.
  - reidmain 15y ago
    Carmack definitely mentioned that they were not going to license id Tech 5 to companies that aren't being published by Bethesda. All existing licenses they probably have to continue supporting because of the contracts that were signed before they were bought by Bethesda.
    - phaus 15y ago
      I really love most of the games they make, but Bethesda is a terrible company and lately they have been actively attempting to destroy the game industry. The only thing keeping Id software relevant is their ability to create amazing graphics engines. They haven't made a truly memorable game since Quake 3 Arena. John Carmack designs 3d engines, not video games. If Bethesda is restricting Id software's ability to license their engine, then Id software is being left to die. I had high hopes for Rage, I watched all of John's interviews and almost believed that this game would put them back on the map. Unfortunately when it released it was just like doom 3, a good game released in a market that is flooded with phenomenal games.

angrycoder 15y ago

Carmack is a programmer. He is THE tech guy. He isn't a game designer, he isn't the one doing the gameplay. It isn't the artists or Carmack.

Zarathust 15y ago

Well he was right too when he said that Doom 3 was some kind of rupture with the previous titles. I can't remember the last game when I fought more than 10 enemies in one room