id Software Message Board older than one year ago

I remember when I turned 15. It was pretty unspectacular. I couldn’t drive yet, I didn’t really have much of a party to speak of, and hardly any of the entire Internet used it as an opportunity to fondly reminisce about rocket jumps and murder. But now, Quake II turns 15, and suddenly it gets the royal treatment. Bizarre, right? It really is just the darndest thing. Maybe everyone’s still waiting to leap out and surprise me. I bet that’s it. Any second now. While we’re waiting, though, I suppose we can discuss some crazy Quake II factoids. But only just for a bit. And you have to put on this party hat and pretend to be having fun. I demand it.

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Doom 3 BFG Edition didn’t exactly make a graceful landing on PC. For one, it crushed the original version flat as Doom 1′s not-exactly-3D character models – leaving mod users without a convenient front door into Doom 3′s rather impressive library of user creations. Happily, however, id and Bethesda took the resulting outrage quite seriously and relisted Doom 3: The Version From Before Incessant Subtitles Took Over The World in short order. Further, they continued to promise that BFG Edition’s source code was on the way. And now, they’ve delivered.

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A 'Doom Classic Complete' bundle shoots onto PSN today for PS3, and it includes Ultimate Doom, Doom 2: Hell on Earth, The Master Levels and No Rest for the Living expansions for Doom 2, and Final Doom. The price rockets in at $14.99.

The Master Levels and Final Doom weren't included in the recent release of Doom 3: BFG Edition. Master Levels contains 20 independently designed levels for Doom 2 (21 if you're counting the secret level). Final Doom offers two standalone Doom 2 mods, The Plutonia Experiment and TNT Evolution, and was officially distributed by Doom developer id Software back in 1996.

Doom 3 in non-BFG form has returned to Steam. RockPaperShotgun took note of the re-addition, which is the version you'll want if you're into mods for the shooter.

The original game was yanked from Steam last month for the sake of the recently released BFG Edition, but it's now possible to buy Doom 3 as a standalone bundle again for $13. Doom 3: BFG Edition, which includes Doom and Doom 2, is still available for $30. However, Doom and Doom 2 are only $5 apiece separately, so we have no idea how this math is working out for the BFG bundle.

Perhaps the premium is for The Lost Missions, or the ability to wield the flashlight and gun simultaneously? Anyway, wait a month and all of this will be $3 during some Steam holiday sale.

It’s been interesting to watch Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph get showered with acclaim for being “the best videogame movie ever.” I say that because, well, “best videogame movie ever” doesn’t really mean anything. Heck, most announced films based heavily around games have yet to even reach a point where they could safely be called “existent” – let alone “good.” World of Warcraft, Mass Effect, Deus Ex, and, er, Asteroids are all buried somewhere in Hollywood’s screeching bowels, but will they ever see the light of day? Who knows. And now Wolfenstein‘s rejoining that venerable roster – with the co-writer of Pulp Fiction (the one who wasn’t Quentin Tarantino) attached, no less. I vote for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Mecha Hitler.

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Yesterday, we brought you word of a really neat Thief total conversion mod for Doom 3. You probably gazed upon it, felt your excitement glands emit a mucus concoction of pure glee, and downloaded it as quickly as your lovestruck heart could handle. But then you remembered something: Doom 3 was released back when games still came in boxes. Your copy, unfortunately, has probably been devoured by this cluttered meatspace we call reality. Now normally, this would be the part where Steam comes to the rescue. There is, however, one teensy-weensy little problem: vanilla Doom 3′s been abruptly pulled from Steam. You can grab the BFG Edition, but it takes to mods like a Cyberdemon face to, well, a BFG. So I got in touch with id/Bethesda about the issue, and here’s what they said.

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A peculiarity in the Xbox version of the Doom 3 BFG Edition prevents access to Doom and Doom 2 when Doom 3 is installed on the hard drive. According to publisher Bethesda this is not a bug.

"Doom 1 and 2 are the same games that are currently available on Xbox Live. Installing Doom BFG files to the system's hard drive could cause a conflict with the existing XBLA game files," a Bethesda spokesperson told Joystiq. "Players should not see a performance advantage by installing Doom 3, so we recommend not installing the game to the Xbox HDD."

They added, "If people do install DOOM 3 BFG Edition to their hard drive, they should still be able to access both titles from the Xbox Live Dashboard under 'My Games'."

[Thanks, Justin]PSA: Don't install Doom 3 on Xbox 360 if you want to play Doom 1 & 2

#rip Paul Steed, an artist whose video game career spanned design, publishing and even console development, died unexpectedly, according to The Jace Hall Show. Steed was perhaps best known for work on Wing Commander and Quake and also for controversies arising in his time ad id Software. More »

Doom 3′s source code has been helping make pioneering advances in the science of monster closets since late last year. You’d think, then, that letting players tinker around in the upcoming BFG Edition’s infinitely-shotgunable innards would be as simple as one, two, flashlight-removal-mod-because-you’re-too-hardcore-for-seeing. Unfortunately, however, that’s definitely not the case. Right now, in fact, even John Carmack’s stumped. See, BFG may look like Doom 3 and sound like Doom 3 and – I verified this during QuakeCon while no one was looking – taste like Doom 3, but its ones and zeroes definitely aren’t the same.

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#doom Here are some fresh QuakeCon screenshots from Doom 3 BFG Edition, a remastered version of Doom 3 that will be out in October for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. More »

Doom 4 will be compatible with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset (the one that was over-funded via Kickstarter in less than 24 hours last week), just like its baby brother, Doom 3 BFG Edition. id Software has been involved with Oculus Rift for some time, showing off Doom 3 BFG running on Rift at this year's E3 and including a copy of the game with every Rift dev kit.

"I'm excited for once Doom 3 ships, and gets out there, I'll put all this stuff into the Doom 4 platform, which will be nice to take our current top-of-the-line stuff and have that in virtual reality," id's John Carmack told Polygon at QuakeCon. "I'm looking forward to doing that."

The Oculus Rift Kickstarter has so far raised more than $1.26 million of its desired $250,000, with 26 days to go.

Eighteen years separates the technology used to play the original Doom and Doom 2 for PlayStation 3, as a stripped down version of id Tech 5 was used to port the classic games to Sony's current-gen console in the upcoming Doom 3 BFG Edition.

Speaking with Joystiq contributor Britton Peele at QuakeCon 2012, id creative director Tim Willits said that the "easiest way" to get network support to work for the PlayStation 3 versions of the classic titles was to start with the company's 2011 shooter Rage.

"We never released Doom 1 and Doom 2 on the PlayStation Network," Willits said. "So we're like, 'OK, what's the easiest way to do this?' And what the guys did instead of rewriting all the network support, [support for] friends, and all that kind of stuff, is they took Rage, took out all the 'Rage' bits and put Doom 1 and 2 on top of it." Xbox 360 owners simply get the versions of Doom and Doom 2 that were released on XBLA.

Willits adds that when PS3 players launch the classics this October, they will actually be "launching most of id Tech 5," with a "game loop that runs Doom 1 and Doom 2." Isn't technology grand?

Lost? Or did this level just forget to get out of bed on the day Doom 3 was released? Either way it’s turned up eight years on for the re-release of Doom 3 dubbed “BFG Edition.” The Lost Mission apparently consists in eight new levels of the full game, although I’ve no idea how long one Doom 3 level actually lasted, so I’m hard pressed to say how much game time that actually adds. I believe there were 26 levels in the original game.

BFG Edition is arriving on October 19th for £20. There’s a trailer for the Lost Missions stuff below.(more…)

QuakeCon kicked off today with a batch of screens and a new video for Doom 3 BFG Edition, showing off The Lost Mission, a pack of new content exclusive to BFG's remastered manslaughtering action. As you can see in the above video and screens below, the new Doom 3 can be just as jump-worthy as the original, but supposedly with more Bs, Fs and Gs (Blood, Flaying and... Geese?).

Doom 3 BFG Edition is scheduled to drop on October 16 in North America, for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Every few months I find a reason to play Quake Live. I used to mainline Quake III for all waking hours as a younger man, and I still enjoy my time with a railgun. The problem with Quake Live, of course, is the general inflexibility. No premium account means certain maps are off limits. However, that’s now changing, with the premium accounts simply giving you access to all the maps, all the time. The Quake Live team explains: “As announced in our recent QUAKE LIVE Premium Pak 13 news, we will be now be cycling the Standard arena pool on the first Monday of each month. Rather than only having access to the same standard arenas day in and day out, each month we will now feature 21 arenas selected as playable for Standard-level matches.” That means that my favourite Quake III map, Spider Crossings, is available to all this month.

If you want me, I’ll be on the Capture The Flag servers.

QuakeCon 2012 begins Thursday, August 2, with a keynote address from id Software co-founder John Carmack - and then the con gets real. Literally, it will be a real convention with a few interesting panels and people, as announced in the final lineup today.

Friday begins with "The Making of Games," featuring Bethesda's Todd Howard and Insomniac's Ted Price. Then comes "Capture the Fan: Making Multiplayer Games That Last" with Chet Faliszek from Valve, Marty Stratton from id Software and Max Hoberman with Certain Affinity. "Looking Back at Looking Glass," and "Talking Shop: Skyrim, Modding and Steam" have Valve and Bethesda representatives, and "Virtual Insanity" closes out the night with Carmack.

Saturday has "GameTrailers' Bonus Round" with Michael Pachter and others; "Celebrating id Modding" with Blendo Games, id Software and Double Fine; and the Idle Thumbs Podcast with Double Fine, Telltale Games, Bethesda and The Fullbright Company.

Doors are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Check out the full schedule below.

QuakeCon 2012 kicks off August 2 in Dallas, Texas, and details about its sweet gaming offerings are coming in. First, the Quake Live tournament will see professional and amateur players compete for a share of $30,000 in the Duel Invitational Masters Championship, Capture the Flag Open, Duel Open and Free For All, the last of which will be available to attendees at the Quake Live Free Play booth.

Registration for the Quake Live tournament is open now through July 31 on the Quakecon site.

The annual keynote address will be handled by id Software co-founder John Carmack. The full panel lineup is set to be announced in a few days, but it will include "Marty Stratton from id Software; Ted Price, President and CEO of Insomniac Games; Chet Faliszek and Tom Leonard from Valve Software; and Geoff Keighley, host of Spike's GameTrailers."

Minecraft EDU and PVP will also have a presence at QuakeCon. At Bethesda's own booth, QuakeCon attendees can get their hands on both Dishonored and Doom 3 BFG Edition.

Doom 3: BFG Edition is set to launch on PS3 in October of 2012, bringing with it the first two games in the iconic series. It means you’ll be able to play the entire Doom series on PS3 for the first time and see for yourself why many consider these games to be some of the most influential shooters of all time.

We caught up with Eric Webb, producer from game developer id Software, at E3 2012 to talk about how the game has been buffed up for PS3.

PlayStation.Blog: How do you think all three games stand up today on PS3?

Eric Webb, Producer, Doom 3: BFG Edition: I think they all stand up really well. One of the first things we did when we first started work on it was pay attention to how the controls feel. There’s something about the DualShock 3 controller and its dual analog sticks that feels really good when you’re holding it in a game like this. It gives it a different life and almost makes it an entirely new experience. So I think it’s really cool on PS3.

PSB: What does stereoscopic 3D bring to the game?

EW: We were really surprised when we first had a look at it in 3D. John [Carmack, co-creator of the Doom series] went through quite a few different iterations of the game to help us figure out how best to fit the technology in. Just like adding DualShock 3 controls to the original Doom, 3D really brings Doom 3 to life. It’s interesting when you’re playing; you almost lose all of your peripheral vision and get sucked into the experience. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best implementation of stereoscopic 3D I’ve seen in a game so far. It really does draw you in.

PSB: Did you ever talk about PlayStation Move functionality?

EW: No. We didn’t really want to touch the core mechanics of the game. PlayStation Move is really cool technology but we’d have had to fundamentally change how the game works and we wanted to keep it as close to the classic experience as we could.

PSB: How about the first two games – was anything tweaked there for PS3?

EW: They are pretty much straight ports, but I will say that they run really fast at 60 frames per second, even with four-player split screen play going on. If you’ve got a big TV that’s really going to stand out. The guys basically wrote it from scratch to get it working on PS3.

PSB: What would you say attracts players to Doom 3 over games like UNCHARTED and the Call of Duty series?

EW: Working in the art department back when we made the original the version of Doom 3, one of the things that I’m really proud of personally is the fact that id Software was one of the first studios to bring in a film animator to add that movie aesthetic to games. I think we see other games coming out that are maybe a little bit derivative of that kind of thing – people are co-operating now between film and games and bringing that same type of look to it.

I think the game feels fresh. It was very modern and very aggressive, and you had to have a very high end PC to run it back in the day whereas now it’s running happily on PS3 in 720p high resolution. It’s really the best conversion we could have done for the game, I’m confident to say. It has good gameplay, good art, good style. It just lasts.

PSB: So there’s the addition of the mounted flashlight to the game. Has anything else been modified for PS3?

EW: We’re making textural improvements to the characters and demons. We’ve completely rewritten the network code so that multiplayer is a better experience. In addition there’s also the Lost Mission Pack, containing seven new levels. They pick up from a certain part of the story line in the main game – without giving too much away, it’ll all make sense when you play it. You’re a different guy in a different part of the base but it’s the same world.

PSB: The Doom games are the formative experience for many shooter fans. What’s been the reaction to this version?

EW: We’ve been incredibly surprised with the feedback from the show floor. Doom is obviously very important to us and we feel very passionate about it, but you never really know until you bring it to an event like E3 what the reaction is going to be. We were convinced it was a good idea to rework the game like this, and it was great that John [Carmack] was so passionate about the 3D stuff – because that added some new tech and got the team’s creative engine running again, so to speak – but you just never know. So the response has been really humbling.

It’s funny. You start to hear really interesting stories about people’s first experiences with the games. The first time I played the original Doom, my dad brought it home on a floppy disc. That told me two things: first, my dad was cooler than me at that point; second, I didn’t know how they were doing it but I had to get involved with it.

PSB: Much of the team who worked on the futuristic shooter Rage contributed to this. What do you think they brought to Doom 3: BFG Edition?

EW: Those guys learned a lot of lessons about how to work with AI and craft it into something really believable. When they came across to work on Doom 3: BFG Edition they had this incredible toolkit at their disposal, and they could focus more on making the experience great as opposed to fighting the technical hurdles on the way to finishing the game.

PSB: How do you balance staying true to the original game with making improvements?

EW: Your first inclination is to make big sweeping changes because it’s something that you’ve looked at for a long time, so it doesn’t feel fresh anymore. We’ve really focused on keeping the core experience there. From talking to people on the show floor, a lot of them weren’t too happy with the idea of the flashlight as something separate. So integrating the flashlight into your main weapon seemed like a no-brainer, yet even then we still had people say they wanted to play the original way.

Another piece of feedback we had was that the game was too dark, so we’ve lit it some more here and there and tried to lead the player’s eye a little more. So there’ll be two modes – the original, unchanged version of Doom 3 and the updated one.

PSB: And trophy support must have been a fun feature to implement…

EW: Yeah, we sat down with the design team and really just let them riff. It was a little tricky adding trophies to a game that’s so well established, but I think fans will be impressed.

Smack in the middle of the busiest game release season of the year, Bethesda is re-launching Doom 3. The publisher announced this morning that Doom 3 "BFG Edition" - which includes "re-mastered versions" of Doom 3 and its "Resurrection of Evil" DLC, as well as the new content dubbed "The Lost Mission" - arrives on October 16 in North America and October 19 in Europe.

Should all that Doom 3 content not be enough, both Doom 1 and 2 are included in the repackaging, and the whole schebang runs $39.99 on 360/PS3, while it's $10 cheaper on PC. Of course, if you wanna play it in virtual reality, Lawnmower Man-style, that's gonna require a heck of a lot more money. And being friends with John Carmack would also help.

#johncarmack There is nothing quite like having John Carmack tell you about a technological breakthrough that excited him. More »

Are you experiencing a dearth of Doom? id Software is worried about just that possibility, as evidenced by today's announcement of Doom 3 "BFG Edition," which includes ... like, all of the Dooms. As in: literally every Doom game. Doom 3 is getting remastered and repackaged, with the "Resurrection of Evil" expansion and seven brand new levels, which id's calling "The Lost Mission."

Beyond remastering graphics, id's also adding Achievements, Trophies, and 3D. In the gameplay department, a "new check point save system" is being added, and the ever-frustrating flashlight issue is being resolved with "the new armor-mounted flashlight." If that weren't enough, the BFG Edition includes both Doom 1 and 2, so you can truly vanquish every single last demon in all of the space hells, all in one package. Finally!

Yesterday, Wolfenstein 3D was a measly 19 years and 364 days old. Puh-shaw, we say. Today, however, the game is a full 20 years old, and id Software is throwing the classic FPS a celebration. Rather than sending all the game's fans party hats and individual slices of cake, though, id's ported Wolf 3D to web browsers, making it totally free!

But perhaps you're not around a computer at the moment, and you'd prefer to play on the go? id's got that covered too, making the iOS port of Wolfenstein 3D free for today only (the iTunes page still reflects a $1.99 price as of this writing, but Bethesda says it'll flip to free "later today").

Or maybe you've already played Wolf 3D more than you'll ever need to? Creator John Carmack recorded a director commentary aimed at superfans of the series, which we've embedded just below the break. Let us know if he talks about rockets at all!

Yesterday, Wolfenstein 3D was a measly 19 years and 364 days old. Puh-shaw, we say. Today, however, the game is a full 20 years old, and id Software is throwing the classic FPS a celebration. Rather than sending all the game's fans party hats and individual slices of cake, though, id's ported Wolf 3D to web browsers, making it totally free!

But perhaps you're not around a computer at the moment, and you'd prefer to play on the go? id's got that covered too, making the iOS port of Wolfenstein 3D free for today only (the iTunes page still reflects a $1.99 price as of this writing, but Bethesda says it'll flip to free "later today").

Or maybe you've already played Wolf 3D more than you'll ever need to? Creator John Carmack recorded a director commentary aimed at superfans of the series, which we've embedded just below the break. Let us know if he talks about rockets at all!

Quake 4 has been around the console block for almost a decade, and no, that's not an insult. For the first time since its initial launch in 2005, Quake 4 is available to download through the Mac App Store, GameAgent and other distribution hubs for $19.99.

Quake 4 offers cross-platform PC-Mac play, so even if you're late to the party and on a Mac (two handicaps, we like to call it) you'll be able to strap in and take out some Strogg.

The Xbox 360 is getting up there. Maybe you missed out on the Raven Software-deveolped Quake 4 during its initial launch, way back when in 2005? Bethesda is giving everyone a second chance to take on the Strogg this summer.

The Bethesda Blog has announced that the Xbox 360 version of Quake 4 is being re-released at a new $19.99 price point on June 19. Currently, the only ways to pick up a copy of Quake 4 are through Steam (on Windows PC) and at the bottom of your local game retailer's bargain bin.

Or maybe your cousin Carl? He told us he liked Quake once. Borrow his copy!

The Xbox 360 is getting up there. Maybe you missed out on the Raven Software-deveolped Quake 4 during its initial launch, way back when in 2005? Bethesda is giving everyone a second chance to take on the Strogg this summer.

The Bethesda Blog has announced that the Xbox 360 version of Quake 4 is being re-released at a new $19.99 price point on June 19. Currently, the only ways to pick up a copy of Quake 4 are through Steam (on Windows PC) and at the bottom of your local game retailer's bargain bin.

Or maybe your cousin Carl? He told us he liked Quake once. Borrow his copy!

Rumors began swirling earlier this week that Doom 4 had been canceled. Accompanying said rumors was a batch of supposed screenshots or artwork, one of which you can see above. In addition to refuting the cancellation rumors, id has now responded to the images as well.

While not directly denying their relationship to Doom 4, id's Matt Hooper, design director of Rage, tweeted that the images "have nothing to do with what you're gonna see in Doom 4." Hooper added, "When we officially show things you'll see awesome." Responding to another tweet, Hooper noted that when the official reveal is made, "fans will be happy." For what it's worth, the leaked images show what appears to be a ravaged planet Earth, perhaps giving a nod to Doom 2: Hell on Earth.

#rumor Yesterday, a grip of alleged Doom 4 screenshots surfaced on the internet, depicting earth being torn apart by the forces of Hell. More »

#doom id Software's classic first-person shooter Doom is a part of gaming history, forever occupying a prominent place in the collective gaming consciousness. Let's travel back to 1993, as PC gamers faced impending Doom the only way they could: with funny top ten lists. More »

Id's annual celebration of virtual people shooting other virtual people will take place August 2 – 5 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas. If you start studying up for John Carmack's annual keynote right now you should be able to understand it by then! [QuakeCon] More »