John Carmack RAGE Interview

[Apr 13, 2011, 09:33 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The RAGE Interview on AtomicGamer talks with id Software technical director John Carmack about RAGE, id's upcoming first-person shooter. Topics include how the game differs from previous id games, increased story elements, reducing the reliance on darkness, technical capabilities of the new Tech 5 engine, non FPS elements, technical challenges they are facing, the game's more open-world setting, their cancelled Darkness game, how the design has changed, the meaning of the title, their hopes this spawns a franchise, and more. Here's a bit on coming out of the dark:

Yes, we do have the brighter, vibrant areas in the outdoors. Honestly, I’m still fighting the battle to get some of the interior areas brightened up even more. I firmly believe that, for the majority of our players here, being able to actually see and appreciate this stuff is going to make it a better experience because some of the levels that are a dark, muddy mess…you brighten those up and you’re amazed at all the details that’s there, and all the personality and crafting that’s gone into it. If it’s all lost in the mud, people can’t see that. So that is an ongoing battle still.

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21.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 14, 2011, 12:21

reisub

[VG]Reagle wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 18:41: Rage = 1998 game. I hope so.

20.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 14, 2011, 09:22

Mr. Tact

Ratty wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 10:53:
And then I recall in Masters of Doom where Carmack told the Doom team, No, you cannot have secret doors because the programming to support it would have been "inelegant." (He later figured out a way to do it to his satisfaction so we gained secret doors in Doom)

Yeah, I've heard and read a couple of things that indicated Carmack for lack of a better way to say it, "gets in the way" sometimes with his design/programming philosophy. The story isn't over, but I have to agree with the sentiment that id software never really reached their full potential and to date were slightly more than a brief flash in the pan.




Truth is brutal. Prepare for pain.

19.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 23:41

Sepharo

WyldKat wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 22:33:
I hope Carmack wins the battle. The brown and grey palette of "realistic" graphics is getting pretty old now.

Well in this case it's just going to be brighter browns and greys




[I'm not trolling I'm just] tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. -TrollinThundr

18.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 22:33

WyldKat

I hope Carmack wins the battle. The brown and grey palette of "realistic" graphics is getting pretty old now.

17.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 21:30

Hump

looking at the game videos the graphics in this game truly gorgeous when compared to the dark, shitty "realism" of Unreal Tech games of late. I also notice that in games like GoW Epic cheats by using low res textures in low light visibility areas, on walls or other spots where your eyes usually just pass over. In Rage everything looks clean, vivid yet still gritty enough to be considered realistic.

I suppose all this is more the work of the art departments at both companies than a quality comparison of their technology but whatever the case, Rage definitely looks much better than most of whats out there now.




---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue." - Jim Goad

16.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 18:41

[VG]Reagle

Rage = 1998 game.




[VG]Reagle Beagle

15.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 18:01

Kawlisse

Got high expectations for Rage, hope its more like previous Doom Quake games, tired as hell to play CoD and its clones, with ironsight and one shot kill !!! Its fun to see 90's shooter come back, Duke Nukem's Forever and now Rage ... 2011 is going to be awesome !!!

14.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 17:45

Steele Johnson

This will probably be the first id software game that I will not buy.

13.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 17:19

Tango

The problem with id is that while their tech engine has evolved, their game design philosophy has not. Agreed, for all of their games up to D3. But Rage could well be different. They're certainly talking the right talk about wanting to make it different.

12.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 15:47

Pankin

sauron wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 12:55: The problem with id is that while their tech engine has evolved, their game design philosophy has not. When one of their new titles comes out, I still feel like I'm playing Quake, just with better graphics. I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, but I might as well just log in to Q3Live. This. Very much this. Id seems to be stuck in 1995 game design but with 2011 graphics. How much would you like to bet that Rage will feature monster closets? It's a shame. I've said it before: id should have been where Valve is now.

11.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 13:48

FreonTrip

I'm not even sure I'd say their newer titles are like Quake - that game still had Sandy Petersen and John Romero's distinctive fingerprints on it. It's been a steady stream of Quake II-alikes since 1997, including the titles they've outsourced to Raven and Splash Damage. It seems like Rage is going to make or break 'em, but at this point I couldn't care much less.

10.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 13:28

Beamer

Why? They obviously have enough cash to do one project at a time. Why do they have to do two games at once?

They have enough cash? Then why are they owned by Zenimax, and why did Zenimax get them at a fairly low price? Why is Carmack saying it's something they'll never be able to afford to do again?




------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 13:19

Creston

Beamer wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 10:53: This is pretty much a completely different code base. Realistically, this is probably the last time that we make such a clean sheet of paper rewrite of everything on this because it’s taken us six years. We can’t afford to ever do that again. Yes, and this is why you're part of Zenimax. You have something ridiculous like 200 people. Half of them should have been making a new game with the old tech while the other half worked on the new game on the new tech. Why? They obviously have enough cash to do one project at a time. Why do they have to do two games at once? Creston

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 13:14

Creston

It's a cool interview. If he's not talking tech stuff, Carmack's views on game design are pretty interesting to read, whether you agree with their philosophy or not. My jaw dropped when he talked about a TB of data though. Damn. Creston

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 12:55

sauron

The problem with id is that while their tech engine has evolved, their game design philosophy has not.

When one of their new titles comes out, I still feel like I'm playing Quake, just with better graphics.

I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, but I might as well just log in to Q3Live.




Kittens!

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 11:05

Styrbjorn

InBlack wrote on Apr 13, 2011, 10:02: Hopefully they will do a proper DoomII sequel with this tech. I remember the huge, sprawling, psychedelic levels populated with all sorts of creepy demons from hell. Oh and the double-barrel. Double-barrel is a must. Agree 100%. Really hoping for something like that. Hordes of monsters to blow up and mutilate!

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 10:53

Beamer

This is pretty much a completely different code base. Realistically, this is probably the last time that we make such a clean sheet of paper rewrite of everything on this because it’s taken us six years. We can’t afford to ever do that again.

Yes, and this is why you're part of Zenimax.

You have something ridiculous like 200 people. Half of them should have been making a new game with the old tech while the other half worked on the new game on the new tech.




------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 10:53

Ratty

You can do a good job visually with just about anything a designer can imagine today, which definitely wasn’t the case 10 years ago; you had to either pick your battles very carefully or be willing to look very bad. This reminds me of a comment I read years ago by one of the Valve guys. He was talking about that one place in the original Half-Life where you exit the sewer on the side of a cliff face and have to climb up while dodging enemy shooters and helicopters. He described the scene as "embarrassing" to them because of the very low-res panoramic skybox they had to use showing the distant desert vista. That was one of my favorite parts in Half-Life. The designers were willing to look bad to create something fun. And then I recall in Masters of Doom where Carmack told the Doom team, No, you cannot have secret doors because the programming to support it would have been "inelegant." (He later figured out a way to do it to his satisfaction so we gained secret doors in Doom) Now I don't want to bash id, Doom and Quake were masterpieces, but I wonder what they might have accomplished - particularly with Doom 3 - had they been free of Carmack's tyranny of the engine. Maybe we could have gained hordes of monsters had Carmack been willing to allow lower resolution models that maybe didn't look quite so fabulous in the exquisitely designed lighting and shadows.

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 10:02

InBlack

Hopefully they will do a proper DoomII sequel with this tech. I remember the huge, sprawling, psychedelic levels populated with all sorts of creepy demons from hell. Oh and the double-barrel. Double-barrel is a must.




I have a nifty blue line!

Re: John Carmack RAGE Interview

Apr 13, 2011, 10:01

Highlander

No questions at all on the multiplayer - disappointing..which in years previous would have been an obvious question(s) given this is Id Software, the guys who MADE online gaming and killing fun.

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