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================================================================= 07/26/95 ==
"it should be renamed to liesdamnitlies" - dave taylor (id software)
"nothing in here is anywhere near true" - american mcgee (id software)
=============================================================================
------------------
[table of contents:]
------------------
[0] intro
[0.1] the doom-editing mailing list
[0.2] on version numbers
[0.3] quaketalk by mail, finger, www and ftp
[0.4] a real quake faq
[0.5] disclaimer
[0.6] and what else is new?
[1] magazine articles and the like
[2] irc, mail and usenet posting quotes
[3] peoples' .plan
[4] screenshots, previews, demos, betas
[5] unconfirmed rumors
[6] outro
[6.1] credits
[6.2] version history
----------
[0 - intro:]
----------
quaketalk is an unofficial newsletter dedicated to _quake_, a new fantasy
role playing/action game being made by id software, the company that
brought you the megaselling hits 'doom' and 'doom 2 - hell on earth' and
not to forget wolfenstein 3d. while very little is known about the game
yet, and id representatives themselves repeatedly say they're only in a
conceptual stage (tentative release date, end of '95), i have made an
effort to publish whatever quotes and facts (if they can be called that),
i found. thus, bear in mind, that everything here could be a
total lie, like american mcgee likes to put it.
feel free to spread this file in any form you like. post it to netnews.
send it to friends, upload it to a bbs or to other networks such as
compuserve and aol. do not, however, alter quaketalk in any way and,
in particular, do not remove my email adress or the credits towards
the end of this newsletter. if you spread quaketalk to other nets, please
drop me a note saying where you uploaded it to.
i'll gladly include info about quake that i may have missed, as long as
it has some factual basis, e.g. a magazine article, or a posting made by id
maybe. if you have a private email, please check with the sender before
you have it published here. please remember to add the source and date of
the material you're sending too.
my email adress is joost.schuur@student.uni-tuebingen.de (this has
changed against since qt 2.10, so please use this one instead)
------------------------------------
[0.1 - the doom-editing mailing list:]
------------------------------------
you'll see several references to the doom editing mailing list. this is
a mailing list on 'advanced doom editing' that john romero from id is on.
this is _not_ a quake discussion forum. we discuss all aspects of doom
editing (.exe hacks, wads, be it levels, music, sound, editor/utility writing
e.g.) if you would like to join, send mail to majordomo@nvg.unit.no with the
following in the body of the mail:
subscribe doom-editing
remeber, this is not a newbie forum. we like to keep the noise down a
bit, so please don't post unless it's of an advanced nature.
-------------------------
[0.2 - on version numbers:]
-------------------------
quaketalk is updated whenever i get new facts on quake. i'll increase
the version number according to how much the new stuff is. future versions
may include other segments on quake, maybe not just direct quotes from id
people. i'm open for suggestions, if there's something you want to see here,
let me know.
updates since the last copy will carry a '->' in the first column. check
out the version history at the end too. readers of the html version of qt
will find it very helpful in tracking down recent changes.
------------------------------------------
[0.3 - quaketalk by mail, finger, ftp, www:]
------------------------------------------
in the past there was a fingerable address to receive the latest copy
of quaketalk. 'finger quaketalk@doomgate.cs.buffalo.edu' should work again
soon. the latest copy is also available via www at the following url:
http://doomgate.cs.buffalo.edu/games/quake/quaketalk.html
-> there is usually a slight delay until i htmlize the current version
-> of quaketalk.
note that the url has changed slightly since the last announcement. the
mailing list i started earlier this year has been terminated since it grew
too big and was never used anyway. i don't want to run an alt.games.quake
type of mailing list just yet since most of it will be speculation. i know
not everyone gets alt.games.quake, but trust me, you're not missing
anything. i will consider emailing the latest copies of quaketalk out to
interested persons later, but for now, check the quake and doom newsgroups
or try the following ftp site:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/docs/faqs/qtalk???.txt
where ??? stands for the version number.
-----------------------
[0.4 - a real quake faq:]
-----------------------
originally, i expected that hank leukart and i would have completed
an actual faq by now. i do not consider quaketalk a real faq even though
many refer to it as such. i didn't want to bring the faq out without id's
cooperation, and we have agreed with id to wait a few more months until
they are ready to revael many more cool details about quake.
a few people have already shown interest in helping me with the
faq. i appreciate the help offers, but right now we cannot say what type
of additional help we need (well, aside from lots of info from id ;)
and if you haven't already gotten in touch with us to work on the faq,
please don't do so now. it's hard to maintain a real faq with too many
authors. this doesn't go for people submitting information on quake
they found on the net of course. please continue to send that in.
-----------------
[0.5 - disclaimer:]
-----------------
i should clarify that although i maintain id's ftp site, i am _not_
an official member of id and do _not_ claim to run an 'official' newsletter
on quake. i merely gathere all the interesting tidbits on the net on
quake and put them in .txt form. everything i know about quake is in here,
so don't mail me for more details ;)
---------------------------
[0.6 - and what else is new?]
---------------------------
i've been a bit quiet for a while. i finally have access to
alt.games.quake, so i'll be posting this there on a semi-regular basis
too.
some of you seemed to think id promosed to announce lots of cool new
quake info in april. well, april came and went by and guess what? no
official new info. face it everyone, id is busy working on the game
and doesn't want to speculate until things have gotten more stabler.
------------------------------------
[1 - magazine articles and the like:]
------------------------------------
from the july '94 issue of computer gaming world (taken from the original
quake faq):
shakin' and quakin'
"what is the next huge leap? they wouldn't say much, still in the idea
phase and reluctant to build expectations too early, but they did tell
me thisthe name is quake, the game engine is completely brand new, and
the 3d world will be so complete and characters will have depth, rather than
being flat sprites. the current setting (notice i didn't say the evil
s-word, "story") is a fantasy world where the player becomes a thor-like
being weilding a giant hammer, which he can throw at or bludgeon anything
that moves. the world will have some real physics, so that characters will
tumble when when they fall from heights, and be knocked flat on their
backs. as romero was describing the multiplayer quake of his imagination,
he was literally hopping out of his seat and pantomiming the violent drama
between two warrior gods, punctuating the action with sound effect (which
he is given to in most conversation). if they can calm romero down long
enough to get some work done, id hopes to start working on quake in
september and a release date of christmas '95."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the august '94 copy of pc format:
quake to hit in '95
id software's doom 2 is released on on 10 october, but details are already
beginning to emerge about quake, its successor which is scheduled for
release in the latter half of '95.
quake features a thor-like character who, armed with a massive hammer,
likes nothing better than to bludgeon his victims to death.
id is hoping to include some real physics in the game, so that characters
will twist and tumble through the air when they fall from a great height,
or be knocked flat on their back from a heavy blow. in-game sprites will
also be depicted in 3d, unlike the flat two-dimensional characters that
inhabit the doom games.
there will almost definitely be a multi-player link-up, as well as a vr
tie-in with a major manufacturer. the last point is probably the most
exciting, as many of the vr exhibitors at ces used doom to show off their
respective helmets' abilities. by producing a game with a specific headset
in mind, id software could finally kick-start the vr market in a b-i-g
way. prices of vr-headsets are already in freefall - five manufacturers
were showing off cheap sub-$200 helmets at the show - so a game designed
to work with them would be an instant hit and could even be part of a
bundling deal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the october issue of pc gamer:
pc gamer: "you've been reasonably quiet about the new project, quake, so
far. there must be something more you can tell us about it.?"
jay wilbur: "we're getting it together at the moment, it's in concept stage.
i'm reluctant to build up expectations, but i will say that it
will be a quantum leap over doom. currently the idea is to have
more realistic gameplay. in doom, for example, the characters
are all bitmaps and they're set in their ways. when you shoot a
character, he reacts in a programmed manner. maybe he throws
his arms out and leans his head back. and every time you shoot
him, no matter where you shoot him, he does the same thing.
it's like a dance. in qauke, we have polygon characters like
those seen in virtua fighters. we may texture map them so they
have a more realistic look, maybe not - that's in discussion
right now. but the idea is that if you shoot one of these
characters in the upper left quadrant, for example, his left
shoulder will be blasted back, he'll react more naturally.
we'll add the ability to look and move up and down. if you're
pushed off a ledge, physics comes into play. in doom, you
just kind of drop down, but in quake, if you fall of an edge
and your top heavy, you'll tumble. and your view will tumble
with you. of course it'll be very fast, but the whole world
will react accordingly."
pc gamer: "it all sounds very complex. the trick is, i suppose, to add all
this stuff while still keeping the game simple and intuitive"
jay: "absolutely. it has to be an intuitive game to play, so the
player can achieve instant success. with doom, all you need
are the four arrow keys, the fire button and the open door
key. other than that you don't need anything. you can achieve
instant success. you walk in, find somebody, press fire a
couple of times - and your successful. in quake, there'll be
more complex controls to deal with; you'll be able to take,
for example, an axe in your hand and slash it around, but the
control will be intuitive, like using the mouse."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the november issue of multimedia magazine:
[...]
yet even as doom ii is hitting the street, the people at id
software (developers of the game) are already looking toward the future.
john romero, a lead designer and programmer at id, says the team is hard
at work on id's next generation game, quake. like doom, quake will be a
first-person, action-oriented, multiplayer shoot-'em-up -- but it will
take every element, from graphics to sound to game play, to an entirely
new level.
"the technology in quake will be much better than in doom,"
romero says, "the graphics will use 3-d rendered models, unlike the 2-d
images in doom. so if you walk around a pillar, you'll see it in full
360 degrees, as opposed to only eight different rotations in doom.
you'll also be able to move in six different directions, and they'll be
much better animation. we're also adding cool cinematic sequences that
take place while you're playing the game. basically, doom will feel
stiff compared to quake."
beyond enhanced visuals, quake will use additional techniques to
make the world appear more lifelike to the player. "we want quake to be
as realistic as possible, so there's no music in the background." says
romero. what you'll hear are "environmental sounds -- of owls and
crickets and monsters -- that are triggered by where you walk and look.
for instance, you're going along and you hear something. you turn toward
a cave and the sound, now ominous, grows louder. then, as you walk
toward the cave, the sound gets even louder, and a pair of red eyes
appear -- next thing, a monster's coming right at you, and you better get
the fuck out of there. just looking around makes it happen.
another major innovation accompanying the game's release will be
the free distribution of a server utility, which will allow the creation
of "remote, quake-based entertainment networks," according to romero.
dozens of players will be able to enter a game simultaneously, even if
they're playing on different machines. (quake will likely be released on
every computer and video game platform except those made by nintendo -- a
result of id's righteous indignation over the censorship of its first
hit, wolfenstein 3-d, when it was portthen everyone gets
into the market. and they may have good technology, but they don't
understand design. they just don't know what it takes to make a a cool
game," he says. "in the meantime, we've already moved on to the next
thing. so we're not worried at all. like our other releases, quake will
be the first of its kind. nothing else will ever be close."
prepare to be shaken and stirred.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom 2 strategy guide, an interview between ed dille and
john romero:
ed: "what is your development process?"
jr: "quake will require a totally new editor. that's going
to take a long time to do. with quake, there isn't even a
premise yet. there's just kind of a feel for the thing.
there isn't any story.... well, there is kind of a vague
story, but there isn't anything solid because halfway
through the development of the game we'll probably have to
throw it out and redo it. because we'll have learned so
much about the technology and the way the engine works and
what's cool that what we did before will suck. so we'll do
a lot of development for the game, then probably throw it
out about halfway through. that way, when a game comes out,
it's great. that's how we learn and make cool games."
ed: "how is id improving its game design as time goes on?"
jr: "with quake, we're going to move the [3d] design along
further. the 3d engine has gotten to the point where it's
going to be almost as much fun to experience the environment
as it is to actually play the game. you should be walking
around in quake just in awe, looking around and going, "this
is awesome!"
and there won't be background music. in every game
we've done there has always been background music and sound
effects, right? the soundtrack is always there while you're
playing. there will be no soundtrack. we're going to make
you feel like you're in a real world. there will be bugs
and birds flying around. you'll be looking around, going,
"this is great! hey, i wonder what's over there?" so you
start walking over toward some forest. there will be a lot
of cinematic things in the game. of course, we'll never
stop the game just for a cinematic. we never do that. what
we will do [is something] like this: say you're walking into
a forest, which looks just awesome, and all of the sounds
are different, and it's dark, and to the right you see this
dark cave or something. as soon as you look at that cave,
something is going to happen. you'll hear some kind of low,
evil kind of sound, and something will trigger, even just
from your looking at this area. maybe some red eyes will
start glowing in there and maybe a growl or something. so
you can take off or you can charge in there, whatever you
want to do.
of course, you'll still be able to pulverize stuff.
that's just something to do and it's a lot of fun. i mean,
when you play deathmatch, it's just great blowing people
away. it is just totally fun. and we think that's still
important. you get lots of feedback from it. it's a fun
thing that you can't do in real life unless you want to go
to jail, and it's a guy thing. so you're still gonna kill
things in quake, but not like in doom ii. in doom ii, you
mow things down by the dozen. in quake you'll fight, say,
three monsters at the max. probably you'll fight three
guys, but it's going to be like a virtual fighter. there
will be more skill involved in the fighting. you won't be
holding the gun in front of you. in the games you've played
before, you're still kind of distanced from the death.
you're pointing the shotgun at something, you're pulling the
trigger, and it shoots and the thing is dead. all you had
to do was press the button. - you move the mouse and press
the button - and it's as easy as that. in quake, you'll
really have to kill things. you won't just press the
trigger and hit it, you'll have to really beat the living
shit out of the thing until it's dead. so you'll have this
huge hammer and you'll pound it into blood paste on the
floor, and you're going to have to take awhile, too. you're
going to have to work on it. you won't just have this arrow
point-and-click kind of thing.
...quake will be the ultimate. you are not going to
believe quake. quake is going to be an industry when it
comes out."
ed: "[grunt of disbelief]"
jr: "it will! we're going to encourage people to start
businesses based on quake. we'll upload the server software
for quake onto the net, which means that anyone can take the
quake game and create a whole new game off it, a totally
different game off the server software. like a location
based center. we're going to allow people to go location
based quake as much as they want. no fees. we upload the
server software and if you want to start a location-based
quake center, do it. the only way we make money is that you
have to buy the client. so let's say someone wants to start
a location-based quake center and they think this sgi is an
awesome powerhouse server that can supply 10 nodes with no
problem. so they buy this awesome sgi machine, they
recompile quake on the machine because we've supplied a full
the source code, and then the pcs are hooked into the sgi
for the playing of the game. the client - the code that
runs on the pcs - the guy has to buy from us. so we just
sold 10 copies of the game to this guy; that's it. we sold
10 copies of the game and we're happy. and the guy got
himself a business where people come in and pay him to let
them play quake. it's gonna be great! we're going to let
people create new games.
the game industry will really have kind of a tough time
with it, because we're going to give away the ultimate game
engine for free and let people create whatever they want.
there won't be any licensing-the-technology thing. it will
just be "buy the client from us." there's gonna be kind of
a mini-shakedown-type thing about who's going to take the
quake technology and create games and who isn't. i mean,
why waste you own development effort when the coolest 3d
engine is out there? and we'll develop another one and do
the same thing.
so we'll supply you with the industry while everyone
else is using it for cool stuff. and [the users] can
rewrite the rules of the game - no problem - because they
have the server software to create any game they want based
off it. and they have this incredible 3d universe where
they can create any kind of game they want and they don't
have to pay for it, except for the client, which interprets
all the information being sent and does the actual 3d
rendering. so quake will be huge when it comes out."
ed: "how do you feel about the creeping up of the hardware
standards for games?"
jr: "we think that when people get the game, most of them
should have a fun time. the people who won't have a fun
time are people who we consider are going into the dark
ages; they should consider upgrading. you need to look at
the benchmark systems that people have - what does everyone
have? most of them have 486s. so even quake, when it comes
out in the fall of next year, is going to be built for a
486; it isn't going to be built for a pentium."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the january '95 issue of computer gaming world:
the programmers at id have chosen pure ansi c to code their next project
entitled quake. they work with pcs set up with the nextstep operating system
(from the folks who gave us the now defunct next computer). "nextstep is
basically the best development environment in the world," says john romero,
who is in charge of all tools programming, as well as game design and areas
of game programming in quake. "quake won't even run under dos for many months
to come. it is totally nextstep based."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a quake announcement dating back to 1990 (!) from a commander keen .zip:
coming soon from id software
as our follow-up to the commander keen trilogy, id software is working on
"the fight for justice": a completely new approach to fantasy gaming. you
start not as a weakling with no food--you start as quake, the
strongest, most dangerous person on the continent. you start off with a
hammer of thunderbolts, a ring of regeneration, and a trans-dimensional
artifact. here the fun begins. you fight for justice, a secret
organization devoted to vanquishing evil from the land! this is
role-playing excitement.
and you don't chunk around the screen. "the fight for justice" contains
fully animated scrolling backgrounds. all the people you meet have their
own lives, personalities, and objectives. a 256-color vga version will be
available (smooth scrolling 256-color screens--fancy that)!
and the depth of play will be intense. no more "whack whack here's some
gold." there will be interesting puzzles and decisions won't be
"yes/no" but complex correlations of people and events.
"the fight for justice" will be the finest pc game yet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a press release from the hardware manucaturer crystal river engineering
on their new line of 3d sound cards also mentions quake:
"crystal river is working closely with many innovators in the developer and
hardware manufacturing communities. dave taylor, co-author of doom at id
software, helped define the audioreality game api with crystal river to
the specific needs of game and audio developers. dave warns, "prepare to
be flattened by the unearthly power of true 3d audio in our next game --
'quake!'". "
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the may '95 issue of electronic entertainment:
-> doom maker id software has reportedly created a multiplayer internet
-> protocol that will form the basis for multiplayre action in quake, the much
-> anticipated successor to doom 2. the company has reportedly proposed that
-> the protocol be used by other game makers as a standard way to create
-> multiplayer games on the internet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> an interview between jay wilbur and flux magazine:
-> flux: what if anything can you tell us about quake?
-> wilbur: well, anything i tell you today could be a complete lie tomorrow,
-> because things are changing so rapidly. in all of our games, we
-> take what we learn from the past and we amplify the bitchin' stuff.
-> let's take wolfenstien to doom. in wolf, we had that smooth
-> scrolling 3-d world and saw that it worked. so we enhanced the 3-d
-> world and cut our teeth on the multiplayer option. now, what we'll
-> do with quake is to continue to make it realistic and enhance that
-> 3-d world, making it true 3d in doom, the environement is actually
-> 2-d. you neve have a room on top of a room in a level. but quake
-> will be true 3d, and with the tools we have in-house, you can
-> architect anything-and i do mean anything.
-> probably one of the most exciting part is that it will have a
-> client/server-based technology. doom allowed four players,
-> peer to peer on a participants in the game will only be limited
-> by the number of clients your server can handle. if your network
-> computer can handle 20 people at a time then 20 people can play at
-> one time.
-> flux: a number of games only run on high-end machines. how does this
-> trend affect quake? will most people be able to run it?
-> wilbur: the target machine is 486/66 and by the time the game is out that
-> should be the median market. we will likely have the game set up
-> so it takes advantage of extra hardware that you might have under
-> the hood-if you have a pentium, if you have some kind of graphics
-> accelerator. just like having a sound card, it will make the game
-> more exciting and give more features. but we take a machine and
-> make it our target, and before we release a game, we make damn sure
-> that it runs correctly on the target.
-> flux: what can you tell us about the general plotline of quake?
-> wilbur: nothing. it's yet to be developed. let's say fantasy/medival maybe,
-> and leave it at that. during the developement the last thing we
-> apply is the story. it's the least important part of the game.
-> we have to develope the great technology first. imagine doom with
-> a different set of graphics terrorists, for example- you can still
-> make the game work. but in order to give you that nightmarish
-> feeling, we decided to go with demons or aliens. when it was
-> finished, the story of demons from hell coming through to our plane
-> of existence had been fully flushed. so who knows where quake will
-> go?
-> flux: will quake be shareware?
-> wilbur: yes it will still be shareware first, retail second.
-> flux: any kind of projected release date?
-> wilbur: no, the official release date is "when it's finished." and we
-> never miss that date, by the way. [laughs] our job is to make
-> sure you, the user, have fun.
-> flux: but still, quake will be geared toward people who love doom-those
-> who love a bloody, violent firefight, right?
-> wilbur: oh, yes. according to some of he developers, quake will make doom
-> look like a walk in the park.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> from the online version of computer gaming world magazine:
-> (http://www.zdnet.com/~gaming/features/9508/topten.html)
-> "everyone is anxious to see whether quake will offer the same seismic bang
-> for the buck as its predecessor, doom. if graphics are any indication, the
-> gothic setting may well envelope (sic) gamers in a gaming environment that
-> is even richer than doom's. we're definitely impressed with the art and
-> lighting effects we've seen, but unfortunately id hasn't released screen
-> shots yet."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> from the august '95 issue of the german magazine 'pc games' (translation
-> provided by olivery meyer):
-> [note the german magazine isn't allowed to mention the game 'doom' directly]
-> is it possible, to excel the most successful computer game of the last
-> decade? dave taylor from id software thinks, that their newest
-> product, quake, is much much better than both its predecessors. why
-> this is true, our us-correspondent markus krichel tries to find out in
-> an interview with dave taylor.
-> pc games: how does it feel to be the absolute shooting star under the
-> software companies?
-> dave taylor: actually, we thought very high of us, before. the success
-> was just the logical consequence of our work in the 3d
-> sector, there is no point in cinematic scenes, only the fun
-> playing a game counts for us. the gamers spoke and said we
-> are right.
-> pc games: how does the development on quake look like, today?
-> dave taylor: two years ago, when i saw xxxx in development for the
-> first time, i was overwhelmed. since then, id software
-> expanded a lot and quake has the same effect on the new
-> employees. for the old stuff of the company quake means a
-> resurrection of that old excitement and moral.
-> pc games: please compare play ability, graphics, speed and so on of
-> xxxx and quake for us.
-> dave taylor: xxxx really was a '2.5d-program', i. e. it was a 2d
-> environment with a 3d view. quake on the other hand uses
-> complete 3d. also its texture mapping engine is designed to
-> make use of the new acceleration cards and is even in normal
-> mode quite fast. network-power is the major gain compared to
-> xxxx. since we are still working on it, i don't want to say
-> anything about it, except that there is nothing comparable at
-> the moment.
-> pc games: until now id gave their worldwide fans the possibility to
-> become creative themselves, to design their own levels,
-> create monsters, etc. do you have the same plans with quake?
-> dave taylor: and even more, we expanded that aspect in a wide way. this
-> time a free c-compiler. we call djgpp, comes with the
-> program. it works like this: on the cd we publish along with
-> a game a whole bunch of source code. this way the user is able
-> to reprogram the game by using the compiler. we give the player
-> the chance to work as a game programmer.
-> pc games: will quake be a dos- or a windows game?
-> dave taylor: we program under linux. so we can easily switch to any
-> platform. there will be a dos-version for sure, a windows 95
-> version is very likely to come. windows 95 seems to become more
-> and more a real games-platform. good for us!
-> pc games: and what kind of creatures will you send after the poor player
-> this time?
-> dave taylor: how they will look like exactly should remain a surprise.
-> that they will look better is guaranteed. in stead of using
-> scaled sprites we use real 3d models in quake.
-> pc games: in germany your games came on the index of the bps, because of
-> the violence, at once... [oliver: this means, that such
-> software is a danger to younger people. you may not advertise
-> such a program in public, nor may you sell it to a person under
-> 18.]
-> dave taylor: ... and we thank them for it. we couldn't wish us any
-> better pr.
-> pc games: is your games design influenced by such indexing? do you
-> say: "in the next game we have to cut down on violence a bit?"
-> dave taylor: you must be joking. where will it end, if we let us influence
-> by censorship? for gods sake, who do those people think they
-> are, to give the players orders.
-> pc games: so you expect quake on the index?
-> dave taylor: absolutely! our selling figures in germany couldn't be better.
-> in no way, we'll think about such things when designing
-> quake. quake will probably be a few steps harder.
-> pc games: which release date is planned?
-> dave taylor: thats hard to say. this year for sure.
-> pc games: thank you!
-----------------------------------------
[2 - irc, mail and usernet posting quotes:]
-----------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on fri, 5 aug 94 11:38:19:
quake will be totally externally programmable. a planar surface (as opposed
to line triggers, switches, etc.) will have an activation tag. anything with
a matching tag will contain the action that should be performed on itself.
thus, walking on a certain surface with an activation tag will make the
program search the world for matching tags. a match will make the program
check the object for the type of action to be done. this allows one action
to affect many actions, i.e., walking into a large room can close the door
behind you, turn the lights off, raise 5 staircases and release 10 monster
holding pens.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on fri, 5 aug 94 17:25:53:
quake will be extremely modular -- doom was just the tip-of-the-iceberg
experiment. we will be more cooperative than you can imagine -- how does
uploading the quake server code sound? that way, anyone could recompile
quake for any super server system.
quake is in true 3-d. not faked doom 2-d/ 3-d.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on fri, 5 aug 94 15:56:23 (on sector tagged actions):
total freedom. nothing will be hard coded into the executable. more than
likely, the action will be a text descriptor that will match a function name
or somesuch.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on fri, 5 aug 94 16:02:48 (on scanning for sector tags)
for speed, of course we'll be using index lookups. i'm trying to describe
the overall idea, not the actual implementation. and depending on our
long-range goals with quake, we may not even use indexes if we want the
gameworld to be continuously modifyable -- esp. for real-time multi-player
connections where a "god" person is building a new structure in the world
where 100 people are playing at the same time as the level design in the
level they're playing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on fri, 5 aug 94 16:02:48:
(much programming structure and ideas deleted)
don't worry. quake will be done right.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from ddt@idsoftare.com on sun aug 7 21:53 cdt 1994:
(credits to scott bessler (scott@grayfox.svs.com))
: ... i have a question about quake, you have been quoted
: as saying it'll support 100 players.
not me, man. that sounds like something romero would say. the
truth is that we have no clue how many players it will support
until we're done writing it.
the game will be well-geared to pay-for services where you have a nice
server like a medium-end workstation. it will allow more users and
still offer smooth play.
the required line speed will depend on a lot of factors. we'll
have no idea how fast it will need to be until we've coded it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on tue, 9 aug 94 10:09:21
quake has gravity. down is down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the doom-editing mailing list (doom-editing@nvg.unit.no)
on mon, 8 aug 94 10:59:20
in quake, we're aiming for a total d&d fantasy adventure and, yes, there will
be dragons! (we hope. remember, we could be lying. :)
that's how quake will be programmed! not one single bit of information will
be hard-coded -- everything's external! we will supply a language compiler
for the c-type language that we'll use for quake's external code modules.
id software will never again get any code programmed by an outside source (in
doom, the only external id code was the sound code.) we will program our own
sound code, but are planning to use the vesa sound spec.
quake will be client/server only -- even a single-player quake session will,
inreality, be a client/server setup with the client process and server process
residing in the same system. we will make the setup as painless as possible.
quake's shareware exe will only work with the shareware version, unless you
register (the client), in which case you will be able to play the registered
version and all the wads available.
probably an oversight. quake will use none of doom's code. except for the
memory zone allocation. the wad utilities will be revised.
quake will run well on a pentium, but a 486 is required. it's just a notch up
from doom's requirements386 required, 486 recommended.
hopefully, the initial shareware release will handle real dynamic maps. id's
quakenet will definitely have this ability. we're hoping to start another
small company that is a pure 24-hour quakefest! (hey -- we want a piece of
the action, too!:) it might be a couple dozen players modem-linked into a
lightning-speed server, but we're really targeting quake to be the first home
cable game -- brought to you through your set-top box and played on your huge
tv screen!
quake's level editor is true 3-d. we've just started quakeed.
quakeed is using a real-time 3-d bsp generator. it will be optimized. bsps
are awesome tools -- they can be used in many different types of applications.
quake will probably use a few different types of bsp trees. the guy that
invented bsps visited us and taught carmack even more shit.
quake will not have 1 sprite in it -- all objects will be hi-res 3-d models.
texture-mapped polygons, but hi-res so they're not bad-looking. much better
than alone in the dark's.
i didn't mention this before, but sound is a major integral part of the quake
design and, yes, you will be able to wear a headphone/microphone unit (which we
will also sell -- made by koss) and speak to each other (over a lan only) --
but not as a headset comm. you will be "speaking into" the game world, so the
closer you are to someone, the louder your voice is. and the monsters have
ears, too!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from johnr@idsoftware.com on thu 11, aug 94 12:25:59
the quake-by-cable will definatly won't be in the first release -- it's a
couple years away at the least :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from jay wilbur on irc wed aug 24 21:35:32 mesz 1994:
'quake is working. carmack is testing the concepts.'
'a quake faq...already? ... bitchin!' (on quaketalk ;)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from american mcgee on irc september 3rd, 1994:
'yes. this is something that will go into it first thing' (on slippery floor)
'for everyone else it will be very hard. for us it should not be to hard.
we will be running it on very fast hp geckos.' (on making a quake level)
'it should not be much larger than doom.' (the size of quake on your hd)
'it will be more of an action game' (as opposed to an rgp/mud)
'we are still working on that idea. i think the only thing you will gain
is a killed/kills thing.' (on players gaining experience)
'ideal would be pentium' (on the ideal system for quake)
'the interactive-ness of the people who will be playing.' (on the most major
golly-gee-wizz-bang feature of quake)
'the resolution will be much better.'
'yes, headsets will be a big thing in quake. lan = headset.'
'hammers for sure. i don't know what else.' (on weapons)
'this is one of the main features of quake.' (on 3rd party quake addons)
'there will be some sort of demo out soon enough.'
'there will be some sort of quake start-up package for those of you who want
to buy a quake server.'
'there will be gravity.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from john romero's posting to aol, 1 dec 1994 01:46:36:
okay, people. it seems that everyone is speculating on whether quake is
going to be a slow, rpg-style light-action game.
wrong!
what does id do best and dominate at? can you say "action"? i knew you
could. quake will be constant, hectic action throughout -- possibly
moreso than doom. i will be concentrating on making quake the most
disquieting and upsetting game on the planet. very, very evil. doom's
"evil" was really non-existent. quake must be evil -- but correctly done
evil that doesn't become tiring and sophomore-ish. it must be honestly
and truly disturbing.
what's cooking with quake at this minute?
well, we have our sgi (indigo2) running alias, which is the modeller we
are using to create everything with, except the maps. quakeed is in its
we have multi-player working right now with lots of connections. players
are able to hop in and connect to the quakeserver at any time while a game
is going. you can also hop out at will and rejoin later. yes, it is
working right now.
oh yeah, our alias to idmodel converter is finished and we have actual
alias models in quake's 3d engine. oh yeah, the 3d engine is up and
running right now, although it's unoptimized and the texture mapping
isn't being done properly yet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
american mcgee and i exchanged a series of emails in may '95 when i
still hoped to bring a real quake faq out soon. here some excerpts:
: - is id open to suggestions about q? do you guys read alt.games.quake?
not really, but we do read them.
: - what plattforms is q being developped on? nextstep, sgi and linux,
: right? (btw, are those next cubes or pc's runing intel nextstep?)
we are doing most of the coding under next, and dave works under linux.
we run next on hp 712/80's with 64mb of ram.
: - is public/outside beta testing ever planned?
never again.
: - a while back i heard of plans of id to tailor quake to certain hardware
: extensions or even make quake specific hardware, such as network cards,
: video cards and headphone sets. any news on that?
we are not going to do this.
: and now for the toughie engine/game feature questions:
:
: are you planing to add/working on:
:
: - water to wade through
maybe
: - slippery ice
don't think so. i would have to say no.
: - wind and other weather affects
yes.
: - vertical slopes
done.
: - day/night
maybe.
: - 'sectors above sectors' (i.e. a cave under an accessable plain)
done.
: - characters tumbling/falling on their backs
leaning over yes, falling no.
: - players affected by wounds
yes.
: - play 'experience' and other attributes, that will be kept from
: one game to the other.
maybe.
: - polygon mapped items/characters
done.
: - shops/inns
maybe... you would be able to put this in yourself.
: - npc interaction (npc = non player character)
maybe.
: - godlike players that can change the environment during an active
: game
done.
: -someone mentioned you were marvelling about the new lighting (lighting?)
: affects id just added to quake on irc. can you describe this?
the lighting is awesome. it works just like true lighting with shadows,
diminishing etc...
: -how are the levels for quake developing currently? how big are they, how
: complex, how many do you have?
they are coming along very fast, although there are none that you would
call finished.
: -will you be able to play crossplattform netquake?
yes. definitely.
: -are any enemies for quake done yet? what can you tell me about the
: monster ai you're working on.
there are very few models done right now... because until just a few
days ago there was no way to see them in the game... now they look very
good. there is not much to be said about the ai... it will be better
than doom's.
: -how much research did you put into muds, mucks, mushes etc to find
: ideas and concepts for quake (if any). do you see quake as a (albeit
: less complex) 'graphical mud'?
a lot. yes, i *want* it to be a "graphical mud".
: can you mention some of the new features of new hardware that quake
: might support then? 3d sound? polygon accelarators? anything?
well, we will be supporting hmds, some of the accelerator cards, and 3d
sound. really, anything that you would like to see supported can be put
in... we may not be the ones who put it in, but it is possible.
: can you elaborate a little about the 'programming language' within
: quake? you mentioned once it was forth based? is it precompiled or parsed
: at run time?
it is not forth based. it is parsed at run time. there is not much else i
can say about it right now, except that everything in the world (doors,
monsters, fountains, etc...) will have it's own piece of code to make it
run.
: and finally, weapons. i hear you are moving away from the previous
: plan of only having a hammer as a weapon. will quake have the full range
: of fantasy themed weapons or at least the possibility to write them
: ourselves?
we are not sure about which weapons will make it in yet... regardless you
should be able to add your own pretty easily.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from dave taylor's posting to comp.os.msdos.djgpp, 8 jun 1995 14:12:25:
hello, i'm one of the authors of doom, and for a while we've been
developing our next game quake using djgpp v1. our plans are to
release the game as a series of .o files and source code so that
programmers can write their own modules and plug them in during the
setup program which actually performs the final link. we will be
including djgpp on our distribution cdrom to make this easier for
people. note that we won't be releasing all the source code, just
enough so that people can write their own low-level modules to support
new devices.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> from 2 mails between american mcgee and lithium@silicon.net, 20 jun 1995:
-> : like in wolf3d you had people walking around...being directed by those
-> : arrows. this was pretty cool. it would be neat if in quake there were
-> : monsters sleeping, eating, patrolling, building weapons or whatever,
-> : activating switches to crush you....
-> : this would make them seem more believable!
-> this is something we are planning on doing.
-> : will quake be able to be run on game connection(sirdoom) and apci do you
-> : suppose?
-> you will not need a service like that in order to play multiplayer
-> quake games.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> according to peter tayltor on jul 18th, 1995,
-> micheal abrash says he's currently working on "speeding up the drawing
-> of sky". whatever that means ;)
-------------------
[3 - people's .plan:]
-------------------
from johnr@idsoftware.com's .plan:
the next game is going to blow doom all to hell. doom totally sucks
in comparison to our next game, quakethe fight for justice! quake
is going to be a bigger step over doom than doom was over wolf3d
(ya know -- doom = pong). we won't start developing quake until fall'94...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware.com's .plan, on july 25th 6:14pm:
this will not be out until sometime next summer.
john carmack is currently designing the engine.
multi-player should go something like this:
someone owns a fast server somewhere. you dial in and join the
game in progress. ten or more people at a time can be in the world.
you will not need a pentium to play quake. everyone knows you don't
need one for doom either... but it doesn't hurt anything.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware.com's .plan:
status of quake---updated: tue, aug 9th 11:38am
john now has a simple (slow) engine running. it uses converted
doom maps and runs them with flats for textures. it looks really
cool.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware.com's .plan, on september 2nd:
ok, imagine this. you have a health thing and you don't need it.
you meet someone in the game who has a nice weapon but is really
low on health. you guys decide to exchange items. you don't really
trust this guy so you bring along a friend and tell him to hide out
somewhere with a bead on the other guy's head. you meet somewhere
in the middle of a field and face off. you drop your health, he drops
his weapon and you both strafe over the object of your desire. you
start to back away (not turning your back on him) and suddenly decide
you're going to whack this guy before he gets a chance to use that
health. you move towards him and draw back with your hammer. he notices
this and starts to duck, but it's too late. you smash him in the head
and watch him fly down to the ground, landing on his side. you smash
his still body a few more times and cause him to explode! now you and
your friend pick up all of the items your dead friend left on the
ground. as you are walking off you pick up his severed head and put
it in a bag. that will come in useful later... when you need something
to sacrifice to a demon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware's .plan, on sat, oct 29th 4:21pm:
john has a faster engine working now. groundwork for network play
has been finished. looking _very_ cool. for those of you who still
have a wife, kids, a job, and a life after doom, this game is for _you_.
you doom junkies will have a new fix...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from john romero's aol profile:
quote: quake will rule the cosmos. doom will then crumble.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware's .plan, on sat, dec 2nd 2:20pm:
this will not be out until sometime next winter.
ok, ok... you guys wanted more.
as of today the following things are working/semi-working:
network play
basic engine
object modeling
map editor
network play:
server/client code is functioning great. set up a quake server on
a next, linux, or sgi box. once the server is running you
get on another machine (next, linux, sgi) and log into the server.
a play window opens and you can see the other players, move around,
quit out, get back in, etc... there is no deathmatch yet, but this
will be the first part of the game to be working... monsters etc, will
be added in later.
basic engine:
this is running pretty fast. in network mode it slows down somewhat,
but this will be reversed soon. (network will be faster than single
player.) right now we are using a part of doom map 1 1 to test the
engine.
object modeling:
kevin created a model of a person that only consists of about 200
polygons. this model looks surprisingly good... we had thought we
would need more polygons per model to create the amount of detail
we want. so far this is the only "thing" in the game. he does not
animate, but it is still cool to watch him be "born". at the moment
he is textured with the art from the cyberdemon.
map editor:
john also has a map editor in the works. at this point it looks
somewhat like 3d studio, with a camera view and a top down view
of the thing you are working on. you can add and subtract blocks
of "material" from the view. these are the building blocks of the
world... no, you will not be limited to blocks in the finished game.
all of this will come together very soon to create one of the most
awesome network/3d games in the world... if not the most awesome
(ok, who are we kidding? it will be the most awesome hehe.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from help@idsoftware's .plan, on tue, jan 24th 8:48pm:
we will not be adding anything new to this for a while.
there are many cool new things going into the game right now, but
we do not want to give it all away just yet. we have been creating
small test levels for the past few weeks, and these are looking
awesome. the general game idea has started to solidify, but please
do not write asking what it is.
i will add some new stuff here when there is *alot* more to add.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from john romero's alt.games.quake posting, 30 dec 1994 00:07:05
latest quake info:
* quakeed is working and it totally rocks! this is the easiest 3-d editor
i've ever experienced. we're just getting a taste of the incredible
architecture we'll be able to create.
* sound code is great -- no interrupts necessary. this is a good thing.
* sound effects : thomas dolby is very interested in doing them.
* id staff addition: we're about to hire a major, major programmer. look
for an announcement after he comes on board. you coders out there will be
very surprised!
* some people were hoping we'd sink big bucks into the character graphics.
we've dumped $20k+ into alias, we have an indigo2 system with another on
the way. we just bought a $40k hp system and a $20k hp system for
development. the models look very cool. there will be no sprites in
quake (except for status bar stuff -- maybe); everything is a 3-d model.
* the project is proceeding faster than we were expecting it would. network
code will be up within a month!
* deathmatch is highest on our priority list.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from john romero's .plan, 28 mar, 1995 22:46:
latest news:
we're working on quake! that's right! most of the textures for the
first episode are finished - kevin and adrian have been clicking wildly
for a while. now they are about ready to fire up the indigo2's and
start modeling!
michael abrash, our programminggod (tm), is here and pumping away on
some really complex bsp/beamtree code for quake's refresh! carmack
and abrash just found a way (on pentiums only) to interleave the refresh
code so all our divs are free!!!! even though quake's architecture is
more complex than doom's, quake's refresh will be faster than doom's.
no shit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from mike abrash's .plan, 11 jun, 1995 10:55:
busy working on quake. it's going to be cooler even than i expected.
check back in a few months...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from american mcgee's, idtypical, enthusiastic .plan, 11 jun, 1995
ok, when you saw wolf you spooged on your own knees right?
then doom came out and you spooged all over yourself again,
only this time more. "wow!" you thought, "i didn't know i
could spooge _that_ much!"
just wait till quake, you'll be mopping spooge for days.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> help@id's plan was updated on jun 6th, 1995 to include a brief status
-> report on quake:
-> this will not be out until sometime in the winter of '95.
-> **that's _this_coming_christmas_ for those of you who don't
-> **understand what i mean. like that chris guy. man, what a 'tard.
-> [aparently 'chris' pointed out that it was already winter in australia]
-> network play:
-> [...]
-> this is still the same. there have been no changes.
-> basic engine:
-> [...]
-> this is running faster everyday. we are using other maps to test on
-> now and things are looking very awesome.
-> object modeling:
-> [...]
-> we have a couple of different monster and person models now.
-> the all look very good.
-> map editor:
-> the map editor is completely finished. we have been working with
-> it for a while now, creating new levels.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
john romero appeared on irc several times in the month of june '95 on the
#dwango and #doom channels. here a summary of what he said:
-> 'quake should be out by christmas. we hope.'
-> 'looking up/down is automatic and is also available w/keys'
-> 'quake will run the same speed as doom on same system.'
-> 'but you'll need 8mb ram.'
-> 'yes, nin is doing sfx'
-> 'looking up/down with the mouse does not work well.'
-> 'we don't use opengl in quake, we use span-blitting.'
-> 'no music in quake.'
-> 'quake screen res: whatever you can handle.'
-> 'we are supporting video coprocessors, but not thru opengl!'
-> 'music: maybe little blits of music, but not a soundtrack per map'
-> 'i'm not sure if we're using the 3d-ddi.'
-> '# of players: whatever the server can handle/has connections.'
-> 'os's - dos and win95 first. then all other systems.'
-> 'netplay: all possible types of connections.'
-> 'win95 will run same speed.'
-> 'probably os/2, but not immediately.'
-> 'weapons: so far, a hammer.'
-> '...and a hellgate cube'
-> 'keyboard input: prolly as many keys as heretic'
-> 'we will not miss the music, i guarantee it.'
-> 'deathmatch = 14.4 no prob.'
-> 'player = two models, body and head. head will tear off.'
-> 'you will be able to customize all keys used in quake, even debugkeys.'
-> 'we do not want music - you are going to be in a total environment.'
-> 'imagine a dark swamp at night. what would that sound like? :)'
-> 'we will have 3d sound.'
-> 'sound is 16-bit.'
-> '22khz'
-> 'vr headsets will be supported.'
-> 'all sound cards with digital output will be supported.'
-> 'quake = lots of magic!'
-> 'there's no comparison between quake and heretic (or anything else).'
-> 'h2 will come sooner.'
-> 'plot? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!'
-> 'quake makes doom look like a sad little cartoon.'
-> 'you'll thank me much more for quake.'
-> 'screen shots: in about a couple months.'
-> 'quake's net code is the next generation. you'll see.'
-> 'we won't be uploading screenshots until we get some models in
-> the game...which will be pretty soon now.'
-> 'we have sprites, brushmodels and alias models in the engine
right now, but no real models done yet.'
-> 'quake's engine is so damn fast right now. we're about to get
another 50% speedup pretty soon.'
-> 'we're having to clip speed to 70fps.'
-> 'we will be supporting lots of vesa modes as well as 3 standard
vga modex modes.'
-> 'our source graphics are 256 color, but with lighting we are
supporting 24-bit.'
-> 'quake controls will be just like doom controls with some extra
keys that are not mandatory to use.'
-> 'look - doom was the first multiplayer game, 4-player was great
back then. everyone else just improved on it, as we expect them to do.'
-> 'yes, monsters will be cool. better than doom. they'll have
leaders and followers.'
-> 'we're playing with a few different ways of doing realtime
shadowing.'
-> 'our main objective is to keep the speed up, so if the shadowing
is a little cheesy, it was because of speed.'
-> 'well, gonna take off now. gotta do some stuff on my huge
swamp wizard's castle.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-> an abbridged log from a stay of dave taylor ('iddt') on #doom,
-> late jul 95:
-> <_avatar_> ddt: like hows that animated sky coming along?
-> avatar, um, animated. looks really neat, though. the engine
-> is still kinda raw.
-> iddt: are there any major engine improvements over doom, and
-> what kind of modularity will there? i.e. a .wad style drop-in
-> additions? (ie doom level, (better?))
-> netshadow, no wads necessary. you can make your sound files
-> .wav or .aiff, your quake programs are text files, the entity
-> lists are text, the maps are text, the gfx are .lbm...
-> <_avatar_> iddt: how bout models? coming along (i ask cause we've been
-> told we'll see screen shots when models are in there)
-> avatar, the models are in an alias format.
-> iddt: will quake use multiple levels or one really huge one.
-> rukh, multiple levels.
-> <|nurgle|> iddt- one thing i have been dying to know is if wither there
-> will be more than one weapon :)
-> nurgle, me too. not sure yet. i think there will be. there's
-> this rather lame idea about a hammer i'm quietly trying to
-> destroy.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: okok.. but the models haven't been put in yet?
-> avatar, there are only a couple models in. a bat, a sorta
-> biped baddy, a human. they don't do anything clever. just
-> sorta sit there. no rush right now. plenty of architecture
-> to go.
-> iddt: okay.. lets see.. are the text files for quake levels in
-> an ascii map format, or lines of code which translate to a map?
-> cala, here's some lines from a map file...
-> 4 wall14_5 0 0 0 0 0 0
-> (0,912,176,144) (0,928,176,144) (16,928,176,144) (16,912,176,144)
-> 4 wall14_5 0 0 0 0 0 0
-> (192,928,144,0) (192,1040,144,0) (208,1040,144,0) (208,928,144,0)
-> it's like coordinates specifying a brush and a texture and some
-> other stuff.
-> ddt: are you using any human input devices for character
-> movements, like suits with sensors, or is it more by hand??
-> dnorml, i want to support the virtual i/o i-glasses, but
-> honestly the best control will be a mouse and keyboard.
-> cala, my point is that someone will be able to quickly write a
-> graphical editor because the file format is so simple.
-> iddt: so what kind of theme is this levitating toward?
-> hankle, dunno. fantasy of some sort.
-> ddt: can you explain a little more how the monster ai code
-> will interface with the main exe? function calls?
-> mere, it's an interpreted language. want to see some?
-> here's some code that generates thunder..
-> thunder ()
-> {
-> local rnd;
-> rnd = random() * 40 + 10;
-> sound (self,0,thund);
-> self->nextthink = time + rnd;
-> self->think = thunder;
-> }
-> <|nurgle|> rnd = random() * 40 + 10; <---- is that the duration?
-> nurgle, that's the time between this thunder and the next one
-> <_avatar_> iddt: k, and as nurgle once mentioned, won't you have to
-> download all sorts of stuff whenever you connect to a server to
-> play in that world of sorts? (assuming it'll be like a bid mud)
-> avatar, yes it'll cache whatever it doesn't have based on what
-> appears to be new or different, so if you frequent the server
-> often, you should only be hit with the cache the first time.
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- okl.. so if you szy, created a new weapon, it wouldn't be
-> active on a server that didn't have it?
-> nurgle, the server is god. if it has the weapon in it, the
-> weapon is in it. the clients have no say in the matter.
-> carmack has also said that ai's are overrated as a game element
-> avatar, the sad truth is that interesting ai gets expensive so
-> fast that the cycles are almost always better spent doing
-> something else.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: textures, good, but what about completely customizing the
-> way you look? wouldn't it be great to go into the game and have
-> people recognize you on sight!
-> avatar, we're prolly going to let the players have completely
-> different skin textures.
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- how about riding animals liie horses or somthing, also it
-> would be rad to be able to give yourself an appearance
-> nurgle, we're pretty sure that's what we want to do
-> iddt: what would be the most common connection medium for a
-> quake server (if there would be one) .. i remember hearing
-> something (i think romero said something about cable boxes?!?)
-> .. but would there be server/clients on the net? or dwango-ish??
-> netshadow, it'd be modems of course. prolly a large terminal
-> server.
-> iddt: under windows, it will support winsock, correct?
-> hank, prolly, but we'll need to get someone knowledgable about
-> winsock to code it. we've never touched the stuff.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: and as people've asked, will quake have any music code
-> whatsoever?
-> avatar, a big maybe.
-> iddt: speaking of which, did the nin deal have anything to do
-> with the 'secret' nin in e4m1?
-> net, not really. american, carmack, and i are just huge nin
-> fans and so we started going to his concerts and found out trent
-> was a huge doom fan. sort of a mutual thing.
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- will you be ablke to record a game wihtout everyone else
-> having to?
-> nurg, if you're running the server
-> <|nurgle|> i'd say mkae trent make some sfx for lots of weapons :)
-> nurgle, he's concentrating on environmental and demonic sounds
-> right now.
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- demonic? so quake will have an evil kinda setting? one that
-> will make every christian in the world foamm at the mouth?
-> nurg, that's the goal
-> ddt: people will be able to write their own input device drivers
-> for quake, right? how exactly will that work?
-> mere, yep. the setup program is actually a disguise for the
-> final linking step. the game as delivered is still .o files.
-> you link it with the right modules before running it.
-> ddt: any chance of having monster ai's as .o files to be linked
-> instead of intpreted code? it'd be a lot more mem/clock
-> efficient
-> mere, i'm of the same opinion but couldn't convince carmack of
-> that. he has a good point. w/interpreted code, you can reload
-> it hot without restarting the game.
-> ddt: is network 'talk' still in?
-> mere, it's not in yet, but i'm glad you reminded me. should get
-> to that.
-> <_badcrc_> iddt: i request that you guys don't give out any cheats...maybe
-> even disable them ;)
-> bad, there will be cheats, but why does that bother you?
-> iddt: as long as they're not in multipolayer.
-> hankle, won't be
-> iddt: in deathmatch, when the characters change weapons will it
-> show this?
-> kane, hm. we're thinking about it.
-> iddt: what kind of dramatic bsp enhancments are we going to see
-> in quake?
-> para, i'm not terribly familiar with the modelling internals.
-> it still uses a bsp, but it's 3d now, and there is a seperate
-> visibility list structure in every subvolume for faster
-> clipping to the view volume than doom.
-> i heard the ligthing system is badass in quake...is it state
-> of the art or is someone else usin it already?
-> dv8, definitely state of the art
-> it'll run fine on a 28.8k. we're rather determined about that.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: fine at 28800 in 2 player or more than 2 player?
-> avat, the game will be architected to drop information to the
-> client bandwidth, so theoretically any # of players, but the
-> reality is that it'll start dropping too much useful
-> information. once again, we'll have to just check it out.
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- but seperate players can be on seperate levels?
-> nurg, yes
-> iddt: one rumor about quake i cant belive yet - but, they said
-> it will work like www, you log on to a sever and download all
-> the seperate special graphics for that server, as well as the
-> special gfx for each player?
-> para, yeah
-> iddt: in a month? [re: screenshots -jschuur]
-> hank, i don't know honestly. screen shots are a sort of
-> mystical thing. we've been talking about doing it for the past
-> couple weeks, so i wouldn't be surprised if it happened w/in a
-> month.
-> <_badcrc_> ddt: how much disk space will quake use do you think?
-> bad, 5.73mb. no idea, dude. it'll be more than doom, though.
-> iddt, is there going to be weather in quake, like snow and rain?
-> dv8, no dude
-> ddt: i still want swinging doors
-> waff, we got em
-> <_avatar_> iddt! what is the hellgate cube!?!??!?!?!
-> avatar, it's this cube that spins over your head and sucks
-> souls and acts as sort of a friend sometimes and other times
-> changes loyalty. it's just a concept right now.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: how much control over yer guy'll you have in quake? the
-> usual + what?
-> avatar the ususal plus yer head.
-> mouse will be just about required.
-> <_avatar_> iddt: hahaha.. no climbing or jumping?
-> avatar, jumping prolly
-> <|nurgle|> ddt- will you be releasing a special quake controller?
-> nurgle, a company that split off from logitech will
-> iddt: i realize you don't like the virtua fighter stuff but...
-> will quake contain complex combat stuff along those type lines?
-> cee, no way.
----------------------------------------
[4 - screenshots, previews, demos, betas:]
----------------------------------------
now that your mouth is watering after all that you've read about quake,
you'll probably want to see more, right? hehe. i thought so. well, watch
this space in the future for any info on screenshots, previews, demos,
betas or the like.
as i've said before, quake is still far from being finished. and you
can take my word on this, there are no betas available, no matter what
your /<-rad friends said they found on their 31337 ftp/fsp sites. let me
relay a quote of ddt on irc late november '94:
" lot, wish we had a quake beta."
'nuff said, come back in half a year ;)
here a cute little _faked_ id posting to alt.games.doom on the
subject of illegal quake alpha/beta testers:
'it seems you guys have gotten ahold of alpha versions of both out vr
quake and neural quake and i have to say i am not happy. it is not the fact
that you are using stolen software that bothers me, it is the fact that you
are putting your lives at risk. just last week a beta-tester lost 33.3%
use of his brain testing quake ii on the intel/rs686 for win '98.june.
if you guy really want some quake action i suggest you stick
quake, winquake, and powerquake. for all you asking where to get it, it is
ftp-able from 127.0.0.1 in the /pub/id/quake/incoming directory.
have fun and see you on the quakeservers!!!'
for that matter, the new .plan at help@idsoftware.com is quite
obvious as far as far as betas go. it literally yells at us (caps
removed to preserve sanity ;):
'there is no beta version of this out *anywhere*
there is nothing for anyone to test right now either
we are still very much in development'
jay wilbur himself points out id's current beta testing policy very
nicely (reprinted with permission of keith cohen):
"sorry, we will not be using any outside testers. after the problems we had
with doom we decided to keep all the testing in-house."
jay has very clear ideas about the release date of quake. read his .sig:
"the official release date of all id's products:
_as soon as it is finished_!"
even though help@idsoftware.com's .plan has a slightly different version:
this will not be out until sometime in the winter of '95.
**that's this coming christmas for those of you who don't
**understand what i mean. like that chris guy. man, what a 'tard.
-----------------------
[5 - unconfirmed rumors:]
-----------------------
in a mail on june 10th, 1995, american mcgee from id software talks
about the possibility of nine inch nails making the music for quake:
"if trent reznor does music for quake it will work something like this:
on the part of the cd we do not use for game data we will record music.
if trent does the music then you will listen to trent making cool music
while playing the game. i think that if we have him do the music, people
who don't even want to play the game (yeah, right... like there are people
like that) will buy the cd just to hear trent make noise. i know i would."
he goes on to warn people who take quaketalk too seriously:
"btw: all of you quakefaq guys are being totally lied to! nothing in here
is anywhere near true. this is like that whole "2 weeks!" thing. we are
just playing with your heads and making you worship satan. hehe
ok, ok... maybe some of this is true... but satan doesn't like us to tell
the truth, so don't tell him. hehe."
----------
[6 - outro:]
----------
no outro yet. maybe next time ;) i know, i know. i keep saying that.
heck, what do you want to see in an outro?
--------------
[6.1 - credits:]
--------------
me (lotlhwi@irc)
for doing most of the work ;)
william lachance
for the pc format article
rick hammerstone
for getting me a copy of the original quake faq
scott bessler (jackyl@irc)
for an excerpt from his mail with ddt
toby nichols
for the october pc gamer article
alex lee (sirace@irc)
for the november multimedia magazine article
art s.
for john romero's profile from aol
jordan feinman
for john romero's first posting to alt.games.quake
dan cerman
for filling my mailbox with all kinds of neat quake stuff ;)
david laprad
for the dille/romero interview from the d2 strategy guide
scott starks
for the second romero posting from alt.games.quake
ed belisle
for the cgw '95 sniplet.
american mcgee
for numerous mails. (it's probably best not to ask him about quake right
now though ;)
keith cohen
for jay's comments on id's beta testing policy
john wakelin
the first of numerous people to send me ddt's djgpp posting
stuart west
for the crystal waters engineering press release
murray chapman
for johnr's updated .plan
->
-> for two excerpt's from his mails with american mcgee
-> bernd kreimeier
-> for the may electronic entertainment quote
->
-> for the flux magazine interview
-> dave kirtley
-> for the computer gaming hyperlink
-> oliver meyer
-> for the german pc games article
-> mackey mccandlish
-> for the romero irc logs (he was one of several people to supply me
-> with them)
-> blain newport
-> for proof reading qt
----------------------
[6.2 - version history:]
----------------------
1.00 (08/09/94) - first edition. i simply cut and pasted all the quake
quotes from romero and the .plan's in a file and
spiffed it up a bit.
1.01 (08/16/94) - added credits to ddt's email about quake and changed
the intro.
1.10 (08/22/94) - added the magazine article section and the version
history.
1.11 (08/24/94) - jayw's brief quake comment on irc added.
1.20 (08/31/94) - pc format article added. credits section.
1.50 (09/02/94) - quake stuff from help@id's .plan added.
1.55 (09/03/94) - mcgee's comments on quake on irc.
1.55a (09/12/94) - i'm no longer looking for the original quake faq, thanks
to all those who sent me a copy. finger me at
zxmsu01@hp10.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de for the latest issue
of quaketalk.
1.70 (10/14/94) - october pc gamer article added. comments on a true quake
faq. slight reorganizations.
2.00 (10/23/94) - multimedia article added. table of contents.
2.05 (11/04/94) - new help@id's .plan info, different email adr. of mine,
typos added.
2.10 (11/09/94) - newest quaketalk now available by mail. new intro.
2.30 (12/03/94) - id's more detailed quake status info from their .plan,
screenshots, previews, demos, beta section.
yet another (minute) change in my email adress)
2.40 (12/04/94) - john romero's first posting to alt.games.quake
2.60 (12/12/94) - romero/dille interview from the d2 strategy guide
2.80 (01/05/95) - a further romero posting to alt.games.quake,
a section on 'unconfirmed rumors'
2.90h (02/01/95) - first official html version. cgw jan '95 sniplet, new
finger service, minor quake update from id.
2.91 (02/02/95) - i forgot to include the 'cgw sniplet' in 2.90h
3.00 (02/13/95) - disclaimer, 'what's new?' section, romero alpha
tester warning, vintage quake announcement.
3.20 (06/11/95) - nin music for quake?, jay's beta testing policy
and .sig, djgpp and quake, progress on the real
quake faq, qt availability, mcgee's random comments,
3d sound for quake, various .plans
-> 3.5 (07/26/95) - update on quake's status from help@id's .plan,
-> small excerps from several mails with mcgee,
-> electronic entertainment quote on quake's network
-> protocol, an interview between jay wilbur and
-> flux magazine, computer gaming's web site on quake,
-> abrash and the 'speed of the sky', german 'pc games'
-> magazine interview with dave taylor, romero talks
-> on #doom and #dwango, lots of terrible spelling
-> errors removed and new ones added. ddt irc log.
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