Interview: Rage producer Jason Kim

Rage senior producer Jason Kim talks with Shacknews about the decision not to have an online shooter mode in the game, building AI, level design, and the evolution of Rage in general.

Garnett Lee

April 30, 2011 3:00 PM

This fall, id Software debuts the next major version of its game engine, id Tech 5, with a brand new IP titled Rage. It boasts a design as ambitious as the technical aspirations of the new engine it showcases. An expansive single-player campaign set in post-apocalyptic wastes, co-op side-quests, and a competitive combat buggy competitive multiplayer mode combine to give the project its massive scope. After a demo presentation of the combat rally multiplayer mode and hands-on time where I got to play four levels from the campaign and one of the single-player races, I sat down with the game's senior producer, Jason Kim to talk about the decision not to include a competitive shooter mode and how the rest of the design of Rage has evolved. Shacknews: Why not a shooter for multiplayer? Jason Kim: It wasn't an answer that we came up with easily. There were of course many people internally who said, "Well, we have to do competitive multiplayer because we're id." And, if you go back even further, when we went about making Rage, we really weren't making Rage; we were making something else. Then, as the technology evolved...when we start making a game, John says, "okay, that's old tech, we're making new stuff and we have to figure out how to make a game around all that." So we have a high level goal at the start, as we start iterating through all that stuff. The question was raised, "are we really exploiting this technology to its fullest?" and when the answer was "no," we decided "okay, what are we going to do?" and that's how Rage came about. So we said vehicles; we want to drive through the wasteland; we want to put weapons on them; we want to destroy stuff. John pushed the boundaries on the technology; we wanted to push the boundaries on the design and on the art. We took that mentality and we wanted to push it even further into the online component. We've done competitive multiplayer before. We've had some successes; we've had some failures. But we wanted to stick to our guns and say Rage is something different.

Rage Combat Rally online multiplayer

We're trying to go deeper on the story; we're trying to go deeper with the weapons; we have different ammo types--we've never done that before. We've had alternate fire for different games that were built externally for us, but never really the kind of choices we have now in Rage. We also have engineering items, which again leads to a lot of player choices on how you approach combat in these combat environments. So take that idea of what Rage is about, how we want to push the boundaries; let's use the fiction; let's use the vehicles; let's use that to make an online component people aren't expecting. And that's how we came to this vehicle combat rally mode. It lends itself to the two-way street we have between single-player and multiplayer. We want to take that opportunity with the fiction from the very beginning of the game when you come out of the arc and you're wondering what your role is in the game--from a player going, "okay, I'm out in this wasteland environment, what am I supposed to do? Well, the game shows you what you're supposed to do. We want you to live this kind of action movie experience and you be the hero. So you have to figure out what you're supposed to do by forging a relationship with all the settlers and NPCs. So when we were pushing on the story, we thought, "People really love co-op; we love co-op." We don't want them to play the entire campaign with a buddy because you're just playing the same thing again with just another guy. And some people like that; some people are going to ask for that, and when this comes out they're going to say why didn't you make campaign mode completely playable with a co-op buddy? The reason why we did that is because there are nice story pockets for the co-op online experience; we call it Legends of the Wasteland. This almost came about opportunistically because we knew we wanted to do co-op. So while we're putting this thing together and iterating through it we thought, "We should use these story elements because it's really interesting. It's a tall tale." You're being thrust into this little nugget of the story, and there are set parameters. We know what they did, but it was a legend. So now you're playing that role. You're not playing the story of the single-player campaign but it's something that complimented your success through the single-player campaign. So you're seeing what the other side was like. It's almost like when Valve came out with Blue Shift and you were able to play the police force. We wanted to give you those little nuggets. You play with a buddy, tie it with the fiction, and it's just fun gameplay. You understand how to use the quick use items and the different weapons but we lay out all the parameters; it's pretty well defined. You go in there, and you play with your co-op buddy and do things that you have to do in a partner-type situation--you can revive your friend. We throw in a few extra things to make the co-op experience really interesting and we hope that when it gets out there it's a compelling piece of content. Shacknews: It's a brave decision. How much of an influence was directly from the story? Jason Kim: You can take the idea of Rage and the fiction of Rage and create a pretty compelling competitive mode with it but that's another game. We made some hard choices. It wasn't an easy thing to say this is what we wanted to do. It would have been easier to say people expect this; we've done this before; we know we can make a good one. We should just do it. There has been that side of it. But it was really fun putting together something new and fresh that we haven't done before, and that goes for all the things we're doing in single-player and pushing those boundaries in the online component. It may not be completely new from the standpoint of comparing it to other games but there are so many things that we haven't done with past games that we're doing now that we are actually pushing our own boundaries and out of our comfort zone. Shacknews: How much of the core of Rage has changed since the first things we saw publicly of the mutants in the wastelands some years ago? Jason Kim: I think the biggest thing; you know the story was always evolving and we're trying to make sure that the story complimented the actions that you would perform in the game--but we nailed that from pretty early in development. I think the things that actually...when we started iterating and creating the world and creating the AI and all the different combatants, even though we knew what they were going to be--we knew there were going to be mutants, we knew there were going to be bandits, we knew there was going to be the Authority you fight at the end--we wanted to make them as diverse as possible but we didn't know exactly how to do that. We've always had a one-face army that you tackle and that's it. We never had so much diversity in a game before, not just from an NPC and story delivery standpoint, but even the guys you fight. So we started out with the mutants because that's totally different than what we've done before. They're very organic the way they move. We know there are risks there, and it came out pretty nicely. And we went on to the bandits, and how to differentiate between the different clans--the ghosts, the wasted, the gearheads, the jackals--there's subtle differences in how they present themselves from VO and how we process their voices, even different characters and different actors that we used for that.

Bandits pose different threats in Rage

But there's also different ways that they approach the character from a tactical standpoint. There are some, like the wasted, who are not too smart. They don't have a grouping plan; they'll come straight at you with a club knowing that you've got a shotgun in your hands. That's just the way they are; they're in your face. Some guys will take cover and never come out because they're too scared, or when you fight the Authority, they'll have the best tech and most militarized tactics for coming at you. There'll be a guy with a shield, a riot shield, but it's energy-based, and if you throw a rocket launcher on that thing, if it takes a full hit, it may come down a little bit but it's energy-based and supposed to take that hit; that guy's not going to die. You use what we give you--an emp grenade and other electric-based ammo types--to be able to take that down quicker. If he doesn't have a recharge station nearby, then he's now vulnerable. Shacknews: To support that you need a pretty capable AI, how have you developed that? Jason Kim: It's always iterative because we really don't know how it's going to turn out. Here's what we want to do; let's put a guy in here and let's do this, and if it turns out to be good we polish it. That's how it's been with the AI. It's been this basic "a guy with a gun comes at you" and what can we do to make this better. We just keep on improving and improving. That's what we have now. We have this very dynamic set of AI and an animation web tree that's pretty complex. When you shoot the guys in the shoulder or the leg they react appropriately. When you finally kill them they don't just slump into a rag doll. That's a good example of how we iterated. They immediately went to ragdoll and we thought that looked kind of rubbery and it's a little weird. They're coming at you and they just immediately slump; it doesn't feel satisfying. So our animators and our AI programmer thought well, what we could do is we have this animation system, why don't we put a transitional animation there where they could actually do this cool death animation before they go into ragdoll? We had to prove that out. So they do that on their own, put it all together, show a proof of concept, and then that becomes a system. That's how we iterate through getting most of the polish that we have now. Shacknews: How much has level design changed and how much more are you able to do now in id tech 5? For instance, the abandoned hospital level I played seems more expansive than levels in prior id games. Jason Kim: It's almost worlds different the way the designers were working with id tech 3 for Doom. That was a totally different way of looking at an environment. Now, with id tech 5, we have artists and designers building environments, sometimes artists building environments straight from scratch and having some prototype gameplay elements that they know that they have to adhere to. That's why I think you feel that serpentine, almost organic element in what the environments look like. We did that on purpose from a design standpoint because Rage is not a space station; it's not supposed to be practical in nature. But we're still a business, and we have to do things efficiently so we have to reuse a lot of assets. With id tech 5 and the way that we're able to uniquely texture everything it wasn't a big deal to make unique stuff all across everything. It's just a matter of time and resources at that point. So when it came time to make some of the signature levels--and what you're talking about is Dead City--that was built by an artist; one artist made all of that with a designer. Hand built literally from scratch. It's something that we're able to do because the talent that we have, technology to support it, and the resources to be able to say, "You know what? We need to make this thing the best it can be," and take the time to do it. I think high level philosophy on how we approach design has always been true to what we wanted players to feel. We want to immerse the player. I think every developer will tell you this. We want to make people happy and we want to immerse them in our world. I think we're doing it in a way that's similar to what other developers want to do but we're fortunate to have the capabilities to execute on that and now the backing of a big company that is partnered with us and we work with extraordinary people like Todd Howard and his group. There's so many things that we can tap into now that when we talk about different things it really is interesting to see how similar it is to some of the other groups because we really had been insular--even though we had a lot of Dallas developers that we talked to from time to time, we kind of did our own thing. Now we can see a different side of what other developers do and see how similar it is to ours. Shacknews: How do you keep the balance with all the extras so that the focus stays on being a great shooter? Jason Kim: We try not to let it be a distraction but we can't help ourselves. We look at the comments, and the forums, and we're all gamers too; what the consumers want, we want too. There's a lot of challenges with a new IP but we do have some tried-and-true stuff. We have Doom; we've already announced that. We also have other IPs. We have Quake; we have Wolfenstein. If people want that, we have the IPs to deliver it. And we have a different approach now; we're forging a new path. I think we can freshen those things up...we don't have anything in the works right now but I think when we start talking about different things we can do with the other properties that we have I hope people are receptive to what we want to do and what we think would be fun for players to experience coming out of id Software. Our studio has grown a lot, not just in size but also in design and art process, and even a technology standpoint. John has admitted he can't do everything on his own. There are a lot of smart guys that are required to be able to make a game these days. He can't just lock himself up in a room, come out with an engine, and say okay, make a game with this.

Garnett Lee

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Shacknews

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April 30, 2011 3:00 PM

Garnett Lee posted a new article, Interview: Rage producer Jason Kim.

Rage senior producer Jason Kim talks with Shacknews about the decision not to have an online shooter mode in the game, building AI, level design, and the evolution of Rage in general.
- scernos
  
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  April 30, 2011 3:02 PM
  
  Nice article..any word if the PS3 version is going to run at 60fps?
  - humbleone
    
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    April 30, 2011 3:15 PM
    
    Pretty sure that I remembered reading that it would.
    - [deleted] 341930907
      
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      April 30, 2011 3:37 PM
      
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      - humbleone
        
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        April 30, 2011 4:02 PM
        
        yep thats it. Would surprise me if they didn't succeed in doing so.
  - JunctionEight
    
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    April 30, 2011 4:00 PM
    
    All versions run at 60.
  - [deleted] 348680680
    
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    April 30, 2011 6:30 PM
    
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  - [deleted] 348680680
    
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    April 30, 2011 6:30 PM
    
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  - kiddygrinder
    
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    April 30, 2011 8:25 PM
    
    they got the thing running on iphone, i'd say it's definately going to do alright on the consoles, how much fancy stuff they have to cut out is a diff question
    - cptincognito
      
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      May 1, 2011 8:14 PM
      
      They've said it's the exact same game, last year's quakecon they showed all three side by side and there was no difference.
- humbleone
  
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  April 30, 2011 3:14 PM
  
  I am glad that id decided to go with a new IP this time. Here is hoping it will succeed - but at the same time not getting a sequel. Once Doom 4 is done I'd like to see yet another new IP.
  - u sir name
    
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    April 30, 2011 3:59 PM
    
    I would like to see them stretch and do a large open world game like Just Cause 2. I bet they could make something amazing.
  - mobab
    
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    April 30, 2011 7:10 PM
    
    I'm hoping they succeed here too. id engines have always felt so much superior than others, especially the controls.
    - code-e255
      
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      April 30, 2011 10:02 PM
      
      The ET:QW engine was rather slow. Sniping was a real bitch in that game due to choppyness.
      
      And the Q4 engine also didn't seem as refined as the Q3 one.
- Walterbennet
  
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  April 30, 2011 3:34 PM
  
  I love id software, but all this game does is make me want Borderlands 2.
  - DinK
    
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    April 30, 2011 4:43 PM
    
    holy shit yes
  - jeffcox111
    
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    May 2, 2011 6:55 AM
    
    Hellooo Traveler!!
- [deleted] 341930907
  
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  April 30, 2011 3:38 PM
  
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  - pillzer
    
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    April 30, 2011 4:10 PM
    
    Why bother? Because some people won't buy the game if it doesn't have MP.
    - [deleted] 341930907
      
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      April 30, 2011 4:17 PM
      
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      - pillzer
        
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        April 30, 2011 4:21 PM
        
        What is your point? That it sold well despite the lack of MP? Personally I don't care much for MP. But, some people will definitely not buy a FPS if it doesn't have MP; that's a bit silly but that's how it is.
        
        [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 4:22 PM
        
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        pillzer
        
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        April 30, 2011 4:36 PM
        
        Doom3 had MP too, 3 people played it; and yet it sold like hot cakes. Hopefully this time they do a better job and it'll be a valid reason for some people to buy the game.
        
        the archvile
        
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        April 30, 2011 6:23 PM
        
        Doom 3 multiplayer flopped for 2 main reasons:
        
        1: Waah, it's just regular deathmatch
        2: Waah, the server takes up a shitload of CPU time; I could easily run 3 CS servers instead
        
        Resurrection of Evil had a rather nice CTF mode, and I had lots of fun in the few games I was able to join.
        
        anal justice
        
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        May 2, 2011 1:52 PM
        
        True that. RoE has some pretty sick CTF. It's such a waste, though, because hardly anyone played it :(
      - LemonJoose
        
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        April 30, 2011 5:04 PM
        
        Bioshock was also available used at a much lower price very soon after release because of not having any replay value after finishing the campaign once. A decent MP mode would reduce the number of people who re-sell their copies after finishing the single-player mode.
        
        bouxdag
        
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        April 30, 2011 6:23 PM
        
        Didn't seem to help much with Bioshock 2. =)
        
        I guess you could say Bioshock 2's MP wasn't decent, but then you go back to "you need something very exceptional to move poeple away from cod/halo"
    - Vorlonesque
      
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      April 30, 2011 7:25 PM
      
      If it was QW caliber...some people would be all over that shit!
      - [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:29 PM
        
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        [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:29 PM
        
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        Vorlonesque
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:43 PM
        
        I meant quakeworld, yeah. But I loved QW, DOOM2, Quake3, even Quake2...I'd love to see id do a balls to the walls crazy MP game with movement tricks and poweful weapons (that's where I feel Q3A and to a greater extent QLive fall short...the weapons are fucking nerf guns). No one makes that kind of game anymore...and I think there's a audience for it...perhaps not enough to sink huuuuge amounts of money into making just that...but perhaps attached to a AAA single player game or perhaps as a smaller budget project.
        
        I enjoy CoDBLOPS and BC2...but I they scratch certain itches and leave others unsatisfied. I've loved playing QW with shackers lately...and I love playing the occasional game of DOOM2 via skulltag. Hell I've been working on OpenGL code for the Generations Arena guys because I love oldschool deathmatch and Warsow and Nexuiz have given me a lot of fun.
        
        It just makes me sad that a whole style of gameplay is pretty much forgotten and ignored because its not the new hotness. Old ideas and styles are still viable; otherwise we wouldn't see things like Street Fighter 4 or Starcraft 2 do well. The DOOMs and Quakes of the 90's are a similar thing...I'd love to see a return of that sort of fast fun and brutal deathmatch to brighten our lives!
        
        [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:44 PM
        
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        Vorlonesque
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:47 PM
        
        I think I mentioned enjoying it...thought not many people are playing the modes I'm interested in (I end up playing Nexuiz more).
        
        I also think the damages on the weapons could be higher...but thats just me nitpicking.
        
        zehh
        
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        May 2, 2011 8:04 AM
        
        This.
        
        Why people think anything like QW will come out? It won't. DM is dead. If it did, people would hate it anyway, just because it's not exactly like QW.
  - Utukku
    
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    April 30, 2011 7:04 PM
    
    Ummmm, because it would be nice to have more than 2 companies making FPS MP?!?! You know, that competition driving innovation thing.
    - kiddygrinder
      
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      April 30, 2011 8:27 PM
      
      suggesting that only 2 companies do fps mp is patently ridiculous. maybe you mean worthwhile fps mp?
- pillzer
  
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  April 30, 2011 4:17 PM
  
  On a related note somebody will kill Todd Hollenshead and his whole family if Doom4 is a no-show again this year at Quakecon. Just stating the obvious.
- cell9song
  
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  April 30, 2011 5:17 PM
  
  the excuse for no on-foot MP is so convoluted and vague that its laughable. You're cutting it out because you don't have the time or the imagination to do something truly "different" (automobile combat is not "new" or "different".....sorry). You've run out of ideas in other words.
  - Arcanum
    
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    April 30, 2011 5:38 PM
    
    Combat racing is a pretty rare breed these days. You have Blur, sort of, and....what? Is there anything else?
    - mobab
      
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      April 30, 2011 7:12 PM
      
      Interstate 76! Rage would definitely have competition!
      - [deleted] 2106521533
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:25 PM
        
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        mobab
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:27 PM
        
        Have they mentioned anything about modding the game. I'm sure someone would do it if the engine is publicly modable.
        
        jet-poop
        
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        April 30, 2011 10:14 PM
        
        Open the console, type idstudio, you get the same tools they used to build the game (minus professional tools like Mudbox, Maya, Photoshop etc.)
        
        No word on how much of the game source is going to be exposed though. I actually don't think anybody has asked.
        
        AxeMan808
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:29 PM
        
        This would be optimal, but I'd accept a Quarantine or Hi Octane remake.
        
        anal justice
        
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        May 2, 2011 5:48 PM
        
        I've been waiting for Hi-Octane remake for about 15 years now...
  - cptincognito
    
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    April 30, 2011 5:59 PM
    
    Automobile combat's been done, but it hasn't been done all that well- possibly the reason people aren't thrilled to hear RAGEmp is deathrally. Borderlands vehicles were absolute trash, things like Motorstorm and Blur are great fun but pure racers.
    
    There's a ton of great options out there for on-foot MP- BF3, CoD, Gears, hell QuakeLive. The rally racing stuff works really well for idTech5. Think about it- what's the best thing about id mp? Speed. You're simply not going to get a Quake-fast mp shooter in the age of consoles, but maybe Deathrally will manage to play like an id mp game in spirit.
    - Vorlonesque
      
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      April 30, 2011 7:35 PM
      
      "You're simply not going to get a Quake-fast mp shooter in the age of consoles"
      
      This is why I hate people, and why the 90's were better than now! :[
      - [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:36 PM
        
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        Vorlonesque
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:46 PM
        
        No one plays much other than fucking 1v1 and instagib it seems. I like Warsow...though I prefer Nexuiz of the two. Warsow's weaponry is just a tiny bit weak (I think its mostly the whole fucked up ammo scheme where you have to get "strong" ammo or something to do decent damage)...then again I felt Q3's weapons were weak (don't get me started on the fucking 125 health respawn thing).
        
        [deleted] 341930907
        
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        April 30, 2011 7:47 PM
        
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    - cell9song
      
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      April 30, 2011 10:14 PM
      
      I don't think anyone is looking for a Quake-style shooter out of RAGE but at the same time they could have done something unique using both vehicular AND on-foot MP.
      
      Again, they're simply trying to justify a decision that was based on time and resources and NOT some sort of high-brow artistic gameplay ideals. IOW, they're full of shit. Just admit the truth and stand behind the decision, don't bullshit people.
      - cptincognito
        
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        May 1, 2011 1:53 PM
        
        If there's any bullshit going on it's that RAGE isn't a good racer. The first video they showed was heavily racing oriented. Then people freaked out and they backpedaled on the racing in marketing. Fact is they've been playtesting the racing since 2007. It's not a time and resources problem if they just didn't want to do on foot mp. They've been heavily involved with Quake4 and ETQW, mp shooters that didn't really work out. Why not let them try something new?
      - phipple
        
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        May 3, 2011 11:28 AM
        
        Exactly, I'd like to see a mix. What I really wanted Rage to be was an FPS MMO quest based game. It would have been so cool to fight other clans in one big world, vying for resources and finishing quests.
        
        phipple
        
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        May 3, 2011 11:33 AM
        
        And due to the size of the world, vehicle based combat would have been in there as well. I had heard of rage before borderlands, and what I posted above was what I had always hoped for (until the gameplay news came out.) So when I heard of Borderlands, I had wished the same thing. They did co-op, but it's still only a handful of people in the Borderlands world. MMO would be much more fun.
- Memphis-Ahn
  
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  April 30, 2011 7:37 PM
  
  Surprised nobody commented on the fact that the entirety of that beautiful Dead City was built by one single artist. That's some mighty impressive tech imho, more impressive than any noire mouthmoving or superealism crysis.
  - [deleted] 341930907
    
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    April 30, 2011 7:46 PM
    
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  - hirez
    
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    April 30, 2011 7:47 PM
    
    that's awesome. I think the tech a great advancement for games; the fact that they are getting more complex and require more detail requires more technical solutions or games are going to be incredibly expensive to produce.
  - Wisp!
    
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    April 30, 2011 8:40 PM
    
    That guy won't have any trouble finding a job should he leave id.
  - Vorlonesque
    
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    April 30, 2011 8:58 PM
    
    Holy shit. That alone is a game changer...one of the biggest problems in game development anymore is how expensive it is to create content...games require more and more labor to make content and that's something thats been a continuing trend and problem in terms of the price of development. Carmack himself has mentioned as much...if this is the case then he wasn't kidding about focusing on that problem.
    
    TL;DR version: Content is hard...Carmack decided to fix that...way to go Carmack!
    - hirez
      
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      April 30, 2011 9:04 PM
      
      omg its like we're post twins!
  - etherealrhythm
    
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    May 1, 2011 1:37 AM
    
    But Crysis also used megatexture technology for creating environments. Given enough time, there's no reason a single artist couldn't have done the same for that game. You can check it out for yourself in the free level editor released with the game... four years ago. But yeah, it is very impressive.
    - Kristian Joensen
      
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      May 1, 2011 4:17 AM
      
      "But Crysis also used megatexture technology for creating environments."
      
      What? Where did you get that notion from???
  - cptincognito
    
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    May 1, 2011 2:27 PM
    
    Don't think for a second that it wasn't a lot of work- you'd be shocked and amazed how good that single 3d artist is- they've built a ton of scripts to facilitate the workflow, but they have artists that can do the work of 10 people.
- spyrext
  
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  April 30, 2011 8:49 PM
  
  Good questions I haven't seen anywhere else. I like this interview, and I didn't know about their plans for multi-player until now.
- [deleted] 1271987451
  
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  April 30, 2011 9:27 PM
  
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  - cell9song
    
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    April 30, 2011 10:15 PM
    
    there's MP but only vehicular based.
    
    Dumbest decision ever.
    - pyide
      
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      April 30, 2011 10:43 PM
      
      It sounded pretty interesting from Garnett's description on the latest Weekend Confirmed podcast.
      
      More interesting than another boring MP mode from id, anyway. How many people actually played and liked Doom 3 online? If there's an SDK they won't be able to stop anyone from making their own MP mode, and they could always do one themselves after the fact if people aren't digging the Combat Rally.
      - spyrext
        
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        April 30, 2011 11:18 PM
        
        I agree, especially about DOOM3. Also, I've hated id's multiplayer since Quake 3 (I know, I know, shhhhh!) I think it's pretty fucking impressive that id's willing to try something novel instead of another Quake 3. Racing game? I'll give it a try!
        
        code-e255
        
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        May 1, 2011 2:19 AM
        
        Racing game with GUNS! There aren't enough in this genre. Twisted Metal has shown that this can be fucking awesome. Good that someone else is giving it a try.
    - code-e255
      
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      May 1, 2011 2:17 AM
      
      I think it's a good decision. Who needs yet another typical MP FPS that's just half-assedly implemented to have another check on the product's feature list?
      - [deleted] 1271987451
        
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        May 1, 2011 4:25 PM
        
        [deleted]
    - focusdaily
      
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      May 1, 2011 3:54 PM
      
      I think it would be nice to see some different game modes available in the MP ie. a destruction derby that takes place in a large arena. Of course, the ability to exit your vehicle and climb the walls, nooks and crannies to set up traps for other drivers would be necessary. I'm sure id has considered this at some point.
      
      Perhaps we'll see some form of ground combat (besides co-op) as DLC?
- [deleted] 877988455
  
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  April 30, 2011 9:44 PM
  
  [deleted]
  - pillzer
    
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    May 1, 2011 6:53 AM
    
    I never believe anything any developper says about AI. This is the one part that 99% of studios choke on and somehow over hype any way.. Not sure why.
    - [deleted] 877988455
      
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      May 1, 2011 7:34 AM
      
      [deleted]
      - cptincognito
        
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        May 1, 2011 2:32 PM
        
        They've got John Dean, the guy that did the quake wars bots, which were very good.
        
        [deleted] 877988455
        
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        May 1, 2011 3:13 PM
        
        [deleted]
    - cptincognito
      
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      May 1, 2011 2:29 PM
      
      Just watch the videos- watch how the enemies move across the map, and realize that it isn't pre-scripted animation, its damn good pathfinding.
- dookiebot
  
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  April 30, 2011 11:20 PM
  
  So cool to see iD pushing boundaries other than tech. I am hoping this ends up being that special type game that only comes along every now and then that gamers forever look back on with admiration. Like Mechwarriors 2 Mercenaries, Deus ex, Half Life...
- matthaeus
  
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  May 1, 2011 4:21 AM
  
  I think it's a smart decision not to include classic multiplayer ("foot-based"). Rage obviously has a complete different focus. Today we have many excellent and polished multiplayer games - why waste ressources on creating something similar (which will most likely be not as good as the most popular multiplayer games today)?
  - Gwyndion
    
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    May 2, 2011 6:14 AM
    
    I respect their bravery on this one... they know that an amazing deathmatch mode is expected of an id game, but they stuck with what they felt was right instead of caving to expectations. This is one thing I like about id... they have always stuck to their beliefs and weren't afraid to say "screw the general opinion, we know what we want to make... and we know it will be fun.. so we are going to do it".
- pleasedpig
  
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  May 1, 2011 9:59 AM
  
  It sounds like they're really pushing the envelope of possibilities by discovering death animations!
- mad-d00d
  
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  May 1, 2011 12:01 PM
  
  I like how he completely dodged the A.I question by talking about the death animation system, as in it doesn't matter how the enemies act so long as they die nicely!
- The Wilhelm Scream
  
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  May 1, 2011 2:38 PM
  
  No questions about graphics options for the PC version :(
- deceiver
  
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  May 2, 2011 2:59 PM
  
  Anyone remember Quake Rally - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvaVgmIUrc
  - mrflamey
    
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    May 6, 2011 5:00 AM
    
    yeah, considering it was a racing game running in a 1996 FPS game engine, it felt pretty good. The controls were weird at first, but once you got used to it it wasn't bad. The same guy also made Quake Chess :)