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General
I short, Quake
3 Arena promises to be the greatest multiplayer game ever
created. id Software tend to make bold statments with the
confidence that they will deliver.
There is a
huge divide in preference to large outdoor well lit levels
and the dark gothic levels seen in Quake. id Software have
already started making levels to suit as many people as possible.
People were sad to see the flying gibs and blood greatly reduced
in Quake2, only to be replaced by a splash of blood and a
couple of large gibs on the floor. Quake Arena promises
to bring back the blood, guts, gibs and screams with avengance.
Rocket jumping
remains a part of the game, which is nice. There is
a split however for ramp jumping (I personally would like
to see it included). On the subject of jumping, there
will be a new inclusion to the id first person shooter...
Bounce pads! We all remember them from 'Rise of the
Triads' don't we? John Carmack has explained that, ladders
were too difficult to navigate for 'New' players, and that
it slowed the gameplay down too much. Not only that
but you had to be facing the ladder to use it. This
was a pain while you are trying to shoot at someone whilst
trying to evade them. Bounce pads will help by simply
allowing a player to simply run/jump on them (while they look/shoot
where ever they like).
Teleporters
are going to be few and far between, because these little
buggers confuse 'New' players. Not only that but they
are also the least realistic parts of the game in my opinion.
The biggest plus, is of course... Less telefragging!
Player
Models
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Player
models will comprise of around 800 faces, 24-bit textures,
specular lighting and hierarchically deformed models.
Unlike
first person shooters of the past, these models will
be split into separate pieces, allowing the model designer
to concentrate on more realistic characteristics. For
example, when the player looks up in the air the whole
model does not tilt back (like in the past), Quake Arena
will make the players head tilt backwards and then the
upper body follows. Legs twist separately form the body,
so when you look left whilst running, the legs will
change direction, closely followed by the remainder
of the body.
24-bit
textures, will allow model editors to create skins with
ease. No more problems with 256 colors, this will mean
that we can scan pictures and literally paste them onto
our models for ultra realistic models.
Specular
lighting will give the effect of shiny metalic or glass
textures.
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Weapons
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The
weapons will will consist of -
Shotgun
Rocket launcher
Grenade launcher
Rail Gun
Machine Gun
Plasma Gun
Ultimate Weapon
Other
weapons that may or may not be in the game -
Pistol
Carbine Gun
Flamethrower
Bouncy Weapon
Lightening Gun
Improvements
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Better
weapon cycling - This will speed up the process of chosing
weapons.
Weapon Switch times - No more waiting while
you put away one weapon and get out the next.
Weapon Speed - The speed in which projectiles
travel will be customisable (as is just about everything
else).
Weapon Dropping - By dropping your weapon,
you will be able to run approx 20% faster.
Each
weapon will have it's own special effects when they
hit the opponent.
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Items/Powerups
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Many
items from popular Quake2 mods have made it into the game
such as :-
Health
Packs - According to Redwood these will look
like glass spheres with red crosses inside.
Quad Damage - The item can be seen
on the left, along with a picture of what affects this
will have a player model.
Haste - We've all seen this in Capture The
Flag... (in case you haven't it makes you shoot quicker)
Regeneration - Whilst you run around, your
health slowly increases up to its maximum.
Invisibility - Guess what this does!
Grappling Hook - This may or may not get into
the final game (I personally hope it doesn't - Unless
you can swing).
Jet Pack - There are rumours of a jetpack.
The Mac preview certainly looks like the player is flighing
at times.
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The
Levels
So far, it
looks like levels are going to be optimised so that 30,000
or so faces will be visible from any one point. Curved surfaces
will play a large factor in increasing the detail and realism
of what used to be small square rooms. Again, 24-bit
textures will be used to increase realism and basically to
make better looking views. The levels will be large
enough to host 64 players (providing the server is up to it).
Transparent windows (well actually portals) will be used,
to aid to those voyuers out.
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Here
is an example of a player stood in front of a rotating
mirror. These will probably best used for looking
around corners for those 'camping little....' you know
what I mean. |
Performance
So far,
the specificationa for servers are comparable to Quake2.
Clients:
John Carmack has so far claimed that
any machine capable of running Quake2 will be capable of running
Quake Arena although some detail/functionality may have to
be reduced slightly.
Servers:
As a rule of thumg Quake2 servers used
8MHz per player, Quake Arena should be somewhere around 10-12MHz
per player.
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