Could you make money off of Linux games if they played better than on Windows Mr Carmack?
Subject: General Tech | August 8, 2012 - 04:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: valve, linux, left 4 dead, john carmack, gaming
While running at a measly 6fps means that the zombies will get you, at 315fps you can't complain that you didn't see them coming. That is the current frame rate Valve is reporting their Linux test machine can produce when playing the Linux implementation of Left 4 Dead. That hardware was a Core i7 3930k, GeForce GTX 680 and 32 GB RAM and we were given a result from the same hardware running Win7; a slower 303fps after tweaking OpenGL. That takes performance concerns out of the picture when discussing gaming on Linux but it does not quite answer what John Carmack brought up in his QuakeCon keynote speech. As he points out, building goodwill among the Linux community hasn't paid for the programming in the past and simply increasing performance will not directly translate into better sales figures. However if we start seeing more Linux based Valve titles outperforming Windows on the same hardware, some enthusiasts are likely to set up a dual boot system, if not move their gaming rig to Linux solely. Read more at The Inquirer.
"Valve announced its plans to port its Steam content delivery service and Left 4 Dead 2 to Linux just last month. The firm has already made astonishing progress, announcing that with various performance tweaks it has managed to get the Linux version of Left 4 Dead 2 using OpenGL to run significantly faster than the Direct3D Windows 7 version."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- ShootMania Storm PC Preview @ eTeknix
- Sob: Thief 4 Sneaking Onto Next Gen Consoles? @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Wot I Think: Skyrim Dawnguard @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- You Could Pre-Purchase Counter-Strike: Global Offensive @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Heavy Metal: MechWarrior’s Not-So-Smooth Moves @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Quantum Conundrum (PSN) @ Kitguru
- New Super Mario Brothers 2 Nintendo 3DS @ Tweaktown
Introduction, Virtual Insanity and Game of Making Games panels
Our second day at Quakecon 2012 started bright and early with expert panel discussions led by some of the gaming industry's elite game designers and programmers from around the globe. These panel discussions focused primary around the process different game studios go through to produce triple AAA titles and current developments in virtual reality headset technology. There was also more discussions about creating mods for games like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and utilizing modding communities as resources to produce higher quality games.
In between panel discussions, Quakecon hosted the first round of their annual Bawls chugging competition. BYOC gamers and event attendees were also able to try out a few game demos of Smite, Rise of the Triad, Dishonored, and Doom 3 BFG Edition. There were also several "quick draw" Quake Live matches to give out raffle tickets for a chance to win a new 2012 Ford Shelby GT500 Coupe.
Read more about our coverage from Quakecon 2012!
3+ Hours of discussion later...
The beginning of QuakeCon is always started by several hours of John Carmack talking about very technical things. This two hour keynote typically runs into the three to four hour range, and it was no different this time. John certainly has the gift of gab when it comes to his projects, but unlike others his gab is chock full of useful information, often quite beyond the understanding of those in the audience.
The first topic of discussion was that of last year’s Rage launch. John was quite apologetic about how it went, especially in terms of PC support. For a good portion of users out there, it simply would not work due to driver issues on the AMD side. The amount of lessons they learned from Rage were tremendous. iD simply cannot afford to release two games in one decade. Rage took some six plus years of development. Consider that Doom 3 was released in 2004, and we did not see Rage until Fall 2011. The technology in Rage is a big step up due to the use of iD Tech 5, and the art assets of the title are very impressive.
iD also made some big mistakes in how they have marketed the title. Many people were assuming that it would be a title more in line with Bethesda’s Fallout 3 with a lot of RPG type missions and storyline. Instead of a 80 hour title that one would expect, it was a 10+ hour action title. So marketing needs to create a better representation of what the game entails. They also need to stay a bit more focused on what they will be delivering, and be able to do so in a timely manner.
Event kickoff, hardware workshop prizes, packed BYOC!
Yesterday marked the official start of Quakecon 2012 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. This four-day event includes PC gaming awesomeness for more than 2,800 gamers in the Bring Your Own Computer LAN section as well as access to numerous gaming vendors and PC hardware exhibits. The event is sponsored by many big names in the gaming and PC hardware industry as well like Alienware, Intel, Ventrilo, Plantronics Gamecom, Cooler Master, Western Digital, and many others.
The day got off to a rocky start as id Software co-founder John Carmack's annual keynote address was delayed by more than two hours. Hundreds of gamers also lined the hallways waiting throughout the day for the opportunity to get into the already packed BYOC. But, unfortunately many were turned away from gaming at the event. This is one of the first times in almost a decade that the BYOC area was filled to capacity on the very first day of Quakecon!
Carmack Speaks
Last week we were in Dallas, Texas covering Quakecon 2011 as well as hosting our very own PC Perspective Hardware Workshop. While we had over 1100 attendees at the event and had a blast judging the case mod contest, one of the highlights of the event is always getting to sit down with John Carmack and pick his brain about topics of interest. We got about 30 minutes of John's time over the weekend and pestered him with questions about the GPU hardware race, how Intel's intergrated graphics (and AMD Fusion) fit in the future of PCs, the continuing debate about ray tracing, rasterization, voxels and infinite detail engines, key technologies for PC gamers like multi-display engines and a lot more!
One of our most read articles of all time was our previous interview with Carmack that focused a lot more on the ray tracing and rasterization debate. If you never read that, much of it is still very relevant today and is worth reading over.
This year though John has come full circle on several things including ray tracing, GPGPU workloads and even the advantages that console hardware has over PC gaming hardware.
Continue reading to see the full video interview and our highlights from it!!
Event Kickoff
id Software executives Todd Hollenshead, Paul Steed, and John Carmack provided the opening remarks to kick off the start of this year's Quakecon 2011 today at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. Quakecon is the largest LAN party in North America and typically draws thousands of gamers from all over the world.
Hollenshead got the crowd going with several announcements for discounted games on Steam and the first public demonstration of The Elder Scrolls V: SkyRim. He also mentioned the first demo of sequel Prey 2. Every iOS game put out by id Software, which includes game titles like Rage, Doom II RPG, Wolfenstein, and others, will be 50 percent off from Thursday to Sunday. Hollenshead also challenges Quakecon participates and stated that if the Rage Facebook pages gets 100,000 likes by the end of the weekend, the Rage iOS games will be free for a limited time. PC gamers were not left in the cold as the Doom and Quake pack that includes every Doom and Quake game available on Steam can be purchased for $29.99. Gamers can also drop some cash for the Quakecon Pack, which includes every Bethesda Softworks and id Software title available on Steam for only $69.99. This price will be reduced for gamers who pre-order Rage, Skyrim or both game titles.
John Carmack Interview: Question and Topic suggestions?
Subject: Editorial, Graphics Cards, Processors | August 4, 2011 - 11:15 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: nvidia, john carmack, interview, carmack, amd
A couple of years back we talked on the phone with John Carmack during the period of excitement about ray tracing and game engines. That interview is still one of our most read articles on PC Perspective as he always has interesting topics and information to share. While we are hosting the PC Perspective Hardware Workshop on Saturday at Quakecon 2011, we also scheduled some time to sit with John again to pick his brain on hardware and technology.
If you had a chance to ask John Carmack questions about hardware and technology, either the current sets of each or what he sees coming in the future, what would you ask? Let us know in our comments section below!! (No registration required to comment.)
FPS games have hit the innovation wall? Not so says John Carmack
Subject: General Tech | July 20, 2011 - 12:54 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: john carmack, gaming
In a recent interview John Carmack seemed quite annoyed by a question implying that the current generation of first person shooters are all carbon copies of each other. He picked one of the favourite targets of game critics, Call of Duty, citing the fact that if people were sick of the game and its general game play that it would not sell the way that it does. He also touched on the cinematic opportunities offered by 3rd person game play; when you watch a movie it is very rare for the director to choose a first person view as that limits their creative choices for effects and environments. Follow the link from Slashdot for more information.
"id Software co-founder John Carmack defended the creativity of first-person shooter games in a recent interview. The legendary programmer, who was a pioneer in the shooter genre with Doom and Quake, said he doesn't like hearing from developers that shooters aren't good because they're not reinventing the wheel. 'I am pretty down on people who take the sort of creative auteurs' perspective. It's like "Oh, we're not being creative." But we're creating value for people — that's our job! It's not to do something that nobody's ever seen before. It's to do something that people love so much they're willing to give us money for... you see some of the indie developers that really take a snooty attitude about this,' he lamented."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Contemporary Graphics Accelerators in F.E.A.R. 3 @ X-bit Labs
- Duke Nukem Forever - 3D and Gameplay PC Review @ eTeknix
- DiRT 3 PC Review @ eTeknix
- Free-to-play MMO Realm of the Mad God a maddening, retro take on Diablo @ Ars Technica
- F.E.A.R. 3 (PC) Review @ HardwareHeaven
- L.A. Noire - PC, Xbox 360, PS3 @ HEXUS
- Wot I Think: New Vegas: Old World Blues @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Take Dictation: Tropico 4 Screenshot Gallery @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- DA2 Expand-O-Pack: Better, Tougher, Morer @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- StarFox 64 3D Nintendo 3DS Hands On Preview @ Tweaktown
RAGE on, PC: PCGamer interviews John Carmack
Subject: General Tech, Shows and Expos | June 11, 2011 - 02:28 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: john carmack, id, E3
John Carmack was and is one of the biggest faces in videogame engine development since Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. He was at E3 to promote his company, iD Software’s, RAGE: their nearest upcoming release. While he was there, PCGamer managed to corner him for a 22 minute interview ranging from RAGE; to the current and future state of PC gaming; to the perceptive effect of input latency and how framerate affects it.
Look at how stable the framerate is!
- Texture resolution and memory limitations on consoles
- Higher end PCs being approximately 10-fold higher performance than the consoles
- Sandy Bridge is finally barely good enough for integrated graphics to be viable GPUs for games
- DirectX and OpenGL APIs hold the PC back, looking forward to new movements to access GPU better
- His interest focuses on the toolset to let the artists do more with less effort
- PC Gaming is still viable but a minority
- Input latency is longer than people expect, sometimes up to 100ms and beyond
- The exciting yet not necessarily crucial nature of newer rendering technologies
John Carmack always has interesting interviews from his very down to Earth and blunt tone. If you have a free half hour and want to hear one of the best game programmers in the world talk about his trade, this is definitely an interview for you.
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