Have ID Killed Q3?

[old.Trojan1]

As some of you may remember, going back to before the release of Q3Test. We were all drooling over the screenshots, fighting over every little scrap of data which was released concerning Q3 and generally in a mass hype about the release.

Then the Q3Test release time came, thousands of ppl worldwide stayed up around the clock, desperately refreshing ftp servers to see if it was there, so much to the extent that ID released a .plan update asking everyone to stop because it was killing their systems. A major hype yet again as everyone scrambled for the first ftp slots and game servers everywhere maxed out with record d/l figures.

After that, followed huge discussions of the pros and cons of the q3test and maxed out servers of ppl playing the game.

Since then, what? The hype has died a major death, q3 popularity seems almost non-existant and generally people seem disinterested in the game.

It's just a thought, but i personally think ID killed Quake3 by releasing the test. The hype has gone, ppl have tried and forgotton. Will this game ever take off the way that it was originally estimated. My guess is No.

Any thoughts?



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Regards From Trojan1

 

[old.acker]

I do agree with you on this trojan; Quake 3 was set out to be solely a multiplayer game, releasing the heart and soul of the game has killed the hype; This was not the case the orginal Quake, the orginal "test" version, Qtest, set out to test net code also, but Quake was a strong single player game too, therefore the hype was increased.

One thing you do have to take into consideration is the fact that when Q3a is released the technologys it uses will be compatable with more computers than current; there is still an untapped market out there of people with slow machines who await Q3 and haven't played "it" yet.

This isn't the full product yet, and yes the masses will still go out to buy a copy as the servers will update.
Q3a will still be a big success.

[This message has been edited by acker (edited 07 October 1999).]

 

[old.trekker]

Q3 sucks.
Those boneheads at ID have tried to cash in on the success of Q2 and failed.A top quality game in Q2 did not need turning upside down, shaking about and re-naming Q3.
Some guy with a fat cigar is just trying to milk everybodies wallet and make everyone think Q3 WILL be better.Sorry, but Q2 is the absolute business, a few graphic improvements would'nt go amiss but the basic idea speaks for itself.Q3 will never surpass it.

Sorry but that's my opinion

[This message has been edited by trekker (edited 08 October 1999).]

 

[old.Trojan1]

Thats your oppinion, but that was also the oppinion of many Quakers when Q2 was released. I'm not sure on this one, but i think the general trend is that gamers prefer the version of Quake that the were first raised on. Ie. I first started with Q2 and thats my preference out of all three. But as i said, thats just a thought. As has already been mentioned, ppl will still go out and buy Q3 for the sheer fact that its Quake

. The question is, will it ever be as popular online as Quake or Quake2? The release of Q3Test as kinda killed that vibe which once existed amongst gamers. People were literally drooling back then.

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Regards From Trojan1

 

[kryt]

Ive said this before and will say it again
ID still have time to do something with quake3 to make it that little bit more special. I have my doubts as much as anyone else whether it will surpass the quality of the previous titles. I can not pass full judgment on Q3 atm cos it aint finished - i will buy it then pass judgement


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| |KrYt3N| |
redalert@barrysworld.co.uk
Q2BattleUK Admin and IRC Co-Ordinator

 

[old.JaK swan]

Oh can I play

Erm Trekker, Q2 is erm ok, HL was pish, QW was great. A Speed/Control (c) RobertJ sorta deal, methinks you've not actually played that much of other games, but you could be one of the minority.
Q3A is a step in the right direction and I think on full release will get a good following, not on the scale of QW or Q2. TF2/UT will take a huge amount of players.

 

[old.trekker]

You're dead right.A major game player I aren't.But I know what I like.Most games hold my attention for a matter of days, but there is something about Q2 that keeps me coming back for more.I have played Half Life and Unreal and they are only superior graphically.I have played the Q3 test and it is just not right.I accept that the full release will be better, but I cannot personally see anthing that they do eclipsing Q2.I feel that ID are just tarting Q2 up and re-naming it.And it'll cost 40 quid to find out if it was all worth it.

 

[old.FingerMagnet]

Yeah, the q3 test ain't lived up to its hype. But then nothing ever does. Q3 test ain't such a bad game. But it isn't q2 (news flash!). I think thats where the problem lies, everyone wants q3 to improve on q2. However, as soon as they *improve* q2, all the q2 die hard fans are going to hate it! Ppl hate change. Quakers don't enjoy q2. I suspect many q2 players will be put off q3. No matter how good it maybe.

Lets hope Id pay their programmers over time to get the q3test back on track. Cos i think we'll all agree q3 test was abit lacking in the feel of the game.

I think its late. Really need to sleep now and stop writing rubbish.....

 

[old.rockhard]

lo,

just wanna put me two pennies worth in,

Imho that trek is right but i reckon the biggest prob is not the game as a whole but the maps?

Looking at some of latest screen shots of that dm1 map theyre gonna release with full game (has q2 map overtones) were all being a bit hasty judging it.
Its the maps that make q2 what it is. Just look at UT. The maps on UT arent IMO all that good. Thats prob because i play q2.

Lets wait till full demo comes out and i feel we might all be quite surprised.

After all Q3test is only a TEST of the technology of Q3.

Wont be long now, prob couple of weeks and then we'll be able to judge from how the FULL DEMO performs.


Rockhard

 

[old.JaK swan]

Erm News Flash 2, QWer's didn't not move due to anything to do with change but simply as they felt Q2 wasn't up to scratch as it was written as a Single player game.
Since QW we've two 'major' releases Q2 and HL and both have been inferior in two critical areas, Netcode and Speed/Control.
Q3A is not cursed with those problems and that at least something to be thankful for. There are game design flaws IMHO but they can be addressed, fingers crossed.

 

[Guest]

Personally, as a QW player who was happy to move to Q2, Im prepared to wait for Q3 demo before making any sort of judgement.

I have never been very interested in the 'X is better than Y' thing. If you play well and enjoy the game it doesnt matter what the game is, its still a level playing field. I dont play Q2 with the thought that 'Ah, if this was QW i couldve done [whatever]' and niether does the rest of the Q2 community i suspect - which is why the complaints from the QWers often fall on deaf ears.

One advantage that Q3 will have is that the out-of-the-box netcode will be better than when both Q and Q2 were released. With the mod authors all gearing up for Q3s release there should be a lot of choice available for the casual gamers who just want fun, by far the majority of the gaming community.

 

[Grom]

I agree about the maps. Not sure exactly what it is, but something about Unreal maps turn me off horribly. Maybe it's the way their lit - lots of seemingly (to me) unrealistic radiosity, so you get a lot of black shadows. Lack of texture lighting, so levels have to be filled out with point lights, which gives a nasty look to them.

Added to that the fact that the Unreal engine is poor at doing complex geometry - the levels are sooo blocky. Just a load of 90 degree angles with pretty textures on them. In Quake engine games, you can do pretty much what you like with geometry, within reason. You're never going to see maps the quality of SPoG's SP Map in Unreal, simply because the engine can't handle it.

Q3A has got the added advantage of curved surfaces, and lovely they are too - it's a cliche that any id mapper, when asked what they like best about the new engine, replies 'the curved surfaces'. I can't WAIT to see what id have done as regards their dm maps - the fact that this is DM only means there will be so many more maps than we're used to. Q2 leagues are still behind the times when compared to QW leagues in using custom maps, although the new schedule for the UKCCL looks interesting. We've been surviving on 8 maps (and usually just q2dm1 ffs) for over a year now - the 15? 20? 25? maps that id releases should hold the imagination a lot longer.

The other thing that always strikes me about UT in comparison to Q2/Q3A is how damn hard it is to see anything on the map... The players blend in to the fancy textures, and I'm sure most of the games I've played on UT have been based on advanced guesswork rather than intentional shooting. Q3A had this problem for a while too, but the new high-visibility skins and the fact that it's so damn tweakable means there's no problem there.

I've yet to see if Q3A is better than my current game of choice (Q2), but I really can't wait to find out...

[KC]/[vX]Grom

 

[old.Merkaba]

I must say I love the gothic looks of Q3, but thats about it. LPBs still rule, its too blocky and confusing, and by making it more "arcady" they've ruined it. I love Quake mainly because of its gothic architechture, and its morbid sense of reality...Thats what I was hoping to find in Q3. BUT, when I played the test I noticed all the ammo and guns look so cartoony..and, to put it bluntly, rather shit. I dont want stupid bobbing up and down ammo things I want the good ol' believeable ammo crates in Quake, and teh gritty beaten down graphics. What ruins Q3 IMO is that iD have just overdone the graphics and made everything clean cut and cartoony..too colourful, too arcady. There's no atmosphere.

 

[old.Delboy]

Spot on Merk, I can't remember when that point was last raised. Its partly why I an others go back to Q1 cos we miss that part of the atmosphere.

Q2 has a really good feel to it, even playing offline on a map by yourself, doing rocket jumps and the like. It feels solid, feels right! And is why I've played on it for so long.

Q3 IS too soft and has a cartoony feel to it. But I'll be holding back until demo arrives.

UT looks really good and plays a whole lot better than Unreal (better interface too). I just think once both have come to release time in the shops that Q3 will be better overall. So many lessons have been learned from previous releases that have been put into the game. UT will be released first, but Q3 will reign supreme.

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[This message has been edited by Delboy (edited 12 October 1999).]

 

[old.telescopi]

I personally think DM has been done to death, you can only rehash the same game so many times - the future is in different game modes, something I welcome in unreal tournament (and curse the lack of assault mode on the demo).

Hopefully, iD will give us some new things to play when the final game is released - if we just get a re-hashed DM and CTF, I'll be dissapointed.

 

[cenobite]

Hey dont wait till the game is released to judge it.

Confused?? read
http://www.barrysworld.com/cenobite/

and see why this is not the case. I think that as each week passes Q3A is improving. Initially i thought it was crap but as i read the updates it looks more and more promising. Next test should be interesting.