id-software posts

It's looking like one of the biggest PC game developers, id Software, could decide (and we emphasize "could") not to offer dedicated servers for online multiplayer in their next game Rage. In an article on Variety, id Software' John Carmack is quoted as saying, ""It's not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don't think we will have dedicated servers."

The specific reasons for such a move are not really spelled out in the brief article, stating that Carmack felt "the servers are something of a remnant of the early days of PC gaming." However he hasn't closed the door to such a move saying, "We'll see how it works out for everyone else." At the moment Rage won't likely be out until sometime in 2010.

While id Software's classic first person shooter Doom was a huge hit mostly on the game alone it didn't hurt that the box cover artwork for the game was incredible as well. Last month, the artist for the box art, Don Ivan Punchatz, died at the age of 73.

While Punchatz had a huge career as a mainstream artist, handling covers for magazines like Time and Rolling Stone, his work on the Doom box art is instantly recognizable to a generation who played the game. In his obituary on the Spectrum Fantastic Art web site, there is a quote from him saying id offered him a flat fee or a percentage of the game's profits for his work. He took the flat fee (which was actually lower than his normal fee) but soon afterward realized his mistake, saying, ""So how was I to know this thing called Doom would make a jillion smackers?"

[Via Kotaku]

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Most rogue-likes tend to be of the role-playing variety rather than the action variety. Instead of whipping out guns, you hack apart goblins, gain levels, and traverse through dungeons. But what if it was much more simple, action-oriented, and just plain fun for your average joe? That's where DoomRL comes in. A rogue-like of id's classic shooter, it manages to be both a great remake into an interesting gameplay system as well as a compelling game on its own. It could easily be adapted to different settings or expanded to include even more goodies, which is the real beauty of it.

Developed by the Broken Glass Studios mod team, this is the version 1.0 beta of The Dark Mod for Doom 3.

"The Dark MOD is a total conversion for Doom 3, turning it into a dark and moody stealth game inspired by the Thief series by Looking Glass Studios. We have created a toolset with revamped gameplay, AI, graphics, HUD and weapons to allow fans to create missions in a gothic steampunk universe."

Download The Dark Mod (1.4 GB)

Last August, Raven Software, id Software and Activision released Wolfenstein, the latest game in the first person shooter series that started the genre. The game got some mixed reviews (good single player but poor in multiplayer) but sales were bad enough that Raven was forced to let got of a number of its team members.

However, we were scratching our heads at the time that Wolfenstein wasn't made available for a download purchase. Might the game have gotten some extra revenue via a downloadable version if it had been released at the same time the retail version shipped to stores? Well in any case Activision is now finally offering Wolfenstein via download from Steam and Direct2Drive for $49.95, nearly two months after the retail version shipped to stores.

Oh, and that PC single player Wolfenstein demo? The one that was FULLY PLAYABLE over two months ago at QuakeCon? The same one that was released for the Xbox 360? Well there's still no word on when, or even if, that demo will ever be released to the public.

Update: Just a few hours after this post went live, Activision finally released the Wolfenstein PC demo.

It's a known fact that games released in the US with any kind of Nazi symbols have to be edited out if they are to be released in Germany. Now it appears that some of those symbols may have slipped into the German version of Wolfenstein and now that game is being pulled from store shelves in that country.

Fan site Planet Wolfenstein, reporting the news from German language web sites, says that it's unknown at this time if publisher Activision Blizzard will try to re-edit and return the game to store shelves. Since the game hasn't been a sales success on this side of the Atlantic it's possible the company may cut its losses and not fool with returning the game to German stores.

[Via Blue's News]

Last month a developer from Raven Software pledged to pay for every copy of Wolfenstein sold if the first person shooter outsold Madden NFL 10. We figured that wasn't going to happen but we had no idea how badly the first person shooter would sell out of the gate.

Gamespot reports that according to the August 2009 sales figures from the NPD Group Wolfenstein managed to sell just over 17,000 copies of the PC version that month (it was released to stores on August 18). Combining the PC sales with the console versions and the game sold just 106,000 copies for the month. This was despite a solid marketing campaign by publisher Activision which included a tie-in to the release of the movie Inglourious Basterds. Activision laid off a number of Raven's team members shortly after Wolfenstein was released. The game is also the last in a long line of games that Activision published with id Software's input. id's next game Rage will be published by EA and their next Doom game will be published under its new owners at Zenimax Media.

Welcome to a new regular feature here on Big Download! Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

Quake 3 is a classic of the FPS genre, and is still played today. Everyone deserves a slice of that classic gameplay pie. id knows this, and in their infinite wisdom, created the free browser port Quake Live. You might ask how good can a browser game be, and if you've played Quake Live you know the answer: incredible. There's a lot to Quake Live behind the scenes that sets it apart from the game that it is ported from. So let's take a look at this incredible port of an incredible game and just why it should absorb your time so much.

As promised last week at QuakeCon, id Software has now added Mac and Linux support for their browser based free-to-play first person shooter Quake Live. In their release notes, they mention that for now Mac support is confined to Apple's Safari browser but they hope to have Firefox Mac support up and running soon.

Also as promised, the latest update has finally put back in leaderboard support to the game (leaderboards were disabled soon after the game went live due to back end issues). The developers have also added the Instagib CTF mode to the game which apparently was a big success when it was shown off to the BYOC attendees during QuakeCon.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

It's only fair that, after giving its competitor some air time, that id's multiplayer masterpiece is covered on Boot Disk. I'm talking about Quake 3, a game that spawned a thousand debates (which is better, Quake or Unreal?!) and a thousand mods. Recently reworked for the browser through the magic of Quake Live, it's time to put a little perspective on the original. It may appear dated, but the low resolution of the textures hides a game that every first-person shooter fan should enjoy. While you may initially have trouble warming up to the weightlessness of Quake after all that time spent in Call of Duty, you'll soon lose yourself in this classic.