X-bit labs

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

id Software Calls Gamers to Gear Up for Quake 4. Quake 4 Developer Answers Questions

Computer gaming has become a common entertainment these days and there is no surprise that games like had been waited impatiently for years Doom III and Half-Life 2. Some liked the titles and spent hours playing them, some were disappointed, both camps are still looking for more games. This year we seem to have a number of anticipated projects scheduled for release, these are F.E.A.R, Stalker: The Shadow of Chernobyl, Quake 4 and a number of others.

Quake, Quake 2 and Quake 3 games were among of the most popular games of their time and it looks like Quake 4 is about to continue that tradition. As is known, the action of the Quake 4 takes place in the Quake 2 universe, but other details are not generally known. In order to get some additional information about the upcoming game, IGN PC has interviewed id Software’s Tim Willits.

“Supervising the key performances for Quake 4 was Tim Willits, the Lead Designer at id Software. Although we were sworn to secrecy on the plot points we’d heard during the voice over sessions, we were fortunate to squeeze a little time out of his busy schedule to get some new details on the direct sequel to 1997’s Quake II,” preludes the interview IGN PC.

“It was much more of a continuation of Quake II more than anything else - We wanted to create a great single player experience that felt like a Quake style game. You’ll find a lot of hard-hitting action in the title. You’ll also find squad buddies that fight alongside you as well as vehicles that you can drive. And we also realized that we needed a really good multi-player as well, which is why we wanted to give it more of a Quake III feel rather than a Doom 3 multi-player feel,” said Tim Willits.

• IGN PC: PC Games: Quake 4.

The Future of LCD Displays May Be Near. OLED Technology Previewed

LCD panels have gained popularity for a number of years now, by contrast, CRT displays have begun to disappear from the consumers’ desks. Nowadays LCD displays offer acceptable levels of quality, but require less power and desk space. Today manufacturers of monitors are looking forward different technologies to make LCDs even better. One of such technologies is Organic Light Emitting Display (OLED) which has its pros and cons, but eventually may become the replacement for current liquid crystal displays.

“For conventional displays, OLED will offer a better, clearer picture and lower power consumption. OLED technology will spread far; it will make new displays into previously undeveloped markets. We will see the emergence of transparent and flexible displays. Transparent displays may finally bring out a useful wearable PC. They should look a lot like the ones that appear in movies. They should be as transparent as glass or plastic. Flexible displays will also come out in the future. These will be mostly used in mobile devices because they offer a smaller size and are more durable. There will be a few other applications for this flexible display that will use the flexibility of the display,” writes DevHarware.

The author still does not encourage anyone to buy OLED enhanced displays right away.

“OLEDs are not without their problems. There aren’t a lot, but the lifetime is something to consider. The red and green organic materials are fine; they last roughly 20,000 hours and newer material will last 25 000 hours or more. The problem is the blue organic material. It doesn’t last nearly as long. Buying an OLED now will result in your buying another one real soon. Research is being done on the blue OLED, and progress is coming slowly but surely. The question is how long we will have to wait for the blue material to catch up,” concludes the author.

• DevHardware: OLED: The Next Thing in Monitors.