Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

Quake posts

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Doom Resurrection on the iPhone now, lots more id games to come


Fellow shooter fans rejoice -- id software's John Carmack has begun delivering on his love of the iPhone with a brand new game made just for the platform called Doom Resurrection, available right now on the App Store for the price of $9.99. There's nothing small about this game at all -- it offers up 76 mb of original id shooter, including eight levels total, six on Mars, and two more (spoiler?) in Hell, all set in a graphics and control engine designed just for Apple's handhelds (you control aiming with the accelerometer while the game runs you around on rails, and hit the various on-screen buttons to shoot or jump into cover). Unfortunately, there's no lite version to test out (though we can probably expect one eventually, considering Wolfenstein Classic got one), but early reviews say that if you like Doom, you'll enjoy the game.

And that's not all -- besides this original version of Doom, Carmack and id continue to have big plans for the iPhone: Quake and Quake 2 are headed there for sure, and Quake 3 probably isn't far behind, as well as a RAGE-related title. And that doesn't even include the rest of the mobile stuff they have planned: apparently Wolfenstein RPG is ready to go, and Carmack hints that they've got even more original titles like Doom Resurrection here up their sleeve. Good to see a major, established developer like id is really committing to delivering new games for the iPhone.

Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, Found Footage, iPhone

Found footage: Quake 3 multiplayer on iPod touch


Despite getting punk'd on the Mortal Kombat for iPhone April Fool's joke, we're still innocent and trusting enough to buy into this video demo of Quake 3 running -- in multiplayer, accelerometer-enabled fragging glory -- on a pair of iPod touch handhelds. Is it real? Is it coming soon to a jailbroken device near you? Can you even stand the suspense until June when the SDK-based games start shipping? Yep, us neither.

[via 9to5 Mac / Techmeme]

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends

Carmack fighting with Jobs about gaming on the Mac

Despite what Jobs told us at WWDC earlier this year, Apple isn't as committed to gaming as they'd want us to think. GamedailyBIZ has an interview up with id software's John Carmack (makers of Quake and the new Rage, set to premiere simultaneously on Mac and PC), and he says that he and Jobs have had arguments about gaming on the Mac, including a "...fairly heated argument" at WWDC.

Carmack says he would love to develop on the Mac-- and who wouldn't-- but that the problem is that Apple just doesn't care. Carmack mentions the iPhone as a platform he'd love to see some great games on as well, but points to the iPod as a place where Apple failed gaming-- they made developers work on an emulator, and there were many "horrible decisions."

As Carmack says, you can't exactly fault Apple for their choices. From a business perspective, they are going gangbusters. But with Jobs' feelings on this coming to light, we must look past specific developers, and Apple themselves-- why are Jobs and his company so opposed to solid game development on their platform?

[Via IMG]

Filed under: Gaming, Steve Jobs, Apple

A decade of NeXT and Apple

In the summer of 1989, I had a really, really tough assignment: I had to evaluate the NeXT Cube for a publishing company. What a hardship to have that black box on my desk, along with that 400-dpi laser printer! I don't know how I ever managed.

It's hard to believe that it was ten years ago, on 12/20/1996, that we welcomed Steve Jobs and NeXT Computers back into the Apple family. Legendary game developer John Romero remembers, and he's got a fascinating post up about the role of NeXT in bringing his babies to market.

According to Romero, the original development environment for both Doom and Quake was NeXTSTEP; in fact, the first four years of id Software's efforts were on NeXT. He fondly remembers the days of simultaneously building for three different architectures, and side-by-side map editing across the LAN with cofounder John Carmack.

Romero ends his post by noting that he spent the 15 years prior to 1996 working on computers built by Steve Jobs, and that "maybe someday I'll get one of those kickass iMacs." Cue the salivary glands of Mac gamers everywhere...

[via IMG]

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Aspyr finally gets a clue, releases Quake 4 demo

Forgive the bitter headline, but I'm sick of Mac game companies releasing games, especially ones as massive and significant as Quake 4, without a demo. This gripe is further compounded by the fact that the current state of Mac gaming is so demanding of hardware; yes, it's certainly improving, but many of these games require a PowerMac G5 or, now with the Intel switch, at least an iMac or a MacBook Pro to run them with any decent amount of detail and frame rate. Releasing $50 games without the ability for users to test them first is shooting oneself in the foot, and apparently, companies like Aspyr seem to have no shortage of feet.

With that small bit of editorial out of the way: Aspyr has (finally) released a demo of Quake 4! Hooray! Both a torrent and a direct download link of the 536MB Universal Binary demo are available from MacGameFiles. Enjoy.

[via MacMinute]

Filed under: Software

Visor

Love Quake? Love the Terminal? Visor is just the app for you! Brought to you by the good folks behind Quicksilver (and you know how much we like that), Visor is a cool Terminal mod that creates a hot key enabled Terminal console available no matter what you're doing.

Hit one button and from the top of your screen slides a terminal window. It is pretty cool, though it isn't ready for Bob and Jone Mac User.

[via Infinite Loop]

Filed under: Gaming

Quake II X goes Universal


Thanks to an independent developer, Quake II has perhaps become the oldest game to have been updated as a Universal Binary on Mac OS X. In order to use this software to play Quake II, you will still need a full copy of the game to grab some of the core game files, and I think the full source from id Software themselves (scroll down about two thirds of the way) might do the trick. While the source code there is listed as a PC version, I think the core game files you need to use this UB enabler for Mac OS X will work just fine. If anyone else knows better, feel free to sound off and list a link, if you could be so kind.

Either way, it sounds like setting up this software is pretty simple, and in no time you too could be fragging aliens circa 1997!

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Quake 4 Universal Binary shipping


Quake 4, a game that could literally destroy my productivity in one swooping install, is now shipping as a Universal Binary for Mac OS X. Getting back to its first-person storyline roots, this latest installment picks up after the events of Quake 2, in which you are part of an elite marine force whose mission is to stop an Earth invasion and blow a ton of stuff up. Check out Aspyr Media's Quake 4 product page for more storyline details and system specs, as a PowerPC G4/G5 at 1.67 is required (which we've mentioned before), but they recommend a G5 or Intel-based Mac.

Quake 4 is priced at $49.99 and is available from Amazon.

[via Macworld]

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Universal Binary

Quake 4 requirements revealed

At last, Aspyr has finally released the system requirements for the upcoming Quake 4. So, without further ado, you'll need:

  • Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
  • a PowerPC G4, G5, or Intel-based chipset
  • a 1.67GHz or faster CPU
  • 512MB or higher of memory
  • 64MB or more of video memory (VRAM)
Quake 4 is built on the Doom 3 engine, and the game's storyline is set just months after the events of Quake II. Aspyr is currently taking preorders for $50.00US.

[Via MacNN]

Tip of the Day

Reply in the Mail.app with a specific quote.
Select the text you want quoted and then hit the reply button.
Only your selected text will copied to the reply email.


Follow us on Twitter!
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher