Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for Mac in alpha stage (screenshots)

[AppleInsider]

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the new class-based multiplayer designed around a modified version of id Software's Doom 3 engine and MegaTexture rendering technology, is making its way to Intel-based Macs with a release pencilled in for early December.

Set in the same science fiction universe as Quake II and Quake 4, with a back-story serving as a prequel to Quake II, Quake Wars is the second multiplayer-focused game in the Quake series, following Quake III Arena.

The title features similar gameplay to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, but with the addition of controllable vehicles and aircraft, asymmetric teams, much larger maps and the option of computer-controlled bots. All the while, multiplayer action combines with twitchy indoor encounters and strategic squad based operations.

Quake Wars was originally developed by Splash Damage for Windows using a modified version of id Software's Doom 3 engine and MegaTexture rendering technology. The Windows version of the game was met with rave reviews following its September release, and id Software last month followed up with a full version for Linux.

The Mac OS X version of Quake Wars remains the only planned distribution of the game not yet released, though the title is currently in the Alpha stage of development and undergoing optimization by Mac game publisher Aspyr Media, AppleInsider has learned.

The recent release of a Quake Wars 1.2 updater patch for the Windows version has hindered development of the game for the Mac somewhat, however, forcing Aspyr to match their current code to the new Windows version in the early stages of development. The 1.2 update delivers full VoIP communications support, user interface improvements and tweaks to improve the balance of the game.*

Since the Mac version remains under active development, AppleInsider won't yet comment on performance of its Alpha preview copy, as it is expected to improve substantially over the next two months. Aspyr does have extensive experience porting id Software's titles to the Mac platform, namely Quake 4 and Doom 3. Those titles perform well, but did not match their Windows counterparts in terms of performance.



Now that Apple hardware has Intel inside, many of the problems that plagued previous ports could be a thing of the past. The architectural differences between Mac and Windows PCs that stifled performance are gone, allowing developers like Aspyr to shorten development time and focus on optimization, rather than the complex task of porting an entire codebase.

(For more information on previous ports, the problems and solutions, see Barefeats’ article on Doom 3.)



Quake Wars is a graphically rich and varied game, which is more than enough to tax most systems. Aspyr has not yet released the minimum system requirements for the game, but it's suggested that owners of Intel Macs with a dedicated video card should have no issues running the title smoothy.

At present, the Alpha version of Quake Wars disables online play, leaving duels against bots as the only game play option. AppleInsider plans to keep readers updated with news on how the game shapes up for the Mac as development progresses, with more in-depth coverage once Aspyr has optimized the code thoroughly to match the Windows PC version.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[melgross]

However worthy this article is, Safari has crashed three times from Shockwave/flash. That's what Apple's crash windows keep telling me.

I assume some ad near the top of the page is responsible for this. The first three times I accessed the page, it crashed after 15 seconds or a bit less. The forth time, I quickly scrolled further down, and it didn't crash.

I'm running 10.5 on a PPC machine for browsing.

Perhaps this should be checked out.

[digimax]

Now just give us some good video cards so I can retire my PC. An 8800GT would be nice.

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by melgross

However worthy this article is, Safari has crashed three times from Shockwave/flash. That's what Apple's crash windows keep telling me.

I assume some ad near the top of the page is responsible for this. The first three times I accessed the page, it crashed after 15 seconds or a bit less. The forth time, I quickly scrolled further down, and it didn't crash.

I'm running 10.5 on a PPC machine for browsing.

Perhaps this should be checked out.

This happened for me also, but before I got the http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer9/ update. Also, the crashing was caused by PlugSuit with Safari 3 beta plugins if you have that, but the flash update fixed the problem.

[emig647]

Originally Posted by digimax

Now just give us some good video cards so I can retire my PC. An 8800GT would be nice.

+1. It's about time for some real pro graphics cards. (not quadro workstation / modeling cards, though those are welcome to the people who need them)

[bubez]

Originally Posted by digimax

Now just give us some good video cards so I can retire my PC. An 8800GT would be nice.

I also hope they will offer new cards for Mac Pro... x1900xt is old, however in Windows I can play with high details (no FSAA) at 1680x1050

[alienzed]

cooool

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

This happened for me also, but before I got the http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer9/ update. Also, the crashing was caused by PlugSuit with Safari 3 beta plugins if you have that, but the flash update fixed the problem.

I've had crashes on a lot of AI articles, all flash related so hopefully that update will fix it.

As for Quake Wars well sorry but I am seriously not impressed. The Linux and Windows demos were released ages ago and in a far better state.

For id to have a special presentation at the Apple event and then turn round and deliver the game so late yet again is a slap in the face.

The only way that the mac will even be close to decent as a gaming platform is simultaneous releases. This is why the Xbox will kill the PS3 because its games are coming out up to a month before the PS3 version and the PS3 version will likely be a port of the 360 version.

And still no GPU upgrades for the Mac Pro Apple? Really congratulations on that front, the highest end machine you sell is at least a year behind in component parts with the rest of the industry. It's a freakin' joke and only the PC users are laughing.

[eAi]

ID were presenting their new Tech - which is cross platform. Their old tech isn't. Quake Wars isn't developed by ID either, it's outsourced.

[emig647]

Originally Posted by Marvin

I've had crashes on a lot of AI articles, all flash related so hopefully that update will fix it.

As for Quake Wars well sorry but I am seriously not impressed. The Linux and Windows demos were released ages ago and in a far better state.

This was not a demo, it was an ALPHA build. They still have more alpha builds and then the whole series of beta builds to go. They are FAR from a demo.

For id to have a special presentation at the Apple event and then turn round and deliver the game so late yet again is a slap in the face.

That was NOT quake wars that ID presented... it was an entirely new game development environment / gaming engine. It won't be a FPS either.

The only way that the mac will even be close to decent as a gaming platform is simultaneous releases. This is why the Xbox will kill the PS3 because its games are coming out up to a month before the PS3 version and the PS3 version will likely be a port of the 360 version.

PS3 games are starting to be simult release. It took a while for devs to learn the new API and hardware for the PS3. If the XBox is going to kill the ps3 on those terms, why didn't the ps2 kill the XBox.

And still no GPU upgrades for the Mac Pro Apple? Really congratulations on that front, the highest end machine you sell is at least a year behind in component parts with the rest of the industry. It's a freakin' joke and only the PC users are laughing.

Yah, I definitely agree with you here. I don't know what it will take to show apple that the rest of the industry is demanding higher end graphics cards. For a company that is all about innovation, they sure are trying to keep us years behind in the graphics world.

[Barabas]

I can't believe were getting excited about this. It looks like it's a game from 1999!! I'm sticking to my, errr, my 360.

Gaming on Mac is a lost cause. Unfortunately.

[emig647]

Originally Posted by Barabas

I can't believe were getting excited about this. It looks like it's a game from 1999!! I'm sticking to my, errr, my 360.

Gaming on Mac is a lost cause. Unfortunately.

Heh 1999? Some of the top pc hardware gets beat down by this game. The graphics are absolutely amazing for it being a mass player first persion shooter. Stick with your xbox360 if you want, the graphics on this game are pushed way beyond what the 360 can handle.

[digimax]

Originally Posted by Barabas

Gaming on Mac is a lost cause. Unfortunately.

I don't even care about playing games under OS X. I just want a decent video card so I can run games under Windows on my mac. I currently have an iMac, but willing to sell it and guet a mac pro in the future if decent card offerings are available.

[nagromme]

Any QW update is great news! Can't wait!

I've been reading the reviews in detail, and Quake Wars sounds like a really fun variation on the class-based shooter concept.


* Re the game being "so late"... it's mere weeks since the PC version! Until the PC version is done, Aspyr had a moving target, Thanks, Aspyr, keep up the good work!


* Re not wanting to game on Mac... suit yourself, that's a fine choice But I like to game without rebooting (or buying a Windows license). And consoles for shooters are NOT my thing. Some enjoy that and that's wonderful, but aiming without a mouse is so awkward that console games use some auto-aiming to compensate. That's right: training wheels! I want to aim MYSELF--directly--with a pointing device. Not a vague indirect joystick plus auto-aim assistance distancing me from the action. So some games are fine on console, but give me a PC or Mac for shooters. Since I use a Mac for gaming, this news is welcome to me.


* Re the game not looking good it looks as good as any Doom 3 engine game, but with the outdoor stuff done in a new way to allow huge environments (not a Doom 3 strength). In short, it looks GREAT (go watch some demo movies), and only a few games JUST out (Unreal Engine 3 stuff for instance) look significantly better. And only IF you have higher hardware. Whereas this has the same sys reqs as Doom 3 and Quake 4, which means it should play great on a LOT of Macs. No, this game does not look like something from the 90s. It looks like something from mid 2007 instead of late 2007 Which is not the measure of a game's worth anyway. The measure of a game is the PLAY. (Otherwise nobody would ever play games on low detail settings. But they do.)


* Re needing higher-end (or simply more choice of) GPU options from Apple: I'd love that. The main issue is that towers--with SLOTS--are where a gamer can pick a GPU for their needs. And Apple has no mid-range tower/headless. I think demand will reach the point where they WILL have that in future. Meanwhile, lots of people--on Macs AND PCs--game without the latest top-end GPUs. And somehow have fun anyway. My first-gen 24" iMac will play QW really well, it now seems, so I am very happy. MacBook Pros play Unreal Tournament 3 (Windows demo) already--and with good reviews.


* Re Mac gaming on Mac being a lost cause.... as a sci-fi fan, the reverse is the case. We have or are getting:

Quake Wars
Unreal Tournament 3 (with full editing tools planned!!)
BF2142
Gears of War (with more chapters, multiplayer modes, and enemy types than XBox 360's)
Rage
Command and Conquer 3
Starcraft 2

And I haven't even gotten bored with Prey yet Do we have every game? No--and we never will. Neither will Windows, nor any one console. But our selection of native games AND our user base is growing. I must define "lost cause" differently.

To say nothing of what is clearly the fastest, best, easiest, most efficient, most stable, highest-quality, AND cheapest way for an individual or small team to make a 3D game--even a game for Windows or Wii--which is the Unity engine. Which you can only create with using a Mac

[KennyWRX]

Seeing as how performance is expected to improve substantially over the next two months and Mac ports usually don't match Windows couterpart in performance... says current performance is poor. Graphic detail doesn't look good at all.

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by KennyWRX

Graphic detail doesn't look good at all.

Not sure where you're getting that from. Browse the Web--you'll find shots at low detail and at high detail. There are many settings you can customize to your liking.

And nothing in the article suggests performance will be "poor"--quite the reverse. Doom 3, Quake 4, and Prey all use an earlier form of the same engine and run great on Macs. If they run even better on Windows because Windows allows direct hacks into hardware while OS X has a more modern, stable, layered design, that's fine by me.

And if it takes 2 months to bleed the best speed out of the Mac version, the game will still be fun at the end This game is not a fad. People will still be playing it months--even years--after release. Just look at Wolfenstein:ET.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

This happened for me also, but before I got the http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer9/ update. Also, the crashing was caused by PlugSuit with Safari 3 beta plugins if you have that, but the flash update fixed the problem.

I have the Flash update installed.

[Blah64]

Originally Posted by melgross

However worthy this article is, Safari has crashed three times from Shockwave/flash. That's what Apple's crash windows keep telling me.

I assume some ad near the top of the page is responsible for this. The first three times I accessed the page, it crashed after 15 seconds or a bit less. The forth time, I quickly scrolled further down, and it didn't crash.

I'm running 10.5 on a PPC machine for browsing.

Perhaps this should be checked out.

Originally Posted by Berzerker

This happened for me also, but before I got the http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer9/ update. Also, the crashing was caused by PlugSuit with Safari 3 beta plugins if you have that, but the flash update fixed the problem.

Egads, are people still running around with Flash enabled by default?! :-P

There. Had to say it.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by emig647

Yah, I definitely agree with you here. I don't know what it will take to show apple that the rest of the industry is demanding higher end graphics cards. For a company that is all about innovation, they sure are trying to keep us years behind in the graphics world.

Yes. This is frustrating, and inexcusable. No excuse for Apple not to keep updated on cards.

I know that they do them themselves, but really!

If they were smart, they would understand that we don't update Mac Pro's just to get a newer card. If they did understand that, they would come out with new cards when everyone else does, and sell them to Mac users with machines that could take them, rather than only selling them as options upon purchase of new machines.

They could sell a hundred thou, or more, cards a year, if their prices were comparable to normal cards.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Blah64

Egads, are people still running around with Flash enabled by default?! :-P

There. Had to say it.

Yes, as most people do. I really don't mind the animations most of the time, and there is other content that I get to that requires it. It's too much trouble to keep turning it off and on. It's very rare that it causes a problem like this.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by nagromme

Any QW update is great news! Can't wait!

I've been reading the reviews in detail, and Quake Wars sounds like a really fun variation on the class-based shooter concept.


* Re the game being "so late"... it's mere weeks since the PC version! Until the PC version is done, Aspyr had a moving target, Thanks, Aspyr, keep up the good work!


* Re not wanting to game on Mac... suit yourself, that's a fine choice But I like to game without rebooting (or buying a Windows license). And consoles for shooters are NOT my thing. Some enjoy that and that's wonderful, but aiming without a mouse is so awkward that console games use some auto-aiming to compensate. That's right: training wheels! I want to aim MYSELF--directly--with a pointing device. Not a vague indirect joystick plus auto-aim assistance distancing me from the action. So some games are fine on console, but give me a PC or Mac for shooters. Since I use a Mac for gaming, this news is welcome to me.


* Re the game not looking good it looks as good as any Doom 3 engine game, but with the outdoor stuff done in a new way to allow huge environments (not a Doom 3 strength). In short, it looks GREAT (go watch some demo movies), and only a few games JUST out (Unreal Engine 3 stuff for instance) look significantly better. And only IF you have higher hardware. Whereas this has the same sys reqs as Doom 3 and Quake 4, which means it should play great on a LOT of Macs. No, this game does not look like something from the 90s. It looks like something from mid 2007 instead of late 2007 Which is not the measure of a game's worth anyway. The measure of a game is the PLAY. (Otherwise nobody would ever play games on low detail settings. But they do.)


* Re needing higher-end (or simply more choice of) GPU options from Apple: I'd love that. The main issue is that towers--with SLOTS--are where a gamer can pick a GPU for their needs. And Apple has no mid-range tower/headless. I think demand will reach the point where they WILL have that in future. Meanwhile, lots of people--on Macs AND PCs--game without the latest top-end GPUs. And somehow have fun anyway. My first-gen 24" iMac will play QW really well, it now seems, so I am very happy. MacBook Pros play Unreal Tournament 3 (Windows demo) already--and with good reviews.


* Re Mac gaming on Mac being a lost cause.... as a sci-fi fan, the reverse is the case. We have or are getting:

Quake Wars
Unreal Tournament 3 (with full editing tools planned!!)
BF2142
Gears of War (with more chapters, multiplayer modes, and enemy types than XBox 360's)
Rage
Command and Conquer 3
Starcraft 2

And I haven't even gotten bored with Prey yet Do we have every game? No--and we never will. Neither will Windows, nor any one console. But our selection of native games AND our user base is growing. I must define "lost cause" differently.

To say nothing of what is clearly the fastest, best, easiest, most efficient, most stable, highest-quality, AND cheapest way for an individual or small team to make a 3D game--even a game for Windows or Wii--which is the Unity engine. Which you can only create with using a Mac

...just kidding, nagromme. Its just that you always seem so terminally perky.

.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by melgross

Yes. This is frustrating, and inexcusable. No excuse for Apple not to keep updated on cards.

I know that they do them themselves, but really!

If they were smart, they would understand that we don't update Mac Pro's just to get a newer card. If they did understand that, they would come out with new cards when everyone else does, and sell them to Mac users with machines that could take them, rather than only selling them as options upon purchase of new machines.

They could sell a hundred thou, or more, cards a year, if their prices were comparable to normal cards.

Amen.


.

[pepp5]

Originally Posted by melgross

Yes, as most people do. I really don't mind the animations most of the time, and there is other content that I get to that requires it. It's too much trouble to keep turning it off and on. It's very rare that it causes a problem like this.

Flash can be evil. I never see flash objects unless I click on them.

http://flashblock.mozdev.org/
http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by KennyWRX

...just kidding, nagromme. Its just that you always seem so terminally perky.

Thanks, I now have a new Location tag!

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by nagromme

Thanks, I now have a new Location tag!

Oh no... now you're being terminally perky about being terminally perky.

You sure we won't find you up in a gun tower on the 11 o'clock news someday? It's always the hap-hap-happy ones who snap.


.

[mgabrys]

One that will never occur to Asypr. The most popular selling Mac right now is the MacBook. Even basic-level Wintel laptops can play these games.

Why not "optimize" the engine to play on MacBooks?

Naaaah.

I particularly liked the sentence "Those titles perform well, but did not match their Windows counterparts in terms of performance." Not matching windows counterparts would seem to betray the "performing well" part doncha think?

Until ID themselves makes a mac-port (Quake III), don't count on anything interesting soon. Aspyr - has - and always will, suck horribly.

[iPoster]

Originally Posted by KennyWRX

Seeing as how performance is expected to improve substantially over the next two months and Mac ports usually don't match Windows couterpart in performance... says current performance is poor. Graphic detail doesn't look good at all.

Agreed, I played the demo on my PC, and was not impressed at all. The graphics weren't bad, but they certainly didn't look 'next gen' or even current gen to me, and the game play was mediocre compared to the Battlefield games...

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

You sure we won't find you up in a gun tower on the 11 o'clock news someday? It's always the hap-hap-happy ones who snap.

You certainly will, with a Railgun, mowing down GDF. For the Makron!

Originally Posted by mgabrys

Until ID themselves makes a mac-port (Quake III), don't count on anything interesting soon. Aspyr - has - and always will, suck horribly.

Quite the unfair hyperbole there. I've been having great fun with great-looking, fast, Aspyr/Id titles all year

Extremes are seldom true. Mac gaming and ports aren't perfect. And they don't "suck horribly" either. They're more than merely "interesting"--they are, in fact, fun.

Originally Posted by iPoster

the game play was mediocre compared to the Battlefield games...

Quake Wars and BF both use classes, but are two very different kinds of game play. You may like one or the other, but that's personal taste. Most of what I have read leads me to believe QW will be far more fun than BF. But that's just for my tastes, and BF is just a different game--I might enjoy that too in its own way, and I might buy both.

People shouldn't expect QW to be BF. They should expect something different, or why buy it? Luckily, it IS something different.

[mdriftmeyer]

Water effects look cheap.

[nagromme]

Or not:
http://www.ryansgoblog.com/images/quakewars.jpg

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by nagromme

Or not:
http://www.ryansgoblog.com/images/quakewars.jpg

It depends what you are comparing too:

http://wallpaperstock.net/half-life-...1024x768_1.jpg
http://wallpaperstock.net/half-life-...ers_w1032.html

That game is 3 years old btw.

Compared to next gen games like Crysis, Quake Wars looks very dated. The trees are just the old set of intersecting planes - nothing like the quality of Oblivion's trees. The explosions and smoke are not as realistic as FEAR and for having megatexture technology, the texture stretching and lack of detail doesn't really say much for it:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pe11JNJyFU0

The sky is quite nice but again it was in Half-Life 2 years ago.

Maybe it'll just take a good game to show the engine off properly. I didn't appreciate the Doom 3/Quake 4 engine until Prey came out. I thought that game was great.

[emig647]

Originally Posted by Marvin

That game is 3 years old btw.

Compared to next gen games like Crysis, Quake Wars looks very dated. The trees are just the old set of intersecting planes - nothing like the quality of Oblivion's trees. The explosions and smoke are not as realistic as FEAR and for having megatexture technology, the texture stretching and lack of detail doesn't really say much for it:....

The trees are intersecting planes?????????? How sure about that are you?

[iPoster]

Crysis? Yeah, it looks fabulous, but they forgot to hire somebody to program the AI.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CG32eYCAxpw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GNRvYqTKqFY

[WJHMH]

It's bout time in fact I would like to see more games like this for the Mac, I currently running Quake 4 on my Macbook Pro core duo without issues but I'm not sure if it could handle Quake Wars.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by iPoster

Crysis? Yeah, it looks fabulous, but they forgot to hire somebody to program the AI.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CG32eYCAxpw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GNRvYqTKqFY

Those videos are pretty funny. From the comments it seems that you can adjust the AI and also it's much worse on easy mode.

Originally Posted by emig647

The trees are intersecting planes?????????? How sure about that are you?

Not 100% but from all the videos, they have a distinct flatness to them. They maybe have some sort of LOD (level of detail) system that changes on the fly so that trees get more volumetric as you approach them as they do look a bit better when you see them closer but you can see that in one video they walk up close to some grass and it's clearly a plane just flapping back and forth.

3 minutes 19 seconds into this video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHghJGAJ4c

Here's another video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3VfXzUTk_Y4

The sounds are bad in the game too as they have the old quake style noises and check out the way the enemies run. they slide about all over the place as they are moving faster than their feet just like they did in Quake.

[John French]

Originally Posted by iPoster

Crysis? Yeah, it looks fabulous, but they forgot to hire somebody to program the AI.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CG32eYCAxpw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GNRvYqTKqFY

God, thats horrible.

[iPoster]

Originally Posted by Marvin

Those videos are pretty funny. From the comments it seems that you can adjust the AI and also it's much worse on easy mode.

I can't say for myself since I don't have it, but I first heard of the problem from friends who played in the Beta, and there are also flame threads about the AI on just about every gaming board out there.

I'm going to withhold judgment until there are some reviews out on it. I never get a good feeling about a game that doesn't give review copies until after it is released.

Hopefully it will be something that can be addressed in a patch.

[nvidia2008]

I must admit I've never been a fan of the iD engine -- Doom3, Quake4... just never did it for me. For shooters I've much much more enjoyed UT2004, HL2, HL2:Ep1, FEAR, FEAR:ExtractionPoint, hell, even S.T.A.L.K.E.R. -- Honestly Transgaming/Cider is where I'm placing my bets. But I do support native Mac OSX Intel games through the next several years... Gaming is such a weird industry nowadays.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by spammerwasban't

Graphic detail looks pretty good to me... Macs have always had awesome graphics and the performance will be amazing. Look for this game to rock your world.

You spammers are completely shameless.

Originally Posted by nVidia2008

Honestly Transgaming/Cider is where I'm placing my bets.

They certainly have the quickest turnaround times for games. What would have been nice to compare is if id went to transgaming with the Quake Wars demo and asked them to port it too. Then see which one out of Aspyr and Transgaming produced the better product.