Quake 4 1.3 Patch Content Preview

65

Ritualistic and PlanetQuake4.net both have previews of the upcoming Quake 4 1.3 patch, revealing that Ritual Entertainment has created new maps and two new game modes for Raven's shooter. One new game mode is DeadZone, where the players have to hold zones in a map to earn points. The other is a gameplay modifier called Item Buying, which adds a buy menu similar to what you see in Counter-Strike. Ritualistic's article also offers a description of 5 new maps being included with the patch.

(DeadZone) is a completely new gametype in Quake 4, based on holding key areas of the map called "DeadZones" to gain points. In order to do this, players must pick up DeadZone powerups from around the map, and then take them into the areas marked with a transparent scrolling border. Like all powerups in the game, the DeadZone powerup wears out with time, so as a team players must continually bring powerups into the zones in order to hold them. If more than one player on a team brings in powerup, the hold on the zone is stronger, with points accumulating twice as fast. If a player from both team enters a zone with a powerup, the two cancel each other out. In short, DeadZone is a new mode that relies on good teamwork to succeed.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 29, 2006 6:44 AM

    Wow, new gametypes. Exactly what Q4 needs! Not bug fixes, not GTV, let's make new gametypes!

    • reply
      July 29, 2006 6:58 AM

      What bugs? Who cares about GTV? Troll much?

      • reply
        July 29, 2006 7:41 AM

        Haha, are you kidding me? Not that it matters, since barely anybody plays Q4. I gave it a good chance, held several online tournaments here in Iceland, but it's simply not worth it. It's massively buggy and a giant step backwards from Q3 with OSP/CPMA.

        • reply
          July 29, 2006 8:07 AM

          Cause we all know Iceland is the epicenter of comptetive FPS gaming and opinions.

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 8:34 AM

            I've been taking part in most of the online tournaments in Europe as well, including Clanbase OC. I've been following and taking part in the discussions on www.esreality.com, the website for competitive FPS gaming. What is it exactly about my posts that you guys are trying to refute? That it's buggy? That it needs GTV? That q4 mp is practically dead everywhere in the world?
            And don't diss Iceland, Iceland's had a very vibrant competitive CS/Quake scene for years.

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 4:26 PM

            Lame Iceland diss. You can do better.

        • reply
          July 29, 2006 9:16 AM

          Can yah list the bugs here so perhaps someone from ritual can see them? You know ritual trolls here right? Or is your massive amount of bugs think just your dislike for the game?

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 9:21 AM

            Pro tip: Ritual didn't develop Q4, Raven did. Ritual just did the new maps/types that will come in the 1.3 patch.

            Funny though that you inadvertently continued the "Ritual develops everything" meme

            http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=12454455

            • reply
              July 29, 2006 9:41 AM

              I know Raven made quake 4 I have it. I just thought they were taking over on the multiplayer components thus would be working on the bugs and so forth now on. My mistake.

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 9:44 AM

            They are well aware of the bugs, there's an id/Raven representative that calls himself SyncError that posts on www.esreality.com. I'm sure many of them are getting fixed in this patch, they just should have been fixed sooner.

            Some examples:
            Rockets hitting players and not doing any damage. Sounds freezing and looping over and over until you restart Q4.

            Search www.esreality.com forums for more bugs if you like.

            • reply
              July 29, 2006 9:48 AM

              That sound loop one is as old as the seas. Sadly.

    • reply
      July 29, 2006 7:48 AM

      The article is focused around what's new in gameplay, not in listing the fixed bugs. SyncError already said it fixes a bunch of them, but you won't find them in the article since it's not its focus.

    • reply
      July 29, 2006 9:33 AM

      post + name + developer of Q4 = GOLD

    • reply
      July 29, 2006 1:33 PM

      I agree. The game is fucking dead. It had a shitty release, and it's still full of bugs and almost unplayable. That's why CPL chose Quake3. For the casual players, I'm sure it's just awesome, but for people who have been playing since the days of Quakeworld, it's just laughable at best.

      • reply
        July 29, 2006 1:45 PM

        More like the FPS kiddies are too scared to play something different cause they might die and lose a point. So they choose the same crap they have been using for the past 5 years.

        • reply
          July 29, 2006 1:51 PM

          The way I see it, the problem is that they have this one game (Q3) that has all kind of functionality one could always wanted - gtv, mvd, osp/cpma, lots of mods, lots of maps. No game will probably ever top that on its own life, much less on release, so if a game gets released and compared to Q3, it'll pale in comparison. Q3 was pretty crude whenit was released to, but the whole "pro" debacle was still getting created, so people learned to like it and the game evolved with the community.

          Since Q4 wasn't born like that - with gtv, mvd, without having the exact same rendering engine as q3, etc - it has no chance whatsoever.

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 3:26 PM

            I agree with you 100%. It's a damn shame, but unless a game is PERFECT on release, especially a Quake game, it has almost no chance. :(

          • reply
            July 30, 2006 10:37 AM

            There's a lot of truth to this. Hell I still play Q3 more because there are mods that I enjoy for it (some of which couldn't legally be made for Q4 because of content in Q3)...Q4 had a lot to go up against and it didn't help that they decided to make it an updated Q3, given that they had to compete with a game that has been polished and refined since December 1999 and has an audience so used to the feel of it that they WILL notice any differences and any problems. I did enjoy Q4's DM and still play it occasionally and I look forward to the patch...but Q4 has had the deck stacked against it since day 1 as much as I love it.

        • reply
          July 29, 2006 2:21 PM

          [deleted]

          • reply
            July 29, 2006 4:27 PM

            I think it has more to do with the time between Q3 and Q4 and the relative comparison between the two.

            People forget that when Q3 came out it had a lot of problems and only a couple good maps. There have been so many years of post-release polishing that Q4 had an almost impossible standard to live up to.

            • reply
              July 30, 2006 10:40 AM

              Yeah...hell I remember people coming from Q2 and QW who hated Q3 with a passion...many said it wouldn't take off or last very long at all...it took a lot of flak...that said...it was at a time when it could still take off...a DM game has a much harder time now and one so similar to Q3 is going to be faced with inevitable difficult comparisons.

      • reply
        July 29, 2006 4:23 PM

        No. I started with Quakeworld and played every Quake along the way, and I really enjoy Quake 4. Sure it has some problems but that's what this patch is for, hopefully.

      • reply
        July 29, 2006 5:10 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          July 29, 2006 6:23 PM

          The game is broken and nobody can deny it. I'm sure all the casual players will have fun with Quake4. Kudos to them.

          • reply
            July 30, 2006 9:11 AM

            whats broken about it? You shoot someone in DM, you get a point.....end of story.

            • reply
              July 30, 2006 9:52 AM

              You must know that "broken" is a wildly abused term...

            • reply
              July 30, 2006 2:25 PM

              Thank you for illustrating my point about the casual community.

              • reply
                July 31, 2006 10:48 AM

                the old 'holier than tho' complex of competitive gamers rears it's ugly head

Hello, Meet Lola