Rage Will Look Worse on 360 Due to Compression; Doom 4 and Rage Not Likely for Digital Distribution

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Update: In an interview with Shacknews, id's John Carmack reiterated that the Xbox 360 version of Rage will look worse than the PlayStation 3 version.

Carmack said that the uncompressed build of Rage encompasses a terrabyte of data, and that id will need to use a "different type of compression" to fit the game on two dual-layer Xbox 360 DVDs.

When asked whether the difference will be significant, Carmack noted that "hero shots" should look similar, but that Xbox 360 players might find a rock that is more blurry when exploring the periphery of Rage's world.

Original story: id's post-apocalyptic open-world shooter Rage (PC, PS3, 360, Mac) will look worse on Xbox 360 due to the compression needed to fit the game's assets on two DVDs, programmer John Carmack revealed at tonight's QuakeCon keynote.

According to Carmack, the royalty fees to include a third disc in the Xbox 360 version would be so high that it simply isn't a feasible solution, with the programmer hoping for Microsoft to make a concession. He stressed that the issue is merely a storage problem and has nothing to do with the power of the Xbox 360 hardware, while adding that the PlayStation 3's Blu-ray format is Sony's one leg up on the competition.

Carmack also noted his belief that neither Doom 4 or Rage will be digitally distributed online, as id isn't looking into that sort of distribution for its major titles at this point.

During last year's QuakeCon talk, Carmack stated that the PlayStation 3 edition of Rage would ship on a single Blu-ray disc, with the PC and Mac versions likely to arrive in both Blu-ray and DVD form.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 31, 2008 6:40 PM

    [deleted]

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      July 31, 2008 6:42 PM

      The way id tech 5 was designed was to stop these kind of problems. Carmack has expressed disappointment on the console ports.

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        April 6, 2011 8:46 AM

        What we really need is the next Xbox and PS4 to come out already. This is a problem because the Xbox 360 was designed 7 years ago. Lets update our hardware already. 720p is looking pretty crappy these days anyway, and that applies to both the xbox and playstation. Heck, Modern Warfare runs in crappy 600P (google it if you don't believe me) on both systems. I'd kill for 1080P across the board...for all games. And some crazy HD disks that hold everything necessary.

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      July 31, 2008 6:43 PM

      ... you know one of the major bullet points of the IDTECH5 engine is that it already runs flawlessly on all 4 platforms right?

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        July 31, 2008 6:51 PM

        it runs good on the wii?

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          July 31, 2008 6:53 PM

          that's a good one

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          July 31, 2008 6:54 PM

          lol, i should install the LOL script for that one ;)

          Windows, Mac, Xbox360, PS3

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          July 31, 2008 7:35 PM

          [deleted]

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          July 31, 2008 7:47 PM

          To be fair Carmack did say that IDTech5 is feasible on the Wii it's just they'd have to use different content. So I guess yes with a little tinkering. I remember him specifically mentioning MegaTexture as being possible on Wii and all the other stuff. Can't remember where though.

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            July 31, 2008 7:51 PM

            ooh that'd be a good read... i'll have to look for it.

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          July 31, 2008 8:12 PM

          All 4 platforms = PC, Mac, 360, PS3

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        July 31, 2008 8:38 PM

        It really doesn't make any sense to me that it does, but I sure hope I am wrong.

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          August 4, 2008 7:57 AM

          from previous talks carmack gave, he mentioned how they develop from the lowest common denominator and worked their way up

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        July 31, 2008 8:46 PM

        [deleted]

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          August 1, 2008 12:05 AM

          search gametrailers for "Id Tech 5 Developer Walkthrough" carmack is sitting in a room talking about the technology as its running on 4 platforms right in front of him.

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      July 31, 2008 8:30 PM

      Oh it definitely will. They already said the PS3 version will be the best. Other than for PC of course.

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        July 31, 2008 11:41 PM

        [deleted]

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        August 1, 2008 1:39 AM

        when did they say ps3 will be the best?

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          August 1, 2008 6:52 AM

          Well, he did say Xbox wil be the worst, so I guess it means the same thing.

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            August 1, 2008 8:10 AM

            Specifically he said that if Microsoft doesn't let up on the disc royalty thing then the 360's graphics will look the worst. He said this (that Blu-Ray has so much space to work with on one disc) is the one thing he can look at and say "the PS3 does better"

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        August 1, 2008 9:25 AM

        You know it's a console thread when Phinn comes to troll

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          August 4, 2008 9:25 AM

          Doesn't a troll have to be something that's untrue or misleading?

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            May 4, 2010 5:26 PM

            Not at all. A troll is somebody that has an agenda other than simply participating in the conversation, often to intentionally agitate the rest of the posters.

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      August 1, 2008 1:53 AM

      It should be, they supposedly hired one of the key engine devs from Naughty Dog to make sure the PS3 side of ID Tech5 was up to speed.

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