Epic & 3D Realms Q&A's

[Evil Avatar]

The Firing Squad (http://www.firingsquad.com/) has posted some GDC coverage including four new interviews.

Epic Games' Mark Rein (http://www.firingsquad.com/features/epic_games_rein_interview/) talks about Unreal Engine 3 and his sometimes critical opinions on the future of PC gaming and hardware.

3D Realms' Scott Miller (http://www.firingsquad.com/features/3d_realms_interview/) talks about Prey, Duke Nukem Forever and hints about future projects.

Members of Ritual (http://www.firingsquad.com/features/ritual_interview/) talk about SiN Episodes and hints about their UBER graphics engine.

GarageGames's Jay Moore (http://www.firingsquad.com/features/garage_games_interview/) chats about Marble Blast Ultra and the future of indie gaming.

[agentgray]

Scott Miller doing what he does best: talking. Also, future projects? He needs to read this book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/sr=8-1/qid=1142961964/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-6391307-6216167?%5Fencoding=UTF8).

Still no DNF.

[agentgray]

Scott Miller: I said from the beginning, back in the late 90's, that Microsoft made a business mistake getting into the console business. And from a profit and loss standpoint, that has certainly been the case -- they've lost well over a billion dollars, enough to sink many Fortune 500 companies. I still think it's a business mistake for them, detracting from their core business strengths (Windows and business software). But, from a personal standpoint, I'm definitely glad they're in the game, so to speak, because despite their loss my company gains tremendously by having another platform to exploit. I hope IBM and Intel also come out with consoles, it would make just as much business sense, after all.
..and it's because of statements like that is why we don't have DNF. WTH?!? Is he being sarcastic?

[Paranoia]

Anybody still got that copy of DNF timeline joke?

[Dirty Harry]

We are spitting all over Prey currently!
This was just cute Scott.

[Sl1pstream]

What if there was no DNF? If they didn't have DNF, people would be more likely to forget them. Keep reminding people of that game and people will keep talking about them.

[Noiz]

and of course as soon as Duke is done we'll begin a new one.

Hahaha, and how long will we be waiting for that one? About 30 years maybe?

[Beelzebud]

LOL He says they don't have a publisher yet for their next game.

No shit? LOL

Maybe they could partner with Phantom and exploit that platform! :D

[agentgray]

I should have never of brought Miller up. The really good comments are form Rein and where he sees the future of PC gaming, especially in terms of video. He is right about intel and manufactured PCs, the graphics in them are horrible.

However, hasn't it always been that way for mass produced PCs?

[Steve_Erhardt]

I should have never of brought Miller up. The really good comments are form Rein and where he sees the future of PC gaming, especially in terms of video. He is right about intel and manufactured PCs, the graphics in them are horrible.

However, hasn't it always been that way for mass produced PCs?
Pretty much, which is what puzzled me about his comments. How is that different from, well, forever? I mean, it's a valid enough point, no argument there; but it's nothing stunning or new. That off-the-shelf shit has always only been good for web browsing, spreadsheets, word processing, etc etc. It's never been up to remotely serious gaming. Ever.

[NoName]

I should have never of brought Miller up.
Oh don't worry, if you hadn't the person who posted after you would. I mean, DNF was talked about as an active project. It's like telling a fanboy their system is the worst... O.o

[Wombat]

If Rein actually thinks that quad SLI is a wonderful step forward for PCs I'm in big trouble. I have enough problems getting one new graphics card regularly, never mind four.

[Wolfgang]

If Rein actually thinks that quad SLI is a wonderful step forward for PCs I'm in big trouble. I have enough problems getting one new graphics card regularly, never mind four.

Yeah, if SLI and Quad SLI are the future -- I will be stuck playing console games. I could never imagine spending 800 to 2000 dollars on video cards when you can get a 360 for $400.

[mister_slim]

Should be interesting watching where the PC market goes. Vista is looking to make gaming a little more accessible and friendly and the cost of porting to OSX should be reduced significantly as Intel Macs become more common.

[Varsity]

Did they really ask if UT2K7 would be using the hard drive...for the PC version?

Talk about obvious questions.

"So, Mr. Rein, will Epic's next game use graphics?"

[agentgray]

Did they really ask if UT2K7 would be using the hard drive...for the PC version?

Talk about obvious questions.

"So, Mr. Rein, will Epic's next game use graphics?"
I think he meant console, more spcifically PS3.

[Varsity]

Nope. (postlength++)
FringSquad: Will you use it for Unreal Tournament 2007 on PC?

Mark Rein Definitely. On the PC side if you’re playing Unreal Tournament 2004 and you go to a server which has a new content on it you’re able to download that content to your hard drive automatically and then join the game on that server. We’d like to be able to do that with UT2007 on PS3 if Sony will allow it. It certainly wouldn’t be possible on consoles without hard drives because most of that content is going to be larger than a typical console memory card could support. That’s just one example but there other things we can do knowing we have a hard drive on each machine.

[Schnoogs]

Should be interesting watching where the PC market goes. Vista is looking to make gaming a little more accessible and friendly and the cost of porting to OSX should be reduced significantly as Intel Macs become more common.

Thats an interesting point...other than the native API, porting to OSX should be far easier minus having to switch to OpenGL from DirectX.

[GodFather]

I wish all gaming web sites didnt say a word anymore bout duke till 3DRealms actually had something newsworthy. Its been nothing but talk for years. At this point other than for making a joke, does anyone really care about this game? I think it was an amazing game back in '96, but 10+ years later the face of gaming has changed and if Duke is in the same style as the last one it wont hold up like the last one did.

[chingtastic]

"Hints" about future projects? As far as we know, DNF is nothing more than a "hint" itself.

[chingtastic]

GodFather,

Agreed. There is almost a certain bit of egotism in 3D Realms for even having the courage to talk about DNF and Prey. DNF should have came out before HL2 and defined a new genre of first-person games. It, however, as we all know, did not and is still nothing more than vaporware. I wonder if 3D Realms will ever scrap the effort?

[Watership]

If Rein actually thinks that quad SLI is a wonderful step forward for PCs I'm in big trouble. I have enough problems getting one new graphics card regularly, never mind four.

That's sorta the point. 9/10 friends of mine have terrible PCs/Graphic Cards.
What percentage has Quad? It's a wonderful step for the hardcore and unreachable for the general public.

[dr_wily]

guys its called "forever" for a reason

[Sl1pstream]

That's sorta the point. 9/10 friends of mine have terrible PCs/Graphic Cards.
What percentage has Quad? It's a wonderful step for the hardcore and unreachable for the general public.

And we all know keeping people away is the best way to sell your product. Why are people still whining about pc losing shelf space?

[Draft]

Rein's opinion on the future of PC gaming is spot on. I too hope that Vista's need of a relatively powerful 3D GPU will vastly increase the installed base of gaming capable PCs. They don't need to fucking crush the latest game with 24xAA and Andiliorotonoscopic filtering. They just need to run them. Nvidia and ATI integrated GPUs can do that. Intel's cannot.

[LilAbner]

What a god-awful interview with Scott Miller. It was completely sterile, void of any tough questions.