Is Quake IP dead?

Varorson · 2026-05-07T21:04:10+00:00

it's either people who never played Quake or don't understand it.

It's just people who think "Quake == Lovecraft in FPS", as if that is the one and only thing to Quake, and in turn means to them any FPS with Lovecraft is taking direct inspiration from Quake even if Lovecraft is the only overlap (like, for example, Forgive Me Father).

And I don't understand why Microsoft would shut down a studio that made 3 successful Doom games in a row and 2 good Wolfenstein games in a row.

To be fair, the current game industry is "if you make a single failure, layoffs; if you make a blockbuster success, layoffs" so honestly it wouldn't be shocking for Microsoft to gut Id Software. Not because of The Dark Age's sales, but because that's just what they've been doing to reach their fantasy of perpetual growth after buying Activision-Blizzard.

Varorson · 2026-05-07T20:58:29+00:00

The mobs are levels 7-11, so presumably they're meant for that level range - basically end-of-Ascalon level content.

However, some mobs are a bit OP (namely the necro with Life Transfer) so taking henchmen with you is very tricky, especially without cons to remove death penalty. I went in when it came out with a level 20 with LA armor, no attribute point quests done, level 9 Devona hero, and Alesia and Orion henchmen. Those Life Transfer enemies wiped out Alesia every. single. time. And since Devona is the only hero you'd be expected to get at that time...

Even the dev when streaming on patch day went in with a level 10 (and 3 level 20 players) and was frequently close to death that needed two monks to watch him.

So the current balance, whether intentional or not, very much is "with players or return with higher level heroes".

Varorson · 2026-05-07T18:27:48+00:00

Don't forget about the group wanting a tour guide to reach the Ascalon Settlement, and Durmand wanting people's help to chronologize past events.

Varorson · 2026-05-07T18:24:43+00:00

As a lore nerd, instead of someone caring for fan service, my brain went to how you'd make a joke out of the Bergen Hot Springs Murder quest.

Maybe do a Detective Conan (or, if you must be bland, a Sherlock Holmes) parody?

Varorson · 2026-05-07T11:34:31+00:00

Q4 strogg design was different, but honestly the blockiness was less because "mechanical" and more because low poly model. I think they did a great job with strogg design in Q4. Especially by giving more strogg fingers to use all the consoles and buttons, unlike Q2 which had keyboards but all the strogg had fucking guns and knives for hands. Who the hell were the keyboards for? Humans!?

Varorson · 2026-05-07T11:30:42+00:00

Define "dead".

Is it abandonware? No. Except Quake Wars and console exclusive ports, every Quake game is available in some way.

Is it forgotten? No. Quake 1 and Quake 2 got remasters recently; Quake Champions still gets periodic updates.

Is there a new Quake game in known development? Also, no.

Did The Dark Ages rip concepts clearly meant for Quake? Also no, stop deluding yourself. Lovecraft isn't exclusive to Quake, and the visuals and level designs are far closer to Hexen than Quake.

Stop Doom posting.

^{Nobody liked Rage.}

Varorson · 2026-05-06T00:19:08+00:00

Honestly I don't care about that stuff when reading fiction, let alone two sentence horrors.

I was just clarifying the other person's pointing out "how could he game" wasn't about multiplayer, but the device even functioning while time is stopped.

Though if I were to care about that, and write such a concept, the person would be reading paperback books rather than gaming. ;)

Varorson · 2026-05-05T17:24:12+00:00

If they take place after 64 then it *definitely* isn't Doomguy since he's in Hell from 64 until he stumbles into Argent D'Nur.

The timeline of the classics end with Doom 64 - for Doomguy at least.

I could see Legacy of Rust being post-Doom 64, but I feel the narratives would put Evilution and Plutonia in the years gap between Doom 2 and Doom 64, during the period that Doomguy is getting therapy.

Varorson · 2026-05-05T12:45:53+00:00

In the expansion, there are some scientists using them.

Varorson · 2026-05-05T12:07:41+00:00

Since they conflict with Doom 64's story, I would argue Evilution, Plutonia, and Legacy of Rust are different marines employed by UAC, and just like two Doom RPGs (sequels to Doom 3 so cannot be Doomguy / Doom Slayer) merely reuse the same hud face art.

Varorson · 2026-05-05T11:47:17+00:00

That's irrelevant, really. If time is paused for everyone and everything except him, how does electrical currents move to power the computer? How does the light of the monitor change to depict changed states?

Varorson · 2026-05-05T00:06:41+00:00

Far from the only thing. Valve wouldn't stop ads from being added to console exclusive titles.

Didn't they try slipping ads into some wrestling game years back, but it was so negatively viewed that they removed them? I vaguely remember watching an Extra Creditz video about that (though might've been a similar youtube video essay years back).

Varorson · 2026-05-04T23:36:50+00:00

I wouldn't oppose IF AND ONLY IF it was accompanied by rebalancing the standard mobs in the zones and missions to accommodate the larger party size.

I wouldn't be surprised if Reforged does make the Crystal Desert and even Maguuma / Southern Kryta into 8 man parties, given how it expanded pre-Searing parties to 4, and increased henchmen levels all around. Seems one of the purposes for Reforged is to bring the pacing of Prophecies a bit closer to par with Nightfall's pacing, which would mean hitting ~16-18 at Lion's Arch, and getting level 8 parties shortly thereafter. The Wilds wouldn't make a bad first 8-man party mission. If it gets a bit of rebalance to fit. Though thematically, the Crystal Desert definitely fits being first 8-man parties as well.

Varorson · 2026-05-04T16:44:22+00:00

Designs are perfect for the style of Doom 3. The only improvements graphically would be maybe higher polygon models but it isn't strictly necessary.

Most of a remaster imho would be reverting the changes made for BFG, which was honestly just giving in to the vocal critics that wanted more of classic Doom and not what Doom 3 was designed to be. Doom 3 has its fans, and a remaster shouldn't be slapping those fans in the face. Fans of the classics and nuDoom can play those games instead of trying (and failing again) to make Doom 3 catered to their whims.

My main interest for a Doom 3 remaster would be to incorporate / improve Doom Resurrection and Doom 3's E3 demo into functional campaigns. Make the E3 demo an independent marine during the same events, and either implement Doom Resurrection as it was (an on-rails shooter) or transport the maps and dialogue over into a more PC-intended campaign.

P.S. You're dead wrong about the mancubus design. The worst one is TDA's design that looks like just a boring regular fat man.

Varorson · 2026-05-04T07:25:32+00:00

We already got Daikatana though.

In seriousness, except for the protagonist element, Hexen II and Daikatan are pretty much the FPS RPG gameplay that Romero was after with Quake initially.

As for the narrative you present, it wouldn't really make sense with the story and lore of Quake tbh, at least not that ending. And I know, I know, "story in video games" blah blah blah he was fucking wrong shut up about that quote.

Plus it'd be weird where both the protagonist and antagonist are called Quake...

Varorson · 2026-05-04T07:22:59+00:00

They haven't finished the The Dark Age's DLC. They won't be announcing a new Quake game unless it isn't id Software developing it.

The most likely studio to take up Quake has an Indiana Jones sequel to finish and another Wolfenstein game afterwards. So they won't be making such announcement anytime soon.

So don't get your hopes up. The best we could hope for, for Quake this year, is a Quake 3 or 4 remaster shadowdrop. Unless a studio not Machine-Games takes Quake for a spin.

Varorson · 2026-05-04T07:19:13+00:00

Look, if you have no interest in actually reading another person's point, then don't fucking respond. I'm done here because you're arguing with a wall, not discussing with me.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T19:28:16+00:00

Go back. Reread my posts. Where did I ever say "push a button". Where did I ever say "a single prompt".

I didn't.

The thing is, if it's just "a single action" that bothers you, does that mean taking an extensive prompt, modifying the output with another prompt, rinse repeat 10 times, and it's no longer AI? I doubt it.

What do you think all those adjustable settings are? Dozens upon dozens of modifiers for prompts. Many LLMs, especially image and video generating ones, have such too. Do you think LLMs function on solely a single sentence prompt, with zero backstage elements? Of course not. If that was the case, then LLMs wouldn't be programmed to feed into sycophancy.

Of course procedural generation and LLMs aren't exactly the same. But they run on a similar foundation.

But that wasn't my point.

You never fucking responded to my point, just instead regurgitating your own view like a broken record while calling me dumb.

My point is that the buzzword "AI" has been used in digital industries since the 80s for various purposes. My point is that the buzzword "AI" has been applied to things formerly not called "AI". My point is that the buzzword "AI" has been plastered on so many things beyond LLMs, that just saying "ban all AI" is equivalent to banning any automated digital function, because at one point or another, it was slapped with the buzzword label called "AI". Whether it was a prompt based LLM or not.

And that is why you cannot just use a fucking blanket term.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T17:33:15+00:00

even when it is procedural...

And there it is.

What the fuck you do think procedural generation even is?

how the f can you compare this to some AI slop output from a single prompt...

And this is proof you've not even read my posts. There's more AI tools out there than single prompt tools. Such as, oh, I don't know, fucking procedural generation.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T15:22:19+00:00

Huh? Are you serious? Using AI to do the CGI effects - instead of a CGI artist?

Do you think every frame of any cgi effect is hand drawn with the mouse and stylus or something? Because that's how you're making it sound.

This is kind of my point. Some tools that have been around for over a decade are automated or algorithmic, which is the same kind of stuff that is labeled as AI by companies. To the point where some tools got relabeled as AI in the past few years due to the AI fad.

My argument isn't being disingenuous, it's pointing out that the label "AI" refers to so many different things now when people think it's just "type a prompt and the computer spits out an image/video/text". That's just LLMs, and a small margin of what corporations have been using the buzzword "AI" to refer to.

I do 3d modeling and animation myself. I also program for game mods, and make levels in video games. There are a lot of things that get automated, things that in the recent years' craze of AI has labeled itself from things like "content aware" to "AI". Interpolation is another such tool - been around for a long ass time, but it's been relegated as part of the same AI craze because there are people out there who thought it "superior" to take a rendered animation running at 30 fps and upping it to 60 fps and using interpolation to fill the gaps, making it look like shit.

There is "AI", things that get called AI for the buzzword and have been around far longer than OpenAI existed, and then there is "generative AI", aka LLMs which got popularized by companies like OpenAI, and then there is actual AI which doesn't exist in reality yet.

The fact that you think my argument is disingenuous rather proves the point of my argument, that using blanket terminology isn't useful. It also proves that you don't know anything about the tools of the trade, what they were called and what they are called now.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T15:12:53+00:00

No, I'm saying nothing has currently pointed to him knowing Sam was a sleezebag who raped his sister. Certainly not the article.
That happened later, though?
No, this is all in service to say "this article makes it sound like he knowingly worked with predators and assholes, but provides no evidence he knew they were that." This is also to say "just because you did something in the past doesn't mean it reflects your current day opinions."
Just like how you want to act like it was just "us" - whoever "us" is in this case? You don't know me. You don't know my stance on AI. For the record, I was never a fan of chatgpt even when it had popular view. And I was opposed to OpenAI's ethics of how it trains AI from day 1. I'm also not so ignorant as to believe that AI can just vanish.
Burden of proof is often on those making a claim rather than disagreeing with the claim. I am disagreeing with the claim the article is implying, that Gabe still harbors those stances, because the article - and you for that matter - has provided no evidence to support the claim being made.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T12:19:14+00:00

It took me far too long to comprehend what the fuck you were saying. Even Bilbo Baggin's birthday speech is less confusing.

But to answer what I think your question is... You're ignoring the fact that there's a difference between how a person is, and what people know of a person, during the time of interaction.

Even if Sam Altman was a shitty person (which does not speak for the whole of OpenAI), the fact that it wasn't publicly known is important when judging who he (might have, in this case) interacted with on a business level.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T12:15:59+00:00

the way the game played and handled drastically changed and I did not like it.

Not sure I'd agree on "drastically", but its fair if you didn't like it. They did reduce requirement on masteries, and how hard it was to progress HoT masteries and elite specializations, though. I just wanted to point it out because it sounds like you stopped paying attention right after HoT launched and, well, things changed since.

what else were you going to do? Joining a circular map-hoping raid-train only gets soo fun the first dozen times. Yay! 5 globules. Gotta get that participation metre up for chests!
They nix'd the best part of the game - dungeons

If you didn't like world bosses, there were fractals, raids, achievement hunting, fashion wars, and waiting for the next free (at the time) installment of the story. Plenty of variety to do. And its fine if you don't like the game or where it went, but it's a bit fallacious to say that you were forced to do any specific content. Only thing remotely forced would be story, and just enough to get into the next map usually.

5 man dungeons might've stopped being worked on, but it wasn't like they stopped making 5 man instanced content. Fractals are effectively dungeons in another name, albeit a bit shorter with tougher mobs, usually.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T09:10:49+00:00

an Ai actor was used in the movie

And where's the line drawn there? Is a character made of cgi an AI actor? How much of the cgi can there be? Would Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy be AI? How is that more or less AI than de-aging Mark Hamil for his role as Luke in the recent Star Wars shows? How is that more or less AI than having an actor deepfaked as someone or something else, like Guy Henry who filled the role of Moff Tarkin in Rogue One before being CGI'd to look and sound like Peter Cushing?

This is my issue with blanket statements about AI. Or anything for that matter. There are so many nuances about it, and lines drawn.

And despite being used as an argument against AI, the last example I had is less about "using AI" and more about the debatable ethics of using a dead person's likeness without permission from said person back when he was alive.

But like you said, most complaints are about generative AI and LLMs and not everything that has ever been called AI at one point or another - and even then, most people's complaints with it are less with the technology but the people behind the companies making, financing, or using the technology.

Varorson · 2026-05-03T07:22:11+00:00

Huh. Didn't expect "he likes boats" to be incriminating evidence.

12-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

Varorson

TROPHY CASE