GP Q&A: id Software's Kevin Cloud on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
- April 02, 2007 08:29 AM PST
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GamePro's Vicious Sid speaks one-on-one with Kevin Cloud, id Software's lead artist and co-owner, about his work on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, as well as id Software's next game.
I'd love to see a follow-up to Quake 4. I also think the Quake 3: Arena-style game has its own place."--Kevin Cloud, co-owner of id Software
Why Quake Wars?
The heritage of the game starts with the multiplayer component of Return to Caslte Wolfenstein and moved on to Enemy Territory. There are a couple of reasons for bringing the Quake universe into it. One is that Quake II was my project, so I am really familiar with it. There are a lot of ideas that you have that never make it into the game. They help creativity but you can't easily present them to the player...
...and you can't put everything in the game...
...Right. Especially with Quake II, there wasn't a huge amount of storytelling there, but there were a lot of ideas [that didn't make it into the final game].
So I felt comfortable with the game, I was excited by it. I liked the idea of its objective-based [gameplay], where you have an attacking team and a defending team. It's not like a sport, it's more like a military objective. I thought it would be cool to have two different teams...not just a different-looking machinegun that does the same thing. I wanted to push that idea as far as we could. To pull in the conventional [warfare] with the sci-fi [elements] was something I wanted to do. There's also a lot of heritage to pull from -- many of the Strogg weapons are from Quake III.
Another concept of the game is the way battles shift from outdoor areas to indoor areas. The gameplay really shifts...it doesn't play differently, but it gets more personal. Outside you have vehicles and broader objectives, but when you go into the sewers and feels more like Quake 3 in a way.
Quake's story and premise have shifted dramatically since the first game. Does Quake Wars represent the final representation of the Quake franchise? Are you guys gonna stick with this look and feel?
No [laughs]. Enemy Territories: Quake War is really an Enemy Territory game. I can see it going to different places that aren't in the Quake universe; it could stay in the Quake universe or go elsewhere. To me, the gameplay elements are far more important than the universe elements. [Gameplay] is what gets me really excited about games. The universe just helps the game developers bring all this stuff together.
In terms of the Quake series, I'd love to see a follow-up to Quake 4. But I also think the Quake 3: Arena [style game] has its own place. There are still people today who fire up Quake 3 before they leave the office. I don't think it's going anywhere.
Quake's a great series, but what about Doom? Doom Wars almost sounds more natural. Is there any possibility for that?
We worked on this game for over three years now, so we've thought about everything, and Doom is part of it. [laughs] So yes, we have talked about it. There are some very cool things you could do with the magic elements of Doom and the portal stuff. There are cool ideas there, but it hasn't gone past just talk.
Did Splash Damage come to id Software and say "we want to do Quake Wars"? How did the game get conceptualized?
The core Splash Damage team comes from the mod community. Robert Duffy, with id Software, worked with Splash Damage and recommended them to work with us on Wolfenstein multiplayer support. It's a small team with tons of passion and energy, and they know how to make a great game. They worked on Enemy Territory for Wolfenstein, and from there it was a natural progression. '
As a matter of fact, we were designing Enemy Territory: Quake Wars before we shipped Enemy Territory for Wolfenstein.
Will there be any challenges in getting a game this big and beautiful onto the consoles?
I shake my head no, but I'm thinking....yes. There are challenges, but we're actually well underway on those [ports]. They've been in development for a while. The reality is that the recommended specs for Quake Wars, close to Quake 4 specs, fit very well with the consoles. I don't think there will a visual difference between recommended settings on the PC [and the consoles versions]. Obviously, on the PC, the sky's the limit.
The great thing about megatextures is that what you're seeing there on the PC...is the same megatextures and artwork found in the console versions.
Will the next-gen console versions will be out in 2007?
I can't answer that. But it is a goal to release them this year. There's no plan for a simultaneous launch for the PC and console versions. They might end up being that way for one reason or another, but that's not the plan.
What's your favorite element of Quake Wars?
The game itself from a broad sense. When I see people enjoying it, and thinking about how far we've come. When Splash Damage first started working on it, there were under 10 people. Most of these people aren't from the game industry, but from the community. So to see the game packaged and looking like a professionally released game is very exciting for me.
In terms of gameplay, [I like how] when I score an objective, it moves the gameplay into the next stage. When you do it, you really feel like a hero. You feel like you have really done something, there's a lot of emotion and intensity to it.
What is id Software working on? Are you kicking around your own ideas for a future project?
Yes. I'm working with Raven on Wolfenstein, and Splash Damage on Quake Wars. So those are all things that are going on with me.
Internally, we've got a project that's been in the works since we finished Doom 3. We have not announced it...and we will not announce it! [laughs]
Is the new game a big change from what we've seen, or still in that classic id vein?
The thing is that-uh,.....[long pause]. I can't say. [laughs]
