Quake 4 Anyone Play it?

[CrazyCrusher]

Im still in work at the moment which is 4.00 in the mornin US time and Im not sure if the release date is the same in Eroupe, if it is has anyone played it yet? I know you lot are up over there. unless you are in work. anyways let me know cause Im picking it up after work.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

COuple more days to go in europe, 21st IIRC

--Jakk:t

[CrazyCrusher]

Oh, Guess Ill be playin it before me bro then.

[willywonka]

yer i just got it.
Man does the ultra quality setting really kill a 256mb card..
I got a 7800gtx cant play any rez AA on ultra quality setting but on high i can play 1600x1200 4xAA 16XAF easy.
Just goes to show how important vid mem is..
Mulitplayer seems ok might take a bit to get used to since i never played quake 3..
Single player so far is like doom 3 but little less scary and bit more action..
Seems good need to play it bit more but to judge it..

[CrazyCrusher]

I picked it up this evening I did have some problems installing it so Ill have to give it ago tomorrow. I hope this is not going to be one of them Install problem games, Im sure its because I was installing it from my DVD burner and not my CD-rom drive.

[willywonka]

Hmm not good mate.
I had no problems..
i got the dvd version used a external dvd burner..

[willywonka]

Hmm thats a bugga mate.
I had no problems..
i got the dvd version used a external dvd burner..

[willywonka]

OO carp sry guys i dont know what happened there i thought i edited it.
Can a mod please delete this post and one of the ones before.
thanks sry again i can build a puter but i cant every make a post propely :p

[Rabbitrunner51]

Regardless..of when...I am still going to get this game based on the few reviews I read and the fact that I loved the Doom graphics and Doom 3 enough ...and these guys are the same makers.

The singleplayer action got some pretty good reviews. The MPwas said to be toomuch a copy of Q3...but a bit better visually.

Keep us up to date guys and let us know what you think. Be subjective. Don't compare it to other games..I hate that. Not scientifically sound.

Speaking of DVD players...I have some wierd problemswith mine as well. Mostly it will load and play things ok..but sometimes it does not want to read fast enough or seems to stop and start. Do you think I need a cleaner for the lasers??? ;)

[Dreamwalker]

picked it up yesterday...it runs, but it looks like I'm gonna need a computer upgrade! The game is fun, and changes it up a bit. excellent dialog and storyline as well.

[CrazyCrusher]

Well I havent got F.E.A.R yet, I did get Q4 and played it, I havent had a chance to try out MP yet, single player is pretty good, but to be honest its like playing a Diffrent version of doom. but its a good game not money wasted, Im having fun playing it, The graphics are very good, much better done than doom I think, you still get that Doom look, even the guys look like they where pulled from the Doom game.

The Game play is very fast, as I said Im not very far into it, as I only had an hour to play as I was only out of working 3rd shift so my head was some where else, I would honestly say though hands down F.E.A.R looks like it would be a much better game. I see people saying the maps look something like the old ones, but to be honest I hope they look and play as good. Q3A was a much more fun game I think.

[CrazyCrusher]

As for the DVD install Rabbit, I installed my spare CD-RW and it installed rigth away, my DVD burner is fine it burns and plays DVD's, maybe there just not the best for installing games or software eh.

[RamonGTP]

I bought it, played it, and didn't care for it much. I haven't completely written it off as I haven't tryed single player, but the MP was pretty much an exact copy of Q3A re-rendered with the new engine. If you're in the mood for an all our fragfest, then you'll like it. I played the game with high quality settings, 1024x768 2xAA/4xAF and was getting between 35-60 fps with a X800XL. GeForce cards will have an advantage here since this is an OpenGL based game.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

As for the DVD install Rabbit, I installed my spare CD-RW and it installed rigth away, my DVD burner is fine it burns and plays DVD's, maybe there just not the best for installing games or software eh.

Lot of problems with the copy protection system on Quake 4 (and FEAR for that matter) and a wide number of Drives out there - woudl explain why it wasnbt having any with on of the drives.

Theres also a known "worm" (if you will) in the Quake4.exe which rings back which phones home to iD apparently, can be disabled at HOST level though apparently

--Jakk:t

[zybch]

I picked it up this evening I did have some problems installing it so Ill have to give it ago tomorrow. I hope this is not going to be one of them Install problem games, Im sure its because I was installing it from my DVD burner and not my CD-rom drive.

IS it on DVD or a heap of bloody CDs? Why they bother to use CDs anymore is quite beyond me.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Because all gamers have one or both drives.... dah??

Quit being so darn stupid. Think!


LOL by the way :rolleyes: ;)

[zybch]

Newsflash you goatish reeling-ripe scullian, the majority of new PCs, especially ones capable of playing games with the doom3 engine, all have DVD readers/burners.

[CrazyCrusher]

It’s not on the DVD version just the CD Version, it was strange though, I didn’t have problems like that before, and I did try installing something else, FarCry. And the same happened; I uninstalled Office and that reinstalled fine from my DVD-RW Drive, strange. But anyways, I did get to play the MP, and ye I have to say much the same as Q3A but still really good, and runs very smooth. I am having a blast playing it to be honest, I just miss the colour from Q3A if that’s something I liked was the brilliant colours and graphics Q3A has.

[Rabbitrunner51]

In most peoples cases I might take that as an insult..but coming from you, all I can say is you make me laugh.... Must be some sort of European thing.

I have games on both media. You are correct that most have both CD-R drives and DVD drives by now...but for purposes of ALL the computer community, who do not deserve to be left out ( just because they don't own a DVD drive ), sales would suffer..don't you think. I may be a bleep but I do have a thread of common sense left. :eek: ;) :cool:

[Bigjakkstaffa]

He's Australian - not european ;)

As for Multiple CD versions vs. DVD releases, personally i prefer the CD versions, for why oen may ask? Put simply, for some wierd reason the CD versions will cost a LOT less than the DVD version (when i picked up UT2004 i got it on CD, because it was £10 cheaper than the DVD version) - despite common sense suggesting that more discs wudl equate to more expense. Furthermore, while it may be a carry on having to juggle five discs to install a game, once it's installed, all you need is the play disc in day to day usage (unless of course your a bit odd and like to uninstall and re-install your gamea all of the time).

As such, im hoping that mixed CD-ROM and DVD-ROM based releases will habng around for a little while more to come.

--Jakk:t

[Rabbitrunner51]

Good logic Jak. Aussies make me laugh even harder. :x ;)

[porsch1909]

Newsflash you goatish reeling-ripe scullian


That's your best one yet :x

hmmmmmm......so many good games just now.....


ANyone want to buy me a pressie?? :D

[zybch]

He's Australian - not european ;)

As for Multiple CD versions vs. DVD releases, personally i prefer the CD versions, for why oen may ask? Put simply, for some wierd reason the CD versions will cost a LOT less than the DVD version (when i picked up UT2004 i got it on CD, because it was £10 cheaper than the DVD version) - despite common sense suggesting that more discs wudl equate to more expense.


The DVD version of UT 2004 came with an extra DVD which was basically a complete tutorial about creating your own levels and stuff. It goes into so much depth via thousands of video-how-to's that its a wonder it was only a tenner more expensive.

All the games I've had to buy on CD coz no DVD was available (like doom, far cry, etc) I've modified their .MSI script file and compiled the multiple CDs to a single DVD. Sure makes things easier when ever you want to reinstall, and a quick crack eliminates the need for any disk to be in the drive when you play.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Cracks are nice.... ( both kinds )

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Well, i'm about two and a half hours into teh SP of Quake 4 now and i have to say i'm pleasantly suprised. Its nowhere near as good as i had initially hoped it would be a few months ago, however it's nowhere near as bad as i'd recently feared it may turn out.

Firstly, the bad things.

The AI in this game is, to be fair, pretty non-existant. Enemies revert to simply rushing at you - alright so i've been spolied this week by the absoloutley fiendish enemy AI in FEAR, but still, Quake 4's A.I. bears much of a resemblance to that found in Quake I. Your team mates are a slightly different cup of tea, they can be trusted to look after themselves reasonably competently, however they display no real signs of team intelligence and tactics, instead they either run to and hold pre-determined (presumably by a waypoint system) cover, or wait for you to take the lead.

Graphically this game is just as pretty as Doom III - in fact, aesthetically it's almost a carbon copy of Doom III (albeit a little bit lighter) - though there is mor ein the way of environmental variation and outdoor areas (though the latter are still fairly limited and of the same, martian red as those found in DIII).

The weapons seem to be a little lacking in area's - in particular the grenade launcher seems to be almost useless whiel the Shotgun feel a little unsatisfying - indeed, most of the time you'll just end up sticking to the assault rifle.

Finally, the gameplay is nothing revolutionary here folks, it's good solid fun but it wont change the face of PC gaming. It's still a case in many places of the age old "Red Key for the Red Door" formula iD created back in the days of Wolf3D, however iD have been a bit more subtle about things this time around, gone are keycards and doors, instead you may have to transport a demolitiosn expert to an enemny cannon or something, it's still the same basic, 15-year old gameplay mechanism, just hidden very well, it's also very linear thus far and replay value may be restricted by this, but for a first time through this is yet to irritate too much .

And now, the good stuff:

Raven/iD have done a great job of capturing an alien/spacemarines war zone environment, it really is very well achieved, something aided by the fact that you are nearly always acting as part of a team, you really get the sense your in a sort of CoD game, set 2000 year into the future.

Secondly, it's fun, despite the above short comings, they've yet to trouble me to a point of severe agitation or anything. The combat flows very nicely and whiel this game is nowhere near as horror centric as Doom III, it still managed to make you jump a couple of times with great enemy placing and scripting. Indeed, long gone are the "enemies jumping from invisible boxes" and other such gripes which so agitated many DIII players. Also the addition of vehicle based combat etc. does a great job of breakign the game up and pacing things out a bit.

Another note of special mention is the fact that the D3 engine appears to have had its code optimised, whereas in DIII the number of enemies on-screen tended to stay fairly low, with Quake 4 your getting a real action fps in terms of the number of oponents your facing and much to my suprise, my lowly old 9800 Pro is coping quite well with such action at 1024x768 and Medium detial. iD/Raven deserve a pat on the back for that.

Finally, the MP - i've only played a little thus far but ive gathered a good first impression. Its Quake 3. That's right many of the maps are remakes and the weapons are nearly all re-models of the old Q3 arsenal - however, personally i've always maintained that, if God made an FPS MP game, Quake 3 woudl be it and as such, i've not got a single thing to grumble about - well, a few more maps would have been nice and i'm mortified about the lack of bots (i mostly play my MP games offline with bots), however the core MP game is good - if a little too familiar for some tastes.

So there we go, iD have redeemend themselves in my book, theyve yet to bring themselves back up the standard of genre-leading developers which they set with Quake I, and have a long way to do so. However, they do appear to be makign their way out of the depths of mediocrity they plunged to with Doom III and Quake 2.

All in all, a solid game well worth a play - though depending on pricing at your retailer, it may be worth waiting for.

--Jakk:t

[tasty danish]

i'm with you on this Jakk.
one thing that really suprised me about quake 4 is how much they sped it up.
it's like doom 3 on crack.
the combat is just so much smoother and quick.

i like it, hey mikey

[bblqj78]

With you guys....got it toady and when I started playing it I didnt want to stop. Your right...its doom 3 on crack. Fast and ferocious (if that how to spell it). Well coded too...plays excelently at high resolution with high settings and AA. Well worth a try!

[knuckles-chaotix]

gday all im new to this stuff so bare with me!

Im wanting to know what i could possible do to improve my gaming experience!

I have a 2.6 cpu p4
1 gig ram
Ge-force nvidia 6800 GT

Is this enough info?

Quake seems to play very nicely but i would like to push the setting to the max!
What do i need?

Also F.e.a.r kicks its *** in quite a big way..
Esp in A.I

And the overall feel...

Ive been tempted to return the game q4 but i think ill hang onto it as the multiplayer seems as tho it would be a blast..

Well as soon as i upgrade my speed!
Currently on adsl 256k and it runs real BAAAAD.

Anyways any info would be great!
thanks in advance.
Chris.

[zybch]

You must have a lot of processes running or something. Your system should run it with ease.

My feelings on Q4 are mixed. As said above, the AI is non existant, but then what do you expect from 1/2 dead zombie robots anyway :)
Its nice and fast unlike Doom3.

The graphics are nice, but kind of chubby. I'm guessing that the overuse of normal-maps combined with few polygons is responsible for this. There realy is no substitute for throwing a heap of polygons around, and while using normal-maps eases things up for the video card you get a lot of chubbiness as a result, even if you run it in ultra quality mode (that looks bloody good).

Why are the levels so short? It seems that just as I was getting into things I would hit another loading screen :(

[Rabbitrunner51]

Event though I don't have it yet...a friend of mine does and he showed it to me
and from that it I could only give a partial review ( third party )

He kept saying the game indoor environments were green and I guess that is so...kinda gawdy and all ...,and i'm not sure I like that. I would prefer them to be more like Doom 3 ..but thats my opinion.

As you mentioned.. the game does indeed save points alot and have many save-load screens...and not being too tech. inept..I believe it is due to texuring and loadings of the graphics engine....more than likely the way the game processes info... This too might become cumbersome and somewhat ruin the flow and ebb of gameplay.. not a preferable thing in my mind.

F.E.A.R. is a totally different game and that being, they did it right ..but Q4's style might work for this game. It does not deter me from wanting to play it though.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Well here we go.... This is my unbridled reviewof Quake 4 Keep in mind that I lend towards the positive and still try to be objective and critical as I can.

Fantastic game ( single player )

The graphics were a whole lot better than I thought they would be... Very very nice indeedy. Yes... it is a whole lot like a fast forward Doom kindof...but I think they did a much better job here overall.

The game operates very smoothly with all interfaces and the design layouts again resemble Doom 3's but to me they are showing as a trademark of these designers
in keeping with something that worked well before and still look new and fresh for this game.

So far I am quite a ways into the game....just past where you ride the hover sled truck and take out the turrets... beginnng the next mission after briefing ..start.

I liked the mother ship and tthe outdoor scenes and action... again vry nice and graphical... graphics are above average here also in my opinion.No complaints.

Indoor environments are extremely detailed and look fantastic. Nice piece of work here.

The save game interface is what i see alot of these good quality games using...; You have auto save.. level save ...your own save and so on so it should'nt be hard to get through the game in tough areas.

One thing i liked alot was the team interaction..dialog and the fact that everyone has a purpose and they all have something to say as you go through the gamewhether you speak to them or not..makes you feel like they just didn't put things in for looks only.



If you played Doom 3 .. its like a better product with a whole lot more to offer

Worth the price you paid..easily... and it sells for around $37.00 a few places around if you look..so? ;)

[zybch]

I think that the Doom3 engine just isn't set up to use a lot of polygons, but uses those blasted normal-maps instead, so you still get the human characters that look like their heads were put in vices when they were kids :(

Thats my biggest gripe. Too much of the geometry is a fake, and everything tends to look chunkety as a resuly.

[Trulik]

My settings are all on max & q4 flies. Nice detail.

Asus A8N-SLI Premium.
A64 X2 4400+ (OC'd) @ 2.38 GHz.
Nanya DDR400 2x1024MB @ 216MHz 3-3-3-8.
Leadtek Winfst PX7800GT TDH MyVIVO Extreme @450/1050.
Maxtor DiamondMax10 6L250RO 250GB.
Seagate Barracuda ST380011A 80GB.
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-110.
Abee AS Power 520W.
Century CSI-3306II(case).
17" Mitsubishi Diamondcrysta.
Totally Stock Cooled!

[CrazyCrusher]

the only thing I dont like about the game and ill say it again, it just dosent have the color Q3 had, is it just me that remembers that? I must be getting old or something, but Q4 is still very good, I just think its lacking in color.

[Rabbitrunner51]

I tooK so many screenies of the game... but this is on my desk top now ;)

[Rabbitrunner51]

I have a question for you ATI video card users..or whomever knows about thier video cards.

A friend of mine uses the ATI 9250 128MB video card to play the game and for some reason his game shows up as a greenish background for the indoor and some of the outdoor environments. He has tried to go in and change any number of settings both in the game and video card control panel.... to no avail.

After some thought ( not very hard to figure out ) I told him this was a rather old VC..and although its 128MB memory... I think its because it has a lesser bit rate for memory processing. Mineis an FX5900 and mine has a 256 bit rate.

Is that it or is it something else...?? ;)

[zybch]

What does he expect on such a slow nasty card?
Not sure what the hell you mean by Bit Rate though.
A 9250 has a data bus of just 64bit, whereas your 5700 uses a 128bit bus. Thats the link between the GPU and its RAM, the more bits the better.
It can have a drastic impact on performance but shouldn't screw up the colours at all.
Tell him to spend $30 and get a 9550 and use something like ATI Tool to run it as a 9600 (they use the same core, just clocked differently).I run an Ati X800 series card and the colours are just fine.
Also get him to download the new 5.10 drivers from ati.com, they might fix the problem.

[Rabbitrunner51]

He used to have the 64MB 9250 but traded up tothe 128....

You know... like he gets this newer 128MB card and thinks he can run anything out there just becayse it has more ram, when the overall problem is it is still a card that is more than two and a half years old. Mine has a ramdac that enables a 256 bit rate ( that is how the processor in the VC processes memory )

He can play Doom3 just fine and this is the same company and a similar game..but its also newer and uses more memory and ram to process the color.

Eventually he is going to upgrade his system to something newer. He uses the AMD duron processor of some model and its fast... plus he has 1 GIG of PC2700 memory for system but?

Your probably on the right track as I am.... needs a higher video card. He did update to the latest ATI catalyst drivers. LOL

[zybch]

The RAMDAC (RAM Digital to Analogue Conveter) has nothing to do with the speed of the card at all, just the resolutions and refresh rates it can display on your screen.
The video card is not the problem though, at least the colour thing. It is however an old card that isn't realy capable of running many current game.

[Vitalka]

My brother has Radeon9200 128MB with the same problem. His screen is green in the game. Never bothered to look into it.

[Rabbitrunner51]

I knew this would happen sooner or later in this game... a creature thats unbeatable... Of course they have to put one in every game... some kind of formula for game makers....

Can someone give me a clue here??? As you can see I got only 12 health on the red side... can't be done as i have tried many timesand that is just not enough health. I know when you defeat him a door opens up as thats the other formula.

PM me a private message for some good clues or whatever. Shoot..., it was hard enough defeating the other two spider creatures... ;)

[zybch]

Ya just gotta keep shooting the ferker till his health is out. Make sure he doesn't ge to one of those power thingies (4 of them) and recharge his health though. Use the biggest guns ya got.

Geez, you're not very good at these FPSs are ya :)

[Rabbitrunner51]

I'm actually very good at them. This game in many areas is not tootough at all..and i did very well..and in somelike the last canyon Aqueduct run it was pretty tough ..but once again I breezed through that pretty good.

What is hard about this sequenceis that you start out with whatever health you have when you enter the arena area ( as it might be called )...and after battling the two spider crestures...you are left with little for the big fight. It would have been nice to have a couple of health packs somewhere lying around to rejuice.

I might have to replay the entire scene upon entering this area..so I can preserve health though.

Thanks for the help ( NOT! ) ..zybch. I suppose your god at FPS's

Your excellent advice really helped with F.E.A.R. THKS! LOL :r :eek: ;)

[Rabbitrunner51]

Again you are correct sir.... The great one has spoken

I just went back a couple of save points when fighting the last spider creature and endedup with more health..finally... and then replayed the last sequence over a few times...and I GOT THE BUGGER... very cool stuff that follows... but I won't tell for those who have yet to find out. LOL

[zybch]

I really hate the whole use of Bosses in any game.
Fear, HL2 and FarCry had the right idea and used none, but quake4, doom3, and pretty much any other shooter you care to mention uses them and it just sucks!Its just a quick and easy way for them to get you stuck for a few more minutes than to actually make better levels or puzzles.

[Rabbitrunner51]

I just wrote a really good reply earlier this am and somehow I hit a key onmy computer and it vanished.. Odd.

Anyways... the one thing that always bothers me in games is the ole formula of unbeatable bosses as you call them... I feel the same way you do. They make you play the darn thing over and over and it just takes up too much of your time...
Now.. we allknow that when you defeat said thingies.. there is a sense of satisfaction I suppose.. but honestly that is temp. and i still come away feeling silly and a bit angry.

However...,as pertaining to this game.., I still think its an amazing piece of work..esp. as you get further in the game. The environments are so well detailed and intricate and the game itself is extremely entertaining to play..' Effects are nicely done.
So many levels.. and yes some very hard moments...but not so hard as to spend a day trying to get through it.

I am in the mission 'Operation Last Hope' : Data Storage Security. Must be at least 3/4 of the way through the game or better. You keep getting another weapon it seems after a few levels..which makes it even more entertaining.

For those who haven't gotten the game or are still thinking about it don't. It is well worth it. I might go so far as to say its better tjhan Doom 3 and thats not a stretch at all.