id Software designer back pedals about Xbox 360 limitations
Yesterday, we posted a story regarding a report from 1Up, in which Tim Willits, the lead designer for id Software’s Rage, indicated that chunks of the game had to be cut out in order to accommodate the Xbox 360. Willits, in fashionable PR back pedaling, clarified his comments today by indicating that there was a miscommunication with his earlier statement.
Willits previously indicated that several wasteland areas would have to be cut out, leaving just two wastelands in the whole game. However, in response to the outcry everywhere on the Internet, Willits “clarified” the story to Shacknews today.
He stated:
“There was NO CONTENT removed from RAGE because of the 360–NONE AT ALL, … We feel the 360 is a great platform and will provide a fantastic Rage experience.”
I don’t believe many people thought actual content were cut from current development, but that the design was scaled back due to the size limitation of the DVD-9 disc. It sounds like id Software planned a much larger game initially, but a design decision was made to scale the game to “accommodate” for the Xbox 360.
Why else would he have said this yesterday?
“The PC is limitless in the amount of data you can put on it… The PS3 has about 25GB. But the Xbox 360 roughly has 6 to 8 GB of data. We’re hoping we can squeeze the game down to two discs for the 360 version.”
Willits also said, “we originally wanted to have around 5 or 6 smaller wasteland environments but later decided instead to have 2 larger wastelands.” He also mentioned the design decision to split up the wastelands per DVD disc in order to have a loading point between wastelands.
So, if you read between the lines it seems like having five or six smaller wastelands would still be more expansive than two wastelands that are larger then each of the smaller wastelands. In a more recent interview at Shacknews, Willits was also asked about John Carmack’s annoyance at Microsoft for charging a royalty fee per disc.
Willits said:
“Microsoft is not being dickheads,… It was a simple kind of miscommunication. Microsoft does not charge a royalty per disc, but there is a cost of goods that goes along with manufacturing. “
Again, if you read between the lines it’s not a “royalty fee” per se, but a “cost of goods” per disc. Similar to the $10 “service fee” at the ATMs inside the Pink Pony, it’s a “service fee,” it has nothing to do with the strip club taking advantage of you.
It is interesting to note that all of the design decisions were made with the Xbox 360 in mind. It is not all that unusual for developers to design around the lowest denominator. Many fans and gamers would have felt better if id Software did not have to compromise their original vision. I’m sure Xbox 360 owners wouldn’t mind having a three disc game, considering the amount of precedence on the PS2 and Xbox 360.
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17 Responses to “id Software designer back pedals about Xbox 360 limitations”
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September 17th, 2008
Somebody got slapped by the company they work for
September 17th, 2008
I bet his arse is tanned right about now.
September 18th, 2008
Hey id, just make the game you want to make and put it on the console that can handle it. It’ll sell jut fine.
September 18th, 2008
The company probably threatened to make him watch those pathetic commercials starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld for 12 hours straight if he didn’t fix what he said.
September 18th, 2008
Ok Mike
Here is what your forgot to mention. I love how you spin things.
Willits’ unedited response follows:
During my talk today I mentioned that we originally wanted to have around 5 or 6 smaller wasteland environments but later decided instead to have 2 larger wastelands. Mostly because we were going to be shipping on two DVDs for the 360 and felt that it would play better with one large wasteland on each disc so there would be no loading between wastelands. Not loading levels while you drive around is a much better decision regardless of platform.
There was NO CONTENT removed from RAGE because of the 360–NONE AT ALL. Moving from multiple wastelands into fewer but larger wastelands was a far better decision and is actually giving us more gameplay in the game.
September 18th, 2008
And here is a link on the whole Disk and Compression and Graphics issue.
http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1001
September 18th, 2008
@CAD,
lol… quit your whining, anybody can see the designer guy is back pedaling like hell. lol
You should go onto Kotaku and bug them as well…
Kotaku:
“Tim Willits telling Shacknews “As far as game content, I will swear on the lives of my children that nothing was cut”. So…nothing was literally cut, they just designed the entire game around the limitations of one of the target platforms? It’s taking a different road (Semantics Ave), but don’t we still end up at the same place?”
http://kotaku.com/5051504/id-try-to-explain-away-rage-360-cuts
September 18th, 2008
OK Cad- its obvious you will never understand what this site is. It is nothing more than a couple of guys who read articles on the net and then write a story about the story they read giving highlights of what they read. Then giving their opinion on that subject. They can’t copy the whole story or they would have plagiarism on their hands. This site is nice for us who have a life and don’t have time to search the net for every interview in the gaming industry. People who come here know to take what is written with a grain of salt. Well, everyone except you & Harry apparently!
By the way the interview piece you posted doesn’t add much to what Mike wrote.
September 18th, 2008
Wylie explain this then
About BLORGE
BLORGE is a highly integrated network of news sites covering technology, Vista, Macintosh, gaming, photography, and much more. It was founded in October 2006 by journalist, writer and publisher John Pospisil (john@blorge.com).
Our team of international writers is dedicated to providing gutsy, honest and informed coverage and comment on key technology news and issues, without fear or favor.
We serve the global IT community.
We want to inform, stimulate and entertain. We want to provide a fresh, independent
perspective.
Our motto is “technology with attitude”.
BLORGE.com is owned and operated by Cogent Insights Pty Ltd, which is based in Sydney, Australia.
September 18th, 2008
Cad- here is the key sentence in you post.
“We want to inform, stimulate and entertain. We want to provide a fresh, independent
perspective.”
I would say they do that for me. Maybe this site isn’t for you.
September 18th, 2008
The developer says nothing has been cut, but “read between the lines” and it has.
The developer says that there is actually more gameplay with 2 wastelands, but “read between the lines” and there would be more with 6.
No doubt there will be an article on here soon that says – The Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3 in Japan, but read between the lines and it hasn’t.
September 18th, 2008
CAD, there’s no point trying to reason with PS3 fanboys, they can’t see through their rose coloured glasses, and when the writers of these so called articles are caught out leaving important stuff, they rush in to defend him.
Put it this way, they feel the need to defend half truths about their system, it doesn’t say much about their system now, does it?
September 18th, 2008
“half truths” well at least he’s halfway to admitting he just plain lies
September 19th, 2008
Wylie, I guess there is a conflict because they also say
Our team of international writers is dedicated to providing gutsy, honest and informed coverage and comment on key technology news and issues, without FEAR or FAVOR.
September 19th, 2008
Harry
Don’t worry I understand. I bang my head on the wall wondering why I even botherd to say anything in the first place. I totally forgot who I was trying to reason with.
September 19th, 2008
Hey Harry what is your Gamer Tag?
September 19th, 2008
Cad- Did Mike not link the article with the interview into his post? I don’t understand how he disserviced anyone when the link is there. He paraphrased it for people who did not want to read the whole article. As long as he links it he did nothing wrong. If you want articles praising the 360 in all its glory in every article go to a 360 site, not gamerblorge. Stop trying to rip these guys on every article they write, it has gotten old.