id Software unveils Rage

"'Rage' is the game that we've been working on internally," John Carmack announced at QuakeCon tonight, at the conclusion of a video showing the game running on id Tech 5.

Given its id Tech 5 platform, it's due on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac.

Tim Willits is leading the design on game story and gameplay, and the game will play into the strengths of the new technology. "Maybe it's time for id to do something that's not so dark," Carmack joked.

In fact, we can expect lots of bright and sunny gameplay. It's got vehicles, and a video showed first-person gunplay and deformed, zombie-esque monsters. We particularly like the man who appears to have a sack on his head.

In contrast with past id games, a lot of Rage focuses on its racing element, with players adventuring to build up funds, tackling enemies in traditional FPS settings and navigating vast landscapes - that draw upon the developer's "megatexture" technology - using ATVs and other vehicles.

Rage will fill up two DVDs or one Blu-ray, Carmack said. It's costing tens of millions of dollars to make across a four-year dev-cycle.

Asked why he wouldn't do an HD-DVD version for the PC, he said that he didn't see the point in confusing retail with a third SKU when the game is only on two DVDs.

It's multiformat status also raised the question of whether Rage will use DirectX 10. "There's no DX10 feature that's going to be driven in Rage," Carmack said. "We're not going to make any of those centrepieces of our technology...There's nothing there that I'm dying to get my hands on."

The game itself "probably won't have standard deathmatch", he said, but it will have co-operative elements, particularly with its vehicles - you'll be able to have a gunner on top. There'll be head-to-head racing, too.

Don't expect cross-platform play though. "I am not a proponent of that," Carmack said, echoing the sort of comments made recently by Epic Games. "It's a technical gimmicky sort of thing," he added. "I don't think expanding your opponent base across that is worth the burden...it's certainly not a goal of mine."

Oh, and it will be out when it's done, obviously.

Expect more on Rage soon.