John Carmack's History at Mac Keynotes

[rossip]

I was blown away when John Carmack joined stage with good ol' Steve at WWDC 2007, premiering RAGE to the world for the first time ever, running on Mac hardware. When it was announced that RAGE was being developed by id for Mac, PC, PS3 and 360, I thought this is it, macs are finally going to become a tier 1 gaming platform.

Unfortunately, as we all know, Rage has been released sans mac version; adding insult to injury, no one at id will comment when or if a Mac version will be released (other than actual idiotic insults by Tim Willits). The fact is id has a history on premiering games on Mac hardware. In fact all of id's last 3 major games were shown off first for the world to see at Mac keynotes; I'm talking about Quake III, Doom 3, and RAGE:

Quake III starts at 3:05

Doom 3

RAGE


id did the mac version of Quake 3, and it was awesome, they slipped with Doom 3 having Aspyr do the port, and now RAGE is out with no mac version in sight. If history holds true Doom 4 should premier at an upcoming WWDC, which i can't lie would be awesome. But next time I'll try not to get my hopes up like I did for RAGE.

 

[sesnir]

Yeah it's pretty crazy how they've shown support over the years but are perhaps now having second thoughts just as the mac's market share leaps forward.

 

[rossip]

Yeah it's pretty crazy how they've shown support over the years but are perhaps now having second thoughts just as the mac's market share leaps forward.

I totally agree, especially in light of valve's unprecedented release of steam for mac, it has me wondering who is really making deceptions at id, John Carmack or ZeniMax.

 

[JordanNZ]

ID has nothing to do with there being no mac version of the game.

It's Bethesda, their publisher who haven't decided if they want to go ahead with a mac version yet.

 

[rossip]

ID has nothing to do with there being no mac version of the game.

It's Bethesda, their publisher who haven't decided if they want to go ahead with a mac version yet.

Have evidence to back up your claim/speculation? I don't necessarily disagree with you, just never read anything that specific. The time line suggest ZeniMax's (Bethesda) acquisition had something to do with it.

2007: Rage coming to Mac, PC, PS3, 360
2009: id acquired by ZeniMax
2011: Rage released with the PS3 and 360 versions feeling tier 1, while the PC version feels disturbingly like a console port.

 

[JordanNZ]

Have evidence to back up your claim/speculation? I don't necessarily disagree with you, just never read anything that specific. The time line suggest ZeniMax's (Bethesda) acquisition had something to do with it.

2007: Rage coming to Mac, PC, PS3, 360
2009: id acquired by ZeniMax
2011: Rage released with the PS3 and 360 versions feeling tier 1, while the PC version feels disturbingly like a console port.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/5...011-New-Screenshots-Released-Mac-Version-Axed

There was another one somewhere, I will see if I can find it...
ID has had it running on macs for quite a while, apparently there were some issues with it running on snow leopard. But those have been resolved with Lion.

 

[Irishman]

Have evidence to back up your claim/speculation? I don't necessarily disagree with you, just never read anything that specific. The time line suggest ZeniMax's (Bethesda) acquisition had something to do with it.

2007: Rage coming to Mac, PC, PS3, 360
2009: id acquired by ZeniMax
2011: Rage released with the PS3 and 360 versions feeling tier 1, while the PC version feels disturbingly like a console port.

Wait, why would Carmack sell to anyone?? I thought id was a damn healthy company?

 

[padré]

I wouldn't get your hopes up for DOOM 4 anytime soon thanks to the disappointing launch that RAGE had it has been indefinitely postponed...

Source:

http://kotaku.com/5851953/doom-4-indefinitely-postponed-following-rages-disappointing-launch

 

[MasterTick]

I wouldn't get your hopes up for DOOM 4 anytime soon thanks to the disappointing launch that RAGE had it has been indefinitely postponed...

Source:

http://kotaku.com/5851953/doom-4-indefinitely-postponed-following-rages-disappointing-launch

Doesn't make sense to me, I don't see how RAGE would have an effect on Doom 4, which would sell quite well.

Anyways, I wonder which comes out first, Doom 4 or Half-Life 3!

 

[aarond12]

The sign at the road, under the letters "id" says "A ZeniMax Company" in smaller letters. Yes, I work in the same building as id.

 

[Irishman]

Wow, I was wrong.

http://kotaku.com/5302060/id-software-bought-by-bethesda-parent-company-zenimax

Back in '09.

So, they're now their own publisher. They also can't really blame anyone else for not bringing a Mac version because they're all in the same family of companies.

 

[lewdvig]

ZeniMax has no interest in Mac it seems.

Which is a shame. Since 2005 I have bought all their games. Many of these games have been unofficially ported to Mac - for example the Wineskin wrapper for New Vegas is fantastic and the game even runs on my 11" MBA.

With a small amt of effort they could port their Elder Scrolls and Fallout games to the Mac and squeeze a bit more revenue from their IP.

Regarding Rage, whether it is released or not, I am pretty sure Carmack still insists of writing portable code (he went on record a few years ago saying it was a good discipline to have).

I'll buy Rage on Mac, or I will skip it. I'll have to buy Skyrim, but I will eagerly look forward to an unofficial port.

 

[Cougarcat]

I wouldn't get your hopes up for DOOM 4 anytime soon thanks to the disappointing launch that RAGE had it has been indefinitely postponed...

Source:

http://kotaku.com/5851953/doom-4-indefinitely-postponed-following-rages-disappointing-launch

Bethesda said that's false.

Rage looks dull to me...just can't get excited for it. I'm more looking forward to future games that will use the engine.

 

[MSlaw]

If i'm not mistaken, the tools used to develop Wolfenstein and DOOM were created on NeXT.