Rage Gives You the Power

IanDavis

Blue Blaze Irregular 1st Class
Aug 18, 2012
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Rage Gives You the Power


id Software opens up Rage with a huge 35GB mod kit.

While Rage might have been met with mixed reviews, its technology was universally praised. id Software managed to create a game that years later is still one of the best looking games out there, and runs smoothly on both consoles and PCs (well, after a few good patches). If you've been gnawing your arm off with ideas on how to improve Rage, id's giving you a shot. Today, they've released a massive 35GB dev kit that unpacks the game and lets you put it back together your way, assuming you've got the chops.

The core of this new release is idStudio, the "internal tech used to create RAGE". To help you out with these tools, id has graciously included tutorials and actual in-game levels for you to pull apart. To help you with your modding, all of the original art assets are included. Every model, texture, and animation is yours to command, or to [a href=http://apps.playcanvas.com/will/doom3/gangnamstyle]dance about[/a].

While the recent release of [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121138-Rage-DLC-Arrives-Tomorrow]more DLC[/a] was unexpected, this was not. id has a history of releasing mod tools for recent games, and [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112145-id-Wants-To-Give-You-Doom-3s-Source-Code]opening the source code[/a] for their older engines.

I'm sure that you creative types out there have spiral-bound notebooks brimming with ideas, but some others might need some extra help. Let me help you out with some freebies: hang gliders, arc wielders, and a real multiplayer mode. Now GO! There's a lot of power in the id Tech5 engine, lets see what it can do!

Keep in mind that this kit isn't exactly WYSIWYG. As the FAQ states, "this download is provided on an 'as is' basis only for the technically sophisticated and adventurous!"

Source: [a href=http://www.bethblog.com/2013/02/08/rage-tool-kit-available-today-on-steam/]Bethesda Blog[/a]

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Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
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OK, so this is actually quite awesome. As much as a meh I gave that game it really looked vibrant and I loved the feeling of the guns and how the enemies reacted to a well placed shot. If the modding community around Rage grows then we might see some great mods from this.
 

DrunkOnEstus

In the name of Harman...
May 11, 2012
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THIS is how the game is finally going to shine. Like id's previous games, they laid the groundwork to have the community make it exactly what they want. There's a reason people are still playing Doom 1. The shooting, animations, and AI were great in this game, and I'm sure people have thought of ideas over these months as to what they'd do if they were given the tools. Typical classy form for id, and unexpected graciousness from Zenimax for permitting them to continue the tradition.
 

JEBWrench

New member
Apr 23, 2009
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DrunkOnEstus said:
THIS is how the game is finally going to shine. Like id's previous games, they laid the groundwork to have the community make it exactly what they want. There's a reason people are still playing Doom 1. The shooting, animations, and AI were great in this game, and I'm sure people have thought of ideas over these months as to what they'd do if they were given the tools. Typical classy form for id, and unexpected graciousness from Zenimax for permitting them to continue the tradition.
How's that unexpected of Zenimax? This is what they usually do (see: GECK, Doom 3's Source Code, Elder Scrolls Toolkit)
 

Frostbite3789

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Jul 12, 2010
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IanDavis said:
its technology was universally praised.
Really? You and I remember very different versions of Rage. Considering the tech didn't work on PC for quite some time. I remember it got panned fairly universally rather than praised.
 

Cry Wolf

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Oct 13, 2010
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Frostbite3789 said:
IanDavis said:
its technology was universally praised.
Really? You and I remember very different versions of Rage. Considering the tech didn't work on PC for quite some time. I remember it got panned fairly universally rather than praised.
I remember the same Rage as you. It was incredibly buggy to say the absoloute least. A real pain in the to keep working for such a poor title.
 

DracoSuave

New member
Jan 26, 2009
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poiumty said:
While Rage might have been met with mixed reviews, its technology was universally praised.
wut

Joystiq.com:

"The world looks huge, and there's quite a bit of texture variety due to Id's new tech ? when everything is standing still, it's pretty as a (post-asteroid-apocalypse) picture. But characters animate stiffly - they move like solid pieces of plastic, rather than multi-layered beings. Texture pop-in is omnipresent, and the lack of dynamic lighting occasionally gives everything the appearance of a badly Photoshopped DVD cover. In a year of visual standouts, RAGE is late to the party, and the emphasis on 60 fps hasn't yielded the sorts of benefits you'd hope for."

"The lack of any conventional multiplayer speaks volumes about RAGE's moment to moment shooting - it just doesn't work very well, and the controls aren't nearly as responsive as you'd expect, given RAGE's emphasis on sixty frames per second. "


The reviews were pretty clear... Rage wasn't well received by the critics because it didn't work. It was a broken game, the technology in it failed.

The reviews were very clear about it--they weren't lauding the technology, they were condemning its failure.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
6,651
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I'd just like to express my love for John Carmack. The guy is simply awesome. He's a computer genius, he has an amazing work ethics and he just hates patents. He loves open source software so much, he actually had to work around Doom 3 source-code himself in order to give players mod tools. I <3 Carmack!
 

King of Asgaard

Vae Victis, Woe to the Conquered
Oct 31, 2011
1,926
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Well, I hear Rage is a hell of an anaesthetic...

Seriously though, I don't see many people doing much with it since the game is so painfully average, and those who do won't get much recognition.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
15,489
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Since I rather liked the game, I find this to be pretty exciting. I could - quite possibly - make this game really REALLY madcap zany nonsense if I tried, and it would be awesome.
 

DrunkOnEstus

In the name of Harman...
May 11, 2012
1,712
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JEBWrench said:
How's that unexpected of Zenimax? This is what they usually do (see: GECK, Doom 3's Source Code, Elder Scrolls Toolkit)
I"m guilty of spreading a bit of misinformation. I thought the Doom 3 source code was before the acquisition, and was unaware that the Fallout/Elder Scrolls modding kits were as expansive as id's efforts. I thought including all of the art assets and dev tools was above what things like GECK offered. My apologies.

EDIT: Some neat real information. The uncompressed artwork/textures total a little over 1 TB. I think this engine was meant as a "future-proof" concept like the original Cryengine was. I think with all the streaming that there was hope that id/Zenimax would be able to shop out tech 5 the way Epic does with UE3. It just...doesn't work as intended and needed even more time than the near decade it was given. There's so much texture work that isn't seen, and when it is it's amidst a hodge-podge of textures of varying quality.

If you read the patch notes, id recommends a 6-core processor at a minimum just to provide a sampling filter over the textures so that they aren't blurry up close. When I look at the "outside wasteland" in the game, it is certainly pretty but I don't think it's worth this. The game is proof that devs need to focus on the mechanics and rules, and the fun, because all those years, all that work, and all the power required represents an extreme amount of bloat in the race towards emulating realism.
 

Kargathia

New member
Jul 16, 2009
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Frostbite3789 said:
IanDavis said:
its technology was universally praised.
Really? You and I remember very different versions of Rage. Considering the tech didn't work on PC for quite some time. I remember it got panned fairly universally rather than praised.
I believe that's where the "after a few good patches" caveat comes in. The release client of Rage was bugged to its eyeballs, barely compatible with vanilla-flavoured DirectX, and featured a distinct lack of any graphical options whatsoever.

Most of this was fixed through patches, and once the snags were ironed out, the tech indeed is pretty impressive.
 

Coffeejack

New member
Oct 1, 2012
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Rage[/s] still doesn't run at a playable level on my ATI card. Hopefully, someone in the community will make a mod that changes this. I hope they can, because all I saw when I looked at the game was lost potential.
 

MetalGenocide

New member
Dec 2, 2009
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Thirty five gigabytes. THIRTY FIVE GIGABYTES.
The modders will spend more time reading through that, than actually making anything.

But good non the less.
 

Colt47

New member
Oct 31, 2012
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Am I the only one who thinks it might be possible to rebuild Midgard from Final Fantasy VII using it? The aesthetics when compared to the original opening cinematic are uncanny. Unfortunately, I'd still have to say good luck on the parts that are a bit more colorful outside the industrial metropolis.
 

CardinalPiggles

New member
Jun 24, 2010
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Haven't played it yet myself, but from what I've seen a world map would be nice.

The other problem I have with it is that you get these awesome cars, beautiful landscapes and yet moving around is just a linear canyon leading from area to area. More open parts like in Borderlands would be nice.
 

Cpu46

Gloria ex machina
Sep 21, 2009
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King of Asgaard said:
Well, I hear Rage is a hell of an anaesthetic...

Seriously though, I don't see many people doing much with it since the game is so painfully average, and those who do won't get much recognition.
While I will admit that the game itself was average those issues were mostly in the plot, pacing, and character depth department. Graphics (post patching) are stunning, the enemy AI is great, Controls are tight, and character animations (though repetitive at times) are fluid and beautiful compared to even recent games. Rage seemed to be more of a "look what the engine can do" game that stood alright on its own. Now they release the engine for the masses.

I am so looking forward to seeing what people can do with this.
 

King of Asgaard

Vae Victis, Woe to the Conquered
Oct 31, 2011
1,926
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Cpu46 said:
King of Asgaard said:
Well, I hear Rage is a hell of an anaesthetic...

Seriously though, I don't see many people doing much with it since the game is so painfully average, and those who do won't get much recognition.
While I will admit that the game itself was average those issues were mostly in the plot, pacing, and character depth department. Graphics (post patching) are stunning, the enemy AI is great, Controls are tight, and character animations (though repetitive at times) are fluid and beautiful compared to even recent games. Rage seemed to be more of a "look what the engine can do" game that stood alright on its own. Now they release the engine for the masses.

I am so looking forward to seeing what people can do with this.
From what I've seen, you're not wrong, but when all a game has going for it is its visuals and one aspect of gameplay (I hear the shooting was quite good, if repetitive), all it amounts to is a decent experience that you'll forget five minutes after you finish it.
As you said, it was more of a tech demo for their engine rather than a well-thought-out experience.
In this case, I hope I'm proven wrong, as I've seen some spectacular mods released in the past for various games, but with RAGE's lower than ideal credentials, I don't see much brilliance coming out of it.