From: leathm AT solwarra DOT gbrmpa DOT gov DOT au (Leath Muller)
Message-Id: <199703242254.IAA28747@solwarra.gbrmpa.gov.au>
Subject: Re: [opendos] Wishlist v2.0
To: b52g AT pop DOT netaddress DOT usa DOT net (JP Morris)
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 08:54:26 +1000 (EST)
Cc: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net
In-Reply-To: <19970324005109.18914.qmail@mx03.netaddress.usa.net> from "JP Morris" at Mar 24, 97 00:51:09 am
Content-Type: text

> >> > Does this mean that id Software's game "Quake" was only
> >> > programmed in a half-hearted manner because it wont run on a 286?
> Yes.  See below.

You gotta be kiddin'...
 
> Actually I dug up a copy of Ultima Underworld today.
> Its engine seems to have a lot of Quake's functionality (uses sprite
> characters though),
> but it DOES run on a 286!

Ummm... a lot of Quakes functionality? Ahem... are you living in a shoebox?
 
> I'm sure you could make a 286 quake if you really tried!!  Probably best to
> run it in
> 286 DPMI.

Sure, you could make Quake run on a 286. Of course, I would love to play
a 3D action game that gets, oh, 1 frame every 2 minutes too...
 
> >Well, obviously I am foolish enough to be talking about quake, but the fact
> >is that id Software have told in an interview that they don't care about
> >the game (well they care, but it's not the most importent part) they want

You have misinterpreted the statement and context...

> I found shareware Quake boring.  Couldn't be bothered to buy it.. never seen
> anyone
> who even played the full version.

The how would you know if Quake could be done on a 286? The full version is
cool because the other 3 worlds not in shareware are so much better than
the first world...

> Needing 6 or more sparcstations to render levels for it was also a big turn-off.

Ummm...I do some cool stuff on my P166... you hardly need 6 spacs to do it.
The only things that required a heap of cpu grunt is the vis program, and
this has a -fast option that is fast, and doesn't produce half bad results
if you have designed the world properly...

> >the technology.
> >Then they sell the technology and let other companies who've licensed that
> >technology make it run on a slower machine.
> >Hey, when they said what the minimum specs were for Quake 2.....
> >Pentium 200, 32 MB RAM, Very fast video card and a dedicated 3D accelerator
> >who can do 64000 polygons a second (or something).
> >Now THAT'S definitly NOT backwards compatibility.

I haven't seen this, so can't comment on this... WHERE is this written so I
can have a look?

Leathal.