id Software to develop for iPhone

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 31st July 2008
Comments (17) Stumble
id Software is currently planning on bringing a new game to Apple's iPhone platform.

id Software is currently planning on bringing a new game to Apple's iPhone platform.

id Software, the developer behind the Doom and Quake franchises and one of the biggest names in the PC gaming industry, is set to develop a new title exclusively for the iPhone according to recent comments.

John Carmack, lead technical whizz at id Software, has long been a fan of mobile systems and has bought adaptations of Orcs and Elves as well as Doom RPG to mobiles and DSs everywhere - but is now working on something for the iPhone.

"We have a title we want to develop exclusively for iPhone...I'm not announcing anything specifically, but it would be a graphical tour de force," Carmack told Forbes

Anna Kang, president of id Mobile, also added her two cents to the announcement, mentioning that the game "would not be a new IP."

Care to take a guess at what we could be looking at then? A iPhone version of Doom or Quake is probably most likely, though obviously a multiplayer-capable version of Quake 3 would be the holy grail. Let's just hope it isn't Orcs and Elves, which was a pretty dry and desperate affair for id.

What do you think would be the game most suited to the iPhone? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote bahgger 31st July 2008, 10:15
It's definitely going to be the Half-Life universe that they're porting.
Quote wuyanxu 31st July 2008, 10:25
there's already quake4iphone on cracked iphones.....

make a ported version of Doom :)

but iPhone's graphics isn't very good, some AppStore games even lag, hopefully they optimise it to death
Quote mclean007 31st July 2008, 10:26
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahgger
It's definitely going to be the Half-Life universe that they're porting.
Link?

I didn't think iD owned the Half-Life IP?
Quote bahgger 31st July 2008, 10:30
I was merely baiting ~_~ Valve owns the HL intellectual property.. I do wish that some form of HL took form on the iPhone though :) It's been much more intriguing than any Doom or Quake game in terms of story imho.
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 31st July 2008, 10:36
"a graphical tour de force".....

Considering it's on a iPhone...

I don't think it'll be anything particularly mind blowing..
Quote bahgger 31st July 2008, 10:39
Well, you know Carmack and his graphics.. He can't get enough of them. I remember Doom 3 and how it was hailed for its awesome graphics, but yet the gameplay was pretty pants..
Quote Jordan Wise 31st July 2008, 10:44
i've already seen a video of quake 3 arena running on the iphone, it was controlled by tilt which looks terrible and had no multiplayer, but it has been done
Quote Bauul 31st July 2008, 11:31
id always loved mobiles for some reason, after Romero crashed and burned with Ion Storm, one of the many things he attempted afterwards was setting up a mobile phone games studio.

That probably crashed and burned as well.
Quote sotu1 31st July 2008, 12:25
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahgger
I was merely baiting ~_~ Valve owns the HL intellectual property.. I do wish that some form of HL took form on the iPhone though :) It's been much more intriguing than any Doom or Quake game in terms of story imho.

true, but i don't think phones are ready for core games that have story line. i may well be proven wrong as the iphone has a lot of support from big names-like carmack.. but we're only just about ready to accept phones as a viable gaming platform, so tap the casual market first, let the devs realise that the market has huge potential, and then they may pay attention and make that first killer app.
Quote sotu1 31st July 2008, 12:29
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
id always loved mobiles for some reason

i think it's carmack's ethos of games for the latest technology. he always pushes new hardware. let's face it, Doom pushed PC sales thru the roof, Doom 3 pushed GPU sales thru the roof. plus, in theory the simpler the device the better chance homebrew guys have of making a game for it. carmack is like the ideological game dev in many ways
Quote wuyanxu 31st July 2008, 13:43
games on phones shouldn't be serious and shouldn't have long storylines. who is going to sit at home play hours long on a phone?

phone games should be short and fun, something to enjoy for 20min on the train, or play around for 10min when bored.

a good example of this is the Tetris or Trism on iPhone. or simply solitaire. don't know anyone tryed Labyrinth, it's amazing to cure bordom (and very effective at introducing frustration)
Quote Cupboard 31st July 2008, 15:48
I think some sort of RPG/RTS would probably make best use of the interface. An FPS would be horrible!
Quote Mr T 31st July 2008, 20:11
Is it just me or won't the controls be awful ?
Quote mclean007 31st July 2008, 21:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr T
Is it just me or won't the controls be awful ?

It's just you who are awful! :D

Sorry, terrible joke. Anyway, no, it isn't just you who thinks that - it was my first thought - how do you play Quake/Doom/[insert FPS of choice] with a touchscreen phone? An RTS on the other hand could be quite awesome!
Quote bahgger 1st August 2008, 03:43
Quote:
Originally Posted by mclean007
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr T
Is it just me or won't the controls be awful ?

It's just you who are awful! :D

Sorry, terrible joke. Anyway, no, it isn't just you who thinks that - it was my first thought - how do you play Quake/Doom/[insert FPS of choice] with a touchscreen phone? An RTS on the other hand could be quite awesome!

Complete massacre of the English language in your first sentence thar.

Additionally, FPS' could be controlled using the accelerometer (with appropriate sensitivity adjustment) while shooting could be done by tapping the screen. I think it would be quite funny if a person sat on a rotating chair and swung viciously with iPhone in hand as they tried to turn ingame
Quote wuyanxu 1st August 2008, 08:18
the Quake4iPhone i tryed uses accelorometer, tilt forward to go forward, turn like a steering wheel to turn. awfully difficult to aim.

may be i never get the hang of accelorometers, can't win MotoRacer level 2 either. and Super Monkey ball is too hard for me.
Quote mclean007 1st August 2008, 09:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahgger
Complete massacre of the English language in your first sentence thar.
Says the man who uses the word "thar"? I think you'll find that my sentence was grammatically impeccable. :D
Quote:
Additionally, FPS' could be controlled using the accelerometer (with appropriate sensitivity adjustment) while shooting could be done by tapping the screen. I think it would be quite funny if a person sat on a rotating chair and swung viciously with iPhone in hand as they tried to turn ingame
Hmmmm... maybe. I'll withhold judgement until I see it, but I'm hugely sceptical. I guess you could use tilt control for forwards/backwards (pitch iPhone forwards/backwards); strafe (roll iPhone); and turn (yaw iPhone), but I'd imagine it would be quite unweildy and I don't know if the iPhone's accelerometer is sufficiently precise. You'd also need some kind of on-screen weapon select interface. I'm sure it's doable, but I can't see it being a particularly intuitive or fun way to play an FPS.
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