gbadev.org forum archive

This is a read-only mirror of the content originally found on forum.gbadev.org (now offline), salvaged from Wayback machine copies. A new forum can be found here.

DS Misc > Quake 3 source released? is this new?

#51494 - cory1492 - Sat Aug 20, 2005 5:19 pm

While doing my daily lookabout I came across this:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Quake_3_Source_Code/1124550740/1

not sure if anyone here actually has any interest in attempting a port of this remarkable engine (or for that matter if it is even possible), but I definitely enjoyed playing heretic and hexen for a couple of minutes so I figured "why not, maybe someone in DSdev will be interested in this..."

Perhaps I am behind the times though too, not sure if they released source before this beta or not.

#51496 - Mr Snowflake - Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:10 pm

cory1492 wrote:
not sure if anyone here actually has any interest in attempting a port of this remarkable engine (or for that matter if it is even possible)

Uhm... No. If you want to port this, you will have to leave so many features out, it's easier to start making your own.

#51497 - MrAdults - Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:43 pm

The Q3 code was only released yesterday. There was already a discussion on Q1:

http://forum.gbadev.org/viewtopic.php?t=6601

Q3 is several magnitudes more complex and feature-rich than Q1, and has somewhere in the area of 500mb in assets. It could be possible if you basically remade Q3 with DS assets in mind, but a direct port isn't going to happen.

On a fairly unrelated note, I had some fun with Q3 last night myself.
http://www.killedbyninjas.com/pinkitup.jpg

-Rich

#51554 - deltro - Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:18 pm

Q3 was officially ported to the PS2 years ago.. it was ok, but the loading times were HORRIBLE, about 5 minute wait time to load up one level, if you change a setting, you have to load back into the menu (2 minutes) and then back into the game (5 minutes). And on in-game, I don't think the DS graphics quite match up to PS2.

#51556 - Kyoufu Kawa - Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:20 pm

I was 11th in line to download it ^_^

#51770 - Quirky - Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:25 pm

Funny that about the PS2 port... the Dreamcast version was great ;) I spent many a happy hour getting fragged online with it.

#51813 - Kyoufu Kawa - Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:48 pm

...You're happy to get fragged? And they call me a masochist.

#51822 - El Hobito - Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:56 pm

as crazy as it may sound it may well be wiser to make a port from the quake3 engine than it is to make a port from the quake 1 engine (i;m talking about the engine not the game) since i would imagine quake 3 is quite mature and therefore a helluva lot more efficient. im sure the engine doesnt force you to use high poly models and levels...

#51825 - MrAdults - Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:12 pm

Quote:
as crazy as it may sound it may well be wiser to make a port from the quake3 engine than it is to make a port from the quake 1 engine (i;m talking about the engine not the game) since i would imagine quake 3 is quite mature and therefore a helluva lot more efficient. im sure the engine doesnt force you to use high poly models and levels...

The Q3 renderer is more complex and structured more around the capabilities of Quake 3, in particular the shader system. Moving all of your geometry into a tess buffer and manipulating it further in software before offloading it to hardware is definitely not something you'd want to do in a Quake DS port, to give one of many possible examples.

-Rich

#51834 - Lupin - Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:47 pm

Seriously, the DS would never be able to handle as many vertices/polys as Quake3 would need, even if you would use a very low LOD it still wouldn't run smooth on a DS. But i am quite sure that there is going to be a Q3 port for PSP some day.
_________________
Team Pokeme
My blog and PM ASM tutorials

#51838 - Wckd_Spn - Tue Aug 23, 2005 10:20 pm

The PSP doesn't even have anough RAM to run the Q3 engine. That's one of the big preventing factors that keep the PSP from running PS2 (and even Dreamcast)-grade games

#51872 - tepples - Wed Aug 24, 2005 6:40 am

PSP: 30 MB of RAM, with several MB reserved for the operating system
PS2: 32 MB of RAM, 4 MB of VRAM (frame buffer and texture cache)
Dreamcast: 16 MB of RAM, 8 MB of VRAM, 2 MB audio RAM

Which machine is lacking RAM again?
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

#51886 - panzeramd - Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:06 am

tepples wrote:
PSP: 30 MB of RAM, with several MB reserved for the operating system
PS2: 32 MB of RAM, 4 MB of VRAM (frame buffer and texture cache)
Dreamcast: 16 MB of RAM, 8 MB of VRAM, 2 MB audio RAM

Which machine is lacking RAM again?


The PSP has 32 MB's of system ram and it has 4 MB's of embeded dram which is dedicated VRAM.

That's according to the little brochures Sony has distributed to stores for advertising the 1st setember australian release.

#51888 - Dracula-X - Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:51 am

There is more than one Q3 port to psp happening as we speak.

Regarding the PSP ram: of the 32 megs total, 8 is reserved by the OS, of which 4 can temporarily be reclaimed (So, 28 megs ram free is the best case scenario with the OS)

A port comparable to the DC version should be reasonably possible, but it might yet take take quite a bit of work.

#51889 - Wckd_Spn - Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:01 am

The spec sheet I had looked at listed only 8MB of system memory, and 2MB of VRAM. I guess it was misleading. Of course, I never had much desire to program for the PSP, so I never really looked very hard.

Edit: It looks like these were the original specs, from back when the system was announced. I must've read them THEN and took them to heart. Still, no real interest in it. I'm not saying it's not an impressive piece of hardware, but all of it's attributes seem so superficial.

#51890 - Dracula-X - Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:34 am

Wckd_Spn wrote:
Edit: It looks like these were the original specs, from back when the system was announced.

Developers themselves prompted the upgrade, they were none too happy to deal with what they were given initially, and Sony obliged them.

#52069 - Alex Atkin UK - Fri Aug 26, 2005 2:46 am

Its quite amazing that the PSP is pretty much a portable PS2, when its running at full-speed. I have heard people say its actually MORE powerful at full-speed, though that will remain to be seen.

However the number of people with cracked screens may mean it never does that well. :-(

I managed to get nearly 2 weeks out of mine before it stopped turning on. I sent it back for repair and they refused to repair it claiming the screen was cracked. Alas it DOES now turn on with a big crack in the screen, but im rather dubious seeing as it wouldnt even turn on when I sent it back.

If I do not get it replaced then I aint buying another. I will just have to snuggle up to my DS which I might add has been dropped onto a concrete floor and didnt get a scratch from it. Now THATS how you build a portable console.
_________________
[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]

[Images not permitted - Click here to view it]

#52794 - emumanXM - Sat Sep 03, 2005 6:19 am

Half-life ported to DS would be the the way to world piece! I'm not sure if valve release the half-life engine source. Even so, you'd need atleast 400mb for the graphics and sounds, or maybe a bit less. Multiplayer via wireless would absolutely rock, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. :P I know there will be a lot of hardware limitations with the DS, but even a limited version would be cool. :)

Jonathan

#52839 - AT - Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:25 pm

emumanXM wrote:
Half-life ported to DS would be the the way to world piece! I'm not sure if valve release the half-life engine source. Even so, you'd need atleast 400mb for the graphics and sounds, or maybe a bit less. Multiplayer via wireless would absolutely rock, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. :P I know there will be a lot of hardware limitations with the DS, but even a limited version would be cool. :)

Jonathan

Are you unsure if Valve will release the Half-Life engine, or have released it?
The game is actually running on the Quake engine, which has already had it's source published (as far as i know).

#52840 - tepples - Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:35 pm

The HL1 engine is a heavily customized version of the Quake engine. I don't see those customizations making their way to the public any time soon.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.

#52845 - deltro - Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:19 pm

tepples wrote:
The HL1 engine is a heavily customized version of the Quake engine. I don't see those customizations making their way to the public any time soon.
You could just throw the HL graphics at the quake engine, and then CS:DS, I see it working.

#52855 - OrR - Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:43 am

I don't think it's that easy...

#52866 - Wckd_Spn - Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:16 am

Definately not. Even if the HL engine is BASED on the Quake engine, doesn't mean they are all that similar. All you could make is a HL clone that used HL's resources (textures, models, maps, etc). However, it is a possible project on an official basis. Though publishing might be a problem with Valve's current policies, and the more likely platform would be the PSP. If there is enough vocal demand for a portable HL, there will probably be one. Otherwise, you'll just jave to get cracking on that HL clone, or settle for Metroid.

Unless, of course, Valve released the old engine's source, which COULD happen at some point. I'd say the most likely time for that would be in 2008: the ten year anniversary.