John Carmack of id Software says Doom 4 will be 'done when it's done'

The gaming expo QuakeCon is going on in full swing right now, with games on display from both id Software and Bethesda Softworks, among other developers. Some of the major events happening at the expo are a Quake Live tournament and the keynote speech by game developers. John Carmack, co-founder of id Software will be handling the annual keynote address. The full panel hasn’t been announced yet. According to the release, the panel will include Marty Stratton from id Software; Ted Price, president and CEO of Insomniac Games; Chet Failszek and Tom Leonard from Valve Software; and Geoff Kieghley, host of Spike’s GameTrailers.

At QuakeCon, John Carmack spoke about their next game, Doom 4, and said that they’re hard at work on the title. When asked about when the game will be ready, Carmack said it will be “done when it’s done.” Carmack also mentioned that id had shut down its mobile division, who were responsible for porting games like Doom and Wolfenstein to phones, to free up more staff for AAA games like the next iteration of Doom.

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“The Bethesda family really is about swinging for the fences,” he said. “I hope that we do get back to mobile in various ways in the future, but the real aim is blockbuster triple-A titles, and for id that means Doom 4. Essentially everybody will be focused on Doom 4 as a project.”

Doom 4 will be done when it’s done

Last year, John Carmack had talked about getting to work on Doom 4 as soon as id finished its work-in-progress title, Rage. While Carmack didn’t go into specifics, he did speak about the frame rate limitations set for Doom 4. Apparently, the single player version of the game would run at 30 fps while multiplayer would be locked at 60 fps. This has obviously been implemented to help consoles cope with the processing load when there are 30 characters crawling all over the place. 

Currently, while not much information about Doom 4 is available, those interested can get a hands-on with the upcoming Doom 3: BFG Edition. Doom 3 BFG Edition is slated for release in October 2012. The set will feature a re-mastered version of both Doom 3, and its Resurrection of Evil add-on, as well as seven new levels titled ‘The Lost Mission.’ The Doom 3 BFG Edition will also include the original Doom, and Doom II, which were the main games that defined the first person shooter as a genre in the early days of gaming.

The game is set to have enhanced graphics that bring it to the current generation. The game and its add-ons have also been optimized in 3D, featuring 5.1 surround sound, achievements on the Xbox 360, trophies on the PlayStation 3, new rendering and lighting, and a new checkpoint save system. The controls have been fine-tuned by id Software, so that the game’s fast-paced action translates better into the console versions. 

The game features an armour-mounted flashlight, allowing players to have the flashlight on and the weapon ready at the same time. In the original Doom 3 release, players couldn’t keep the flashlight on while holding a gun; you had to pick either. This added to the game’s creepy atmosphere, which unfortunately, couldn’t do much by itself to make the game scary.

QuakeCon is a four-day annual event that celebrates games. Free to all and open to the public, QuakeCon 2012 will feature one of North America’s largest Bring-Your-Own-Computer LAN party for nearly 3,000 people.