News

id Software bashing out RAGE for iPhone and iPad

Post-apocalyptic shooter coming before year's end

id Software bashing out RAGE for iPhone and iPad

Post-apocalyptic shooter RAGE will appear on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad before the end of 2010.

The announcement was made by id Software head John Carmack during the developer's annual QuakeCon event in Texas.

Carmack revealed the iPhone version of the game, affirming a two-month-old rumour posted by our own Rumour Miner claiming that parent company Bethesda Softworks would announce an iPhone adaptation of the title.

Check out that tech

An impressive technology demonstration during Carmack's talk was streamed at the official QuakeCon website, which showed off the game's stunning graphics running on an iPhone 4.

This version - something specifically referred to as not being a game in and of itself - includes features of the id Tech 5 game engine including MegaTextures and lighting radiosity.

"I did some fairly clever things to approximate sub-pixel precision on the movement," Carmack said, referring to the smoothness of the controls.

Working on up

Carmack also insists the original iPhone 2G is capable of handling the game, and mentioned that it looks great on iPad.

The game's framerate on older iPhones will be similar to Doom Classic and significantly better than Doom Resurrection even on older devices, he said.

There will be two games based on RAGE, the first of which will be released by the end of the year to show off the technology.

A second, more robust iPhone game - 'other people will do the hard work of turning this technology into a fully fledged game', said Carmack - will be launched in conjunction with the console and PC versions in 2011.

You can also see video of Carmack talking about the demo over on Kotaku.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.