Finally got my hands on the Edge preview...predictably reporting on it on the web was a complete hatchet job.
First of all
it's very clear that when talking about the '20-30 fps' PS3 version, they're talking about the current state of development. Here's some other insights on the current status -
the PC version has 'heavy screen tearing', and the in the 360 version 'textures on many surfaces flick visibly between resolutions'. All these things were mentioned together in the article alongside the PS3 framerate as an illustration of where development stands currently across the platforms. Anyone who takes this to be a comment on the expected outcome of the games needs some very basic lessons in comprehension.
Also, the comment from Carmack about "The work remaining is getting it locked so there's never a dropped frame or a tear" was in response to the observation about the tearing in the PC version, not a comment meant to reassure about the PS3 version or about locking the PS3 version at 30fps as some took it to mean.
If anyone wants additional tech tidbits from the preview:
- the mac version 'is a first class citizen' in development; two of the programmers use it as their main development system (Willits & Duffy)
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Single textures range up to 128000x128000, weighing in at 120GB each uncompressed. The game currently weighs in at 'probably a couple of terabytes' according to Carmack.
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The sweet spot would be 1 50GB Blu-ray and 4 8.5GB DVDs, and Doom 4 may wind up as that, but that wasn't indicating what Rage will ship on as reported by CV&G. Just the 'ideal'.
- Every version starts with the same base data and then is compressed to suit each host's medium in a process that takes a couple of days.
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Carmack says they have the 'option' of providing a higher quality dataset with less compression for PS3 if they don't mind doing that process seperately for PS3. Similarly
they could do a 'super platinum' PC edition with an 'incredibly rich' dataset if someone doesn't mind assigning 60+ GB for it.
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A lot of id Tech 5's lighting effects are prebaked into the textures. It doesn't handle global dynamic lighting. Edge notes differences between the dynamic lighting and shadows of the say the torch in a NPC's hand, and the subtler higher quality shadows thrown by static objects in the scene, and the irony of the departure from the 'no smoke and mirrors' approach of the Doom3 engine. They don't see it as an issue for Rage itself, but they point out that it might make it a less easy fit for other developers.
That's most of the techy stuff from the 'under the bonnet' aside in the article.
The shots look pretty great mostly, IMO. Some look surprisingly run-of-the-mill also, but others like the character shots etc. are right up there with the state of the art.