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Just a smidge over 30 years after its original release date, Quake just got a big update. MachineGames has added a new chapter to id Software’s landmark 1996 successor to the Doom games, dubbed Dawn of the Machine.
The 19 new levels, which join two previous MachineGames expansions, see Quake’s protagonist trapped in “a dimension of endless illusion.” I’m most curious about some promised new weapon variants: “the Super Axe—unleashing lightning on successive strikes—and the Laser Cannon, firing ricocheting projectiles that tear through enemies from every angle.”
The update also adds a gallery of archival material from Quake’s development, including a handful of playable levels that were created early in development and never finished.
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The creative process on display is decidedly relatable, with level names like “Tim” “Tim10A,” and “Tim14,” and notes like, “Lots of tight hallways make navigation tough, and similarly there are many dead ends that were not completed, so it is not entirely clear what the idea was.”
The update was revealed at QuakeCon today in a panel which included id Software co-founder John Romero, who noted with laughter that the announcement was occurring not on the 30th anniversary of Quake, which released in June of 1996, but on the 30th anniversary of the day he left id Software.
Quake famously marked the end of an era for id: Romero, American McGee, Michael Abrash, Sandy Petersen and others left the company after its development. Petersen said recently that “Quake ruined id Software.”
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But ruined or not, the studio carried on and released two of my favorite games, Quake 2 and 3, and everything else that came after, including the much lauded run of modern Doom games.
Id now faces a new kind of adversity following substantial layoffs imposed by Microsoft as part of its plan to “reset” the Xbox business.
“This is certainly going to dampen the mood of the founder reunion at QuakeCon next month,” id Software co-founder John Carmack said in reaction to the news.
Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, and Tom Hall are all scheduled to appear at a founders reunion panel on Saturday for “a rare conversation about the company’s earliest days, and the friendships, challenges, and innovations that have forever changed gaming.”
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