Quake Live Dev Says Mac and Linux Are "Top Priority"

AlexMax2742 writes "id's Marty Stratton notes the following in his Quake Live developer blog on the subject of the Mac and Linux port of Quake Live: 'These have proved more difficult than expected, but we're getting close. We expect to also be testing Mac and Linux versions of Quake Live internally this month and then making those publicly available just as soon as we feel they are ready. This work is being done by a separate programmer in parallel with the other work that we're doing, and is his only priority — point being, that this is a top priority for us and not being delayed because of other work.' In my humble opinion, it's awesome to see that kind of (continued) dedication from a company." The post also indicates that progress is being made on the much-awaited private server functionality, and part two makes brief mention of match broadcasting and community-made maps.

Interesting spin

[smallfries]

So is only putting one programmer on the job a priority?

Re:Interesting spin

[thetoadwarrior]

As I recall the Quake live team is tiny anyway and between the existing QL code and Q3's original Linux source code they probably didn't think it would take that long to knock something out.

Re:Just Quake

[citizenr]

What makes it better to play in a browser?

play? nothing. But you get to have this rich beautifull interface with stats, profiles teams clans tags battles tournaments accesible from the web at no additional cost.

Re:priority?

[Joe Jordan]

Sure it does. Catering to the Linux community creates good will. The geeks that use Linux often have influence over the technology selections of others and are more likely to recommend products from a company that, in their eyes, has done something good. Every business decision does not have to equal measurable profits. Some decisions may have no effect on the bottom line today, but by doing The Right Thing by some, will reap rewards in the future.

... Or maybe Carmack just wants to play a little FFA on his Linux box. :)

Private Servers

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm really looking forward to the implementation of private servers. I know all that's holding a few of my friends back is the fact that they have to play with the unwashed masses. It'd be great if several of us could hop on for some games against opponents we know and can laugh with.

Re:I honestly don't get it

[thetoadwarrior]

Who is to say Quake Live won't become a general purpose gaming plugin. Just like mod could let you play more or less any game within Quake, Quake 2, etc. The same could potentially happen with Quake live.

As I recall this is more of an experiment for Id. If it takes off they may expand upon the plug-in to be much more. We'll have to see.

Also given Id's habit of eventually releasing their source code means the same may happen and someone could take it some where completely different and we should be grateful that there is one developer that has always looked after Linux users and favours open source.

If you don't care for Quake Live, that's fine, you can play something else or play normal Quake 3. Those of us that like what does and what it may lead to will continue to play it.

Re:Interesting spin

[Yvanhoe]

Should be. In an ideal world of really flawless corss-platform libs, the only thing to rewrite would be the makefiles...