why didnt u actually use vehicles some more integrated way? could have used mech in more imaginative ways and make player jump in and out of it for some missions 

I actually had very little to do with planning levels/missions. I joined the project late, and by that time most decisions re: game progression and levels were already made. 

I didn't know you were at Raven TOO.

Note to self: keep up 

Ok, so I got this game for christmas, and have been playing it as of today. I started on the hard difficulty (I'm guessing it's "hard", because it's the third one).

Without repeating what everyone else has said, I'll just say that I agree with a lot of you; the vehicle sections suck rancid badger scrotum, really dragging down the overall quality IMO, which is a shame as the rest of the game (y'know the FPS bit) totally kicks arse, being quite a bit more fun than Doom 3 whilst looking just as damn good, and often better.

The squadmate thing works surprisingly well - I get the impression that they're saving my arse just as much as I'm saving theirs, which I'm sure was the intention, and it does work.

Well, I've just got to the Makron atm, and I'm dying quite a lot :} - I'll try to give him another go tonight.

More impressions to come... 

The Rawk:

Looked awesome, sounded awesome etc. etc. Great story and atmosphere. Definately a Q2 game. Even a few nods to the Q2 missionpacks (Gladiators with shields, flying repair bots, to name just two). Great-looking enemies and bosses. Superb realisation of the Quake arsenal; old favourites from both Quake 1 and 2 were there, which kicked mighty arse. Rather scary in places too -very similar to Doom3 in this respect.

Weapon upgrades - a good way of keeping all your weapons relevant whilst the enemy threat increases as the game progresses.

Teammates - having medics and techs that replenish your health and armor (it made me fight to defend them from dying just as much as myself.

The Sawk:

Squadmates acting dumb - standing on the edge of lifts blocking them from going up ~_~, blocking your retreat etc...

Some really inconsistent combats, e.g. the last big arena battle before the final battle. I mean wtf? Fat flying homing missile dudes, then those big spidery dudes, and a ton of other big bastard monsters? The final makron/nexus battle was just such a piece of piss in comparison.

Outdoor areas look kind of meh, but that's probably the D3 engine's fault.

Vehicles/on rails sections - crap. Should have been polished a lot more or omitted.

The "Maybe It's Just Me":

Enemies overall a little overpowered? It seems that even the weakest strogg could completely obliterate me from full health and armour if I didn't carefully consider my tactics and weapon choices. Meant lots of frustration and reloading. (I started on Hard, but brought down the console and changed it to Normal about halfway through; I still got eviscerated a lot though).

Shotgun underpowered? I ended up using this gun the least out of everything; maybe because the game seemed to favour mid/long-range combat I never got much use out of it.

Didn't mind the linearity. It's unrealistic to expect developers to just go around throwing resources into making whole chunks of map that may never be visited by the player. FPS games have been like this for a while now (probably since Half-Life).

Overall, I'd say that Quake 4 stands nicely side-by-side with Doom 3. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and I don't think that I could really single one out as being better than the other.

Finally, hats off to those on this board who were involved in this game (and I know there's a few of you.) Well done chaps ^_^ 

--- Enemies overall a little overpowered?

Yeah I kinda agree. They strip you to bones real quick. Would have prefered a few more enemy and less powerful.

--- (I started on Hard, but brought down the console and changed it to Normal about halfway through; I still got eviscerated a lot though).

Pussyclart man.

--- maybe because the game seemed to favour mid/long-range combat I never got much use out of it.

Agreed. Generally you don't want shit close where it's harder to avoid, so shotty was down the list. 

I really liked it. It was a lot of fun, and whilst nothing really new or groundbreaking, certainly had me wanting more.

The weapons felt quite nice and satisfying, and the enemy, although looking a bit meh were fairly good fun to fight. The berserkers are a damn sight more scary than they were in Quake 2, that's for sure.

As numerous people have pointed out already, the atmosphere and feeling of being part of a squad, in a war, is really well done.

Didn't think I'd like the game when I saw the screenshots before the game was released, but as it turns out, it's fun and looks good.

Even runs really smoothly on my notebook. I'll try a higher resolution next time (I was at 960*600 widescreen I think.) 

You realize that you need to make a Q4 version of "Pretend Best Friend", yes?

*nudge* 

Maybe you can make it again :)

I haven't bought the game yet, and I'm not sure what daft price PC games cost here in Japan. I think they are expensive though. Might order it from the US. 

pretend boyfriend ? 

Nah, making a second remake of someone else's map would be...I dunno...weird in some way. You can do it. :)

Dunno about "Pretend Boyfriend"--makes me feel like prancing. 

1. Installing the game is like the Tower of Hanoi puzzle, but with only one column.

2. I'm not very far into the game, but so far it feels more like D3.2 than Q2.2. Supposedly that changes later on. 

I keep looking around for "id squad" and "Activision squad" but I haven't seen them yet. 

had a quick run through on level 1 with 280*1024 and ultra quality.

d3 looked more polished but this looks like it has better effects (upgraded engine?).

does it run slower later on or is level 1 a good indicator for system specs ? 

I'm up just past the "spoiler" area, and so far the "peaks" have all been about the same as level 1. I haven't had to adjust the settings. 

rpg, I'll leave it on ultra and the currentresoultion then. 

... and it is a little bit deceiving. However, it is visually very good, and the ambience is more Doom3-ish (but for girls) rather than really Quake-ish... a shame... though

Stroggs are moving like disco dancer when they try to avoid my bullets", not really like brutes running on you...

Well, I would have expected something more intense... well, maybe the next levels will be better, as it is quite annoying at the moment...

Id software, where is the Quake spirit ?? 

Romero left. 

I found it got better as it went on. Some of the later levels are terrific. 

Actually I've just been stroggified, and it seems it changes here and there some small things, that makes the game better now: I hope it will progress like this till the end :) 

the levels get even better looking IMHO. 

Quite enjoyable progression, though... 

Is probably not a bad thing.

I liked Quake 4. It felt pretty much like Quake 2 + Doom 3. I'd have prefered more exploration and shit, but it was still good and a good atmosphere. 

And, true, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I liked it, too. Nice interactive movie thingie.

More exploration and a dozen more levels(coupla secret ones, maybe?) wouldn't have hurt one bit, though... 

Why no official addons were made. It's a really good game, i wanted something more of this theme