silly me. :P Hmmm...doesn't look as fat or bloated as I'd imagined. 

If you want a card that should be more than capable of running it, and are looking for one of the top of the line cards, go with the ATI x800 series. It'll run you up for 500 bucks, which I think is the price of the best NVidia card, but it's just incredibly much faster.

NVidia went the route of more features, by adding Shader 3.0 to the card. Unfortunately, it will probably be a while until anyone uses Shader Version 3.0, because most games don't even touch 2.0 yet. ATI, on the other hand, just about doubled the card speed of the 9800 XT, and only slightly improved the Shader 2.0 support they had. Which means you have a video card for the generation of games that are just coming out (HL, D3, Stalker), with insane speeds.

Your call. 

does this mean that the saturday after d3 is released we'll have Doom 3 speedmap sessions now? ;) wink wink 

I cringe at the thought of all the "disco" maps n00bs will make. flashing lights all over the place, doom3 will be the sole culprit of a worldwide epileptic fit =) 

doom3 speedmaps are a definate possibility, but it'll mean the end of speedq1. and in anycase, for the first few months, i'd rather learn the lay of the game and such before attempting speedmaps. 

trying to make a map in 100 minutes while simultaneously learning the editor? O_o 

although those who use radiant already will be at a distinct advantage (i.e. not me :P) 

Those who know true cgi apps like 3DStudio, Lightwave, Maya or Blender (used in SpiderMan 2, my friends!) will be at a distinct advantage. Doom3(so I'm told by those who have the Alpha) is as well integrated with natively solid model rendering as UT2003. 

prod: I totally agree with you. Although it's nice when things look pin sharp, I don't feel there is enough detail in most games to warrant going over 1024*768. The only advantage is that smaller things become easier to see, so that little charlie bastard hiding in the bushes 400 yards away in Vietcong suddenly becomes a bit easier to target.
1600*1200 seems entirely pointless for games of today, and is just for people who want to say they run in 1600*1200 to make other people envious :)

As for Doom 3 editing... does anyone know how much of a typical level is made in radiant versus maya/max/whatever? I don't particularly want to have to detail anything in radiant after having used max for over a year and a half.... then again, max texturing sucks cock, and I don't want to have to unwrap everything I make and texture in max. 

http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=1

takes you to their level editing forum. These guys already know the editor inside and out and they are very careful to keep things on the up and up (i.e. not pissing Id off). 

is the guy we should be asking. nudge, nudge, wink, wink, eh? 

http://d3c.ngz-network.de/e107_files/downloads/wallpapers/doomguy.jpg 

I've done plenty of research on the topic. Trust me, just about every article on the R420s and NV40 series I've already read. The X800 Pro pretty much gets beat in nearly every bench besides FarCry by the 6800GT. The Ultra vs XT Platium is a very close race. OpenGL performance is dominated by 6800 series cards, but in DirectX and Shader heavy programs the X800XT takes the lead. The X800XT does not have a massive performance lead. Also, Nvidia has also doubled it's performance between it's previous high end card and this one.

Also Shader Model 3.0 has proven to improve performance in one already shipping title, that being FarCry 1.2.

I am not saying that the X800XT isn't a great card, however I am happy with the Nvidia products I've used in the past and this round is just too close. The Nvidia boards will most certainly be ones with the best performance for Doom3, and frankly that's all I care about it. Half-Life 2 isn't that exciting for me, and the FarCry demo never really got my attention.

To get some more information on the pros and cons of each card I suggest you read the articles located on the following sites for indepth analysis.

http://www.firingsquad.com
http://www.tomshardware.com
http://www.anandtech.com

The particular model I am looking at purchasing overclocks itself automatically passed the refrence Ultra speeds, so paying an extra $100 dollars for an Ultra is pointless. Google the BFG Tech 6800 GT OC for more information. The benches are all very impressive. Regardless, the X800 cards are great but just not my particular choice. 

Sorry guys--I made a decision a while back to not discuss D3/Q4 at all on any forums or messageboards. It's just way too difficult to be constantly wondering what I should and shouldn't say, and it makes my ass hurt.

Looks like everyone will find out soon enough. :) 

quite alright. I have been pouring through what they have over on doom3world on scripting matters. Makes my head hurt but also my ass gets tingly with anticipation. 

bastard! i'll pay you 50 bucks to breach your NDA and spill the beans! 

PJW do that disallows him to speak :O 

I feel the same way as than; I'm learning Maya 6 at the moment, and it would be great if I could do most of my work in that. (That's if I decide to map for Doom3 of course). 

overwhelmed mapping for something like D3 or beyond. Hell Q1 is enough :| 

I'd probably feel the same. From what I gather, full Doom3 levels are the product of multiple mappers. I'd probably just be happy to learn the editing techniques and make small "portfolio" type stuff. It's all pie-in-the-sky though until I get a big bastard computer. 

Amd I don't mean that snooty Spice Girl. If d3 editing intimidates you, try a testmap, then a small dm map, and mebbe a medium dm map. Wouldn't go much farther than that, since it'd prolly not get played ;D From what I can tell overall doomedit will be not unlike mapping for q3 with Radiant -- with the addition of a LOT of nifty models to throw in. Due to normalmaps and such, everything will look modeled, even if it's spectacularly simple brushwork. Add to that an uber-high brush count and NO COMPILING, and I'm just tickled to death, over here... 

Sign me up. Although I'm sure there will be compiling to a certain extent; collision maps, aas files - are just two that spring to mind. 

but it takes about 30 seconds - to a minite - to complile a full map, basicly all that is done is the bsp stage, and its Uber quick. Lighting and vis are done on the fly inside the game. (YAY!) 

vis is done on the fly? SIGN ME UP x 10