1. Why did you choose Quake™?
Reality Interactive's focus is not on providing games, but a technology platform for building simulations. The file formats and network protocols for Quake™ are simple, well defined and share many fundamental components with simulation technology. Quake™ defined a genre in first person shooter games, is immediately recognizable and is commonly used as a benchmark against which other games are compared. The demo was based on a first person shooter because it is currently one of the most resource intensive and functionally robust style of game available.
2. Why is the Quake™ content (PAK file) not in the zip file?
Quake™ is property of ID Software, Inc. Reality Interactive is neither a reseller nor a distributor of ID Software's products. We want to ensure that ID Software receives the recognition and revenue that it deserves for its world class software.
Obtain an installation of Quake™, GLQuake, or QuakeWorld™ and copy the "pak0.pak" file from the installation into the "resource/packfile/id1" directory of the technology preview. On Linux systems, the resulting filename must be lower case.
A few Quake download URLs:
"quake106.zip" is typically what you are looking for.
3. Isn't Quake™ GPL? Where's the source?
The technology preview is a Quake™ compatible system that reads the Quake™ network protocol and file formats. This is a from-scratch implementation using the Java™ language and the Reality Interactive Simulation Container™. The purpose of the demo is not to demonstrate Quake™, but the capabilities of the Simulation Container™.
4. Can I get the source anyway?
For those of you warming up your decompiler, just hold on; there's a lot more to a source release than just the raw source code. There are plans to release the source for this demo in the next quarter, including full documentation and developer manuals. This will be part of a package that serves as a reference for building applications using the Simulation Container™. The exact license under which that source code will be released has yet to be determined, but it will mostly likely be an MIT- or BSD-style license.
5. I don't remember Quake™ looking like this!
This technology preview is Quake™ compatible; it is not Quake™. In order to show a glimpse what the Simulation Container is capable of we have added a significant number of enhancements that were not present in the original game.
6. Is the simulation limited to first person shooters?
No, the Simulation Container™ is a generic technology platform for writing any sort of simulation. The first person shooter was chosen as a proof of concept due to its resource intensive nature. This shows that the platform is built to handle today's and tomorrow's real world applications.
7. Is the application really Java™?
Yes, the application is written entirely using the Java™ language. The Java Sound API is used for audio output, and graphics rendering is done using LWJGL. However, it is worth mentioning that the container is not tied to any specific output or input devices.
8. Why is there a native executable to start the game? You just said this was Java™!
The native executable exists to allow the system to capture abnormal termination errors gracefully. There is nothing that prevents the platform from being run without a native launcher for other custom simulations. In fact, we provide a command line script to run the application.
9. Why did you choose LWJGL (Light Weight Java Game Library)?
Our custom OpenGL binding layer is currently not ready for production use. To enhance the stability of the public demo, we opted to use a third party product.
19. Why did you choose OpenGL®?
In order to reach the largest number of platforms a cross-platform solution was required. There are no limitations in the Simulation Container that prevent if from using other display APIs.
11. Enough of this, can I play it?
At this time, this is a non-playable demo. There will be a release of a playable technology preview in the near future. This release focuses on the platform graphics and sound capabilities, showing that doing modern simulation development in Java™ is not only possible but results in excellent performance.
12. I don't care about playing it, when can I write my own?
There will be further releases throughout the next quarter that include full developer documentation and examples (including source code) to allow you to produce your own simulations. One of these examples will be this demo.
