I got my hands on a login for the quakelive beta by id software and setup shop… Here is an account of my first thoughts. Please note that what I write is from the point of view of somebody that has spent many years of playing quakeworld and quake 3 arena / osp, so I will also be looking at how the game has changed.

First of all–the most noticeable thing about quakelive is that it runs within a browser. Although this was not a secret beforehand, I had some trouble imaging it – as an activex / component that sits within the browser and interfaces between the game folder (on the hard drive) and the server. Not so! Yes, there was a tiny download of a plugin, negligible at a mere 3.8mb (a typical Q3A folder with all mods weighs well over a few GB):

However, there is no clientside data on your computer other than some minimal models, your local config files and things like screenshots or recorded demos. The “interface” turned out to be (to my surprise) what looks like flash! That’s right, quakelive actually runs within an embedded object in the browser and is controlled externally via javascript. The core of the site and UI is powered by jQuery (oh well, can’t all be about mootools).

<script type='text/javascript' src='/js/jquery/jquery.js?3'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='/js/jquery/jquery.form.js?3'></script>
...

Server browsing is all done through the “home” section of the site and AJAX. It tries to produce some results based on it’s understanding of the player’s skill level and mods of preference. It also tries to keep tag of your games played, time wasted and weapon statistics so you can follow your “progress”. However, this is the ONLY way I found that enables you to do so–there longer are any in-game means to get stats (topshots, stats wstats are not yet implemented).

From the development point of view, server browsing is via tooltip style server selections that are not the smartest but this is just a test skin… What is more worrying for the quakelive beta setup is that ID use JSON data to create the user pages to and pass variables between them and the game object. The JSON objects are generated by the main page body (presumably via PHP or whatever) and as a result, everything relating to the player’s personal account details is available in plain text within the source:

$(document).ready( function() {
    quakelive.session = "0e087cb0c37cb92568d585f1591d7df3";
    quakelive.username = "coda"; // that's me.
    quakelive.password = "dummypasshere"; // changed
    quakelive.userstatus = "ACTIVE";
    quakelive.userid = "1072nnn"; // changed
    quakelive.userinfo = {"0":"1072nnnn","PLAYER_ID":"1072nnn","1":"coda","PLAYER_NICK":"coda","2":"ACTIVE","PLAYER_STATUS":"ACTIVE","3":"coda@dci.uk.net","PLAYER_EMAIL":"coda@dci.uk.net","4":"dummypasshere","PASSWORD":"dummypasshere","5":null,"TIME_ZONE":null,"6":"04-NOV-08","EULA_DATE":"04-NOV-08","7":"04-NOV-08","JOIN_DATE":"04-NOV-08","8":"Dimitar","FIRSTNAME":"Dimitar","9":"2","INVITE_COUNT":"2","10":"0","EULA_OUTDATED":"0","11":"2","TIER_CTF":"2","12":"2","TIER_DM":"2","13":"2","TIER_DUEL":"2","14":"2","TIER_TDM":"2","15":"3","TIER_CA":"3","16":"0","ECODE":"0","17":null,"MSG":null};
    quakelive.cvars.Import( {"color1":1,"m_pitch":0.0174,"cg_forceModel":1,"console":1,"web_configVersion":4,"cg_enemyModel":"keel/bright","team_model":"biker/slammer","team_headmodel":"biker/slammer","headmodel":"biker/slammer","cg_drawgun":2,"r_vertexlight":1,"color2":2,"cg_drawCrosshair":9,"cg_drawFPS":1,"r_picmip":5,"cg_forceTeamModel":"sarge/red","name":"coda","cg_autoswitch":0,"cl_timeNudge":0,"com_allowConsole":1,"cg_forceEnemyModel":"keel/bright","cg_enemyColors":222222,"cg_fov":115,"cg_marks":0,"snaps":40,"cg_trueLightning":1,"r_inBrowserMode":5,"web_botskill":"medium","clan":"drink","model":"biker/slammer"} );

// etc etc.

Obviously — as this is a browser, the data will be retained in the cache and available to anyone that gains access to the computer — which kind of defeats the purpose of making a customized, portable and standalone game in order to provide exactly the same gameplay experience on any system. Have some quakelive in an internet café or LAN gaming centre and you leave your profile data and password to the next person that sits on your chair and cares to look…

I have yet to test trying to modify any of the JSON object data in order to achieve things like aliasing or trying somebody else’s account, but it hopefully serves display purposes for the UI side of things only.

As for the game itself… It have yet to make a lasting impression on me. It is totally remarkable that it runs everything on the fly – all the maps data, the game models, mods and so forth is being sent to you at map load time… All 3D is rendered based upon server-to-client data and so forth. It also looks a bit like Q3A at a glance but it is anything BUT…

Gameplay changes:
The rail gun is now reduced to a mere shadow of its former self and is only useful as a way to annoy / snipe opponents from afar (80 damage points). The game has become more about +forward and +attack with rocket spam which can — for a short while — give the impression that it plays faster than regular Q3A.

The lightning gun seems to have deteriorated as well – things like cg_truelightning are no longer functioning as they used to. The shaft itself now causes damage in proportion to the distance of the target object–further away they are, the less health it takes.

FPS is lower than it used to be – and considerably so. Tested from my laptop where I get 333 FPS on Q3A, quakelive can nail 125 but only just–there are certain maps with clipping issues that cause a drastic FPS drop and gameplay becomes very laggy.

There is also a whole new netcode as well — something of a hit and miss (pun intended) as it has rendered things like cg_smoothclients and cl_timenudge redundant. Which is great – if you are just starting to learn the ropes with quakelive. But for those that may have spent years getting used to Q3A’s physics and netcode, you will find it difficult to adjust aim and accuracy will suffer. On the upside, the hitboxes seem larger so some really hopeless rail shots tend to hit when they would not have done before… so expect some lucky frags. Of course, it also means you will get hit a lot more.

The maps have been revamped but it is essentially the same old .bsp with some changes and a couple of new DUEL and CLAN ARENA maps. Speaking of CLAN ARENA, it is now built-in but in an odd, american style – with self damage on rocket jumping. Capture the flag (CTF) has also taken a hit by the Re-introduction of “runes” , “techs” or “power ups” (whatever you want to call them) and the nail gun (not quite like the QuakeWorld nail gun but it must have come from somewhere).

Verdict:
As a whole, it is a technological marvel and will probably set a landmark in game development for years to come. Once again, ID have broken the binds of our preconceptions and created a ground-breaking event… And they have only just gotten started on Rage…

Would I play it? All things being equal, I’d much rather use Q3A with OSP than quakelive. Sorry — too old to start from scratch. Then again, who has time for games these days…