If hard-core gaming ever had a god, John Carmack is it. Just watch as his followers fall silent as he speaks. Id Software's reluctant figurehead, Carmack is in many ways the champion of PC gaming as he epitomizes every gamer's dream. He started off with very little, rose above the odds, built such classics as Doom, Quake, Quake II, and amassed a few Ferraris on the way.

　　When Carmack sat onstage at a recent PGL event to talk about the next step he's taking in the world of first-person gaming, the room became very quiet. Suddenly, Quake gamers listened and watched as Carmack talked about Quake III Arena - one of his most controversial titles ever because of its singular focus on one of the features that made Quake "the game to play over the Internet": its multiplayer capabilities.

　　While the focus of what is to become Quake III Arena has changed several times, Carmack said that id made decisions early on about what kind of a game it eventually would be. The title still has a way to go before hitting the shelves. But as other developers scurry to be the next Quake II, PGL attendees were given a rare glimpse (although there was no actual gameplay shown) at the upcoming title through the eyes of its creator.

　　Carmack quickly summed up his intentions for Quake III Arena in one simple statement: "The best graphics, the best networking, the best gameplay - but no plot." Sounds simple, but that's not all the Texas-based developer has in store for the third coming of Quake.

　　"This is the first chance we've ever had to focus on multiplayer and not have to think about the single-player ."

　　It may sound a little ambitious, but id wants to "make Quake III Arena a title that would make other players not want to play any other multiplayer title." And Carmack and crew have focused on all of Quake II's criticisms in order to make the title something that its core audience will appreciate while also pulling in new players and widening the audience for the first-person shooter.

　　Miscommunication early on about the single-player aspect of the game confused a lot of gamers, as there are times that you can't connect or you have to play over a slow modem. Many feared that id had taken a wrong turn.

　　To clarify the rumblings of discontent, Q3A does lack a plot and a consistent overall feel, but gamers will gain feedback from the game beyond just the standard body count by deathmatching without a ping time. As a player goes though single-player levels, bots get harder as the player's skills get better. While it sounds simple, this type of gameplay will undoubtedly be an amazing way to practice for deathmatches against others. And since Quake III Arena will support add-ons and other modifications, we're sure there will be some great features to the title available after its release. Just imagine facing special bots that imitate some of the best players, developers who have played the title to death (or gaming editors).

　　While Carmack said that initially it was his idea to focus on the multiplayer aspect with Q3A, he was reluctant to add classes to the title. The rest of id wanted to add classes, and while Carmack was against it, after the team gave him valid reasons for including them, Carmack backed down and admitted he was wrong. Work then began on adding three classes: light, medium, and hard. Classes won't be as distinct as classes in games like Hexen II but will offer gamers different speed and armor options. This should make for a wider variety of game styles and should give more options to skin creators.

　　Quake for the mainstream sounds a little odd to most gamers, but id has designed several Q3A levels that should appeal to new Quake players. These levels allow gamers to play with only a keyboard, so players will not have to worry about learning to use the mouse to look up or down. It may seem unappealing to hard-core gamers, but id believes that this will help bring more value to the upcoming title - by bringing in more gamers to the Quake universe. The simpler levels will also bring down the incidents where unseasoned players end up looking at the floor or ceiling for ten minutes and not knowing what to do next. Yes, it's easy to frag those newbies, but those new players wouldn't have such a great experience and probably wouldn't want to play again. Carmack is hoping to appeal to new gamers early on and hook them for life.

　　On the other hand, id is completely on target for making sure hard-core players will want to pack up their rocket launchers and head off to their local retailers to buy the title when it releases. How will id do it? First and foremost, Quake III Arena will bring back the gore. One of the big complaints that id took when it released Quake II was that much of the violence from Quake disappeared. And whether Congress likes it or not, gamers crave gore. Luckily, Carmack promises that no one will complain about there not being enough violence when Quake III ships.

　　Quake III Arena will allow gamers with a taste for tweaking a new level of control. The title will allows players to turn up and turn on/off special options in the game to come to a balance of FPS or graphical prowess. There will be options to turn off graphical features like specular lighting, tessellation, and a few others. One thing is obvious, Q3A will require a higher-end PC with a hefty 3D card to play if you're looking for an amazing-looking game (since the game will beef up characters to 800 polygons).

　　New features that Carmack is still looking into concern multiprocessing. While it appears that Quake III Arena will not support multiprocessing this time around, Carmack admitted that he may revisit the option of adding multiprocessor support at a later date (although he didn't say if it would be for Q3A or a later title).

　　With a focus like multiplayer, id will begin to support up to 60 or so players. Carmack said that he hasn't seen a good reason for supporting over 60-75 players. "When someone does make a game that supports more than 75 players and works," he said he would refocus his energies on seeing what he could do to his titles to make them accommodate that many players.

　　So is id ready to make the big jump from single-player gameplay to multiplayer? Ready enough to bet the ranch on it. Yet Carmack knows the consequences if he gets it wrong: "We are taking a big risk here." But if anyone can do it, id can.