Carmack on Operating Systems

Summary

John Carmack's .plan March 18, 1997 I have gotten a significant amount of response on the Quake 2 extension mechanism. I do read everything that comes my way (I can't respond to all of it, though), and I have learned a few things from the mail. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it is still looking like a dll is going to be the primary interface. I have been seriously considering a java interface, but the tradeoffs (time spent implementing takes away from something else...) just don't quite add up. Other options, like enhancing qc or using other languages like perl have very remote chances. One of the primary reasons is that you can allways build UP -- put more functionality on top of a dll, but you can't allways build DOWN -- accessing the registry from java for instance. For Id Software to develop a game, a dll will be most efficient. We have more cpu power, and we can debug it more easily. We are directing significant effort towards making Quake 2 a better GAME, as well as just a better mutliplayer virtual world. Quake 1 was pretty messed up from a game standpoint, and we don't plan on doing that again. What I can offer the qc hacking crowd is a public release of the qc interface and interpreter code from Quake 1 when Quake 2 is released. The user community can then bolt things together so that there can be one publicly trusted DLL that executes an updated and modified qc language for portable, secure add ons. I really do care about portability, but it is just one factor that needs to be balanced against all the others. Things just aren't clear cut. Speaking of portability, to remove the guesswork that goes on, here are my current opinions on the various platforms: Win32 Win32 rules the world. You are sticking your head in the sand if you think otherwise. The upside is that windows really doesn't suck nowdays. Win 95 / NT 4.0 are pretty decent systems for what they are targeted at. I currently develop mostly on NT, and Quake 2 will almost certainly be delivered on ...