John Carmack Speaks: 30fps on consoles, 60fps on the PC – Doom 3 levels more taxing than RAGE’s


John Carmack has just revealed in QuakeCon 2012 what we knew all this time. Remember when we were claiming that Doom 3 modded looked better than RAGE? Well, the man himself said that Doom 3 levels were more taxing than the ones of RAGE, especially due to the stencil shadows and its more complex lighting system. This clearly shows that RAGE was dumbed down and was not developed in order to achieve what Doom 3 did a couple of years ago.
In addition, Carmack revealed that the BFG version of Doom 3 will run with 60Hz on consoles in 3D mode. This basically means that Doom 3: BFG will be a 30fps game for both X360 and PS3. The PC version, on the other hand, will offer true 120Hz 3D stereoscopic experience, meaning that PC gamers will enjoy 60fps at high resolutions.
Carmack admitted that RAGE lacked dynamic shadows and lights, something that had a huge impact on it. On the other hand, Carmack stated that the shadows were a bit harsh on Doom 3. However, the programmer guru said that it was great to see so many dynamic lights and shadows. Damn straight right, and that’s exactly what we want in our games. Carmack promised that their next game will feature more dynamic shadows.
Carmack has also admitted that the flashlight was not attached to the weapons in the original version of Doom 3 due to performance issues. Although this feature was awesome for its atmosphere, Carmack said that the flashlight would introduce an additional pass for dynamic shadows, meaning that it would had a significant performance hit.
Last but not least, Carmack admitted that PCs are superior to consoles, although there are still some headaches with drivers and such things on the PC platform.