With the launch of Rage being marred by a number of technical difficulties including texture pop-ins, the appearance of lower resolution textures, and the comparative lack of ability to tweak the visual settings, many believed that a sequel to the 2011 title wouldn't be seeing the light of day.

Luckily for those hoping such a thing wasn't true, fellow id Software co-founder Tim Willits has revealed at this year's annual QuakeCon event that this might not just be the case for the Rage series.

"I'm proud of what we did, I'm proud of the universe that we built. The franchise is not dead," Willits said to Joystiq. "We're not doing anything immediately with it, but when I designed the universe, I designed it in such a way that it would be easy to step back into. I'm still proud that we did something that was different – it wasn't like the games that we've done in the past."

It wasn't just the technical feats that Rage pushed for id, as Willits revealed that the title also helped fuel development on their new id Tech 5 engine, which has now been adapted for the upcoming next-gen consoles alongside seeing usage in other Bethesda products. "We really tried to do one engine that worked for everything," he said. "It really helps establish a robust tech that, as John [Carmack] said last night, we're adding stuff into it based on the new consoles, and it's allowed people to make different games because the technology is flexible and robust and works on everything."

It is unlikely that id will see a return to the Rage series anytime soon, what with Doom 4 still yet to see the light of day, but hopefully one day we will see id return to the post-apocalyptic wastelands.

Developer id has unveiled the much-anticipated release of the official RAGE modding toolkit - the same tools used to create RAGE and its DLC, The Scorchers - via the Bethesda blog. The modding tools will be available later today on Steam free of charge and weighing in at a whopping 35GB+, which you will be able to find in the tools section of Steam.

Later today on Steam we will be releasing the official tool kit for RAGE – the same tools used to create RAGE and it’s DLC, The Scorchers. From the game’s world building tool, idStudio, to game maps and assets, the kit provides everything you need to get started with modding the first-ever idTech 5 title.

Interested? Before you start downloading the hefty 35+ GB file, the RAGE team has provided some documents to read. As described in the welcome document, these tools provided are complex and aimed towards “technically sophisticated and adventurous” modders.

For those interested, two documents have been released detailing all that is needed to get straight into modding. You can find these documents here and here.

Continuing their post-release support of the all-new RAGE IP, id Software and Bethesda have announced new downloadable content for RAGE, due to hit PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 next week.

In this brand-new adventure spanning six all-new areas, you will fight alongside new allies to defend the Hager Settlment from a maniacal bandit clan known as The Scorchers. Along the way, you’ll participate in a new season of Mutant Bash TV, encounter new mini-games, and wield the overpowering and brutal Nailgun.

The Scorchers DLC also offers a new difficulty mode: Ultra-Nightmare and also lets you finally play past the ending in order to continue collecting everything and finishing the game 100%.

We have a single screenshot of the new content you can check out right here, otherwise The Scorchers will set you back around $5 or 400 MS Points.

After a delay that seemed to be quite annoying to many PC gamers, the 1.2 patch for Rage has finally arrived. The biggest new feature seemed to do with the texture detail problem that caused hassles for many at release:

Texture Detail: Enabling Texture Detail will improve up-close texture quality by performing upsampling with adaptive sharpening. This does not update or increase the resolution of the base textures included with the game but improves the perceived resolution and crispness of textures. This is an intensive operation and is only recommended if you have a quad-core CPU or higher. Please disable this feature if you encounter poor performance, stability issues or are given a notification that the game has run out of memory after loading a map. The Texture Detail option can be found in the Settings -> Video Menu.

The full patch notes, including list of bug fixes, are available here. If you're interested in checking this game out, make sure you check out our buy page for the lowest prices (~$24 from ozgameshop).

A Mac version of the game is also available - OS X users can check it out at the App Store or from Aspyr (no mention of Steam?).

Bethesda and id Software were kind enough to hook AusGamers up with a special game and swag pack for RAGE, featuring a copy of the game on all three platforms, a T-Shirt, a signed A3 poster by Tim Willits and Matt Hooper and a replica Wingstick.

These are in short supply though. In fact we only have three of them -- one for each platform -- so you need to get in quick.

And how do you enter, well if you're an AusGamers regular, you know how, and we know just how much you love it, but for everyone else, just tell us in 50 words or less:

If you had your own working Wingstick, who would you aim it at and why?
Obviously we're looking for the most creative responses (because we actually wouldn't expect you to realistically ever want to throw a Wingstick at someone), and need you to remember to tell us your preferred platform of choice.

Click here to enter!

As noted by Reverend in the forums, the first patch for id Software's recently released Rage is now available - the Bethesda blog summarises the changes:

Implemented workaround for AMD driver crash right after intro cinematic on Win 7 32-bit systems.
Disabled UBOs because they are causing animation issues with AMD drivers. Don’t allow swap-tear to be enabled on AMD while the extension is not exposed because it may crash.
Support for new video settings: “texture cache”, “vsync”, and ”anisotropic filter”
Automatically adjust vt_maxPPF based on the number of available cores.
Improved performance for SLI cards when GPU transcode is enabled.
Fix for GPU Transcoding option being disabled after exiting gameplay.
Added safe mode to restore video settings to default values.
Allow g_fov to be changed from the RAGE launch options in Steam.
Server now forwards text chat from clients to all other clients while in-game.

There changes are covered in more detail on the Steam announcement.

There's been quite a few complaints from PC gamers disappointed in the visual quality of the game on the PC - particularly around the texture popping issue (which seems to be a combination of driver and game issues), the appearance of lower resolution textures, and the comparative lack of ability to tweak the visual settings. id Software's Todd Hollenshead acknowledged that so far the driver updates provided haven't fixed everyone's problem but indicated that they - and the video card companies - are still working on the problem, which will hopefully bring hope to the PC gaming community.

Let us know if this new patch makes a difference for you in the comments!

So here it is. Our RAGE review.

The burning questions have been answered for those of you wanting to know the score. Has id managed to modernise their game-design? Does id Tech 5 live up to its promise? Is this just a Fallout 3/Borderlands clone? Is it any good?

We can't answer all of those in a news post though ;) what would be the point in that. Instead, we've compiled a lengthy, in-depth review for you to digest, that goes into the game's shortcomings, where it wins, and how both sides coalesce into the final, retail product.

Click here for our full review.

As the global launch for id Software's long awaited RAGE draws ever closer, Bethesda have released a new trailer featuring yet another extended section of gameplay.

In this video, the Resistance has heard rumors of an Ark surfacing in Jackal Valley and they need you to search the site for a valuable data decrypter. Finding it won't be easy as the valley is home to one of the Wastelands most brutal factions, the savage Jackal Clan.

Watch the traile embedded below or click here for the HD option.

RAGE is due on Australian shelves next Thursday, October 6th 2011.

If all goes well, we should have a launch-day review online so keep an eye out for that one and hit up our RAGE game page for our past extensive coverage.

Bethesda have sent along another new gameplay trailer for RAGE, this time offering the first look at some co-operative multiplayer action in id Software's upcoming first person shooter.

Get the first look at RAGE's co-op mode as the Shrouded clan come to Wellspring to destroy the town’s water supply and two warriors join forces to fight off the invasion. It's up to a duo of heroes to disarm bombs, take out bandits and save the town once again.

Watch the trailer below, click here for the HD stream, or here to download the very high bitrate source video.

RAGE is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 October 6th 2011.

Bethesda and id Software have released the minimum and recommended PC system requirements for RAGE, which we have for you below.

Minimum

• OS: Win XP SP3, Vista, Win 7
  
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or Equivalent AMD
  
• Memory: 2GB
  
• Hard Disk Space: 25GB
  
• Video Card: GeForce 8800, Radeon HD 4200

Recommended

• OS:Win XP SP3, Vista, Win 7
  
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad or Equivalent
  
• Memory: 4GB
  
• Hard Disk Space: 25GB
  
• Video Card: GeForce 9800 GTX, ATI Radeon HD 5550

RAGE also features full Steamworks support and includes Steam Features, VOIP and friend support for the desktop platform. The game is due for release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 October 6th.

Bethesda and id Software have released another extended gameplay trailer from their upcoming post-apocalyptic shooter RAGE, showing off more lush visuals in the id tech 5 engine.

Today's clip is titled "Gearheads Vault" and takes a 4 minute stroll around an urban section of the game. Watch the video below or click here for the HD option.

RAGE is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 6th 2011. For more details, check out our recent interviews with id Software's Tim Willits and Todd Hollenshead.

In case you didn't get enough technical inspiration from John Carmack's annual QuakeCon keynote and Q&A session, gamasutra have a new interview with the id Software programming legend, offering yet more insight into the development process of RAGE and id's Tech 5 engine.

Here's a few of the more interesting tid bits. On choosing running at 60FPS (on consoles) over prettier graphics at 30FPS:

But the key point is, people might argue pro and con relative to another game, we're running at two times the framerate of almost all the competition, and that's something that I'm really personally proud of, because that was a hard-fought battle internally. Because life is just easier when you've got 33 milliseconds instead of 16, but I think it matters. I think I could have made the game look better at 30 hertz. We could have had some more design freedom.

Why is that so important to you?

JC: It's that subtle feel of that... In fact, it's interesting; I did a number of experiments during this, where we say, "Okay. 60 is better than 30. Is 120 better than 60?" And I did some test cases on there, and interestingly, almost nobody can tell the difference between 120 and 60. A few people, like high-end professional gamers, can tell the difference.

When discussing why they no longer license their engine technology, he goes on to explain some of the limitations of id Tech 5 that tailored competitors can do better:

If you wanted to do the next Grand Theft Auto that had a city... It's too much surface area to MegaTexture everything at the level of detail that you want to do. If you want to do a game that's all about walking around with torches, our dynamic lighting approximations are not as good as you might want for something like that.

Closing out the interview are his thoughts on Nintendo development, with respect to the Wii and Wii-U:

Many, many years ago, we had negative experiences with Nintendo, but the only reason we're not doing anything with Nintendo now is just that the technologies are out of sync. It's a perfect opportunity to do PC, 360, PS3, but you couldn't have the same content base also targeting the Wii. But, you know, the new platform is probably just right there. It would probably be straightforward to target our stuff over there. It would depend on what the business case is for any of that.

RAGE is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 6th 2011. For more details, check out AusGamers recent interviews with id Software's Tim Willits and Todd Hollenshead.

Those looking for a free game to play on your iPhone or iPad this week will be happy to find id Software have reduced the price of Rage to a low, low $0.00 for this week only, as they agreed to do when the Facebook promo page for the product reached 100,000 "Likes".

That means that this week only, you can head over to the iTunes Store to grab it, if if the HD flavour is more your taste for the iPad, go here instead for Rage HD. It weighs in at a hefty 550/750MB for the standard/HD versions, so give it some time to download.

Both versions need iOS 4 to run, and the HD version works with HDMI output for your TV - should be a good little teaser for the next 6 weeks or so before the PC, PS3 and XBox versions of Rage are released.

Hop to it - we know everyone likes free stuff. promoted/edited forum item

Out at this year's QuakeCon AusGamers was given the chance to speak with id Software President, Todd Hollenshead, and grilled him about the state of BYOC (beyond QuakeCon), RAGE, DRM and persistent online play and also touched on the future of Quake.

Todd speaks openly about where he sees the current LAN and BYOC model, and throws some suggestions in on toning down DRM requirements. We also cheekliy try and see if he might drop a Quake 5 bomb on us, with some very, very careful treading on his part.

Check out the full video interview and transcript right here.

Bethesda and id Software have released another behind the scenes video for RAGE, the upcoming post-apocalyptic first person shooter that has been looking more and more tantalising with every new bit of media we see.

This latest clip is no different as it delves into creation of the game's sound and art, covering the environment design process, the weapon sounds and a bit of John Goodman in the voice-recording booth.

Check it out below or click here for the HD option.

RAGE is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 6th 2011.

As promised, we've now posted up the full interview AusGamers did with id Software's Tim Willits at this year's QuakeCon, where we go into depth about the iterative gameplay design process of RAGE, mod-support, dedicated servers, dead bodies and, of course, id turning the ripe young age of 20 this year.

Willits is a pleasure to interview and offers some great insights into the development process of a game like RAGE as well as what it's like to work at a company like id, and how he feels about the studio climbing back to the top of the FPS mountain, or even around it.

As usual, we have a full video interview and transcript for you, both of which you'll find here.

In an interview with AusGamers at this year's QuakeCon, id Software's Tim Willits opened up to us about the mod component of their forthcoming RAGE release which, while not coming with dedicated server support for the PC, will still fully support the mod community with mod-tools at launch.

However, he expressed that mods for RAGE might be different to the usual "I made a new map” because of the complexity of the tools, and type of game RAGE is. You'll need a 64 bit operating system to get you started because the new set-up features "layering technology for all the levels and areas of the game" and therefore the "technology learning-curve has definitely increased".

"You may not see someone make an entirely new map in RAGE, but you’ll probably see someone take Wellspring and The Wasteland and then change up some of the levels around there and build some other things and change some NPCs and stuff," he told us.

"So you may see more sort of campaign-style DLCs than you would see classic “I made a new map”. Because the technology learning-curve for RAGE -- just like our past games -- has definitely increased. So it’ll be more challenging, but it’ll be very rewarding."

When asked how these mods would be supported and distributed, Willits pointed to the community and organic mod sharing as key.

"Hopefully we’ll have some websites dedicated to RAGE where people will be able to go and find mods for the game," he said with a smile. "I mean heck, I got my job at id because I made Doom levels. So of all people, I think modding is very important. We’ve always given people the tools and let them do their thing. Hopefully -- as John [Carmack] said -- there’ll be a community that grows organically; that grows true grassroots. I mean look at QuakeCon.

"That’s really what our philosophy is. Because if you force a system on to people -- you say “this is where you have to go; what you have to do” -- then it becomes just “id’s mod community”. But if the mod community grows organically, it’s a much richer experience."

Stay tuned for the full video interview and transcript shortly, right here on AusGamers.

As the release date for RAGE draws ever closer, Bethesda continue their trailer onslaught with yet another behind the scenes look at the game's development. Today's video focuses on the creation of the game's enemies -- the contingent of mutant creatures you're encounter throughout the game -- and the gameplay on show is actually some of the most interesting to date.

Steve will be on-scene for AusGamers at Zenimax and id Software's annual QuakeCon event next week, where we'll no doubt be able to dig up more info about RAGE and other Bethesda titles on show so keep an eye out for that.

Check out the "Making of - Enemies" trailer embedded below or click here for the HD option.

RAGE is due on September 16th 2011 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Bethesda and Aussie distributor, All Interactive Entertainment, have announced an exclusive pre-order deal for JB Hi-Fi and RAGE, which is due to land on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this September 16.

Pre-order the RAGE Anarchy Edition at JB Hi-Fi and receive all three issues from the RAGE comic book series, exclusive to JB Hi-Fi! As these comic books are not available anywhere else in Australia or New Zealand, gamers will be extremely excited to get their hands on this highly sought after offer. Issue 1 and 2 from the series are out now, with the highly anticipated issue 3 due to hit shelves overseas in late August.

The three comic book series is an original miniseries written by Arvid Nelson, the acclaimed creator of Rex Mundi, and pencilled by Andrea Mutti (DMZ). This comic series, developed with the direct participation of RAGE's Creative Director, Tim Willits, presents an essential introduction to the world of RAGE, as one woman discovers that the survival of humankind doesn't necessarily mean the survival of humanity. Set prior to the events in the game, this comic series presents a unique introduction to the world of RAGE, providing numerous insights into the game's storyline.

We also have a new RAGE developer diary for you today you can watch embedded below, or click here to stream in HD.

Bethesda and id Software have released another dev diary style trailer offering a behind the scenes look at their upcoming first person shooter Rage. This latest video focuses on the game's story and setting, which although very similar in premise to other recent post-apocalyptic games is being approached in a very targeted manner with a lot of emphasis on player immersion.

Watch it below or click here for the HD option.

Rage is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 16 2011.