OCT
23
2003
News
60fps the limit for Doom 3
Carmack knows the speed limit
One for the hardcore PC gamers this morning, as IGN report on the state of Doom 3 from an Nvidia press event stateside. During the event, the attendant journalists were informed by id Software engine guru John Carmack that Doom 3 framerates will be capped at 60 frames per second. Which at first seemed odd, but Carmack explained:
The game tic simulation, including player movement, runs at 60hz, so if it rendered any faster, it would just be rendering identical frames. A fixed tic rate removes issues like Quake 3 had, where some jumps could only be made at certain framerates. In Doom, the same player inputs will produce the same motions, no matter what the framerate is.
Whether capping the game at this seemingly necessary frame rate will make it more plausible for the optimised technology to push this rate on a broader (read: more lowly) range of machines is unknown. Quite what effect a lower framerate will have on gameplay is also a concern; we'll find out when the game is released next year.

Comments
60fps, low? That'll do for me.
I'm guessing your going to need a machine the size of Swindon to make it max out at 60 FPS
I am actually the mayor of swindon :D
DAMN YOU VIDEO GAME GODS! WHY DO YOU MAKE GOOD VIDEO CARD PRICES SO HIGH!?
....
60fps would definitely be perfect - there isn't any game that *needs* to be above 60fps. That's already twice the fps of projected cinema and analog broadcast TV :-)
You may need a cooling fan the size of Derbyshire for the machine the size of Swindon to max Doom 3...
is there any way to turn of this frame limiter, through the console maybe?