The veterans behind blockbuster franchises like Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake have plans for another game, called “Rage”, which will of course be a multiplatform first person shooter.

id is best at bringing “point-and-shoot” games on the market and they will not step away from the tradition inaugurated with Doom and Quake Arena, according to legendary game figure John Carmack. 

Rage will probably be the first truly-multiplatform game, since it will also have a Macintosh version, unveiled at this year’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference, in June (actually, Carmack presented there only a glimpse of what was to come at QuakeCon, meaning that he spoke only about the new engine that will power the game). The game is currently in the works for Mac, PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, and it will use id’s second generation technology called Megatexture.

PS3 owners will not have to scratch their heads with the install, since Rage will be packed on Sony’s generous Blu Ray disc, but all other platforms will apparently have to exchange two regular DVDs (yeah, you read right…) in order to install and play the game.

CEO Todd Hollenshead explained however that Rage will not include the gory elements which made players fear the dark in Doom3 or Quake 4- hoping to achieve an unusual (for id Software) rating of T (T-for-teen). The gameplay will have gamers roam through the apocalyptic landscapes of a futuristic Earth affected by a massive collision with an asteroid. "It's more than just a first-person shooter," promised id CEO Todd Hollenshead. "We will show vehicles and racetracks, driving and racing elements."

Players will aid the villages' inhabitants in fighting both an oppressive regime and various mutants and monsters roaming the wasteland.

According to Rage lead designer Tim Willits, the game's title has a threefold meaning. "You're fighting against a post-apocalyptic goverment, so you're raging against the machine," he said. "Then there's driving combat, so there's road rage." Willits also said that "you can't spell garage without 'rage,'" and then revealed the game will have shops where players can extensively customize their vehicles.

"It is an action-oriented game but with a lot of adventure elements. It will be story driven, but you can also choose your own route to go through things."

"We've been helping out with Quake 4 and with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, but we wanted to do something new and different and get everyone's creative juices flowing," the Id boss explained. "That's the impetus behind this. id is a studio that has the ability to launch new IPs and give people something new and not have to swim as much upstream."

Rage will not be a Vista exclusive according to John Carmack, who also denied rumors about the game-engine’s use of DirectX 10 features.

“We’re not expecting to. We’re not sure if we’re going to be a Vista title or not. There will be some support benefits by being Vista only. It depends when we get the game done what the adoption has been. But it’s a OpenGL title on the PC and Mac right now” said Carmack during an interview with Gameinformer.

“If necessary we can move the PC version over to DX10, but there’s not much strong pull for us to do that.”