Please do not stop making maps!

Quake
1

Late adopter into trying user made levels for Quake, beyond just replaying the actual campaigns countless times each year and being relatively satisfied with doing that, but that all changed when I played the Arcane Dimensions map set (recommended to me by a mate) not so long ago which blew me into another dimension, being overwhelmingly impressed with it I decided to dig through a couple of map sets here and am speechless at the effort and love being put into creating a lot of these maps, Tronyn’s maps especially, I love how his maps are massive, atmospheric and all have superb architecture which require you to maneuver and navigate through large amounts of enemies while completing the objectives on the map in a non-linear fashion (having multiple objectives which you can complete in your own order).

These are easily some of the best maps I’ve ever played in my life, keep it up folks!

2

As you can see on the front page, there’s new stuff pretty regularly. The new Map Jam 8 (theme: film noir) was released just a week ago, it shouldn’t take too long to see it pop up here. As for master mappers, you can download pretty much anything by guys like Sock, Necros, Than, CZG, Kinn, MFX… Some of the newcomers are also pretty impressive already.

In case you haven’t heard, you’ll be happy to know that Arcane Dimensions (AD) v1.5 is in the works, with new maps and AD versions of older maps like Sock’s Ivory Tower, Metal Monstrosity and especially The Horde of Zendar (his masterpiece).

3

Playing one of Socks maps now “1000cuts”, list of authors that kick ass is steadily growing, I played one of Necros’ maps yesterday and it also ruled. Looking forward to playing Map Jam 8, looks interesting and none have disappointed thus far. Great that new comers are also putting out good content, this is one community worth keeping alive, the work here is pure art. Thanks man, I’ll try The Horde of Zendar after I complete this, I played Rubicon Rumble yesterday too, and that was impressive as hell.

4

You’re welcome. If you can’t wait to play Map Jam 8, you can get it here: http://quakeone.com/news/site-news/12463-map-jam-8-film-noir-released.html
In case you use Darkplaces, be sure to check my first comment there. I put a link for an update to one of the maps and mentioned a fix for it.

5

[quote=bfg666]You’re welcome. If you can’t wait to play Map Jam 8, you can get it here: http://quakeone.com/news/site-news/12463-map-jam-8-film-noir-released.html
In case you use Darkplaces, be sure to check my first comment there. I put a link for an update to one of the maps and mentioned a fix for it.[/quote]

Last I checked, it’s still not on Quaddicted.

6

As a matter of fact, it turns out Shamblernaut was “too lazy” (his own words) to send the zip to Spirit. It needed some polishing, as the latest AD patch wasn’t included. I talked to him and I’m taking care of it. The release of the repack might take some time though, because I’d like to assign a music track to some maps that didn’t have any, and also finish the main theme that I’m making for the start map.

7

These maps your talking about are for Q1 right? From the date on the maps that’s what it seems like. I’ve never played Q1, but have played Q2 a lot and I’m looking for Q2 maps, how can I tell which maps are Q2?
Also, I haven’t been involved with the internet side of Quake as far as forums and such. It doesn’t mean I’m not a Quake fan, just too busy doing other things. But I get the impression that Q1 is more popular than Q2, is this true? If so maybe I should see what I’m missing.

8

Yes, they’re for Q1. Quaddicted is a Q1 SP repository. I don’t think that you’ll find any Q2 map here. Some maps have a Quake2 tag but only because they’re using Q2 assets (textures…).

Edit: %url% might interest you. A lot of links for Q2 stuff, I hope at least some of them are still valid.

@Q1 more popular than Q2: That’s what happens when you trade an awesome dark lovecraftian horror universe for a generic sci-fi base environment. Also, Q2 is much slower than Q1. Q2 isn’t a bad game by any means but yeah, the original is far superior in the eyes of the people who played it.

9

thanks for your answers bfg666. Now I’m going to have to play Q1 to experience it’s greatness. I don’t know though, I really like Q2 and since Q1 is so much different I might not like it. As for Q2 being slower, I really don’t mind it because I like to tinker around using gorilla warfare. But I think Q2 is maybe a little too easy unless you get caught in an ambush. Really no need for double damage. The Ground Zero pack is harder & more challenging, it was enjoyable fun.
As for Q1, can you recommend what version & format I should get for a Windows 98 with 3dfx voodoo 2.

10

You’re welcome. Wow! That’s an antique! I don’t know if any modern engine will support that. I’m gonna have to ask around, so be patient and wait for my reply.

If anyone else more tech-savvy wants to chime in on the matter, please feel free to do so.

11

Antique? Well yes in fact it is, but isn’t Quake older? Actually I have 7 computers, 1 DOS, 2 Windows 98, 3 Windows XP, 1 Windows 7. So which one would be best for Quake? I know nothing about how programs work and using modern engines. I always just buy a game and run with what installs. But I’m always egger to learn if anyone is willing to teach.

12

In theory, you could run Quake on any of these machines, even the DOS one - the original Quake release was a DOS program, after all. However, modern engines fix bugs and issues that the DOS and original GLQuake versions have, on top of having other functionalities.

First things first, grab a copy of Quake, either the original Quake CD if you can find it or a downloadable version. I’d recommend the GoG download because it is DRM-free, unlike the Steam download. Maybe you can try the online version on your Win98 system (it has a Glide executable), but even then you’d be running a very old version of GLQuake that hasn’t been properly fixed or even maintained since its release back in '97.

If you grab an online copy, you need to download the music separately: it wasn’t included for legal reasons. You’d be really missing out if you played the game without it, as it’s such an integral part of the Quake experience and enhances the game’s atmosphere greatly. You can get it here: http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod-releases/finished-works/7337-high-quality-music-packs.html
Note that it comes in a .pk3 format that is just a renamed .zip archive. Some engines have built-in .pk3 support, some don’t and will require you to unpack the files.

To run Quake in a modern engine, first install the game normally. Go in your Quake folder (usually C:\Quake) and navigate to the \id1 subfolder. There, you should see (among other files and folders) two files named pak0.pak and pak1.pak. These are the game data and the only files you’ll ever need from this install, so store them somewhere (on the desktop or wherever you want) and now you can uninstall the original game, you won’t be using it. Storing these two files in a safe place will save you from repeating this step if you need to reinstall the game.

The next step is to download an engine and this is where things can get a little hairy for newcomers: After id Software released their source code under GPL licence, A LOT of new Quake engines, collectively called source ports, were released by the community. Many are now outdated and unsupported. Of the still actively developed engines, two major branches can be differentiated: the FitzQuake family (QuakeSpasm, Mark V…) tends towards more faithfulness to the original pixelly look while engines like Darkplaces and FTE are more geared towards the bling and a more modern look, with support for real-time lighting and HD replacement content.

The most commonly used today are QuakeSpasm (QS) and Darkplaces (DP). If you choose to go for a faithful look, I recommend either QS or Mark V. Mark V came out of beta stage only very recently, so it might still be a little buggy. It also only supports .mp3 audio files for now, so the .ogg music that you’ve downloaded will need to be converted. QS works very well and supports .wav, .ogg and .mp3. All engines should support the original CD music if you insert a Quake CD in your CD player.

If you prefer the bling, DP is a great engine but its configuration can be a little daunting and its creator LordHavoc doesn’t offer support to its users who are pretty much left on their own. However, many Quakers use it and you can find pretty much all the answers to your questions on the forums, notably at QuakeOne.com. FTE, on the other hand, is much more confidential but its creator Spike is more than happy to help you with any issue you may encounter (note that Spike is also the author of a recent QS fork called QuakeSpasm-Spiked or QSS).

Once you have an engine, install it (usually the instructions are in the readme), create an \id1 subfolder inside the engine’s installation folder if it’s not already there and copy/paste the two .pak files into it. That’s it, now you can play. For the music, there’s no real standard and the procedure depends on the engine but again, the instructions should be provided.

I recommend that you try several engines before settling on your engine of choice. If you’re REALLY bent on installing Quake on your Win98/Voodoo2 system, I asked around and the answer I got was that MAYBE FitzQuake would be able to run on it. However, no-one seemed to really be sure, not even the engine’s author. Also, Fitz is no longer under active development (last build 0.85 is from 2009). For this reason among others, you’d probably be better off installing Quake on your Win7 machine - especially if you’re interested in HD content, as it can drastically drain your system’s performance down.

Links:
FitzQuake: http://www.celephais.net/fitzquake/
QS: http://quakespasm.sourceforge.net/download.htm
QSS: http://triptohell.info/moodles/junk/quakespasm-spike-r6.zip
Mark V: http://quakeone.com/markv/
DP: https://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/files/?C=M;O=D (the latest autobuild should be at the very top of the list)
FTE: http://fte.triptohell.info/ftedownloads

13

Addendum: Got this answer from Madfox at Func_Msgboard:

[quote]I can only say I have a win98 computer with a vodoo2 on which I can play Quake1. I had to install the very weird GL-Open filter that immediatly started complaining about its insecurity for the net. As I have computers that are stand alone and not connekted to the net I can safely play.

There’s only one thing that bothered me the most and that is that the quality of the screen tends to the nasty yellow Q2 gamma, which I don’t like at all. It may be vodoo2, but there’s nothing that makes it feel better like Tombraider or Unreal.

I think the reason is, that Quake hasn’t the same catch for the colourfilters, so anyway, if I had to choose it would still be Fitzquake above Vodoo2 on win98.[/quote]

Madfox is also on Quaddicted, so if you want to know more about that you might want to contact him directly.

14

Compared to the Steam version the gog version also has the music that is a nice addon. Unfortunately it’s in “some assembly required” state, but it is there.

15

I have the GoG version (The Offering) and the music is NOT in it. It’s a legal issue with Reznor’s former label that stipulated that the Quake soundtrack should be distributed exclusively on physical releases.

16

When I bought it the music was encoded in the bin/cue CD images of the game and expansions. I am totally sure because that’s where my installation come from.

It might be changed, how large is the download? if it’s bigger that 150mb or so, the music is definitely there.

You just need to extract it, in Linux it’s super easy (check the GOG forum), I don’t know in Windows.

17

Hey bfg666 thanks for devoting so much of your time and the detailed reply. I can sure use the help. Well I found a new & sealed original CD copy of Q1 on ebay for $20.00. I’s the DOS version (1996). Once I get it I’ll go over the different options that you presented. I think I’d rather go with a source code port instead of playing in DOS. Especially when it has bugs.

I can still use the copy I just bought though, right? Hope I didn’t waste my money.

I’ll probably play it in DOS just for the heck of it anyway, and also try playing it on my other systems to see which I like best. I only wish I had more time or time would stop so I could catch up.

18

Sure you can use your CD. You only need the pak files and the music. To get the music you need to rip it because it’s stored as a standard audio CD, from track 2 to track 11.

19

As for Q1, can you recommend what version & format I should get for a Windows 98 with 3dfx voodoo 2.<

Don’t play Quake1 with a vodoo2 card.
These cards work best with related videogames like Tombraider and Unreal.

When you want comparable results install it on WinXp and use Fitzquake!

20

bfg666, I tried again this morning and I can confirm the musics are there. See:

$ innoextract -L -q -s ../setup_quake_the_offering_2.0.0.6.exe
$ mkdir music_id1 music_hipnotic music_rogue
$ cd app/
$ bchunk -w game.gog game.cue ../music_id1/track
...]
$ bchunk -w gamea.gog gamea.cue ../music_hipnotic/track
...]
$ bchunk -w gamed.gog gamed.cue ../music_rogue/track
...]
$ rm ../music*/track01.iso
$ ls ../music*
../music_id1:
track02.wav  track03.wav  track04.wav  track05.wav  track06.wav  track07.wav  track08.wav  track09.wav  track10.wav  track11.wav

../music_hipnotic:
track02.wav  track03.wav  track04.wav  track05.wav  track06.wav  track07.wav  track08.wav  track09.wav

../music_rogue:
track02.wav  track03.wav  track04.wav  track05.wav  track06.wav  track07.wav  track08.wav  track09.wav
$

Two .cue sheets are shifted a bit, fortunately you can find the correct ones in the https://www.gog.com/forum/quake_series/quake_the_offering_incorrect_cue_sheets/post15.
Finally someone suggest to deemphasize the Quake (id1) musics, in the case here is the command:

$ for wav in *.wav ;do sox -V3 "$wav" --comment "" out.wav deemph && mv out.wav "$wav" ;done

Of course the setup executable contains also the pak files:

$ find -name '*pak'
./rogue/pak0.pak
./hipnotic/pak0.pak
./id1/pak1.pak
./id1/pak0.pak
$

It’s unfortunate you have to do all this steps, but as you said it’s the effect of some legal nonsense. Still, it is better than having nothing and personally I really like the music so I think this makes the gog release much better than the alternatives.