Quake 1 in modern times

[Sarafan]

I'm a huge fan of RPGs, but I also like FPS games. Recently I decided to get back to Quake 1. At first I was planning to play the game in a shape that's close to the original. The GLQuake with which the game came from GOG had problems with higher resolutions however. It gave me an error every time I tried to run the game in Full HD. Given the fact that I didn't like the possibility of playing in 640x480, I decided to get one of the Quake 1 sourceports once again. In the past I used Dark Places in pair with Quake 1.5. And it was a wonderful experience. The game looked like a modern pixel art title.

This time I wanted to try something else. I chose Quake HD Pack for a less pixelated style. The game looks great with this mod (check the screenshots at Mod DB!) and I can say that gameplay hasn't aged a bit. Level design is still of the highest quality and many modern games can be jealous of the Q1 movement system. The gameplay is so dynamic that after playing Q1 for some time I had difficulties to get used to a slower Quake Champions movement style (which is also considered a very dynamic game!). I can recommend playing this game with the above mods even after all those years.

So what about you? Have you tried playing Q1 these days? What mods have you used (if any)? What do you think about the game in overall? What memories it brings?

 

[Alm]

I have fond memories of quake. I wasn't 18 at the time but I managed to get it anyway so that made it feel special.

It is an FPS that feels more like art than current titles. More attention to atmosphere was being paid than being able to serve a wide audience. The soundtrack was great.

Modern FPS feel generic compared to this, and it was one of the first.

I would love a Quake 1 remaster but will have to check out those mods you mentioned.

 

[Frindis]

It has been a while now, but I enjoy a good speedrun of it from time to time. The movement in the game is pretty good and I remember it to be a very good game for multiplayer. Doing rocket jumps and nailing people was a lot of fun.

This might be of interest (At 28.20 he makes the world record time for E1M1 which is still standing after 10 months and almost TWO seconds faster than 2nd place.)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43d8fICz6gM&t=2s

 

[Sarafan]

I have fond memories of quake. I wasn't 18 at the time but I managed to get it anyway so that made it feel special.

I played Quake for the first time when I was still a kid. The game made a huge impression on me. It was one of the first FPS with enemies and weapons in full 3D. I even remember a LAN multiplayer game with my cousin. It was loads of fun. That's why I still return to Q1 from time to time, usually playing with some great mods.

It is an FPS that feels more like art than current titles. More attention to atmosphere was being paid than being able to serve a wide audience. The soundtrack was great.

With no doubts the game has a unique atmosphere. It's hard to find a game where it was replicated properly. Too bad that Q2 and Q4 went in a different direction, but I'd sure like to see another installment in the series, especially if it would resemble Q1 quite faithfully.

I would love a Quake 1 remaster but will have to check out those mods you mentioned.

You can do a remaster by yourself. Just download the mods and enjoy a new level of Q1 gameplay!

It has been a while now, but I enjoy a good speedrun of it from time to time.

Thanks to the great movement pace, the game is ideal for speedrunners. IMHO it's a lot better than Doom. I even tried to do a speedrun of the first episode. Of course never got close to the best results, but it was fun! Thanks for the video!

 

[Alm]

I was inspired by this to pick it up on GOG.

I'll try and get those nice mods working

 

[Sarafan]

I was inspired by this to pick it up on GOG.

I'll try and get those nice mods working

You won't regret this. I'd recommend HD Pack for your first trip into the modernized past, but both mods are great!

 

[Mazer]

I think Quake was the third PC game I ever bought with 'my own money' at about ten or eleven years old. Mind blowing stuff at the time. It was also where I imagine most gamers of our age would have discovered modding, multiplayer, and Nine Inch Nails.

You're definitely right that the magic didn't survive into the sequel, at least not in the singleplayer campaign, but I have very fond memories of installing it on the computers in the IT labs at my high school and sneaking deathmatches mid-lesson. Particularly at a school of PlayStation owning jocks who barely understood mouselook.

 

[Sarafan]

You're definitely right that the magic didn't survive into the sequel, at least not in the singleplayer campaign, but I have very fond memories of installing it on the computers in the IT labs at my high school and sneaking deathmatches mid-lesson. Particularly at a school of PlayStation owning jocks who barely understood mouselook.

Q2 multiplayer was decent, but nothing can beat the multiplayer mode in Q3 Arena. It's a different league IMHO. What's interesting, you can still find people who play it. And I'm not talking about Quake Live, but the original Q3. The servers are still active.

 

[Volley]

Although I finished the original Quake years ago, I still have to play the Quake mission packs, I'm going to go through the entire game again soon enough.

 

[Mazer]

Q2 multiplayer was decent, but nothing can beat the multiplayer mode in Q3 Arena. It's a different league IMHO. What's interesting, you can still find people who play it. And I'm not talking about Quake Live, but the original Q3. The servers are still active.

I was more of an Unreal Tournament guy than Q3 (the fps world equivalent of Sega Vs Nintendo). Most of that had to do with the crappy video card I had at the time but I also just loved the weapons. They may not have had the perfect balance Q3 managed but they were so varied, same with the maps. And Mutators were amazing as well, I played so many hours of Low-Gravity + Super ASMD.

I'm totally going to turn this into an Unreal thread now.

 

[Sarafan]

I was more of an Unreal Tournament guy than Q3 (the fps world equivalent of Sega Vs Nintendo).

I like UT as well. Somewhere around 2000 I also preferred UT over Q3. This changed later on, but to this day I think that both games are great. One of the biggest advantages of Q3 is its unique atmosphere. It's darker and grimmer than UT. UT has more of a TV show atmosphere, so its more flashy and colorful. It's all a matter of preference however.

 

[krige]

Remember to try Arcane Dimensions, it's a collection of absolutely huge, standalone Q1 maps with a lobby serving as a level selector. All of the maps are positively fantastic.
Yes, even Crucial Error.

 

[Sarafan]

Remember to try Arcane Dimensions, it's a collection of absolutely huge, standalone Q1 maps with a lobby serving as a level selector. All of the maps are positively fantastic.
Yes, even Crucial Error.

I never played Arcane Dimensions. I might give it a try.

 

[ktm_racer]

Hey guys

I would highly recommend Cube 2: Sauerbraten, it is an old arena shooter but very addicting to play It is very similar to Quake so I hope this is the correct place to post this.

There are multiple websites which are dedicated to the game and any tournaments going on (there is a world cup going on in 3 days )

We also have a discord channel for the game. Visit Cube 2: Sauerbraten Sauerworld to get any information you need. It's definitely worth a try and just a fun game to play.

Hope to see you in game and thanks for reading!

 

[IndecentLouie]

those screenshots looked great! I think I'm going to replay quake this weekend.

Does anyone remember Enemy Territory?

 

[Mazer]

Does anyone remember Enemy Territory?

I played the demo. I remember enjoying it more than the demo for Battlefield 2142 and less than the demo for Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

 

[IndecentLouie]

@Mazer oh boy psi-ops is a blast from the past.

 

[Sarafan]

those screenshots looked great! I think I'm going to replay quake this weekend.

Just remember to experiment with light settings. On full the game is too dark in my opinion.

Does anyone remember Enemy Territory?

I remember that there was such a game, but I never played it. From what I know it was closely related to Q2 and Q4 when it comes to setting.

 

[Volley]

Well I just went through Quake I fully (GLQuake on Windows Millennium Edition, 3dfx V5-5500) for the second time ever and this time with the original CD, I never knew the soundtrack was that good--kind of has DooM 64 music vibes to it, fits the game perfectly.

I totally forgot about how to defeat Shub-Niggurath, I won't say how here as it's fun to discover on your own, lol what a twist--love it.

Now I'm going to see if I can play Scourge of Armagon, hunting down that disc might be challenging.

 

[Sarafan]

Well I just went through Quake I fully (GLQuake on Windows Millennium Edition, 3dfx V5-5500)

What are your other specs? You have a pretty nice graphics card for older games. I guess it solves a lot of compatibility problems. I'd go for Win98 however. Millennium Edition was known for being buggy.

 

[Volley]

What are your other specs? You have a pretty nice graphics card for older games. I guess it solves a lot of compatibility problems. I'd go for Win98 however. Millennium Edition was known for being buggy.

Yes, an I may even gain 1-2 fps in some titles with 98SE. However, I am among the few that never had issues with Windows Me, granted disabling certain services like System Restore and PCHealth definitely helped back in the day, and an Intel processor certainly helps. I really enjoy the super fast boot time.

The Voodoo5 is fantastic, and I prefer it over my GeForce 2 GTS simply because of the Glide support.

Anyways, system specs for my legacy gaming system are:

Intel Pentium III-S 1.4GHz 'Tualatin'
QDI Advance 10-T Socket 370 Motherboard
512MB PC-133 SDRAM
3dfx Voodoo5 5500 64MB AGP
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 (the best sound card for Windows 98/Me)
40GB Western Digital 7200RPM IDE
Samsung 900NF 19" CRT @85Hz
Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro (PS/2)
Logitech G502 Proteus Core (USB)
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

I use a modern mouse for it, G502 has been fantastic for many years now.
Would like to change the hard drive to a IDE to SD/CompactFlash SSD one day, but for now it's fine.

 

[Sarafan]

The Voodoo5 is fantastic, and I prefer it over my GeForce 2 GTS simply because of the Glide support.

Sorry for the late reply. Do you use a CRT monitor or something newer? CRT monitor would make the whole experience a lot more retro than an LCD. I used a CRT for a long time to play older games. Nothing can beat the quality of lower resolutions on these monitors.

 

[Volley]

Sorry for the late reply. Do you use a CRT monitor or something newer? CRT monitor would make the whole experience a lot more retro than an LCD. I used a CRT for a long time to play older games. Nothing can beat the quality of lower resolutions on these monitors.

Yes, a 19" Samsung 900NF CRT at 85Hz, this thing weighs a ton too... Unfortunately the anti-glare coating, over time, has begun to break down.

 

[Sarafan]

So here I am playing Q1 once again (can't get enough of it!). This time I've decided to go with a more traditional run on hard difficulty level. Since there are problems with changing the resolution in GLQuake, I decided to use QuakeSpasm sourceport. It's as closest to the original game as it's possible (to GLQuake specifically) and offers full compatibility on modern hardware. And guess what! I'm enjoying it even more than Quake HD Pack for some reason.

I made a decision to use console command to turn off the texture filtering, which transforms bad looking blurred textures into more stylish pixelated ones. Now the game runs in 1080p and has textures almost identical to those from Q1 software mode. The game looks great this way. A truly modern pixelart experience. You can use more commands, to make the game look even closer to the unaccelerated original!

Why not play the DOS Box emulated version of the game however? For two reasons. First, terrible performance even on high-end hardware. Second, lack of widescreen resolution support. If someone wants to play Q1 these days in the way it was made, QuakeSpasm is the best choice that's available.

 

[Volley]

Awesome. I did find and finish Mission Pack I - Scourge of Armagon, now onto Mission Pack II - Dissolution of Eternity. Nice touch with the Laser Rifle in Mission Pack 1, but my goodness if you have quad damage and accidentally ricochet off the wall towards yourself, insta-death.

I have no use for the proximity mine launcher but I imagine it would be a hoot in multiplayer.