Linux Solutions

The article will provide a user with information on vQuake and QuakeWorld. These are Quake releases.

VQuake
Let’s have a look at VQuake. In late 1996, id Software released VQuake, a port of the Quake engine to support hardware accelerated rendering on graphics cards using Rendition Vérité chipset. Aside from the expected benefit of improved performance, VQuake offered numerous visual improvements over the original software-rendered Quake. It boasted full 16-bit color, bilinear filtering (reducing pixelation), improved dynamic lighting and even optional anti-aliasing. VQuake was a proprietary port specifically for the Vérité; consumer 3D acceleration was in its infancy at the time, and there was no standard 3D API for the consumer market. After completing VQuake, John Carmack vowed never to write a proprietary port again, citing his frustration with Rendition’s Speedy3D API.

QuakeWorld
Now, let’s have a look at QuakeWorld . QuakeWorld was released in order to improve the quality of online play. It was relased by id Software released on December 17, 1996. It featured significantly revamped network code including the addition of client-side prediction. The original Quake’s network code would not show the player the results of his actions until the server sent back a reply acknowledging them. For example, if the player attempted to move forward, his client would send the request to move forward to the server, and the server would determine whether the client was actually able to move forward or if he ran into an obstacle, such as a wall or another player.

With the help of client-side prediction, which allowed players to see their own movement immediately without waiting for a response from the server, QuakeWorld’s network code allowed players with high-latency connections to control their character’s movement almost as precisely as when playing in single-player mode. The netcode parameters could be adjusted by the user, so that QuakeWorld performed well for users with high and low latency.

The tradeoff to client-side prediction was that sometimes other players or objects would no longer be quite where they had appeared to be, or, in extreme cases, that the player would be pulled back to a previous position when the client received a late reply from the server which overrode movement the client had already previewed; this was known as “warping”. As a result, some serious players, particularly in the USA, still preferred to play online using the original Quake engine (commonly called NetQuake) rather than QuakeWorld. However, the majority of players, especially those on dial-up connections, preferred the newer network model, and QuakeWorld soon became the dominant form of online play. Following the success of QuakeWorld, client-side prediction has become a standard feature of nearly all real-time online games.

As with all other Quake upgrades, QuakeWorld was released as a free, unsupported add-on to the game and was updated numerous times through 1998.

If a user has read the article then he/she would have learnt about the Quake’s releases vQuake and QuakeWorld.

The article will educate a user with information and a brief history of Quake ports.

Please note that in 1996, there was a port of Quake to Linux by an id software employee working in his free time. It was not until 1999 that a retail version for Linux was distributed by Macmillan Digital Publishing USA in a bundle with the two add-ons as Quake: The Offering for Linux and in 1997, the official port to Mac OS was done by MacSoft and a port of Quake to SPARC Solaris was released.
Quake was also ported to console systems. In 1997, it was ported to Sega Saturn by Lobotomy. The Saturn port used Lobotomy’s own Slavedriver engine (the same engine that powers the Saturn port of Duke Nukem 3D and Powerslave) instead of the original Quake engine. It is also the only version of Quake that is rated “T” for Teen instead of “M” for Mature. The Saturn version also contains four exclusive levels not seen in any other version. In 1998, Quake was brought to Nintendo 64 by Midway Games.

Both console ports required some compromises because of the limited CPU power and ROM storage space for maps. The Saturn version lacked multiplayer but had most of the maps from the original game, with only the secret levels (Ziggurat Vertigo (E1M8), The Underearth (E2M7), The Haunted Halls (E3M7) and The Nameless City (E4M8)) not making the cut. Instead, it had four new maps: Purgatorium, Hell’s Aerie, The Coliseum and Watery Grave. The N64 version had multiplayer, but was missing The Grisly Grotto (E1M4), The Installation (E2M1), The Ebon Fortress (E2M4), The Wind Tunnels (E3M5), The Sewage System (E4M1) and Hell’s Atrium (E4M5).

It also did not use the “START” map where the player chooses difficulty and episode; difficulty is chosen when starting the game, and all the levels play in sequential order from The Slipgate Complex (E1M1) to Shub Niggurath’s Pit (END). A port for the Commodore Amiga was also made available in 1998 by clickBOOM Software. It is currently only available in a 68K version.

After reading the article a user would have learnt about the ports of Quake and a brief history for it.

The article will provide a user with information on custom maps. Please note that there are a large number of custom maps that have been made by users and fans of the game. These maps are continuing to be made today, over ten years since the game’s release. Custom maps are completely new and original maps that are playable by simply loading them into the original game. Custom maps of all gameplay types have been made, but the most custom maps for Quake have been in the single-player and deathmatch genres.

As an example of the dedication that Quake has inspired in its fan community, a group of expert players recorded speedrun demos (replayable recordings of the player’s movement) of Quake levels completed in record time on the Nightmare skill level. The footage was edited into a continuous 19 minutes, 49 seconds demo called Quake done Quick (QdQ) and released on 10 June 1997. Owners of the game could replay this demo in the game engine, watching the run unfold as if they were playing it themselves.

This involved a number of players recording run-throughs of individual levels, using every trick and shortcut they could discover in order to minimize the time it took to complete, usually to a degree that even the original level designers found difficult to comprehend, and in a manner that often bypassed large areas of the level. Stitching a series of the fastest runs together into a coherent whole created a demonstration of the entire game. Recamming is also used with speedruns in order to make the experience more movie-like, with arbitrary control of camera angles, editing, and sound that can be applied with editing software after the runs are first recorded. However, the fastest possible time for a given level will not necessarily result in the fastest time used to contribute to running the entire game. One example is acquiring the grenade launcher in an early level, an act that slows down the time for that level over the best possible, but speeds up the overall game time by allowing the runner to bypass a big area in a later level that they could not otherwise do.

A second attempt, Quake done Quicker (QdQr), reduced the complete time to 16 minutes, 35 seconds (a reduction of 3 minutes, 14 seconds). The culmination of this process of improvement was Quake done Quick with a Vengeance (QdQwav). Released three years to the day after QdQr, this pared down the time taken to complete all four episodes, on Nightmare (hardest) difficulty, to 12 minutes, 23 seconds (a further reduction of 4 minutes, 12 seconds), partly by using techniques that had formerly been shunned in such films as being less aesthetically pleasing. This run was recorded as an in-game demo but interest was such that an .avi video clip was created to allow those without the game to see the run.

If a user has read the article then he/she would have learnt about Custom maps.

The article will provide a user with information on Quake Mission Pack 1 : Scourge of Armagon and Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity.

Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
Let’s have a look at Quake Mission Pack 1 first. Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon is the first official mission packs released on February 28, 1997. It was developed by Hipnotic Interactive. It features fifteen new single player missions, a new multiplayer arena, and gameplay features not originally found in Quake, including rotating structures and breakable walls. New enemies include Centroids, large cybernetic scorpions with nailguns, Gremlins, small goblins that can steal weapons and multiply by feeding on enemy corpses, and Spike Mines, floating orbs that detonate when near the player. New weapons include, Mjolnir, a large lightning emitting hammer, a laser cannon, which shoots bouncing bolts of energy, and a Proximity Mine Launcher, which fires grenades that attach to surfaces and detonate when an opponent comes near.

The storyline follows Armagon, a general of Quake’s forces, planning to invade Earth via a portal known as the ‘rift’. Armagon resembles a giant gremlin with cybernetic legs and a combined rocket launcher/laser cannon for arms.

Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
Now, Let’s have a look at Quake Mission Pack 2. Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity was the second official mission pack, released on March 31, 1997. Developed by Rogue Entertainment, it featured sixteen new single player levels as well as several new enemies and bosses.

New enemies included Electric Eels, Phantom Swordsmen, Multi-Grenade Ogres (which fire cluster grenades), Hell Spawn, Wrath (floating, robed undead), Guardians (resurrected ancient Egyptian warriors), Mummies, and statues of various enemies that come to life. The bosses were Lava Men, Overlords, large Wraths, and a dragon guarding the “temporal energy converter”. Rather than offering new weapons, the mission pack gave the player new ammo for already existing weapons, such as “lava nails” for the Nailgun, cluster grenades, rockets that split into four in a horizontal line, plasma cells, and a grappling hook to help in moving around the map.

If a user has read the article then he/she would have gained knowledge on Quak Mission Pack 1 and Pack 2.