If you own Quake on Steam or Bethesda.net you just got a huge update.

shortylickens

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Much improved graphics with ultra high resolutions and frame rates, as well as things like ambient occlusion and more.
Also universal online play and matchmaking. and some other goodies. Check it out on your preferred platform.
Downside is you cannot go back to classic version anymore, if for some odd reason you prefer it.
 
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paperfist

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Cross platform play, that's gonna be a hoot :D



The other downside is if you don't own it on Steam you don't get the free update, but it's only 10 bucks.
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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Awesome! I will have to play through again.
 

Igo69

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There is a graphics mod that has been released a long time ago, I think it is called Quake HD
 

BFG10K

Lifer
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It adds Steam DRM and if you launch it offline, it freezes for 10-15 seconds when you first enter the menu as it's trying to access Bethesda.net.

Adding two forms of DRM to a 25 year old open source game...the industry has gone full retard.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
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Well, I finished the new expansion, Dimension of the Machine.

Massive sprawling levels in modern Quake map-making style, but far too hard in places, especially the final boss fight. Medium is harder than nightmare in the OG content because they've vastly jacked up damage from monsters.

I'd give it 3/5.

Oh, and it's confirmed to be coming to GOG: https://www.gog.com/forum/quake_series/quake_enhanced_update/post1

So if you haven't already got it, get it from there as it won't have any DRM shenanigans.
 
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Igo69

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Is this enhanced release a joke? Have you seen the graphics of this mod from 10 years ago?

 
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DigDog

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it absolutely is a joke. Even Darkplaces has beter visuals that this release.
 

DigDog

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let me do a lil' writeup here so those who are not currently suffering through the hell that is Quake can have a bit of insider knowledge as to what is actually going on.

Obviously both Wolfenstein and the new Doom were very well received and made a good bit of money for id/Bethesda.

id tried back in 2008 to re-launch the quake franchise by creating a F2P, in-browser version of Quake3Arena.
This was a pretty cool thing. All you needed was firefox and a URL.

It did not go well.

Quake 1 and 2 were primarily designed as single-player experiences, and while some people had a lot of fun with MP games of quake 1/2, this was a time where most people did not have internet and if they did, it was a 56k modem.
Quake 3 was more geared (design-wise) towards MP games but again it was sold primarily as a single-player game. A lot of Quake 1/2 fans bought it and were fairly disappointed because of the weird map design - no longer a SP dungeon, it was now an open arena with bots that were far more difficult than the usual mobs. Also there were no map triggers, no map progression, all weapons were available at start for pickup, and you were expected .. to die. Repeatedly.

For many Q1/2 players this was weird. A lot of these people had never played MP because of no internet. When we played Q1, we didn't even own a mouse.

Q3 was both a revolution and a disappointment. Those few players who embraced MP saw this glorious game developed specifically for them, and those who bought it on the back of the success of the previous SP games .. well, they had a bit of fun, but found it "lacking substance".

Now, here is the important bit.

As we would have been in 1999 at this time (or even later), people were starting to have internet. A whole bunch of people who bought Q3 for the SP would have tried the MP.
They found it weird beyond belief.
Let me rephrase that. *I* found it weird beyond belief.
All Q3 MP was based on private servers, so you'd find servers with different gravity, rail only, Clan Arena, CTF, etc .. all completely new and weird stuff. Not to mention modded maps.

So at this point quake diverges into two separate entities - the quake for home players, and the quake for "eSports".

Now, i can only speculate here, but i imagine that a whole bunch of home players populated these servers, on a casual basis, for some time. Eventually the skill gap between home players and eSports players became too wide, and the two communities separated entirely.

Quake continued to develop as a eSports game after Q3. They had Q4 that added a bit of new mechanics, but more importantly Quakecon happened. Quakecon, the Intel Masters, and a whole bunch of other tornaments that came with cash prizes, giving legitimacy to eSports as "a thing". Those who were in the know, loved it. Those who were just casual players had no idea any of this was going on.

in 2008 id tried to bring back Quake with the release of Quake Live, the aforementioned in-browser version of Q3. From a technical standpoint, it was brilliant. The server browser was built in, and there were some pretty decent social features to use. You could see stats, rankings, and obviously the Quake community took to it like a duck to the proverbial water.

What id failed to take into account however was the gap between home players' skill and eSports players' skill that had developed over the years. This was still a time period where people rarely owned a "gaming" mouse, and Quake fans were still overclocking their USB ports and modding their Intellimouse.
Quake Live was, as a business project, aimed at capturing again the large number of casual players that had once purchased Q3 and Q4 for their single-player campaign. It failed miserably.

The population drop was absolute comedy. id mismanaged the game in every way possible, ignored blatant hackers (DETLEV was a meme before memes were memes), made no effort to separate new players from 10+ year veterans, ignored smurfs, almost immediately took resources away from the project and had at first 2 then 1 person working on it, denied requests for private servers, so obviously what happened was:
1. a whole bunch of completely green players looked up this "new" F2P game being advertised
2. they got humiliated
3. the core community laughed them out
4. literally the most unwelcoming game in existence
5. OMGZ WHY DOES MY POPULATION DROP

(also, they had a business plan that would do well in the underpants gnomes episode of south park)

only when Quake Live was about to shut down due to having almost no players left, did id relent and allow private servers and community-generated content. This had the effect of a great boost to the health of the game, population drop stopped (or even slightly increased), and the game is still active today, in a very, very enjoyable state EVEN IF you are completely new.
Too little too late though. The idea that Quake Live could be a game to compete with CoD failed.

Obviously you can see why id would then focus on single-player games in the next years. Wolfenstein did well sale-wise, and the reviews were ok. Doom did very well and the reviews were great.

4 years ago id decided to try again with Quake, and they released Quake Champions.
This game was not designed in-house. Although it's essentially just Quake, there are a few - nice - changes.

Unfortunately it's pretty much the same situation as when they launched Quake Live. Bethesda did a big launch of the early access (lol) beta with big fanfare, and then did nothing else, and now there is ONE GUY working on it. They are not addressing fundamental QoL issues and the population drop has already gotten to the point where it's just impossible to retain new players.





This Quake re-relase is a misguided promotional effort to bring attention to the "Quake Franchise" (which currently numbers ONE title, Quake Champions) which, like everything else id has done in these last 12 years, sucks.
 
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paperfist

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Quake 3 Arena was different than Quake 3, right?

I remember Q3A as my beginnings into online shooters. I sucked horribly at it, but it was tons of fun. I remember all those weird server settings too along with the mods.
 

GodisanAtheist

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Nov 16, 2006
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I always had a hard time with Quake as a kid. Doom ran nice, looked nice, had an solid space marines vs demons thing. Going back and running all the old Doom WADS (Just realize the file names are the FPS keyboard control scheme... Jesus let me take a minute to reorient myself) on zDoom and such has been an absolute blast.

Quake, especially on software graphics, looked like ass, ran like ass, didn't make any sense, and got me super nauseated with all the brown/grey samey looking levels.

I'm actually excited to give this remaster a shot so I can go way back in time and give quake a look through new eyes.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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(Just realize the file names are the FPS keyboard control scheme... Jesus let me take a minute to reorient myself)
tsk tsk tsk ...

"where is all the data".
Doom and Doom 2, if you had actually played them, instead of all this "zDoom" stuff you millennials play, used the arrow keys - yes, on the RIGHT hand - for movement, and Ctrl to shoot.
WASD would come years later.
 
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Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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Oh yes, I grew up with Doom and Doom 2 and Final Doom. I remember the keyboard was used little, and I mostly used the mouse with right click as move forward lol. But there are different ways to play now and more customizeable and moddable with sourceports. Now there is GZDoom, which is what ZDoom evolved into.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
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tsk tsk tsk ...

"where is all the data".
Doom and Doom 2, if you had actually played them, instead of all this "zDoom" stuff you millennials play, used the arrow keys - yes, on the RIGHT hand - for movement, and Ctrl to shoot.
WASD would come years later.

-Wow, you're right OG Doom and Doom 2 (that this elder millennial has beaten several times, thank you very much) never had mouse look so they wouldn't have used WADS...

I just mandala effect-ed myself...
 
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JEDIYoda

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Jul 13, 2005
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Quake 3 Arena was different than Quake 3, right?

I remember Q3A as my beginnings into online shooters. I sucked horribly at it, but it was tons of fun. I remember all those weird server settings too along with the mods.
Plus in quakelive you cannot be competitive using any sort of onboard GPU(videocard)!!! Even if you ping under 10 and you have onboard GPU, Quakelive has evolved to the point where unless you have a top of the live video card at best you can have fun.....at worst your going to get owned!!
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,981
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I always had a hard time with Quake as a kid. Doom ran nice, looked nice, had an solid space marines vs demons thing. Going back and running all the old Doom WADS (Just realize the file names are the FPS keyboard control scheme... Jesus let me take a minute to reorient myself) on zDoom and such has been an absolute blast.

Quake, especially on software graphics, looked like ass, ran like ass, didn't make any sense, and got me super nauseated with all the brown/grey samey looking levels.

I'm actually excited to give this remaster a shot so I can go way back in time and give quake a look through new eyes.
Unless you have atop of the line video card you will be sorely disappointed!
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
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I just mandala effect-ed myself...

this is really interesting and i did a bit of reading on it.

The "Mandela Effect" was proposed by fiction writer and "paranormal consultant" [red flag 1] Fiona Broome, where she remembered Nelson Mandela dying in jail, when everyone knows he was released, this was an event of worldwide importance, he was on Time's cover, did interviews all over the world. You may not remember he became President of ZA but you totally would know he didnt die in prison.
I also looked up "The 40 Most Impressive [red flag 2] Mandela Effect" and they are all bullshit. People misspelling the Berenstain Bears, or the KitKat logo. Humans don't work that way and we are fortunate enough to have the memory we have, which is among the best of any species in existence. You wouldn't get the KitKat logo wrong if you were a logo designer.

I have to say that the Fruit Of The Loom one is impressive. I too remember that *some* of the shirts had the cornucopia. Not all. I found the logo weird because i couldn't really speak english i was was trying to interpret what those words meant, so i stared at it quite frequently.
I know that SOME logos did not have it. FOTL sells a ton of product and has different branding around the world. They could well have had the cornucopia in other countries, but there are a number of non-FOTL cornucopia logos that look just like what we imagine the FOTL logo looks like. So, that could be it.
Also i wouldn't discard the idea of counterfeit shirts. I'm talking early 1980s here, across the atlantic.

THIS VIDEO has evidence of the logo with the cornucopia. It's a youtube video so, yeah, not reliable. Quoting an image from 4chan ... But, every comment on the video remembers a cornucopia. And it's a pretty darn similar memory, "wtf is this thing, dad?". It's not like cornucopias were mentioned a lot during the 70s/80s.

Also the very company FOTL has not chimed in regarding their logo, which i would assume they'd do.

Logopedia has ONE logo for 1978-2003 which clearly means they are trash as a resource.
 
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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
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I always had a hard time with Quake as a kid. Doom ran nice, looked nice, had an solid space marines vs demons thing. Going back and running all the old Doom WADS (Just realize the file names are the FPS keyboard control scheme... Jesus let me take a minute to reorient myself) on zDoom and such has been an absolute blast.

Quake, especially on software graphics, looked like ass, ran like ass, didn't make any sense, and got me super nauseated with all the brown/grey samey looking levels.

I'm actually excited to give this remaster a shot so I can go way back in time and give quake a look through new eyes.


I never finished Quake. One of several games that I played almost all the way through but never managed to get past the end-of-game boss, so gave up.
(I still have a saved game from Serious Sam 2 where I had the same issue...and Baldurs Gate...suspect there were quite a few others...of course none of them compare with the Hitchhiker's Guide text adventure, where the game is uncompleteable if you fail to pick up a critical object right at the start, but it never explicitly tells you that).

Failing to see things through (and putting in huge amounts of effort into something but giving up and losing interest shortly before the end) is my modus-operandi.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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I never finished Quake. One of several games that I played almost all the way through but never managed to get past the end-of-game boss, so gave up.
i never finished Quake 1 back when it was a current game, because nobody could figure out how to kill the final boss. Years later i saw a speedrun - one of the most epic ever made - and saw how stupid the end is, you just need to telefrag the end boss, so i downloaded Q1 again, and that's when i found Darkplaces, the community mod. Q1 is a great experience with that mod, not just better than Q1, but better than Q2 as well, and maybe even Q3 and Q4. And yes, in the end i beat it.

That famous speedrun:
 
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