3 AM LAN Party (DRAFT)
Quake 1 setup
(Adapted from these slides and quake.csh.rit.edu)
Quake 1 is a pretty old game, so you're not going to be able to pop the CD from 1996 into your PC and start playing.
You're going to want a source port, a fork of the game's open-source codebase.
For single-player, I recommend Ironwail, a modern, high-performance port. You might not think having a "high-performance" source port is important,
but modern Quake maps get really detailed; Ironwail can play the most complex maps available and still get high framerates on weaker hardware.
Additionally, if you have Quake downloaded from Steam, Ironwail will work out of the box! Just download, extract, and play.
Methods to install Ironwail:
- On Windows: download the latest release (labeled "WINDOWS 64-BIT") from Ironwail's GitHub page.
- On Linux: install from your package manager (Arch: AUR, NixOS: nixpkgs, OpenSUSE: packaged). Otherwise, download from GitHub and extract
to ~/.local/share, /usr/local/share, or /opt.
Alternatives to Ironwail:
If your system doesn't support OpenGL 4.3 (old hardware, Mac, etc.), use QSS-M. Though multiplayer-focused, it works fine for singleplayer.
Multiplayer:
Quake 1 had two network protocols:
- NetQuake: works best at low latencies.
- QuakeWorld: improved long-distance protocol, slightly different physics.
Protocol-specific ports:
NetQuake → QSS-M
- Best NetQuake source port.
- Install required libraries: libopusfile, libmad.
- Example (Arch Linux): sudo pacman -S opusfile libmad
- Optional: nQSS-M on Windows.
QuakeWorld → ezQuake
- Only QuakeWorld port worth using today.
- Download for Windows/Mac, or use Flatpak/website for Linux.
- nQuake available for quick online setup.
Getting the game files:
- Skip if using Ironwail (autodetects Steam files).
- Need folders: id1, hipnotic, rogue
- Copy additional folders: rerelease/dopa, rerelease/mg1
- Copy music:
- rerelease/id1/music → port/id1
- rerelease/hipnotic/music → port/id1
- rerelease/rogue/music → port/rogue
Recommended settings (QSS-M):
- Enable fullscreen (Options > Display > Video Mode + Display Mode)
- Increase menu scale
- Increase HUD scale
- Disable blurry textures
- Enable crosshair
- Set your name
Connecting to Quake @ CSH:
- Multiplayer > Join Game > TCP/IP > quake.csh.rit.edu
- Or use console: `connect quake.csh.rit.edu`
- Bookmark servers in QSS-M
Quake Live setup:
- Buy and install from Steam
- Open the game and play!