Ruining It For Everyone Else Since 2004
Returned to modded Quake and successfully finished a couple of maps in the 2019 Quake Jam. This one had all kinds of Halloween vibe, tough and fair overall. I think it’s time for me to take a break from this universe though, it has consumed my weekend and it’s time to move onto something else.
Thanks to our collaborative efforts we successfully beat Quake together! It’s the first time for the both of us. I’ll still have to complete the game alone to get achievements, but it was great to finally experience co-op for Quake! Next time we play we’ll have the expansions to tackle, and maybe even some addons. I’ll have to see how possible it is to play custom maps together. We’ll probably need vkQuake to pull it off properly.
I’ve had Quake so much on the brain today that I added the maps to SFM. Unfortunately they didn’t have proper HDR lighting, which SFM needs for it to load properly. So I ended up learning how to decompile Valve maps, and then learning how to recompile them with HDR. It’s actually easier than it sounds. Next time I find a map that I want to use I won’t have the lack of HDR to stop me!
Introduced a friend to the world of Quake this evening! We made it three episodes in before calling it a night, had a fun time blowing things up and finding secrets. We played the Remastered Version just so they could get a feel for the controls. One of these days I’ll have to see how well we can co-op with mods! Speaking of…
I finished up the 2018 Halloween Jam, so it only made sense to see what the 2019 Halloween Jam had to offer. It starts off very similarly to the 2018 version, but it has even more maps. I’ve only played a few of them so far. The level design is incredible, if not even better than the previous year.
My current favorite is The Outhouse. It features a shitter that takes you to another dimension. Traverse the void and interrupt a Satanic ritual, and eventually fight the outhouse after it transforms into a demon. Amazing what people can come up with for a game that was released decades ago.
I’m glad I stumbled upon the Quake Halloween Jam! I finished The Black Procession tonight, a map that takes place at the Church of Quake (I’ve decided). Even with these old visuals there is still something beautiful about this digital hellscape, or maybe I just like the night sky,
I only have one map left to go through, then I might have to look into the other Halloween Jams! It’s a great way to keep an old game alive! As usual, if you want to see a couple more snaps I’ve posted them over on Mastodon.
After venturing around for DOOM Halloween mods the other night I wanted to see what the Quake Community had to offer. I found the Quake Halloween Jam from 2018, which sports a total of nine spooky maps to play. So far I’m two levels through it, each level presenting a challenge even on Normal difficulty.
When you load the Halloween Jam you start off underground in a coffin, but eventually make your way to a haunted house containing large portraits on the walls that you can leap into. I played Pumpkin Grind, which lives up to its name of having lots of pumpkins and being a grind (a FUN grind!).
Then I ventured through The Four Incantations, where you have to fight off four wizards to open a seal to leave. That one also did a good job of throwing monsters at me. It gave me an excuse to download the latest vkQuake to check out. It was pretty easy to get up and running. I never really did much in the way of modding the old Quake. It was always DOOM and Quake III Arena that got my most modding attention as a kid. Better late than never I guess.
Quake was calling my number tonight like a good ol’ friend in need of a chat. Even managed to get a few achievements! Rare ones even! So far I’m half way through the second episode. Still finding all of the secrets, maybe I’ll finish this ep during vacay. :v
Finished the first Episode of Quake! Only took me how many decades to finish? Now the next question is when will I waltz into Episode 2? The answer is actually pretty simple: Long before we ever see HL2 Episode 3. :v
Playing DOOM in Portal 2 the other night set me in the mood to check out the remastered version of Old School Quake, even got some achieve-o’s after a long day. I’m three levels into the first episode. I do like some of the accessibility features, like contrast, and disabling bobbing.
On another note: I read today that The Two Johns are reuniting for DOOM’s 30th Anniversary! Hard to believe it’s been that long… I feel old.
Kicked off the weekend by Livestreaming some Quake Champions:
Despite getting our asses handed to us on a silver platter we managed to have a good time. I might even do another one tomorrow. I got some more work done on the videos, and I’m deciding to keep them as two part videos. To keep a consistent release schedule (somewhat) I’m not going to release any video until I complete both parts. But if anything good comes up (such as pictures) I’ll post it here on the blog, or on the Steam Chat or Discord. But now that I’m on my weekend I’ll be taking a break from my project and focusing on other things… like maybe a game to play. I haven’t really done much playing apart from the last couple of multiplayer mishaps with Yutram. I haven’t had much of a chance to use my gaming laptop at work, been grocery shopping during my lunch breaks so I won’t have to do it after work when the entire place is flooded.
Now, it is time for me to meditate sideways.
I remember Quake, excellent FPS of the time with excellent graphics of the time, then glQuake happened and it became even better. Now thanks to Novum we have vkQuake! A totally vulkanized version based off of the QuakeSpasm sourceport. Someone made a video showcasing the OpenGL (QuakeSpasm) version vs the Vulkan version.
The Vulkan version sports a nice performance increase (not that you really need it for Quake in this day and age, but still very nice. 😛 ) and it has a nice sharper look to it. I may have to retire Darkplaces and switch to this version, which can be downloaded here.