Wanting to play Quake mods, but stuck

[Koko Ricky]

So I tried to register to Quaddicted, only to find that you have to answer a question to prove you're not a bot, and of course it's a question about an obscure subject matter ("How many maps did Kinn release?", a query Google doesn't understand). Between the fact that some mods require you to overwrite some of the original game files, or even overwrite the way a specific source port operates just for that mod, the generally sparse coverage on source ports and their compatibility, the mildly idiosyncratic file structure of each mod (as opposed to Doom's modding ubiquity ala .pk3 and .wad files), and now, the final nail in the coffin—forbidding people from joining the only relevant Quake community by forcing upon them a question that is unanswerable by non-aficionados—it would seem the Quake community is actively trying to keep outsiders from participating.

 

Now I know this isn't the case, because that's a ridiculously alienating agenda, but it sure feels that way. What is the deal here? As a long-time Quake fan who wants to check out the modding scene, it seems the community is going out of its way to ensure it's an inaccessible experience. Surely I'm missing something here. Help!

[ScreechingBoner]

Maybe check out ModDB, they don't seem to have so many hoops to jump through (although there might be fewer mods than on a site dedicated to Quake alone).

[Koko Ricky]

I'm realizing now that my problem is less with mods, and more with source ports. I think the lack of extensive coverage on Quake source ports is what's getting in the way here.

[Danz]

As far as I know. No mods require you to overwrite the original files (and they shouldn't be). You're supposed to create a new folder in your Quake folder (where id1 is stationed) when adding your mod. When that is done start up the game and type "game (name of the mod/mappack folder)" in the console. Then you'll be able to play your mod or mappack with no problem.

Quake, just like Doom has it's own fair share of source ports and each of them is different in their own way. Quakespasm is the most commonly used one, since it's the most faithful to the style of the original game but updated to modern software standards.

The closest Doom port equivalent for quakespasm would be like a mash of crispy doom, prboom+ and a little bit of zdoom. Some mods only run on another port called Darkplaces, since that one has a bigger array of fancy lightning and particle effects that modders can apply.

There are other source ports like MarkV, Qbism and some others which don't pop up in my mind now.

A lot of information about ports and mods can be acquired here https://www.quaddicted.com/help

 

Also the answer for that Kinn question is '2' (You can look it up on the map list in quaddicted, filtering only Kinn).

[Koko Ricky]

I see. I think the problem I ran into was that Arcane Dimensions overwrites Quakespasm, which seemed really inappropriate and confusing, and after trying to run the classic Nehahra, I found I was completely unable to run it through Quakespasm, both in its original form and the AD-altered version. This is where I hit a brick wall, I think.

[Bloodshedder]

My experience running Quake mods was simply to launch Quake from Windows's Run box like so: quake -game nameofmod

Although I thought Nehahra came with its own EXE?

 

[negke]

Edit: Nevermind. I completely looked past Danzadan's post who had already posted exactly the same.

 

That captcha question is indeed silly and unnecessarily obscure for newcomers. The answer is two.

 

As the others said, you don't need to overwrite anything. Just pay attention how to install the maps and mods correctly (readmes) as it may vary from case to case. AD does not overwrite Quakespasm, no idea what you did there. Be sure to grab the latest version of the mod (currently 1.7 + patch) and QS (0.93.3) and disregard all previous ones.

 

Nehahra comes with its own engine mod (or hack rather) and is not supported by the majority of source ports. It does not work on QS. DirectQuake had limited Nehahra support and maybe Fitzquake Mark V can run it as well, but I'm not sure.

 

[Koko Ricky]

Well, I found that Quake Injector + Quakespasm seems to work really well, although, as I discovered on here, Nahahra has its own .exe and thus is best accessed that way. 

[Avoozl]

Is it possible to run music in a music folder with Quakespasm?

[Koko Ricky]

I think so, I feel like I read somewhere that you have to change them to track02, track03, or something like that. I just put on Lustmord when I play, it works PERFECTLY.

[kristus]

Darkplaces seem to have nehara support too

[Average]

Nehahra is, to put it mildly, hacky and quirky.  It seems to be the bane of every engine dev in the Quake community.

 

Dark Places does support Nehahra and is full of eye candy but is, in itself, quirky and doesn't really conform to what goes for standards in Quake.

 

Mark V is a 'standard supporting' engine that supports Nehahra though I've ended up just sticking to the old original Nehquake when I want my Nehahra fix.

 

Quakespasm seems to be the engine of choice these days.  It's very compatible, very standard and is often the target engine of devs.

 

As for Quake forums:  Yeah, the 'community' is a bit broken just now.  Quakeone is a ghost town.  Quaddicted is quiet but you will eventually get a reply.  Func_msgboard is really the place to go.  It's always fairly busy and is also pretty non-toxic.  There are a few particularly helpful folk there - including the main dev of Quakespasm.  He's a super helpful chappy.

 

RE: The Quaddicted anti-bot question - Did you use the search feature on the map page?  It gives you the answer (2).  Not the most intuitive, I know.

 

Also, if you're still reading this,  There's a frontend launcher thingy similar to ZDoom Launcher called Simple Quake Launcher (SQL) that can be found on func_msgboard.  That's what I use.  Keeps things clean and simple. :)  

[Impie]

I use quakeinjector for maps. Basically you have access to the entire quaddicted database without having to deal with jumping through all those hoops. Dunno if that helps but it's worth checking out.

[The Nate]

for mods like airquake

I create a .bat file that says

 

quakespasm.exe -game airquake