Download your free copy of Quake 1 this weekend courtesy of Bethesda

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,256   +192
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Bottom line: The annual QuakeCon convention is in full swing and to celebrate the occasion, Bethesda is offering up a free copy of one of the most influential first-person shooters ever - Quake.

From now through the end of QuakeCon, gamers can claim a free digital copy of the original Quake, one of the first games to support 3Dfx’s Glide API. Simply log in to the Bethesda Launcher with your Bethesda.net account to score the freebie. If you’re already logged in, you may have to sign out then back in to activate the offer.

What’s more, Bethesda notes that if donations to the various charities being supported during QuakeCon reach the $10,000 mark, gamers will be able to snag a free copy of Quake II on the Bethesda Launcher shortly after the event concludes.

Bethesda is also offering discounts on several popular games for a limited time including 80 percent off Rage 2, 60 percent off the Wolfenstein Alternate History Bundle and half off Fallout 76, Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online. You can check out Bethesda’s announcement page for sale dates by platform.

Last but certainly not least, The Elder Scrolls Online is free to play for the next week and a half on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam. If you’ve been interested in trying this one out but never got around to it, now’s your chance to do so without a financial commitment.

QuakeCon at Home, the all-digital version of the traditional convention, runs through August 9 at at 11 p.m. Eastern.

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QUAKE may have been a good entry to the 3D shooter and pioneer, but it was QUAKE II that truly made a real splash and I'd rather have a free copy of that - along with the RTX patch.

Nothing about QUAKE made any sense.

QUAKE II gave us a sci-fi horror shooter and QUAKE IV perfected it.

To go back to these stupid multiplayer-only DOOM-clones is anti-climatic.

I want a new QUAKE that continues the assault on Stroggos.
 
QUAKE may have been a good entry to the 3D shooter and pioneer, but it was QUAKE II that truly made a real splash and I'd rather have a free copy of that - along with the RTX patch.

Nothing about QUAKE made any sense.

QUAKE II gave us a sci-fi horror shooter and QUAKE IV perfected it.

To go back to these stupid multiplayer-only DOOM-clones is anti-climatic.

I want a new QUAKE that continues the assault on Stroggos.

You're in luck then.

You can also grab a free copy of Quake - and later, Quake II - if you log into the Bethesda Launcher during this weekend
 
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The Quake community (especially the mapping scene) is alive and well.

Here are some community links for anyone interested in getting involved. The most comprehensive repository of Quake maps can be found over on Quaddicted.

I also made a guide for how to create and run Quake maps using modern tools. The guide I made is for Ubuntu, but can be adapted easily to Windows.

If you're just looking to run the original Quake on a modern engine, go grab QuakeSpasm and place your id1 folder inside the QuakeSpasm directory after you extract it.
 
The Quake community (especially the mapping scene) is alive and well.

Here are some community links for anyone interested in getting involved. The most comprehensive repository of Quake maps can be found over on Quaddicted.

I also made a guide for how to create and run Quake maps using modern tools. The guide I made is for Ubuntu, but can be adapted easily to Windows.

If you're just looking to run the original Quake on a modern engine, go grab QuakeSpasm and place your id1 folder inside the QuakeSpasm directory after you extract it.

I snagged this freebie and played it awhile before stumbling on to your post about QuakeSpasm. I can't believe how horrible the graphics look without QuakeSpasm. It makes me wonder if I'm just doing something wrong on my PC when I run the original game. Or if that's just what the game looked like 25 years ago.

It will be 10x more enjoyable to play using the QuakeSpasm engine. Glad, I never played the original.

EDIT: I just played the original again. I guess for a game that's 25 years old they are pretty good graphics actually. It's hard to make comparisons now from the future.
 
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I snagged this freebie and played it awhile before stumbling on to your post about QuakeSpasm. I can't believe how horrible the graphics look without QuakeSpasm. It makes me wonder if I'm just doing something wrong on my PC when I run the original game. Or if that's just what the game looked like 25 years ago.

It will be 10x more enjoyable to play using the QuakeSpasm engine. Glad, I never played the original.

EDIT: I just played the original again. I guess for a game that's 25 years old they are pretty good graphics actually. It's hard to make comparisons now from the future.
I think by default (well, judging by the Steam launcher, I can't vouch for the Bethesda launcher) Quake will launch in software rendering mode. Originally known as WinQuake, it renders entirely from the CPU with limited resolutions available. This is close to how it would have originally looked launching it in a DOS environment. So yep, pretty rough around the edges.

In the vanilla launcher, you can open "GLQuake", and this opens Quake in OpenGL rendering mode. This was the original source port that John Carmack wrote and released in 1997 as a way for id to test hardware support for the then upcoming Quake II.

The GLQuake source port still isn't exactly ideal though, as you have found, with limited resolution support and generally lack of quality-of-life features found in a modern source like Quakespasm.

Pro tip: If you're interested in exploring the crème de la crème of modern Quake mapping, Google "Arcane Dimensions". You won't be disappointed. Some of the best Quake mappers have come together to collaborate on this project that far exceeds what computers in 1996/7 would have been capable of running. Still using the 24 year old Quake engine, it's amazing what it is capable of. Slip this into your Quakespasm install directory and enjoy this free gaming gem.
 
I played it back then. As much as I would like to grab it and give it a go, I just don't want another game launcher in my system.

I have steam for general (and Linux) use, GoG for some older gems and Epic for all the free goodies (xD)

No way I'm installing just another store.
 
I got this but have serious problems with colors:

M1pv70n.png


Anyone else with this issue, and preferable with a solution? :D I'm on Intel HD 530...
 
I think by default (well, judging by the Steam launcher, I can't vouch for the Bethesda launcher) Quake will launch in software rendering mode. Originally known as WinQuake, it renders entirely from the CPU with limited resolutions available. This is close to how it would have originally looked launching it in a DOS environment. So yep, pretty rough around the edges.

In the vanilla launcher, you can open "GLQuake", and this opens Quake in OpenGL rendering mode. This was the original source port that John Carmack wrote and released in 1997 as a way for id to test hardware support for the then upcoming Quake II.

The GLQuake source port still isn't exactly ideal though, as you have found, with limited resolution support and generally lack of quality-of-life features found in a modern source like Quakespasm.

Pro tip: If you're interested in exploring the crème de la crème of modern Quake mapping, Google "Arcane Dimensions". You won't be disappointed. Some of the best Quake mappers have come together to collaborate on this project that far exceeds what computers in 1996/7 would have been capable of running. Still using the 24 year old Quake engine, it's amazing what it is capable of. Slip this into your Quakespasm install directory and enjoy this free gaming gem.

No need to Google it. The link to it is on the "Other Worlds" page on the first link you provided. Thanks for these good recommendations. I'll check these out.
 
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