Why Quake?

[Baker]

Why do you play Quake? There are newer games. What is it about Quake that keeps you playing a game that is almost 10 years old?

No one plays Quake because someone makes them do it. What do think that is so great about Quake (or so bad about newer games) that makes you want more?

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My personal short list:

1. I don't have to keep finding the latest downloads for new stuff required to play the game (updates, Punkbuster upgrades, patches).

2. New games take an annoying long time to load the maps. When maps change in Quake it is almost instant.

3. New games have too many weapons. I like old skool set of limited weapons where each one has a good use (except the regular nail gun, which if you have the SNG has no purpose).

4. The "cool" new games end up being uncool a few months later usually. I'd rather stick with a game I love than keep "changing brands". I'd like for the time I spend to learn a game to be useful for something.

[SantaClaws]

I love this question. I've wondered about it a lot. It's hard for me to narrow down, but some things come to mind.

The main reason is that I just adore the Quake environment, especially the colors and sounds (I never get tired of the lava scream). The ambience of the world has always been amazing.

But I also love how diverse the universe is. It's populated with a really eclectic mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and humor. It just *works* somehow. Everything somehow manages to look like it belongs together, despite the mish mash.

I think the flexibility created by this diversity has really helped the mod community live on. Want to do a sci fi mod, but can't model? Take some of the tech textures and the lightning gun, or the enforcer and the laser bolts. You can work with what's there and make something.

QC really comes into play there, too. The language is really simple and focused on what it's used to do. It helps modding be a lot more accessible than it would be otherwise, especially when you compare it to other games of it's era.

[Solecord]

Mostly because my computer can't handle the new games. I got Quake4 and I lag like a bitch in multiplayer mode - computer lag because my system can't handle all the cool graphics.

Also it's just the best game I've ever played. I'm not a huge gamer but Quake has just always been consistantly fun for me.

[scar3crow]

1. Art Design. Quake has it. Very few other things do. Ironically Quake has one of the most eclectic texture packs ever.

2. Raw gameplay. Quake is still fun. When someone tells me Quake isnt fun and theyve just now tried it, I know they are going by its graphics.

3. Mods. Quake is the best game to own if you are creative. It has its own gameplay script system, it has the ability to modify the limits of that script system, the compilers that interpret it, and the engines that interpret that data. It can even make full fledged other games by itself.

4. It brought unique culture to the internet. With music, mods, comics, articles, movies, literature... Quake captured the youthful enthusiasm of the internet which I am yet to witness since. Games like Counter Strike may have higher numbers, but I am yet to see it produce anything as refined as machinima or the Quake Literary Guild.

5. It is a beast that satisfies many burdens. 1 on 1 deathmatch? Quake. Team deathmatch ? Quake. Free for all? Quake. Team gameplay? Quake. Sports? Quake. Puzzles? Quake. Mindless and plot oriented single player? Quake. Humor? Quake. Horror? Quake. Action? Quake. Quake even had its own love advice column by Mynx. Quake brought forth relationships. Quake generated a new lexicon, and also the next generation of game designers. Quake brought the possibility of Quake design to the average fan willing to excel in their passions.

6. Quake didnt suffer from misled hype, it thrives under accurate hype. In no other game can I fly a plane, watch grass grow, fall from the moon to the earth, build base defenses, swim from sharks, evade snowmen to steal all the villages Christmas presents, defend a flag with my honor, collect the heads of my foes, order a dog to guard a corpse, and eat it for health if need be, simulate a human opponent, fake my own death, and perform acrobatics based upon the physics of explosions. Theoretically all in one mod.

7. I can fight my way through an egyptian runic medieval castle village sewage treatment elder god shrine to a cave infested with the undead. And it would make sense.

8. The sky is purple and creepy. How often do you get that?

9. Zerstorer. What other game has a partial conversion akin to this?

10. It is simultaneously a single player game, a team game, a free for all, a strategy game, a sim game, an rpg, a movie theater, an architectural tool, a development tool and a sandbox.

Quake is the hype modern game developers talk about capturing in their next release, and yet dont even get 1 of the things on this list.

[Bank]

Because it has Gibs.

[Canadian*Sniper]

I really don't know why I keep playing

Probably because I have insentive to beat up Baker

[Baker]

I really don't know why I keep playing

Probably because I have insentive to beat up Baker

You have improved, but I hope you took a screenshot of that narrow 15-14 victory I had over you in Rocket Arena tonight. You should frame it on the wall with the title "As close as I ever got", cuz it just ain't gonna happen

[Canadian*Sniper]

I added my shotty toggle:

alias w1 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon1; echo DualWeapon-AXE"
alias w2 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon2; echo DualWeapon-SG"
alias w3 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon3; echo DualWeapon-SSG"
alias w4 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon4; echo DualWeapon-NG"
alias w5 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon5; echo DualWeapon-SNG"
alias w6 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon6; echo DualWeapon-GL"
alias w7 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon7; echo DualWeapon-RL"
alias w8 "bind MOUSE2 +weapon8; echo DualWeapon-LG"


alias +weapon1 "impulse 1;+attack"
alias -weapon1 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon2 "impulse 2;+attack"
alias -weapon2 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon3 "impulse 3;+attack"
alias -weapon3 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon4 "impulse 4;+attack"
alias -weapon4 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon5 "impulse 5;+attack"
alias -weapon5 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon6 "impulse 6;+attack"
alias -weapon6 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon7 "impulse 7;+attack"
alias -weapon7 "-attack;gsnip"

alias +weapon8 "impulse 8;+attack"
alias -weapon8 "-attack;gsnip"


bind 1 snip1
bind 2 snip2
bind 3 snip3
bind 4 snip4
bind 5 snip5
bind 6 snip6
bind 7 snip7
bind 8 snip8
alias gsnip "impulse 2" /* default = no null */
alias snip1 "impulse 1; alias gsnip "impulse 1""
alias snip2 "impulse 2; alias gsnip "impulse 2""
alias snip3 "impulse 3; alias gsnip "impulse 3""
alias snip4 "impulse 4; alias gsnip "impulse 4""
alias snip5 "impulse 5; alias gsnip "impulse 5""
alias snip6 "impulse 6; alias gsnip "impulse 6""
alias snip7 "impulse 7; alias gsnip "impulse 7""
alias snip8 "impulse 8; alias gsnip "impulse 8""

alias +shotty "impulse 2;+attack"
alias -shotty "-attack;gsnip"

// deactivates it
alias deactivate "bind MOUSE2 +hook; bind MOUSE3 rune-use; echo DualWeapons Deactivated"

// activation mwhahahahaha
alias activate "w8; bind MOUSE3 +shotty; echo DualWeapons Activated"

It's on when I type in activate... Baker...

[Amon26]

I think there should be more games like this, that rely more on slick gameplay and superb art-direction while not nitpicking the details or providing clear cut explanations for the worlds you go into, the enemies, the hero.

The whole concept is so full of plot-holes and the ending has to be one of the lousiest rewards ever for beating a game. And maybe it's because of this I enjoy it. It fuels a subliminal creativity making you come up with your own answers to why an Ogre has a chainsaw, what the runes are about, what happens to the character at the end.

(I'd like to think he becomes the fabled god, "Quake" and gets his mighty hammer, becomes a tormented lord of the otherworlds awaiting a worthy opponet just as Shub-Niggurath did he.)

Its simple, addictive, stylish, and makes no apologies. You just strap on your helmet, grab your axe, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.

[scar3crow]

Amon26 wins the thread with this one line "It fuels a subliminal creativity making you come up with your own answers"

Bingo Farnsworth! Games nowadays leave no room for imagination, and thus the players lack that imagination more and more, thus forcing the designers to have to either stretch their imagination beyond artistic conjecture into palpable renderings which unless you are working with the best person for you individually, will never quite work. However due to the high demands of this, most designers will opt away from creativity to avoid that risk of falling short of vision.

Quake does take imagination, and that is what makes it great, and the true modding experience.

[Baker]

I agree with Amon26. With Quake, the explanations are few and questions left unanswered. No attempt is made to explain everything. It can be said this is actually a weakness of Nehahra, which is by far the most ambitious Quake add-on, but also may have explained some things to the point of demystification.

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Note on this post: If you haven't ever played a custom single player episode or have not played a high quality one lately, you probably cannot fully appreciate the following segment. There are a lot of recent and outstanding custom Quake single player releases, and there is a near lifetime supply of them.
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Additionally, in Quake you don't have do the "Igor go for brains", "Igor go get me some sponges" type of busy work that most more recent games require. In few games do these trivial tasks add to the atmosphere.

How often in a new game does your character have to do several silly little missions or stop and read a screen/book 15 times?

Quake single player cuts thru the red tape, skips the distractions and throws you in an environment to explore.



Operation Urth Majik screenshot

One other thing: as far as Quake's environment and consistency goes, ironically the Quake palette does a lot to make custom maps, both deathmatch and single player, consistent to the environment. You don't see too many heinous Quake maps that use colors that don't look the part as a result.

[Amon26]

Nehara is a pretty damn cool mod and you're right about it maybe explaining a little too much, but on the flip-side that's not a bad thing. This is a perfect example of what a game like quake can do to fuel a creative mind :-D

[Aquashark]

Quake introduced me to Nine Inch Nails and from here to other great music stuff.
Quake has a unique industrial-gothic theme and a gloomy atmosphere bringing the essence of a brutal, absurd and mystical world.
Quake is always evolving (thanks to the community), offering NEW content of any kind, this being vital for its longevity.

i'm playing and enjoying new first person shooters as well (Doom3, Q4, HL2, Chronicles of Riddick, UT2004, Painkiller, ..), but Quake is more than a FPS game for me, it is/was a learning experience and i have a special sentimental tie towards it.

[Monster]

I would have to agree with all of you said. The MODS is the main reason that I always play. The other reason is the COMMUNITY. In NETQUAKE, you always know who you are up against, unlike in Quake 3, where every time you play, its against different people. Theres no lag, and very smooth internet gameplay. I also love the medieval atmosphere/monsters of quake. It is also very addicting, I do not think I would ever completely stop playing.

[QuadRaptor]

I grew up playing this game - I have a lot of history from it.

Honestly, the "other" games don't seem to appeal to me. That and some of the people that play them can be some of the biggest assholes you've ever met.

But Quake....everyone seems to know each other, and most of us respect our fellow players.

I have made too many friends on Quake to just quit. And of course I've gotten better so the game is much more fun than it was since I began to play. Going to mouse makes a big difference - both in strategy and skill, but also in the overall enjoyment of the game.