First pair (released together, with accompanying advertising blitz on Saturday morning cartoons):
Quake a large animal/monster/guy- think "The Thing" from The Fantastic Four
Quisp a small alien creature.
Second pair
Count Chocula- tasted like chocolate Lucky Charms
Frankenberry- tasted like stale strawberry stuff
all of this reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin: "Every Saturday morning I get up early, eat four bowls of Super Sugar Bombs and watch five hours of hyperkinetic cartoons."
Hobbes: Does that work for you?
Calvin: Yep, no brothers or sisters so far.
Quake is remarkable for many reasons. It was the first FPS to have a genuine 3D playing environment*, at a time when the rest of the industry was content with extending the "2-and-1/2-D" system of Doom. It was designed to be easily modified and extended, using Quake C and a raft of editing tools. (Which led to the classic Threewave CTF and many other classic mods.) It had a modern network play scheme, allowing for more players and dynamically entering and exiting servers. And, of course, it had Id's trademark dark visuals and an exceptionally atmospheric ambient soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. The multiplayer gameplay was highly addictive, frantic and favoured a large number of players.
The protracted development period saw many changes in the design of the game. Initially, Id had hoped to place the game in a traditional medieval setting and incorporate more RPG features. It became apparent that this was not practical if the game was ever to ship, so elements from Doom were recreated and the game became the shooter we know and love. The single player game is often criticised for being linear, repetitive and unfocussed. All of these criticisms are fairly valid, but at the time it must be remembered that people had lower expectations - a Half-Life style plot would have been out of the question.
Quake was originally a DOS game, with 3D acceleration and support for other OSes being developed after its release. GLQuake was probably responsible for shifting a large proportion of the original 3Dfx Voodoo cards. Interestingly, Id favoured the Rendition Verite 1000 (aka Creative Labs' 3D Blaster PCI), and helped develop a version of the game for it (VQuake) which had some features the GL version lacked (such as proper dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing and decent particles).
After Quake shipped, John Romero left Id to form Ion Storm. John Carmack eventually opened the source code (as with previous Id games). The Quake engine was used by Hexen II and Half-Life (yes, that's the Quake 1 - not 2 - engine with the addition of software coloured lighting, plus umpteen other enhancements).
*For pedants: Yes, OK, Descent was released first. But the 'P' in FPS stands for person, whereas in Descent you controlled a gravity defying spaceship thing. There were fully-3D games viewed in the first person going back for years, but Quake was the first to put all the pieces together.
Introduction |- Episode I: The Doomed Dimension | '- E1M1: The Slipgate Complex | '- E1M2: Castle of the Damned | '- E1M3: The Necropolis | '- E1M4: The Grisly Grotto | '- E1M5: Gloom Keep | '- E1M6: The Door to Chthon | '- E1M7: The House of Chthon | '- E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo (secret level) | |- Episode II: Real of Black Magic | '- E2M1: The Installation | '- E2M2: Ogre Citadel | '- E2M3: Crypt of Decay | '- E2M4: The Ebon Fortress | '- E2M5: The Wizard's Manse | '- E2M6: The Dismal Oubliette | '- E2M7: Underearth (secret level) | |- Episode III: Netherworld | '- E3M1: Termination Central | '- E3M2: The Vaults of Zin | '- E3M3: The Tomb of Terror | '- E3M4: Satan's Dark Delight | '- E3M5: Wind Tunnels | '- E3M6: Chambers of Torment | '- E3M7: The Haunted Halls (secret level) | |- Episode IV: The Elder World | '- E4M1: The Sewage System | '- E4M2: The Tower of Despair | '- E4M3: The Elder God Shrine | '- E4M4: The Palace of Hate | '- E4M5: Hell's Atrium | '- E4M6: The Pain Maze | '- E4M7: Azure Agony | '- E4M8: The Nameless City (secret level) | '- Shub-Niggurath's Pit Deathmatchs |- DM1: Place Of Two Deaths |- DM2: Claustrophobopolis |- DM3: Abandoned Base |- DM4: The Bad Place |- DM5: The Cistern '- DM6: The Dark Zone
Transforms from tank to robot and back!
A destructive berzerker. Attacks everyone and everything with a vengeance. Doesn't stop shooting until everything is in ruins. Capable of leveling an entire Autobot installation in minutes. Titanium-based treads are equipped with special adhesive that enables Quake to climb sheer cliff surfaces. Known for his somewhat "off the wall" battle tactics. Teamed with Tiptop, a former circus strongman who transforms into a balance-altering, gyroscopic destabilizing weapon, and Heater, a smart-aleck street punk who transforms into a double photon pistol. Equipped with plasma cannon in tank mode.
Quake, a Leopard tank, was more interesting than the usual "small" Targetmaster because the tank gun barrel could be removed and replaced with either small weapon, and the second one could be mounted on top of the turret like a machine gun. Probably the best-looking of all the second-year Targetmaster toys. (A boxy tank is much easier to turn into a robot than a triangular jet or a dump truck.)
Online, players enter a world of identical, brawny vikings running through narrow corridors of stone and rusted metal against a soundtrack of screams and grunts. Quake takes the latent homoerotic fetishism that underpins most video games to its logical and delirious extreme, nowhere more than in the "frag" or kill messages, appearing every time a point is scored:
Ninja chewed on Vlad's boomstick Vlad was nailed by Mick Ninja ate 2 loads of Vlad's buckshot Vlad was punctured by Ninja Mick eats Ninja's pineapple Vlad rides Ninja's rocket Ninja accepts Vlad's shaft Ninja accepts Vlad's discharge
Quake would have been Fassbinder's favorite computer game.
Back in the Beforetime, Quake amazed people a great deal due to one little detail: It was amazingly moddable due to the use of QuakeC - you could make something completely amazing and complicated, and not just mess with graphics or levels!
(Should make a better list of Most Amazing QuakeC Mods, but this is a start...)
...and then some mods that really screwed up the brains of people who saw them. How the hell can you make a first-person shooter do that?
Since the Quake source code was released by iD Software later under GPL license, we now have several odd mods and game projects for Quake that also mess with the source code itself:
And then the entirely hypothetical:
Quake has also inspired art, in form of Quaiku. There are also numerous Quake movies (mostly in form of recorded game demos); One of the most amazing ones is Quake Done Quick with a Vengeance.
Thanks for additions to fondue
Quake's impact on the Internet is much more than most realize. (note: I will use Quake and Quakeworld interchangeably, because I don't believe Quake was "whole" until QW came out.)
Quakeworld (Quake's Internet modification) was the first wildly successful Internet videogame. There were previous games that stirred the multiplayer craze (Doom for one), but QW created a whole new set of rules of which future games had to abide by. First was the modifiability of Quake. Anyone could create or alter content in the game. This added to the games longevity and popularity. Second was the smooth game play provided by even the least reliable dial-up connections. The reason for this was the creation of client-side prediction, which smoothed out any noticeable jerkiness that plagued previous games. Third, players could join and leave games that had already begun. This freedom evolved into the basis for "dedicated servers," where games were constantly running, and players could join them freely.
Quake also revolutionized the Internet and gaming industry itself. With the modifiability of Quake came an influx of young talent. Teenagers were sucked into the opportunity to easily personalize a game. This lead to a huge increase in computer video game designers. From a young age students were learning the intricacies of map making, coding, and texture drawing. Within a few years first-person video games were an entire market on their own. What was once a niche market of 2 games (Doom and Duke Nukem) turned into a place for over 50.
Quake also helped create a new WWW market. With the popularity of Quake came many websites dedicated to it and its "mods." It gave people an excuse to learn HTML. This lead to an explosion in Video Gaming websites. Initially, some were solely dedicated to the author's own Quake mod or general Quake-related news. A few of the larger general news websites eventually added other FPS games, and now they're dedicated to the entire gaming scene (computer and console). Others realized the burgeoning popularity of gaming information and created large, commercial websites exclusively for games. Quake provided a substantial augmentation to the size of the WWW. It gave millions of kids an excuse to really delve into the Internet, that led to an increase in technical knowledge, and in turn those people began creating their own homes on the `Net. It's no coincidence that the explosion of the Internet roughly coincides with the release and development of Quake and Quakeworld. By no means am I implying that Quake is responsible for the Internet's popularity. What I'm saying is that in a synergistic, exponential way, this one video game has lead to millions of new webpages.
Finally, with Quake came conventions and professional video gaming. The conventions themselves are profitable venues for sponsors and managers; and the professional gaming scene is growing, with prizes of over $20,000 at major events. Professional gaming's roots began after the MPlayer competition where John Carmack gave away one of his Lamborghinis. Tournaments were also held for team competitions by Quake Clans. Clans were groups of individuals who formed a team, and played other teams either in online tournaments or for fun. These clans used IRC (another technology who profited) as a meeting place. IRC is an online chatting system, and it was the reason for the clan scene's social success. It helped bring the players together to exchange ideas, gossip, setup matches, etc... People became good friends online, but didn't meet until conventions or other events.
As with all good things, it came to an end. Quake2 itself should not be held responsible for Quakeworld's demise, as a good amount of avid QW players were dissatisfied with Q2 initially and never fully digested it. Quake2 is mostly a good bookmark for the approximate time when players became bored of Quake. For 2 to 3 years clans were playing each other the exact same way (4 vs 4 on level DM3), and because of trepidation for change (other maps or gametypes for example) the excitement and community fizzled. The Quake scene is practically dead, but it has left behind a footprint that will never be forgotten, not just by those who took part in it, but by anyone who plays an online game since.
Message me with any comments, criticisms, or corrections. Please realize this is my opinion, and I'm not applying to have this entered into future computer history books.
"The Well of Wishes awaits in the Crypt of Decay!"
Platform: PC Developer: id Software (1996) BBFC: Rated 15 Minimum System Requirements: 486DX4/100 VGA Compatible Display 8MB RAM minimum CD-ROM drive MS-DOS 5.0 80 MB of Disc Space
It's difficult to talk about Quake without mentioning Doom. Obviously its natural predecessor and one of the only games to have such a mould breaking effect on the genre, the fact that the two were created by the same team of people would give the impression that nobody else was trying. Of course that is not true. Apogee/3d Realms had been pushing the build engine for some time and it was in many ways superior to the Doom engine, however when Quake was released even Duke Nukem 3d seemed old and dated. I first played Quake on a 486 PC with a 1MB graphics card and I think it was 16 MB of RAM. I was unimpressed. It was jerky, slow, poorly defined and dark. Little did I know at the time that this was down to my poor hardware and not changing the gamma correction level. I spent the next few months making Duke 3d maps until I upgraded and my eyes were suddenly opened to Quake and I finally saw the closest thing I had ever seen to another world inside a machine and why it was so revolutionary. For those of you who have never seen the game here are the reasons it is a landmark in gaming history, for everyone else this will just remind you!
Plotline Quake, an unknown enemy from another dimension. You are the commander of `Operation Counterstrike', a mission to eradicate Quake before it uses slipgates to transport in and destroy the human race... The operation fails before it even begins. Quake makes the first move, infiltrating your base and killing everyone, now you are earth's only hope. Now you must collect the four runes to open the pathway to Shub-Nigguarth's pit!
The world A fully three dimensional world confronts you as soon as you start quake. This is a world where flat sprite enemies do not exist, you can move freely around all objects and see them from any angle. This kind of stuff had never been done before in a FPS game. Previous FPS games had relied on flat sprites to act as objects and rendering tricks to create walls, floors and ceilings. This could only take the genre so far. Duke 3d highlights these problems if you have ever attempted level design. Maps are effectively designed in 2 dimensions, rooms upon rooms cause graphical errors and design is limited because you effectively have to carve your level out, creating space as you go. Quake is the opposite. In Quake level design you are given space and have to fill it with all the components that your level requires. This includes floor, ceiling, walls and stairs. This was a sudden freedom given to the level designers allowed them to make worlds which felt real because they had been built rather than mapped out. This new world, like all worlds, required physics and Quake demonstrated a high level of attention to detail when it came to game physics. Rocket jumping is one of the most memorable applications of this, but gravity is also important. Although not immediately obvious, Quake has a gravity level much lower than the real world, this allows players to jump higher, fall further and look around whilst falling. The variable gravity levels are demonstrated best in the ultra-low gravity level Ziggurat Vertigo. Underwater sections are commonplace in Quake, they allow you to swim through underwater mazes (with no silent teleporters!) and emphasise in many ways the fully 3d nature of the game. So they created a new world, one which you could walk through and marvel at, where sparks from explosions fly past your face and where a box of shells has more than one side... and they filled their new world with darkness and evil!
Yes it is gothic! But then I think that only gothic architecture could ever do Quake justice. Architecture is a word which has become more and more used when talking about game level design and Quake was possibly the first to actually have building architecture. Huge arch gates, pillars and columns, bridges, balconies and walkways; all these had to be designed and for the first time they had to look like they could be built. There are very few games I can think of that have emphasised the level architecture as much as Quake did with the possible exception of Ico. Blood stained walls and filthy green pools of water set the tone, there are images of evil plastered around the place and the lighting effects only serve to make it all seem much creepier. The soundtrack is just as dark with howling wind, crackling of flames and suitably grim monster noises. In addition the music is by NIN which somehow seems appropriate!
Firepower Quake has a basic, but comprehensive, set of weapons. There is a gun to suit your every situation:
Other Items In addition to basic health, ammo and armour there are a few other things to pick up:
Single Player Quake is never really remembered for its single player game, and has been criticised for being too easy and linear. I believe this to be unfair, yes Quake is easy by today's standards but at the time it had never been done before. I, like many other people, had to learn how to play FPS games all over again using the mouse effectively in conjunction with the keyboard. Single player starts in a way that had not really been seen before, with a hub type level to gain access to the rest of the game. Firstly you have to select a difficulty from easy, medium or hard (or nightmare if you found it). You then move through to the second area where you have to select an episode from the four available: The Doomed Dimension; Realm of Black Magic; Netherworld; The Elder World. Once in the episode the first level is always a military installation, from here you must find the slipgate to transport you to the dimension in the episode title. As I mentioned before, the aim of each episode is to collect the rune. You start each episode with a clean slate, full health, axe and shotgun. The levels feel very close, almost claustrophobic. There are very few open spaces and there are many less enemies than the original Doom games, this makes each small group of monsters feels like a challenge. Progression through the levels is fairly straightforward and usually involves running back and forth through the levels pushing buttons and collecting keys. There are many varieties of traps to kill you, these usually do so very quickly and it can be unclear exactly how you died until you go back to the same area. There are also a lot of secret areas scattered through the levels which are usually accessed by shooting a secret door (Which bleeds when shot!).
Enemies Single player Quake comes loaded with a wide selection of enemies:
Multiplayer Quake could be played co-operatively or in deathmatch mode where players scored by `fragging' others. This is where Quake excelled! Deathmatch gameplay had been refined since it was first attempted back when Doom had been released. Your character is more resilient than the space marine of doom making instant death less common. This made the game much more about skill and less about luck and knowing the map. Quake deathmatch introduced the telefrag, usually performed more by luck than skill it allows you to kill a player by teleporting into the space they occupy with predictably gruesome effects. Ok, so it isn't perfect and I don't think that a game has been developed yet which possesses `perfect' deathmatch but it is good! I think that the success of Quake deathmatch is due partly to the purity and simplicity of the gameplay. You can freely move inside the three dimensional world of Quake, jumping and running as and where you want to. There are no slowing factors when playing, no activate button to hunt for to make a lift work, no use item button, no primary/secondary fire, Streamlined weapon set and a well balanced one all contributed to making Quake addictive to play. However it was not just the gameplay which brought about the online gaming revolution. Quakeworld allowed people to play many different opponents in continuously running games (A theme which is discussed in more detail by Woburn).
Customisation Quake gave amateur programmers and just enthusiastic gamers the chance to customise the game by creating not only levels but also patches to change the gameplay. This was all down to the fact that Quake was programmed in QuakeC, a programming language that is a modified version of C.
The Console A drop down command prompt which allows commands to be entered manually into the game as well as keeping a running log of the game in progress. It also allows you to bind commands to keys, select maps and enter patch commands. Viewed by pressing `.
A landmark game, from id, what else can I say! For more info goto www.idsoftware.com
References Game documentation
Quake (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Quaked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Quaking.] [AS. cwacian; cf. G. quackeln. Cf. Quagmire.]
1.
To be agitated with quick, short motions continually repeated; to shake with fear, cold, etc.; to shudder; to tremble. Quaking for dread."
Chaucer.
She stood quaking like the partridge on which the hawk is ready to seize. Sir P. Sidney.
2.
To shake, vibrate, or quiver, either from not being solid, as soft, wet land, or from violent convulsion of any kind; as, the earth quakes; the mountains quake.
Macaulay.
© Webster 1913.
Quake, v. t. [Cf. AS. cweccan to move, shake. See Quake, v. t.]
To cause to quake.
Shak.
Quake, n.
A tremulous agitation; a quick vibratory movement; a shudder; a quivering.
printable version chaos
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