Quake 3 Arena

Product: Quake 3 Arena

From: id Software, www.quakearena.com

Status: final (demo or full version). This game is rated Mature (17+) by the ESRB.

For: Windows 9x/NT (Power Macintosh and Linux versions to be released soon)

During the first week of May/99, Apple and Linux fans were able to thumb their noses at Windows users as id Software, maker of the popular Quake shoot-'em-up game, released a freely downloadable test version of Quake 3 Arena only on the Mac and Linux platforms. And then, when the final release became available, it was released first on Windows. Were the Mac and Linux releases held up for technical reasons? No, says, id; it was a marketing decision. The company confirms that the Linux and Mac editions of  the game will be made available "in the next few days" following the Win32 release. A version for the BeOS has also been publicly demonstrated.

Apparently, the decision to hold the Mac and Linux versions back was a marketing move, not a related to the technical challenge of getting all three versions ready at the same time. Earlier in 1999, Id had stated that all three versions would be refreshed on the same day as future updates occur.

In fact, Id says it had the Mac version of Q3TEST ready first because of the smaller number of Open GL interpreters and hardware variables available on that platform. Ironically, Id software founder John Camack angered Mac buffs earlier in the year by claiming that "the fastest PCs whup the fastest Macs" at running his game, and that the Mac operating system "still sucks." Camack, who had been invited onto the stage by Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs at a Macworld Keynote demo earlier in the year, later attempted to clarify his position by saying, "'Sucks' is a subjective description that can be dismissed as opinion. Note that I have NEVER said that the hardware sucks, or the user interface sucks, just that the Mac OPERATING SYSTEM sucks. 'Faster,' when qualified with testing conditions, says Camack, is objective, and all the wishing in the world doesn't change it."

And what, exactly, is Quake 3 Arena? In case you've been hiding under a rock for the last several years, Quake 3 is, in essence, a maze game in which your character runs through mazes, encountering -- and doing gory battle with -- a variety of opponents and monsters. Because your character views the action and interacts as you would if you were there, this type of game is known as a first-person shooter, or FPS. And, because of the graphic nature of the violence, the game is unsuitable for younger audiences and is, in fact, rated Mature (17+) by the ESRB.

id Software got its start in this genre with Doom, the first great FPS game. Then, Quake and Quake II followed, enhancing the graphics, network play and taking ever-further advantage of improvements in 3D graphics acceleration technologies, with the help of the Open GL language that id has long used as its graphics engine of choice.

But it is when you connect to a Quake 3 server that the true scope of the game became evident. Quake 3 Arena is, at its heart, a multiplayer game. Although you can play in single-player mode, the "Deathmatch" aspect provides the game its most compelling -- and addictive -- qualities. Fortunately, you don't need to run a Quake server of your own (although a Win32 server is available for just that purpose). Instead, you'll typically log in via the Internet (LAN play via IPX is also possible), to one of the many Quake 3 Servers already up and running, and join in the multiplayer mayhem underway there.

Because the first-person shooter action of Quake 3 takes place in a graphically rich 3D world, companies selling graphics cards have been quick to release updated Open GL ICD drivers, in anticipation of the Dec. 3 launch of Id Software's Quake 3 Arena for Windows (to be followed shortly by Macintosh and Linux versions).

Indeed, Matrox wasted no time in releasing what it calls the industry’s most advanced beta driver for Microsoft Windows 2000, just a day before the release of the eagerly anticipated Quake 3 Arena. Coincidence? We think not. Meanwhile, 3dfx and ATI also released Open GL driver updates that week. And, as expected, the CD-based version of Quake 3 Arena 3 for Win32 began hitting store shelves in early Dec. This product includes a CD-based copy protection key, to reduce piracy.

The Quake 3 Arena demo is now available on Id's FTP servers (listed at www.quake3arena.com/q3test), www.3DFiles.com and a number of other locations. If you want to connect to a Q3A Server, there are a number of so-called server browsers such as GameSpy for Windows, GameRanger for Mac or XQF for Linux (and many others, as listed here), that let you find multiplayer games in progress. Good luck in finding a server that's not overloaded, though....

Q3Arena Tips:

• To open the Console, press the tilde ( ~ ) key. This opens or closes the console screen. 
• Here, you can enter commands directly by opening a console at the main menu area (where you see the options for single player, multiplayer, setup, etc.). For example,  you can launch one of the two demo scenarios by typing 
• demo demo001  or  demo demo002 
• To see your character in third person view, type: cg_thirdperson 1 (cg_thirdperson 0 sets it back to normal again.) 
• cg_drawfps 1 enables a display of the number of frames per second your system is capable of displaying. (cg_drawfps 0 turns it off again.) 
• See the FAQ for a list of other console commands, scripts and variables at I.am-Q3A

For more information:

• QERadiant, the official Quake 3 editor and map-building toolkit, will be available around Dec. 14 at www.qeradiant.com
• The Linux version of Quake 3 is marketed by Loki Games.
• For more information, see Id Software's Quake III Arena for Windows website.
• A good source of gaming and 3D news is: www.voodooextreme.com
• See also: Blue's Quake3 Tips and Resources page