Quake

Quake (vkQuake)

Novum/vkQuake

vkQuake: a Quake port that renders with Vulkan instead of OpenGL, based on the QuakeSpasm and QuakeSpasm-Spiked ports, which build on the source code id Software released. It runs every mod compatible with QuakeSpasm, such as Arcane Dimensions, and the 2021 re-release content. Compared with QuakeSpasm, it renders and loads on multiple threads, goes past 72 Hz without breaking physics, mimics the software renderer’s underwater effect, and supports both classic and enhanced models (MD5, like the re-release’s, or MD3), true-color textures and skins, anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, 8-bit color emulation, and pixelated scaling, plus a mods menu. With a ray-tracing graphics card it adds dynamic shadows and the re-release’s dynamic lights. This year’s releases have added order-independent transparency, SDL3, Steam achievements, a level-selection menu, and an improved console; the latest, 1.37.0 (October 12), added ambient occlusion from monsters and items onto the level, a render resolution separate from the menus and HUD, controller gyro aiming, flick stick, and rumble, and background autosaves. Many of these additions come from Ironwail, another Quake port. There are builds for Windows (x64, with an installer, and Arm64) and Linux (AppImage); the macOS builds are published by Mac Source Ports.

You needThe files from your own copy of Quake (the id1 folder with its .pak files), from the original release or the 2021 re-release (for the latter, vkQuake goes into its rerelease folder); it finds Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store installs on its own. On Linux, the game’s file names must be lowercase. Plus a Vulkan graphics card and 64-bit Windows (with the Visual C++ redistributable) or Linux with glibc 2.31 or later; dynamic shadows and lights need ray tracing.

⑂ Fork of sezero/quakespasm

Quake (Ironwail)

andrei-drexler/ironwail

Ironwail: a fork of QuakeSpasm, the GLQuake-descended Quake port, that puts performance ahead of maximum compatibility. It moves work from the CPU to the GPU (culling and lightmap updates) and uses modern OpenGL 4.3 features such as instancing, compute shaders, indirect multi-draw, and bindless textures to run community maps with far more polygons than the originals at very high frame rates; rendering is decoupled from the simulation to avoid physics issues, with code from QSS by way of vkQuake. If you have the 2021 release on Steam, you just unzip it into any folder and run it to play that version, with any add-ons you’ve already downloaded, achievements, time tracking, and the remastered models. It adds a Mods menu, weapon key bindings in the menus, mouse-driven menus, alternative HUDs based on Quake 64’s and QuakeWorld’s, real-time palettization with optional dithering for a more authentic look, the classic underwater warp effect, controller support with gyro, flick stick, and rumble, demo playback controls, a speed indicator, and tools for mappers. It uses less memory and loads huge maps faster. Version 0.8.2 (August 11) added initial compatibility with Quake’s 30th anniversary update and its MG3: Dawn of the Machine expansion.

You needAn installation of your own copy of Quake, which you unzip it into; if you have the 2021 release on Steam, you just unzip it into any other folder and it finds the game on its own. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit) or x64 Linux (glibc 2.31 or later) and an OpenGL 4.3 graphics card: at least a GeForce GT 420, Radeon HD 5450, or Intel HD Graphics 4200. It doesn’t run on macOS, which stops at OpenGL 4.1.

DarkPlaces

DarkPlacesEngine/DarkPlaces

DarkPlaces: a game engine based on Quake’s. It began as a Quake mod and, when id Software released the engine’s source code, LadyHavoc turned it into an engine of its own, which adds modern rendering features, extends QuakeC, the language the game logic is written in, and supports more map and model formats while staying compatible with Quake mods. It runs Quake and its two expansions, The Scourge of Armagon and The Dissolution of Eternity, mods such as Nehahra, Quoth, Arcane Dimensions, or Quake 1.5, and standalone games built with it, such as Nexuiz, Xonotic, Transfusion, or Steel Storm; the game is picked with a command-line option or by renaming the executable. Its features include real-time bump-mapped lighting and shadows, improved with .rtlights files; redesigned smoke, blood, and explosion effects, decals, fog, and skyboxes; replacement textures, JPEG included; Ogg Vorbis audio tracks instead of the CD ones; surround sound up to 7.1; and a server browser. Its latest published release, from 2014, was re-uploaded by the project to GitHub in December 2023, though it advises against it for new projects. Since 2021 it has been developed on GitHub, with Linux x86-64 builds in its continuous integration; the most complete builds, for Windows, Linux, and macOS, are the ones published in Xonotic’s engine packages, though the project points out it has no special relationship with Xonotic.

You needThe files from your own copy of Quake (the id1 folder with its .pak files) and, for the expansions, their hipnotic and rogue folders; standalone games built with DarkPlaces come with their own data. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS; to build it, GCC or Clang with SDL2 (on Windows, through MSYS2 and MinGW).

Quake (ezQuake)

QW-Group/ezquake-source

ezQuake: a modern client for QuakeWorld, the version of Quake built for online play, based on the Quake and QuakeWorld source code id Software released in 1999. It combines the features of the other modern QuakeWorld clients and is geared toward competitive play: modern graphics, rich menus, multiview, QuakeTV support, a built-in server browser, a recorded games browser, MP3 player control, customization of every graphical element including the HUD, and extensive scripting. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD with SDL2, and comes with only the bare minimum of game media. Version 3.6.9 (March 1) brought the modern renderer to macOS, and work in October continues on the renderer, with interpolation between model frames and particles that behave the same at any frame rate. 63 of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe pak0.pak and pak1.pak files from your own copy of Quake, in the id1 subfolder; you can also unzip ezQuake into an existing Quake install. Plus 64-bit Windows, x86-64 Linux, or macOS.

FTEQW

fte-team/fteqw

FTEQW: an advanced, portable Quake engine that grew from the Quake source code id Software released and plays several id Tech games, plus the games other developers have made with it. It supports Quake and its mission packs, QuakeWorld, Quake II and its mission packs, Quake III Arena and Team Arena, and Hexen II and its expansion; Half-Life and Half-Life 2 run through the Rad Therapy project. It finds games installed through Steam on its own, including the Quake and Quake II re-releases, as well as the classic Linux game folders. It renders with Direct3D 8, 9, or 11, OpenGL, or Vulkan, with a material system that accepts HLSL and GLSL shaders and video presets that make the games look like the originals or more modern, with real-time lighting. It has split-screen for Quake and most of its mods, Opus or Speex voice chat, a server browser covering every protocol it supports, a dedicated server, games with hundreds of players, IPv4 and IPv6, CD music replacement with Vorbis, MP3, WAV, or FLAC files, plugins (FFmpeg, Bullet or ODE physics), and its own QuakeC compiler, FTEQCC, which can run in-game, with a debugger. It runs on Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, and other systems, on x86, x86-64, ARM, and PPC64LE, and also on Android and the web. The builds for Windows (64- and 32-bit) and Linux (x86-64 and x86) are downloaded from its website; the GitHub repository is its official mirror, and its latest change is from June 4.

You needThe files from your own copy of one of the games (Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, or Hexen II, with their expansions if you have them), with the engine copied into the game’s folder; it also finds Steam installs on its own. For Quake II with the 64-bit build of the engine you also need 64-bit game logic, which the project recommends taking from Yamagi Quake II. Plus Windows, Linux, or another supported system.

Quake (Chocolate Quake)

Henrique194/chocolate-quake

Chocolate Quake: a minimalist Quake port that aims to preserve the original experience of version 1.09 (WinQuake) and earlier DOS releases, following the same philosophy as Chocolate Doom. It reproduces their behavior with high accuracy, original bugs and quirks included, and input, rendering, and timing are designed to feel the way they did back then, with no hardware acceleration or modern visual effects. What it adds is just what modern systems need: 64-bit support, modern controllers and five-button mice, a video menu with 15 fullscreen and windowed modes, music from MP3, Ogg, FLAC, or WAV files in place of the CD tracks, and, on quitting, the DOS version’s end screen. Parts of the sound and input code come from QuakeSpasm Spiked. 2.0.0 (December 14, 2025) added multiplayer, and the latest, 2.1.0, reworked part of the code to make it more portable and changed where it looks for the game on Linux and macOS. It publishes no releases on GitHub: on Windows and Linux it’s built from source, and signed macOS builds are published by Mac Source Ports.

You needThe data from your own copy of Quake, the id1 folder with its PAK files; the shareware pak0.pak is enough. On Windows the folder goes next to the executable, and on Linux and macOS in its user data folder, though another one can be set with -basedir. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.