Microsoft-Owned Bethesda Releases New 'Enhanced' Version of Quake 1 (gamesradar.com) 44
"A newly-enhanced edition of the original Quake has been officially revealed by Bethesda at QuakeCon 2021," reports GamesRadar+
The updated edition of the classic 1996 first-person shooter is out right now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch.
There's updated visuals, online and local multiplayer, and new content available in the enhanced edition of Quake. Two expansions for the original game — The Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity — are included in all purchases, as are the Dimensions of the Past and the brand new Dimension of the Machine expansions, the latter two of which are developed by Wolfenstein studio MachineGames.
"Those who own Quake on Steam or from the official Bethesda.net store can access the update for free," reports Ars Technica: The multi-platform release could be seen as positive news after Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, a move that generated worries about Microsoft/Bethesda exclusivity moving forward. For those who don't mind waiting, Limited Run Games will offer physical disc and card releases for the PS4 and Switch, respectively, including a pricey limited edition that comes in a box that looks like the in-game nail-gun ammo...
According to a press release, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game will run at full 4K and 120 fps once a future update goes live.
There's updated visuals, online and local multiplayer, and new content available in the enhanced edition of Quake. Two expansions for the original game — The Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity — are included in all purchases, as are the Dimensions of the Past and the brand new Dimension of the Machine expansions, the latter two of which are developed by Wolfenstein studio MachineGames.
"Those who own Quake on Steam or from the official Bethesda.net store can access the update for free," reports Ars Technica: The multi-platform release could be seen as positive news after Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, a move that generated worries about Microsoft/Bethesda exclusivity moving forward. For those who don't mind waiting, Limited Run Games will offer physical disc and card releases for the PS4 and Switch, respectively, including a pricey limited edition that comes in a box that looks like the in-game nail-gun ammo...
According to a press release, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game will run at full 4K and 120 fps once a future update goes live.
Underwhelming (Score:5, Informative)
I already tried it, unless I'm missing some actually cool options, the improvement seems pretty marginal compared to just setting a custom widescreen resolution. There's stuff like ambient occlusion and depth of field and motion blur (bleh).
Having played Quake 2 RTX, I think I'm just spoiled now. That really made a huge difference to how the game looked and felt in movement so it's a shame this doesn't seem to be an option here. I don't know how exactly the nvidia API works but it shouldn't be that difficult to add it I think.
Re:Underwhelming (Score:4, Informative)
It was free (if you already owned it), makes the experience a lot more polished on modern machines, brings it to some new consoles, added an entire new episode...
It's not a super in-depth remake or remaster, but... it was a free upgrade...
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It's also one of the few ways to get the Quake level files officially these days. Sure, if you have a Quake installation CD from back then it'll work, but most of the engines just have the shareware level in them, so if you want the full thing, you have to copy the files.
Quake II RTX is an example of this, which is why it's free - it's just the first level. You need the official version of Steam or GOG or whatever to get the files.
And if anyone realizes it, it means Quake is 25 years old now.
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It's also just $10 if you didn't already have it, which isn't bad considering it's got a bevy of expansion packs (including a new one) and that development effort went in to replacing the Quake engine with KEX. And having played around with it, it really does work a lot more smoothly (from a trouble-free standpoint, not a frame pacing standpoint). I don't think $10 is an unreasonable ask. I'm sure it'll be much less during Steam sales too.
It's pretty much an ideal refresh. The original game is still there (
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Quake was the only game I really enjoyed and this looks like any of the modern front ends for the original .pak files. Looks like they added some more levels which is nice. I grabbed a pirate copy to see what the fuss is about. But for $10 it might be worth it for multiplayer.
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Music (Score:2)
Am I the only one who turns music off in a game like Quake 1 because the ambient sounds are what really completes the experience?
If I was out smashing Shamblers, I wouldn't be running around with an .MP3 player pumping music into my ears.
Even if the music is good and fits the theme of the game, turning it off actually enhances the experience in an ambient sound rich game like Quake.
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Agreed... but that could be because I originally played the game without a soundtrack, for... various reasons....
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Same. The third party mods are way better. Hopefully, people can mod this Quake release too. At least, this free enhanced version comes with addons that I never played before.
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https://bethesda.net/en/articl... [bethesda.net]
Wow, that was tough, took me all of 2 seconds to type "new quake 1 download" into Google and hit enter. I can see why someone too stupid to create a user account would find it impossible.
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For those too old to keep up with current events, that hasn't really been Microsoft's strategy for many years.
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They spent a while trying to make their own stuff, like Zune and Windows Phone, but it didn't work out well.
What git clients do Microsoft's git extensions work on? Hmm...
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The reason Microsoft is still evil, is that they extended git in a way that does not work with non-Microsoft software.
If they were not evil and not still using their EEE strategy they have used many times before, they would have enhanced the core git code to add new features. Maybe others have done since since git's creation. Everyone can do shallow clones now. That was an extension done in a non-evil way.
But they didn't do that. The made it Microsoft only. They will continue to degrade the ability of
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Their end goal is that github will only work with visual studio and visual studio will only work with github.
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You're apparently unaware that Microsoft is the largest contributor to open source software in the world.
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Most people? We only wish.
Playing it now (Score:2)
Well worth $9.99 for PS4. I've played Quake ever since the initial release.
I'd love to play Unreal and Na Pali on the console as well. Hint. Hint. Hint.
No GPL Code? (Score:2)
Re:No GPL Code? (Score:4, Informative)
It's not really a modification of the original game, as they ported it to a totally new closed-source engine, KEX.
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On the PC, the Darkplaces engine (Windows and Linux) plus the Rygel Hi-res textures are outstanding.
https://maximumhoyt.blogspot.c... [blogspot.com]
https://icculus.org/twilight/d... [icculus.org]
Riiiiiight (Score:1)
"The updated edition of the classic 1996 first-person shooter is out right now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch."
I'm sure everyone has been waiting breathlessly for this. Well, the ones that are still alive, anyway.
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I'm that's cool and all... (Score:2)
...but everyone who's been using DarkPlaces or any other number of engines developed since the Quake engine source was released have been doing this and more for a much longer time now. Â\_(ãf)_/Â
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It's Quake that got an upgrade, not slashdot.
If Quake was re-made today ... (Score:2)
This is a hilarious parody:
If Quake was re-made today [youtube.com]
Mac version (Score:2)
The Mac version is MIA?
4K 120 Hz (Score:2)
"the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game will run at full 4K and 120 fps once a future update goes live."
Yeah, considering the original ran on a 66 MHz 486 with 8 MB RAM and no graphics acceleration (other than the magic constant 0x5F3759DF), I'd be absolutely appalled at the state of software development today if they couldn't hit 4K 120Hz on modern hardware.
Does it run in textmode? (Score:1)