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- Alternate use: earthquake
Quake is a first-person shooter (FPS) game that was published by id Software in 1996. It introduced several major advances in the 3D game genre: it uses 3-dimensional models for players and monsters instead of 2-dimensional sprites; and the world in which play takes place is created as a true 3-dimensional space, rather than a 2-dimensional map with height information which is then rendered to 3D. It also incorporated the use of lightmaps and real-time light sources, as opposed to the sector-based static lighting used in games of the past. Many consider believe that it kick-started the independent 3D graphics card revolution, "GLQuake" being the first application to truly demonstrate the capabilities of the 3DFX "Voodoo" chipset at the time. The impact of the Quake engine is still being felt to this day.The majority of programming work on the Quake engine was done by John Carmack. Michael Abrash, a program performance optimization specialist, was brought in to help make the software rendering engine feasible with regards to speed. The background music for the game was done by Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails.
The Story
The story to the game follows the usual format for id Software's FPS games: Portals to a realm of evil beings have opened up, and you are the only person who can journey through them to close the rift. In the specific case of Quake, the other realm is inspired by several influences, notably that of H. P. Lovecraft (the end game nasty being Shub-Niggurath herself).
Network Play
Quake includes a multi-player mode to play over the Internet with or against other humans. The network play uses a client/server model, where the actual game runs on the server only and all players "log in" there to participate. Different clients get different ping times - someone playing on the server PC gets a substantial advantage due to essentially zero lag.
Modification
The game itself can be heavily modified. Users created their own maps and models, and coded some changes to the game itself using QuakeC, an interpreted scripting language with a syntax similar to the C programming language. The QuakeC code runs on the game server alone. The ease of modifying the game led to the rise of "mods" such as the popular TeamFortress mod, and the Abyss of Pandemonium Mission Pack.
History
Quake was given as a title to the game that id software was working on shortly after the release of Doom 2. The earliest information released described Quake as focusing on a Thor-like character who wields a giant hammer, and is able to knock away guys by throwing the hammer (complete with real time inverse kinematics). Early screenshots showed medieval environments and dragons. The plan was for the game to have more RPG-style elements. However, work was very slow on the engine, since Carmack not only was developing a fully 3D engine, but also a TCP/IP networking model (Carmack later said that he should have done two separate projects which developed those things). Thus the final game was very stripped down from its original intentions, and instead featured gameplay similar to Doom 2. Praised throughout the gaming community, it quickly dethroned previous FPS titles and revolutionized the way multiplayer games were developed.
To improve the quality of online play, id software released QuakeWorld, a build of Quake that featured significantly revamped network code including the addition of client-side prediction. QuakeWorld soon became the platform most people played on because it was much more friendly to those with low ping times (also referred to as Low Ping Bastards or LPBs). The TeamFortress mod was based on the QuakeWorld platform.
The source code of Quake was licensed under the GPL in 1999.
Based on the success of the first Quake game, id later published Quake II and Quake III Arena; Quake IV is planned to follow in the future, utilising the DOOM³ engine.
It is also interesting to note that Quake was the game primarily responsible for the Machinima phenomenon of films made in game engines, thanks to edited Quake demos like Ranger Gone Bad and Blahbalicious.
Jumping in Quake
In Quake there are several ways to make one's character move by jumping. Some of them are exploits of bugs rather than designed features of the game. Note that some of these "features" have been included in later FPS games, especially those that use the Quake engine, such as Half-Life.
Rocketjump
To perform a rocketjump, the player uses a rocket launcher, aims downward towards their feet, presses the jump button and then immediately fires a rocket. The rocket's explosion propels the player into unbelievable heights and distances. The rocketjump can be done in every Quake game. Players rocketjump in order to reach items faster, rescue themselves from lava, evade opponents, or find unusual camping spots. Some players even use the grenade launcher or BFG in Quake II to create additional explosive force to intensify the rocketjump.
Strafejump
Strafejumping allows the player to jump further and involves jumping while strafing left or right, you cannot strafe forward. To strafejump, go forward, then you have to strafe to the side you want to jump to, and you have immediately to turn your view (with the mouse) to the side you want to jump to and jump. Strafejumping can be done in Quake and Quake II. It is considered a bug. One place strafejumping can be practiced is in the dm2 map where you can strafejump from red armor across the lava.
Circlejump
Circlejumping makes use of the fact that players can control their movement while in the air. Essentially, a circlejump is just a "U-turn" while in the air. This jump is mostly used in Quakeworld, but it can also be done in the normal Quake, though it is much more difficult.
Doublejump
A doublejump is a bug that lets the player jump twice in a row. To doublejump, the player has to jump directly at an edge and then jump again. Doublejumping can only be done in Quake II in the later versions. In the Q2DM1 map, you can use do it at the megahealth pickup. You can reach the upper spot at the bagpack by doublejumping and then jump normally to the megahealth.
Bunnyhopping
Bunnyhopping is a method of continually jumping in order to increase your movement speed. To start bunnyhopping, do a strafejump and then continuously jump while moving forward, and you will begin to accelerate beyond normal running speed. Bunnyhopping is possible in Quakeworld and in Quake II.
In Quakeworld you can even make use of the air-control in order to get around corners, it's similar to the circlejump. In Quake II there is practically no air-control you only can move forward. It's also useful in Quakeworld when doing the speedjump (see below) in order to keep up the movement speed.
Speedjump
Speedjump is another jump that allows the player to move faster and like the rocketjump, takes advantage of explosion forces. To speedjump, the player gets a rocketlauncher, moves close to a wall, fires the missile at the wall, quickly spins around so they face away from the wall and jumps forward with an assist from the rocket's explosive force. Many players then top this off with bunnyhopping in order to maintain the speed gained from this stunt. Players use this to surprise opponents. This jump was founded by the Quakeworld community and can also be done in Quake II, but since you can't control your movement in the air in Quake II, you cannot turn corners.Plasmajump
This jump is only possible in Quake III Arena.Games using the Quake engine
Games using a modified Quake engine
Replacement Quake I Engines
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