Quake III Arena
From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Developers | |
---|---|
id Software | |
macOS (OS X) | The Omni Group |
Linux | Loki Software |
Publishers | |
Activision | |
Engines | |
id Tech 3 | |
Release dates | |
Windows | December 2, 1999 |
Linux | December 27, 1999 |
Mac OS (Classic) | December 28, 1999 |
macOS (OS X) | January 4, 2002 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | First-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Action, FPS, Shooter |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Sci-fi |
Series | Quake |
Quake | |
---|---|
Quake | 1996 |
Quake II | 1997 |
Quake III Arena | 1999 |
Quake 4 | 2005 |
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars | 2007 |
Quake Live | 2010 |
Quake II RTX | 2019 |
Quake Enhanced | 2021 |
Quake Champions | 2022 |
Quake II Enhanced | 2023 |
Quake III Arena is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Quake series.
General information
- Source code
- GTkRadiant (tools) source code
- ESReality - Community hub for competitive Quake.
- Func_Msgboard - Mapper hub, new map releases, technique improvements.
- Worldspawn Archive - Map repository.
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | ||||
Quake III Gold. Unlike other digital stores, this can be bought in Germany. | ||||
GOG.com | Quake III Gold.[1] Serial key shown in the game library entry. | |||
Humble Store | ||||
Microsoft Store | DRM-free after being copied to any other folder. Included with Xbox Game Pass for PC. Unlike other digital stores, this can be bought in Germany. |
|||
Steam | Quake III Gold. | |||
Amazon.com (unavailable) | ||||
Bethesda.net (unavailable) | ||||
GamersGate (unavailable) |
- A faithful higher quality icon can be found from IconArchive.
- Only Gamesplanet and Microsoft Store versions are available in Germany.
Version differences
- Quake III: Gold includes the base game along with the Team Arena expansion.
- id Software launched a free-to-play browser-based port of Quake III titled Quake Live, that has since migrated to Steam and is no longer free-to-play. Most players have migrated to this service to continue playing, as it adds new features and game modes, and improves compatibility with newer systems.
Demo
Monetization
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Expansion pack | The expansion pack includes new game modes, skins, maps and weapons. |
One-time game purchase | The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
Subscription gaming service | Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC. |
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Team Arena |
Essential improvements
Official patch
- Digital distribution platforms such as GOG and Steam are already have the latest version.
- The latest official patch is 1.32c, it can be downloaded from Quake 3 World.
The Unofficial Patch
- The unofficial update for Quake 3: Arena and Team Arena expansion, which fixes a lot of menu, texture, sound and script errors left by original developers.
- Supports source ports and it's recommended to use those to play on this patch.
Source ports
- While the original Quake III Arena point releases still work on modern systems, the release of the engine's source code has enabled the creation of additional variants that improve upon the game but are backwards compatible for multiplayer play. These versions do not support PunkBuster anti-cheat and thus cannot connect to servers using it, though very few still exist.
- ioquake3 is recommended for authenticity to the original; Quake3e and Spearmint is recommended for graphical enhancements and quality-of-life features.
Name | Description | |
---|---|---|
ioquake3 | A port of the engine to SDL to assist in multi-platform development of stand-alone mods for the Quake III engine. Includes an auto updater which automatically updates the software with a new version. | |
Quake3e | Fork of ioquake3. Adds bug fixes, security and performance improvements as well as some quality of life features for competitive play. | |
Spearmint | Fork of ioquake3. Update in-game menu with modern graphics settings like MSAA or anisotropic filtering, and supports XInput controllers and split screen multiplayer up to 4 players. Does not support vanilla Quake III Arena servers, mods or demos. Stopped development as of October 2018 [1], with the latest update from July 2020.[2] |
|
Quake 3: Arena NT | Designed specifically around the features of Windows 8's app packer. Adds ARM support, widescreen, XInput controllers, and DirectX 11. | |
vkQuake3 | Enhanced client using the Vulkan renderer, adding improvements like AVI video capture of demos, improved console autocompletion, HTTP/FTP download redirection and many bug fixes. | |
Quake III Arena: Kenny Edition | Built around being as close as possible to the original version, at the same time clearing the game code from functions related to the ancient hardware. |
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\baseq3\q3config.cfg[Note 1] |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
Linux | $HOME/.q3a/baseq3/q3config.cfg |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2200/pfx/[Note 2] |
- This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\baseq3\q3config.cfg[Note 1] |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
Linux | $HOME/.q3a/baseq3/q3config.cfg |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2200/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
GOG Galaxy | ||
Steam Cloud | ||
Xbox Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | See Widescreen resolution. | ||
Multi-monitor | A source port is required. See Source ports. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | See Widescreen resolution. Image is Vert- and FOV will need to be increased to compensate. See Field of view (FOV). | ||
4K Ultra HD | See Widescreen resolution. Chat text does not scale. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | See Field of view (FOV). | ||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | |||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Can be forced through the Nvidia Control Panel/AMD Control Center, or by using a source port. See Source ports. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | In source ports like ioquake3, open the console and enter /r_ext_multisample N where N is the number of MSAA samples. Use /vid_restart to apply changes. |
||
High-fidelity upscaling | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Vsync is the "Sync Every Frame" setting. | ||
60 FPS | |||
120+ FPS | Frame rate is capped at 90 FPS. Override with /com_maxfps XX in the console. Certain numbers can adversely affect player physics. |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
Widescreen resolution
Instructions[citation needed] |
---|
Notes
|
Field of view (FOV)
Edit the configuration file[citation needed] |
---|
Notes
|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | Limited modern controller support in vanilla. A source port is required for full XInput controllers support. See Source ports | |
Full controller support | A source port is required for menu navigation support. See Source ports. Cannot navigate Team Arena menus. | |
Controller remapping | ||
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion | Needs to be manually mapped to the specific direction. |
Controller types |
---|
XInput-compatible controllers |
---|
PlayStation controllers |
---|
Generic/other controllers | ||
---|---|---|
Button prompts |
Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Controller hotplugging | ||
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | ioquake3 supports up to 7.0 output through OpenAL. | |
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
EAX support | A3D 2.0.[2] only.[3] Possibly broken since one of the first patches,[4] and removed for good in either version 1.25[5] or 1.27g.[6] |
|
Royalty free audio |
- ioquake3 supports OpenAL Soft for binaural HRTF mixing.[7] Unlike A3D 2.0, it does not support elevation HRTF effects.
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Czech | Fan translation - #1 | |||
Hungarian | Fan translation. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 4 | A source port is required. See Source ports. | ||
LAN play | 16 | |||
Online play | 16 |
- All official maps are designed for at most 16 players. However, dedicated servers can be set to have no max player limit.
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Matchmaking | ||
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | ||
Self-hosting | ||
Direct IP |
Ports
Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
---|---|
TCP | 27950, 27952, 27960, 27965 |
UDP | 27950, 27952, 27960, 27965 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list. |
Issues fixed
Game crashes on exit
Game Crashes Upon Exit[citation needed] |
---|
|
Random FPS drops
Edit a line in config: r_finish 0 [8]
|
---|
Use a Source port[8] |
---|
Invalid CD key
Write the CD key in lowercase[citation needed] |
---|
Brightness issues
- By default, Quake III Arena has brightness issues and may appear very dark, with the in-game brightness settings having no effect.
Edit the configuration file[9] |
---|
seta r_overBrightBits "0" Notes
|
Quake3e: Enable Offscreen Rendering (Vulkan Render Only)[citation needed] |
---|
Notes
|
View bob
- By default, the game has view bob that may cause motion sickness.
Edit the configuration file[citation needed] |
---|
seta cg_bobup "0.000" seta cg_bobpitch "0.000" seta cg_bobroll "0.000" |
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
OpenGL | 1.1 | |
Vulkan | Use Quake3e or Quake III Arena Kenny Edition. |
Executable | PPC | 16-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | ARM | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows | A source port is required for native 64-bit and ARM. See Source ports. | |||||
macOS (OS X) | The original version of the game on OS X only supported PowerPC. A source port is required for Intel 64-bit support and M1 support to work on OS X 10.7 and later. See Source ports. |
|||||
Linux | A source port is required for native 64-bit. See Source ports. An alternate source port supports PowerPC. |
|||||
Mac OS (Classic) |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Audio | DirectSound | |
Cutscenes | RoQ Video | Only for Intro, Tier Intros and Ending. |
Anti-cheat | PunkBuster | [citation needed] |
Graphical improvements
Increase LOD (reduce pop-in)
- After starting the game, open the console, write
/r_subdivisions -1; r_lodbias -1
then press Enter. The first command increases world geometry detail, whereas the second command uses high-quality models regardless of the viewing distance.
Quake 3 Remastered (Runo Edition)
- This mod contains High Resolution Textures, HD Models, Effects, 2D Elements, High Quality Sounds.
- A source port is required.
- An additional mod is required for Team Arena support.
- Widescreen support is integrated. Enter the following into the console for 1920x1080 (example):
/exec res1920x1080
. - The highest possible graphic settings are available with
/exec hq
. - New assets are faithful to original HUD and menus.
Neural upscaled textures
- All in-game textures, upscaled with Waifu2x and SFTGAN.
- Upscaled textures are faithful to the original textures.
Modifications
- Quake 3 servers often use modifications in order to enhance the game in some way.
Challenge Promode Arena
- Challenge Promode Arena (CPMA) is a modification which supports two gameplay styles (vanilla and promode) and many different game modes. It is often used for competitive play.
Defrag
- Defrag (q3df) is a modification that removes the deathmatch from Quake 3 (de-fragging it), replacing it with obstacle courses for bunnyhopping, trickjumping, and surfing, to name a few.
- Secondary resource here.
Q3A Reloaded
- Q3AReloaded (Q3AR) is a graphical overhaul HD modification. Including high resolution textures, UI, models and effects. Running with Q3A 1.11 and 1.32 + mods.
- Q3AR-MODDB visit.
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 95, NT 4.0 | 98, ME, 2000, XP |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium MMX 233 MHz Intel Pentium II 300 MHz AMD K6-2 350 MHz AMD Athlon 500 MHz |
Intel Pentium III 600 MHz AMD Athlon 600 MHz |
System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 25 MB | 500 MB |
Video card (GPU) | 8 MB of VRAM OpenGL 1.1 compatible DirectX 7 compatible |
Mac OS | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 8.6 | |
Processor (CPU) | PowerPC G3 | |
System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | ||
Video card (GPU) | 6 MB of VRAM |
Linux | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | Any distribution (ports of the engine available in most distros' package repositories) | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium 233 MHz / Pentium II 300 MHz or AMD K6-2 350 MHz / Athlon. Also suitable are CPUs exceeding 400 MHz of any ISA | |
System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 25 MB | 500 MB |
Video card (GPU) | 8 MB of VRAM |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/2200/
. - Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (2200) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ RELEASE: QUAKE II + III, WOLFENSTEIN 3D, RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN - GOG.com News - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Games help: Quake III Arena - Vortex of Sound (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ EAX in Quake3? Nope. - Shacknews - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Acoustic Edge and win2k drivers - Neoseeker Forums (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ [quake3] Re: A3D - icculus.org - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ Running Quake 3 on A3D 2.0 \ VOGONS
- ↑ Quake III Arena with 3D spatial sound in ioquake3 🎧 (OpenAL Soft HRTF audio)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 FPS Fix :: Quake III: Team Arena General Discussions
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-09-08
- Also usable for other idTech 3 titles like Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force