Doom, Quake, the original Team Fortress, etc. - by Qooper
Qooper on 5/1/2021 at 14:14
Quote Posted by heywood
I ran into a snag. I dug out my old (very old) Quake folder and not surprisingly, the exe wouldn't run on Win 10. So I tried the latest DarkPlaces GLQuake port and that had problems too which I haven't had time to research. Maybe I should try the Steam version? I was hoping to use my old Quake folder because I had it full of mods, models, skins, and server settings. I should have some time after the kids go to bed on Tues or Wed to try again.
I also encountered a slight obstacle. My ISP won't open any ports, so I'm going to have to rent a server from Germany. It'll take a day or two, but at least it's cheap. Also I sent ye a PM.
froghawk on 5/1/2021 at 22:09
I unashamedly love both Doom and Quake 1 SP.
nicked on 8/1/2021 at 10:04
Yup, gotta agree. Quake 1 single player is great - lean, tight, well-designed shooting. Certainly better than the clunky brown fetch quests of Quake 2.
And it's hard to recall these days, now that it feels more like a cartoonish shooting gallery, but playing Doom when it was new, it was a heart-pounding, terrifying experience.
But if you're judging either game by the depth of narrative, you're doing it wrong...
ZylonBane on 11/1/2021 at 23:33
I've never actually played Quake beyond the demo. I keep meaning to, but every time I look at it, it's just so very ugly. The aesthetic really has nothing to recommend it. Even the monsters are barely-defined blobs of polygons.
Now Realms of the Haunting, that's something I'd like to power through some time.
froghawk on 12/1/2021 at 04:57
See, that's how I feel about Quake 2. Quake 1 has loads of atmosphere, largely due to the soundtrack. You can't play it without the music or it loses half the essence.
McTaffer on 12/1/2021 at 06:01
Quote Posted by henke
Both DUSK and Ion Fury just dumps you straight into the first levels and then you're running around shooting dudes, for... some... reason?
Bit late on the reply, but DUSK does actually have context for who you are and what's going on later in the game, though it's told mostly through the environment. It's not perfect by any means, but it is better at storytelling than most of the first episode would have you believe.
Anarchic Fox on 12/1/2021 at 22:59
Quake's aesthetics do have some depth. It was originally limited to 256 colors. Most games of that color depth chose a broad, general palette evenly divided between various hues, saturations and values. Quake, however, uses a highly constrained, custom-designed palette, allowing greater variety within the colors it relies most on. When I actually looked it up one time, I was startled by how few greens and blues its palette possessed.
Yes, one effect of this palette is that Quake is very brown. There was a brief period of gaming in which this was a good thing.
ZylonBane on 13/1/2021 at 00:11
Quote Posted by Anarchic Fox
Yes, one effect of this palette is that Quake is very brown. There was a brief period of gaming in which this was a good thing.
I'm going to designate that period "Never". Software 3D games like Thief and Terminator: Future Shock somehow managed to depict much more colorful yet also pleasingly-lit worlds with the same 256-color limitation.
Anarchic Fox on 13/1/2021 at 06:35
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I'm going to designate that period "Never". Software 3D games like Thief and Terminator: Future Shock somehow managed to depict much more colorful yet also pleasingly-lit worlds with the same 256-color limitation.
Thief looks way better, but its aesthetics are (IMO) the best of the era, and... it uses (
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142852) the very same trick. You can see there are far fewer saturated and bright colors on the Thief palette than a (
https://www.fountainware.com/EXPL/vga_color_palettes.htm) standard one. So, I'm not going to knock Quake because Thief implemented one of its graphical innovations better.
Another good thing about Quake's aesthetics is the way every monster has a distinctive silhouette, aiding quick identification. This is an easy and helpful trick that, even now, many games fail to implement. Sure, some of these shapes are very crudely defined, but I felt this added to the cosmic-horror feel of the game: you're fighting monstrosities that don't obey physics. Yon shambler is a wall of flesh, and a fiend is all claws, mouth and legs, which works for this game.
There's no helping it if Quake runs contrary to your tastes, but it deserves better than "the aesthetic really has nothing to recommend it."
henke on 13/1/2021 at 06:48
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Terminator: Future Shock somehow managed to depict much more colorful yet also pleasingly-lit worlds with the same 256-color limitation.
What? Terminator Future Shock more like 256 Shades Of Grey.