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Quake 3: An Early Look  by Dr.Gibbs March 5, 1999

Over the years, id has been surprising us time and time again. Since the very beginning they have been showing us the true extents of gaming technology. Now they are about to do it again.

id captured the world's attention early in 1999 when they announced the release of their newest game. This game would be called Arena. When the test version of this game was released, the results were astounding. Literally millions of people downloaded what is known as Q3Test and are playing it today.

Arena will be part of the Quake series, but very much unlike any Quake game ever made. Arena is possibly the most revolutionary step in 3D gaming. The list of new features is endless. Everything from skeletal animation to fog has been introduced to what was once a very simple domain.

The biggest change is in the overall gameplay. People have changed over the last decade. The addition of the Internet has allowed us to play these games with other people, and many of us feel it is more fun than playing by ourselves. id has answered this call. Quake 3: Arena will be the very first id game that does not include a single player mode. It is strictly deathmatch. This is a big change from the classic idea of 3D gaming, and id can only hope it will catch on.

People without modems, or who just want to improve their skills, can use the bots included with the game. These allow you to experience deathmatching without the Internet. These bots may be good, but they will never live up to the true excitement of deathmatching with other people.

Smoke

Two weapons create smoke: the rocket launcher and the shotgun. The rockets leave a smoke trail, and when fired the shotgun throws a puff of smoke out of it's muzzle.

The smoke effect is something never seen before in a Quake game. Rocket smoke can build up to the point where you can't see in front of you. The effect is absolutely astonishing. You would be surprised that the smoke isn't real.

Curved Surfaces

Quake 3: Arena is the first game of it's type to feature an engine that can render curved surfaces. So, what's the difference? Curved surfaces completely eliminate polygons. In essence, the curve is one polygon so it will look completely smooth from every angle. The curve effect was not available in BSP format maps, which rely on triangles and boxes.

This gives id designers much more flexibility when creating maps. The new maps will look better and more beautiful than ever before, thanks to this new rendering technology. Even though this effect cannot yet be seen in Q3Test, which uses the BSP format, it is noticeable in various screenshots from Quake 3: Arena.

Shadows

Shadows are nothing new. Quake and Quake 2 both featured wonderful lighting effects. However, Quake 3 will use a new shadow rendering system. Shadows will be able to glide over surfaces, giving id what they need to create player shadows. In other words, a player will cast a shadow that follows the contours of the model and changes according to light position and intensity. The effect this creates is amazing.

Mirrors

This is the first game to use true mirrors. Previous games could only display one mirror at a time. Quake 3 can display multiple mirrors, each one displaying the other. Mirrors can also reflect light. In other words, if you shined a spotlight directly into mirror the spot would appear on the opposite wall.

The closest thing to mirrors in Q3Test are the light globes in The Longest Yard. They both reflect and refract their surroundings. Though there are no multiple mirrors or lighting reflections, the effect is still amazing.

Modeling

Arena will feature a skeletal modeling system. This allows player animations to look much smoother, more realistic, and most importantly polygons will no longer show. With the older methods of modeling, solid polygons moved. Now each player has a complex skeletal system that the engine uses to display the bending and stretching of models. This also means that players will actually look up and down instead of tilting the entire body. Although this can already be seen in Q3Test, the effect will be much more realistic when the new modeling system is released.

Another addition to the modeling technology is weapons. Previously, each player model included one generic weapon that would always be displayed. Now each weapon has it's own model and is considered separate from the player. This allows players to see the weapons others are carrying. The first person view can now be a simple camera attached to one's head, making the game even more realistic. The weapons are now solids instead of 2D images. This means they can reflect light and cast shadows.

Fog

The fog in Quake 3: Arena is allowed different densities. It can be so thin it is barely noticeable or so thick you can't even see a wall right in front of you. This will add a lot of excitement and realism to the game. Large rooms full of fog will create a "hunt-and-kill" atmosphere instead of an all out rumble. Players will have to rely on sound.

Displacement Maps

This has always been a feature of OpenGL, but now it is even better. Since Quake 3 supports 32 bit color and trilinear texture processing, the result is amazing on a good card. Textures look real enough to touch even when you are standing right next to them. The same effect is given when they are across a room. Every detail on the textures is visible from any point.

Lighting

Light in Quake 3: Arena is colored. A similar effect is seen in OpenGL Quake 2. Metal textures will reflect light, so as you run past them the light will glare off of them. As if I haven't said this enough, amazing.

Textures

Textures in Quake 3 support 32 bit color. Compare this to Quake and Quake 2's 256 color textures, and you can see why id's designers are so excited. Textures can actually have color now, not just shades of gray, green, and brown. This makes Quake 3 have a lot more environments.

Textures are also larger in size, making them fit together without looking tiled. Once again, this is not noticeable in Q3Test because the old format is still being used.

Unified Graphics Pipeline

Objects and the background go through the same pipeline. This basically means that objects can be applied to the world, and the world can be applied to objects. This is what allows for the reflection effects. Player models can also reflect parts of the atmosphere.

HDTV Displays

If you have a wide screen TV or monitor, you can use Quake 3 in a "letterbox" mode. This means your view will span 106º instead of the default 90º.

Displays (HUD)

The display in Quake 3 will definitely be made for deathmatching. It can display snapshot loss, time, frags, players you are hitting, and players that are hurting you. Every time you kill someone it will tell you who that person was, what place you're in, and how many frags you now have. Every time you die, it will tell you who killed you, possibly how they killed you, and give you the score list.

Quake 3 also features things like a pleasant beep every time your shot hits home, a crosshair that changes color depending on your health, and a list of weapons that you have.

Weapons

Weapons in Quake 3: Arena will deal more damage and fire faster than any weapons ever before. The ammo is also much more abundant. This is a great thing for those of you who enjoy a fast and furious fight to the death!

Weapons now respawn almost instantly. Right now it looks like the spawn time is going to be around two seconds, which is almost like Quake World. In Quake World, the weapons never disappear so you always know you will get one. The only difference is in Quake 3 your ammo is refilled when you pick a weapon up. If you have more than the weapon can give you, then you will receive one round. This will discourage people sitting on top of weapons, and makes it a little harder to get ammo. Ten rockets every two seconds is just too much.

Player Models

Quake 3 will feature lots of models. Quake 1 only featured one model, and Quake 2 only featured three. This gives players much more diversity when playing, which creates a more realistic environment. Each model will have it's own unique sounds and animations.

Models will also be more creative. Instead of only featuring human players, Quake 3 will take the extra step and include various creatures, such as the Klesk and Orbb models. This also adds much more to the game's atmosphere.

Player Classes

Players now come in three classes: light, normal, and heavy. This once again gives the game more diversity and realism. For once every player will not be the same! Now it will be harder to predict how fast a player can run and how much he can take in the face.

Light class players will move faster but carry less and take more damage. This would be a great choice for people who are good at avoiding things and like to move around a lot.

Normal classes will be the all-around normal people. Standard damage, speed, and carrying abilities make this class a good one for beginners. It may even be a good one to keep after you get good. Let's face it, everyone will be a newbie when the game comes out. Sooner or later we will probably find a class that we like the best, and most likely it will be light or heavy.

Heavy classes are sure to become the campers. They can carry more and take more, yet they are slow moving. Not very good for dodging attacks. As you can see, it's perfect for camping.

Items

Items will be more diverse and useful than ever before. Things like the Personal Teleporter, Jetpacks, and more can be expected. If you have ever played Rune Quake you know how much fun teleporting randomly and flying are.

Editor's Note: This was the first article ever posted on The Deathmatch Zone, and obviously it is a little outdated. It was written and published before Q3Test was even heard of, back in the heydays of Quake 1 and Quake 2. It may be obsolete, but this article should give you an interesting view of what the community thought of Quake 3 way before it was ever seen by any of us.

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