Q3A still lives!

[Isaac Sauvage]

I saw a comment the other day expressing amazement that ..::LvL, i.e. "LvL World," was still going strong after... 25+ years on the net, it seems. So I checked it out the other day, and it's true!

To explain-- LvL world is a famous repository for Q3A (Quake Three Arena) maps. Quake is, of course, a FPS (first person shooter) in which one competes against others to capture flags, perform certain missions, or more usually, rack up the biggest kill-count. It's a greatly enhanced version of classic games like Doom and Castle Wolfenstein. But where Q3A got uniquely interesting was in removing the typical bad guys and linear missions, and making it all about players competing against each other in short, intense rounds.

Happily, I noticed there's still a lot of really good (and classic) material (i.e. maps, or levels) stashed away at LvL World. Naturally such works haven't been cutting edge for a long time, but... I still find it all quite impressive for free & legal content.

What also set the Quake (et al) franchise apart was in allowing the maps, models and rules to be customised in almost any way imaginable. Whereas Doom stuck to kind of a 'goth-tech' styling, in Q3A, authors and artists came up with all kinds of thematic material. Many of the maps are downright pretty just to look at or wander around in, sans opponents. One author even took the time to build a replica of Chartres cathedral!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Hmmf. So I couldn't get my long-since pirated copy of Q3A installed properly. I mean, I did finally get it set up after a fashion, but it refused to work with any of the new material and mods, which was kinda the whole point in the first place.

I guess going from Win98 to Win10 possibly contributed to the issue. Possibly. Because normally, going from version 98 to version 10 shouldn't be this kind of problem, am I right or am I right?

Anyway, I wound up going with Open Arena instead, which is a free and improved version. It seems IOQuake3 is another fine (possibly superior) version, but with that one you have to compile the .exe yourself, which I haven't done since... right around the time The Simpsons was still a really good show, I guess.

I even found Pacman and Atari "Adventure" 2600 maps, too!

Only thing that leaves me a bit sadly astonished is that nobody seemed to bother making a proper Quake pinball map. Like... what's up with that, yo?

 

[AnonTet]

Now this is a trip down memory lane.
Q3A... Still have the CD but I don't even remember the last time I had a cd player :D

But last time I played FPS genre was with Medal of Honor I think...or return to Castle Wolfenstein ( I think?), whichever came last. Never touched the genre again.