[keyboard typing noises]
[VO, deep] Okay, kids, it's time for the talk.
...the Quake talk, that is.
[normal] With Quake turning 20 years old on June 22, 2016,
I think the time has come for a discussion on id Software's Lovecraftian-themed shooter.
This is the full registered version for MS-DOS, sold in stores by GT Interactive.
And [aroused grunting], this box art, it speaks to me!
It's dark and industrial, striking yet subdued, and the Quake logo is absolutely timeless.
You could slap this cover on a game today and it'd look just as fresh.
The pleasingly-understated package design continues around on back as well,
with a few choice words and screenshots lacing the cardboard,
again letting you know that this is, indeed, the full registered version.
Why does it keep saying that?
Well, Quake came out right at the tail end of the age of shareware distribution on PCs,
but its file size was also a lot bigger than most shareware games of the time.
This led to it being distributed on CD-ROM instead of floppy disks, in the same case as the registered version,
so a clear distinction between the two was necessary.
Opening it up reveals the game inside this fantastic trifold CD sleeve,
with artwork looking like it could come straight off of a Nine Inch Nails album.
And that makes a lot of sense, seeing as Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails famously scored the soundtrack to Quake,
as well as choosing the sound effects and voicing the protagonist.
You also get this little manual, tucked away inside, here,
which, to save money on distribution, I suppose, applies to both the shareware and the registered versions of the game.
It also includes the typical macho id Software attitude in its writing,
talking about how only little kids and grannies play Quake on Easy Mode,
and dismissing questions about video game violence and Satan-worshiping with a swift
"No."
Boot up the game, and you're greeted with a gameplay demo
backed by a soundtrack that is unmistakably Reznor doing his thing!
["Main Theme"/"Persia Inversion" by Trent Reznor plays]
Now THAT is how you introduce a first-person shooter! An immediate display of kick-ass music and mayhem!
Pressing a key opens up the main menu, and from here you're given a lot more options than many were used to in 1996,
especially in regards to graphics options, seeing as this was one of the earliest first-person shooters with an engine that
made full use of three-dimensional, polygon-based, texture-mapped levels and objects.
Back then, this was mind-boggling stuff,
considering it was using your CPU and 2D graphics card to push all this on screen,
the same exact hardware that you probably used to display Microsoft Works and Quicken!
Playing Quake was a magical transformation of your computer,
resulting in a spectacle of 3D models and lighting effects on the PC that most people only dreamed of before this.
And that was just the original game without any special hardware!
If you were one of the early adopters of 3D accelerator cards, such as the legendary 3Dfx Voodoo,
you could take advantage of a version of the game known as GLQuake
Released in January of 1997 and named for its usage of the OpenGL graphics API,
GLQuake lets you run the game at higher resolutions and framerates,
with texture filtering, improved lighting, and additional reflection, shadow and transparency effects.
The rest of this video will be using GLQuake, because, as much as I nostalgically enjoy the look of "Chunky Quake",
the accelerated game is a far more player-friendly version in the end.
So, onto the gameplay of Quake itself,
where you begin in a room with three teleporters, each representing a level of difficulty.
In another example of that id Software "tough guy" attitude,
you can actually die, right here, in front of the Hard mode portal, if you fall into the lava or get hit by a fireball.
Amazing.
But yeah, once you've chosen a difficulty without dying, you're given the option to play the game's four episodes,
each with a slipgate teleporting you there.
This is also where you can find the secret Nightmare difficulty mode,
which, again, I love that they made it a test, in and of itself, to even activate it.
Just like the Nightmare! mode in Doom, you're doing this of your own volition,
so when it gets too hard, don't come crying to them about it.
And right away, you're tossed into the action, at least on higher difficulty modes,
with Grunts grunting at you, and Rottweilers rottweiling your face on sight,
all while the CD soundtrack from Mr. Reznor drones on in the background,
creating an eerie ambience that makes Quake feel like nothing else before, or since.
["Parallel Dimensions" by Trent Reznor plays]
Ahhh, seriously, I can't praise the music and sound design enough.
I'm a big fan of ambient soundtracks, and electronic... weirdness, and just... Trent Reznor in general, so I love this stuff.
The way it plays with the aesthetic of the levels and the pacing of the combat is masterful,
to the point where having one without the other is doable, but why would you do that?
It works so well with the rusted-out and industrial hallways, and surreal alternate dimensions,
decorated with a smattering of items that utilize an unsettling twist on medieval and religious imagery.
It feels like something you shouldn't be messing with, when combined with the ambient music and sound.
Really, the entirety of Quake is comprised of this macabre theme, where something just feels... wrong.
Like you've stepped into a world between worlds, a mash-up of designs that feels uncanny and even a bit uncomfortable.
The geometry is all over the place, with level layouts and architecture that doesn't make sense,
except in this realm that you're currently exploring.
You just don't see this kind of design in first-person shooters anymore,
where it all makes sense, without making any sense.
It's abstract as all hell, and yet, you're never too confused as to what's going on.
In the real world, the level design wouldn't work. It SHOULDN'T work. And that's why it DOES work in Quake.
Arguably this makes perfect sense, seeing as there are wafts of H.P. Lovecraft all over the place,
from the designs of certain enemies to the lore itself,
making it clear that you're up against an unfathomable ancient foe,
known as Shub-Niggurath, an entity which has spawned each of the horrific creatures you have to kill.
Another big reason for this weirdness is because of Quake's rocky development history,
which went all the way back to the days of Commander Keen.
As teased in the Vorticons trilogy, it was going to be a top-down fantasy role-playing game with complex puzzles,
called "The Fight for Justice".
In it, you'd play as Quake, the strongest person on the continent, based on the developers' Dungeons & Dragons campaign,
wielding the Hammer of Thunderbolts and other magical doohickeys.
Prototyping on this Quake game started in 1991, but the title languished for years,
as the technology to do what they wanted to didn't quite exist yet.
So, id Software released Wolfenstein 3D, and then Doom, and holy crap, these games were amazing!
After these, they were flush with cash, and with more experience under their belt,
work on their own 3D game engine began after 1994's Doom II.
But the optimism didn't last long.
The fantasy RPG concept was revisited, alongside medieval and Aztec themes and a time travel plot,
with the game being known internally as "Timequake".
Then it was going to be a virtual reality title for certain VR headsets,
where a large part of gameplay would revolve around speaking into a microphone
to communicate with monsters and other players.
This, too, was scrapped, and development languished yet again.
Finally, the team just decided to take what they had and go with a Lovecraft-inspired theme and more Doom-like gameplay,
shortening the name to "Quake".
According to several folks at id Software, this whole process nearly ripped the company apart,
and indeed, John Romero left as soon as Quake was done.
So it's surprising that we got the game that we did, with Quake, for what it went through on its way to store shelves.
It's pretty impressive; I'd even go so far as to say that the reason Quake feels as unique as it does
is due to its pandemoniacal development process.
Everything from the levels to the enemies to the weapons feel like they're from different realities.
The basic loadout in Quake feels a lot like Doom, with a shotgun, super shotgun, rocket launcher,
all waving around in front of you like a deadly metallic phallus.
But then it also includes a hatchet, grenade launcher, and a gun that shoots freakin' lightning,
in addition to nailguns with ammo that sport the Nine Inch Nails logo.
Then you've got magical items like the Pentagram of Protection and the Ring of Shadows,
which feel like holdovers from the old fantasy RPG theme,
in addition to Quad Damage, multiplying your damage output by four.
Quake is just a really interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy;
believable and dream-like; finely-crafted and chaotically-conceived.
As much criticism as it received for being "just another id Software shooter" early on,
I feel it deserves praise for doing exactly that.
The shooting and connection to your character feel satisfying for an early 3D shooter,
and the level design is mesmerizingly unique, especially outside of Episode One.
Even though it lacks the interactivity of games like Duke Nukem 3D,
you can tell the guys at id were confident in how they put together the maps,
and while the corridors never really opened up into huge areas or anything,
they're assembled with such a striking design and layout that you typically don't mind.
Of course, half the levels are made up of fifty shades of brown, and... maybe that's not your thing.
I will admit that it looks a lot more drab compared to Doom or... really, most anything else at the time.
Y'know, Quake actually came out within a day of Super Mario 64, and comparatively, it looks pretty dreadful.
But again, I say that makes total sense here, where everything is intentionally soaked in dread,
and unknown cenutries of blood, and rust, and evil.
And there's no way I can talk about Quake and not mention the overall impact it had, especially in regards to multiplayer gaming.
Following up on Doom's deathmatch success, Quake made multiplayer even easier, with TCP/IP, and later with QuakeWorld.
While it only shipped with deathmatch and co-op multiplayer at first,
fans were quick to start modding the game with a ton of legendary stuff.
Not only new game modes like Capture the Flag and Rune Quake,
but total conversions that turned into lasting franchises of their own,
like Team Fortress.
Beyond that, it was responsible for popularizing techniques and terms still in use today,
like rocket-jumping, bunny-hopping, server-browsing and speed-running.
What's interesting is that, outside of two official expansion packs, Quake never got a direct sequel.
Quake II from 1997 was an awesome game in its own right, but it had no ties to the original,
other than the name and a few gameplay elements,
and until a trademark dispute, it was going to be named something else entirely.
Quake III Arena features some elements of both Quake I and II, but again, it's a standalone experience,
focusing on a solid multiplayer core, and completely forgoing a single-player campaign.
Then you've got the numerous follow-ups and spin-offs like Quake 4,
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars,
a Quake III remix known as Quake Live,
and the upcoming Quake Champions, being developed by id Software and Saber Interactive.
Finally, there's the huge legacy of games that use the original Quake engine,
or one of its successors, some of which are still in use to this day in some form or another.
To put it mildly, Quake sent a ripple through the gaming scene that is still felt twenty years later.
The sheer accidental brilliance of the game turned into a huge success for id,
despite the criticisms of its drab color palette and similar gameplay to its predecessors.
Going back to play it once again was a treat,
and seeing as there are tons of ways to play Quake on modern PCs through official releases and source ports nowadays,
it's absolutely worth a trip across space and time
to visit Quake's dimension, once more.
["Main Theme"/"Persia Inversion" by Trent Reznor plays]
And if you enjoyed this video on Quake, perhaps you'd like to see my episodes on Doom, Wolfenstein 3D,
or maybe just any number of other things that I have on my channel.
I cover a lot of DOS games, classic PC stuff, hardware,
so, if you like this stuff, might as well check out some of it, there's probably something you're gonna enjoy.
And as always, thank you very much for watching LGR.