{"slug": "quake", "name": "Quake", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 14, "warners": 2, "score": 5.411, "rising": 3.35, "first": "2025-11-21", "latest": "2026-09-26", "why": "I love it and with the original music it's even better", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 4, "compare": 2, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I love it and with the original music it's even better", "kind": "game", "icon": false, "domain": "netlify.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Quake"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 797633552, "item_id": 49852097, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49852097", "by": "miffe", "date": "2026-09-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll take the \"lower\" quality quake 3D models over Duke 3Ds 2D sprites any day", "excerpt": "They where released just 6 months apart [0], [1]. I'll take the \"lower\" quality quake 3D models over Duke 3Ds 2D sprites any day :) [0]: https://www.mobygames.com/game/365/duke-nukem-3d/ [1]: https://www.mobygames.com/game/374/quake/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pentium II at 600Mhz with Voodoo 3 Emulated on 86Box with M6 Mac Mini"}, {"id": 792549648, "item_id": 49534353, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49534353", "by": "AltruisticGapHN", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my favorite, Quake on C64", "excerpt": "Somewhat relevant DOOM on C64 with variable height floor/ceilings https://kweepa.itch.io/doom64 And my favorite, Quake on C64 https://kweepa.itch.io/quake64", "context": "", "use_case": "C64 port (game)", "switched_from": "", "story": "Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982"}, {"id": 787326928, "item_id": 49207933, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49207933", "by": "misterflibble", "date": "2026-08-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it and with the original music it's even better", "excerpt": "I love it and with the original music it's even better, especially the levels in the second chapters hub", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing the game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake \u2013 30th Anniversary Update"}, {"id": 787253680, "item_id": 49203355, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49203355", "by": "karim79", "date": "2026-08-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this game so dearly.", "excerpt": "Quake is 30 years old. I can't believe I'm still alive. I love this game so dearly. The mods were just incredible, KQP and Girobot in particular. Those were the for real LAN party days which I'll never get back. As in I had friends bringing over their big ass CRT monitors and PCs for a single occasion and also had ludicrously long network cables. My parents didn't mind, they somehow understood, even with LAN wires ru", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming and LAN parties", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake \u2013 30th Anniversary Update"}, {"id": 773098928, "item_id": 48318683, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48318683", "by": "orionblastar", "date": "2026-05-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want to play Quake for free on Windows 11, try this", "excerpt": "If you want to play Quake for free on Windows 11, try this: https://quake-remake.en.uptodown.com/windows/download", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing Quake on Windows 11", "switched_from": "", "story": "Let's compile Quake like it's 1997"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 737207984, "item_id": 46075499, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46075499", "by": "zeroq", "date": "2025-11-27", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "That's why the Q1 netcode is so bad.", "excerpt": "Oh sweet summerchild. When OG games were released we were playing on LAN with BNC terminators. That's why the Q1 netcode is so bad. When we moved to online we didn't had the infra we have today. Bonus point: CS at one point just halved the ping in the UI so players would think it was more responsive.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake Engine Indicators"}, {"id": 736064385, "item_id": 46004024, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004024", "by": "xela79", "date": "2025-11-21", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the normal Quake TCP/IP stack was basically unplayable with anything over 70-80ms", "excerpt": "and let's not forget QuakeWorld that introduced latency compensation, allowing you to have an OK experience with up to 200ms ping, where as the normal Quake TCP/IP stack was basically unplayable with anything over 70-80ms. https://quakewiki.org/wiki/QuakeWorld my first multiplayer Quake was with Qtest in February 1996 using a null modem cable between two machines, and later on using coax cables and IPX in DOS getting", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How Quake.exe got its TCP/IP stack"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["c64 port (game)", "wasm port in browser", "playing the game", "gaming and lan parties", "multiplayer game", "playing quake on windows 11"], "compared": [{"slug": "doom", "name": "Doom", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49201930", "title": "Quake \u2013 30th Anniversary Update", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48661825", "title": "John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49841285", "title": "Pentium II at 600Mhz with Voodoo 3 Emulated on 86Box with M6 Mac Mini", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49533497", "title": "Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49294662", "title": "Portable Doom (Shareware) in a Single 6MB HTML File via WASM", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48318522", "title": "Let's compile Quake like it's 1997", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"warn": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"compare": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 797633552, "item_id": 49852097, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49852097", "by": "miffe", "date": "2026-09-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll take the \"lower\" quality quake 3D models over Duke 3Ds 2D sprites any day", "excerpt": "They where released just 6 months apart [0], [1]. I'll take the \"lower\" quality quake 3D models over Duke 3Ds 2D sprites any day :) [0]: https://www.mobygames.com/game/365/duke-nukem-3d/ [1]: https://www.mobygames.com/game/374/quake/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pentium II at 600Mhz with Voodoo 3 Emulated on 86Box with M6 Mac Mini"}, {"id": 792549648, "item_id": 49534353, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49534353", "by": "AltruisticGapHN", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my favorite, Quake on C64", "excerpt": "Somewhat relevant DOOM on C64 with variable height floor/ceilings https://kweepa.itch.io/doom64 And my favorite, Quake on C64 https://kweepa.itch.io/quake64", "context": "", "use_case": "C64 port (game)", "switched_from": "", "story": "Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982"}, {"id": 789004720, "item_id": 49312795, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49312795", "by": "badfox", "date": "2026-08-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Got Quake sorta kinda working.", "excerpt": "Got Quake sorta kinda working. Finally got the maps to loads but I am having some issue working out the keys locking(like shift interrupts moving forward, etc), and the game instantly crashes the moment I select new game while already in-game. If anyone wants to poke around at I think I might leave it as is for now. Weighs in about 24mb as a single html file. Loads and plays on an archaic chromebook pretty well. Howe", "context": "", "use_case": "WASM port in browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Portable Doom (Shareware) in a Single 6MB HTML File via WASM"}, {"id": 787326928, "item_id": 49207933, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49207933", "by": "misterflibble", "date": "2026-08-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it and with the original music it's even better", "excerpt": "I love it and with the original music it's even better, especially the levels in the second chapters hub", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing the game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake \u2013 30th Anniversary Update"}, {"id": 787253680, "item_id": 49203355, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49203355", "by": "karim79", "date": "2026-08-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this game so dearly.", "excerpt": "Quake is 30 years old. I can't believe I'm still alive. I love this game so dearly. The mods were just incredible, KQP and Girobot in particular. Those were the for real LAN party days which I'll never get back. As in I had friends bringing over their big ass CRT monitors and PCs for a single occasion and also had ludicrously long network cables. My parents didn't mind, they somehow understood, even with LAN wires ru", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming and LAN parties", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake \u2013 30th Anniversary Update"}, {"id": 778652337, "item_id": 48665771, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48665771", "by": "carlosjobim", "date": "2026-06-24", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "There is no denying that movement and gameplay is much more enjoyable in Quake compared to UT.", "excerpt": "Quake III art style and level design is disgusting, depressing and boring. But it is the better game. Go here right now and play a few games against bots and people of Quake III and UT99: https://dos.zone/mp/?lobby=* There is no denying that movement and gameplay is much more enjoyable in Quake compared to UT. Even with the lack in variety on all fronts.", "context": "", "use_case": "Multiplayer game", "switched_from": "", "story": "John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software"}, {"id": 778598897, "item_id": 48662431, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48662431", "by": "CamouflagedKiwi", "date": "2026-06-24", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "Quake was technically better (of course) but it was not a better game.", "excerpt": "In the original thread Carmack was replying to, Sandy Petersen said Q3 was the only other great game they produced after that: https://xcancel.com/SandyofCthulhu/status/2069592264897441928#m Honestly I think Doom is where it came together the best, Quake was technically better (of course) but it was not a better game.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software"}, {"id": 773098928, "item_id": 48318683, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48318683", "by": "orionblastar", "date": "2026-05-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want to play Quake for free on Windows 11, try this", "excerpt": "If you want to play Quake for free on Windows 11, try this: https://quake-remake.en.uptodown.com/windows/download", "context": "", "use_case": "Playing Quake on Windows 11", "switched_from": "", "story": "Let's compile Quake like it's 1997"}, {"id": 765182112, "item_id": 47823882, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47823882", "by": "klodolph", "date": "2026-04-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "NOT how demos work in Quake.", "excerpt": "> The system was deterministic enough that it could record your inputs/the game state and just play them back to get a gameplay video. NOT how demos work in Quake. It\u2019s more like Quake uses a client/server architecture, and the demo is a capture of the messages. https://www.gamers.org/dEngine/quake/Qdem/dem-1.0.2.html", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Game Devs Explain the Tricks Involved with Letting You Pause a Game"}, {"id": 761037232, "item_id": 47564827, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47564827", "by": "rasz", "date": "2026-03-29", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Quake was unfeasible till ~1998 at the earliest to be able to sell playable game.", "excerpt": "Cyrix was physically incapable of pipelining FPU instructions. Without Pentium Quake would have had to wait two more years for commodification of CPUs delivering similar floating point performance. https://thandor.net/benchmark/33 Quake needed March 1994 Pentium 90-100 to deliver ~smooth 25fps. Cyrix released similarly performing 6x86MX PR200 in May 1997, AMD K5-PR166 January 1997. Quake was unfeasible till ~1998 at ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "My DIY FPGA board can run Quake II"}, {"id": 752285744, "item_id": 47017859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47017859", "by": "ranger_danger", "date": "2026-02-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "And Quake for web by the same author: https://mrdoob.github.io/three-quake/", "excerpt": "Since it's not linked anywhere that I could see, here's the source I found: https://github.com/mrdoob/three-descent And Quake for web by the same author: https://mrdoob.github.io/three-quake/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Descent, Ported to the Web"}, {"id": 746831015, "item_id": 46676938, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676938", "by": "pjmlp", "date": "2026-01-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Quake lan parties", "excerpt": "We on the other hand were shipping software on Aix, HP-UX, Solaris and Windows NT/2000. As MSFT partner, we also started our voyage to port the GUI frontends into the newly introduced .NET. We used Red-Hat Linux internally for our CVS server, MP3 music shares and Quake lan parties. That is how seriously we look at Linux in 2002.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Cathedral, the Megachurch, and the Bazaar"}, {"id": 737207984, "item_id": 46075499, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46075499", "by": "zeroq", "date": "2025-11-27", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "That's why the Q1 netcode is so bad.", "excerpt": "Oh sweet summerchild. When OG games were released we were playing on LAN with BNC terminators. That's why the Q1 netcode is so bad. When we moved to online we didn't had the infra we have today. Bonus point: CS at one point just halved the ping in the UI so players would think it was more responsive.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Quake Engine Indicators"}, {"id": 736064385, "item_id": 46004024, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004024", "by": "xela79", "date": "2025-11-21", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the normal Quake TCP/IP stack was basically unplayable with anything over 70-80ms", "excerpt": "and let's not forget QuakeWorld that introduced latency compensation, allowing you to have an OK experience with up to 200ms ping, where as the normal Quake TCP/IP stack was basically unplayable with anything over 70-80ms. https://quakewiki.org/wiki/QuakeWorld my first multiplayer Quake was with Qtest in February 1996 using a null modem cable between two machines, and later on using coax cables and IPX in DOS getting", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How Quake.exe got its TCP/IP stack"}]}