DarkPlaces -- Modern OpenGL Windows Version of Quake
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 at 9:54 PM by Randall
It's Friday and that's a good time for another game. I enjoyed the original Quake back in my DOS gaming days, but like many people, never had much luck getting it to run well under Windows XP. Fortunately, I discovered DarkPlaces. DarkPlaces is an advanced freeware Quake engine that runs well under Windows because it is a Windows program (there is also versions of Linux and OS X, among others). You'll still need a copy of the Quake game files from your Quake CD, but you'll no longer have to fight to get that old DOS program to run on Windows 2000 or XP. To top it off, you get much improved graphics from DarkPlaces.
From the description on the DarkPlaces web site:
Dark Places is a Quake modification I have built over the course of 6 years on and off experimenting, it got somewhat of an overhaul when the Quake engine source code was released, and I began developing a custom OpenGL-only engine for it and other mods, which supports Windows WGL and Linux GLX, and has greatly improved graphics and image quality.
It can not easily be described, as it is simply an improved Quake, not a total conversion (yet, anyway).
The realism of shell casings falling to the floor, much improved bullet impacts, 32bit color alpha blended explosions, blood flying everywhere and sticking to the walls...
Behind the scenes the code has changed a great deal, I was not content with the original QuakeC code, and I have greatly changed the engine while maintaining compatibility with normal quake modifications.
It's great to be able to play Quake again -- not to mention a slew of Quake mods, some designed especially for DarkPlaces. Thanks and a tip of the hat to LordHavoc and friends for the fine work they've done on DarkPlaces.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Operating System: Windows 2000+ (also
Linux, BSD Variants, OS X, Solaris 10)
License: Open Source
Price:
Free
Version Reviewed: build 20050818
Web Site: http://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/
See
Screenshots