Produced in 1999, Quake III Arena is the culmination of the Quake trilogy, started by Quake in 1996 and followed by Quake II in 1997. These games are direct descendants of Wolfenstein 3D, which is known to be the first mass-marketed First-Person Shooter (FPS). The FPS games before Quake were more 2.5D because the graphics were sprite-based. Games like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D were starting to close the gap but Quake was the first true-3D FPS. Quake also had a strong physics engine, allowing for unheard-of movement within the game. Some weapons had area effect; the grenades and rockets could push opponents when they went off, and in one the games most important unknown features (not quite bugs), the player could propel himself using a combination of the blast and a jump. Thus was born the Rocket Jump. Quake was also a precursor in the multiplayer field, hot on the tracks of its predecessor, Doom. But Quake was not limited to LANs. You could play on the internet, first up to 8 people, and then up to 32 when using Quakeworld. Modifications (mods) of play gave Quake a great longevity to this day. Capture-The-Flag (CTF), Team Fortress and Rocket Arena were among the most popular. With Internet support, team-play, and user-made mods it wasn't long before Clans and leagues were born, bringing with them pro players and big-money tournaments.

      About a year later, even as Quake modifications were coming out at an alarming rate, Quake II (Q2) was released to the world. The new game was relying heavily on then-new 3D acceleration and brought FPS games to a new level of detail. Now there were sprawling maps with outdoor environments, as well as dark and dank sewers, warehouses, mines and industrial complexes. Everything that made Quake great was still there and made better. The weapons mix was more varied with normal wares machine guns, hand grenades, and the shotguns to the new railgun and BFG10k. The physics engine was also brought up; now you could "push" ennemies with the super-shotgun and the railgun, and rocket-jumping was back. Multiplayer was smoothened and you could pack more people in one game. The growing community ate all this up at great speed and mods were created. There was even a bug that was liked by all, and an attempt by id to fix that bug brought a major outcry. When you jumped and strafed at the same time, you gained speed, and if you did it repeatedly you could travel across a map at a very good clip. Thus was born strafe-jumping. When id tried to fix this the outcry was such that id had to put the bug back in the game, and strafe-jumping survives today. Using this technique you can clear greater gaps in a single bound, and evade fire with greater ease. The new weapons also got raves and rants. The railgun is the perfect sniper weapon with its accuracy and instant damage. Wielding this weapon while moving takes practice. The BFG10k wasn't as popular among Deathmatchers. Being powerful enough to clear an entire room, some felt the BFG could unbalance a game quite easily while others exulted in the power they carried.

      And then one day in spring of '99 a file gets uploaded to the Internet. The filename was Q3test_v1.05.exe. Quakers rejoiced at what this portended. There was only two maps and they would go on to become some of the most famous of all: Temple of Retribution (dm7) and The Longest Yard (dm17). The latter was very innovative with its floating platforms and many jump pads. Later iterations of Q3test brought 2 more maps (dm1 and tourney2) and tested the weapons with different graphics and damage. But one thing could not be missed: The maps with their curves and 32-bit textures (for those with the hardware) were stunning. And these were but a sample of what was to come. Finally, in december '99, Quake III Arena came out. id's plan was to create the perfect Deathmatching game; there would be no "find button to find key to open door" here. Simply increasingly difficult matches against increasingly difficult bots. Many said that Q3A felt incomplete compared to the competition known as Unreal Tournament, but many like yours truly prefered the more visceral feel and lightning quick action of Q3A. Of course the community came up with new mods and new versions of old ones, and even id has supplied their own mission pack, Quake III: Team Arena, completing the half that had been left out of Q3A.

      We are now at version 1.27 of Q3A. Some feel the new version ruins the game they know and love while others (myself included) see improvement on id's original game. Of course some mods need to be rewritten, some with a few tweaks here and there and some completely, and of course some little things annoy us like the doppler effect or the floating score plumes, but I really feel like Q3A is now running smoother than before. The bots have improved greatly to be sure; they know better when to attack and when to retreat. They will even rocket-jump after you. And I do not yet have a lot of Team Arena experience but I know for a fact that the bots do what they're told when they're told, and do good moves without prompting.

      So this is what I like about Quake. It's a simple game that keeps you on your toes and is almost a sport to play. And with the number of mods either out or coming up everybody can find what they like inside one game. And everybody involved, from the developers to the level/model artists to the pro gamers to the newbies, can discover new things, learn new tricks and make new friends. This is what a gaming community is all about and this is why I play Quake III Arena. See you on the servers !!! :)