Quake Live

Quake Live

Developers
	id Software
Publishers
	Bethesda Softworks
Engines
	id Tech 3
Release dates
Windows	August 6, 2010
macOS (OS X)	August 6, 2010
Linux	August 6, 2010
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Themes	Fantasy, Sci-fi
Series	Quake

Quake
Quake	1996
Quake II	1997
Quake III Arena	1999
Quake 4	2005
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars	2007
Quake Live	2010
Quake II RTX	2019
Quake Enhanced	2021
Quake Champions	2022
Quake II Enhanced	2023

Key points

As of October 27, 2015, the game is no longer free to play. Players who have had Quake Live installed with their Steam ID previously are grandfathered in and do not have to purchase.

Has a vast amount of customizable option settings.

Mod support via Steam Workshop added October 27, 2015.

OS X and Linux support was dropped on December 17, 2013.

General information

Official forums

Steam Community Discussions

Quake Wiki

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Steam

All versions require Steam DRM.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\id Software\quakelive\home\baseq3\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Library/Application Support/QuakeLive/quakelive/home/baseq3/
Linux	$HOME/.quakelive/quakelive/home/baseq3/
Steam	<path-to-game>/<user-id>/
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/282440/pfx/

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		Custom resolutions can be set via console commands and config edits, but aspect ratios are limited to 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10; increasing the width of the resolution will result in stretched graphics.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Capped at 125 FPS; to change use com_maxfps in the console (~).. It may also be necessary to change com_idleSleep
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Instructions[citation needed]

Download and install Windowed Borderless Gaming Run the desired game in a windowed mode, Right Click on the Windowed Borderless Gaming tray icon. Click on Add window (F3), then Alt+Tab ↹ back to the game and push F3. Now the game will be borderless. Notes Right Click the Windowed Borderless Gaming tray icon and click on Open game settings to set the resolution to your desktop resolution as not doing so will cause some elements such as the Quake Chat to be partially obstructed from view.

Input

In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		In the console (press ~), type in in_joystick 1 to enable support. Note that there is no default gamepad layout and it needs to be mapped manually. The command will also disable keyboard movement controls.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		64	Use sv_serverType "1"[citation needed] FFA, TDM, DM, Duel, Race, CA.
Online play		16

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		Requires Steam version
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	5222
UDP	27000-27999

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Game not visible in Steam library

If you got the game for free after being grandfathered in, it might not be visible in your Steam library.

In Google Chrome, you may need to use Ctrl+↵ Enter to properly open the URL.

Steam URL
Enter this Steam URL into your browser address bar: steam://install/282440/. The browser will ask to open the URL in Steam. The install prompt for Quake Live should then appear, and the game will remain in your library as long as it is installed.

OS X port

Wineskin wrapper[citation needed]
Available at The Porting Team.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
OpenGL

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	DirectSound
Interface	Awesomium
Multiplayer	Steamworks
Anti-cheat	Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7
Processor (CPU)	Intel 2.0 GHz	Intel Quad Core 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1 GB	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce4 MX ATI Radeon 8500 Intel i915 Chipset DirectX 9.0 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 7 Series ATI Radeon X1800 Series
Sound (audio device)	Stereo (2-Channel audio) support