Quake III Arena

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Quake III Arena

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Developers
	id Software
Publishers
	Activision
Engines
	id Tech 3
Release dates
Windows	December 2, 1999
Linux	December 27, 1999
Mac OS (Classic)	2000

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

Engine is open source with modern multi-platform ports available; see Source Ports.

General information

Quake Wiki - A detailed wiki for every Quake game made.

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Users' Forums for game series

Planet Quake - Very old hub for all Quake games. Has mods, guides, and news on the Quake communities.

Func_Msgboard - The mapper hub, new map releases, technique improvements.

bit7.org/quake - Community site with extensive mirrors section, reviews and details on editions of the game.

Versions

Vanilla

The original, closed-source versions of the game still work for online multiplayer and are the ones distributed via the Steam platform. Many users may prefer to use more recent, improved engines based on the source code release.

Quake Live

id Software launched a free-to-play browser-based port of Quake III titled Quake Live. Most players have migrated to this service to continue playing, as it adds new features and game modes, and improves compatibility with newer systems.

Source Ports

While the original Quake III Arena point releases still work on modern systems, the release of the engine's source code has enabled the creation of additional variants that improve upon the game but are backwards compatible for multiplayer play. These versions do not support PunkBuster anti-cheat and thus cannot connect to servers using it, though very few still exist.

ioquake3

ioquake3 is a port of the engine to SDL to assist in multi-platform development of stand-alone mods for the Quake III engine. For improvements this port provides, see the Improvements section.

Game data

File:Quake III Options.jpg

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

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System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2200/pfx/

Save game data location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row

System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2200/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

File:Quake III Video.jpg

In-game graphics settings.

Widescreen resolution

The game does not automatically adjust the aspect ratio to match widescreen resolutions. Certain cvars may be set to fix this:

• r_mode -1 sets the display mode to the custom resolution specified by the following cvars.
• r_customwidth, r_customheight set the custom display mode.
• r_customaspect sets the aspect ratio for the 3D scene (not the HUD or menus!). Set this to the horizontal screen ratio (i.e. for 16:10, set this to 1.6)

Input settings

File:Quake III Input.jpg

In-game input settings.

Audio settings

File:Quake III Audio.png

In-game audio settings.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16
Online play		16

All official maps are designed for at most 16 players. However, dedicated servers can be set to have no max player limit.

Connection types

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

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27950, 27952, 27960, 27965
UDP	27950, 27952, 27960, 27965

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

Issues fixed

Video glitches on the main menu

Instructions

Game crashes on exit

Instructions

System requirements

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, NT 4.0	98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 233 MHz or Pentium II 300 MHz or AMD K6-2 350 MHz or Athlon.
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	25 MB	500 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible