Quake III Arena
| Quake III: Arena | |
|---|---|
| |
| Minimum Requirements | Pentium 233Mhz MMX processor with 8MB video card or Pentium II 266 Mhz with 4MB video card - 64 MB RAM, Internet connection (multiplayer) |
| Latest Patch | 1.32c |
| Platforms | PC Windows/Linux, Mac |
| Age Rating (OFLC) | MA15+ |
| File Mirror | |
Contents |
Quake III Arena
In 1999 ID Software, creator of the classics "Wolfenstein 3D" and "Doom" brought fourth yet another unforgettable addition to its accolades with Quake 3 Arena. Quake 3 Arena is a First Person Shooter (FPS) that is comparable to its predecessor, Quake 2. It is known for its fast paced game play, excellent visual effects and playability. As a Quake 3 player, you exist in a bizarre kill-or-be-killed world. The aim? Kill as many other players as you can. Simple!
Gameplay
The main aim of Quake III is to kill other enemies within the arena. Upon entering the game, you will spawn with a basic weapon, and your aim is to traverse the map to find better weapons and ammunition, annihilating any enemies you may encounter on the way. The winner is the player who has the most kills at the end of the game.
You have a choice of playing in one of the arenas with computer generated enemies (single player), or if you are confident, joining online Quake 3 servers which will allow you to verse other players from around the world (multiplayer).
Gameplay Modem: Multiplayer
There are several types of game modes for Quake III Arena, most servers will depict the game mode in the server name or in it's information. In all of the game modes listed, they all surround one ideal theme: to kill the opposition!
Free for All
Also commonly known as Deathmatch, this is by far the most common and traditional mode for Quake III Arena. Two or more players are thrown into a level, where the main objective is to kill the other player(s). No one is off-limits in a free for all, all frags or kills grant the killer a point, the player with the higest score naturally wins. This game mode is usually under either a time limit or frag limit.
Team Death Match
Similar to a Free for All or Deathmatch, players are distributed amongst 2 or more teams, and must work together to kill the other teams to score the most points. Friendly fire is dependant on the server's unique settings, however killing a team mate usually deducts a point from the team in question.
Capture the Flag
In Capture the Flag (CTF), the main objective is to capture the enemy flag the most times. There is also an individual scoring system so that players can also guage their personal performance.
Starter Guide
So you have just installed Quake III, and entered the game. What do you do now? When you first start the game, you will be presented with a menu system. It is easiest to navigate the menu with your mouse rather than the keyboard. Simply move the mouse over the menu item you wish to choose, and left click.
The initial menu items are as follows:
Single Player: This is where you set up a single player game of Quake III: Arena. From here you can fight against "bots" (computer generated enemies) in either Skirmish or Tournament mode.
Multiplayer: The Multiplayer menu option lets you control everything relating to the multiplayer aspect of the game. This includes searching, joining or creating your own multiplater game.
Setup: This is where you customise your controls, graphics and other game settings. This also has important information such as the keyboard shortcut keys for various weapons etc.
Demo: The Demo option will take you to a list of recorded demos. In game, you can also record your own gameplay as a demo and watch it later on (great for replaying that impossible shot that you made, to your friends!)
Cinematics: When playing the single player tournament, you can unlock certain cinematic sequences. This is the menu where you can re-play those sequences.
Exit: To exit Quake 3.
If you are first starting out, you will want to jump into the single player "fight" mode to get used to the unpredictable "AI" characters generated by the game. You have a choice of 4 arenas (areas to fight other players in) and a choice of different levels of difficulty, rating from "I can win!", to "Nightmare" mode, where the computer generated enemies seem to know your every move.
Player's Guide
If you are already familiar with gaming and the mechanics of FPS games, read on.
To be successful in Quake 3 Arena there are a few main tactics. The first of which is quite simple: know where the weapons, ammunition and power-ups are within each map. The less tedious way to learn these is if you play the multiplayer maps a few times over. Most power-ups and weapons are easily available; some require a "Rocket Jump" which will take some perfection if you haven't previously played any of the Quake series.
General Multiplayer Tactics
Here are a few tips in regards to playing Quake III Arena at a more experienced pace.
Under the Radar
A simple, yet effective tactic to gain a large amount of kills, is to fly under the radar. The tactic goes something like this:
- Find a good long range weapon. Either the rail gun or the rocket launcher works best.
- Find a good hiding spot that gives you a view of a large area and leaves you as protected as possible.
- Wait until a few of your enemies run into the open area and are fighting each other.
- Fire! If you are using the rocket launcher, its best to fire a "circle" of rockets around where the players are fighting, and then a few in the middle. By the time the surrounding rockets reach your opponents, they will either try and dodge the first rockets, and be hit by the secondaries, or if you are lucky, they won't notice at all because of the already-ongoing fight, and you will take out more than one opponent.
- If using the rail gun, take a good aim and kill the strong opponent first. This will leave you with more time to aim at the weaker player(s) afterwards, who is obviously less of a threat. The weaker players also tend to strafe less, and so are easier to kill.
Strafe Jumping
Strafe-jumping is a form of trick-jump used to increase a player's speed in computer games based on the Quake engine and now the Doom 3 engine.
A Strafe Jump is a trick which can be used to increase a character's speed dramatically. Commonly used in games based on the Quake 3 engine, such as Quake III Arena and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
How to do it?
- Hold down the forward key, and keep it held down.
- Press the Jump key and every time you hit the floor press the jump key again.
- Press the side strafe keys left then right alternatively as you hit the ground
- To increase the speed more, then move the mouse left and right as you touch/land on the ground.
Help Section
Below is a link to one of the most reputable sources for Quake III Arena, that has stuck around. Here will tell you detailed information including map analysis, level guides and general gaming techniques.
Patch Information
As with other games, Quake III has been patched over the years to fix game glitches and problems. Most servers generally run the same patch, however it is common for some server to purposely feature a previous patch. You can download the appropriate patch for Quake III from 3FL's Download Vault.
This link below will take you to the 3FL download section for Quake III Arena's files.
Resources/External Information
Similar Games
- Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
- Quake 2
- Unreal Tournament
