Quake 1.5 is the greatest thing ever
Nope, just seemingly the best option for quake core enhancement.
and it's super faithful to the original except for the rocket launcher dealing twice more damage
Yes. Believe it or not that is the reality. It's more faithful than copper in that it doesn't fuck up vanilla design, rocket launcher idiocy aside (which is a big one, unfortunately). You shouldn't have a knee-jerk reaction just because you see new shit. Actually analyze the design.
and also your character can kick enemies
And? It is almost functionally the same as the axe (same damage, even uses most of the same code), you just don't have to switch to it that's all. This is no game changer and getting close to most enemies is rarely a good idea anyway.
and the melee in general is much more powerful
Oh no, melee (most often a last resort even in Q1.5) isn't useless now. Hardly changes much of anything for the record. Axe damage is 20. Same as vanilla. Kick damage is 20. Same as axe. Melee isn't redundant anymore, this is a good thing, yet it hardly changes anything in the bigger picture.
and the level design was changed
What does this have to do with compatibility with custom maps made with vanilla intent? The changes are minor and good, so?
super nail gun works differently
Super nail gun has a small wind up yes, forgot about that one. It's still not going to make any case for "omg maps designed for vanilla are RUINED". There is only one thing that does that and that is the rocket launcher as stated, but it is just one thing easily rectified if you download my shit and sign up to my onlyfans. Best quake porn around.
and all of the guns are now over the top brutal doom style
What? You stupid german make some sense. They're over the top because they're animated properly and have more polygons to more accurately represent what guns actually look like rather than looking like plastic toys?
and you can throw grenade from the get go instead of searching for a grenade launcher
Lol. You get 1 proxy grenade on episode start, you don't throw rocket/grenade ammo. Play the mod you dummy. The proximity grenades are the biggest nothing burger in the entire mod. In a full vanilla campaign of four episodes you don't get more than like 8 (though there's a random element).
ID themselves would've made it that way if not for the technological limitations of their time!
Don't put words in my mouth you Nazi spawn.
bullet time slow-mo ability
Nope, the powerup is disabled by default and otherwise replaces one of the other powerups if enabled, which it shouldn't be to retain compatibility with maps designed with vanilla gameplay in mind.
In conclusion: you're dumb. play the mod. As the multi-headed cow man also said, best way to play Quake yet you ignore it in favor of copper despite the numerous instances of decline that brings.