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Screenshot thread

Vyadhis

Learned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
179
yCfEkKw.jpg


I actually...like the Quake 1 remaster? I got it for free and running the OG game with dark places was a little bit laggy alt tabbing (I could probably fix that though). My movement feels faster than normal now in the OG and this one runs better, if I hear about stuff being removed I'll switch back.
I don't think anything was removed, but the remaster does differ in some ways and the music files are degraded.

It wasn't possible to recover the original lightmaps, so Night Dive generated new lighting for the entire game, resulting in a different look. On the whole, I think the lighting looks kind of dull compared to the original, but it adds coloured lights. Here are comparison screenshots from the DOS version, which also had a lower gamma than the official Windows port, and the software renderer had a nice texture distortion on the weapons:

the original 320x200 resolution:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-19-33.png


higher resolutions are also feasible:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-40-75.png


and C.R.T. shaders are an option:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-20-39-71.png


As for the music, there is a wide-spread assertion on the Internet that the tracks had pre-emphasis applied to them, so that old CD players would play them with a de-emphasis filter. It seems that there was a release of Quake by one lesser distributor which included de-emphasis flags, but the initial and most other discs didn't.

Applying the de-emphasis filter to tracks which don't need it just makes them sound muffled. The recent remaster of the sound track by Nine Inch Nails, on the contrary, made them sound even more crisp. Here's a comparison of the Quake Theme (Night Dive also mixed up the track titles): https://mega.nz/file/eEMxzTTK#w9JU5ARIerhpdW3P7qSSFDqb90_mYqTHLQXIJTSyS0s
Those last two shots are incredible! What shader are you using and is that dos? I personally love the distortion effect I get in games like Heretic and Hexen when I emulate them in it.
 

schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,142
yCfEkKw.jpg


I actually...like the Quake 1 remaster? I got it for free and running the OG game with dark places was a little bit laggy alt tabbing (I could probably fix that though). My movement feels faster than normal now in the OG and this one runs better, if I hear about stuff being removed I'll switch back.
I don't think anything was removed, but the remaster does differ in some ways and the music files are degraded.

It wasn't possible to recover the original lightmaps, so Night Dive generated new lighting for the entire game, resulting in a different look. On the whole, I think the lighting looks kind of dull compared to the original, but it adds coloured lights. Here are comparison screenshots from the DOS version, which also had a lower gamma than the official Windows port, and the software renderer had a nice texture distortion on the weapons:

the original 320x200 resolution:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-19-33.png


higher resolutions are also feasible:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-40-75.png


and C.R.T. shaders are an option:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-20-39-71.png


As for the music, there is a wide-spread assertion on the Internet that the tracks had pre-emphasis applied to them, so that old CD players would play them with a de-emphasis filter. It seems that there was a release of Quake by one lesser distributor which included de-emphasis flags, but the initial and most other discs didn't.

Applying the de-emphasis filter to tracks which don't need it just makes them sound muffled. The recent remaster of the sound track by Nine Inch Nails, on the contrary, made them sound even more crisp. Here's a comparison of the Quake Theme (Night Dive also mixed up the track titles): https://mega.nz/file/eEMxzTTK#w9JU5ARIerhpdW3P7qSSFDqb90_mYqTHLQXIJTSyS0s
Those last two shots are incredible! What shader are you using and is that dos? I personally love the distortion effect I get in games like Heretic and Hexen when I emulate them in it.
I've used DOSBox-X to run the original DOS version of the game.

The second (of the three) screenshot is without any shaders, just at 800x600 with DOSBox-X set to use the OpenGL renderer without bilinear filtering (renderer=openglnb), to scale the internal resolution to my monitor's native one (resolution=desktop), and there is no additional upscaling applied (scaler=hardware_none).

The third screenshot is the original 320x200 resolution with doublescan enabled (it doubles the number of horizontal lines, which is what computer C.R.T. monitors did for this resolution; doublescan=true) and the shader is crt-lottes.tweaked (glshader=crt-lottes.tweaked.glsl), which is included with this DOSBox build. There are other shaders to choose from and they will look better the higher the native resolution is; they're included in the glshaders folder.

I wrote a more detailed explanation about how to set up Quake in DOSBox a few days ago here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/2000s-first-person-fps-shooter-games.147855/page-8#post-8635057

The same applies to Hexen or any other DOS game, of course.
 

Vyadhis

Learned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
179
yCfEkKw.jpg


I actually...like the Quake 1 remaster? I got it for free and running the OG game with dark places was a little bit laggy alt tabbing (I could probably fix that though). My movement feels faster than normal now in the OG and this one runs better, if I hear about stuff being removed I'll switch back.
I don't think anything was removed, but the remaster does differ in some ways and the music files are degraded.

It wasn't possible to recover the original lightmaps, so Night Dive generated new lighting for the entire game, resulting in a different look. On the whole, I think the lighting looks kind of dull compared to the original, but it adds coloured lights. Here are comparison screenshots from the DOS version, which also had a lower gamma than the official Windows port, and the software renderer had a nice texture distortion on the weapons:

the original 320x200 resolution:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-19-33.png


higher resolutions are also feasible:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-40-75.png


and C.R.T. shaders are an option:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-20-39-71.png


As for the music, there is a wide-spread assertion on the Internet that the tracks had pre-emphasis applied to them, so that old CD players would play them with a de-emphasis filter. It seems that there was a release of Quake by one lesser distributor which included de-emphasis flags, but the initial and most other discs didn't.

Applying the de-emphasis filter to tracks which don't need it just makes them sound muffled. The recent remaster of the sound track by Nine Inch Nails, on the contrary, made them sound even more crisp. Here's a comparison of the Quake Theme (Night Dive also mixed up the track titles): https://mega.nz/file/eEMxzTTK#w9JU5ARIerhpdW3P7qSSFDqb90_mYqTHLQXIJTSyS0s
Those last two shots are incredible! What shader are you using and is that dos? I personally love the distortion effect I get in games like Heretic and Hexen when I emulate them in it.
I've used DOSBox-X to run the original DOS version of the game.

The second (of the three) screenshot is without any shaders, just at 800x600 with DOSBox-X set to use the OpenGL renderer without bilinear filtering (renderer=openglnb), to scale the internal resolution to my monitor's native one (resolution=desktop), and there is no additional upscaling applied (scaler=hardware_none).

The third screenshot is the original 320x200 resolution with doublescan enabled (it doubles the number of horizontal lines, which is what computer C.R.T. monitors did for this resolution; doublescan=true) and the shader is crt-lottes.tweaked (glshader=crt-lottes.tweaked.glsl), which is included with this DOSBox build. There are other shaders to choose from and they will look better the higher the native resolution is; they're included in the glshaders folder.

I wrote a more detailed explanation about how to set up Quake in DOSBox a few days ago here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/2000s-first-person-fps-shooter-games.147855/page-8#post-8635057

The same applies to Hexen or any other DOS game, of course.
I have one slight problem: I think I followed your directions, used the gog version but still have no music. Shaders work with dosbox-x.
 

schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,142
yCfEkKw.jpg


I actually...like the Quake 1 remaster? I got it for free and running the OG game with dark places was a little bit laggy alt tabbing (I could probably fix that though). My movement feels faster than normal now in the OG and this one runs better, if I hear about stuff being removed I'll switch back.
I don't think anything was removed, but the remaster does differ in some ways and the music files are degraded.

It wasn't possible to recover the original lightmaps, so Night Dive generated new lighting for the entire game, resulting in a different look. On the whole, I think the lighting looks kind of dull compared to the original, but it adds coloured lights. Here are comparison screenshots from the DOS version, which also had a lower gamma than the official Windows port, and the software renderer had a nice texture distortion on the weapons:

the original 320x200 resolution:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-19-33.png


higher resolutions are also feasible:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-17-40-75.png


and C.R.T. shaders are an option:

DOSBox-2023-08-26-11-20-39-71.png


As for the music, there is a wide-spread assertion on the Internet that the tracks had pre-emphasis applied to them, so that old CD players would play them with a de-emphasis filter. It seems that there was a release of Quake by one lesser distributor which included de-emphasis flags, but the initial and most other discs didn't.

Applying the de-emphasis filter to tracks which don't need it just makes them sound muffled. The recent remaster of the sound track by Nine Inch Nails, on the contrary, made them sound even more crisp. Here's a comparison of the Quake Theme (Night Dive also mixed up the track titles): https://mega.nz/file/eEMxzTTK#w9JU5ARIerhpdW3P7qSSFDqb90_mYqTHLQXIJTSyS0s
Those last two shots are incredible! What shader are you using and is that dos? I personally love the distortion effect I get in games like Heretic and Hexen when I emulate them in it.
I've used DOSBox-X to run the original DOS version of the game.

The second (of the three) screenshot is without any shaders, just at 800x600 with DOSBox-X set to use the OpenGL renderer without bilinear filtering (renderer=openglnb), to scale the internal resolution to my monitor's native one (resolution=desktop), and there is no additional upscaling applied (scaler=hardware_none).

The third screenshot is the original 320x200 resolution with doublescan enabled (it doubles the number of horizontal lines, which is what computer C.R.T. monitors did for this resolution; doublescan=true) and the shader is crt-lottes.tweaked (glshader=crt-lottes.tweaked.glsl), which is included with this DOSBox build. There are other shaders to choose from and they will look better the higher the native resolution is; they're included in the glshaders folder.

I wrote a more detailed explanation about how to set up Quake in DOSBox a few days ago here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/2000s-first-person-fps-shooter-games.147855/page-8#post-8635057

The same applies to Hexen or any other DOS game, of course.
I have one slight problem: I think I followed your directions, used the gog version but still have no music. Shaders work with dosbox-x.
I take it you used the GOG version as the basis, rather than attempt to carry over its music files to the Steam or some other version?

I suppose something must be interfering on some stage, but it's difficult to guess what it might be.

If I were to take a fresh installation of the GOG version and apply the modifications I described, I'd go through these exact steps:

1. open Quake\DOSBox\ and remove all the files it contains;​
2. extract the contents of bin\x64\Release SDL2\ from the latest DOSBox-X distribution into Quake\DOSBox;​
3. rename dosbox-x.exe to dosbox.exe;​
4. open dosbox_quake.conf in Notepad and make the following changes (some of those values may already be set to this):​
fullresolution=desktop​
output=openglnb​
aspect=true​
doublescan=true // this needs to be added, can be placed in the [renderer] section​
scaler=hardware_none​
glshader=crt-lottes.tweaked.glsl // this needs to be added, can also be placed in the [renderer] section​
cycles= // set the value as high as it needs to be to make the game run smoothly at the desired resolution​
rate= // in the [mixer] section; this shouldn't cause a problem, but it probably should be set to the frequency used by the system's audio device, but it probably only goes up to 49716​
5. save the changes made to dosbox_quake.conf;​
6. launch the game using GOG's short cut titled Quake (Software Mode), which should be available in the Start Menu.​

None of this should affect or break the music playback in the GOG version. It's important that dosbox_quake_single.conf is retained, because it contains the commands that load the music files: game.gog and game.cue.

In case of the Steam version, the latter would have to be incorporated into the set up (the commands can be but in the main CONF file) and an appropriate short cut to dosbox-x.exe would have to be created with commands to load the CONF files, which direct DOSBox to load the game and the music.
 

Vyadhis

Learned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
179
Thanks! The problem was that I wasn't finding the software mode shortcut, as dumb as that sounds. I kept thinking it would be in the quake folder but it was somewhere else.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
34,336
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I actually...like the Quake 1 remaster? I got it for free and running the OG game with dark places was a little bit laggy alt tabbing (I could probably fix that though). My movement feels faster than normal now in the OG and this one runs better, if I hear about stuff being removed I'll switch back.
The remaster is worth it just for the new campaigns tbh.
 

schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,142
Thanks! The problem was that I wasn't finding the software mode shortcut, as dumb as that sounds. I kept thinking it would be in the quake folder but it was somewhere else.
Just for future reference, Quake has three official versions and corresponding executables: Quake (the original DOS version), WinQuake (the Windows port), and GLQuake (hardware-accelerated graphics). GLQuake requires the 0.97 patch for the music to work with it (_inmm is one good way to restore it on current Windows systems).

One way to play the different versions would be to use the alternative sound tracks that have some official approval—Methods of Destruction by Sonic Mayhem (a fan album which impressed Id Software so much that it contracted the creator to compose music for Quake II and III) and Doom Music by Bobby Prince, which was arranged as an alternative sound track for Quake (which is to say that the first track would be left out as a stand-in for the game data).
 

HansDampf

Arcane
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
1,543
I also just finished my first playthrough of Quake, but with the Quakespasm-Spiked port. :M

quakespasm-spiked-win4wij4.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winq2dts.jpg

That was quick. I didn't bother with all the secrets.

quakespasm-spiked-win96eas.jpg
Hey, cool. Vortigaunts with 1 million HP.

quakespasm-spiked-wine3d0p.jpg

:yeah:
I think they have some resistance against rockets, though.

quakespasm-spiked-winkddtd.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win76f7p.jpg

Hello there!

quakespasm-spiked-winecd3m.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winpce0d.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winkqcoa.jpg

rU82bwl.png

What happened?

quakespasm-spiked-win72c7s.jpg

Cool level.

quakespasm-spiked-win2ri4a.jpg

Those ugly things on the bridge shoot like Revenants. But when I tried to guide their projectiles into walls like I would do in Doom, I got rekt hard. They turn so fast, it's nearly impossible to get rid of them like that.

quakespasm-spiked-winjcdw9.jpg

I could go the long and tedious way around to get to the rune. Or I could do a rocketjump!

quakespasm-spiked-win6ad83.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win8ycho.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-wint1cpg.jpg

They just keep pouring in through the window, like a clown car.

quakespasm-spiked-winpxdju.jpg

Who came up with these hopping blobs? Why are they in the game? Holy shit!
:rage:

quakespasm-spiked-wincldxg.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winwhet3.jpg

Still a better story than Doom Eternal.

This was a bit underwhelming, mostly because of the level design. And some monsters just have too much health, like these hell hounds that try to jump in your face. Some levels like to put one behind every corner. Then I have to backpedal to dodge their jumps and kill them with 5 SSG shots, because why waste precious nails? Repeat and repeat. Some levels get really tedious because of this. The yetis also like to teleport right in front of your nose in an open room with no cover. I guess this is less of a problem if you know where all the quad damages are hidden. I always saved some Thunderbolt ammo for them.
The other half was fun, though. The rocketlauncher improves everything, getting to places you're not supposed to with rocketjumps. And I've learned some bunny hopping. It took me a while to get used to the movement after hundreds of hours playing Doom. When I move in Quake like I would move in Doom, it actually slows me down. I also didn't expect this kind of soundtrack. Very spooky and atmospheric.


schru is probably going to be like:
:x "Y U NO DOSBOX!?"

I appreciate the help. And I even got it to run in DOSBox Staging with a stable framerate and what seemed the correct speed. When I change to a higher resolution, I just have to increase the cycles and it runs fine.
Problem is, by that time I was already deep in episode 2 with Quakespasm and would have had to start over. I'm also spoiled. I have no problem playing this at a low resolution or in 4:3 format. But the framerate... I'm used to the super smooth 144 fps with the spiked port, even 60 fps look like a PP presentation. Buying this monitor was a mistake. There is no going back now.
But I'm assuming the engine and physics work exactly the same as in the original DOS version, and that's what matters.


And if I'm being honest, I wanted to play Quake mainly to prepare for Arcane Dimensions.

quakespasm-spiked-winfef2o.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win1jikq.jpg

FgWerTJ.gif

That's a nice looking hub map.
Let's see Paul Allen's level.

quakespasm-spiked-winiwiin.jpg

Objective: Find at least 8 runes.

quakespasm-spiked-winnafba.jpg

Suddenly slaughter.

quakespasm-spiked-win77dc1.jpg

Doublejump boots.

quakespasm-spiked-winmscyk.jpg

Vast open space.

quakespasm-spiked-win4ziqa.jpg

Is this still Quake?

quakespasm-spiked-winu5e6p.jpg

Who cares? SSG upgrade! Yes, much needed.

quakespasm-spiked-winqpdex.jpg

This is Doom.

quakespasm-spiked-win92il3.jpg

The finale.

quakespasm-spiked-winitckv.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winc7d9v.jpg

Boss summoning more monsters.


And that's just one level! There are, like, 20 of these?
:shredder:
 

Cryomancer

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
16,943
Location
Frostfell
Killed and soul trapped TWO Gold saints at lv 10 in Morrowind :

OZO82jA.png


And after leveling up a bit used they to make a powerful Daedric Dai-Katana which deals 60 base damage + 74~100(87 avg) cold damage, or 177 damage(max str multiplies the damage by 1.5x) and 400 charge for the magical enchanted effect.

gm3IxWb.png


RBLwfCy.png




Lastly, My stronghold, protected by Dwemer technology

JtbR1H9.png


a8TNmuw.png


x1a29lf.png


H8U1SkL.png


2lKnMN6.png
 
Last edited:

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,733
potatojohn Do you play Baldur's Gate II in that resolution?
I went through the trouble of being able to play the 640x480 resolution upscaled to 1280x960, but it looks pretty ugly so I'm wondering if I should force my eyes to play the standard 800x600.

9709035887769157632-20230824213332-1.png

9709035887769157632-20230824220454-1.png
9709035887769157632-20230824220811-1.png
9709035887769157632-20230824220831-1.png
9709035887769157632-20230824220922-1.png
9709035887769157632-20230824220948-1.png
9709035887769157632-20230824221955-1.png


This game looks insane for 2006 IMO.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,733
PulsatingBrain
It's Prey (2006).

Really lovely game. The shooting kind of sucks, but it's very much worth it to go into it completely blind and without spoilers.
Just finished the game.
 

ds

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Messages
2,493
Location
here
Agree, Prey was really something, it had portals (both in-world portals and used for a non-euclidean maze), working mirrors, changeable and local gravity, point gravity for mini planets, changing player size, a mini game instead of reloading on death (although a bit easy) as well as a native Linux port back when that was as rare as a unicorn.
Is Prey (no year needed, the name thieves can use a year) even available anywhere online again apart from finding a non-activated Steam key or piracy?

Just finished the game.
2023-08-27-100927.png

:negative:
RIP Human Head Studios, another victim of Bethesda/ZeniMax
 
Last edited:

Vyadhis

Learned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
179
I also just finished my first playthrough of Quake, but with the Quakespasm-Spiked port. :M

quakespasm-spiked-win4wij4.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winq2dts.jpg

That was quick. I didn't bother with all the secrets.

quakespasm-spiked-win96eas.jpg
Hey, cool. Vortigaunts with 1 million HP.

quakespasm-spiked-wine3d0p.jpg

:yeah:
I think they have some resistance against rockets, though.

quakespasm-spiked-winkddtd.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win76f7p.jpg

Hello there!

quakespasm-spiked-winecd3m.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winpce0d.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winkqcoa.jpg

rU82bwl.png

What happened?

quakespasm-spiked-win72c7s.jpg

Cool level.

quakespasm-spiked-win2ri4a.jpg

Those ugly things on the bridge shoot like Revenants. But when I tried to guide their projectiles into walls like I would do in Doom, I got rekt hard. They turn so fast, it's nearly impossible to get rid of them like that.

quakespasm-spiked-winjcdw9.jpg

I could go the long and tedious way around to get to the rune. Or I could do a rocketjump!

quakespasm-spiked-win6ad83.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win8ycho.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-wint1cpg.jpg

They just keep pouring in through the window, like a clown car.

quakespasm-spiked-winpxdju.jpg

Who came up with these hopping blobs? Why are they in the game? Holy shit!
:rage:

quakespasm-spiked-wincldxg.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winwhet3.jpg

Still a better story than Doom Eternal.

This was a bit underwhelming, mostly because of the level design. And some monsters just have too much health, like these hell hounds that try to jump in your face. Some levels like to put one behind every corner. Then I have to backpedal to dodge their jumps and kill them with 5 SSG shots, because why waste precious nails? Repeat and repeat. Some levels get really tedious because of this. The yetis also like to teleport right in front of your nose in an open room with no cover. I guess this is less of a problem if you know where all the quad damages are hidden. I always saved some Thunderbolt ammo for them.
The other half was fun, though. The rocketlauncher improves everything, getting to places you're not supposed to with rocketjumps. And I've learned some bunny hopping. It took me a while to get used to the movement after hundreds of hours playing Doom. When I move in Quake like I would move in Doom, it actually slows me down. I also didn't expect this kind of soundtrack. Very spooky and atmospheric.


schru is probably going to be like:
:x "Y U NO DOSBOX!?"

I appreciate the help. And I even got it to run in DOSBox Staging with a stable framerate and what seemed the correct speed. When I change to a higher resolution, I just have to increase the cycles and it runs fine.
Problem is, by that time I was already deep in episode 2 with Quakespasm and would have had to start over. I'm also spoiled. I have no problem playing this at a low resolution or in 4:3 format. But the framerate... I'm used to the super smooth 144 fps with the spiked port, even 60 fps look like a PP presentation. Buying this monitor was a mistake. There is no going back now.
But I'm assuming the engine and physics work exactly the same as in the original DOS version, and that's what matters.


And if I'm being honest, I wanted to play Quake mainly to prepare for Arcane Dimensions.

quakespasm-spiked-winfef2o.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-win1jikq.jpg

FgWerTJ.gif

That's a nice looking hub map.
Let's see Paul Allen's level.

quakespasm-spiked-winiwiin.jpg

Objective: Find at least 8 runes.

quakespasm-spiked-winnafba.jpg

Suddenly slaughter.

quakespasm-spiked-win77dc1.jpg

Doublejump boots.

quakespasm-spiked-winmscyk.jpg

Vast open space.

quakespasm-spiked-win4ziqa.jpg

Is this still Quake?

quakespasm-spiked-winu5e6p.jpg

Who cares? SSG upgrade! Yes, much needed.

quakespasm-spiked-winqpdex.jpg

This is Doom.

quakespasm-spiked-win92il3.jpg

The finale.

quakespasm-spiked-winitckv.jpg


quakespasm-spiked-winc7d9v.jpg

Boss summoning more monsters.


And that's just one level! There are, like, 20 of these?
:shredder:
What's the difference between Quakespasm and Quakespasm Spiked?
 

potatojohn

Arcane
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
2,646
potatojohn Do you play Baldur's Gate II in that resolution?
I went through the trouble of being able to play the 640x480 resolution upscaled to 1280x960, but it looks pretty ugly so I'm wondering if I should force my eyes to play the standard 800x600.

I switched to 800x600 to show the vines in the UI, but I'm playing in 640x480 because the UI is more usable in that resolution.

Maybe I should mention that I'm playing it in a Linux virtual machine. This makes it easy to scale the resolution and switch between windowed/fullscreen and you can freely move the mouse between the OS and game
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,733
Is Prey (no year needed, the name thieves can use a year) even available anywhere online again apart from finding a non-activated Steam key or piracy?

I don't think so. For what it's worth, I got it from My Abandonware. I don't consider it piracy since you can't get it anywhere, no one's getting shafted except people willing to sell the game.

It's got to be one of my favorite stories in videogames. It's so simple, yet the most glaring plothole (which I hoped was given some explanation) was given a fittingly simple explanation by the end of the game.

That is, how easy it was for Tommy to navigate the spaceship through portals that conveniently appeared out of nowhere.

I love how distinct most places in the game looked from one another. The power of having unique environmental design as opposed to reusing the same three assets for every room in a game. Last but not least, I adore the uniqueness of the silhouette health bars. If the rest of the UI had been given a similar treatment, it would have been amazing. I just wish I had disabled the crosshair earlier into my playthrough, as it ruins most of the screenshots I took.

So far I've played four "spaceship" games (Doom, Quake II, Doom 3, Prey), and I'm quite content in how different they all look from one another. Still, the similarities in the graphics of Doom 3 and Prey are quite astounding, which is not surprising since they share the same engine, though Prey is admittedly far less dark (and the main character pokes fun at Doom 3 at one point).

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schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
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This was a bit underwhelming, mostly because of the level design. And some monsters just have too much health, like these hell hounds that try to jump in your face. Some levels like to put one behind every corner. Then I have to backpedal to dodge their jumps and kill them with 5 SSG shots, because why waste precious nails? Repeat and repeat. Some levels get really tedious because of this. The yetis also like to teleport right in front of your nose in an open room with no cover. I guess this is less of a problem if you know where all the quad damages are hidden. I always saved some Thunderbolt ammo for them.
The other half was fun, though. The rocketlauncher improves everything, getting to places you're not supposed to with rocketjumps. And I've learned some bunny hopping. It took me a while to get used to the movement after hundreds of hours playing Doom. When I move in Quake like I would move in Doom, it actually slows me down. I also didn't expect this kind of soundtrack. Very spooky and atmospheric.
The level design was underwhelming? I think it's among the most interesting in early shooters because the designers could finally make full use of three dimensions and unrestrained movement, while at the same time the approach to geometry and hazards was still quite abstract, not being constrained by attempts to create realistic-looking locations.

I also thought that quite a few of the monsters were bullet-sponges at first, but they have weaknesses to different types of projectiles or damage, so it's important to switch weapons often and use them all where appropriate. But basically the super nailgun should be saved for those enemies that seem too tough.

schru is probably going to be like:
:x "Y U NO DOSBOX!?"

I appreciate the help. And I even got it to run in DOSBox Staging with a stable framerate and what seemed the correct speed. When I change to a higher resolution, I just have to increase the cycles and it runs fine.
Problem is, by that time I was already deep in episode 2 with Quakespasm and would have had to start over. I'm also spoiled. I have no problem playing this at a low resolution or in 4:3 format. But the framerate... I'm used to the super smooth 144 fps with the spiked port, even 60 fps look like a PP presentation. Buying this monitor was a mistake. There is no going back now.
But I'm assuming the engine and physics work exactly the same as in the original DOS version, and that's what matters.


And if I'm being honest, I wanted to play Quake mainly to prepare for Arcane Dimensions.
Well, it depends on what you want, but I think it's always best to play the original version first, if that's indeed your first time playing the game.

I'm not actually sure if the original Quake has a frame limit, but the software renderer does become demanding at higher resolutions, when the game is additionally emulated in DOSBox. As I mentioned in the other thread, Mark V is a source port that retains the software renderer, producing results as close to WinQauke (Id Software's Windows port) as possible, while having support for all sorts of resolution options and other conveniences.

Judging by the screenshots, you've turned off most of the graphical ‘enhancements’, which makes the game look close enough to its original version. Maybe only fires and particles are different, if what I tried (Quakespasm Spiked Multiplayer) is the same as the version you're using. Then there's the missing distortion on the weapon textures which only appears in the software renderer. You can always try Mark V, I think all it needs to run is to be extracted into a base folder with id1 folder in it, and PAK0.pak and PAK1.pak inside the latter.

Arcane Dimensions is very nice visually and it's a pretty meticulously designed map pack, but I wouldn't say it's as good as the original game, as it deviates in some important ways from its encounter design, levels, and pacing. The old expansion packs aren't great, but they're worth playing too, along with the two new episodes by MachineGames included in Night Dive's remaster. The latter also has revised versions of some popular fan campaigns and an official port of the Nintendo 64 version of Quake.

potatojohn Do you play Baldur's Gate II in that resolution?
I went through the trouble of being able to play the 640x480 resolution upscaled to 1280x960, but it looks pretty ugly so I'm wondering if I should force my eyes to play the standard 800x600.
Try CnC-DDraw, it offers different scaling methods, so that the result isn't necessarily blurry.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Those ugly things on the bridge shoot like Revenants. But when I tried to guide their projectiles into walls like I would do in Doom, I got rekt hard. They turn so fast, it's nearly impossible to get rid of them like that.
The trick to vores (that's what they're called) is to keep moving until you can make a really sharp turn to guide their missiles into walls. Luckily, the missiles don't move very fast so you can keep outrunning them forever!

The even better trick is to guide their missiles into hitting other enemies, who will then attack the vores. Enemy infighting is even more important in Quake than it was in Doom.

And that's just one level! There are, like, 20 of these?
Honestly, Tears of the False God isn't even the best Arcane Dimensions map. Maybe the most visually impressive, but not the best.

And once you're done with Arcane Dimensions, there's Alkaline waiting for you...
 

Vyadhis

Learned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
179
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Quake is so damn fun to play, it just feels so good. The weapons are great, fire great, music is excellent and spooky and the sfx are top notch. Truly the peak of Id Software and I say this as a Doomboy fanboy.
 

schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,142
KgvCMKL.png
RaoL6US.png

Quake is so damn fun to play, it just feels so good. The weapons are great, fire great, music is excellent and spooky and the sfx are top notch. Truly the peak of Id Software and I say this as a Doomboy fanboy.
Is this how it looks for you in the game? Horizontal stretching and image shifted to the left, so that part of it is cut off. Ignore the notes below if it's just how the screenshots turned out.

If so, open the game's CONF file and see if you have the command aspect= in the [renderer] section, if not, add it or else change it to true. This could also be caused by one of the older output methods; direct3d and opengl work better with scaling (openglnb uses nearest neighbour scaling, resulting in crisper image, and openglpp uses integer scaling) and the resolution should also be set to desktop.

Alternatively, it could just be one of the multiple non-standard resolutions for special configuration cases that are available in the video settings. Quake has some non-standard resolutions for special monitor cases, but I don't think any of them were meant for some manner of old wide-screen ratios, since they all maintain the same image proportions apart from the HUD.

Basically, Quake's default resolution is 320x200 with doublescan and it should be displayed in a letter-box on a wide-screen monitor. 320x240 technically has a higher vertical resolution, but when using a C.R.T. shader, the result is better with 320x200, it seems. Anyway, it should look like this:

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yellowcake

Arcane
Joined
Dec 11, 2007
Messages
2,990
Location
Alas! in my skull
Agree, Prey was really something, it had portals (both in-world portals and used for a non-euclidean maze), working mirrors, changeable and local gravity, point gravity for mini planets, changing player size, a mini game instead of reloading on death (although a bit easy) as well as a native Linux port back when that was as rare as a unicorn.
Is Prey (no year needed, the name thieves can use a year) even available anywhere online again apart from finding a non-activated Steam key or piracy?

Just finished the game.
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:negative:
RIP Human Head Studios, another victim of Bethesda/ZeniMax

Also has excellent openAL sound that works in hardware mode out of the box if you have an X-Fi card. Playing it nao as well.
 

schru

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,142
I think its just the screenshot
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In comparison, the lighting in the remaster is WAY off and too bright IMO.
The aspect ratio is correct now.

As for the lighting, even apart from new effects like dynamic shadows or ambient occlusion, it's entirely different in the remaster because Night Dive modified the maps, but couldn't recover the lightmaps, so they were generated again with different tools and presets.
 

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