@@blunderly Just like you didn't know they have 600 health. And people spend ~12 rockets on them bastards not understanding why they run out so quickly nor why they're so resistant to rockets. You should only use rockets on Shamblers as a last resort. Or just start axing them questions.
It's ironic that the creator of a video about how well Quake teaches its mechanics didn't know about the Shambler's explosive resistance, which is hinted at in the manual and otherwise completely opaque. To be fair to them though, that's pretty much the only major mechanic that isn't easy to understand from gameplay alone - there's also the fact that you still take armour damage when using the pentagram of protection, and a bug that causes dogs/fiends/spawns to instakill you if they land on your head, but that's about it.
@@SleeperJohns arcane dimensions has a genius fix for this by making the explosion look like a puff of dirt so it's visually obvious it's not working so well
@@blunderly to be fair you could just play it on console and have a better time no trust me the deals for Quake generous. Not to mention if you have a PS5 or new Xbox ("I can't be bothered in telling what type of name Xbox has for their consoles") they can be integrated to keyboard.
It's difficult to relate to a new player discovering Quake since I've been playing it for 20+ years now. When I say nightmare is too easy it's probably for different reasons than when a new player says nightmare is too easy. You kind of have to look at a game's design from within the context of the time it was made. Back then mouse look wasn't standard and most people had to get used to this new way of playing. Moreover, 3d accelerators were expensive and weren't widely adopted yet. The ones that were available were finicky and difficult to use. Frame rates were very rarely high let alone consistent. It is clear nightmare difficulty was more of an afterthought, but I expect that's because id thought the game was already difficult enough. Like with Doom, nightmare was seen as a bonus extra for people who really, really liked the game and wanted to keep playing after finishing the campaign. It was never meant to be a main selling point.
Yeah for sure! I appreciate the perspective, easy to forget that. I think the changes with the 2021 remaster are still disappointing because they had the luxury of modern tech to have improved the mode for a new nightmare instead of just changing the health.
Even though nightmare difficulty is pretty poorly designed, I still massively appreciate that they did not want to touch the HP of enemies. Knowing how many shots of each weapon it takes to kill each enemy is some really satisfying game knowledge to learn.
>hl1 hard mode >fighting a marine >point blank spas 12 double shot >he survives because marines on hard mode have just enough health tank that and thats not nearly as egregious as bullsquids having triple health
Game designer here. This analysis is spot-on, no reaches found. In particular, your examples of Quake teaching through level design are excellent. This is pretty minor, but one interesting tidbit you overlooked was difficulty in Quake sometimes even affects the level layouts. You can see this on the bridge at the end of E2M2. Obviously, altering the map itself based on difficulty is more involved than enemy and item placements, which is why you only see it on a few levels. Nevertheless, you rarely see this sort of attention to detail being put into the difficulty of modern games.
the quake dance is good tho, where you just kinda dodge grenades and use the nailgun to shred things bc base nailgun does more dps than the super shotgun
@@DinnerForkTongue i guess it just means in writing that the enemies are a higher tier than the doom ones if you have to resort to larger firepower. also the triple barreled shotgun from arcane dimensions fricks
Come now it's only been a year. I've been waiting for a new installment for a book series for over a DECADE. It's like a prison sentence doing HARD TIME
@@teamoversquatch3785 I tried getting into it but the older style of writing takes some getting used to. Same thing happened with the prose of Robinson Crusoe but I got familiar enough in time. Yet I still felt like I was missing a lot due to not fully parsing the wording. I should try Dickens again now that I've had the chance to read extremely long books and study archaic books a bit. Btw I think this is the first time I've ever seen someone refer somebody to Dickens and it's refreshing
I'm 38 now and I've been playing Quake online since about 1997. Q95.BAT was the original way to LAN or play online, then came Winquake, GLQuake and then Quakeworld which offered an improved netcode etc. I was 10 years of age when I first started playing and held my first lan when I was 12 :D Which I lost by 1 frag. I have since played all Quake(s) except for Quake4.. Quake Champions is the most recent, characters with abilities... I did pretty good.. but haven't played any games in about 18 months. Quake is where it all begun, where it all started.. yet so many know nothing about it or think it's medicore. Yet to me, Quake is the best.. the highest level.. Like tennis etc.. Where you have no one else to blame for loss or mistakes, other than yourself. Cheers
@@murd0rgaming I dig your comment and appreciate the insight. I agree, Quake doesn’t get the credit it deserves for what it did for the video game industry.
3:27 Shamblers have damage resistance against explosives. it's nearly always better to shoot them with thunderbolt/nails/shells, with only exceptions when you have quad or literally nothing else to throw at them
@@blunderly This is Quake's WORST design flaw in my eyes. I have seen countless new players fall into the same trap. I'm not even sure what's the purpose of splash damage immunity.
@@r.g.thesecond Yeah me neither. In a world that doesn’t use game manuals it’s annoying because I don’t know how I’m supposed to know that just from playing the game.
Quake has like 3 dozen source ports that all play the music. For vanilla/retail you just have to put the disc in the drive. Nothing remotely arcane about it.
To clarify about nightmare: - The original version made enemies do ranged attacks more frequently. It also makes vore projectiles move faster, all enemies flinch less frequently, and each shambler lightning blast last longer (which equates to 10 extra damage). - The Copper mod _used to_ make nightmare the same as hard but with base hp lowered to 50, but version 1.30 scraps that in favour of an individual buff for each monster that suits its role - I assume this is what you meant by "smarter instead of faster", but I wouldn't say it's entirely accurate. Some enemies still shoot faster without being as exploitable, some move faster, and others have more specific changes. The mod also improves enemy AI in small ways across all difficulties. The current version of Copper is my favourite iteration of nightmare (and Quake's base feature set in general) by far. - The 2021 rerelease has the 50hp cap that Copper used to have, as well as the faster vore projectiles and reduced flinch frequency from the original version.
Yeah the other changes nightmare makes from hard I actually like such as flinching less, I mainly mentioned the fast attacks because it's the most noticeable and honestly not the best. Good to know those details about copper!
about the keys... Doom did that and OFTEN. first example is right at E1M3 , with a blue key very visible on a platform, but you have to reach it. The "fast shooting " of nightmare is not " FAST" in absolutes, its similar to doom. enemies have NO RESTING time. when an enemy shoots in a different difficulty they have an internal timer with a random number , when it reaches zero it attacks. That number is ALWAYS 0 in nightmare. Not only respawning monsters is a broken mechanic in nightmare, monsters having no chill is the bigger trap in doom and quake nightmare modes.
one thing that I love about the quake shotgun is that it has a rhythm, how often do you shoot, strafe, and then shoot again esp with the hellknight [i think it may just be the best enemy in the game btw, also ogre], and when you're too tired of it you can whipe out the nailgun or the perfarator [yes that's the name for the objectively better nailgun] and quickly kill the enemy, you do think of how the projectiles work though.
I thought it was just super nailgun lol good to know. But yes there's something so satisfying about the shotgun, especially the double barrel. It becomes very rhythmic when you build a general idea of how many shots it'll take to down an enemy too.
I think it’s called the death knight, and it too is my favourite enemy. I’d sometimes make its grunt sounds at school whenever I got frustrated, silly thing to do, I know. I like it more than the ogre since it’s a much more active-pursuit enemy who has a much better balance between melee and ranged attacks. It’s also better than the shambler since it has a decent amount of health and attacks that are fast but avoidable.
On the subject of source ports, I'd highly recommend giving Ironwail a shot. It's a fork of Quakespasm, but adds a couple of extra features, like a new fullscreen hud, performance improvements in heavy custom maps, and a video mode that simulates the look of the original software renderer, with adjustable intensity. Anyway, it's always nice to find a fellow Quake enthusiast! To this day, its one of the best-feeling shooters I've ever played. I can't tell you how many times I've ran through the first episode.
Quake is a really enjoyable, simple, fast paced game. Doom might be better in several ways but Quake's simplicity is very charming. It also has some of the best rocket jumping in all of gaming history despite coming out almost 30 years ago. The only game "mechanic" left unexplained in-game are Shamblers taking less damage from rockets, just like Cygerdemons in Doom.
The first first person shooter game that made me want to play it was Descent. It just had a different vibe from the heavy metal machismo of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Duke etc. Something moodier and more otherworldly and Lovecraftian
True there were just more of them in harder difficulties. There’s kind of a benefit to that though as it becomes a test of clearing everything out and helping you track where you’ve already been. It would be cool if there was an option to have respawning enemies like Doom.
I actually like the first Quake better than Doom, I honestly wish more games took inspiration from it instead because it's just so iconic. For me it's the perfect balance of action and horror, it's horror doesn't slow the game down and it's action doesn't take away that feeling of constant dread since enemies not only are a threat but they're actually pretty scary designwise. Not to shit on Doom since I still like it a lot, but you cannot convince me the Imp, the Pink Demon or the Cacodemon are scary, they're goofy af, no one ever felt scared by their goofy asses,I didn't take them seriously even as a kid, but the first time I played Quake 1 and the freaking dudes with the chainsaws appeared I stopped playing not long after XD The setting is awesome, the sound design is awesome (and underated imo) the music and ambience are awesome, the weapons are cool af, and the enemies are cool too. I only played the first one cause I doubt the rest can match it, and from what I've seen online, the first one seems to have aged the best overall.
Yeah DOOM and Quake have very different "vibes" even if you could argue the gameplay is superficially similar. The sound design is super underrated, especially the noise of a grenade clunking around just feels layered. Thanks for the comment!
I think Doom was a bit of a prototype for what quake would become, also accounting for the fact that Doom had its sprites modeled after real clay models it did put some limits on what they could do.
For me my favorite track has got to be hall of souls, also it interesting to note that the quake modding community is still quite alive and well, perhaps even more so than dooms, then again i mostly partake in quakes community
You sound a lot like FUNKe, also good video; you're one of the few youtubers that manages to make an actual analysis of a game in stead of simply describing what can be done within the scope of the game, or repeating null and noninformative statements such as "the gunplay is good because the sounds are good" or the famous "the game really makes you feel like batman". I recommend reading Masters of Doom if you like Quake and the work of old Id; quake 1 being their swan song the book manages to paint an interesting picture of their success and eventual fiasco.
as someone that completed the whole remaster in nightmare difficulty you also could see how badly designed the enemies became that most times i had to go melee because i ran aout of ammo or i wanted to save some for the next wave of enemies
i love the first quake game: it innovated the fps landscape, gave us rocket jumping, birthed half-life and team fortress, has a unique and awesome theme. its such a shame the actual sequel to the first quake, which would have been quake 6 was rebranded into doom dark ages. (you cannot tell me id decided to coincidentally make a fantasy fps with a medieval theme and have it be for the doom franchise)
I know right that's how I felt when I saw the trailer too. It's kind of a shame because I'm not really a fan of Doom's narrative direction recently (I know people don't usually care about it but still). It's crazy how much impact Quake had on game development, even to this day.
Speaking of Quake, have you already or might consider doing a little piece on the soundtrack for Quake III involving Trent Reznor and others. I think there's some interesting back stories to how it came together and who was involved.
i could write a comment saying underrated or whatever but i'm guessing you probably get 29284 of those already, so i won't. i found this video on twitter i think someone i follow liked your post about it or something. and i'll be honest i wasn't expecting much, but you delivered a delicious meal of a video, better than a lot of video essays i've seen in years. especially the writing, that shit was so peak. i don't really watch youtube that much anymore but if you make more stuff like this i'll certainly stick around. excited to see more meals from the blunderly table!
@@Zarkozy hey this comment means a lot to me I appreciate that heavily! I’ve taken a good year off to work on my writing and audio so glad it’s showing!
I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought that nightmare difficulty was inherently flawed. The enemies didn’t grow smarter at all, they just kinda became chores with the rapid projectile throwing. And I absolutely agree with the dragon boss fight. Chthon, Shub-niggurath, and Scourge were absolutely terrible bosses. It just felt like I was getting rid of my laser ammo into a bullet sponge rather than actually fighting off a good, strong enemy. The dragon with the gravity mechanic was a genuinely fun and genius boss fight, and the dragon itself was quite interesting as a boss. Shub-niggurath was just a tentacle tree, Chthon was a fatty throwing lava bombs, and scourge was just ranger cyborg with pitiful amounts of health. In addition to the dragon, I think DoE is overhated. I enjoyed that mission pack through and through, and wasn’t bored for any second. People who prefer Scourge of Armagon just wanted that same exact base campaign experience with different levels. DoE was unique with much cooler enemies, themes, and guns. Curse of Osiris made my eyes wide open, it is easily my favourite quake level across all 3 campaigns.
....Honestly, discarding the major changes, Quake 1.5/Combat + has the best Nightmare experience. Ogres can now look up, hellknights' projectiles can home in on you(optional), shadow fiends(its basically the pinkie equivalent of quake), vores can jump and walk on the ceiling, scrags teleport, and the most important one is you can chop-off the zombie's arms with an axe. That kept the axe slightly more relevant other than for achievement. And the bosses now have more surprises in them.
the first and only way that i have played this game is the first episode that got ported to Chromebook for free. me and my friend would take turns on my old Chromebook trying to beat each level. it was very fun. i forgot about it for awhile then came back to it and beat it fairly easily. but i have still only played the first chapter
I suppose on a technical level Quake's legacy is bigger because every interation of idtech engines afterwards was an extension of it. But as a lore, it pretty much is a dead end at this point, whereas Doom's lore is ongoing.
When I clicked I wasn't sure if you'd be complaining about the difficulty of nightmare, or saying exactly what you said. I bought Quake and have been loving it! I beat the first campaign, and I started on Nightmare mode. My thoughts were that, huh this is surprisingly easy, I wonder if gamers have just gotten better over the years. Now hearing about the fire rate it totally makes sense! I'm excited to give it a replay on Hard and make my own conclusion. Thanks for the video!
Quake was my favorite game of all time for quite some time, everything about It is awesome, the visuals, music, atmosphere and etc... Well anyway, my keyboard didn't work properly, so instead WASD, i used the arrows(the movement was still cut jn half), i beat the game in the nightmare dificulty in 4 days, playing 2 hours in each. Not quite "easy", buy i expected more after finishing DOOM I, II and several other WADs. I'm glad they didn't touch the enemie's HP, it's honestly Not the best way to make a game harder, and it's also quite interesting how modern DOOM plays more similiarly to Quake than Classic DOOM.
I’m more of a Doom fan personally (partly because I prefer the hitscan weapons and partly because I really like the massive chaotic fights that Doom does best), but I can definitely appreciate and enjoy Quake. Side note: now I’m wondering how a Quake version of a Tyson map would work or if that would even be fun to play. It works in Doom because your punch is pretty good once you find berserk, but idk Quake well enough to have thoughts about it
0:09 I really wish Quake Champions didn't decline as much as it did. I loved that game so much (still do), and it along with Doom (2016) are what got me into arena shooter genre (technically I was introduced when I was like 5-7 to Q3 and Q4, but QC is really what got me into it 12 years later). It sucks that it got kneecapped by a botched/messy launch and that id software as a whole continues to neglect it. Syncerror and a small team are still adding new content and balance tweaks every now and then but its fate still makes me sad
what exactly would you do to fix nightmare as it stands i like nightmare but agree its heavily flawed and could be more my idea is to still keep enemies being faster in a way (move faster, attacks are quicker, more frequent attacks but not overly frequent, faster projectiles) still keep their reduced pain, make them smarter and turn off either small health kits or medium health kits from spawning and same thing for ammo
1:11 "that thing like on the cereal box where you draw a line from the entrance to the exit" Yeah, that's called a maze. Really surprised you haven't heard of it. lol Quake 2's my favorite, and it's got its own set of nightmares. The id guys were just brilliant. Mostly. But I'm just wondering how I didn't know Reznor did the st. Guess I was too busy fraggin' Stroggs. That's a great st too.
Yeah that part was mostly for the bit. I like Doom's design but I think Quake improved on conveyance where getting lost felt more and more like your own fault. Part of that is just the verticality allowing for more condensed mazes with easier traversal, but also I'm biased because I've played Quake longer. Yeah the nail ammo pickups in Quake have the NIN logo on it lol it's pretty cool.
William Murderface. That's all I see every time this video/thumbnail has popped up in my feed, and that's probably sacrilegious to Quake fans. I'm sorry.
I agree with the idea that players shouldn't be challenged by the game dynamics from simply increasing stat numbers. That obstacle is frequently too easy to surmount so it doesn't feel like an authentic boost to difficulty. If a friend tried to prank you with the exact same prank over and over, but all they changed was a cosmetic, how many times would you fall for the same trick?
I don't think there's anything wrong with Nightmare being unfair It's the top difficulty above Hard what's worse than hard? Unfair and the satisfaction of overcoming such a challenge is great My favorite Nightmare challenge is definitely DOOM 3 it's a lot more fun on that difficulty DOOM 3 Nightmare: no medkits you lose 5 health every few seconds until you get to 25 and enemies deal more damage but you have the soul cube for the whole campaign
I'd be totally fine with it being unfair, I think the issue is that it's actually easier and the 50 hp cut in the remaster is a very bandaid approach that doesn't alleviate the issues created by messing with the base health pool. I didn't know how the nightmare worked in those games, that does sound fun.
Of course there's always the hot take that Doom Eternal is the real Quake 6, but for marketing. I suppose that's more an indication of the likelihood of a proper Quake followup than anything.
yea very on point with that. it’s a shame because ideally Id would continue to distinguish the two franchises by expanding on their original differences. I think everyone will agree at least in the multiplayer department that Quake feels pretty distinct and has untapped potential still.
Love Quake! Great video! We hope they'll make a solid Quake again one day. Be sure to check out our reimagined concept trailer and let us know if you like it or hate it!
I feel like qukae having better level design then the first fps to have any verticality is pretty obvious, but it still pains me that quake is often fogotten
you can tell some of ID had DND on their mind designing the levels of Doom 1 lmao. also the nightmare change in the remaster was strange because it includes Copper as an addon already
@@blunderly Copper is a good mod in other places because it makes changes that legitimately improve the experience like dead enemies no longer blocking shots or a shit ton of extra entities for mappers to use but it’s nightmare rebalance was overbearing. ogres having partial z-awareness so their able to adjust their aim also really hurts for muscle memory
@@jess648 Yeah making the AI "smart" is kinda annoying because the level design accounts for how the AI worked in vanilla. I like that ogres couldn't fire upwards, you have to focus on positioning.
@@blunderly i didn’t really notice that much of a difference with the other enemy types besides the death knight shooting slightly more often. enemies can still sometimes get stuck running towards you on a ledge if you’re below them
I never gave enough credit to Quake 1's gameplay so thank you for this video. I was firmly in the Duke 3D camp since it was just so much more immersive despite the outdated tech of sprites in a pseudo-3D world. Quake 3 is what got me to give 1 a real try but I still didn't get it. It was just too brown, dungeon-y, and monotonous. And I really liked Quake 2. I wonder if that game had been named Doom 3 would it have been received better?
@blunderly Shub-Niggurath is taken directly from one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, by the way. The whole aesthetic of Quake with all those castles and otherworldly dimensions is considered Lovecraftian.
@@blunderlyYou know despite it being called that I still don't mind that existed it's still very good game hell with the all the expansions that's on in the remasters that's definitely the definitive game to play and then you can tell there's a lot of care with it yeah the game isn't perfect no game is but I respect it for what it is plus is a different take from Quake 1 which I honestly feel makes sense because of all the wackiness that happened in the expansions( DOE) so in a sense I feel like that game existing kind of makes sense in the Quake universe. And I'm all here for it plus Quake 2 did add a few more mechanics that aren't present in first game so respect is where it's at for it( if you do read this sir I would like to hear your opinion😊)
Geez, dude. I've never heard of your channel, but this came up in my recommends. You definitely come at this decades later and missed a lot of context. You give Quake a lot of credit where you shouldn't. Right from the start, "Finer details like Quake adding the ability to jump." That wasn't a monumental design decision for Quake, and DOOM's designers weren't just idiots who missed something obvious. In 1993, making a game like DOOM was already nearly impossible. The one developer who could make it happen, John Carmack, was in the right place at the right time. Non-orthoginal walls, different light levels per sector, and variable floor heights with unique floor and ceiling textures were already mind-boggling technical achievements. It's witchcraft that we got it at all on machines build for spreadsheets (PCs, using a 386 processor, were probably the worst gaming hardware available in 93), and beyond impressive that DOOM is just as fun today as when it released. In 96, when Intel Pentium processors were becoming common, a fully 3D world with jumping was the obvious next step, one that the same brilliant developer had been working on for three years, not a brilliant decision by game designers. John Carmack was not a game designer. He made engines, and then left it to the rest of the staff to make a game out of it. A lot of your criticism seems to come down to 3D good 2D bad, and I highly disagree. 3D good, but 2D also good. Creativity isn't necessarily in what you add, but in what you do within constraints. Both games faced a lot of constraints, in terms of hardware, time, money, and staff. DOOM had more constraints in each area. So long as you're missing this mark, you're being highly subjective and masking it in hand-waving objectivity. Each of the points you raise about what makes Quake good were also true of DOOM. "The Genius of Quake" is an incremental increase from what was already established with DOOM, except Quake was thrown together at the last minute from a hodge-podge of unrelated maps so they'd have something to release. A result of having fewer constraints. You seem to be comparing Quake at its best with DOOM at its worst, or else you wouldn't be saying what you were to compare them. (Seriously? The soundtrack sucks because you didn't like one song? Absolutely no bangers in there? Really?) - DOOM had memorable locations in its maps to help make navigation easier. Watch John Romero play through DOOM Episode 1 with IGN where he explains some of the design decisions. - Id didn't "condense levels" in Quake to make them easier. They're condensed because the hardware in 96 couldn't handle anything bigger. Maps had to be trimmed to run at all. (See the updated E2M6 for a large chunk of the original map that was restored in the remaster.) Same reason why levels in DOOM are smaller than DOOM II. Hardware got better in 94. And yet they still have convoluted maps in both Quake and DOOM. - They didn't get better with keys in Quake. DOOM already dangled carrots to show you what you were looking for. - "Finding" and "reaching" aren't monumentally different. One is about the journey, the other is about the destination. They're part of the same design loop. You do both in both games. - You keep saying "stumbling through corridors" about DOOM's maps, when DOOM has more outdoor areas than Quake and more wide open areas. You're stumbling through corridors moreso in Quake. Just because levels could have floors over floors doesn't mean they did. Lots of corridors in there. - DOOM also teaches weapon and monster mechanics within the level design. - DOOM's monsters did require you to "locomote", especially with the DOOM II arsenal (mancubi, revanants, arch-viles, pain elementals). Some surround you in melee range, some use hitscan from afar, and some throw projectiles. Some have to hit you directly, some can hit you with splash damage. Many of DOOM's monsters also had both melee and ranged attacks. Combat changes based on the types of enemies, the verticality of the environment, and the weapons, ammo, and items available. - On higher difficulties, monster and item placement also changes on DOOM, which does necessitate a change in strategy. I could go on, because it's literally every point you make to compare them that misses the mark. But the thing is, you like Quake more. And that's fine! I've sunk hundreds of hours into Quake myself since 96. From DOS to WinQuake to GLQuake to many source ports and different platforms. I even have all the achievements on multiple platforms, so I've definitely spent a lot of time in the remaster too. The majority of my time in Quake was single player, but I also sank a couple hundred hours into multiplayer over the years. It doesn't bother me that you like Quake. It bothers me that to say you like Quake you criticize DOOM when literally all of your criticisms are misrepresentations. I get it, welcome to UA-cam 2024 when everything has to be controversial to get clicks and create engagement. And here I am feeding the algorithm as we speak. But come on. DOOM is objectively a great game, whether its your cup of tea or not. You don't have to say otherwise to say that Quake is worth playing. Okay, now that I've written a novel, UA-cam will just delete my comment. Carry on, I guess.
I do believe in the idea that good things can be born of technical limitations. Even if Id's intent isn't why something in Quake is the way it is, that doesn't negate the effectiveness of it? I like how it's condensed, whether intentional or not. This isn't really a video meant to tackle why Quake is better than Doom or something like a Sequelitis, simply to appreciate Quake for what it is with some light comparisons to Doom at best. I still think it's easier to get lost in Doom than Quake, but I do agree that distinct areas were more prevalent in Doom. Bigger levels makes it easier to get lost in general, but I admit I hyperbolized the maze aspect of Doom. It's really not that bad once you get adjusted, I just think Quake's verticality makes adjusting to that nowadays easier. If I say Quake does something more (or better) like with the keys, that doesn't mean Doom didn't do it at all. It's refining versus inventing. Also, it is just my opinion. I love both games.
And I do like the soundtrack of Doom. There are many examples in it that are effective at matching the feel of levels. That was just an example of one that didn't work for me. I don't have to say I dislike Doom to say I like the direction Quake was going with the Doom formula. Both are exceptional games. I appreciate your time leaving the comment, it's given me a lot to think about with my biases and understanding that I'm coming to the games as an infant basically. But I disagree with what you assume about me just needing clicks or implying that I'm grifting or something.
@@blunderly First, I want to thank you for your thoughtful reply. I am surprised UA-cam didn't delete my comment, and I'm happy it didn't. I appreciate your perspective. And I'm sorry if my comment offended you personally in any way. Contrary to what my comments may have sounded like, I wasn't trying to imply or assume that you said what you said for clicks, just that the way it came across, which really does seem like a list of things that Quake did well and DOOM didn't, got engagement, and that's why UA-cam recommended it to me. I'm happy to hear you like both. That didn't come across in the video, but, as I said, this is the first video of yours I've seen. Maybe you shared your opinion of DOOM in another video, or videos. I don't have that context, and this video made it seem like you were upset with the praise that DOOM received and didn't think it deserved it, while Quake did. I disagreed, so I shared my view. I more than agree that good can come of technical limitations. It wasn't idly that I said, "Creativity isn't necessarily in what you add, but in what you do within constraints." Constraints and limitations are what creativity needs. I do agree that Quake did well within the limitations of level size. My biggest disappointments with Quake (speaking as someone who waited patiently for its release and then stormed the local software stores for the shareware CD) was in how it lacked any cohesion, and played like Id didn't learn anything from the successes and failures of DOOM. It felt like 60% of what made DOOM great, and then Id figured the 3D paint job made up for the rest. Maybe a slightly unfair modern parallel with help illustrate how it felt in 1996, but if DOOM was Lord of the Rings, Quake was The Hobbit. They had too much success with DOOM and it got to their heads. Quake was a mess. I was a teenager when I formed that opinion and still carry it to this day. To be honest, I still consider Quake a poor game in comparison. However, and this may cause further controversy, I think Quake is the best of the trilogy. (I say trilogy because Id made 1-3. Quake 4 was made by Raven. I honestly really like Quake 4. But it's not an Id game, so I'm not comparing it here.) Quake 2 was much too clunky, and too ambitious for my tastes. (I just played the full game again last month, with all its expansions, in the remaster. By the end, I was really just counting down the levels until I could be done and move on with my life.) And I honestly hated Quake 3. This is with the context for the mid to late 90s when Id was no longer the only kid on the FPS block. Games like Blood, Half-Life, and Unreal Tournament far surpassed Id's work by the time Quake 3 came out. I think the tech of Quake really kept it alive, while the design did not. (I'm specifically referring to the disjointed nature of the sci-fi and Lovecraftian themes. The game didn't know what it wanted to be because no one was taking charge of the overall design. Map makers just did whatever they wanted. Some liked tech bases and slipgates. Some liked horror. And then they slapped everything together and called it a game.) And I know you'll disagree with me. That's fine. We don't need to agree. I still have fun with it, but I think it could have been so much more than it was. That said, there are some areas where Quake absolutely excelled. I think that the physics, multiplayer, WASD + mouselook, modding, and 3D acceleration in Quake (noting that VQuake and GLQuake were not available upon release) really did a lot for FPS as a genre and gaming as a whole. Much of the world doesn't appreciate how influential these aspects were. (I will note that DOOM created deathmatch, supported WASD + mouse from release, and was built with mod support. But each of these were more limited. And Quake did more than a slight bump up in each of these.) Rocket jumping and bunny hopping are huge. Not an intentional design decision, but great for the feel and free-form nature of movement (and exploiting these movement mechanics did a lot to popularize speed-running on the web). Fast and smooth 16 player online multiplayer was huge. (Thank you, QuakeWorld.) Defining our modern WASD + mouselook first-person control scheme was huge. (Although, to be fair, that came from deathmatch players sharing their control schemes. Quake didn't have any option in the menus to enable mouselook. That had to be done with console commands and cfg file tweaks.) Having deep support for modding basically everything about the game was huge. Assets could already be changed in DOOM, but QuakeC allowed modders to change the very nature of the game completely. And the mods created new deathmatch modes, new genres, new full games, and launched many careers. Being among the first games to support 3D acceleration cards really did a lot to legitimize the hardware, and having a killer app made it more financially viable to mass produce. Back then, 3D accelerators were add-on cards. You had a video card for 2D. You had to buy a separate accelerator card (or cards) for 3D. And it didn't make sense why you would do that until there were games to support it. I honestly love the influence Quake has had on modern gaming. I will never diminish that. And I still have fun with the game. I especially liked the Dimensions of the Machine add-on that Machine Games did for the remaster. But in terms of design, I still think DOOM is a superior game. So this video pushed a lot of buttons for me in a negative way. I appreciate that you took the time to read and respond to my thoughts. This is definitely my own opinion. And I really don't know many who share it, if anyone. But I appreciate talking about these games. They still mean a lot to me. And I appreciate being able to discuss them thoughtfully with others. So thank you. I also didn't notice when I first watched this video how small your channel is. Who says The Algorithm doesn't recommend small channels? Congrats on breaking 1000 subs! I hope you have more success!
In hindsight, I feel bad about using that LotR/Hobbit analogy without context as I did. I feel that I need to say I actually like The Hobbit trilogy, while most people don't. It's not nearly as good as LotR, but I still enjoy it. So when I compare the two, I'm comparing them based on how I feel about them, not how others feel. Some people loath The Hobbit. And if you do, that's not what I meant by comparing DOOM and Quake. I only wanted to illustrate that Id came off a high and let it get to their heads. And Quake isn't as good as it could have been because of it.
I’m not offended by your comments, I appreciate them! I upload videos to talk about games like this so it’s fun for me and thanks for taking time out of your day to watch and analyze my vid. Just wanted to clarify my intent mostly. To be honest I’ve only made like two videos discussing games like this so I’m still learning and Id Software history is difficult to tackle so I definitely can concede on some of your points. I agree Id let a lot get to their heads, Quake is a messy game and there’s a reason Id sort of fell apart after it. It’s why I left the video off mentioning how it has a lot of untapped potential so I’m definitely with you on how it’s thematically jumbled. Doom is the more refined experience and most people will probably agree with that. Thanks again for the discussion and the well wishes! I hate how UA-cam is with comments, glad it didn’t get rid of yours.
>using a rocket launcher on the Shambler
STOP. FUCKING STOP.
@@DilbertDoubloon IM SORRY I DIDNT KNOW
@@blunderly Just like you didn't know they have 600 health. And people spend ~12 rockets on them bastards not understanding why they run out so quickly nor why they're so resistant to rockets. You should only use rockets on Shamblers as a last resort. Or just start axing them questions.
It's ironic that the creator of a video about how well Quake teaches its mechanics didn't know about the Shambler's explosive resistance, which is hinted at in the manual and otherwise completely opaque. To be fair to them though, that's pretty much the only major mechanic that isn't easy to understand from gameplay alone - there's also the fact that you still take armour damage when using the pentagram of protection, and a bug that causes dogs/fiends/spawns to instakill you if they land on your head, but that's about it.
@@SleeperJohns arcane dimensions has a genius fix for this by making the explosion look like a puff of dirt so it's visually obvious it's not working so well
@@blunderly to be fair you could just play it on console and have a better time no trust me the deals for Quake generous. Not to mention if you have a PS5 or new Xbox ("I can't be bothered in telling what type of name Xbox has for their consoles") they can be integrated to keyboard.
It is so nice that ID added a yellow armor to Quake. Without it, I would not be able to find my way through the levels.
It's difficult to relate to a new player discovering Quake since I've been playing it for 20+ years now. When I say nightmare is too easy it's probably for different reasons than when a new player says nightmare is too easy.
You kind of have to look at a game's design from within the context of the time it was made. Back then mouse look wasn't standard and most people had to get used to this new way of playing. Moreover, 3d accelerators were expensive and weren't widely adopted yet. The ones that were available were finicky and difficult to use. Frame rates were very rarely high let alone consistent.
It is clear nightmare difficulty was more of an afterthought, but I expect that's because id thought the game was already difficult enough. Like with Doom, nightmare was seen as a bonus extra for people who really, really liked the game and wanted to keep playing after finishing the campaign. It was never meant to be a main selling point.
Yeah for sure! I appreciate the perspective, easy to forget that. I think the changes with the 2021 remaster are still disappointing because they had the luxury of modern tech to have improved the mode for a new nightmare instead of just changing the health.
Even though nightmare difficulty is pretty poorly designed, I still massively appreciate that they did not want to touch the HP of enemies. Knowing how many shots of each weapon it takes to kill each enemy is some really satisfying game knowledge to learn.
I agree 100%. there's a satisfaction in building that routine.
>hl1 hard mode
>fighting a marine
>point blank spas 12 double shot
>he survives because marines on hard mode have just enough health tank that
and thats not nearly as egregious as bullsquids having triple health
Game designer here. This analysis is spot-on, no reaches found. In particular, your examples of Quake teaching through level design are excellent.
This is pretty minor, but one interesting tidbit you overlooked was difficulty in Quake sometimes even affects the level layouts. You can see this on the bridge at the end of E2M2. Obviously, altering the map itself based on difficulty is more involved than enemy and item placements, which is why you only see it on a few levels. Nevertheless, you rarely see this sort of attention to detail being put into the difficulty of modern games.
@@W7F0N6 Good spot that’s awesome and I appreciate the insight esp. from a game designer!
and yet his arms still hurt
When i play doom I feel the demons are trapped in hell with me
With quake i feel like wimpy cat trapped in cage with a horde of dogs with rabbies
the quake dance is good tho, where you just kinda dodge grenades and use the nailgun to shred things bc base nailgun does more dps than the super shotgun
For Quake I feel like I'm in a cage match with a bunch of marshmallow men. Quake's monsters are too spongy for how weak their attacks are.
@@metalsuccattack Quake's DBG brings shame to the super shotgun. What an anemic shotgun.
@@DinnerForkTongue i guess it just means in writing that the enemies are a higher tier than the doom ones if you have to resort to larger firepower. also the triple barreled shotgun from arcane dimensions fricks
Skill issue. You probably play it on console with controller, instead of mouse and keyboard on PC/Laptop as intended.
The original Quake is a definitive masterpiece
Agreeeddd
i've lived 10 lifetimes in between your posts blunderly
prepare for 10 more
@@blunderly please no
Come now it's only been a year. I've been waiting for a new installment for a book series for over a DECADE. It's like a prison sentence doing HARD TIME
@@ThommyofThennmay I suggest “A Tale of Two Cities” while you wait? Recently re-read it after a bunch of years and I really enjoyed it 🙃
@@teamoversquatch3785 I tried getting into it but the older style of writing takes some getting used to. Same thing happened with the prose of Robinson Crusoe but I got familiar enough in time. Yet I still felt like I was missing a lot due to not fully parsing the wording.
I should try Dickens again now that I've had the chance to read extremely long books and study archaic books a bit.
Btw I think this is the first time I've ever seen someone refer somebody to Dickens and it's refreshing
5:48 I mean, Shub-Niggurah is literally a Lovecraft character
Fair but still a bad final boss and name
@@blunderly it is a shitty boss, but that's just how it's named. Sandy Petersen is a big Lovecraft fan and his passion definitely seeps into Quake
@@cooler_carpington Yeah for sure and I think Quake overall is the better for that influence.
can't believe he named an elder god after his cat
@@DilbertDoubloon People who know: 💀
I'm 38 now and I've been playing Quake online since about 1997. Q95.BAT was the original way to LAN or play online, then came Winquake, GLQuake and then Quakeworld which offered an improved netcode etc. I was 10 years of age when I first started playing and held my first lan when I was 12 :D Which I lost by 1 frag. I have since played all Quake(s) except for Quake4..
Quake Champions is the most recent, characters with abilities... I did pretty good.. but haven't played any games in about 18 months.
Quake is where it all begun, where it all started.. yet so many know nothing about it or think it's medicore.
Yet to me, Quake is the best.. the highest level.. Like tennis etc.. Where you have no one else to blame for loss or mistakes, other than yourself.
Cheers
@@murd0rgaming I dig your comment and appreciate the insight. I agree, Quake doesn’t get the credit it deserves for what it did for the video game industry.
remember when everyone had 300ping and you some how just got used to "playing into the future"?
3:27 Shamblers have damage resistance against explosives. it's nearly always better to shoot them with thunderbolt/nails/shells, with only exceptions when you have quad or literally nothing else to throw at them
I could lie and say I knew that and was out of nails but I’m just an idiot lol thanks for letting me know that, that’s dope.
@@blunderly This is Quake's WORST design flaw in my eyes. I have seen countless new players fall into the same trap. I'm not even sure what's the purpose of splash damage immunity.
@@r.g.thesecond Yeah me neither. In a world that doesn’t use game manuals it’s annoying because I don’t know how I’m supposed to know that just from playing the game.
@@r.g.thesecond Not immunity, the damage is halved when the target is a shambler. You can still hurt it but will need the double of explosions.
@@chpsilva Yeah I confused it with DOOM's version of explosive resistance.
Getting music to work on quake is a such a fucking arcane knowledge.
tried getting the mark v port before id remastered the game, and I am not joking when I say there was no information on how to install the port
Oh good, I'm glad it's not just me.
and that's fitting to the game's theme tbh
Quake has like 3 dozen source ports that all play the music. For vanilla/retail you just have to put the disc in the drive. Nothing remotely arcane about it.
@wickednature2062 you dont install it, you just run it.
To clarify about nightmare:
- The original version made enemies do ranged attacks more frequently. It also makes vore projectiles move faster, all enemies flinch less frequently, and each shambler lightning blast last longer (which equates to 10 extra damage).
- The Copper mod _used to_ make nightmare the same as hard but with base hp lowered to 50, but version 1.30 scraps that in favour of an individual buff for each monster that suits its role - I assume this is what you meant by "smarter instead of faster", but I wouldn't say it's entirely accurate. Some enemies still shoot faster without being as exploitable, some move faster, and others have more specific changes. The mod also improves enemy AI in small ways across all difficulties. The current version of Copper is my favourite iteration of nightmare (and Quake's base feature set in general) by far.
- The 2021 rerelease has the 50hp cap that Copper used to have, as well as the faster vore projectiles and reduced flinch frequency from the original version.
Yeah the other changes nightmare makes from hard I actually like such as flinching less, I mainly mentioned the fast attacks because it's the most noticeable and honestly not the best. Good to know those details about copper!
about the keys... Doom did that and OFTEN. first example is right at E1M3 , with a blue key very visible on a platform, but you have to reach it.
The "fast shooting " of nightmare is not " FAST" in absolutes, its similar to doom. enemies have NO RESTING time. when an enemy shoots in a different difficulty they have an internal timer with a random number , when it reaches zero it attacks. That number is ALWAYS 0 in nightmare. Not only respawning monsters is a broken mechanic in nightmare, monsters having no chill is the bigger trap in doom and quake nightmare modes.
@@yusukeelric yea I know it did, I never felt like it was as frequently and effectively as Quake tho. good point
Bro, your last two videos are actual quality. Keep this up, really loving the vibes.
@@austrianbeatboxchamp hey thanks that means a ton!
one thing that I love about the quake shotgun is that it has a rhythm, how often do you shoot, strafe, and then shoot again
esp with the hellknight [i think it may just be the best enemy in the game btw, also ogre], and when you're too tired of it you can whipe out the nailgun or the perfarator [yes that's the name for the objectively better nailgun] and quickly kill the enemy, you do think of how the projectiles work though.
I thought it was just super nailgun lol good to know. But yes there's something so satisfying about the shotgun, especially the double barrel. It becomes very rhythmic when you build a general idea of how many shots it'll take to down an enemy too.
like how high level players use the shotgun's rhythm to time grenade jumps
Using Quake Champions' name for the super nailgun, based
I think it’s called the death knight, and it too is my favourite enemy. I’d sometimes make its grunt sounds at school whenever I got frustrated, silly thing to do, I know. I like it more than the ogre since it’s a much more active-pursuit enemy who has a much better balance between melee and ranged attacks. It’s also better than the shambler since it has a decent amount of health and attacks that are fast but avoidable.
so glad to see quake getting more love. great work on this vidya
On the subject of source ports, I'd highly recommend giving Ironwail a shot.
It's a fork of Quakespasm, but adds a couple of extra features, like a new fullscreen hud, performance improvements in heavy custom maps, and a video mode that simulates the look of the original software renderer, with adjustable intensity.
Anyway, it's always nice to find a fellow Quake enthusiast! To this day, its one of the best-feeling shooters I've ever played. I can't tell you how many times I've ran through the first episode.
Agreed! And that sounds super good, been using Quakespasm so it sounds like a nice jump.
Doesn't work very well with netquake servers though..
@@Preinstallable Isn't ezquake the port for multiplayer?
Does Ironwail support Vulkan rendering?
@@tehFozzeY ezquake is a QuakeWorld port, not a netquake one
The more blunderly videos I see, the more i live
@@xboxbreadbox8404 you must be barely holding on
@@blunderly exactly
Quake is a really enjoyable, simple, fast paced game. Doom might be better in several ways but Quake's simplicity is very charming. It also has some of the best rocket jumping in all of gaming history despite coming out almost 30 years ago.
The only game "mechanic" left unexplained in-game are Shamblers taking less damage from rockets, just like Cygerdemons in Doom.
The first first person shooter game that made me want to play it was Descent. It just had a different vibe from the heavy metal machismo of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Duke etc. Something moodier and more otherworldly and Lovecraftian
Great analysis.
Never realized the ideas you explain here.
Now I love Quake even more 🤩
I never found it as nervraking since the enemies don't respawn like in doom.
True there were just more of them in harder difficulties. There’s kind of a benefit to that though as it becomes a test of clearing everything out and helping you track where you’ve already been. It would be cool if there was an option to have respawning enemies like Doom.
fucking hell
I actually like the first Quake better than Doom, I honestly wish more games took inspiration from it instead because it's just so iconic.
For me it's the perfect balance of action and horror, it's horror doesn't slow the game down and it's action doesn't take away that feeling of constant dread since enemies not only are a threat but they're actually pretty scary designwise.
Not to shit on Doom since I still like it a lot, but you cannot convince me the Imp, the Pink Demon or the Cacodemon are scary, they're goofy af, no one ever felt scared by their goofy asses,I didn't take them seriously even as a kid, but the first time I played Quake 1 and the freaking dudes with the chainsaws appeared I stopped playing not long after XD
The setting is awesome, the sound design is awesome (and underated imo) the music and ambience are awesome, the weapons are cool af, and the enemies are cool too.
I only played the first one cause I doubt the rest can match it, and from what I've seen online, the first one seems to have aged the best overall.
Yeah DOOM and Quake have very different "vibes" even if you could argue the gameplay is superficially similar. The sound design is super underrated, especially the noise of a grenade clunking around just feels layered. Thanks for the comment!
I think Doom was a bit of a prototype for what quake would become, also accounting for the fact that Doom had its sprites modeled after real clay models it did put some limits on what they could do.
0:38 Look Gary, there I am!
haha I was hoping you'd catch yourself there
For me my favorite track has got to be hall of souls, also it interesting to note that the quake modding community is still quite alive and well, perhaps even more so than dooms, then again i mostly partake in quakes community
Most iconic jump sound effect in video game history. Makes me moist.
It may have been pointed out already but Shamblers are made to specifically resist explosive ammo.
It has been mentioned a lot tbh lmao I'll never hear the end of it
Excellent analysis!
Thank you, i'm glad i'm not the only one that enjoys the dragon boss, it really doesn't deserve the hate.
You sound a lot like FUNKe, also good video; you're one of the few youtubers that manages to make an actual analysis of a game in stead of simply describing what can be done within the scope of the game, or repeating null and noninformative statements such as "the gunplay is good because the sounds are good" or the famous "the game really makes you feel like batman". I recommend reading Masters of Doom if you like Quake and the work of old Id; quake 1 being their swan song the book manages to paint an interesting picture of their success and eventual fiasco.
@@humanwannabe573 yea I defo want to read masters of doom it’s on my list, and thanks cause I love funke if the inspiration wasn’t obvious
Based quakepost.
Also thank you for acknowledging the expansions, they are sadly underrated. I wish more custom levels would use stuff from them.
Based how? This has nothing to do with Lil B.
@@noyes. Because it's a quakepost.
@@Otakumanu
So you’re saying Based for no reason
@@noyes. What are you even talking about?
@@Otakumanu
I just told you but you’re too busy trying to be lolinternet
7:39 "it's like trying to do homework to numetal." Alright, you got me. Take my like, and have a subscribe while you're at it.
napoleon dynamite here telling me about the beauty of quake
Its good to see new people covering quake!
as someone that completed the whole remaster in nightmare difficulty you also could see how badly designed the enemies became that most times i had to go melee because i ran aout of ammo or i wanted to save some for the next wave of enemies
NINE INCH NAILS MENTIONED
So happy to hear more love for og Quake 💜 I miss it!
5:10 I believe you can also call them “shalrath(s)”
i love the first quake game: it innovated the fps landscape, gave us rocket jumping, birthed half-life and team fortress, has a unique and awesome theme. its such a shame the actual sequel to the first quake, which would have been quake 6 was rebranded into doom dark ages. (you cannot tell me id decided to coincidentally make a fantasy fps with a medieval theme and have it be for the doom franchise)
I know right that's how I felt when I saw the trailer too. It's kind of a shame because I'm not really a fan of Doom's narrative direction recently (I know people don't usually care about it but still). It's crazy how much impact Quake had on game development, even to this day.
We to be fair doom eternal is more quake than doom. The only thing tethering it to doom is no facking rocket jumping
Speaking of Quake, have you already or might consider doing a little piece on the soundtrack for Quake III involving Trent Reznor and others. I think there's some interesting back stories to how it came together and who was involved.
3:10 "Polygonial" LOL
I've always liked (been bemused by) the name of the Death Knight. As opposed to what? The one that cuddles you and makes you dinner?
New peak just dropped
Game Euclid for me lately. The immersion is present, the strategy of puzzle is present and it will make you cry and run until you get mad and fight.
I have been seeing the numbers 111 and 1111 alot lately, and only realised that this video is 11:11 minutes lol. Awesome video man.
i could write a comment saying underrated or whatever but i'm guessing you probably get 29284 of those already, so i won't. i found this video on twitter i think someone i follow liked your post about it or something. and i'll be honest i wasn't expecting much, but you delivered a delicious meal of a video, better than a lot of video essays i've seen in years. especially the writing, that shit was so peak. i don't really watch youtube that much anymore but if you make more stuff like this i'll certainly stick around. excited to see more meals from the blunderly table!
@@Zarkozy hey this comment means a lot to me I appreciate that heavily! I’ve taken a good year off to work on my writing and audio so glad it’s showing!
Ironwail sourceport man, the easiest way to play quake
I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought that nightmare difficulty was inherently flawed. The enemies didn’t grow smarter at all, they just kinda became chores with the rapid projectile throwing.
And I absolutely agree with the dragon boss fight. Chthon, Shub-niggurath, and Scourge were absolutely terrible bosses. It just felt like I was getting rid of my laser ammo into a bullet sponge rather than actually fighting off a good, strong enemy. The dragon with the gravity mechanic was a genuinely fun and genius boss fight, and the dragon itself was quite interesting as a boss. Shub-niggurath was just a tentacle tree, Chthon was a fatty throwing lava bombs, and scourge was just ranger cyborg with pitiful amounts of health.
In addition to the dragon, I think DoE is overhated. I enjoyed that mission pack through and through, and wasn’t bored for any second. People who prefer Scourge of Armagon just wanted that same exact base campaign experience with different levels. DoE was unique with much cooler enemies, themes, and guns. Curse of Osiris made my eyes wide open, it is easily my favourite quake level across all 3 campaigns.
....Honestly, discarding the major changes, Quake 1.5/Combat + has the best Nightmare experience. Ogres can now look up, hellknights' projectiles can home in on you(optional), shadow fiends(its basically the pinkie equivalent of quake), vores can jump and walk on the ceiling, scrags teleport, and the most important one is you can chop-off the zombie's arms with an axe. That kept the axe slightly more relevant other than for achievement. And the bosses now have more surprises in them.
I honestly thought Quake Nightmare was much more forgiving than Quake 2 Ground f'ing Zero on Nightmare
My favorite niche internet micro celebrity is back 🙌
blessss
I wish id would make a new Quake based on the unused storyline that they had written for it.
the first and only way that i have played this game is the first episode that got ported to Chromebook for free. me and my friend would take turns on my old Chromebook trying to beat each level. it was very fun. i forgot about it for awhile then came back to it and beat it fairly easily. but i have still only played the first chapter
Me when I love rocket jumping but NIGHTMARE hard caps my health to 50.
Yessss I wish I mentioned this in the video lol
How can Quake have a better legacy than Doom?, Quake itself is part of Dooms freakin' legacy!.
I suppose on a technical level Quake's legacy is bigger because every interation of idtech engines afterwards was an extension of it. But as a lore, it pretty much is a dead end at this point, whereas Doom's lore is ongoing.
great video, really hope well get something like Quake1 one day again. Ironwail is the best engine port and its also awesome in VR btw
I prefer Quake with evil cyborgs, tbh.
When I clicked I wasn't sure if you'd be complaining about the difficulty of nightmare, or saying exactly what you said.
I bought Quake and have been loving it! I beat the first campaign, and I started on Nightmare mode. My thoughts were that, huh this is surprisingly easy, I wonder if gamers have just gotten better over the years.
Now hearing about the fire rate it totally makes sense! I'm excited to give it a replay on Hard and make my own conclusion. Thanks for the video!
@@BrapStephens thanks for the comment!
hey! i was the guy who made the post on the very left in 5:10!
lmaooo that was my favorite of the three so congrats!
@@blunderly really good vid btw, ima sub
Great video from a man named blunderly🔥🔥
Quake was my favorite game of all time for quite some time, everything about It is awesome, the visuals, music, atmosphere and etc... Well anyway, my keyboard didn't work properly, so instead WASD, i used the arrows(the movement was still cut jn half), i beat the game in the nightmare dificulty in 4 days, playing 2 hours in each.
Not quite "easy", buy i expected more after finishing DOOM I, II and several other WADs.
I'm glad they didn't touch the enemie's HP, it's honestly Not the best way to make a game harder, and it's also quite interesting how modern DOOM plays more similiarly to Quake than Classic DOOM.
i've never even heard the term boomer-shooter but if i were a video game it'd probly be that.
@@Lanooski I think you’re right you old hag
Were nu-metal and homework that bad of a combo, I wouldn't have gone through highschool and most of university.
I’m more of a Doom fan personally (partly because I prefer the hitscan weapons and partly because I really like the massive chaotic fights that Doom does best), but I can definitely appreciate and enjoy Quake.
Side note: now I’m wondering how a Quake version of a Tyson map would work or if that would even be fun to play. It works in Doom because your punch is pretty good once you find berserk, but idk Quake well enough to have thoughts about it
0:09 I really wish Quake Champions didn't decline as much as it did. I loved that game so much (still do), and it along with Doom (2016) are what got me into arena shooter genre (technically I was introduced when I was like 5-7 to Q3 and Q4, but QC is really what got me into it 12 years later). It sucks that it got kneecapped by a botched/messy launch and that id software as a whole continues to neglect it. Syncerror and a small team are still adding new content and balance tweaks every now and then but its fate still makes me sad
yeah I had low expectations going into Quake Champions and I loved it.
istg if quake 6 is just dashing and swapping weapons really fast
On nightmare you'd have to have almost full amount of ammo and shield if not your stuck in shitcreek without a paddle
> knows nothing about quake
> makes video about quake
@@NPC999 what makes you say that?
Yeah, what DOES make you say that?
what exactly would you do to fix nightmare
as it stands i like nightmare but agree its heavily flawed and could be more
my idea is to still keep enemies being faster in a way (move faster, attacks are quicker, more frequent attacks but not overly frequent, faster projectiles)
still keep their reduced pain, make them smarter and turn off either small health kits or medium health kits from spawning and same thing for ammo
@@krowta2062 I like the idea of a smarter AI or how the regular difficulty options work by adding puzzles/monsters into levels (tactfully).
@@blunderly yeah thats not a bad idea at all
Very well done video. If you keep doing this format you'll get more subs
Erm new blunderbuss upload??? Very nice!!!
I forgive you for using the texture filtering
@@satellaview_dev thank you I have learned a lot
Shub Niggurath came straight from Lovecraft lore - so its name is cool.
This is what upsets me with Doom 2016 and Eternal. They are Quake with doom skin on. I'd love those games way more if they had correct title on them.
1:11 "that thing like on the cereal box where you draw a line from the entrance to the exit" Yeah, that's called a maze. Really surprised you haven't heard of it. lol Quake 2's my favorite, and it's got its own set of nightmares. The id guys were just brilliant. Mostly. But I'm just wondering how I didn't know Reznor did the st. Guess I was too busy fraggin' Stroggs. That's a great st too.
Yeah that part was mostly for the bit. I like Doom's design but I think Quake improved on conveyance where getting lost felt more and more like your own fault. Part of that is just the verticality allowing for more condensed mazes with easier traversal, but also I'm biased because I've played Quake longer. Yeah the nail ammo pickups in Quake have the NIN logo on it lol it's pretty cool.
@@blunderly I knew you were joking with the maze bit btw.
nin (trent) also did all the sound effects, not just the ambient tracks.
time to replay quake
"wimp wanting easier games and complaining" should be the tite
I want nightmare to be more difficult lol I don’t think you watched it
@@blunderly if you want difficult go play any of the Doom games, especially on Doom 3, Quake is made for casual experience that's why it's so easy
William Murderface. That's all I see every time this video/thumbnail has popped up in my feed, and that's probably sacrilegious to Quake fans. I'm sorry.
I agree with the idea that players shouldn't be challenged by the game dynamics from simply increasing stat numbers. That obstacle is frequently too easy to surmount so it doesn't feel like an authentic boost to difficulty. If a friend tried to prank you with the exact same prank over and over, but all they changed was a cosmetic, how many times would you fall for the same trick?
Great retro review! Give us more :)
I don't think there's anything wrong with Nightmare being unfair
It's the top difficulty above Hard what's worse than hard? Unfair and the satisfaction of overcoming such a challenge is great
My favorite Nightmare challenge is definitely DOOM 3 it's a lot more fun on that difficulty
DOOM 3 Nightmare: no medkits you lose 5 health every few seconds until you get to 25 and enemies deal more damage but you have the soul cube for the whole campaign
I'd be totally fine with it being unfair, I think the issue is that it's actually easier and the 50 hp cut in the remaster is a very bandaid approach that doesn't alleviate the issues created by messing with the base health pool. I didn't know how the nightmare worked in those games, that does sound fun.
good vid
Im not the biggest fan of base quake but i love all the expansions and alot of the big mods.
Of course there's always the hot take that Doom Eternal is the real Quake 6, but for marketing. I suppose that's more an indication of the likelihood of a proper Quake followup than anything.
yea very on point with that. it’s a shame because ideally Id would continue to distinguish the two franchises by expanding on their original differences. I think everyone will agree at least in the multiplayer department that Quake feels pretty distinct and has untapped potential still.
Love Quake! Great video! We hope they'll make a solid Quake again one day. Be sure to check out our reimagined concept trailer and let us know if you like it or hate it!
I hope so too, and sick trailer brother
@@blunderly thanks! Unreal Tournament is next 😬
I just realized this is almost how DOOM Eternal plays now. Hmm..
I feel like qukae having better level design then the first fps to have any verticality is pretty obvious, but it still pains me that quake is often fogotten
Quake is my FPS love forever❤
7:43
Fukken based
you can tell some of ID had DND on their mind designing the levels of Doom 1 lmao. also the nightmare change in the remaster was strange because it includes Copper as an addon already
Yeah the inspo is clear lmaoo, even shows in Quake I think. Nightmare really suffered.
@@blunderly Copper is a good mod in other places because it makes changes that legitimately improve the experience like dead enemies no longer blocking shots or a shit ton of extra entities for mappers to use but it’s nightmare rebalance was overbearing. ogres having partial z-awareness so their able to adjust their aim also really hurts for muscle memory
@@jess648 Yeah making the AI "smart" is kinda annoying because the level design accounts for how the AI worked in vanilla. I like that ogres couldn't fire upwards, you have to focus on positioning.
@@blunderly i didn’t really notice that much of a difference with the other enemy types besides the death knight shooting slightly more often. enemies can still sometimes get stuck running towards you on a ledge if you’re below them
@@jess648 Enemies love to get stuck in Quake tbh no matter the port/mod so not totally shocked. Interesting.
I never gave enough credit to Quake 1's gameplay so thank you for this video. I was firmly in the Duke 3D camp since it was just so much more immersive despite the outdated tech of sprites in a pseudo-3D world. Quake 3 is what got me to give 1 a real try but I still didn't get it. It was just too brown, dungeon-y, and monotonous.
And I really liked Quake 2. I wonder if that game had been named Doom 3 would it have been received better?
Thanks! True I have tons of what-if's with the Quake franchise.
i wouldnt make my arch nemesis play episode 3 and 4, would feel bad for them
blunerly
5:49 Tell that to Nyarlathotep.
I can't even begin to pronounce that one lmao
@blunderly Shub-Niggurath is taken directly from one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, by the way. The whole aesthetic of Quake with all those castles and otherworldly dimensions is considered Lovecraftian.
@@blunderlyni-ar-lah-tho-tep
Id being forced to name their next game Quake 2 was the worst thing to ever happen to Quake
true wor would have gone so hard too
@@blunderlyYou know despite it being called that I still don't mind that existed it's still very good game hell with the all the expansions that's on in the remasters that's definitely the definitive game to play and then you can tell there's a lot of care with it yeah the game isn't perfect no game is but I respect it for what it is plus is a different take from Quake 1 which I honestly feel makes sense because of all the wackiness that happened in the expansions( DOE) so in a sense I feel like that game existing kind of makes sense in the Quake universe. And I'm all here for it plus Quake 2 did add a few more mechanics that aren't present in first game so respect is where it's at for it( if you do read this sir I would like to hear your opinion😊)
Geez, dude. I've never heard of your channel, but this came up in my recommends. You definitely come at this decades later and missed a lot of context. You give Quake a lot of credit where you shouldn't. Right from the start, "Finer details like Quake adding the ability to jump." That wasn't a monumental design decision for Quake, and DOOM's designers weren't just idiots who missed something obvious. In 1993, making a game like DOOM was already nearly impossible. The one developer who could make it happen, John Carmack, was in the right place at the right time. Non-orthoginal walls, different light levels per sector, and variable floor heights with unique floor and ceiling textures were already mind-boggling technical achievements. It's witchcraft that we got it at all on machines build for spreadsheets (PCs, using a 386 processor, were probably the worst gaming hardware available in 93), and beyond impressive that DOOM is just as fun today as when it released. In 96, when Intel Pentium processors were becoming common, a fully 3D world with jumping was the obvious next step, one that the same brilliant developer had been working on for three years, not a brilliant decision by game designers. John Carmack was not a game designer. He made engines, and then left it to the rest of the staff to make a game out of it. A lot of your criticism seems to come down to 3D good 2D bad, and I highly disagree. 3D good, but 2D also good. Creativity isn't necessarily in what you add, but in what you do within constraints. Both games faced a lot of constraints, in terms of hardware, time, money, and staff. DOOM had more constraints in each area. So long as you're missing this mark, you're being highly subjective and masking it in hand-waving objectivity.
Each of the points you raise about what makes Quake good were also true of DOOM. "The Genius of Quake" is an incremental increase from what was already established with DOOM, except Quake was thrown together at the last minute from a hodge-podge of unrelated maps so they'd have something to release. A result of having fewer constraints. You seem to be comparing Quake at its best with DOOM at its worst, or else you wouldn't be saying what you were to compare them. (Seriously? The soundtrack sucks because you didn't like one song? Absolutely no bangers in there? Really?)
- DOOM had memorable locations in its maps to help make navigation easier. Watch John Romero play through DOOM Episode 1 with IGN where he explains some of the design decisions.
- Id didn't "condense levels" in Quake to make them easier. They're condensed because the hardware in 96 couldn't handle anything bigger. Maps had to be trimmed to run at all. (See the updated E2M6 for a large chunk of the original map that was restored in the remaster.) Same reason why levels in DOOM are smaller than DOOM II. Hardware got better in 94. And yet they still have convoluted maps in both Quake and DOOM.
- They didn't get better with keys in Quake. DOOM already dangled carrots to show you what you were looking for.
- "Finding" and "reaching" aren't monumentally different. One is about the journey, the other is about the destination. They're part of the same design loop. You do both in both games.
- You keep saying "stumbling through corridors" about DOOM's maps, when DOOM has more outdoor areas than Quake and more wide open areas. You're stumbling through corridors moreso in Quake. Just because levels could have floors over floors doesn't mean they did. Lots of corridors in there.
- DOOM also teaches weapon and monster mechanics within the level design.
- DOOM's monsters did require you to "locomote", especially with the DOOM II arsenal (mancubi, revanants, arch-viles, pain elementals). Some surround you in melee range, some use hitscan from afar, and some throw projectiles. Some have to hit you directly, some can hit you with splash damage. Many of DOOM's monsters also had both melee and ranged attacks. Combat changes based on the types of enemies, the verticality of the environment, and the weapons, ammo, and items available.
- On higher difficulties, monster and item placement also changes on DOOM, which does necessitate a change in strategy.
I could go on, because it's literally every point you make to compare them that misses the mark. But the thing is, you like Quake more. And that's fine! I've sunk hundreds of hours into Quake myself since 96. From DOS to WinQuake to GLQuake to many source ports and different platforms. I even have all the achievements on multiple platforms, so I've definitely spent a lot of time in the remaster too. The majority of my time in Quake was single player, but I also sank a couple hundred hours into multiplayer over the years. It doesn't bother me that you like Quake. It bothers me that to say you like Quake you criticize DOOM when literally all of your criticisms are misrepresentations. I get it, welcome to UA-cam 2024 when everything has to be controversial to get clicks and create engagement. And here I am feeding the algorithm as we speak. But come on. DOOM is objectively a great game, whether its your cup of tea or not. You don't have to say otherwise to say that Quake is worth playing.
Okay, now that I've written a novel, UA-cam will just delete my comment. Carry on, I guess.
I do believe in the idea that good things can be born of technical limitations. Even if Id's intent isn't why something in Quake is the way it is, that doesn't negate the effectiveness of it? I like how it's condensed, whether intentional or not.
This isn't really a video meant to tackle why Quake is better than Doom or something like a Sequelitis, simply to appreciate Quake for what it is with some light comparisons to Doom at best. I still think it's easier to get lost in Doom than Quake, but I do agree that distinct areas were more prevalent in Doom. Bigger levels makes it easier to get lost in general, but I admit I hyperbolized the maze aspect of Doom. It's really not that bad once you get adjusted, I just think Quake's verticality makes adjusting to that nowadays easier.
If I say Quake does something more (or better) like with the keys, that doesn't mean Doom didn't do it at all. It's refining versus inventing. Also, it is just my opinion. I love both games.
And I do like the soundtrack of Doom. There are many examples in it that are effective at matching the feel of levels. That was just an example of one that didn't work for me. I don't have to say I dislike Doom to say I like the direction Quake was going with the Doom formula. Both are exceptional games. I appreciate your time leaving the comment, it's given me a lot to think about with my biases and understanding that I'm coming to the games as an infant basically. But I disagree with what you assume about me just needing clicks or implying that I'm grifting or something.
@@blunderly First, I want to thank you for your thoughtful reply. I am surprised UA-cam didn't delete my comment, and I'm happy it didn't. I appreciate your perspective. And I'm sorry if my comment offended you personally in any way. Contrary to what my comments may have sounded like, I wasn't trying to imply or assume that you said what you said for clicks, just that the way it came across, which really does seem like a list of things that Quake did well and DOOM didn't, got engagement, and that's why UA-cam recommended it to me.
I'm happy to hear you like both. That didn't come across in the video, but, as I said, this is the first video of yours I've seen. Maybe you shared your opinion of DOOM in another video, or videos. I don't have that context, and this video made it seem like you were upset with the praise that DOOM received and didn't think it deserved it, while Quake did. I disagreed, so I shared my view.
I more than agree that good can come of technical limitations. It wasn't idly that I said, "Creativity isn't necessarily in what you add, but in what you do within constraints." Constraints and limitations are what creativity needs. I do agree that Quake did well within the limitations of level size. My biggest disappointments with Quake (speaking as someone who waited patiently for its release and then stormed the local software stores for the shareware CD) was in how it lacked any cohesion, and played like Id didn't learn anything from the successes and failures of DOOM. It felt like 60% of what made DOOM great, and then Id figured the 3D paint job made up for the rest. Maybe a slightly unfair modern parallel with help illustrate how it felt in 1996, but if DOOM was Lord of the Rings, Quake was The Hobbit. They had too much success with DOOM and it got to their heads. Quake was a mess. I was a teenager when I formed that opinion and still carry it to this day.
To be honest, I still consider Quake a poor game in comparison. However, and this may cause further controversy, I think Quake is the best of the trilogy. (I say trilogy because Id made 1-3. Quake 4 was made by Raven. I honestly really like Quake 4. But it's not an Id game, so I'm not comparing it here.) Quake 2 was much too clunky, and too ambitious for my tastes. (I just played the full game again last month, with all its expansions, in the remaster. By the end, I was really just counting down the levels until I could be done and move on with my life.) And I honestly hated Quake 3. This is with the context for the mid to late 90s when Id was no longer the only kid on the FPS block. Games like Blood, Half-Life, and Unreal Tournament far surpassed Id's work by the time Quake 3 came out.
I think the tech of Quake really kept it alive, while the design did not. (I'm specifically referring to the disjointed nature of the sci-fi and Lovecraftian themes. The game didn't know what it wanted to be because no one was taking charge of the overall design. Map makers just did whatever they wanted. Some liked tech bases and slipgates. Some liked horror. And then they slapped everything together and called it a game.) And I know you'll disagree with me. That's fine. We don't need to agree. I still have fun with it, but I think it could have been so much more than it was. That said, there are some areas where Quake absolutely excelled.
I think that the physics, multiplayer, WASD + mouselook, modding, and 3D acceleration in Quake (noting that VQuake and GLQuake were not available upon release) really did a lot for FPS as a genre and gaming as a whole. Much of the world doesn't appreciate how influential these aspects were. (I will note that DOOM created deathmatch, supported WASD + mouse from release, and was built with mod support. But each of these were more limited. And Quake did more than a slight bump up in each of these.) Rocket jumping and bunny hopping are huge. Not an intentional design decision, but great for the feel and free-form nature of movement (and exploiting these movement mechanics did a lot to popularize speed-running on the web). Fast and smooth 16 player online multiplayer was huge. (Thank you, QuakeWorld.) Defining our modern WASD + mouselook first-person control scheme was huge. (Although, to be fair, that came from deathmatch players sharing their control schemes. Quake didn't have any option in the menus to enable mouselook. That had to be done with console commands and cfg file tweaks.) Having deep support for modding basically everything about the game was huge. Assets could already be changed in DOOM, but QuakeC allowed modders to change the very nature of the game completely. And the mods created new deathmatch modes, new genres, new full games, and launched many careers. Being among the first games to support 3D acceleration cards really did a lot to legitimize the hardware, and having a killer app made it more financially viable to mass produce. Back then, 3D accelerators were add-on cards. You had a video card for 2D. You had to buy a separate accelerator card (or cards) for 3D. And it didn't make sense why you would do that until there were games to support it.
I honestly love the influence Quake has had on modern gaming. I will never diminish that. And I still have fun with the game. I especially liked the Dimensions of the Machine add-on that Machine Games did for the remaster. But in terms of design, I still think DOOM is a superior game. So this video pushed a lot of buttons for me in a negative way.
I appreciate that you took the time to read and respond to my thoughts. This is definitely my own opinion. And I really don't know many who share it, if anyone. But I appreciate talking about these games. They still mean a lot to me. And I appreciate being able to discuss them thoughtfully with others. So thank you.
I also didn't notice when I first watched this video how small your channel is. Who says The Algorithm doesn't recommend small channels? Congrats on breaking 1000 subs! I hope you have more success!
In hindsight, I feel bad about using that LotR/Hobbit analogy without context as I did. I feel that I need to say I actually like The Hobbit trilogy, while most people don't. It's not nearly as good as LotR, but I still enjoy it. So when I compare the two, I'm comparing them based on how I feel about them, not how others feel. Some people loath The Hobbit. And if you do, that's not what I meant by comparing DOOM and Quake. I only wanted to illustrate that Id came off a high and let it get to their heads. And Quake isn't as good as it could have been because of it.
I’m not offended by your comments, I appreciate them! I upload videos to talk about games like this so it’s fun for me and thanks for taking time out of your day to watch and analyze my vid. Just wanted to clarify my intent mostly. To be honest I’ve only made like two videos discussing games like this so I’m still learning and Id Software history is difficult to tackle so I definitely can concede on some of your points. I agree Id let a lot get to their heads, Quake is a messy game and there’s a reason Id sort of fell apart after it. It’s why I left the video off mentioning how it has a lot of untapped potential so I’m definitely with you on how it’s thematically jumbled. Doom is the more refined experience and most people will probably agree with that. Thanks again for the discussion and the well wishes! I hate how UA-cam is with comments, glad it didn’t get rid of yours.
Omg I've never felt so seen. It's like you read my thoughts and put them into actual words about why I prefer Quake to Doom.
@@Schraiber you get me
Cool video. By the way, what's your opinion on shamblers? Do you think they have fur? And what's the song in the end?
Me All Mighty - Yabadum
Shambler gotta have fur for sure and thanks!