Quake Tips Menu || Intro || Setup || Movement || Aiming || Combat || Attitude
Setup and Controls Graphics Spend some time tweaking your graphics/sound setup. Adjust the graphics settings to give you the maximum frames per second possible without it looking TOO ugly - for example, reduce the resolution, colour depth and texture quality, switch off pretty effects like dynamic lighting and shadows - that kind of thing. This can mostly be done through the menus. It's impossible to tell you precisely the settings to use because it varies depending on your computer, graphics card, etc. However, I would recommend the following procedure to get the best trade-off: 1. Start with the best possible settings. 2. Type timedemo 1. 3. In Quake 2 type demomap demo1.dm2, in Quake 3 type /demomap demo002.dm3. 4. A demo will play at the maximum possible speed and you will be given an frames per second (fps) score at the end. Note this down and then adjust one aspect of your graphics setup. For example, lower the resolution by one scale. (Please note that you can check your fps while playing in Quake 3 by typing /seta cg_drawFPS 1. See the screenshot below). 5. Rerun the fps test and note how much the fps gain is. If it's significant then make the change permanent and test the next item. If it makes little difference then keep the setting switched on. I would recommend starting with switching off dynamic lighting (menu in Quake 3 or the gl_dynamic 0 command in Quake 2), then altering the screen resolution to find the optimum and then moving on to the texture quality and other pretty effects.
Everyone should have a proper 3D graphics card by now so I doubt most people will have any trouble with Quake 2 to be honest. In the Quake 2 section you can check out my config to see precisely what I do to get the best trade-off. As far as Quake 3 goes you really need a monster machine to play with the highest settings. Because the frames per second rating is so vital in Quake 3 many top players use the ugliest settings possible to squeeze every last extra frame they can. For a long time I played with pretty decent graphics but I've now abandoned that and use some very ugly ones, which you can find in the config section. I would recommend The (Aqua) Upsetchaps Quake 3 Guide, which is really the definitive source of advice on Quake 3 graphics and connections. You can take settings from there and paste them into your autoexec.cfg file. Simple. If you're still struggling then another useful site for Quake 3 graphics advice can be found here. Another tip is to check out Shugashack for some dll files that can increase your fps by 10-15 fps. There are no new ones yet for v1.30 so I'll update a link when they're done, but the 1.27 version ones might still have an effect. If getting good fps means playing the game without nice textures then do it. Aim for 50 FPS at the very least! It might look pretty all switched on but you'll only end up frustrated. Keys Next up, you need decent controls. Standard practice is to use the mouse in your right hand with left mouse for fire and mouse wheel to cycle the weapons. This is set up as default. Next, the keys to use are EDSF with SPACE for jump. Set E and D as move forward and backward, respectively, and S and F as sidestep left and right. It is essential to have the keys in this four key shape for smooth movement - no one's ever come up with a better layout. I also use V to crouch and SHIFT to walk. Weapon Hot Keys Another advantage of using the EDSF setup is that you have keys available around the main movement keys for weapon hot keys. These will speed up weapon changes so that the right weapon for the job is just a close keypress away. The command for weapon selection is weapon which takes a value from 1-0. For Quake 3, my personal setup, in my autoexec.cfg file is: /bind a "weapon 4;weapon 5" // Rocket Launcher or Grenade Launcher if you don't have it. For Quake 2, my personal setup is very complicated indeed because I have it tied in with a teamplay weapon drop system. I explain this in my Quake 2 Bind Writing section. At a basic level, though, you can use the following setup for Quake 2: bind a "use grenade launcher;use rocket launcher" // GL or RL if you have it If you have a mouse wheel then use that too: bind mwheelup "use machinegun;use chaingun" Obviously the keys in question are down to personal preference. Two or more commands must be separated with a semicolon. Above I've put two weapons in some lines. It's the second one that's selected if available. In Quake 3 there's a bug in the game where you can select a weapon without ammo. Quake 2 works more effectively in that if you run out of rockets and press "A" then the GL would be selected instead. That doesn't work in Quake 3 unfortunately. Mouse and Mousepad Another point, make sure you have a decent mouse - the standard £5.00 jobbies that come with computers you buy are useless for Quake and with the hours you'll put in they won't be comfortable either. Buy a new Logitech Mouseman or maybe one of the new Microsoft Intellieye ones that no longer have a ball. A branded one anyway. Next buy a good mousepad. The standard foam ones are alright for tinkering in Windows but for precision control you should get a 3M Precise Mousing Surface or an Everglide. These seem expensive at £8.00 and £15.00 respectively but their surfaces are specially designed for better grip and you can feel the difference and improved control when you play. The black Everglide is particulary good for the new optical mice, which can have problems on some surfaces. I am now using the Logitech USB Mouseman Optical with a black Everglide at the moment.
This is the mouse I use. Mouse Sampling Rate If you have an old computer with a Serial mouse (wide oblong connector with 9 or so holes) then stop reading, this won't help. Likewise if you're using a USB mouse (thin line connector) forget it - your sampling rate is already around 120Hz. However, if you're a PS2 mouse user (circular connector with 7-8 pins) then you can vastly improve the smoothness of your mouse by using a program called PS2Rate. This is freeware (get it from my resources page). Standard sampling rate (the rate at which Windows reads the movement of your mouse) is 40Hz. With PS2Rate you can whack this straight up to 200Hz which is even smoother than a USB mouse. In Quake terms this means that you can very noticeably move and aim more smoothly. If you have the option of USB or PS2 then it is difficult to advise which is best and this is argued about by many people. The 200 Hz rate you can get is almost twice the USB rate but it is less stable and can fluctuate quite widely. The USB rate is rock solid on 120Hz. I now use USB. Sensitivity There's a command in the menu to select the sensitivity of your mouse. This is very important and requires a lot of tuning. Too low and you won't be able to turn quick enough in combat. Too high and you'll have trouble aiming and your crosshair will shoot straight past target. Tweak! If you're interested I use the command directly in my autoexec.cfg file and use a value of 13 for Quake 3 and 6.55 for Quake 2 (note that the same sensitivity in Quake 3 is x2 the Quake 2 sensitivity). However my settings are academic because it depends on your mouse and a whole host of other factors. I discuss this further in the aiming section. OK, now your wallets a bit lighter, you've twiddled the settings and spent ages reassigning keys. Now you're ready to actually play the game!
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Contact Information - E-Mail: REViLLA, ICQ: 21345065 Site Created on 1 January 2000. All Content, Design and Graphics by REViLLA.
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