Two years ago, at Quake Con 2021, id Software and Nightdive Studios shadow dropped a remaster of the original Quake which was critically acclaimed for its features and meticulous polish. Two years later, id Software and Nightdive are at it again with an enhanced version of Quake II, available now for all platforms and the best part is that, if you already own Quake II on Steam, it's a free update.
Quake II is currently listed as 
Playable on Steam Deck, although that rating is from the original version so needs Valve to re-review it.
Here's a brief rundown from Bethesda's own launch page:
- Includes the original Quake II campaign plus both Mission Packs, The Reckoning, Ground Zero, plus the previously Nintendo 64-exclusive Quake II 64 and the brand-new Call of the Machine episode from MachineGames.
- Improvements to gameplay, including content restored from the original development, plus visual upgrades such as dynamic shadows, improved lighting, glow maps and more.
- Play local split-screen and online across four Multiplayer modes with crossplay functionality:
- Cooperative
- Deathmatch
- Team Deathmatch
- Capture the Flag
- Add AI opponents in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, explore the id Vault, enjoy improved co-op play and much more!
- Various accessibility additions.
Additional Editor note from Liam Dawe: giving it a run on Steam Deck with Proton 8 - it works out of the box. Thanks to Nightdive's upgrades it has the Vulkan API by default, and supports the Steam Deck's native 800p resolution too with controller support working perfectly. Even with the enhancements turned on appears to give really good performance too. Screenshots below:
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whoa that's awesome! Never played these old school shooters with a stick, might be difficult. But I'll give it a go on the deck!
1 Likes, Who?
From the screenshots, it looks like the enemy models have been updated too? Or am I just remembering my original play-through at 800x600?? 
4 Likes, Who?
From the screenshots, it looks like the enemy models have been updated too?It's hard to tell since on all screenshots above the enemies are quite a bit away from the player. The German version of the Steam page mentions polished models.
2 Likes, Who?
From the screenshots, it looks like the enemy models have been updated too? Or am I just remembering my original play-through at 800x600??They were updated from what I understand.
2 Likes, Who?
Tested it, can confirm it run flawlessly !
Yep, visuals had been updatedFrom the screenshots, it looks like the enemy models have been updated too? Or am I just remembering my original play-through at 800x600??They were updated from what I understand.
0 Likes
Luke_Nukem Aug 10, 2023
There's a huge amount of value-add in this. And yes all models were updated from the old vertex animations to skeletal animation - which removes the vertex-jumping you used to see.
Read the linked beths page for more info.
Read the linked beths page for more info.
1 Likes, Who?
Return to Castle Wolfenstein next, please..
6 Likes, Who?
Oorah!!!! Time to go back and kick more Strogg arse!!!
Return to Castle Wolfenstein next, please..And yes I totally second this!
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Consistently crashes here. (X, so gamescope won't work.)
The original works fine but is better played natively.
The original works fine but is better played natively.
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X, so gamescope won't work.
You've been living a world of lies. Gamescope works just fine on X.
4 Likes, Who?
What about the original version? Is it still available?
By the way, I still dream of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars being re-released on Steam.
By the way, I still dream of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars being re-released on Steam.
5 Likes, Who?
What about the original version? Is it still available?Steam presents the original game and expansions as launch options when you click "play."
2 Likes, Who?
whoa that's awesome! Never played these old school shooters with a stick, might be difficult. But I'll give it a go on the deck!
"Gyro and Trackpad" Nudge nudge, wink wink.
1 Likes, Who?
Looks like they released some of the source code: https://github.com/id-Software/quake2-rerelease-dll
5 Likes, Who?
TactikalKitty Aug 11, 2023
whoa that's awesome! Never played these old school shooters with a stick, might be difficult. But I'll give it a go on the deck!
Last Time I played this was using a keyboard. no mouse...just good old arrow keys, CTRL and ALT and annoying accidentally hitting the Windows key. Good times. Great memories!
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Fantastic. Quake 2 is a superb title and really raised the bar when it came out back in 1997. Its environments were rich and connected, there was much more attention paid to atmosphere, and the game played well. Comparing it to other games from 1997 and earlier, it was clearly a trendsetter.
1 Likes, Who?
6 Likes, Who?
Looks like they released some of the source code: https://github.com/id-Software/quake2-rerelease-dll
Looks like source code for it is out too!
That's just the code for the game dll – needed to make/update mods. Remember that Quake had the game code executed in a vm and then Quake 2 switched back to native code.
1 Likes, Who?
Return to Castle Wolfenstein next, please..I'd buy that in a heartbeat. Especially if it includes the multiplayer part. Such a good game - I still have the original box...
2 Likes, Who?
What about the original version? Is it still available?Enemy Territory was absolutely immense. It was the first arena game that I played that had actual roles/classes. Or at least, definitely the first one where those mattered, anyway.
By the way, I still dream of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars being re-released on Steam.
2 Likes, Who?
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