[Installation Steps] [Installation Notes] [Configuration and Console Commands] [Performance] [Known Issues]

VQuake

VQuake, or Vérité-accelerated Quake, was the first 3D-accelerated version of Quake. It's the reason I bought a Screamin' 3D card back when they were first released. It's the reason the words "Rendition" and "Vérité" produce warm feelings in my heart that remind me of Christmas.  

As a native port, VQuake specifically takes advantage of hardware features in the v1000 chips, but will also work on v2x00 chips. It provides many of the features found in GLQuake such as bilinear filtering, which eliminates the appearance of square pixels, especially up close. The most noticeable difference from GLQuake is VQuake's inability to display transparent water surfaces. VQuake, however, does contain at least one feature not available anywhere else -- anti-aliasing, which sharpens (straightens) otherwise jagged lines and particles. VQuake is also a DOS-based program which will run in Win95.

Installation Steps

[Installation Notes] [Configuration and Console Commands] [Performance] [Known Issues]

1) Get vq108b1-1.zip.
2) Unzip the vq95.bat and vquake.exe files into your \Quake directory.
3) If you have a v1000 card, unzip spd3d.uc into your \Quake directory
4) If you have a v2x00 card, unzip spd3d.uc2 into your \Quake directory.
5) Run vquake.exe to play, or vq95.bat if you want to use TCP/IP in Win95 for networking or Internet play.

Installation Notes

[Installation Steps] [Configuration and Console Commands] [Performance] [Known Issues]

First, you must upgrade Quake to version 1.06 before VQuake will work. You can download the 1.06 patch from id. You may also need the latest drivers from your card manufacturer.

Because VQuake is a DOS program, if you run it from Win95, you may need to customize your shortcut and command line.

When you create the shortcut to either vquake.exe or vq95.bat, you may want to make the following changes to your shortcut properties:

1) Move the idle sensitivity slider to the lowest setting.
2) Uncheck "Allow Screen Saver".
3) Uncheck "Dynamic Memory Allocation" (unless you're doing something in the background).
4) Check "Fast ROM Emulation".
5) Uncheck "Protected" under memory settings.
6) Check "Uses HMA" under memory settings.
7) Make sure your Quake directory is specified as the "Working" directory.

In addition, you may want to use the -winmem command line parameter to ensure that VQuake gets assigned enough memory. It is usually a good idea to specify at least half of your physical RAM. For instance, this is the command line I use:

C:\Games\Quake\VQUAKE.EXE -winmem 32 -nojoy -nocdaudio
or
C:\Games\Quake\VQ95.BAT -winmem 32 -nojoy -nocdaudio

My \Quake directory is in my \Games directory, VQuake is being assigned 32 megs (I have 64 megs RAM), no joystick is  used (polling for the joystick can eat up CPU cycles), and I do not want any CD music (polling for the CD eats up CPU cycles also).

Console Commands

[Installation Steps] [Installation Notes] [Performance] [Known Issues]

Hit the "~" key to pull down the console and type one of the following commands, then hit <Enter>.

Alternately, you can put these parameters into a .CFG file where they will automatically be executed each time you run Quake. A basic tutorial for .CFG files is present here.

These are only a few select commands that are directly related to performance. For a more complete console command list, check here or here.

r_antialias (0-7; default 0)
This will antialias (sharpen the definition) for one or more of the following entities:
1 = world
2 = objects
4 = particles

In addition, you may add the values together.  For instance, "r_antialias 5" would antialias the world and particles, and "r_antialias 7" would antialias everything.  The more antialiasing done, the slower your game will run.

r_waterwarp (0 or 1, default 1)
This command enables (1) or disables (0) the warping effect when under water (or lava).   This choice is mostly a matter of preference in single-player, but disabling the waterwarp can make you more competitive in multiplayer as it easier to see without the normal haze-effect.  In single-player, I prefer to keep waterwarp enabled (1) because it seems more realistic.

r_surfacelookup (0 or 1, default 1)
This parameter determines whether the Vérité (value = 1) or the CPU (value = 0) should translate textures into 16 bit format.  On slower systems (<P200), I think the value should definitely be left at 1 (Vérité).  On faster systems, you may get higher framerates with the CPU.  However, several users have reported more steady frame rates using the Vérité. Your results may vary at different resolutions or under different conditions.

r_refreshrate (any number greater than 1.0, default 60)
This determines the refresh rate in Hz for fullscreen modes (windowed play will use the desktop refresh rate).  Invalid values will give the next lowest available refresh rate, with a minimum of 60Hz.  You will need to restart Quake or switch video resolutions before this takes effect.  Higher values may cause slower performance.  I usually see subtle horizontal "waves" in my screen if I don't set the refresh to at least 75Hz.

d_mipscale (0-10?; default 1.0)
It seems that increasing this setting reduces texture detail for distant objects (wall, ceiling, floor textures, and some items only - not players, monsters, and other items). In other words, a setting of 2.0 means that your distance vision is twice as bad. Can you say "near-sighted"? A setting of "0" means that full-resolution textures will always be used, even for very distant objects. Try a setting of "0" and watch how much your system slows down when running through open areas!

d_mipcap (0-3, default 0)
Similar to "d_mipscale". However, the textures are just lower res period. If you want a higher frame rate, this is the one baby! Although walls are blurry, high settings here could make you more competitive. Why? First, because of the higher frame rates. Second, enemies and many items stand out in stark contrast to the blurred surroundings. It's pretty ugly, but getting fragged is even uglier.

d_bilerp (0 or 1; default 1)
Setting this to "0" disables bilinear filtering, which will bring back the pixels. Not much effect on speed.

d_dither (0 or 1; default 1)
Setting this to "0" disables dithering. Dithering is used to simulate colors not in the palette. Without dithering, color transitions are not as smooth. Minimal effect on speed.

d_wamp (0-?; default 7)
Sets the amplitude of the water-warping effect.

d_wfreq (0-?; default 12)
Sets the frequency of the water-warping effect.

Performance

[Installation Steps] [Installation Notes] [Configuration and Console Commands]

For comparison purposes, I conducted benchmarks using my system. VQuake ran at 29.7 fps at 640x480 with all the default options and the following command line:

C:\Games\Quake\VQUAKE.EXE -winmem 32 -nojoy -nocdaudio

r_antialias 1 27.0 fps (sharpen world)
r_antialias 2 29.2 fps (objects)
r_antialias 3 26.5 fps (world, objects)
r_antialias 4 29.5 fps (particles)
r_antialias 5 27.0 fps (world, particles)
r_antialias 6 29.1 fps (objects, particles)
r_antialias 7 26.4 fps (all three)

320x200 55.7 fps
320x240 47.2 fps
384x288 45.9 fps
400x300 44.9 fps
512x384 37.0 fps
640x400 33.2 fps
640x480 29.7 fps (baseline value)
720x400 32.7 fps
720x480 27.7 fps
768x576 23.3 fps
856x480 25.1 fps

r_waterwarp 0 34.8 fps (no water-warping)

r_surfacelookup 0 30.9 fps (uses CPU instead of Vérité for texture conversion)

d_mipscale 0 19.0 fps
d_mipscale 1 29.7 fps (default /baseline setting)
d_mipscale 2 31.9 fps
d_mipscale 3 32.6 fps
d_mipscale 4 33.3 fps
d_mipscale 5 33.7 fps
d_mipscale 6 33.8 fps
d_mipscale 7 33.9 fps
d_mipscale 8 33.9 fps
d_mipscale 9 34.0 fps
d_mipscale 10 34.1 fps

d_mipcap 1 32.4 fps
d_mipcap 2 33.9 fps
d_mipcap 3 34.3 fps

Note: it seems pointless to use d_mipscale and d_mipcap simultaneously. Using d_mipscale 10 in conjunction with d_mipcap 3 produced identical frame rates to using d_mipcap 3 alone.

Issues

[Installation Steps] [Installation Notes] [Configuration and Console Commands] [Performance]

"I just installed VQuake and it doesn't run."
Make sure you've upgraded Quake to version 1.06.

"VQuake gives me an error that mentions something about a gfx.wad"
Make sure your shortcut has your Quake directory listed as the "Working" directory.

"When I run VQuake2, my graphics and colors are all wacky."
You must use a 16-bit desktop display setting (i.e. 65,000 colors) in order to run VQuake.

"I can't connect to the Internet or use TCP/IP."
You must use the vq95.bat file for those functions.

"I want to use VQuake with one of the mission packs."
Copy or edit the shortcut(s) that the mission pack created (usually in your Start Menu). In the command line, change quake.exe or q95.bat to vquake.exe or vq95.bat.

"Can I play QuakeWorld with VQuake?"
Unfortunately, QuakeWorld does not support VQuake.

"Why does my hard drive light stay on?"
Lots of memory is a good thing.  If you don't have at least 24megs of RAM, you may want to play VQuake from DOS. Just shut down from Win95 and re-boot to MS-DOS mode. Also, various add-on levels, mission packs, mods and conversions may have additional memory requirements. RAM is cheap. RAM is candy. Buy RAM.