OS/2 e-Zine! - Quake for OS/2

Quake for OS/2 - by Colin L. Hildinger

Moral Repercussions of an Illegally Ported Game

If you haven't at least heard of Quake by now, much less seen or played it, crawl out from under your rock and check it out. Quake is id software's first game based on their third generation 3D game engine. Their first 3D game, Wolfenstein 3-D, was popular, but their second generation game, Doom, is probably the most popular computer game ever. Quake was anticipated for several years before its release and provides a level of detail and realism superior to any existing 3D action game. Released in mid 1996, Quake has been a mega-hit. The original versions were for DOS, but id has since ported Quake to Windows 95, Linux, and AIX.

CrackDotCom

After its original release, id loaned a company called CrackDotCom the source code to Quake for Linux, version 1.01. This source code was to be used to port Quake to other platforms (Linux and AIX). Some unknown hackers broke into CrackDotCom's server, put this source code on CrackDotCom's web server and edited CrackDotCom's web page so that anyone who wanted it could download the source code. Even though the source code was only available for a short period of time, it quickly spread across the Internet. Anyone who wanted it, could (and probably still can) download the source code to Quake for Linux, version 1.01. This code has been used to make a number of unsanctioned ports of Quake, including a semi-functional Java Quake (JQuake has since been taken down because they were using a deathmatch level only available in the registered version of Quake -- they will probably be reposting it with a new level and new models sometime in the future), AmigaQuake, Quake for Mac and Quake for OS/2.

Quake for OS/2

Using the source code to Quake for Linux, version 1.01, an anonymous programmer ported Quake to OS/2 with the EMX libraries. EMX speeds porting of Unix programs to OS/2, so this skilled programmer was able to port the basic functionality fairly easily.

This original port had some limitations, though. First, it only supported 320x200 video mode. This was rather annoying to those with fast computers and video cards who were used to playing Quake at resolutions of 640x480. Second, it didn't support joysticks. While most people agree that the mouse is the best input device to use for playing Quake, there are users who, for one reason or another, want to play Quake with a joystick.

If the port was so limited, why would anyone want to play Quake for OS/2 if they could play Quake for DOS under OS/2? The answer is simple: network play.

Quake for OS/2 supports OS/2's TCP/IP stack. Quake for DOS will run on most people's OS/2 systems without any problems and it will let you play two player games over modems. Unfortunately though, for TCP/IP games it requires the Beame & Whiteside TCP/IP stack, a commercially available product for DOS.

Even though some people made the B&W dialer and TCP/IP stack illegally available over the Internet for some time, there were still issues to playing Internet games of Quake with it. First, the copy of B&W that was available was illegal and eventually sites with the file available for download were forced to remove it. Second, it was difficult to set up. Many people couldn't make it work at all. Third, it tied up your modem, so while you were using the B&W dialer, you couldn't have access to the Internet through OS/2's TCP/IP stack.

Quake for OS/2 solved all these problems. OS/2 users were now able to log onto Internet Quake servers all over the world and launch rockets at each other.

Quake for OS/2 was distributed over the IRC channels and soon ended up on a number of public OS/2 download sites. OS/2 users were quick to download it and try it out. Many complained that it should support higher resolutions and joysticks; many complained that the networking support wasn't good enough; and many wondered who the author was. But most were glad that someone had taken the time to port Quake to OS/2.

Several weeks after the initial release, a second version appeared which supported higher resolutions and seemed to play a little smoother over the Internet. Most OS/2 users were happy with this, but there was an ongoing debate in the OS/2 usenet groups: should OS/2 users download and play an unsanctioned and probably illegal port of Quake?

The Debate

Early on people seemed to be confused about the nature of the Quake port. Some people referred to it as a patch to let the DOS version of Quake run under OS/2. This was inaccurate. In order to understand this, you need to understand that Quake itself is consists of two parts. The most important part is the Quake executable. This is the game's engine which handles the I/O and rendering calculations. The rest of the game consists of data files containing information such as the levels and the monsters.

The Quake executable was ported to OS/2, but with just the executable itself, you cannot play Quake. You must have the levels, and the levels are what id sells. The Quake executable can be freely downloaded from id's FTP and web sites for any of the supported platforms. Like the OS/2 executable, these executables will do you no good without levels to play.

This said, it's hard to understand why some people have been so upset about the porting of Quake. The odds that the person that ported Quake to OS/2 is the same person that stole it from Id's site are nearly zero. This person probably didn't really have to do any work on the actual 3D engine to make it work using EMX, so I doubt that he stole any of Id's 3D rendering technology for use on his own projects. I haven't heard a lot of people complaining about the Java Quake that was written from the source code, even though it required much more analysis of the code than the EMX port of the original C code.

People who wish to play Quake under OS/2 still have to buy Quake from id, so the OS/2 Quake has likely expanded id's market somewhat. In short, the port is only unethical in the very strictest since that it was written with stolen code which was downloaded from the Internet. I suspect that somewhere John Carmack (president of id) smiled when he heard that he'd make a few thousand more dollars because an anonymous OS/2 programmer ported his software to OS/2 and he didn't even have to pay him to do it.

Conclusion?

In the end, the debate is probably irrelevant. The certain fact is that Quake is extremely popular worldwide and no less so with OS/2 users. Right or wrong, OS/2ers have been given the chance to enjoy a pleasure id Software denied them, and they are taking it. And since it is making them money, this is probably something that id will gladly turn a blind eye to.

Quake
by id Software
MSRP: US$45.00 (CD only)

Quake for OS/2
by Anonymous Developer(s)
Registration: Free upgrade for Quake owners

Colin Hildinger is an Aerospace Engineering senior at Oklahoma State University and has been using OS/2 for the last 3 years. In addition to being the Games Editor for OS/2 e-Zine!, he maintains The Ultimate OS/2 Gaming Page and the AWE32 and OS/2 Page in his "spare" time.

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