Thursday, February 22, 2007

Phear my 133t Dre@mcast Skillz!!!!!!!!!

...Yeah not really...

So anyways I was checking to see if I could use my meager skills to play full version Quake on my dreamcast.

I was inspired by a dreamcast junkyard post in which it was discovered that a copy of Quake turned out to be just the shareware version.

There are actually many different little setups that will allow you to play Quake on your Dreamcast.

Sadly the only one that has full hardware accleration (and looks the best) is QuakeDC. You can get the shareware version of it along with a bunch of SP maps at DCevolution. That also comes with copies of HexQuake (remake of QuakeDC) and Makaquake and covers for your disk and stuff. (use explore when you use the CD in your computer)

If you have the full version of Quake at home you can play it on your dreamcast using HexQuake or Makaqu. Here's the damn twist though...

It's easy to burn both of these using bootdreams, but...

Both versions are sort of a pain to use music on. You can use Joymenu and a Quake sound pack to install music on the directory you are going to use bootdreams on. It's a pain. The only version that you don't have to dick around with this stuff is the .CDI that only has shareware.

Hexquake LOOKS awesome. But no mouse support. None. It never will. Long story.

Makaqu has mouse support, but no hardware acceleration. So it doesn't look as good.

The DC controller with keyboard does a decent job. But I LOVE mouse support for FPS.

So you have three choices!

1. The easy path of going to the above link, burning a copy and having fun playing shareware Quake and a ton of little deathmatches against bots. NO MOUSE SUPPORT. Looks awesome because of hardware accel.

2. Burn Hexquake and screw around trying to get the music to work and getting the files off the original quake for Full version play. NO MOUSE SUPPORT. Looks great because of hardware acceleration.

3. Burn Makaqu Screw around with music. Get full version play. Mouse is supported. Feel slightly dissapointed that you can't get full graphic smoothness because it is software accelerated.

So as you can see there is no perfect solution to this situation...

The easiest I found was to get Hexquake and use it with the full version without music. Painless, looks great. You can always get used to the controll and play music on a nearbye boombox.

However I think I am going to end up editing a Makaqu disk for full version quake and music. It will be a pain, but I will have my DC mouse support and music. It may not look as good and seamless but the damn gameplay is kick ass and the music really adds to the game!

1 comment:

fatherkrishna said...

Man! You got skills! I don't know how to download any of this shit!

But I want it all! OK man we have to devise a system... You do the technical stuff, mail it to me and then I will reciprocate in any way you see fit... Sweet!