Everything you need is in one download. The game, the engine, the mod, the settings, all bolted together and ready to run. No installer. No configuring. Nothing to look up. Unzip it and play.
▪THE INSTRUCTIONS
Hit the button above and unzip it anywhere you like. Desktop, Documents, a games drive, it does not matter. Nothing gets installed and nothing else on your PC gets touched.
The browser will ask for a username and password. Use
player as the username and get the password from Crow.
Open the folder and run:
ioquake3.x86_64.exe
Windows may show a blue "Windows protected your PC" box because the executable is unsigned. If you got the pack from the button above, click More info, then Run anyway.
Press ~ to open the console. That is the key left of the
1, above Tab. Type connect and then the address:
If ~ does nothing on your keyboard, which is common outside the US, forget the console. Go to Multiplayer → Specify in the menus and type the address there instead.
That is it. Everything else is already set up inside the pack.
Server / Game contains Arenas, Match Type and Gameplay. Only arenas use a levelshot; every other reference stays text-only with selection on the left and details on the right.
▪MAKE IT YOURS
All optional.
YOUR NAME, AND COLORING IT
Set it in Setup → Player, or from the console at any time, even mid match:
/name Crow
Quake 3 colors text with a caret followed by a digit. Everything after it takes that color until the next code:
/name ^1Crow /name ^1C^7row /name ^4x^5X^4x
Type directly in the colored name above. Select visible letters and click
a color to recolor them; the Quake ^N command underneath is generated automatically.
With no selection, a color applies from the caret to the next existing color change.
| CODE | COLOR | LOOKS LIKE |
|---|---|---|
| ^0 | Black | |
| ^1 | Red | |
| ^2 | Green | |
| ^3 | Yellow | |
| ^4 | Blue | |
| ^5 | Cyan | |
| ^6 | Magenta | |
| ^7 | White |
That is the whole palette. There is no ^8 or ^9, and if
you type one it shows up as literal text on the scoreboard.
If the caret will not type, which is normal on Spanish and
other Latin American layouts, it is a dead key waiting for a vowel. Press it and then
press space and you get a bare ^. Two presses in a row also works
on some layouts.
Color codes count toward the length limit even though they are invisible, so a heavily colored name has to be short.
PICKING A CHARACTER
Setup → Player has a portrait you can click through. From the console it is two commands, because the head is separate from the body:
/model sarge /headmodel sarge
The 23 characters that come with the game:
anarki biker bitterman bones crash doom grunt hunter keel
klesk lucy major mynx orbb ranger razor sarge slash sorlag tankjr uriel visor
xaero
This server also carries a team color skin pack, so every one of those comes in seven colors. Add the color after a slash:
/model bones/black /headmodel bones/black
Colors: aqua black green orange pink white yellow. You
do not need to download anything, it arrives when you connect.
If somebody shows up as a plain default character, their game does not have that skin yet. It sorts itself out on their next connect.
CHAT, TAUNTS AND THE SCOREBOARD
| KEY | WHAT IT DOES |
|---|---|
| T | Chat to everybody. |
| Y | Chat to your team only. |
| TAB | Scoreboard. Hold it down. |
| ESC | Menu, and how you leave spectator mode. |
Color codes work in chat too, exactly the same way:
^1hello ^7everyone
For the taunt animation, bind it to something:
/bind MOUSE4 "+button3"
The bots here can hold short contextual conversations. They remember recent public chat, have stable personalities and biographies, and may pause a reply when combat demands their attention. Their contextual lines are AI-generated, so they can still misunderstand you or get a fact wrong.
SETTINGS WORTH CHANGING
None of this is required. Type them into the console, or put them in your config so they stick.
| COMMAND | WHAT IT DOES |
|---|---|
| /cg_fov 110 | Field of view. The default 90 is narrow and makes people circling you vanish off the edge of the screen. Most players use 100 to 120. |
| /com_maxfps 125 | Frame cap. 125 is traditional because of how Quake 3 handles jump physics at certain frame rates. |
| /cg_drawfps 1 | Frame rate in the corner. |
| /cg_lagometer 1 | A small graph showing whether stutter is your connection or your computer. |
| /sensitivity 5 | Mouse speed. Lower than you expect if you have come from a modern shooter. |
| /rate 25000 /snaps 40 /cl_maxpackets 100 |
Network settings. The defaults are tuned for 1999 modems and hold you back on anything since. |
| /cg_drawgun 0 | Hide the weapon model for a clearer view. |
| /bind F12 screenshotJPEG | A screenshot key. They land in the game folder under screenshots. |
| /team spectator /team free | Sit out and watch, then rejoin. |
▪IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
COMMON PROBLEMS, AND WHAT TO DO
| PROBLEM | WHAT TO DO |
|---|---|
| "Windows protected your PC" |
Expected. The file is unsigned and came off the internet. More info, then Run anyway. |
| Antivirus complains | Do not disable protection or add a broad exception. Confirm that you used the download button above, review the alert details, and ask Crow if you are unsure before allowing only this executable. |
| Stuck on "Awaiting challenge" |
Nothing is answering back. Nearly always the address or port typed wrong. Check it character by character. |
The ~ key doesnot open the console |
Common on non US layouts. Use Multiplayer → Specify from the menus instead. No console needed. |
| Cannot find the server address |
Check it character by character. If it still will not connect, the server is probably switched off. Ask Crow. |
Still stuck? Send Crow the exact wording of the error. Quake 3's messages look like nonsense but they are very specific, and the precise text usually gives the problem away immediately.