QuakeCore

A simple and clean version of the Quake source code, maintained here as the "QuakeCore" project. This repository contains the classic Quake engine sources using OpenGL rendering via SDL2; you still need valid Quake PAK files (for example pak0.pak inside an id1/ directory) to run the game data. The Shareware version works fine, or you can buy the full version on Steam.(QUAKE STEAM). This README explains how to build the project on common desktop platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows) using CMake and how to run the resulting executable.

License

See gnu.txt in the repository root. This source tree is distributed under the terms listed there (GNU GPL v2 as noted in the original release). You are responsible for owning a valid copy of the Quake PAK data files to use with this engine.

Requirements

• Supported platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows (the code uses SDL2 for audio/video/input and OpenGL for rendering, with CMake as the build system).
• A C compiler / toolchain (gcc/clang on Unix-like systems, MSVC or MinGW on Windows).
• CMake (minimum 3.16, newer is fine).
• A generator: make, Ninja, or an IDE/Visual Studio on Windows.
• SDL2 development libraries (required for audio/video/input). The package name varies by platform.
• OpenGL development libraries (required for rendering).
• Valid Quake PAK files (id1/pak0.pak at minimum). This project does not include the PAK files — place your id1/ directory next to the built executable or provide the path when running.

Platform-specific dependency hints

Debian/Ubuntu (Linux):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential cmake libsdl2-dev libgl1-mesa-dev

Fedora (Linux):

sudo dnf install @development-tools cmake SDL2-devel mesa-libGL-devel

Arch (Linux):

sudo pacman -Syu base-devel cmake sdl2 mesa

macOS (Homebrew):

brew update
brew install cmake sdl2

Windows (two common options):

• Visual Studio (recommended): install "Desktop development with C++" and CMake support; install SDL2 development files or use vcpkg to install SDL2.
• MSYS2/MinGW: open MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit shell and install packages:

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain mingw-w64-x86_64-cmake mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2

Build (out-of-source, cross-platform)

This repository uses CMake. We recommend an out-of-source build to keep generated files separate from the source tree. The examples below show common commands for each platform and generator.

General (single-config generators like Make or Ninja):

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -- -j$(nproc)

Note for macOS: $(nproc) may not be defined — use sysctl -n hw.ncpu or omit the parallel flag.

For multi-config generators (Visual Studio on Windows) specify the configuration when building:

# Example for Visual Studio (run in PowerShell or Developer Command Prompt)
cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Release

For Ninja (cross-platform):

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

Notes:

• For a Debug build use -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug (or --config Debug for multi-config builds).
• If you change critical CMake options, remove the build directory (or delete CMakeCache.txt) and reconfigure.
• On Windows, if you use MSYS2/MinGW, run the commands from the appropriate MinGW shell so the correct toolchain is picked up.

Running the executable

After a successful build the engine binary will be located in the chosen build directory. On Unix-like systems the binary is typically named QuakeCore, on Windows QuakeCore.exe.

Examples:

# Copy your id1/ directory next to the built binary and run from the build dir (Unix)
cp -r /path/to/id1 build/
cd build
./QuakeCore

On Windows (PowerShell / CMD):

# From project root (Visual Studio generator example)

# Copy your id1/ directory next to the built binary and run from the build dir
xcopy /E /I path\to\id1 build\Release\id1\
build\Release\QuakeCore.exe