Quake is a first person shooter that was released by id Software in 1996 for the Pc and the first video game in the popular Quake series of video games. It is considered the first true 3D FPS game, unlike DooM, which was actually 2.5D.
In the game, players must find their way out of various maze-like, medieval environments while battling a variety of monsters using a wide array of guns. The game's monsters were inspired by the creatures from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
The successor to id's Doom series, Quake built upon the technology and gameplay of its predecessor in many ways. Unlike the Doom engine before it, the Quake engine offered full real-time 3D rendering and early support for 3D acceleration through OpenGL.
Quake was programmed by John Carmack, Michael Abrash and John Cash. The level and scenarios were designed by American McGee, Sandy Petersen, John Romero and Tim Willits. The graphics were designed by Adrian Carmack, and Kevin Cloud. Music and sound design was by Trent Reznor, founder of Nine Inch Nails. The game engine developed for Quake, the "Quake engine", popularized several major advances in the 3D game genre: polygonal models instead of prerendered sprites; full 3D level design instead of a 2.5D map; prerendered lightmaps; and allowing end users to partially program the game (in this case with QuakeC), which popularized fan-created modifications or "mods".
After DooM helped popularize multiplayer deathmatches, Quake added various multiplayer options. Various multiplayer mods were developed including Team Fortress and Capture The Flag.
The game received much acclaim on release and its commercial success led to several sequels, starting with Quake 2, which abandoned the gothic stylings of the original for a science fiction theme. Because of this, Quake has since been recognized as one of the greatest achievements of the video game industry, influencing games that came after it, as well as the artforms of user mods and machinima.
