QuakeWorld
QuakeWorld is an update for the first textured three-dimensional first-person-shooter Quake that enhances its multiplayer features (namely TCP/IP support) to allow people with dial-up modems to achieve greatly improved responsiveness from Internet game servers. Modern broadband connections such as cable and DSL also benefit greatly from the improved network handling and game physics.Quake's network code (the part of the software that handles multiplayer gaming over a network) was designed for low-latency play over a LAN. The original Quake did not address the fact that Internet connections have generally much higher latency and packet loss compared to a LAN connection, and for most people, Quake was unplayable over the Internet.
QuakeWorld, written by John Carmack with help from John Cash and Christian Antkow, was released in December 1996. Further development was later taken over by David Kirsch (a.k.a. "Zoid" from Threewave, of CTF fame) and Jack 'morbid' Mathews. It included a useful program called QuakeSpy, written by Mathews, which later evolved into GameSpy. GameSpy ultimately owes its existence to the popularity of QuakeWorld and TeamFortress.
QuakeWorld's most important features include rewritten netcode (for entity prediction and delta compression) and rewritten physics (for air control). Entity prediction (also known as player prediction) allowed QuakeWorld clients to compensate for high latency, thus allowing dialup users to move around correctly in the virtual world without being affected by the disorienting effects of latency. This opened up Quake network play for all, as opposed to the privileged few who had LAN or broadband connections at the time (a rarity then, but commonplace nowadays).
It did not address some features which have arguably been called bugs, namely Bunny-hopping, wall-hugging, and zig-zagging. These features/bugs have shaped the recent part of QuakeWorld's life, allowing for additional dimensions to playing style.
QuakeWorld is considered even today by many die-hard players to be the best multiplayer game, to such an extent that a Quake3 mod (Challenge ProMode Arena) and a stand-alone game (Painkiller) have been developed to emulate its physics.
In December of 1999, John Carmack of id Software released the server and client source code of Quake 1 and QuakeWorld under the GPL as a Christmas present to the world, and this spawned a plethora of 21st century updates to this famous game first released in 1996.
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