Install Quake and Quake3 on Debian Linux

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was an avid Quake, and later on Quake2 and Quake3 player and modder.

I seem to be getting old: I find myself reminiscing about all sorts of stuff, and Quake is one of my favorite subjects. In one of these nostalgia attacks I decided to relive the fun and install the games on my Linux laptop. I still have all the relevant CD-ROMs, so all that's needed is a suitable game engine. Quake and Quake3 are packaged in Debian, but Quake2 is not packaged.

Here's how to install Quake, with both mission packs:

1. install the game engine:

   aptitude install quake

2. mount the game CD-ROM (e.g. on /media/cdrom0)
3. change directory to a temporary directory
4. package the game data:

   game-data-packager quake -m /media/cdrom0

5. repeat the process for both mission packs, i.e. mount the relevant CD-ROM and then issue these commands:

   game-data-packager quake -mp1 /media/cdrom0

   for the SOA mission pack, and

   game-data-packager quake -mp2 /media/cdrom0

   for the DOE mission pack




6. install the generated packages (as root):

   dpkg -i quake-registered_29_all.deb
   dpkg -i quake-armagon_29_all.deb
   dpkg -i quake-dissolution_29_all.deb
   

And here's how to install Quake3:

1. install the game engine:

   aptitude install quake3

2. download the latest point release:

   cd ~/Downloads
   wget -c ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/linux/linuxq3apoint-1.32b-3.x86.run

3. mount the game CD-ROM (e.g. on /media/cdrom0)
4. change directory to a temporary directory
5. package the game data:

   game-data-packager quake3 /media/cdrom0 ~/Downloads/linuxq3apoint-1.32b-3.x86.run

6. install the generated package (as root):

   dpkg -i quake3-data_29_all.deb

Happy fragging!