Which quake engine (or other) is best to start cutting my teeth on as far as modding?

March 14, 2009 2:55 PM

Which quake engine (or other) is best to start cutting my teeth on as far as modding?

I'm looking to do a bit of modding of a game engine. Nothing too extreme just something to get started and learn some things as I go.
First off I'm just thinking modding how the weapons work.
With an end goal of making weapons work more true to real life. I know for example most weapons in the quake II engine are hit scan, and have no travel time (other than the rocket) [I think].

Anyway I'm looking for an engine that would be the best to start with. I've never modded a game before (done some mapping) I can program at a very amateur level, but I work with what I know, and figure out what I can't.

So what engine is gonna be the easiest for me to use, and get started modding. Something with a few tutorials as far as how to compile and run the mod would be good too.

Also what's the best FREE IDE to use, for game modding?

posted by blackout to computers & internet (5 answers total)

My own project, but, ioquake3.org is pretty good...
There are a bunch of half-completed projects out there like navy seals that have realisticish weapons where you can check out the source and then apply that to an ioquake3.org game.
posted by TimeDoctor at 3:40 PM on March 14, 2009

Source Engine, from Valve. Lots of existing projects, good editor.
posted by Dunwitty at 5:07 PM on March 14, 2009

this is the download page for that navy seals mod, which should have somewhat realistic gun play in the quake 3 engine. Keep in mind that you can get a lot of millage out of the quake 3 engine still, cod4/5 are still (loosely) based on it at the core.
posted by TimeDoctor at 5:52 PM on March 14, 2009

Source is proprietary and costs money and licensing fees, doesn't it?
posted by rokusan at 8:53 PM on March 14, 2009

source engine is open for regular modding, it isn't free software. FWIW the easiest map editor I've come across on a modern engine is the map editor included with Far Cry 2.
posted by TimeDoctor at 1:45 AM on March 15, 2009