Widescreen Gaming Forum

I've put together a widescreen mod for Quake 3, based on source code from ioquake3. I've also modified ioquake3 slightly, mostly so that this mod gets loaded automatically on servers running mods of their own.

The mod works with official Quake 3 too (run it with the parameter +set sv_pure 0), but I don't recommend it - not all of the features are compatible, and the only reason I can think of to use the official Quake 3 version is for playing on servers with Punkbuster, which would kick you for using this mod anyway.

Features:
[list]
[*]Native resolution support[/*:m]
[*]cg_fov value now corresponds to fov_y, making gameplay hor +[/*:m]
[*]cg_fov defaults to 75 instead of 90 (this is the correct value for fov_y)[/*:m]
[*]HUD scales and stays centered[/*:m]
[*]FMVs display properly, scaled and centered[/*:m]
[*]Most UI elements scale and stay centered[/*:m]
[*]Provisional tallscreen support (now in Vert +)[/*:m][/list:u]

Limitations:
[list]
[*]Can not play on Punkbuster servers (this is a limitation of ioquake3 itself)[/*:m]
[*]Can not play on "pure" servers[/*:m]
[*]Team Arena still requires a config file edit (see instructions below)[/*:m]
[*]Tallscreen mode HUD/UI has some quirks (especially in Team Arena) and isn't fully tested[/*:m][/list:u]


Instructions:
Make sure Quake 3 is installed. If you are using the Steam version, find the game directory (should be steamappscommonquake 3 arena) and MOVE/COPY it OUTSIDE of the Steam directory.

Download this: (link removed)

Source code here: (link removed)

Extract the files inside to your non-Steam Quake3 directory, overwriting any existing files. Run "ioquake3.exe" - you will find a new option in the System menu.

If you want to play Team Arena in widescreen, go to this directory:
%appdata%quake3missionpack

Edit the file "q3config.cfg" using a text editor such as Textpad. If the file (or directory) isn't there yet, try launching Team Arena and changing the resolution to anything in the System menu. This should make the file become generated.

Find this line:
seta r_mode "x"
and set it to "-1" .

Find these lines:
seta r_customwidth "xxxx"
seta r_customheight "yyy"
And set them to your desired resolution. Be careful not to get the two mixed up - sometimes they are put in reverse order.

It is not necessary to change your FOV.

Save, and Team Arena should work in widescreen.

Let me know how it goes!

I receive the following error when I try to run your mod using the Steam version of the game, Windows 7 x64. Doesn't work either with the folder copied to the desktop, or running out of the Steam directory. I have Team Arena installed as well, in case that's relevant.

(Sorry, removed the broken link. Check my post below.)

I can't see your image. I don't know how dropbox works, but your url is https, which means a secure connection. You need to use a public URL link.

I can't see your image. I don't know how dropbox works, but your url is https, which means a secure connection. You need to use a public URL link.

Dammit, you're right, sorry about that. I just started using Dropbox; it has a photo album feature so I figured that the photos would be public by default. It shows up for me just fine so I assumed all is well. Here it is on TinyPic, that should work:

I looked up the error - all signs point to that you need the MSVC runtime libraries.

I'm not sure which ones you need - I'm guessing you want x86 libraries since this an x86 application. But there's a 2005 package, a 2008 SP1 package, and a 2010 package, and I don't know if they are backwards compatible or not. I'll see if I can figure it out.

I looked up the error - all signs point to that you need the MSVC runtime libraries.

I'm not sure which ones you need - I'm guessing you want x86 libraries since this an x86 application. But there's a 2005 package, a 2008 SP1 package, and a 2010 package, and I don't know if they are backwards compatible or not. I'll see if I can figure it out.

Yeah, I've got all of those installed, though, maybe some files are corrupt or I need an x86 instead of x64, or something? I'll go and reinstall the ones I have and see if there's any missing.

EDIT: Reinstalled all vcredist_x86 and x64 packages I could find (there are like ten of them including the updates), still no change. Tried running as an admin, as well, and no dice there either. Weird. Sounds like it might be an issue of Steam's DRM getting in the way.

Steam's DRM shouldn't matter. It only applies to the original executable, and you're not using the original executable.

What happens if you use the ioquake3 executable, without my mod? Make sure none of my dll files are present in the baseq3 or missionpack directories.

Steam's DRM shouldn't matter. It only applies to the original executable, and you're not using the original executable.

What happens if you use the ioquake3 executable, without my mod? Make sure none of my dll files are present in the baseq3 or missionpack directories.

Yeah, I tried that out as well and it works just fine.

I just made a new version, this one without any debug manifest (and a few other changes). Try redownloading it. Make sure you're getting the new version and not the cached old version - it should be about 1.22MB and not 1.8MB. If it downloads a 1.8MB zip file almost instantly, you may need to clear your cache.

Works now, but I get some pretty extreme fisheye when playing in 16:10. Is this intentional? I have the field of view set to the default of 90 in both config files but it seems like it's more like 120.

Couple more things. Weapon models do not match their 4:3 orientations. In widescreen, normally the models are cut off, whereas now they show too much which looks a little bit weird in some cases - could be related to the FOV being a bit high. I also noticed that when switching from a widescreen resolution to a 4:3 one, the HUD seems to get cut off on the bottom of the screen.

Thanks for your work on this, I'm glad Quake 3 is finally getting a quality widescreen implementation. The small issues with it always bugged me a little. I guess there's no chance of making a Steam-compatible version like some of the Doom and Quake source ports are?