Quake done Backwards
----------------
(0) Index
(1) Introduction
(1.1) What's Quake done Backwards?
(2) The Movie
(2.1) Installation
(2.2) Running the movie
(2.3) Solving playback problems
(2.4) Missing Movie Version
(3) More details about the demo
(3.1) Timing
(3.2) How the run was recorded
(4) Statistics
(5) Credits and contact info
(5.1) Credits
(5.2) Utilities used
(5.3) Sounds Used
(5.4) Contact info
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(1) Introduction
(1.1) What's Quake done Backwards?
Quake done Backwards is a run through Quake on Easy skill, going through the
levels as fast as possible but this time we added a special twist: we turned
the order of maps to the opposite (that's why the name 'Backwards'), and
finished the game in 11:28.
We do not expect every demo to be completely optimised, some maps may still
have some room for improvements - for example e2m4 or e3m3.
If you think you can beat any of the demos in QdB, go ahead and try, and send
us your demo if you succeed. Make sure you use QdQStats to start with the same
stats we started with, and also check out our improvements page
to see if any maps have been
run faster after this release.
(2) The movie
(2.1) Installation
First you need to find your main Quake directory. This probably has the name
"Quake" and will contain such items as your Quake executable programs (such
as quake.exe, or winquake.exe, or glquake.exe...) and your Id1 subdirectory.
(Mac users may be more used to the term "folder" than directory.)
You should make a subdirectory of this main directory. Give it whatever name
you like; for the purposes of these instructions we will assume you have
called it "qdb". In DOS, you can do this by changing to your main Quake
directory and then typing "md qdb" at the prompt.
Either the qdb.dz or qdb.zip file should contain 2 files which should be
un(d)zipped into the qdb directory. These 2 files are:
Pak0.pak - contains all the data for the demo
QdB.txt - this text file you are reading
(2.2) Running the movie
Now to run the movie, start Quake with the command-line option "-game qdb".
In DOS, you should change to the main Quake directory and then type
"quake -game qdb" (or "winquake", or "glquake" if appropriate.) On
a Mac, you should press the option key whilst starting Quake in order to be
able to enter command-line options, or simply drag the qdb folder onto
the Quake app icon.
The movie is played from a menu interface, so that you can choose to play
the whole movie, or individual episodes, or individual levels.
Using the menu should be mostly self-explanatory! There are just a few
additional things you should know about using it.
Whilst playing a demo, you can press F10 to stop and return to the menu. If
you are playing a sequence of levels, such as the full run or an episode,
then you can press F9 to advance to the next level. F12 quits the game
immediately, F11 turns the menu music on/off, and with F5 and F6 you can
toggle the viewsize during playback. You can also switch between slow-motion
(F1), fast-forward (F3) and standard speed (F2) of playback.
That's all. :-)
Is there anything else you need to know? No, you shouldn't.
(2.3) Solving playback problems
Some versions of Quake have some problems playing back very long demos, or
demos that include film shot on every level. We have used every trick and
hack we know to try to solve these problems, but it is possible some will
have slipped through for your Quake version. If you do experience problems,
please tell us, so that we can prevent them next time. But in any case, any
errors shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of the movie. You can use the menu
interface to play it one episode at a time, or to play any individual level.
(2.4) Missing refilmed version
Yeah, true. We are very sorry, but there's no recammed demos yet.
The main reason is that nobody has enough time or skill to make the refilms,
and we all know that quality recamming eats a big bunch of time... So we
decided not to wait until we can make a refilmed version, beacuse it might
would take way too long to make it, but release the already done first-person
version now. This does not mean we won't make a Movie of QdB ever.
(3) More details about the demo
(3.1) Timing
Just a quick explanation of why we say we completed Quake in 11:28. We
recorded every demo separately and then connected them together, adding the
times for the four episodes plus the end level.
(3.2) How the run was recorded
We recorded each demo separately, on skill 0 (Easy), of course without
any cheating. To start with the correct stats we ended the previous level
with, we used a QuakeC patch that allowed us to select the statistics we
started with.
The reason why we connected single demos together was that the final product
is a lot more interesting that way and entertaining, and we could include
some very cool tricks that we couldn't have done had we recorded it in one
sitting.
(4) Statistics
=============================================
Level Map Running Time
=============================================
Shub-Niggurath's Pit END Jozsef 0:33
=============================================
Episode 4 - The Elder World
---------------------------------------------
Azure Agony E4M7 Jozsef 0:44
The Pain Maze E4M6 Markus 0:41
Hell's Atrium E4M5 Jozsef 0:08
The Palace Of Hate E4M4 Jozsef 0:17
The Elder God Shrine E4M3 Martin 0:36
The Tower Of Despair E4M2 Timo 0:24
The Sewage System E4M1 Timo 0:18
---------------------------------------------
Total: 3:08
=============================================
Episode 3 - The Netherworld
---------------------------------------------
The Chambers Of Torment E3M6 Markus 0:25
The Wind Tunnels E3M5 Jozsef 1:03
Satan's Dark Delight E3M4 Timo 0:22
The Tomb Of Terror E3M3 Jozsef 0:19
The Vaults Of Zin E3M2 Jozsef 0:13
Termination Central E3M1 Timo 0:18
---------------------------------------------
Total: 2:40
=============================================
Episode 2 - The Realm Of Black Magic
---------------------------------------------
The Dismal Oubliette E2M6 Jozsef 1:15
The Wizard's Manse E2M5 Jozsef 0:24
The Ebon Fortress E2M4 Jozsef 0:38
The Crypt Of Decay E2M3 Jozsef 0:14
The Ogre Citadel E2M2 Jozsef 0:25
The Installation E2M1 Jozsef 0:06
---------------------------------------------
Total: 3:02
=============================================
Episode 1 - Dimension Of The Doomed
---------------------------------------------
The House Of Chthon E1M7 Rutger 0:15
The Door To Chthon E1M6 Martin 0:13
Gloom Keep E1M5 Jozsef 0:10
The Grisly Grotto E1M4 Rutger 0:11
The Necropolis E1M3 Jozsef 0:30
Castle Of The Damned E1M2 Jozsef 0:27
The Slipgate Complex E1M1 Jozsef 0:19
---------------------------------------------
Total: 2:05
=============================================
Quake done Backwards 11:28
=============================================
Unfortunately on some higher levels there were simply no rooms for tricks
since we didn't have weapons like Grenade or Rocket Launcher from earlier
levels (see for example E4M6 or E3M5). But then again, we could ran through
the beginning levels faster compared with 'normal' records.
Episode 2 provided the best possible route-tweaks including E2M4 and E2M2.
And a few words about the Episode 2 Rune: we didn't want to pick it up in e2m6,
because it would've taken pretty damn long. But this meant we then broke the
backward sequence, namely that every Episode gate lowered only after picking
up the Rune in the previous (err.... I mean next ;) episode. So, in this case,
the Episode 1 Gate didn't lower, but we found away around it...
(5) Credits and contact info
(5.1) Credits
Quake done Backwards was produced by the following team:
Jozsef Szalontai
running, menu, co-ordination
Timo Nieminen
running, ideas and tricks
Martin Selinus
running
Markus Taipale
running
Rutger Baks
running, bringing back the idea of this project from the past ;)
Additional thanks and credits are due to the following people:
* Thomas Stubgaard
* Attila Csernyik
(5.2) Utilities used
The utilities we used included:
LMPC by Uwe Girlich for decompiling
and recompiling demos so we could use the convenient LS format. Also Uwe's
DEM specs were very useful for us in creating our own tools.
Some in-house utilities; QdQstats
DemoRelise (unreleased) to make demos that fit into a continuous run, and
Demtool for various editing jobs.
ProQCC to produce a modified progs.dat for handling the menu and demo playback.
Goldwave for editing the menu and credits music themes.
(5.3) Sounds used
* The menu music is a part of "Psyche Rock" by Pierre Henry and Michael Colombier
* The credits music is a part of "Sorry" by Crazy Town
(5.4) Contact info
For QdQ news and future projects check our page at
At the time of writing, the next releases should be:
Quake done 100% Quick Lite 2
* A speed-run through Quake on Easy skill, getting all kills and secrets
The Rabbit Run (movie version)
* A run of Quake on Easy skill, the fastest run through Quake yet
For questions and comments (even if you just want to say you liked the
demos), email . For general comments to
QdQ, email
Please send your questions/comments, all of them are valuable to us!
To contact individual members of the team see section (5.1).
Enjoy Quake done Backwards!
-The QdB Team
December 2002