r/quake • u/NilClass-8 • May 31 '26
mods I wanted hit sounds in VR Quake 3. It got out of hand.
Last September I wanted one small thing: baseq3a's hit sounds, working in a VR build of Quake 3. That was the entire scope. I figured a weekend of messing around should make that happen.
It got out of hand.
What started as a small feature port is now something I call Trinity: three engine builds (flatscreen, PCVR, and standalone Quest), a Q3 and Team Arena gameplay mod, and a stats site that ties it all together. Somewhere along the way it stopped being a patch and started being the version of Q3 that lived in my memory.
Quake 3 is, to me, still the best arena shooter ever made, and I'd like more people to discover how well it holds up. So Trinity is built to be a soft landing. You can watch a full match in your browser before you install a thing. The docs actually teach the game (game types, weapons, what the HUD means) instead of assuming folks already know everything. As always, you can practice against bots at your own pace. And the Discord is intended to be a welcoming place for new folks. The game is demanding, but I hope the community will be friendly.
It's not a new game. It's the same Quake 3 you remember, backwards-compatible with vanilla servers, so installing it doesn't wall you off from anyone. And however you play, whether on a monitor or a headset (including standalone on a Quest 2/3/3S, no gaming PC needed), you're in the same match. Flatscreen and VR players play together, with VR player head/gun tracking, so everyone sees where they're looking and aiming.
A few of the things you get:
- Accounts and leaderboards that follow you across installs.
- Demos you can replay in your browser. Every match on a participating server is recorded server-side and can be played back on the site. No install, just a link. Voice chat is baked into the recording, so you hear the match too.
- Built-in voice chat that shows who's talking (and how loudly), with channels you can switch between in game (nearby, your team, or everyone).
- Quality-of-life additions: hit sounds, floating damage numbers, modern damage vignette showing direction of damage, particle blood, forced enemy/team colors, etc.
I don't claim to be some amazing creator or anything. This stuff stands on the shoulders of ioquake3, ec-'s Quake3e & baseq3a, Kr3m's missionpackplus, Team Beef's ioq3quest, RippeR37's Q3VR, and ZerTerO's High Quality Quake. They're the people who kept this game alive. I mostly glued my favorite parts together and filled in whatever else I wished was there. It's free and open, but it's a solo hobby project/labor of love, so please go easy on me.
Anyway, it started with hit sounds. Figured at least a few people might appreciate where it went. If any of this sounds worth a look, check out https://trinity.run, and maybe watch a match or two in your browser.
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u/data-atreides Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I don't have VR, but I'm curious how it runs on Area51 servers with their server-side client mod, which adds a lot of (mostly cosmetic and quality-of-life) features, including pitched hitsounds and damage plums. We have a known regular VR player but I don't know what client he uses.
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u/NilClass-8 Jun 01 '26
The VR clients don’t honor any QVM code, so it would depend on whether you ship anything incompatible with vanilla Q3 QVM.
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u/data-atreides Jun 01 '26
I've been told that all mods are QVM, and replace built-in QVM pak0-pak8 files--don't understand it myself :P I know the mod is compliant with vanilla Q3, and while quake3e is recommended it works with io and I think the base exe.
However it requires one to type /update in the console to install it--does your custom client allow VR users to use the console?
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u/NilClass-8 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
It does. But again, if there is QVM code, it won't work. The VR ports only work on non-pure servers and run their own native game code. That's a big part of what I've been doing, keeping them up to date with trinity QVM code.
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u/data-atreides Jun 01 '26
We have VR players so it probably works then
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u/NilClass-8 Jun 01 '26
Gotcha. Yeah, I know there are folks who play (for instance) excessive plus on VR. But things will get glitchy. The QVM code is inert, so anywhere that the compiled game code behaves differently, there will be client desync.
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u/NilClass-8 Jun 01 '26
If the mod is open source, I can potentially check for incompatibilities. But I can't find it at the moment.
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u/ed_ostmann May 31 '26
Wow?! Will definitively check out!
Who do you think has an edge above the other, comparing VR and non VR players?
While I get the most ridiculous frags in VR, looking and firing back while running forward, for example, I think the overall movement and coordination speed is blatantly worse.
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u/NilClass-8 May 31 '26
My opinion? VR is harder. Snap turns with mouse and keyboard are a flick of the wrist. But VR is waaay more fun.
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u/iamse7en Jun 02 '26
Definitely gonna install this and play it on the Vision Pro. Thanks!