UQE Hexen II

[Jacques Krige]

Six years prior to the release of UQE Hexen II when Quake's source code were released in 2000, I've spent much time learning about the inner workings of the engine. This complimented my existing knowledge on the asset editing side of things.

During mid-2006 the UQE (Ultimate Quake Engine) project were started. Over the course of the next few years a number of much needed fixes and features were added to the engine whilst at the same time keeping true to the original as much as possible.

This update addresses two main issues (v1.16):
- Fixed rotating items not being lit properly.
- Fixed gamma correction for screenshots.

More Information & downloads for UQE Hexen II is available on the following url:
http://www.jacqueskrige.site

If the game fails to start it may be that the machine is missing the redistributable package.
Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012[www.microsoft.com]

At this time the binaries are not compatible with any Windows release older than Windows Vista.

[dragonseeker418]

Seems to be working :) The problem was I didn't have the "mp_" at the start of the music files. Also, the batch files were in the root folder, so it all worked well.

I'm lucky enough to have a legitimate CD version of the game, but it's a shame that Portal of Praevus isn't on Steam. Still, I'm surprised John Carptenter didn't sue them for using 'Lo Pan' and 'Egg Chen' in the Tulku mission.

Thanks again, Jacques ;)

[Jacques Krige]

Hehe, I thought that you might have missed that "mp_" bit. :)

Yea. I've been puzzled why Portals isnt on steam as well as Heretic 2.
I also Own the big box CD versions of all Ravens Hexen/Heretic games. Its one gripe I have with Steam that they dont bother to give us at the very least a CD Audio ISO as part of the data download for these games.

Maybe they had some deal with Carpenter with those. I was wondering myself. Make me always think of that Type O Negative track that was used in Descent 2 :)

Enjoy the game!

[Chet Walters]

Heya... I just noticed this page. I really need the newest version of UQE Hexen 2. My Necromancer's magic missile projectiles are in a black box? :( How do I fix this. Thanks!

Also, I can't open up your homepage @Jacques Krige.

[Jacques Krige]

Hey :)
My page just moved recently, althougt it should have directed you to the new one.
Anyways: https://www.jacqueskrige.site

About that black box you are talking about. I actually did look at that issue, but its been a while since I had to do an engine update (since its working well at the moment).

However, I am planning on doing a pass over all three variants of UQE in the next month or so.

[Chet Walters]

引用自 Jacques Krige：

Hey :)
My page just moved recently, althougt it should have directed you to the new one.
Anyways: https://www.jacqueskrige.site

About that black box you are talking about. I actually did look at that issue, but its been a while since I had to do an engine update (since its working well at the moment).

However, I am planning on doing a pass over all three variants of UQE in the next month or so.

Hey there! :)

Ohhh oki. That figures. I see you have some Quake 2 stuff as well. I love that game. A whole lot.

Allrighty. Will you maybe fix it in your next release? :) Also... I am quite new to this, as I just recently started playing Hexen 2 again... but there is a mod called GLHexen2 (which I got with my pack)... and I absolutely Love how the graphics look there, with some pretty beautiful bloom effects and filtering. But I can't find anything about GLHexen2 for PC, only mac. Do you know anything about it? And... I don't know what more updates you will be doing for UQE Hexen 2, but out of curiosity, will you be adding some sort of GL support for Hexen 2?

Thanks a lot for the quick reply man! Appriciated! :)

[Jacques Krige]

Actually UQE Hexen 2 is a OpenGL engine. Its based on the GL release of the official source, just like any other mod would be. I suspect though you mean because the engine renders pixels abit "blocky" it seems like its a software renderer.

Thats one of the changes I will be addressing to allow you to switch between that blocky look and the original more blurry textures the original GL engine had.

All I really did there is to upsample the low-rez images to be less blurry, but the current release didn't feature any way to turn that off. ( my bad ) :P

[Chet Walters]

引用自 Jacques Krige：

Actually UQE Hexen 2 is a OpenGL engine. Its based on the GL release of the official source, just like any other mod would be. I suspect though you mean because the engine renders pixels abit "blocky" it seems like its a software renderer.

Thats one of the changes I will be addressing to allow you to switch between that blocky look and the original more blurry textures the original GL engine had.

All I really did there is to upsample the low-rez images to be less blurry, but the current release didn't feature any way to turn that off. ( my bad ) :P

Ohhh man, that sounds like a fantastic idea! :) To be able to choose from such video modes (in case one feels that nostalgia hit) hehe. Will you maybe be adding bloom effects too like in GLHexen2? Eagerly anticipating to see the next release of UQE Hexen 2. :)

[Jacques Krige]

Yea, I've been thinking of doing some post-processing additions to the engine at some time, if it doesnt take away from the "originality / "soul" of the game. Once I have the next update ready I'll post here like usual :))

[Chet Walters]

引用自 Jacques Krige：

Yea, I've been thinking of doing some post-processing additions to the engine at some time, if it doesnt take away from the "originality / "soul" of the game. Once I have the next update ready I'll post here like usual :))

Ohhh man, that sounds terrific! :) Looking forward to it really! And I know all too well what you mean. I am an 80s baby, and retro-freak... I too like it old school very much! I do not think it would "take away" its soul however? Because with GLHexen 2 it looks almost like a pixely oil painting. Nice saturation, and bloom and lighting. I could provide screenshots if you want? :) I hope they work though! Hahah :D

[Jacques Krige]

Sure! You can show me some shots. :)
I'm an 80's baby too lol. :P

[Chet Walters]

引用自 Jacques Krige：

Sure! You can show me some shots. :)
I'm an 80's baby too lol. :P

Ohh man, I totally missed this reply! I am sorry for taking so long friend!
Here is the link to the screenshots. Dropboxing them over to you. :)

Oh you're 80's baby too?? Hehehe! :D Then you get a Predator Dutch & Dillon handshake from me! :D

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/okx29nzppz7llm1/AAC0Cfo4ZOGuQbuRqtdzUxK5a?dl=0

[FuNb0Y86]

Dillon! You son.of.a.... :P Thanks for keeping this alive man. Every time I wish Id would cave in and release a classics package through Xbox Live for ALL their IPs for them and Raven, I remember I have UQE. You're the best.

[Jacques Krige]

Nice one Dragon :D
Yea, looking at the shots it looks very close if not a perfect match to what I had in UQE many versions ago. I'll have a look at adding this, if it doesnt go into the next version, i'll have that for the version following it. :)

Tx FuNb0Y. :)
I did it for that exact same reason, way before I started the UQE project I was wishing for the same thing... getting that properly fixed ( but not too fixed ) versions of the games to bring them back to life and fix then good enough that your nostalic goggles don't burn too much by trying to update it just enough to work peroperly on newer monitors without breaking the soul of the game.

The idea was to make them feel as "official" as possible.
Too bad Raven lost the source code for Heretic II, because I would have definitely sunk my teeth into that one too.

[FuNb0Y86]

I snatched up Duke Nukem World tour like it was the end of the world when it hit PS4. I didn't even mind that there was no Open GL alpha blending. I guarantee people would spend the money on an Id / Raven pack. So many indie devs are capitalizing on this surge of the retro gamer fad too. For me it's nostalgia like you said. I was eight when I had my first NES in 1989, I played my first shooter for the Doom shareware craze in '93 or so, and played over 100 hours of Quake II, lol! But, you're doing a fine job. I still have one of the older versions of UQE and GZDOOM though. I would recommend everyone who gamed in the last 30 years to pick them up, updated or not, and save them to one drive and a thumb drive FOREVER! lol!

[Jacques Krige]

That brings back memories, same here :)
I got my first NES/Famicon back in 1990 and was hooked ever since.

I was biking around with friends with bags of floppys copying and swopping shareware and (illegal copies of games)... back then copy protection was basically to make sure the games are too large to copy on floppys reasonably. There was no internet to get instant gratification.. at least we got fit. :)

I probably played Doom 1 shareware a few times a day and got to know each nook and cranny. I think my biggest day in my youth was finally getting and "unofficial" copy of the registered version.

By the time Quake 1 shareware came, it was the same thing all over again... just using way more floppys. xD

Its these times that inspired me to actually fix Quake 1 & 2 as well as Hexen II... these games are special to me. :)

I'm a fanatic, I know :P[plus.google.com]