Help File Library: Q3Test for Gnu/Linux Systems
Written By: Treatment
Disclaimer: I am sharing
with you my experience running Q3Test-linux on my
own computer. You can use this article as a help-guide
to installing Q3Test-linux on your own linux-box.
As with overclocking, your mileage will vary.
Intro
Most everyone in the
computing-press and the computing-industry regards
Gnu/Linux systems (Linux for short) as a server operating-system
and, as such, does only server-stuff and requires
server-admins to appreciate and work with. Well, what
if I tell you now that Linux is an excellent gaming-platform
as well? Don’t believe me? One word: Q3TEST.
Read on.
Gone were the days when
linux-enthusiasts shout in joy "Wow! My box is
actually doing something now!". General software-applications
have been and still being ported to the Gnu/Linux-platform,
but the most important applications to a regular PC-user
is still shy of the Gnu/Linux platform: GAMES. There
are companies that are porting popular Win32-games
to the linux-platform, such as Loki (Civilization)
and Bungee (Myth) software houses, but the linux-gaming
world has been jolted and given a much needed boost
from a major PC gaming-powerhouse and its upcoming
highly-anticipated new game: ID Software and the Quake3
Arena.
The venerable IdSoftware
has graced the PC and MAC platforms with the beta-test
version of their upcoming Quake3-Arena. It’s called
Q3Test and is available for download at a number of
gaming-sites. It’s a radical program in that Quake3
is gonna be available and released for the Gnu/Linux-platform
at the same time with the Win32 and Mac versions.
So far, my experience with Q3Test under Linux has
been excellent. There’re a number of people who have
reported and have posted bug-reports and run-arounds
with Q3Test-linux. Mind you, this is a new ground
for the general linux-user and Q3Test does have its
quirks. I’m here to report to you my own experiences
with it.
Q3Test requires a 3d-accelarator
card, and the Linux-version currently supports only
3dfx-cards. To put it another way, Q3Test for Linux
will only run on GLide-based video-cards such as the
Voodoo lineups (voodoo-1, rush, voodoo-2, banshee,
voodoo-3). That’s what it said from the README.Q3TEST
file. I have not tested Q3Test on a TNT/TNT2 and other
cards, as I only got a Banshee and don’t have enuff
clamshells to secure other cards.
I am gonna share with
you my Q3Test-linux experiences and possibly help
you with playing Q3Test on your own linux-box. I’m
not gonna cover Linux-101 here nor am I gonna cover
connecting online using PPP. I’m only gonna cover
Q3Test and 3dfx glide-server installations. I will
be assuming that the linux-reader/s are familiar with
basic Linux commands and XFree, fairly knowledgeable
about their video-card and monitor, have a fast internet-connection
already in place, know how to play Quake-games, and
have the spirit of adventure in them. Linux is not
for the fainthearted.
Systems specs
The following are the
relevant hardware-specs of my computer running Q3Test
under linux:
- Celeron 464a (overclocked
300a) retail
- 64mb RAM PC-100
- Three old 2gb EIDE
Seagate hard-drives (linux is on the 3rd
drive /dev/hdc1)
- 14" Mag monitor
- Guillermot Phoenix
Banshee
- SoundBlaster-32 isa
- Linksys Etherfast
10/100 pci nic
- @home cable-modem
service
- Microsoft Ergo Keyboard
and PS/2 mouse
On the linux software-side:
- Redhat 5.2 with Linux-kernel
2.2.10 stable-release
- Gnome 1.0
- Xfree 3.3.5 with
3dfx Glide beta-server extensions
- Netscape v4.61
That’s pretty much an
average PC, I guess. J
That’s it. Most of the
other software we need for Q3Test needs to be downloaded
and are easily installed.
Linux-level of user
You either have to be
pretty smart or pretty crazy to put and use linux
on your own PC alongside Win9x. I belong to the, gulp,
crazy-group. Actually, it’s pretty easy to have both
Linux and Win9x existing on your computer. I always
recommend to install Linux on a separate hard-drive,
since hard-drive prices are cheap nowadays, and installing
it last. However, I’m not gonna cover Linux-installation
here right now, but I can recommend Matt Welsh’s "Running
Linux" book to anyone who wants to install Linux
on their computers.
Q3Test Installation
Some *nix commands
I’m gonna assume that
the reader has a working Linux-system and knows some
basic *nix stuff. There are, actually, only a few
*nix-commands that you will need to install and play
Q3Test. These are:
- ls ß
- list-command. Equivalent to dir in the
DOS-world, which is actually used as well in linux.
- cd ß
- change directory. Same as in the DOS-world
- ./<program-name>
ß - the way to run an application-program from
a command-prompt or a an xterm window
- su ß
- super-user logon. Usually invoked when you need
to be root or need root access-permissions to do
any installation or whatever.
- cp ß
the COPY command in *nix
- mcopy ß
- part of the built-in mtools-package in linux that
mimics regular DOS-commands. This one functions
the same as the dos copy-command.
- chmod ß
- this is the command to change mode or access-rights
to certain files and certain devices in *nix.
- rpm ß -
a common package-manager installer first used on
Redhat-systems.
- startx ß
- regular command to start xwindows. Kinda like
"win" from a dos-prompt.
- / ß -
forward-slash. Standard *nix directory-separator
or traversing. Similar to DOS’s "\"
backslash.
We will use these commands
in action further down this article. Don’t worry.
I’m not gonna overwhelm you with *nix stuff. This
is an article about installing and playing a Q3Test
in Linux, not Linux-101.
What you’ll need to download
I have to tell you that
the current stable-version of Xfree windows system
for *nix platforms do not have an official native
driver for 3dfx-cards, as well as other whiz-bang
3d-cards such as TNT2, et al. However, there are smart
individuals that already hacked a 3dfx-server driver
for use with the latest Xfree windows system.. These
hacks are free and hopefully will be included in the
next version-release (4.0) of Xfree. We will be using
Darryl Strauss and Scott Berlin’s 3dfx-server for
Xwindows and glibc. You can get 3dfx-server driver
at:
It is very important
that you follow Darryl’s instruction on the above
url. Foremost,
you need to know what version of glibc version
your linux has. Here’s a tip:
- type the following
at the command-prompt or any xterm-window:
- If it shows 2.0.7,
you will need to download Glide_V3-2.60-5.i386.glibc20.rpm
- If it shows 2.1.1,
you will need to download Glide_V3-2.60-6.i386.rpm
The reason you need
to know this is to prevent downloading/installing
the wrong glide-3d driver, which usually results in
black-screens when trying to run Q3Test.
Here’s another site
that pretty much covers 3DFX-howto, especially running
Q3Test:
This is a direct quote
from the site:
This is an attempt
to show how (in theory) one could use their 3dfx card
to use some OpenGL based end product like Quake 3
Test under Linux. Notice, Q3T has a problem with it's
default configuration which makes it not work 'out-of-the-box'
(as of version
1.05), so replace the config file with the one below.
I'll be assuming that you have a Voodoo3 (this may
work with a Banshee as well), and a semi-recient Linux
installation with access to the usual tools.
The site deals heavily
on Mesa-stuff. For our purposes, the only things you
will need from this site is read about test3dfx
command and to download/copy is their Q3CONFIG file
to your Q3Test directory. More on that later.
Finally, you need to download
Q3Test for Linux. You can get it from http://www.quake3arena.com
main-site, or at the mirrors listed from http://www.bluesnews.com.
The Q3Test for Linux comes in both tar-gzipped format
and rpm-format. I used the rpm-format.
So, fire up your Linux-system
and please download the stuff mentioned above from
the sites/urls mentioned above, and we will go the
Installation-phase.
3dfx-driver Installation
and testing:
For this phase, you
will need to su as ROOT, since these phase
requires root permission-levels. I prefer doing
this phase outside of Xwindows. Recall that you
will need Darryl’s 3dfx-driver for Xwindows in order
to get Q3Test running on your linux-system. If you
already downloaded the relevant files from the site
and followed Darryl’s instructions, you’re set to
go. If you got lost there, here are some guidelines:
- Download and compile Device3Dfx-2.2-3.src.rpm
by:
- rpm --rebuild Device3Dfx-2.2-3.src.rpm
- rpm -Uvh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/Device3Dfx-1.1-2.i386.rpm
- Download the following driver/server to a temp-directory
(e.g. /tmp):
- XFree86_3DFX-SVGA-3.3.3-5.i386.rpm
- XFree86_3DFX-XF86Setup-3.3.3-5.i386.rpm
- XFree86_3DFX-rushlib-3.3.3-6.i386.rpm
- Download the Glide-glibc driver that corresponds
to your glibc-version
- Glide_V3-2.60-5.i386.glibc20.rpm (if
your glibc is 2.0.7)
- Assuming you have downloaded the rpms listed above
to a temp-directory like /tmp, type the following
below:
- rpm Uvh *.rpm --nodeps.
That should be it on installing the glide-drivers.
We now need to run XF86Setup to configure your XFree
xwindows system:
- type from the command-prompt
- XF86Setup <enter>
- Accept the default-settings regarding your video-card.
These are usually set at SVGA and PROBED settings.
- Check the bppp settings and make sure that you
select 16bpp or higher. You also need to
check the video-resolutions, so check the resolutions
that mostly comprises your video-card/monitor capabilities
(i.e. 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480).
Caution: make sure that your monitor can actually
support these 3 resolutions. Check the monitor-settings
of XF86Setup. Be careful. To be on the safe side,
choose only the 640x480 mode.
- Press Ok and XF86Setup will try to load the Xserver
you choose.
- If everything goes well, you will get a graphical-screen
with some radio-buttons. Just press the Save
button settings.
- If you get an error, please read the error-message
because it will tell you what the problem is.
You will need to re-run XF86Setup to correct the
error.
- If you get a blank-screen for a long time (3
minutes) or you get some weird looping error-messages,
press CTRL-C to stop the program. You might
probably want to restart your linux-system and
re-run XF86Setup to select the proper configurations.
When everything is ok with XF86Setup, load up your
Xwindows via startx and well test your installation
of the 3dfx server-drivers. Once youre in Xwindows,
load up Netscape and browse to the 3dfx-howto site
at http://www.netroedge.com/~phil/3dfx-howto.html.
Reading the site, we
find an instruction on testing the 3dfx-drivers. Herere
the instructions:
get glide working.
Run these commands in X while in 16 bit depth (startx
-- -bpp 16) as root:
# /usr/local/glide/bin/test3Dfx
-r 640x480
# /usr/local/glide/bin/test3Dfx
-r 800x600
# /usr/local/glide/bin/test3Dfx
-r 1024x768
You should get a
blue screen at increasing resolutions for each test.
That should be correct
instructions. My additional comments are:
- When you run the
test3dfx program, you will get the familiar 3dfx
banner-splash.
- Make note on which
resolution the 3dfx banner-splash was correctly
displayed. You will be using those successful
resolutions on your Q3Test video-configuration.
My own linux-box supports all 3 resolutions, but
loses the colors when on 640x480-mode.
- In case youre wondering,
my fps on 640-mode was 45fps, 800-mode was 33-35fps,
and 1024-mode was 30-33 fps. These were taken using
the cg_drawfps 1 tilde-command in Q3Test
and just standing alone in one of the empty servers,
with vsync on and default settings. I didnt do
any tweaks. Have to remember that Im running on
a Banshee card. Youre fps will vary if you run
on a Voodoo-2 or a Voodoo-3.
Thats about it. Onward
to Q3Test installation!
Q3Test installation and
Configuration
Now that we got the
correct XFree video-server/driver installed, we are
now free to install Q3Test and be confident that it
should work. Or are we really now. J
Assuming you already
downloaded the Q3Test rpm-file into the /tmp
, you can do either one of these things:
- su as root
then open an Xterm window and type:
rpm Uvh /tmp/q3test*.rpm
- If you have Gnome,
you can use Gnorpm to install the q3test-rpm file.
Either way, the Q3Test-files
will be decompressed and installed in the /usr/local/games/q3test
directory. Before we play Q3Test, we need to know
the ip-addresses of some q3test-server. Try the following
guides:
For now, those two guides should be ok. Gamespy doesnt
exist on Linux, yet, and I couldnt get XSpy to work
on my box, yet, so I cant comment on it.
So, we installed Q3Test and we already got a working
3dfx-server driver on our Xwindows. Before attempting
the stuff below, remember that you can stop your Xwindows-session
by pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE.
Remember that Q3Test runs in full-screen. Try to
run Q3Test by typing the following in an xterm-window:
- cd /usr/local/games <enter>
- ./linuxquake3 <enter>
What happened? Any of the three things shouldve
occurred:
- Black-screen
- Really SLOW Windowed-screen of q3test <like
running quake2 on a virge video-card>
- Really SLOW FULL-Screen of q3test <like running
quake2 on a virge video-card>
Be cool. Dont hurl curses, yet. Heres the diagnosis
and fixes:
- The most common cause of any of these three problems
is that the Q3Test-linux has been known to have
a problem with its default-configuration. Browse
to the 3dfx-howto page at http://www.netroedge.com/~phil/3dfx-howto.html
and download their working Q3CONFIG-file.
Try downloading it directly to /usr/local/games/q3test/demoq3
. This should fix most of the black-screens
and the other two problems listed above.
- If you downloaded the q3config-file like instructed
above and youre still having a slight problem,
try renaming that q3config.cfg to q3aconfig.cfg.
This is my own fix to it. J
- If however, Q3Test is still running in a SLOW
Windowed-screen or a SLOW full-screen, chances are
you installed the wrong glibc-driver. Install
the correct gllibc-driver.
After following the instructions above, your Q3Test-linux
should be working fine and the playability and speed
should be mostly identical to the Win32-version.
Playing Q3Test as a non-root user
So you finally got Q3Test working and playing like
heck on some low-ping servers. Gnarly!
However, remember that youre also logged in as ROOT
on your linux-box while youre playing Q3Test. Normally,
running as root is not recommended unless youre
doing some upgrades or maintenance on your box, as
it has been documented thru the years that theres
a high possibility that your box will get screwed-up
or some other drastic and tragic things happens and
will happen. Q3Test will run and you can play it even
if youre not root. However, you wont have any sounds
when you play q3test as a normal user. In the Q3Test
manual, theres a little instruction on how to play
q3test as a non-root user. Follow the instructions
below:
- If you havent add any user to your box aside
from ROOT, this is a good time to add a user to
your linux-box. You can add users using adduser
command and/or using linuxconf on redhat/gnome
systems. Im not sure how to add user in KDE, so
you might want to check up on that if you have kde.
Again, I recommend reading up on Matt Welshs "Running
Linux" on the proper instructions and subtleties
when adding users.
- Close your xwindows-session and type "exit"
from the command-prompt
- Login as one of your newly-created users
- su as super-user to type and run
the following properly:
- The command above assigned READ/WRITE/EXECUTE
on the soundcard-device your box has for other
users of your box.
- type exit to close the su-session.
- Load Xwindows by typing startx.
- Open an xterm-window and change directory to /usr/local/games/q3test
where Q3test is.
- Type ./linuxquake3 to play Q3Test.
You should have sounds now with Q3Test as a non-root
user. Connect to your lowest-ping Q3Test-server and
start playing.
Final Words
Congratulations!!! You
are now a q3test-linux gamer! Please feel free to
submit bug-reports about Q3Test to q3feedback@idsoftware.com
and bug-reports about the Darryls glide-Xserver at
daryll@harlot.rb.ca.us
.
If you still have questions,
try participating at news://news.3dfx.com/3dfx.glide.linux
by posting questions and answers over there. Lots
of tips over there, as well. Also, visit the Linux
Games forum.
Go have fun playing Q3Test!
--treatment---
