Welcome to Action Quake 2
If you have an NVIDIA RTX GPU, go get this demo of Quake 2 path tracing by Christian Shied and many others. It's free, and easy to install, as the directions actually work: install the Quake II Starter, download and unzip their Windows executable, copy the.pak files from the Starter to q2vkpt baseq2, (install the Visual Studio 2017 redistributable if you don't have it), and run. Quake was the kind of game that redefined the genre and set the standards when it comes to first-person shooters, especially in multiplayer. The storyline is nothing out of a novel, while the characters are forgettable and easily interchangeable. Competitions Demos Search Help. No demos uploaded yet. Downloads: Demos: Matches: Warnings: Competitions and Seasons Can't.
Action Quake 2 (AQ2) is a fast action packed game with (90's) modern weapons. Without further ado, a fan made gameplay/frag movie that will make it clear what action is all about.
Lights... Camera... ACTION!
So you think you're ready for action? Hit the 'Play Action Quake 2 now!' button and join the fun! You can also join a specific server using the server list. This section explains the basic key bindings and gameplay elements you should know about when playing Action Quake 2.
When you first join a teamplay server, you will be a spectator. The team selection menu comes up with the , key. Select a team and your weapon using the arrow keys and you are a few seconds away from the next round.
While playing, you can change your weapon any time for the next round using the same , key that you used to select your team. Try out different weapon and item combinations to find out what works for you the best. The most common one is M4 Assault Rifle and Kevlar Vest.
Next, the default key bindings are explained. They can be changed using the ESC key in-game and selecting the Settings menu and finally Input Bindings.
Movement
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| move forward | W |
| move backward | S |
| strafe left | A |
| strafe right | D |
| jump | SPACE |
| duck | CTRL |
| walk slowly | SHIFT |
Combat
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| fire weapon | MOUSE1 |
| change weapon mode | MOUSE2 |
| reload weapon | R |
| sniper zoom in | MWHEELUP |
| sniper zoom out | MWHEELDOWN |
Actions
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| bandage wound | E |
| open door | V |
| drop weapon | Z |
| drop item | X |
| drop flag (CTF) | C |
Weapons
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| use primary weapon | Q |
| use mk23 pistol | 1 |
| use akimbo pistols | 2 |
| use combat knife | 3 |
Misc
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| show scores | TAB |
| world chat | T |
| team chat | Y |
| weapon/team menu | , (comma) |
Get in touch
Feeling alone? The community is here! Most of the websites contain forums for you to join and discuss. To get help or someone to play with, we recommend joining the Action Quake 2 Discord.
This project (Q2Online) and webpage is made and maintained by hifi. You can contact me on Discord if you have any questions or issues.
- Action Quake 2 Discord (also known as AQ2Suomi)
Servers
The server list is fetched from q2servers.com master server every hour. If some server is missing, please ask the server administrator to add setmaster master.q2servers.com to the server configuration file.
| Hostname | Address | Players | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connect |
FAQ
Java Web Start: 'Splash:recv failed'
This is related to the launcher not being able to download itself via Java Web Start. It either means your network is down (unlikely) or that an external application is blocking Javas web access, such as a firewall. Usually the problematic firewall is Comodo and the solution is to add javaws.exe to its exception list. Disabling Comodo temporarily does not help.
Where do I save my own pak files and autoexec.cfg?
The install location is determined as follows:
Windows 7 / 10%LOCALAPPDATA%.q2online
Linux$HOME/.q2online
Save your autoexec.cfg to the action folder of Q2Online. To add your own HUD or other modifications, we suggest using the .pkz format that is just a normal zip file with different extension. Use a name that does not conflict with any other stock Q2Online file and make sure it is loaded after them. Using pak10.pkz or higher is recommended to avoid any future conflicts with Q2Online.
How do I get all the missing textures and other assets?
Q2Online consists of only free components that were distributed with the Quake 2 demo or Action Quake 2. To get all the missing assets you need to own a full version of Quake 2.
To upgrade Q2Online to full version Quake 2. Copy baseq2/pak0.pak from your Quake 2 CD or installation directory to baseq2/pak10.pak in Q2Online directory. Be careful about the file name, replacing Q2Online pak0.pak will result the next update check to fail and it being replaced with the demo file.
How do I uninstall Q2Online and all mods?
See 'Where do I save my own pak files and autoexec.cfg' FAQ entry. Just remove the Q2Online directory.
I accidentally removed my Action Quake 2 shortcut, how do I get it back?
First, make sure you have the latest Java installed. Safe version at the time of writing this FAQ entry was Java 7 Update 10. Older Java 7 versions have a bug that prevents you from recreating the shortcut.
Navigate to Control Panel - Java - Temporary Internet Files - View... and select Action Quake 2 from the Applications list and click the shortcut icon. That's it.
What client Q2Online is using?
The latest Q2PRO client is built from the source every now and then when there are major changes to it that affect Q2Online players. You are always up-to-date with the latest features and innovations!
As featured in:
Experience realistic reflections, refraction, shadows, and global illumination while you fight your way through the hostile Strogg civilization in the first three levels of the original game. Only then will the fate of humanity be known. Quake II with RTX—It's On. This demo includes the first three single-player levels of the PC gaming classic. Owners of the original can patch their copy and enjoy the entire game, including multiplayer modes fully path traced.
Quake II RTX with GeForce RTX
Check out Quake II RTX and how it applies an advanced form of ray tracing known as path tracing. Get ready to experience 1997's Quake II like never before. This is possible thanks to Nvidia's VKRay, an extension that allows developers using the Vulkan API to add ray-traced effects to their games.
Real-Time Ray Tracing
Global lighting effects like realistic reflections, refraction, shadows, and global illumination create a whole new Quake II experience. Quake II RTX includes real-time range time of day lighting, sun light and indirect illumination. Water and glass will refract light, surfaces will deliver more accurate reflections and light sources illuminate surrounding objects. These effects Nvidia says will require the RT cores found on RTX series GPUs, thus the minimum specification for running the game will be a GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.
What's New:
New Features:
- Added Photo Mode
- Added free camera controls for Photo Mode when the game is paused. See the Readme for more information.
- Added support for Depth of Field in Photo Mode
- Added support for campaign video cutscenes.
- Added support for selecting which display should be used for the fullscreen mode.
- Added support for loading map-specific files with sky clusters, which should be useful for custom maps.
- Added display of the selected inventory item name in the status bar.
Photo Mode Instructions:
- When a single player game or demo playback is paused with the pause key, the photo mode activates. In this mode, denoisers and some other real-time rendering approximations are disabled, and the image is produced using accumulation rendering instead. This means that the engine renders the same frame hundreds or thousands of times, with different noise patterns, and averages the results. Once the image is stable enough, you can save a screenshot.
- Depth of Field (DoF) - Simulates camera aperture and defocus blur, or bokeh. To control DoF in the game, use the mouse wheel and Shift/Ctrl modifier keys: wheel alone adjusts the focal distance, Shift+Wheel adjusts the aperture size, and Ctrl makes the adjustments finer.
- Free Camera Controls - once the game is paused, you can move the camera and detach it from the character. To move the camera, use the regular W/A/S/D keys, plus Q/E to move up and down. Shift makes movement faster, and Ctrl makes it slower. To change orientation of the camera, move the mouse while holding the left mouse button. To zoom, move the mouse up or down while holding the right mouse button. To adjust camera roll, move the mouse left or right while holding both mouse buttons.
- Settings for all these features can be found in the game menu. To adjust the settings from the console, see the pt_accumulation_rendering, pt_dof, pt_aperture, pt_freecam and some other similar console variables in the Client Manual.
Fixed Issues:
- Fixed a crash that happened at map load time when a custom map has no analytic lights.
- Reduced the noise in the biggun map next to the barred windows.
- Reduced the noise from yellow lamps next to the entrance of the jail4 map at night.
Quake 2 Free Online
Misc Improvements:
- Improved the menu settings to show units for various sliders, such as degrees or percentage.
- Made the volume controls logarithmic instead of linear.
Recent Quake II RTX news
Quake 2 Free Play
- Someone finally cracked the copy protection
