Q2 awesome I've been missing some Q2 releases, there haven't been any in years :(

Screens all look good too. 

Is there any particular Q2 engine that is the right thing to use these days for singleplayer? R1Q2? Something else?

i was just about to ask this as i only have the stock 3.20 engine i think. would love to give this a blast as i haven't played a new q2 release in.. erm.. i actually can't remember. probably 10 years? 

But I dont think that was ever officially released.

kmquake2 seems to be a popular one though, nit sure how compatible it is with mods though. 

http://fps.maros.pri.ee/index.php?event=610

Berserker is the prettiest imho. Has the darkplaces visual bells and whistles, just not as stable. I'd say give that, arq2 or knightmare a try (knightmare was used in a couple Q2 GPL commercial titles) 

no OSX/*nix support? 

Quake2Max... I think it was called. 

Got a bit into the first map using R1Q2, but then it crashed with "ERROR: CL_ParseMuzzleFlash2: bad offset index 224".

That's the only setup I have handy at the moment, but I guess vanilla is the thing to try next. 

I'm not much of a darkplaces bell fetishist type 

Ask Aguirre 

looks promising as a fitz/quakespasm-like engine:
http://www.yamagi.org/quake2/

This map pack looks cool btw, just need to find some time and get a q2 setup working :) 

that does sound exactly like fitz (and whilst fixing that dreaded savegame issue). 

Iain Banks?

Still need to finish mfx's base map... 

shots look very nice ! A shame I don;t hve Quake 2 installed on my (still broken) computer ;) 

Thanks for the comments, guys. It only works with the vanilla Q2 engine from what I can tell, and the experiences of the beta-testers. Most likely due to the Lazarus DLL which I have modified quite a lot (so it won't even work with KMQ2, which has Lazarus support).

Nitin - yes, I did stop a couple of times along the way due to other projects 'distracting' me ;) I remember chatting to you about the unit over a decade ago...!

ijed - yes, from his book 'Use of Weapons' :) 

The Happy Friar - I don't have other OS versions so haven't compiled it for other platforms - sorry. Might be able to get a Linux version done, though via a friend. 

Does work in arq2. Toon mode looks pretty cool. :) 

Nice to see Quake 2 getting some love. Not as iconic or unique as Quake 1 but still a really great blast IMO. (plus the railgun is still classic).

I'll have to figure out how to install my Q2 disc on my disc-less machine and play it. 

Great to see you mapping again, Chris. These look great.. massive scale! You should update the contact info on your mapping website -- pretty sure that PQ address doesn't go anywhere anymore ;)

Jay 

As for the Fitz of Q2, you can use Knightmare's unofficial 3.24 - it utilizes many compatibility fixes as well.
http://www.markshan.com/knightmare/ 

I find Yamagi Q2 pretty good and "vanilla". FTE also runs Q2.

I'll probably try this pack at some point. Amazing that people still make Q2 maps. 

Musashi! Had no idea you were still about! Great to see a big q2 release like this and can't wait to play it :) was reminiscing the other day about one of your dm maps any then you magically appear! 

Generally cool levels, good modern design and detail, although also very corridorish most of the time. I thought the overall light level was quite dull. The textures are very samey in color so I would have wished for more strongly contrasted lighting to make the details stand out more. What added to that is that I took your word for granted (or simply confused things) and played with fugly blurry GL filtering instead of switching to nice pixel textures and skins... oh well, looked good still.

I found the combat to be tricky even on Normal. The buffed enemies took me a while to get used to, and even then I died quite many times. Not sure I like the changes. Felt like Nehahra all over again.

I actually even recorded my playthrough - however, I did it in the most awkward way possible. Wasn't sure if Q2 allowed continuous demo recording (across level changes and reloads - I think it does, unlike Q1; should have checked beforehand), so I started a new one after every level change or reload, then accidentally overwrote one demo, then just stopped caring. If you want, I can upload the mess - but it's not a very smooth watch...

Anyway, great to see a new Q2SP release after all these years. Thanks for the effort! 

Oh yes, at one point the server dropped to the console with some error message about missing or invalid lightmaps or something. It happened when I jumped onto the cogs in the bridge control room. Standard Q2 client. 

Another thing: that yellow force field - does one have to sprint through just like that or is there a trick to it that I've missed. Because it seemed impossible for me to get through, so eventually I noclipped. 

Dug out Quake2 for this. Been so long since a good Quake2 map came out. Really enjoyed this map. True to the Quake2 theme. Really cool vertical scale. Packed with detail.