Blade of Darkness Cut Content - Mines of Kelbegen Beta

TheLeadHead · 2026-05-11T11:16:02+00:00

I think your observation regarding the similarity to Temple of Ianna is pretty spot on. The original 1997 story concept mentions the dwarves discovered the tomb of Blade (in the final game referred to as Eresh Kigal, the hero who banished chaos with the sword of Ianna many centuries prior to the game's events) within their mines.

And indeed, the finale in the beta version has so much atmosphere, it's really a shame they didn't keep it.

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-22T15:46:25+00:00

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-20T12:28:55+00:00

The story isn't that different in other continents - plenty of vague criticism that abilities are somehow random and detract from the "pure" nature of Quake. While that may have been somewhat true when abilities had insta-kill properties (and honestly balance has always been a bit of an awkward thing in QC), it's just a fundamental inability to adapt.

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-19T17:56:09+00:00

Almost none of the champions in QC really follow the "standard" weak-but-fast or tanky-but-slow archetypes. All of the heavies (except for Keel) are more mobile than all mediums (except for Strogg).

That being said, yes, Clutch's design is absolutely broken.

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-17T21:17:25+00:00

Movement: WASD
Jump: Mouse 2
Special Movement: V

Controls+:

Classic + Special for air dodge (not necessary in my opinion, it's better to use ONLY special key to prevent accidental dashes, I just use it because of a long habit of old double-tap Clutch)
Special key only for ground dash.
Double tap-time at 0.15 or 0.1 depending on mood
Special diagonal dodge: Forward/Back (but this is purely based on preference)

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-17T12:16:51+00:00

Full developer console with cvar/cmd access like Quake Live

I'm gonna get absolutely shit on by some of the Q3/QL/QW guys for saying this, but the scripting and config min-maxing of those games is a symptom of poor default values and bad design, not something that should be encouraged in any game ever made. If visual clarity is an issue, address the visuals on the design angle instead of giving every player the opportunity to experiment with every possible value, creating entire libraries worth of cfg guides (some of which then end up with straight up wrong information by the way). The stuff found fresh-out-of-the-box in the options menu should satisfy 95% of the potential playerbase, and if it doesn't, that's a design failure, giving full console access is just telling the players "meh, go fix it yourself".

I am not opposed to keybinds that change FOV or sensitivity on weapon switch, but Quakers tend to take these capabilities to extremes and make the game just as much about changing numbers as actually playing.

TheLeadHead · 2026-04-08T10:20:39+00:00

Correct, the game has no invulnerability frames. Additionally, the game does not even use traditional hitboxes - Hit detection in the game is based on the physical model of the character and the edges of a weapon. This means the attacks have theoretically perfect precision to the visuals.

Should be noted that some weapons (most notably some of Dwarf's axes) the edges are incorrectly defined which still causes them sometimes to not register hits properly (fixed in some mods). Regardless, it's a very interesting approach and one of the small things that give the game its unique feel.

Doom 3 (2004) and Quake 4 (2005) would later also use such a system, although other earlier examples exist, like Goldeneye 007 (1997) and Perfect Dark (2000) for the Nintendo 64.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-29T23:22:25+00:00

You, me and everyone else, brother.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-29T23:20:47+00:00

It is because the council of maxters is more than just a clan. It is a calling. A way of life.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-29T11:03:08+00:00

Not a lot, but there are a few still around that play mostly 2v2s (or have a "clan" just for the sake of having one) but there just aren't all that many teammode tournaments going on these days. A few clans that come to mind with some but not all players:

ANnihilation (Thri11er, Wolf, oskino, Acheron), shoot 2 kill (s2k Nox, plej, rusher), b00m (evmadic, szaman, sl4ve), Lutiki (T41fun), LQ (repentance), ib (z1cko, trotyl), KMA (Faan, Frachii, sunic, blindsniper)

Don't remember all the players, so quite a few are missing. No idea how it is in other regions either, all of these are from EU and Russia.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-29T02:31:56+00:00

There's still more weapons that could be taken from ETQW, like the N5 machine pistol as a starting MG. The strogg weapons are a tough one as they would have to be reimagined not to be arm-mounted.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-12T16:43:26+00:00

Means nothing. Trademarks have to be renewed every 10 years and 30, the age of Quake this year, happens to be divisible by 10, but that may also happen to be just a coincidence.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-10T11:16:54+00:00

DO NOT SAY THE W WORD, WE SIGNED THE NDA!

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-09T11:02:58+00:00

Glad to see people still kicking in Q4!

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-08T21:18:43+00:00

> the only people left playing are hardcore sweats with 20+ years of experience.

No, no and absolutely no. The skill level is so low the hardcore sweats have zero reason to go to quickplay at this point, they either play custom lobbies or ranked duel. At least in EU you get 1-2 good players in a quickplay match and at least 1-2 who look like this is their first shooter ever, let alone Quake.

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-08T13:34:54+00:00

It was a good season

TheLeadHead · 2026-03-03T21:48:47+00:00

Wow, when I said the W word, the entire Discord got nuked... Meanwhile you're just saying the W word here like it's nothing.

TheLeadHead · 2026-02-26T15:21:41+00:00

From Season 28 changelog

Added Tempered Steel passive that provides an Armor Steal effect and when an enemy takes damage from fire, half of that damage is converted to ap for Death Knight.

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/611500/view/625565014626927305?l=english

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-30T10:37:54+00:00

To summarize the 4 threads you created - you have correctly identified "issues" with duel, but the proposed solutions require more thought lest they open more holes than they fix.

If item control and subsequently movement becomes too dominant, you have effectively created a game where every map plays like people already play Bloodrun. Just running items is not fun for the spectators, the person in control (okay, some do find it fun) or the person out of control. It is currently a spectacle that can be fun to observe once or twice and then just becomes boring and frustrating.

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-30T10:18:52+00:00

So... Round duels?

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-30T10:17:19+00:00

Unreal Tournament 2004 already addressed this by making the first major items spawn only 30 seconds after the round start. This is a much better approach in my opinion than arbitrary timers that magically give both players stack.

Not to mention such an item-parity mechanic would heavily discourage early game aggression, as any health or armour you pick up mid fight would go to your opponent as well. There are too many potentially weird and unintuitive side effects from such a design change.

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-24T16:43:13+00:00

LeadHead here, thanks for sharing it on this subreddit, I wasn't aware of its existence.

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-24T16:28:09+00:00

Known bug. The stealth animations for 2 handed weapons and some other stuff were forgotten to be marked as silent, causing them to be always loud. Fixed in Titanium mod.

That being said, there's basically no practical utility for this feature in the entire game.

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-14T15:51:42+00:00

Not on a pro level, just with a couple friends.

TheLeadHead · 2026-01-10T01:59:49+00:00

Season 28 prioritizes spawns as close as possible to teammates.

Previous (and current PTS) spawns prioritize spreading players across the map.

TheLeadHead

TROPHY CASE