DarkPlaces for Apple Silicon/ARM64 Build - Ready for Download!

I’m pleased to announce that I can now provide a DarkPlaces build, fully codesigned and notarized, for download and use on Silicon aka ARM64 Macs. The build is packaged in a sleek DMG for easy installation. Thanks to notarization, Gatekeeper on ARM64 macOS systems poses no issues. An Intel Mac build may follow a bit later.

https://github.com/estefan3112/DarkPlaces-Apple-Silicon-Builds/releases/tag/1.0

This is a quick, freehand iPhone video showcasing DarkPlaces running on an M1 Mac Mini connected to a 48-inch TV at 4K resolution. While there are some initial FPS struggles, overall the performance is quite impressive.

Celebrating Quake and DarkPlaces

Quake was the most expensive game I ever bought, since I had to upgrade to a Pentium PC just to play it. I still celebrate the game for its unique feel, its dark and atmospheric mood, and the brilliant Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. While many Quake adaptations have been enjoyable, DarkPlaces stands out as the most brilliant implementation on modern hardware. You can read more about it here:

https://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/

https://github.com/DarkPlacesEngine/DarkPlaces

Self-compilation has always been possible, but a ready-to-play binary was missing. Thanks to the help of AI assistance, I was able to overcome the final hurdles and now provide this software package as a direct fork of the official Github server.

Requirements for running Quake in DarkPlaces

Please read the original documentation: https://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/readme.html

• If you run the freshly installed binary once, it creates a darkplaces folder at  $HOME/Library/Application Support/darkplaces
• There, a folder called id1 must contain the original files from your Quake CD: pak0.pak and pak1.pak.
• The NIN CD track comes into id1/sound/cdtracks. This MacOS version cannot run .ogg files, but expects the audio tracks as track002.wav - track011.wav. If you installed correctly, the killer soundtrack of NIN immediately starts at launch.
• Replacement textures are a must: download the Rygel texture pack from here: https://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/download.html - go for the 900 MB HQ pack, the Ultra Quality pack with 2.7 GB seems a bit of an overkill to me.
• MacOS scaling is relevant! If you let MacOS scale your monitor to a different than the original monitor resolution, some resolutions will not be available in DarkPlaces. In my case, I have to put my Dell 4K monitor into native resolution (4K) in order to be able to play DarkPlaces in such resolution.
• In MacOS Tahoe, DarkPlaces correctly launches Gaming Mode, even if sometimes the notification does not appear.

This should already give you perfect modern Quake/DarkPlaces experience.

Using Joystick in DarkPlaces

For those who prefer using a joystick instead of the “real thing” — mouse and keyboard — DarkPlaces offers solid joystick support. Activation via a Darkplaces Console command can be somewhat clumsy, but fortunately you can automate this. Simply create a file named autoexec.cmd and include the following lines.

joy_enable 1

// Deadzones per axis

joy_deadzoneforward 0.05

joy_deadzoneside 0.05

joy_deadzonepitch 0.1

joy_deadzoneyaw 0.1

joy_deadzoneup 0

joy_deadzoneroll 0

joypitchsensitivity 0.5

joypitchthreshold 0.2

joysidesensitivity -0.5

joysidethreshold 0.2 

This is an example configuration for my PS4 controller. I had to adjust the deadzone to compensate for drift, and the default sensitivity was far too high. These settings provide a solid starting point for joystick gaming.

I’m grateful for your feedback! 

Please share your experience with this build — I’ve opened a GitHub discussion, so if you could leave your notes there, that would be greatly appreciated.