Elden Ring and Quake, two games that, on the surface, could not be more different, have finally been forged together courtesy of a new Quake mod which turns the classic id Software FPS into a third-person, melee-based action game, in the spirit of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the rest of From Software’s dark RPGs.
Though it currently lacks a title, the mod already supports a third-person camera, melee combos, dodging, a stamina system, and enemies that become staggered. It’s all the work of József Pajor, a modder from Hungary who prefers to go simply as Adam. He spoke with PCGamesN about his ambitious plans for a full Elden Ring and Quake crossover.
“It’s going to be a Soulslike and Castlevania-inspired action-adventure game with Lovecraftian elements,” Adam explains. “The gameplay will not be completely linear. I want some forks and backtracking. Some items will be needed for progress. Some will be protected by bosses. Some will be gained by simple exploration. For the levels, I want some small towns, castles and underground dungeons.
“And how about something everyone loves? A water level and some stinky sewer system! Actually, I probably won’t torture players with something like that.”
The inspiration for the crossover originally came from Adam playing Elden Ring as a whip user, and imagining the possibility of a Castlevania fan game incorporating Simon’s iconic weapon into Quake. However, after deciding Konami’s vampire platformer had enough fan homages already, the modder opted for something more expansive.
“Will the main character be a whip user?,” says Adam, “oh, hell yes. But she’ll also have other tools like throwing knives and magic. Also, the main villain will be something different. Dracula, I know, is in the public domain, but he won’t be included.”
Looking at the footage Adam has released so far, there’s a wonderful combination of responsive, melee-based fighting and dodging, and classic, chunky Quake Engine visuals. The gore looks great, the levels are still suitably gothic, and of course, nowadays, it comes primed with a healthy dose of nostalgia — the super-slick hack-and-slash combat of Elden Ring and Soulsborne is difficult to capture, even in essence, but for Adam, Quake Engine offers exactly what he needs.
“I tried many different engines,” the modder explains. “Unity, GameMaker Studio. They’re awesome. But I played many hours of Quake and tried a lot of different mods, and I was surprised by how different they can be from the base game. Some mods have stealth, some have large levels with custom enemies and different behaviours.
“I started to mess with the code and found the movement-related things. Then I added a few new mechanics to it in favour of my game. It doesn’t have advanced physics, real-time lighting, and the best collision detection, but it feels like something to experiment with, and the community projects offer huge potential. No wonder so many games used it as a base for newer engines like GoldSrc or even Source. id Software did an excellent job.”
You can follow the production of the Elden Ring and Quake crossover via Adam’s YouTube channel and Twitter. In terms of breathing new life into old games, we’d also recommend you check how Duke Nukem Forever was ahead of its time, but nerfed before launch, with modders now trying to restore its original lighting and graphics systems.
If you feel like jumping back into Elden Ring, or maybe trying it for the first time, it’ll certainly help to read our guide to all the Elden Ring bosses in order. Otherwise, if staring at that sweet, blood-soaked Quake Engine has made you all reminiscent, you could try something from our list of PC classics that are still worth playing, or maybe a more updated shooter from our guide to the best FPS games, which, of course, features the 2021 re-release of Quake.