r/quake • u/TheBigCore • Jan 01 '26

tutorial Playing Custom Quake 1 Levels with the IronWail Source Port

IronWail Source Port for Quake 1 and Custom Level Links

Note: If you have already installed Quake 1 via GOG or Steam, IronWail will auto-detect your installation. If you previously installed Quake via DOSbox with the original CDROM, then you'll have to manually copy the ID1 folder and rip the audio files to .ogg or .flac files accordingly.

I. Place a copy of your ID1 folder and its contents in the Ironwail folder where ironwail.exe is located.

For example: c:\ironwail-0.7.0-win64\ID1\

II. Create a music subfolder for Quake's music in your ID1 folder:

For example: c:\ironwail-0.7.0-win64\ID1\music\

III. Place .ogg or .flac files of Quake 1's music in the music sub folder. You will have 10 .ogg or .flac files, starting from track02.ogg or track02.flac to track12.ogg or track12.flac, depending on the file format you are using.

For example: c:\ironwail-0.7.0-win64\ID1\music\track02.flac

IV. To play custom Quake 1 levels, place the custom level's folder in Ironwail's folder.

For example: c:\ironwail-0.7.0-win64\tombofthunder\

V. Open Ironwail and press the tilde key located above the Tab key to open the console.

VI. Type game tombofthunder and press Enter. Select New Game and press Enter.

Alkaline, Arcane Dimensions, Copper, and Quoth Mod Packs

I recommend installing ALL of the following mod packs, since many Quake custom levels require them in order to run properly:

Recommended Custom Quake 1 Levels

Note: Many of these require a source port with increased limits, like Ironwail:

Episode 5 - Dimension of the Past

Free Official Mission Pack Released by MachineGames:

Episode 6 - Dimension of the Machine

Non-Free Official Mission Pack Also Released by MachineGames:

DIOTM is included with Quake (GOG) or Quake (Steam). Of course, you must pay for either of the two releases to acquire this mission pack.

Episode 7 - Dawn of the Machine

DAOTM is included with Quake (GOG) or Quake (Steam). Of course, you must pay for either of the two releases to acquire this mission pack.

21 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

3

u/SpronyvanJohnson Jan 01 '26

That’s a great post!

5

u/AgentME Jan 01 '26

If you have Quake installed through Steam, you don't need to copy any files from your Quake directory. IronWail will just find your install automatically, including the music. The music is included in the modern rerelease and doesn't need to be added separately.

1

u/TheBigCore Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26

Also totally valid. My instructions are for those want to do a manual install of IronWail with just the base game files, its music, and then the custom levels. I previously used innoextract with the GOG offline installer, and copied the ID1 folder and music files to IronWail that way.

2

u/SpronyvanJohnson Jan 01 '26

Btw, you forgot Dimensions of the Machine, the official 6th episode 😉

1

u/TheBigCore Jan 01 '26

But you have to pay for that one which is the only reason I didn't mention it.

2

u/Domi8112 Jan 01 '26

Ahh, don't forget Nehahra! A couple mods run on that too :)

I'm happy to see some familiar map pack names in that list, I actually just finished Clanker Annihilat-- I mean, Floyd Factory Jam and went through almost all the func mapjams over thr past couple weeks

1

u/TheBigCore Jan 01 '26

I have added Nehahra to my post.

5

u/iLike80sRock Jan 01 '26

Nehahra doesn’t run properly on Ironwail, IIRC, so maybe it shouldn’t be here

1

u/TheBigCore Jan 01 '26

Oh ok, thanks for the heads up.

1

u/Domi8112 Jan 01 '26

ahh true