Ironwail

Ironwail is a high-performance fork of QuakeSpasm, built with an emphasis on maximum performance rather than absolute compatibility. It preserves the classic atmosphere of the original Quake while leveraging modern OpenGL technologies to significantly boost FPS, especially on complex and polygon-heavy maps.

While performance is rarely an issue on standard levels, modern custom maps are often far more demanding than the original id Software levels. Additionally, many players run the game on older hardware. Ironwail addresses these issues by offloading some computations from the CPU to the GPU and making use of modern technologies, enabling high frame rates even in the most demanding scenes.

The renderer in Ironwail is separated from the server logic, which helps avoid physics issues. This uses an approach borrowed from vkQuake.

Beyond performance, Ironwail offers a number of convenient features: it automatically picks up content from the 2021 Quake remaster and runs it without manual configuration, has a built-in mod menu with download and install support, allows weapon selection keybinds to be set through the interface rather than the console, and supports mouse navigation in menus and various HUD styles. Effects such as classic underwater warping, real-time palettization for a more authentic look, and lighting interpolation are also available.

The engine improves stability and usability: reduced memory consumption, faster loading of large maps, fewer graphical artifacts (such as z-fighting), Unicode support in file paths, an FPS cap when outside a game, and automatic saves.

Compared to vkQuake, the differences between the ports are minor and mostly concern convenience and settings. Ironwail offers more flexible crosshair customization, improved console command autocompletion, a built-in autosave system, in-game mod loading, and a single configuration file shared across all mods. vkQuake, on the other hand, has better support for custom particle effects, making it the preferred choice for certain modifications.