Quake on Apple Watch? What’s next?
Few games have been ported to all kinds of devices as often as Doom. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a pregnancy test or a tractor: If it has a processor, you can definitely play Doom on it. The Traktor version even had a very surprising purpose. You can read more about it here:
Legendary shooter that runs everywhere: Even pregnancy tests can still be topped!
Quake ports, on the other hand, are a bit rarer, but no less impressive. Developer Tomas MyOwnClone Deleted
managed to get the game to work on an apple watch and it even is playable
if you want to call it that.
Great performance but unwieldy
First of all, Vymazal used the Apple Watch Series 5 for the port, based on the open-source versions of Quake for iOS and Mac OS. The game runs at a smooth 60 FPS and a resolution of 640×480 pixels.
A higher resolution is also possible at a reduced frame rate, although it is questionable whether a higher resolution on such a small screen offers you any added value. The game can be controlled with on-screen buttons, the Digital Crown (the wheel on the side of the smartwatch) and even a gyroscope.
You use the touch inputs to move the character forward, aim and shoot using the same controls. The Digital Crown can be used to look up and down. You can change the movement controls at any time to then run and aim with the gyroscope.
You can see what the whole thing looks like in the creator’s YouTube video:
link to YouTube content
As you can imagine, this kind of controls isn’t the best for a fast-paced shooter like Quake, but one thing’s for sure: it’s at least runnable!
The project of MyOwnClone
is currently only available via GitHub and also requires some basic programming knowledge if you want to install Quake on your Apple Watch yourself. Whether there will ever be an official version of Quake for watchOS is rather doubtful.
It’s amazing how creative and imaginative these ports are and how far our technology has come. While you used to need a fully-fledged PC to play Quake, Doom & Co., today your watch is enough.
If a player managed to beat Dark Souls 3 using bananas, then they can also play through Quake on an Apple Watch. Wondering how to play Dark Souls with bananas? We have the answer ready for you:
Dark Souls 3 – Completed with bananas instead of gamepad
Which gaming handheld do you actually feel at home on? Do you like articles of this kind or are you fed up with game ports on the craziest devices and everyday companions? Tell us in the comments!
