Gloom was held back by Quake 2 though, where strictly speaking only the server side code could be modified. This led to compromises and hacks, and despite my huge enjoyment of the game, I couldn't help but feel the concept deserved to be expanded upon. When [Quake 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_III_Arena) was released in December 1999, I decided I'd have a crack at it. In hindsight this was insanely ambitious, not least because with each successive generation of hardware enabling more possibilities, the bar to entry was raised and the total quantity of work increased. Indeed, I think the Quake 3 era of the early 2000s is probably the last generation where amateurs could feasibly pull off a total conversion. Nevertheless in my spare time as a first year undergraduate (which lets face it, is in ample supply), I started experimenting. I don't remember the exact timings but probably by towards the end of 2000 I had a viable working prototype; a long way short of an actual playable game but proof that it might be within my capabilities, to myself if nobody else.
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