Editing Quake II (section)

===Technology===
Unlike ''Quake'', where hardware-accelerated [[graphics controller]]s were supported only with later [[Patch (computing)|patches]], ''Quake II'' came with [[OpenGL]] support out of the box. Later downloads from id Software added support for AMD's [[3DNow!]] instruction set for improved performance on their [[K6-2]] processors, and [[Rendition (company)|Rendition]] released a native renderer for their V1000 graphics chip. The latest version is 3.21. This update includes numerous bug fixes and new levels designed for multiplayer [[Deathmatch (gaming)|deathmatch]]. Version 3.21, available as source code on id Software's [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] server, has no improved functionality over version 3.20 and is simply a slight modification to make compiling for [[Linux]] easier.

''Quake II'' uses an improved [[client–server model]] introduced in ''Quake''. The game code of ''Quake II'', which defines all the functionality for weapons, entities, and game mechanics, can be changed in any way because id Software published the [[source code]] of their own implementation that shipped with the game. ''Quake II'' uses the [[shared library]] functionality of the [[operating system]] to load the game library at run-time—this is how mod authors are able to alter the game and provide different gameplay mechanics, new weapons, and much more. The full source code to ''Quake II'' version 3.19 was released under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License|GNU GPL-2.0-or-later]] on December 22, 2001. Version 3.21 followed later. An [[LCC (compiler)|LCC]]-friendly version was released on January 1, 2002, by a [[modder]] going by the name of Major Bitch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Quake II Engine Source for LCC Compiler |url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~thompp/Quake2/q2tut21.html |first=Pete |last=Thompson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014155217/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~thompp/Quake2/q2tut21.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=November 15, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Quake II''{{'}}s game engine was a popular license and formed the basis for several commercial and free games, such as ''[[CodeRED: Alien Arena]]'', ''[[Warsow (video game)|War§ow]]'', ''[[SiN]]'', ''[[Anachronox]]'', ''[[Heretic II]]'', ''[[Daikatana]]'', ''[[Soldier of Fortune (video game)|Soldier of Fortune]]'', ''[[Kingpin: Life of Crime]]'', and ''[[UFO: Alien Invasion]]''. [[Valve Corporation|Valve]]'s 1998 video game ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'' used the ''Quake II'' engine during early development stages.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Andy |date=August 1, 2016 |title=Returning to Quake 2, the legendary shooter that's still fun today |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/returning-to-quake-2-the-legendary-shooter-thats-still-fun-today/ |access-date=August 16, 2020 |magazine=PC Gamer |language=en-US}}</ref> However, the final version runs on a heavily modified version of the [[Quake engine|''Quake'' engine]], ''[[GoldSrc]]'', with a small amount of the ''Quake II'' code.