Editing Quake II (section)

===Source ports===
Since the release of the ''Quake II'' engine's [[source code]], several updates from [[Third-party developer|third-party]] projects to the [[game engine]] have been created; the most prominent of these are projects focused on graphical enhancements to the game such as most notable Yamagi Quake II, Quake2maX, EGL, Quake II Evolved, and KMQuake II. The source release also revealed numerous security flaws<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quakedev.com/forums/index.php?topic=53.0 |title=List of vulnerabilities in Quake II 3.20 (Server) |author=R1CH |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003152829/http://www.quakedev.com/forums/index.php?topic=53.0 |archive-date=October 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref> which can result in remote compromise of both the ''Quake II'' client and server. As id Software no longer maintains ''Quake II'', most third-party engines include fixes for these bugs. The [[unofficial patch]] 3.24 that fixes bugs and adds only meager tweaks is recommended for ''Quake II'' purists, as it is not intended to add new features or be an engine mod in its own right.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://leray.proboards.com/post/25066/thread |title=Quake2 3.24 Unofficial Patch: Released! |author=knightmare |publisher=The Quake2 Café |date=July 19, 2012 |access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref> The most popular server-side engine modification for multiplayer, ''R1Q2'', is generally recommended as a replacement for the 3.20 release for both clients and servers.

In July 2003, Vertigo Software released a source port of ''Quake II'' for the Microsoft [[.NET Framework|.NET]] platform, using [[Managed Extensions for C++|Managed C++]], called Quake II .NET.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vertigo.com/quake2.htm |title=Vertigo: Quake II .NET |date=July 2003 |publisher=Vertigo Software, Inc. |access-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217234133/http://www.vertigo.com/quake2.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It became a poster application for the language, showcasing the powerful interoperability between .NET and standard C++ code. It remains one of the top downloads on the [[Visual C++]] website. In May 2004, Bytonic Software released a source port of ''Quake II'' (called [[Jake2]]) written in [[Java (programming language)|Java]] using [[Java OpenGL|JOGL]]. In 2010 Google ported Jake2 to [[HTML5]], running in [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]] and [[Google Chrome|Chrome]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://webtoolkit.googleblog.com/2010/04/look-ma-no-plugin.html |title=Look ma, no plugin! |first=Chris |last=Ramsdale |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=[[Google Web Toolkit]] |access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref>

====vkQuake2====
In December 2018, Polish programmer Krzysztof Kondrak released the original ''Quake II'' v3.21 source code with [[Vulkan (API)|Vulkan]] support added. The port, called vkQuake2, is available under the [[GNU General Public License#Version 2|GPLv2]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=vkQuake2-Quake-2-Vulkan |title=Quake 2 Gets A Vulkan Renderer 21 Years After Release - Phoronix |last=Kondrak |first=Krzysztof |date=December 20, 2018 |website=[[phoronix.com]] |access-date=December 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/kondrak/vkQuake2 |title=vkQuake2 on GitHub |website=[[GitHub]] |date=December 5, 2019}}</ref>

====Quake II RTX====
A new source port of the game, titled Quake II RTX, was announced by [[Nvidia]] in March 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/quake-ii-rtx-ray-tracing-vulkan-vkray-geforce-rtx/ |title=Quake II RTX: Re-Engineering a Classic with Ray Tracing Effects on Vulkan |publisher=NVIDIA}}</ref> and was released on June 6 for Windows and [[Linux]] on [[Steam (service)|Steam]]. This source port requires either a Nvidia [[Nvidia RTX|RTX]] or an [[AMD]] [[Radeon RX 6000 series]] [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] or higher to utilize these cards' hardware [[Ray-tracing (graphics)|ray tracing]] functionality, but a software fallback is available for graphics cards that are fast enough.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burnes |first1=Andrew |title=Quake II RTX Available On Windows and Linux June 6th |url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/quake-ii-rtx-june-6-release-date/ |access-date=June 6, 2019 |publisher=[[Nvidia]] |date=May 27, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McWhertor |first1=Michael |title=Quake 2 with ray-tracing support coming June 6, for free |url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/5/27/18641307/quake-2-rtx-ray-tracing-remaster-download-nvidia |access-date=June 6, 2019 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=May 27, 2019}}</ref>
The source port, provided free of charge, includes the three levels present in the original ''Quake II'' demo,{{efn|Nvidia calls it [[shareware]] but Quake II was the first id Software game that did not have a shareware release.}} but can be used to play the full game if its data files are available.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lilly |first1=Paul |title=Quake 2 RTX with ray-traced graphics is now available, first 3 levels are free |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/quake-2-rtx-with-ray-traced-graphics-is-now-available-first-3-levels-are-free/ |access-date=June 6, 2019 |magazine=PC Gamer |date=June 6, 2019}}</ref> Unlike in most games, ray tracing is used extensively here for lighting, reflections, etc. This is only possible because of the otherwise low hardware demands of ''Quake II''.