After a long run of beta patches, Raven Software have now released a new official patch for Quake 4, bringing it up to version 1.4.2. Among other things, this point release includes the 15 winning entries from the community mapping contest. The GameArena servers have now been updated, - including the latest version of the Q4MAX mod so you'll need to upgrade to connect.

A complete list of changes can be found at our local download page. Players with v1.3 currently installed will want the incremental patch.

id and Raven Software continue support for the fading Quake 4, with the release of a new beta patch today. There's some pretty significant updates included in this one, just from the summary: "refined hitboxes, optimized sound and network code, configurable fps caps, weapon balancing, server direct autodownloading, and addonpak fixes".

As always you can now find it locally here on GameArena files. Linux users will want this one. As it's currently beta and will most likely break Q4 Max, we're not upgrading the Arena Quake 4 servers just set, so you may want to keep a separate install if you wish to both play online and play around with the new version for now.

The promised v1.3 patch for Quake 4 has been released serving up a huge stack of changes and additions. The 230MB full v.13 patch can be downloaded here from GameArena files or those upgrading from v1.2 can find the 130MB update here. Alongside all the promised gameplay, weapon balancing and movement adjustments, players can expect to find eight new maps a new king of hill style gametype called DeadZone and a curious counter-strike like "Buy" weapon mode.

GameArena now has several servers running v1.3 with some of the new options enabled to try out. The other servers will remain on v1.2 until mod compatibility catches up.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we've made some changes to the GameArena Quake 4 servers that will hopefully improve their performance and make them a little more user friendly. We've got a new map pack, which should auto-download when you join the Q4Max server, but you can download it directly as well if you still need it. As always please let us know how they're going!

Further information on the next patch for Quake 4 has been revealed at idsoftware.com. Planned for release before Quakecon next month, v1.3 intends to offer more of those features the dedicated Quake community have been asking for as well as a new gametype, more maps and even a new weapon.

With the upcoming release of the QUAKE 4 1.3 Point Release we’re making great strides in tuning and tweaking the QUAKE 4 multiplayer gaming experience based on feedback from the people playing it the most.

We’re implementing a number of community requested features and actual gameplay changes to QUAKE 4 gameplay which will provide a faster, smoother, and more highly competitive experience that we hope particularly appeals to those playing QUAKE 4 regularly and/or competitively, but also makes the game even more fun for new players. You can expect increased mobility and control, improved performance with ambient lighting options, and weapon alterations that advance playability and challenge competitive players.