Unlike the original PowerPC or early Intel builds, modern macOS (Catalina and later) dropped 32-bit support and OpenGL deprecation creates issues. However, modern source ports solve this perfectly.
The default ioquake3 on macOS may have slight mouse acceleration. Add these to your ~/Library/Application Support/Quake3/baseq3/autoexec.cfg :
provides a guide on extracting the necessary .pk3 files from modern digital installers that don't include Mac executables. Pushing the M1 Discussions on the ioquake3 forums quake 3 mac m1
: You can expect 120+ FPS at native resolution, even on base M1 chips, taking full advantage of ProMotion displays.
You cannot use the old retail Mac version. Instead, you must use the open-source engine ports. These are modern programs recompiled for Apple Silicon that use the game's original data files (assets). Unlike the original PowerPC or early Intel builds,
: To unlock the frame rate for smoother movement, use the console command /com_maxfps 125 or higher. Mouse Input
The arena is waiting. Find your rocket launcher, master the strafe jump, and enjoy the fact that your M1 Mac just turned into a time machine to 1999—running faster than anything John Carmack originally dreamed possible. Instead, you must use the open-source engine ports
Before we dive into the technical tutorials, we must ask: why bother? Why play a game from the turn of the millennium on a computer capable of rendering 3D environments with ray tracing?