Quake Live Source Reconstruction Project

This project reconstructs the full Quake Live source code as faithfully as possible. It starts from the public Quake III Arena GPL source release and then rebuilds the retail engine and game code piece by piece using retail binaries, committed HLIL and Ghidra reference corpora, symbol maps, and runtime validation.

Accurate reconstruction is the top priority. This repository is not trying to make a "Quake Live-like" fork or a rough gameplay approximation. The goal is to reconstruct how the retail game actually works, document what is known, and close the remaining gaps in a way that stays grounded in evidence instead of guesswork.

What accurate reconstruction means here

• Retail Quake Live behavior is the target, not convenience or approximation.
• The committed retail reference corpus is treated as the source of truth when the open GPL baseline and the retail game differ.
• Where evidence is incomplete, small intuitive fixes or compatibility wiring may still be needed to keep the reconstruction working, but they should stay minimal and give way to stronger evidence when it appears.
• Unclear areas are tracked as open gaps instead of being filled in with confident-looking assumptions.
• Quake Live-specific online services can be disabled in builds when the retail dependency cannot yet be reconstructed cleanly or does not have an open replacement.
• Progress is measured by evidence-backed movement toward retail parity, not just by whether the code builds or runs.

Current reconstruction state

This repository is an active reconstruction effort, not a retail-equivalent codebase. The audit files, task plan, and validation artifacts record what has been reconstructed, what has supporting evidence, and what still needs sharper verification. Older finality language in historical audit notes should be read as evidence for bounded checkpoints, not as a project-wide claim that reconstruction is done.

The current work is focused on rebuilding retail behavior area by area from the committed Binary Ninja HLIL dumps, Ghidra exports, symbol maps, and targeted runtime evidence. Some subsystems have strong validation coverage, while others still need function-level mapping, edge-case tests, data-layout confirmation, or refreshed runtime proof.

The active work queue remains the source of truth for what should be reconstructed next. At the time of this README update, the leading tracks are physics reconstruction, UI bridge/fallback verification, Race and gametype validation, and continued cleanup of audited subsystem gaps as new evidence is promoted.

Game reconstruction

Area	Current reconstruction focus
cgame	Continue validating predicted movement, ownerdraw/stat payloads, UI-facing imports, and gameplay presentation against retail evidence.
qagame	Continue reconstructing server-side gameplay rules, match flow, awards, voting, team logic, and gametype-specific behavior.
ui	Keep the retail UI bridge, menu data, fallback paths, and panel/runtime assumptions under evidence-backed review.

Engine reconstruction

Area	Current reconstruction focus
client	Continue mapping client/game/UI ownership, workshop and download behavior, command routing, prediction handoff, and runtime evidence freshness.
renderer	Continue validating text/font behavior, exported renderer ABI details, host wiring, and reference-backed helper ownership.
qcommon	Continue verifying filesystem, VM loading, message parsing, collision, CVar, command, and bootstrap behavior against retail references.
server	Continue validating dedicated-server behavior, Steam-compatible boundaries, game-state messaging, ranking/stat hooks, and control-plane CVars.
engine host/support	Continue refining Win32 host behavior, botlib ownership, platform services, crash/logging paths, and explicit compatibility boundaries.

Compatibility-only surfaces are called out explicitly so they are not mistaken for retail reconstruction: platform_services.c, the open/hybrid auth backends, the unix/null ports, and live online-service activation behind QL_BUILD_ONLINE_SERVICES.

For the detailed audit trail and current task queue, see AUDIT.md, IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md, and the historical engine audit in docs/reverse-engineering/engine-full-parity-audit-and-implementation-plan-2026-04-10.md.

Repository guide

• src/ contains the active reconstructed codebase built on top of the Quake III Arena GPL source layout.
• src-re/ is the clean-room reconstruction workspace used for staged reconstruction work, prototypes, and promoted headers.
• references/ holds the main reconstruction reference corpus, including HLIL exports and the committed Ghidra corpus.
• assets/ stores upstream and retail reference material used for validation and comparison.
• docs/ contains onboarding notes, workflow guides, parity documentation, and subsystem research.
• tests/, tools/, artifacts/, and logs/ support the deterministic validation and CI workflows used to check reconstruction progress.

Reference corpus

The project keeps its main evidence base in the repository so work can be reviewed and replayed:

• references/hlil/ contains Binary Ninja HLIL dumps for both Quake III Arena and Quake Live binaries.
• references/reverse-engineering/ghidra/ contains the committed Ghidra exports used as a structured companion corpus.
• references/symbol-maps/ and references/analysis/quakelive_symbol_aliases.json support naming, ownership, and symbol recovery work.

If you are tracing a subsystem, start with the committed reference material before making new assumptions. The canonical workflow is documented in docs/reverse-engineering/ghidra-reference-workflow.md.

Getting started

• Read docs/onboarding/overview.md for the quickest project orientation.
• Read BUILDING.md for the top-level build guide and the most common Windows and Linux build commands.
• Read docs/repo-overview.md for a fuller explanation of the repository layout.
• Use docs/platform/toolchain-matrix.md to understand build requirements and supported toolchains.
• Use docs/reverse-engineering/ghidrassist-mcp.md and related notes if you are working through the reconstruction reference workflow.

Credits

• This project builds on the public Quake III Arena GPL source release from id Software: id-Software/Quake-III-Arena
• This project exists to reconstruct the retail Quake Live codebase as accurately as possible: Quake Live