Tuesday, October 6, 2015

QLLauncher: Quake Live Launcher For Linux

QLLauncher is a Quake Live launcher for Linux which comes with various tweaks that should improve the game's performance. Furthermore, the tool supports downloading and updating Quake Live along with other useful features.


For those not familiar with Quake Live, this is a free to play (with optional subscription options that include more arenas, game types and game server options) first-person shooter video game developed by id Software that was originally downloaded and launched via a web browser plugin. About a year ago, Quake Live became a standalone game and with this, Linux and Mac were no longer supported, though the game can still be played via Wine.

More information on Quake Live: Wikipedia | Quake Live homepage.


Now back to Quake Live launcher for Linux (QLLauncher). It's important to note that to be able to play Quake Live under Linux, you'll need Wine - installing QLLauncher from the PPA will install Wine if it's not already installed on your system.

Also, QLLauncher only works with Quake Live accounts which aren't connected with Steam. If you have an account connected with Steam, you'll have to create a new Quake Live account to be able to use QLLauncher.

QLLauncher features:
  • better Quake Live performance on Linux (it blocks awesomium_process, which causes lag and lower FPS, among others);
  • automatically downloads / updates Quake Live;
  • browse game servers with optional filters;
  • join server by server ID or IP address;
  • spawn your own server (this is a premium Quake Live feature);
  • set mouse acceleration.

While the app is great and I didn't encounter any functionality issues with QLLauncher or Quake Live in my test under Ubuntu 14.10, the QLLauncher main UI could use some improvements. That's because there are no window decorations so to move the window you must hold the ALT key and drag the window with your mouse. Also, to close it, you must press the ESC key.


Install QLLauncher in Ubuntu 14.04 or 14.10 / Linux Mint 17 or 17.1


The latest QLLauncher is available in a PPA, for Ubuntu 14.04 and 14.10 / Linux Mint 17 and 17.1 and derivatives. To add the PPA and install QLLauncher, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:broken/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qllauncher
If you don't want to add the PPA, you can download the latest QQLauncher deb from HERE.

Update: Arch Linux users can now install QLLauncher (git) via AUR.

To grab the QLLauncher source code, report bugs and so on, see its Bitbucket page.

Once installed, start QLLauncher from your menu / Dash and the tool will download Quake Live for you:


Once the game download completes, open the QLLauncher settings and enter your Quake Live username and password - that's it, now click "Servers" (or manually enter a server), select a server and start playing Quake Live on Linux:

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