Beta3 — quake

Beta3 is a leaked beta released on June 10, 1996; this means it was released 11 days prior to the first official Shareware release of Quake, 0.91. Unlike the earlier Doom, Quake was primarily kept in-house outside of Qtest to ensure it would not be leaked.

A slightly modified version was released in the interim between the original Beta3 and the official release of Quake, known as the Quake Pre-Release. Besides a few minor changes to documentation, the only in-game change is the simplification of the console. Instead of including artwork, the Pre-Release version just has a solid grey background.

Due to including the entire game, Beta3 was seen as a form of piracy in 1996. It led to opinions being formed on an incomplete product, which led to id Software taking a large stance against the existence of these leaks.

General Differences

General Movement/Weapons

A greenish sprite sequence uses itself after going through a Teleporter, as opposed to a white particle effect. The same sequence also appears in Qtest1. The sprites per se are converted from Doom.
There are various pixels on the Axe texture that use fullbright red pallette indices (as opposed to normal ones). This appears to make them glow in the dark. Clicking the Axe causes it to perform two attacks instead of one.
The Thunderbolt shares the same world model as that of the Rocket Launcher.
The larger boxes of Shells do not have the graphical error, meaning there are no white lines on the bottom of the box.
Powerups that tint the screen lack a warning when they will cease (no visual or audio cues), they simply remove the tint to state that the effect has ended. When the Powerups are picked up, they flash on the HUD like Weapons do in the final game.
The Biosuit’s texture were unimplemented at the time.
The Ring of Shadows uses a larger model. The texture is very basic, being nothing more than a golden fill.
The Quad Damage uses the same sound as the Pentagram of Protection. It is referred to as the "Quake Power".
The Pentagram of Protection does not set the Armor value to 666, meaning the player can see the level of Armor they have while the Powerup is in effect.

Enemies

Enemies that are Gibbed do not just result in a decapitated head, but a torso identical to Ranger's.
The only Monsters you can Gib are Rottweilers, Grunts, Zombies, Knights, and Enforcers.
There is no obituary in-game for the Fiend.
Most obituaries are the same, using such terms as "killed" instead of each having their own identity.
A Spawn will stop jumping around when shot. If constantly attacked, the Spawn shall remain stationary.
The Vore's projectiles share the model of the Lavaballs and those that Chthon launches (rather than spiky purple orbs). The Vore is also more lethal in Beta3, being able to move quite rapidly across the environment.
Chthon uses a darker texture than the one found in the final product.
Shub-Niggurath is barely more than a hitbox and model. She lacks sounds, can be walked inside, and cannot hurt the player in any way. She has 200 health, the same amount as an Ogre.

Menus/Meta

The menu makes use of a noisy clanking sound effect when one selects an option. This tends to be inconsistent, meaning it may randomly cease to make such sounds.
The retail Help and Ordering screen had not yet been implemented. In its place, there exists a single screen placeholder.
Saves actually function properly. In the released product, graphical models would change on loading a save, leading to a lot of anomalies. Loading a save works perfectly fine in the beta version.
Quitting Quake from the menu simply exits without displaying any confirmation.
The .BSP file format is different from the final game, making it impossible for these maps to be read with any level editor. This difference also means that it is impossible to play custom maps in Beta3 or play the Beta3 maps in the public release of the game; both cases will cause the game to immediately crash.
Quake cannot validate if the game was purchased yet. This results in messages that would only appear in the Shareware showing up, while also allowing the retail game to be played.

Level Differences

Start: Welcome to Quake!

This is the initial map, which lets Ranger select a Difficulty and an Episode. It is titled "Welcome to Quake!" in place of "Introduction".
Ranger can already discover the Dopefish here. The Well is located in the Water under the bridge leading to Normal Difficulty, and it’s accessible by going the way to the secret Nightmare mode Teleporter and firing at the wall panel in the corner just before Ranger enters the Teleporter, then rapidly returning to a recently lowered Elevator on the left side of the bridge. This explains why the panel references the Well of Wishes in the final version of Quake, despite the fact that it actually exists in the Crypt of Decay.
The episode's completion tomb is replaced with horizontal barrier.
The bridge leading to Normal Difficulty Teleporter has extra attachment to ground.

E1M1: the Slipgate Complex

The bridge that stretches over the initial Slime pit is activated by a timed Button in place of a permanent one. There exists another Button that is placed on the other side of that bridge for backtracking purposes.
The Crates at the end of this level contain different textures.

(Note: Here and later on this article screenshots made in maps from Beta 3 converted into final .bsp format for researching purpose. All geometry, textures and entities are same as Beta 3. The only change are maps overbright.)

E1M2: Castle of the Damned

Like the previous map, the Crates (which normally have the same textures as the ones in E1M1) that appear at the start of the map are textured differently from the final versions. However, they're also different from the ones in E1M1.

E1M3: The Necropolis

Player's spawn position in single-player got moved a bit left compared to the door behind.

E1M4: The Grisly Grotto

On easy/normal difficulty there's no Knight at under first platform with secret armor.
On hard/nightmare difficulty killing the first Scrag another one Scrag does not spawn behind a player at start area.
Because of the two above notes, the monster counter for easy/normal/hard+nightmare is 21/41/58 instead of 22/42/59.
The secret area with rocket/grenade ammo was smaller and had another floor texture, like the wall has.

E1M5: Gloom Keep

The area on platform with an Ogre and yellow armor did not count as secret.
Floor texture is different in underwater secret with Megahealth near start area.

E1M6: The Door to Chthon

Pressing buttons has red Quake logo texture, such as the button in area with zombies falling down upon pressing it, the button in extending bridge to Gold Key, the two last buttons what open doors leading to Exit Portal.

E1M7: The House of Chthon

The Buttons that activate the Electric Terminals are located on the beams, as opposed to existing on the side areas, whereas the Button that commences the electrocution contains a red logo and is on a higher platform than the final version.
The Monster telefragging never occurs.
Extra "trigger_changelevel" is placed in unreachable area without cheats on left from Exit Gate. Probably, it's leftover during test period of map or early map design implementation.

E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo

No sunken square where players falls down level starts.

E2M1: The Installation

Cage area has different way to escape it after picking secret Green Armor, also a little bit different crate placement.
The Crates at the end of this level contain different textures.

E2M2: The Ogre Citadel

The crates that appear at the start of the map are textured differently from the final versions.

E2M3: the Crypt of Decay

There is neither a Well of Wishes nor anything existent where it would be located.
The ogre at start of the map has different position and attacks player immediately.
Lack of rotfishes in water.
No elevator from water to bridge in central section.
Secret red armor replaced with yellow armor.

E2M4: The Ebon Fortress

Different item placement. Super Shotgun along with shells is placed in place of Super Nailgun and nails.

E2M5: The Wizard's Manse

Shooting the glass window on central room's ceiling will trigger a trap on the bridge below top bridge which pushes shells and potentionally enemies and player into water.
Multiple Scrags spawn on balcony area in same position and in same time, resulting in telefragging each other until the last one survives.
Underwater shortcut is not yet present where trapped moving platform moves the player under water.

E2M6: the Dismal Oubliette

This map commences with a gauntlet out of an acquatic canyon before it reaches the final starting point. John Romero had to subtract this starting area in order to keep the level under the 1.4 MB file size capacity that had been set for BSPs at the time. Romero later released this section as E2M10: The Lost Entrance of the Dismal Oubliette.^[1]
Approaching the barrier toward Exit Gate will result in getting message "You must collect the Signet!".

E2M7: The Underearth

Secret Quad Damage is located on platform instead being locked behind the wall nearby, pressing the "brick" will lower the platform to player's ground.
The Easter Egg is unreachable by normal way. Shooting Gargoyle textures as in Final version won't open the door leading to it.

E3M1: Termination Central

The lower button to activate the very first one elevator back to spawn area has different placement.
Wall that connects start area (where stands Enforcer, along there's health pack and shotgun ammo) was not solid from ground to ceiling and has different texture. The wall opens upon entering Gold Keycard door and making a few steps forward toward exit, allowing to fast return to start area.
Shortcut elevator to reach Gold Keycard area is not present here.
The crates at exit portal had different texture (like crates in e1m1 or e1m2).
Two enforces on left and right side from exit Slipgate are not covered behind walls, that open when player approaches closer to Slipgate.

E3M2: The Vaults of Zin

The crates that appear at the start of the map are textured differently from the final versions. Also the crates on left side from start area have different size.
Overall different enemy placement and lack of some enemies. Also ammo and health have different placement or not placed at all at certain areas.
The lava area with button above pillar has wall with skull upon it which can be hit to open. It contains health pack instead of Quad Damage as final version.
The corridor with grid metal floor and lava below it has movable platform.
The portals in this level have background texture.
Mega health secret in area under where lies grenade launcher does not count as secret in beta.

E3M3: The Tomb of Terror

Lava texture is different compared to the final version.
100 health secret does not count as secret.
The area with vertical spikes has horizontal spikes (but their functionality is bugged). Also the bridges what triggered by buttons return to their default positions after some time.
Overall different enemy placement and lack of some enemies.
The portals in this level have background texture.

E3M4: the Haunted Halls

This level exists in the slot for E3M4 as opposed to E3M7. Satan's Dark Delight exists in E3M5, while the Wind Tunnels is the secret level. This level is rather incomplete, the only Monster is a sole Ogre on the starting bridge.

The start area has no room with teleport.
The area with closed door and button on right has elevator instead of button and the door is opened (or right to say, there's no door at all). The area after closed door with single portal has different layout. The player must descend to reach the Portal in final version, while in Beta he has to just go straight forward. The portal itself teleports player to different place, to the area with cage in lava (T-junction) and shootable buttons (and where Shambler spawns), while in final version it teleports to the place where elevator leads in beta.
The area with cage covered in lava and T-junktion above has a dead end instead of corridor to nail traps. Also there are no shootable buttons. To get into the cage you have to jump into falling lava there's secret teleporter that teleports player inside cage. Also the cage itself is filled with lava.
The area where fiend rises on platform from below, which is also under bridge, has no platform rising from below. Elevator texture is different. There's no also zombies rising from below and instead of button there's Exit teleporter. Upon reaching the teleport player receives message "The exit is straight ahead.... :)".
The secret with Quad Damage is present, but the door has different texture and inside there's rocket ammo and reaching it does not count as secret, as map has no secret triggers.
The layout of area with Quad Damage secret is a little bit unfinished/different compared to final one.
The part of map after nail traps (including the area with nail traps) is not present in Beta.
The portals in this level have background texture.

E3M5: Satan's Dark Delight

This level exists in the slot for E3M5 as opposed to E3M4. The next map portal is placed right in the start area along with almost all weapons in game (without Super Nailgun and Thunderbolt), suggesting to skip this map as its not finished at the time of Beta 3's release.

The start area has different geometry. There's no teleport pad under player's spawn. The ogres platform on left and right from spawn are not accessible because of blockage with pillars and ogres do not jump on the ground to reach player.
Also, there's no elevator on in bottom start area on right from spawn, as there's no floor to reach exit area as in final version, but there's moving platform. The exit itself is not working, suggesting to use temporary exit.
There are doors at start area in front of player's spawn to reach lava area with supposed tunnel to secret exit.
The horizontal door at start area to reach water zone has no sound when opening.
Water zone is shortened (looks like, it was on purpose to test enemy and health/ammo placement). The bridges above water are thin and less wide compared to final. Also, there are no platforms for zombies above water in corners.
Area with moving platforms where you supposed to shoot buttons to activate moving platforms has lava instead of water. The level of lava way above than water in final.
There are no stairs section in the only lava area in final, where Shambler supposed to spawn.
There are no secret triggers. Also this level has no secret with Quad Damage nearby shootable button, so there's no secret with Pentagram of Protection. Overall, the level missing 3 secrets from final version.
Overall different enemy placement and lack of some enemies.
There are no shortcut teleporters used in Deathmatch mode yet.
This level has no area to access secret level (the Wind Tunnels in Beta 3).

E3M6: The Chambers of Torment

The end area differs somewhat compared to its final version; there exists a pillar to the left and right of the Exit Gate, and a Shambler appears behind the Vores, whereas in the final two Fiends appear when Ranger arrives at the center of the bridge. It is probable that the Shambler was removed because he had a tendency to assault the Vores since he exists just behind them, which renders the final area considerably facile.

The article ‘The’ was subtracted from this level’s name in the final version of Quake because it made the title excessively long and it drew over both the secret count and the edge of the screen.

E3M7: the Wind Tunnels

This map serves as episode 3’s secret level (instead of E3M5). This level is extremely barebones, consisting of nothing more than the basic geometry. There is also no way to access this level without cheats. Wind Tunnels do not make any sounds.

The rocket/grenade ammo place at platform above with Quad Damage in first Wind Tunnel has no wrapped section in wall and the pipe is downed a bit, making it impossible to walk there for player.
Wind tunnel to main hub has 90 degree elbow pipe turn. Also, there are no rune textures above entrances to Wind Tunnels.
The secret area with Rocket Launcher is present, but it's not yet filled and has no secret trigger.
In underwater sections arrow-textures what leading player where he should go are not present as some of lamps textures.
The exit section is little bit different. There are short lines in floor to see "secret" section beneath exit portal. Also, the area beneath exit portal is way larger. It has unfunctional portal (supposed to lead to main hub, but can't know for sure) and elevator which leads to the platform above exit portal.
There are no secret triggers.

E4M1: The Sewage System

The secret in underwater section from where Grunt and Enforcer jumps from does not count as secret.

E4M2: The Tower of Despair

This level has no "safe" start area with Slipgate portal and crates around. The player spawns above ground like falling down from Arch gate.
Different background texture.
There's no secret added yet in the Button room opening the wall to the Small Wall Spike, which gives access to the alcove of the small wall spike room.
The area with rafters has different styled door below what returns back to retry jump over rafters once more.
Silver Key is not needed to finish the level, as the wall what blocks the way to exit was not yet added.

E4M3: The Elder God Shrine

Has different Gold Key door, where left part opens vertically while right half opens horizontal way.
There's no message after crossing Gold Key door - "Are you sure you want to leave now? You left something important behind."
A few different monster placement, also bug (or feature?) with spawning so many Scrugs in one instance nearby elevator surrounded by water (red armor secret).

E4M4: The Palace of Hate

No healing pool secret.
Silver Key area has no teleporter above what leads to the secret area with Ring of Invisibility nearby Silver Key door before exit, thus this level has only 3 secrets compared to 5 in final version.
A little bit different monster placement along with health/ammo.

E4M5: Hell's Atrium

The level has 129 monsters on Nightmare difficulty compared to 98 in release version. Most of the removed monsters are Zombies and Spawns.
A little bit different monster placement. Like there are Knights instead of vores in area with vertical traps with 100 health pack and Quad Damage.
The area with moving wall with attached portal on it has wider bridge and the buttons to activate bridge located on hills and has placed more far away from main corridor. Bridge is already in place without the need to activate buttons. The buttons themselves are bugged, as they remove bridge upon being activated, (Bug or might be done on purpose, to force the player to use Rocket Jump?)

E4M6: The Pain Maze

Shooting the Unholy Altar causes single Vore to drop down instead of two. Killing the Vore does not open access to Silver Key.

E4M7: Azure Agony

The level has 109 monsters on Nightmare difficulty compared to 88 in release version. Most of the removed monsters are Spawns.
Different background texture.

E4M8: The Nameless City

The secret with red armor, when you have to jump into the hole after encountering Shambler, has no "trigger secret" and thus it does not count as secret, despite that area is present. This map has 3 secrets (4 in release).

End: Shub-Niggurath's Pit

See: Shub-Niggurath's Pit

Multiplayer Levels

Deathmatch Arena does not exist in this version, nor any of the levels that the Episode contained. Most of the single-player maps from this version has no extra shortcuts/teleporters to be used in Deathmatch mode (if game runned in DM mode) and have bugged scripts to open doors without keys.

Enemy and secret count in Single player mode

Table to compare total number of enemies at Easy, Normal, Hard/Nightmare difficulties and secrets in Beta 3 and Release.

The level order in this table is same as in Release.

Episode 1: Dimension of the Doomed
	Enemies and secrets (in brackets number in release's version of map, only posted if it's not same)
Map name	Easy	Medium	Hard/Nightmare	Secrets
Introduction	0	0	0	0
E1M1: The Slipgate Complex	10	23	42	6
E1M2: Castle of the Damned	14 (16)	24	42	3
E1M3: The Necropolis	31	47	65	3
E1M4: The Grisly Grotto	21 (22)	41 (42)	58 (59)	3
E1M5: Gloom Keep	18	39	60	4 (5)
E1M6: The Door to Chthon	14	24	31	4
E1M7: The House of Chthon	1 (21)	1 (21)	1 (21)	0
E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo	15 (17)	23 (28)	29 (34)	2
Episode 2: The Realm of Black Magic
E2M1: The Installation	18	33	46	7
E2M2: The Ogre Citadel	22 (20)	39	48	3
E2M3: The Crypt of Decay	15 (21)	26 (38)	42 (54)	3 (4)
E2M4: The Ebon Fortress	31 (27)	62	78	4
E2M5: The Wizard's Manse	21	43	60 (61)	2
E2M6: The Dismal Oubliette	41 (31/38*)	90 (62/82*)	116 (85/107*)	3 (2/3*)
E2M7: The Underearth	43	68 (67)	80 (78)	2
Episode 3: The Netherworld
E3M1: Termination Central	28	55	67	5
E3M2: The Vaults of Zin	29 (28)	34 (35)	36 (47)	2 (3)
E3M3: The Tomb of Terror	28 (25)	28 (32)	27 (47)	1 (2)
E3M4: Satan's Dark Delight	18 (27)	25 (38)	30 (47)	0 (4)
E3M5: The Wind Tunnels	0 (25)	0 (43)	0 (50)	0 (4)
E3M6: Chambers of Torment	36 (34)	59	71 (73)	2
E3M7: The Haunted Halls	1 (32)	1 (40)	1 (42)	0 (4)
Episode 4: The Elder World
E4M1: The Sewage System	27 (26)	48	56	3 (4)
E4M2: The Tower of Despair	19	34	43	4 (5)
E4M3: The Elder God Shrine	38 (51)	72 (77)	101 (105)	3
E4M4: The Palace of Hate	47 (43)	68	87	3 (5)
E4M5: Hell's Atrium	69 (45)	97 (75)	129 (98)	4
E4M6: The Pain Maze	35	53	84	4
E4M7: Azure Agony	42 (33)	67 (62)	109 (88)	9
E4M8: the Nameless City	48 (46)	66 (64)	98 (88)	3 (4)
END: Shub-Niggurath's Pit**	10 (16)	12 (20)	15 (20)	0 (1)

/* E2M6 original release / E2M6 with enlarged start section in 2021 Remaster. /** The beta 3's END level is completely different from final's one.

Textual differences

Weapons and Powerups

The Double-Barrelled Shotgun is referred to as the "super shotgun".
The Thunderbolt is referred to as the "lightning gun".
The Rune is referred to as the "sigil".

Obituaries

Old One, Shalrath and Wizard were still used as internal names, but the name "Piranha" was not retained for the Rotfish.

"Player" was shot by an Enforcer became "Player" was blasted by an Enforcer.
"Player" was killed by a Death Knight became "Player" was slain by a Death Knight.
"Player" was killed by a Knight became "Player" was slashed by a Knight.
"Player" was killed by a Zombie became "Player" joins the Zombies.
"Player" was tarred by a Spawn became "Player" was slimed by a Spawn.
"Player" was gummed by a Piranha became "Player" was fed to the Rotfish.
"Player" was finished by Shalrath became "Player" was exploded by a Vore.
"Player" was zapped by a Wizard became "Player" was scragged by a Scrag.
"Player" was crushed became "Player" was squished.

Episode Completion Texts

With the exception of the shareware version, every episode terminates with practically identical texts. In the final version, the episode ending messages were heavily modified to be more flavorful. The message to be displayed after all four of the runes were collected is nonexistent in the beta.