Welcome to the wide world of Action Quake, where you get to be the star in your own melodrama about love, hate, revenge and slo-mo gunfights. Here is a game where you can unleash all of your pent-up aggressions without winding up in the big house.

Let us get right down to it. I'll assume that you have downloaded the AQ2 Client Pack from action.telefragged.com, and then bopped over to www.mapdepot.net to grab the two map packs as well as the multiplayer pack. Additionally, I'll assume you have correctly installed these files and packs into your \quake2 setup, and you're now wondering how you do things like open doors, create custom config files, and in general just style like the man.

Fist off, let me point out that every Q2 mod, including the original Q2 game, has a game directory in your \quake2 directory. For the original game the directory is \baseq2, while for Action Quake it is \action. Each of these directories contain the files, images, models, and maps for that particular mod. Note also that the /baseq2 directory is a "default" directory, which means that any mod will also look in that directory for resources that it needs.

Every mod will have its own config.cfg file in it's base directory. This file details all of the default setup and key binding information. Unless a particular mod installs it's own config.cfg, the file is copied from your /baseq2 directory the first time the mod is run. If your config for a mod every gets totally screwed, just erase it and start the mod again, and a fresh config file will be copied from your /baseq2 directory. Of course, if your config in \baseq2 is screwed that is a problem.

Putting your key binds in your config.cfg file is unnecessary though, and you should in general refrain from modifying the config.cfg. Especially since certain utilities like to rearrange the config.cfg like crazy. The best way to set up key binds and aliases is in a file called autoexec.cfg. This file should be in the base directory of the mod it is for, just like the config.cfg file. When loading, the mod will first load your config.cfg then load your autoexec.cfg.

There are a lot of console commands (console is reached using the "~" key) and actions that can be bound using aliases and key binds. I will not detail them all since there are already several places this information can be found. Specifically, you can find console command information about all Id games at www.planetquake.com/console/ and can find beginner's information about setup and configuration at www.planetquake.com/deathmatch101/ ... this last url even gives info on how to use gamespy if you're having trouble in that department.

Information about installing map packs, skin packs, and such can be found at the home pages dedicated to that area. The button bar along the top of this page gives you many links and resources to help you out. Further information can be garnered by asking questions on the message boards... although silly questions that you can find answers to by a little searching will often be ridiculed. Try not to be a llama by being too lazy to at least attempt to search out the information for yourself first.

Last but not least, you should read the information and teamplay sections on this page if you're a brand new player, as well as checking through the text-file documentation that is installed in the \action directory by the client install.

If you have read all this material you should be well on your way to some action-packed nights of frantic AQ2. Go forth and discover the joys of sniping, sneaking, and spraying. (That last sentence dedicated to the "1-clip coterie.")