The underground Met Gala of concrete murderzone design: welcome to Quake Brutalist Game Jam
A lone concrete spire stands in a shallow bowl of rock, sheltering a rusted trapdoor from the elements. Standing on the trapdoor causes it to yawn open like iron jaws, dropping you through a vertical shaft into a subterranean museum where dozens of doors line the walls of three vaulted grey galleries. Each gallery leads to a pocket dimension of dizzying virtual architecture and fierce gladiatorial combat.
The Quake Brutalist Jam is the hottest community event for lovers of id Software's classic first-person shooter from 1996. First run in 2022, the Jam started out as a celebration of old-school 3D level design where veteran game developers, aspiring level designers, and enthusiast modders gather to construct new maps and missions themed around brutalist architecture.
This third iteration of the Jam goes much further. In an intense six-week session, contributors designed 77 brutalist-themed maps with players fighting new enemies with new weapons. The original Quake, built by legendary game designers such as John Carmack, John Romero, Tim Willits and American McGee, featured 37 levels when it was first released.
Ben Hale is the event's concierge, a professional game developer working as senior environment artist on the forthcoming survival game Subnautica 2. As a child, Hale learned to build Quake levels with the encouragement of his older brother. "He was very supportive, despite how often I blue-screamed his computer," Hale recalls.
The idea for a brutalism-themed jam came from another Quake mapper named Benoit Stordeur, inspired by a set of concrete textures Hale designed for Quake. "I posted a poll [of themes] for the community to vote on, with brutalism as a choice. Brutalism won by a wide margin," Hale says.
The first Quake Brutalist Jam captured the community's imagination, with participants producing 35 levels in two-and-a-half weeks using Hale's concrete textures. In a game that already features oppressive gothic and industrial environments, the moody stylings of brutalism proved powerful creative fuel. "So many brutalist buildings look like cool sci-fi structures or evil lairs," Hale says.
But as he began planning a third jam, Hale ran into some health issues. "I pitched to my friend, Fairweather, to be my co-host this year," Hale says. "They made the suggestion that we do something a little different this time."
For his contribution, Yang created an open-ended map that wouldn't look out of place in an adventure game like Myst. "My map started as a study of the architect Louis Kahn's 'brick brutalism masterpieces – the National Assembly complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad [in India]," he says.
The Quake Brutalist Jam isn't just for hardcore Quake fans and shooter addicts. This year's Start map has a section dedicated to newcomers with little to no mapping experience. At the other end of the spectrum, it has also seen contributions from industry professionals such as game designer and former teacher at New York University's Game Centre, Robert Yang.
"It's the underground Met Gala of concrete murderzone design, the biggest event on the Quake calendar," Yang says. "Everyone shows off, everyone nurtures the new faces, everybody eats. I love it."
A lone concrete spire stands in a shallow bowl of rock, sheltering a rusted trapdoor from the elements. Standing on the trapdoor causes it to yawn open like iron jaws, dropping you through a vertical shaft into a subterranean museum where dozens of doors line the walls of three vaulted grey galleries. Each gallery leads to a pocket dimension of dizzying virtual architecture and fierce gladiatorial combat.
The Quake Brutalist Jam is the hottest community event for lovers of id Software's classic first-person shooter from 1996. First run in 2022, the Jam started out as a celebration of old-school 3D level design where veteran game developers, aspiring level designers, and enthusiast modders gather to construct new maps and missions themed around brutalist architecture.
This third iteration of the Jam goes much further. In an intense six-week session, contributors designed 77 brutalist-themed maps with players fighting new enemies with new weapons. The original Quake, built by legendary game designers such as John Carmack, John Romero, Tim Willits and American McGee, featured 37 levels when it was first released.
Ben Hale is the event's concierge, a professional game developer working as senior environment artist on the forthcoming survival game Subnautica 2. As a child, Hale learned to build Quake levels with the encouragement of his older brother. "He was very supportive, despite how often I blue-screamed his computer," Hale recalls.
The idea for a brutalism-themed jam came from another Quake mapper named Benoit Stordeur, inspired by a set of concrete textures Hale designed for Quake. "I posted a poll [of themes] for the community to vote on, with brutalism as a choice. Brutalism won by a wide margin," Hale says.
The first Quake Brutalist Jam captured the community's imagination, with participants producing 35 levels in two-and-a-half weeks using Hale's concrete textures. In a game that already features oppressive gothic and industrial environments, the moody stylings of brutalism proved powerful creative fuel. "So many brutalist buildings look like cool sci-fi structures or evil lairs," Hale says.
But as he began planning a third jam, Hale ran into some health issues. "I pitched to my friend, Fairweather, to be my co-host this year," Hale says. "They made the suggestion that we do something a little different this time."
For his contribution, Yang created an open-ended map that wouldn't look out of place in an adventure game like Myst. "My map started as a study of the architect Louis Kahn's 'brick brutalism masterpieces – the National Assembly complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad [in India]," he says.
The Quake Brutalist Jam isn't just for hardcore Quake fans and shooter addicts. This year's Start map has a section dedicated to newcomers with little to no mapping experience. At the other end of the spectrum, it has also seen contributions from industry professionals such as game designer and former teacher at New York University's Game Centre, Robert Yang.
"It's the underground Met Gala of concrete murderzone design, the biggest event on the Quake calendar," Yang says. "Everyone shows off, everyone nurtures the new faces, everybody eats. I love it."
this quake brutalist game jam is literally the coolest thing ever! i'm obsessed with how they took a classic game and turned it into an underground event where devs can let their creativity shine in all things brutalist architecture 
. ben hale as the concierge is everything, btw - someone who's passionate about quake levels from a young age is gonna be so good at making this happen 
. and the fact that they're inclusive with map contributions for newbies to pros alike? 
game jam vibes are the real deal 
I love how it started out as just a celebration of old-school 3D level design but now it's evolved into this full-on event with so many amazing contributors 
and I'm not even mad about it 
Ben Hale's concrete textures are straight fire 
and I can see why they won the community poll 
But what I love most is that this event is inclusive and welcoming to newbies too 
It's like, you don't have to be a hardcore Quake fan to join in on the fun 
. It's not just for hardcore fans, they've made sure to include sections for newcomers as well which is awesome 
. The fact that industry pros are participating too shows the community is really thriving 
. Can't wait to check out these maps and see what kind of crazy designs people come up with 
!
they're making maps and missions themed around brutalist architecture, which sounds super intense and creative 
, but honestly, I kinda love it too 
like, shouldn't we be talking about something more uplifting than just a bunch of gladiatorial combat? 
