While most people’s go-to game to try and get running on inappropriate hardware is id’s classic Doom, let’s not forget that the company’s Quake can be almost as flexible.
While lately we’ve seen Doom running on everything from tractors to a LEGO brick, the thing about Doom is that it’s not a fully 3D game, since you can’t aim up or down, which is why I think ports of Quake — requiring extra inputs to allow for that extra visibility — can sometimes be a bit more impressive.
Take MyOwnClone’s port of the game for an Apple Watch, for example. Firstly, I am in love with how crisp everything looks on so small a screen. Secondly, the fact you can still tell the time in the top right corner is very useful. Thirdly, the button input down the bottom is incredibly funny, since it makes the game playable in only the strictest, most technical sense, as there’s no way you’re actually going to enjoy playing Quake like this.
I wonder if by tweaking the gyro controls it could be made more playable, though? The short demonstration we get here makes them look really slow; if they were sped up and made more sensitive, and the watch’s bezel was turned into the firing button, I think this might be more than just something to point at and say “isn’t this neat”!
But then this screen is also tiny, and any tweaks to gyro might make the game just as unplayable from the other end of the spectrum, so what would I know. if you’re in a position to be trying this out, you can check out the port over on MyOwnClone’s github page.
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