Quake 3 Comes To Google's Android Platform

Almost exactly one month ago we reported that Roderick Colenbrander was working on a new open-source project after his once-popular NVClock program has since largely faded away. Details were scarce on the project originally, but we knew it was to do with Linux gaming. Today we now know that this project is called "Kwaak3" and it's a port of Quake 3 to Google's Android platform.

Using a Motorola Milestone phone with Android, Roderick ported Quake 3 to run on the Android platform in just a matter of days. Also last month we reported on ioquake3 being ported to the Nokia N900 and Roderick ended up using that code as the basis for his Android port.

In just a few days Roderick got this code working on Android with OpenGL functionality. Following that he began building up the Android-ported engine with touchscreen support, sound, and networking capabilities.

Android programs are generally written in Java and to handle Kwaak3 on Android, Roderick had written a small Java program to initialize OpenGL and then handle the input / audio support and then to communicate with the Quake 3 library using a JNI wrapper that handles loading either the ARMv5 or Neon optimized versions.

Additional details on the Kwaak3 project that brings Quake 3 to Android-powered phones can be found on its Google Code page.