Quake III Arena source code released

This year's QuakeCon saw the announcement of the Xbox version of Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, as well as more details on the anticipated Quake 4. But real gamers, the kind who really like to get inside their games, got their biggest news today.

As promised during QuakeCon, id Software released the source code for its classic PC first-person shooter, Quake III Arena. The 5.6MB file is now available for download at GameSpot DLX.

Coders are free to do what they will with the code, barring some key exceptions noted in the readme file that goes along with the download.

The release of the code lets amateur programmers tinker with the game's engine, much like gamers have done with Valve's Half-Life and Half-Life 2, which spawned the popular Counter-Strike game.