LordHavoc has released a new stable build of DarkPlaces with a major new feature, the introduction of real time high quality shadowmapping. Where the previous real time lights used the stencil buffer to calculate volumes for shadows to occupy, shadowmaps work more like projecting textures onto the world from the perspective of the illuminating lights. Shadowvolumes are known for their hard edges, but shadowmaps being a texture projection essentially, can be filtered more effectively leading to softer edges and blurring, creating a far more organic feel. You have likely seen shadowmaps in more contemporary titles such as Crysis, Unreal Engine games like Borderlands and Bioshock, and the past three Call of Duty releases. Not only does this feature give Quake a more seamless and organic feel, it also shows the caliber that the independent and open sourced community can reach.

Go give it a download, but be warned, shadowmaps are not cheap when it comes to system resources. Thankfully LordHavoc has included a console command for enabling them simply for models, not geometry.