If I knew where to the the gen for Q2 I'd play it as well. Always liked the look of that, but came here too late to see it. So did BAT.

It's on Fileplanet, in the mods section for Quake II. I'd also try it as Doomguy, but the use key doesn't work on exit switches so I end up stuck in the first level.

EDIT: Pho beat me to the punch.

I tried the Q1 singleplayer campaign for Q2Gen, but it's exactly identical to the original Q1 in virtually every respect, so you're better off playing TomazQuake or some other Q1 source port.

Besides the expansion packs, are there any really good, long (at least a unit) single-player level sets for Quake II? I don't want TCs--there can be a couple of new weapons and monsters, but it still has to be Quake II.

If I'm not mistaken, that mission pack got a -41 from Something Awful, and the screenshots (especially the Hyperblaster) turn me off. I frequently play JDoom and ZDoom, but I rarely play Q1 anymore. I don't recall ever playing a game that made less sense than the original Quake. A Space Marine who looks like a taller version of Gimli the Dwarf...with an AX?!?!

I downloaded Doom Unleashed from Polycount. I tried out the weapon pack, but I removed it because Doom weapons aren't any fun if they don't behave like Doom weapons.

And I still think the weapons in Q1 were the worst of any big-name FPS I ever played. You had:
An ax (why an AX?!?!)
A shotgun that was almost worthless
A super shotgun that was rather unsatisfying to use (Doom got it right the first time)
A nailgun whose nails are weak and easily dodged (and why a nailgun? Modern military weapons fire bullets instead of sharp flechettes for a reason--a nail has around zero stopping power)
A super nailgun that is iike the normal gun except it runs out of ammo really fast
A grenade launcher that was pretty OK
A very Freudian rocket launcher that was an absolute death cannon (in the words of Iikka Keranen, "What do you mean, it's not a mechanical penis?")
A lightning gun that I reserved for taking out Shamblers and Vores because any other purposes were a waste of ammo

And there was way, way too much brown. Even the constant, inescapable, depressing grayness of Return to Castle Wolfenstein was more attractive.

No no, you misunderstand, although I am glad you tried out the model pack.  What I mean is I have an unreleased rework of the actual Gen Doom weapons for Gen itself.

I definitely enjoyed the first Quake more than its sequel. Quake II was obviously superior in sheer graphical prowess, and I certainly enjoyed its deathmatch portion more, but I always thought that the style used was bland and generic. I could get the same basic story idea from the first level of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. Quake however had an awesome setting and style to it, though how it could not when based upon the wonderful works of H.P. Lovecraft I don?t know. No doubt about it, singleplayer in the original Quake was far more interesting. Quake III? Hmmm, what is there to say about Quake III? It sucks and if it were not for Generations I wouldn?t even have it installed, nor would I ever play it for that matter. I have just as little hope for Quake IV as well, since Raven is doing it. Their last few games have been horrible, especially in the level design department.

First off, I don't recall the Q2 demo ever having music.

Wolfenstein was addictive, fun, and colorful, but it never took itself seriously. It's hard to get into a game when the secret level has Pac-Man ghosts in it and the guards' German sound like a bunch of inept Americans trying to pronounce German phrases phonetically and the SS guards don't look at all like real SS.

Doom was great. It sucked the player in and never let go.  The pieces don't make much sense individually, but they blend into a wonderful and harmonious whole. The graphics are beautiful even now, the enemies are interesting and (at the time) original, and the first Doom in particular had excellent music.

The problem with Quake is that it's no fun. The 3D graphics were done before 3D models could look good (all of the monsters are atrocious-looking), there was too much brown, the weapons sucked (not even the RL was really any fun, at it looked like a metal penis to boot), the game had no immersion or believability (even the military bases look like castles!), the sounds were lame, the music was worse (Trent Reznor sucks, has always sucked, and will always suck), the fights were no fun at all (especially the fights involving those goddamn mothersporking tar babies that I HATE), and I never once really got into the game. It's easily the worst game Id ever made.

I've already given my opinion of Quake II.

Quake III was passable out of the box, but was painfully uncreative and broke no new ground (even the music was generic). However, so many mods and maps and models are available that there's really no point to playing the unmodified game when you can load up beautiful custom maps in Generations Arena or some other mod. Team Arena has a lot more flavor, but nobody plays Team Arena anymore.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein tried to fix Wolfenstein 3-D's flaws but threw the baby out with the bathwater. It went from cartoonish and silly in its graphics all the way to somewhat dull and drab (where Quake has too much brown, RTCW has too much gray), the guards now speak German-accented English instead of English-accented German (how hard is it to hire fluent German speakers?), the music is good but there's not enough of it, and the whole occult theme has been done to death a thousand times. Still, it's fun, and the multiplayer is fantastic.

Doom 3 is a case of a company trying just a little too hard. The graphics, of course, are beyond reproach, if your computer can handle a high detail setting. Everything is pin-sharp and exquisitely detailed. But it's all the same dark UAC corridors (it's the 22nd century and they can't build a decent flashlight or put tactical lights on the weapons? Even before the demon invasion it's way too dark) with demons that look more like space aliens than demon, and the sounds suck, and there's no music (sacrilege!). It's good, and in places terrifying, but it doesnt't quite draw you in like the original Doom games.