Quake model formats - Modeling for Quake

List of model formats that can be used for Quake Modding:

Quake MDL

The most basic and original model format used in Quake. It uses simple frame-by-frame vertex animations and can reference multiple skins (textures). It is supported by all Quake engines. However, the format is extremely limited in terms of vertex count, animation fidelity, and flexibility. Its use today is discouraged unless strict legacy compatibility is required.

Half-life MDL

A feature-rich model format developed by Valve for GoldSrc. It supports meshes, skeletal animation, animation blending, hitboxes, and embedded textures.
Despite its capabilities, this format is proprietary and tied to Valve’s toolchain and licensing. While some engines can technically load it, using it outside of the Half-Life ecosystem may raise legal and licensing concerns, and it is generally not recommended for independent engines or projects.

MD2

MD2 is a model format developed by id Software for Quake II. Almost the same as Quake MDL, but with extended limits. Do not use it.

MD3

MD3 is a 3D model format used by id Tech 3 engine and games based on it, as well as many other engines. Unlike older idTech model formats, it supports an extended amount of polygons and multiple surfaces on one mesh. It still uses simple vertex animation, but with float precision for vertices the wobble is almost invisible. Animations can make a model file very huge. It supports tags, a feature where you can dynamically attach entities onto vector points. For example, you can add hats for the player model that has tag_head. Supported by many game engines.

MD5

MD5 is a proprietary but open format specific to Doom 3 and allows models to be animated by the use of an internal skeleton. It is very good for file size and is widely open for use and easy to work with as it is stored as ASCII plain text. Supported by FTE and a few other engines. 

IQM

This is the Inter-Quake Model format by Lee Salzman. The best choice for creating models & animations in FTE and DP. Vertex animation is no longer supported, instead it has skeletal animation support for 256 joints. It offers us several advantages over the aging MD5 format. While MD5 itself is superior to MD3, namely by allowing for skeletal animation, it is very old and is not particularly well-supported by most 3D modeling programs. Models may or may not appear to look better with the IQM format, as it is something that remains to be seen once we export all of our existing material to it. Considering that MD5 averages out normals and results in particularly bad shading, something that doesn’t look good on hard surface models. IQM supports vertex normals and will not suffer from this. Format supported by GZDoom, DarkPlaces, FTE and many other quake engines. Recommended. 

PSK (PSA)

The PSK file contains the mesh information, bone influence indices and weights for each vertex, the bone names, bone hierarchy, and skeletal default pose. The PSA files contain the animation data in an external file. Slow to load.

DPM

DarkPlaces model format. Badly documented. No framegroups/animations (just individual poses). Supported by DarkPlaces, FTE.

glTF

glTF is a modern, efficient, and interoperable model format designed for real-time rendering and web technologies. It supports advanced features such as PBR materials, skinning, animations, and efficient binary storage. The binary .glb variant typically embeds meshes, animations, and textures into a single file. Format supported only by FTE.

OBJ

Most simple and almost limitless model format. Format supports parametric surfaces, smooth groups, N-Gons (this will glitch in DP). Can not be animated. Format supported by DarkPlaces (can be used as level if you and .ent file) and FTE. Recommended.

BSP

You can use BSP as a model for your entities. Compile it, just like you compile maps. Can not be animated, has lighting issues.

FBX

Modern versions of Q3MAP2 can import static FBX models directly into BSP maps, including collision geometry.