The third major feature of the Q3A graphics engine is its wide variety of gorgeous player models. There are over 50 different texture/model combinations for you to choose from with the stock game and there are more models being made every day by the Quake community. The models range from your old pal from Doom to a giant eyeball that walks on two hands. There are even several models that hover instead of run, which and can make them tricky to track. And like the environmental textures, the player models can have moving textures. The moving details range from static filled goggles to lightning that moves all over one model's body. The wide selection of player models, each a complex work of art, makes theo selection of persona a source of almost as much pride as your choice of gaming handle.
Well, there is a downside to all the amazing graphics of Q3A. First, you need a 3D accelerator to play and a decent one at that. And even if you meet the games minimum requirements of a Pentium 233MHz MMX processor and a 8MB 3D accelerator, you're going to be missing out on all the great textures, curved surfaces and cool effects. If you have anything less than a PII 300 and a TNT 1 or Banshee, it's time to look into upgrading. Even in the "Fastest" graphic quality mode, Quake III Arena looks good, but you won't get anything near the full effect without a recent generation graphics card.
Second, with all the moving and detailed textures, complex models, explosions, lighting effects, curved surfaces and the like, things can get very confusing. Getting confused between friend and foe is a common occurrence in a team game. Spotting enemies among the confusion can be difficult and not seeing your enemy will get you killed. But, truth be told, this only makes Quake III Arena more realistic though it is far from real. As graphics get better and textures become more detailed in all games, the confusion factor in fast moving scenes will become more widespread. Quake III Arena is just among the first games to have enough detail to make this a problem.