The Rangers were the first group known to produce Quake movies. Their innovations included the genre's first movie (Diary of a Camper, October 1996), the first truly cinematic film (Ranger Gone Bad 2), and the first full use of voices to replace the on-screen text that had served as narration up to that point (Torn Apart 2). The Ranger's work naturally inspired other players and Deathmatch Clans within the Quake community to make their own films. Clan Undead's "Operation Bayshield" (produced in January 1997) is considered a benchmark comedic film, later followed by the hugely successful "Blahbalicious," (December 1997) from Avatar and Wendigo. "Blahbalicious," the first Quake movie to utilize custom models, would earn its place in machinima history by winning eight Quake Movie Oscars, a highly coveted award of distinction.

Also at this time, Walking Wounded (which would later become Strange Company) began to push the boundaries of the medium with the release of their movie, "Eschaton: Darkening Twilight," (January 1998). Although flawed in some respects, Eschaton: DI" raised expectations as to what could be done visually and conceptually within machinima. Soon after "Eschaton: DI's" release, the ILL Clan, a NYC-based production group with a background in improvisational comedy, came out with their first movie, "Apartment Huntin'." Along with the ILL Clan's second feature, "Hardly Workin'", it remains one of the most accessible--and funniest--Quake movies to date.

With the highly anticipated release of Clan Phantasm's epic feature "Devil's Covenant," came a deep respect for sheer technical mastery of a familiar, yet demanding format. Running two hours and 10 minutes in length (considered an amazing technical feat in its own right), "Devil's Covenant" was the biggest and most ambitious project to date. Unlike many of the movies that had preceded it, "Devil's Covenant" succeeded on many levels: from coding and modeling, to scripting and acting. The film established Clan Phantasm as an innovative filmic force within the Quake movie community, and set a precedent that continues to inform the medium.

Ranger Gone Bad 2	Blahbalicious
Devil's Covenant	Apartment Huntin'