The Negative Geometry of Quake: Refusal,Subtraction,and Emergent Coherence

Abstract

This article proposes a structural reading of the Quake videogame that departs from conventional approaches to game analysis. Rather than treating the game as a coherent fictional world, characterized by narrative or stylistic continuity, this work interprets Quake as an ontological system generated through refusal, subtraction, and spatial discontinuity. By examining the technical substrate of the game's engine, the pervasive role of void, the instability of scale and continuity, and the collapse of global spatial reference, this paper shows that Quake produces coherence not through world-building but through structural constraints that negate representation. The player emerges not as a character but as an operator who temporarily stabilizes an otherwise unstable field. Therefore, coherence arises from systemic refusal rather than from additive construction. This framework positions Quake as a prototype of negative game design and suggests broader implications for spatial theory, game ontology, and the analysis of coherence in digital environments.