After playing dawn of the machine twice, I still wanted a bit more of a Quake fix. So I made my way around some mods

I got to play Tremor, which really plays like the OG game, very serviceable.

Also Brutalist Jam 3, which took the most time. There are some really solid levels here, but there's a lot of filler material as well.

Started the immortal lock but didn't go far.

Also replayed a couple levels from Arcane Dimensions and the spirit world - which is some of the highest quality episode I've seen so far.

Now I'm onto Chateau Inferno and gotta say it's brutal. I wouldn't make it through without some generous saves and it is kinda like playing Doom, borrowing some slaughter philosophy with rooms filled to the brim with tough foes

After beating Dawn on Bloody Nightmare I realized I've never actually beaten any of the other expansions on Nightmare before so I'm just replaying the whole package. Just started Dimension of the Machine!

Try Warpspasm. Your description of that other episode at the ends sounds almost exactly like WS.

Also Brutalist Jam 3, which took the most time. There are some really solid levels here, but there's a lot of filler material as well.

It is because the levels are the fruits of a map jam, where no one is excluded. The first QBJ is leaner in that respect but still uneven by the nature of map jams. I have noticed, though, that often the less polished maps in terms of presentation are still fun to play if they have a solid layout and flow. "Handsome is as handsome does."

I get that, and there's also a lot of maps, 73 if I'm not mistaken. It's expected the quality gets heterogeneous, though id say I enjoy tighter packages

Will give it a shot once I manage to make it run, thanks for the rec!

Imo Arcane dimensions should count as an official expansion too!

In that case try Coffee Quake. It is all killer, no filler.

74 maps across four episodes, each with an expected playtime of about five minutes. The theme is that they are "coffee break sized" but when I finish one I start another one more often than not.

https://www.quaddicted.com/db/v2/maps/92a7419dfa9b90fcf197d42efc5a0d9c248dd6d3dbdc14b73eac2ec65d0f5033

And then Coffee Quake 2: Double Shot!

https://www.slipseer.com/index.php?resources%2Fcoffee-quake-2-double-shot.213%2F

Recommend trying to play each level without saving or loading.

In my opinion it is close to an ideal format for a Quake maps. Any bigger and I might end up creating my own gameplay "chunks" by saving and loading. Any smaller and there might not be room to move.

will give it a try! and I'll also avoid savescumming to enjoy the risk-reward the most