Syrion: I agree with dr.schliemann, using a source port is your best bet. It's always quickly thrown out there whenever someone experiences problems with Quake 1 and 2, but it's for good reason. Both games have source ports available that either enhance the game in any way, as well ones that simply try to replicate the original version as best as possible while offering much higher compatibility with modern systems.

In the case of Quake 2, Yamagi Quake 2, despite its unusual name, does exactly the latter and should let you run the game on Windows 10 with music without much hassle.

Syrion: Hey there, it's been a while since I've played Quake 2, so I just downloaded it and I'll try to make the installation instructions a bit easier to follow :) I'm using standard folder names, of course you can name the folders any way you like. This all applies to Windows 10:

1. Download Quake 2 from GOG.com and install it to "C:\GOG Games\Quake II"
2. Download the Quake 2 Patch v2.30 from here and install it to "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II"
3. Open the folder "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II" and delete the following files:
3.20_Changes.txt
quake2.exe
ref_gl.dll
ref_soft.dll
baseq2\gamex86.dll
ctf\ctf2.ico
ctf\gamex86.dll
ctf\readme.txt
ctf\server.cfg
xatrix\gamex86.dll
rogue\gamex86.dll
4. Open the folder "C:\GOG Games\Quake II" and copy the following files/folders to the corresponding folder in "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II":
baseq2\pak0.pak
baseq2\video
xatrix\pak0.pak
xatrix\video
rogue\pak0.pak
rogue\video
5. (This part is admittedly annoying) Open "C:\GOG Games\Quake II\music", remove the word "Track" from all the filenames, for example: "Track02.ogg" should become "02.ogg", etc.
6. Copy "C:\GOG Games\Quake II\music" to "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\baseq2" as well as "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\rogue" and "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\xatrix"
7. Download the zip-file Yamagi Quake II 7.01 for Windows from here and extract the contents of the included quake2 folder into "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II"

8. Create a shortcut to "quake2.exe" (right-click on it, click on "Create shortcut...")
9. Rename the shortcut "Quake II"
10. Repeat step 8 (to create another shortcut)
11. Right-click the new shortcut, click on "Properties"
12. To the field called "Target", add the following line: +set game rogue (The field should now look like this: "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\quake2.exe" +set game rogue
13. Rename the shortcut "Quake II - Ground Zero"
14. Repeat stepts 8+11 (for another shortcut)
15. To the field called "Target", add the following line: +set game xatrix (The field should now look like this: "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\quake2.exe" +set game xatrix
16. Rename the shortcut "Quake II - The Reckoning"

Now, you should have a fully working version of Quake 2 and its addons! The point of all the copying around instead of just using the GOG installation folder is to have a "clean" version of the game with only the files you need. Otherwise, some files might interfere with the version of the game. If you wish, you can now uninstall the GOG installation of Quake 2, the "Yamagi Quake II" folder is all you need to play the game. Although, I recommend keeping the nice GOG shortcut icons!

Note that if you want to change any settings beyond what the options menu offers, you need to change the config.cfg file that can be found under "C:\Users\%YOURNAME%\Documents\YamagiQ2\baseq2" as well as the folders rogue and xatrix for the corresponding addon if you play them, or by directly opening the console in the game (pressing the ~ or ^ button on your keyboard). For example, by changing gl_texturemode to (or directly typing in) gl_texturemode gl_nearest you can completely disable texture filtering to get a very pixelated but also crisp image, if that's what you like.

I hope you got it to work properly now and wish you fun with the game! :)

Syrion: Hey there, it's been a while since I've played Quake 2, so I just downloaded it and I'll try to make the installation instructions a bit easier to follow :) I'm using standard folder names, of course you can name the folders any way you like. This all applies to Windows 10:

1. Download Quake 2 from GOG.com and install it to "C:\GOG Games\Quake II"
2. Download the Quake 2 Patch v2.30 from here and install it to "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II"
3. Open the folder "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II" and delete the following files:
3.20_Changes.txt
quake2.exe
ref_gl.dll
ref_soft.dll
baseq2\gamex86.dll
ctf\ctf2.ico
ctf\gamex86.dll
ctf\readme.txt
ctf\server.cfg
xatrix\gamex86.dll
rogue\gamex86.dll
4. Open the folder "C:\GOG Games\Quake II" and copy the following files/folders to the corresponding folder in "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II":
baseq2\pak0.pak
baseq2\video
xatrix\pak0.pak
xatrix\video
rogue\pak0.pak
rogue\video
5. (This part is admittedly annoying) Open "C:\GOG Games\Quake II\music", remove the word "Track" from all the filenames, for example: "Track02.ogg" should become "02.ogg", etc.
6. Copy "C:\GOG Games\Quake II\music" to "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\baseq2" as well as "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\rogue" and "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\xatrix"
7. Download the zip-file Yamagi Quake II 7.01 for Windows from here and extract the contents of the included quake2 folder into "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II"

8. Create a shortcut to "quake2.exe" (right-click on it, click on "Create shortcut...")
9. Rename the shortcut "Quake II"
10. Repeat step 8 (to create another shortcut)
11. Right-click the new shortcut, click on "Properties"
12. To the field called "Target", add the following line: +set game rogue (The field should now look like this: "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\quake2.exe" +set game rogue
13. Rename the shortcut "Quake II - Ground Zero"
14. Repeat stepts 8+11 (for another shortcut)
15. To the field called "Target", add the following line: +set game xatrix (The field should now look like this: "C:\GOG Games\Yamagi Quake II\quake2.exe" +set game xatrix
16. Rename the shortcut "Quake II - The Reckoning"

Now, you should have a fully working version of Quake 2 and its addons! The point of all the copying around instead of just using the GOG installation folder is to have a "clean" version of the game with only the files you need. Otherwise, some files might interfere with the version of the game. If you wish, you can now uninstall the GOG installation of Quake 2, the "Yamagi Quake II" folder is all you need to play the game. Although, I recommend keeping the nice GOG shortcut icons!

Note that if you want to change any settings beyond what the options menu offers, you need to change the config.cfg file that can be found under "C:\Users\%YOURNAME%\Documents\YamagiQ2\baseq2" as well as the folders rogue and xatrix for the corresponding addon if you play them, or by directly opening the console in the game (pressing the ~ or ^ button on your keyboard). For example, by changing gl_texturemode to (or directly typing in) gl_texturemode gl_nearest you can completely disable texture filtering to get a very pixelated but also crisp image, if that's what you like.

I hope you got it to work properly now and wish you fun with the game! :)