New players can use Quakestarter as a quick way to get going with Quake and the many amazing things created for it since 1996. This package also contains quite a bit of documentation on configuring Quake and exploring other user-created content. This includes any necessary patching and recommended configurations for the addons! It's menu-driven and super easy to use. This is a (Windows only) package with tools for setting up a playable Quake installation and downloading/playing/managing many highly-regarded addons.
Quakestarter: The Quake Singleplayer Starter Pack