Row after row of computer screens. More than 10 miles of networking cables snaking across the 73,000-square-foot floor. Four diesel generators to juice nearly 2,800 power-hungry video gaming machines. Energy drinks, Mountain Dew, pizza and fast-food.

These are part of the landscape at QuakeCon, a video game exhibition being held through the weekend at the Hilton Anatole. Most of the gamers will be in what’s called the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) exhibition room.

Gamers began carrying or wheeling in their machines Wednesday night. From 8 a.m. Thursday until noon Sunday, these players in the BYOC room will use all manner of virtual weapon to obliterate each other. At the same time, a video game tournament is under way in a separate room, where a small cadre of professional gamers will try to collect their shares of more than $50,000 in prize money.

"The majority of people just play to enjoy it," said Magnus Olsson, a professional player from Sweden. "If you want to be among the top players on the planet you have to put in a lot of work. You have to keep practicing a lot. I practice on a daily basis."

QuakeCon is one big, free, local computer network. Since participants are not using the Internet, there's no lag time between firing a grenade launcher and seeing a friend's avatar explode in meaty, satisfying chunks. That rush and the community atmosphere draw people like Jake Harkins to make an 18-hour drive from Wyoming to Dallas, only to wait in line for 1½ days because he didn’t preregister.

On Thursday, standing next to a waist-high mass of custom-built computers on a cart, Mr. Harkins could finally see the entrance to the BYOC networked gaming area. "We're excited now. We can see the front of the line," he joked.

QuakeCon, in its 13th year, is sponsored by numerous video game companies, including Mesquite-based id Software, maker of classic shooting video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and, of course, Quake.

"QuakeCon has grown bigger than just id and Quake,” said Tim Willits, creative director of id Software. “It is a multiplayer mecca for players to come to every year."

In the BYOC room, participants can play whatever they want – with certain restrictions that are posted at the entrance. Under the “no” side of the list: glass containers, smoking, pets, drugs, weapons, fireworks or cheating. On the approved list: “Bathing, deodorant and FUN!”

For the most part, the gamers here from 34 countries and 47 states are hard core, willing to shell out thousands of dollars for a top-tier gaming computer. There's also a large population of modders, people who build or tweak existing hardware and software.

Daniel Harris, 23, of Carrollton built an ant farm into his keyboard, an idea spawned from a cartoon. Tragedy struck when one of his few surviving ants found an exit.

"I got an ant trying to escape at the moment and that would be very bad," he said, as the ant tried wiggle its way out of a gap in the plastic case. "Unfortunately, I don't have any tools and I don’t want to smush him. I'm using my key to try and get him back in."

Daniel Greenwood, 23, of Carrollton is at his fifth QuakeCon. He built his mod by putting together two cases with see-through panels on either side to display the lighted innards of the machine. An LCD screen built into the case itself played an episode of South Park through an iPod. Mr. Greenwood and his friends haven't had much time for games.

"Some people are here and they just seclude themselves. You'll see them playing games the whole time. The two of us are more into building up something cool then showing it off. We also really like to mingle with a lot of people. That is half the reason why I'm here," Mr. Greenwood said.

Mr. Greenwood was among several gamers who said they relished the socializing.

“You just can’t beat the social interaction. It’s a unique experience,” said Mark Jordan, 23. “You can go to clubs and parties and it’s just not the same. It’s something to be amongst your kind.”

Mr. Jordan is attending QuakeCon with a group of friends from Tyler, including David Faulkner, 28. Mr. Faulkner took three days off from work to come to QuakeCon.

"We laugh and joke and have fun and shoot each other,” Mr. Faulkner said. "It's all right because you can't do that in real life and then have another game.”