scar3crow wrote:Part of it is a disconnect of PC usage culture - Quake has a very simplistic structure (amendments), which is very fluid, but only if you are comfortable with command line input. For a shortcut system it is terribly clunky and weird (the only Quake shortcut I've ever had was QWCL, and even then, GameSpy launched that). Contemporary users aren't familiar with anything command line, I have coworkers who freeze up if they are asked what their IP is, or to do a tracert to Google, or to perform a release renew. None of them know the command line (some have never seen it), so when a mod asks them to install it, they are asked to either go through a very clunky interface, or wade into uncharted and mysterious waters. The path to experiencing Quake as we enjoy it is one with many trials and tribulations - ones that we often don't notice as we reflexively handle them. I do think something like Quaddicted's Quake Injector could in theory be suped up for mod support as well, so it simply turns into a general Quake front end. Its UI would still be daunting to some, but less so than hopping into Run.
I'd just like to note that in DarkPlaces there are two sorts of "easily installed" mod methods:
1. a zip that the user extracts to Quake folder, not a subfolder, and then they just use Browse Mods in the options menu to activate it, exit that menu and the renderer restarts and the mod is loaded.
2. if you host a multiplayer server, you can package everything in a .pk3 (renamed zip) archive and set up your sv_curl_defaulturl correctly and it will automatically download the pk3 on connect if it contains the currently played bsp (or any of the files listed in the sv_curl_serverpackages cvar - note these are not pk3 names but filenames within the pk3's you want the server to recommend to the client), the server automatically detects which pk3 the files came from and sends appropriate curl commands to the client console before joining. The pk3 will be stored in id1/dlcache/ and loaded only on demand when joining a server (unfortunately it does not issue an fs_rescan on every connect however, so this can only really add content, not override existing content, and it isn't unloaded on disconnect presently).
So #2 fixes multiplayer mod experience in large part, not by changing gamedir but by having a cache of content.
#1 needs a better cure however - if Steam allowed Quake mods to be posted, the Browse Mods would be quite sufficient I think.
I don't mean to sound like a broken record here, but darkplaces is made for modders, it saddens me when people mess around with other engines that were not engineered specifically to enable versatile Quake modding, either lacking the diversity of features to be the "one true engine" or just being too unstable to be practical. It is the biggest community engine and if it has problems those problems should be addressed rather than looking for other engines.