Quake MOD - In The Shadows

[ceriux]

so i played through the new demo in qbism it was pretty fun =) i really like your stealth mechanics.

[taniwha]

reckless: menus, huh? trouble = no menus? does the console work? does quit bring up the confirmation box?

I suspect a packaging/installation issue: menu.dat and menu.plist should be in ./QF (QF beside id1)

[taniwha]

I'm still working on the official announcement(s), but I've released QF 0.7.1 (which includes fixes for In The Shadows). The files are uploaded and the links have been updated.

0.7.1 still has the "bug" where transparent walls warp.

[revelator]

aye its there and the menu comes up i can start a new game but i cannot change to fullscreen from the menu, console works fine though. guess ill have to change windowed in the cfg ?.
Else it works ok

[taniwha]

hmm, I wonder why SDL on windows won't toggle fullscreen. It does in linux. Via the menu, too. Try vid_fullscreen 1 in the console (one of the few vid cvars that can be changed in current QF :/). Failing that, try +set vid_fullscreen 1 on the actual command line (not the console!).

BTW, it turns out there's an initial state bug that nq mostly misses because of the demos but qw hits. If the console comes up first (as is normal for qw), pressing a key will trigger a fatal error. I've already got it fixed locally, but I'll have to roll out a new release before I get the front page announcement out .

Still, thanks for the report!

Oh, try "+set vid_render glsl" on the command line. Let me know if it works.

[sock]

@taniwha, would an impulse command to stop the help messages outside of the tutorial area help? So if the player does not want extra help they can disable the messages that come up during play of stealth mode?

If you want someone to test the win64 version of QF let me know I will gladly help, send me a link via email.

@ceriux, did you play all of the maps? anything you did not like that could be changed? Any demo's?

[taniwha]

Hmm, not sure what to do about it. I can understand that some do want such help/reminders.

As for win64: not sure I can build that. For a very long time mingw was 32-bit only. I need to investigate that.

[sock]

I assume I can run a win32 QuakeForge engine on win64 os?

I went to the Quakeforge download page and I am confused. (Can you tell I am windows user and not a unix person)

Windows (32-bit) binaries:
SDL client [ zip ] (What is a SDL client? Do I need special SDL drivers?)
Servers [ zip ] (Why is the server separate? Do I need to download both server and client to play Quake?)
Tools [ zip ] (What tools? Not sure what this includes? Is this for designers? or programmers?)
Libraries and header files (for developers) [ zip ] (again what type of developers? designers? or programmers?)
QFCC QuakeC/Ruamoko compiler and libraries [ zip ] (I use FTEQCC and have no idea if QFCC is better or the same? Should I switch over?)

Sorry for the dumb questions but I am windows users and generally find simple download buttons on web sites :?

[Spike]

win32 builds on a 64bit os should not be a problem.

Ignore the 'SDL' part. It just refers to how the engine interacts with the operating system.
'client' builds probably include server support too.
'server' implies dedicated servers. see my previous line.
'tools' will be things to build a pak files or what not. maybe of interest to you to make mods, you probably already have equivelent windows gui tools.
'libraries and header files' is likely only for compiling part of quakeforge. not useful to end users at all. probably not that useful for programmers either.
qfcc is likely a must if your primary target is quakeforge. otherwise I don't personally think it makes a huge difference. use whichever you find easiest.

regarding mingw+win64, should be just an -m64 argument, as well as paths for 64bit libraries. only real win64 api difference I can remember is that long=32bit, and half the SetWindowLong calls get replaced with SetWindowLongPtr calls. You can target the win64 api, and macros will activate to support win32 as required. Just avoid silly casts. If you're using SDL then assuming you use intptr_t where things matter you'll have no issues.

[revelator]

64 bit builds work allthough on my version of gcc you dont need the -m64 flag cause its 64 bit only it sets that automatically.
Standard MinGW64 is also a crosscompiler mines not though a multilib version of it would need the -m64 and other flags.

[ceriux]

as far as i know, i played all of the maps. i played till the arrows pointing to the direction i needed to go lead me to a gate that wouldnt open. i liked how all of the maps actually resembled the originals. it was very fun. in qbism there were a few warnings printed. but im sure its because its a software engine and has some limitations. id try again on engoo, but engoo doesnt like win7. i didnt play any demo's i just jumped strait into the game. it makes me wonder how coop would play.

[taniwha]

Sock: thanks for the fantastic feedback! I have to do another release soon anyway, so I'll look into making things clearer at the same time. I've already got some ideas for improvements.

Spike: hmm. Well, it turns out there's a "fork" (yay github) of MXE that does multi-target (including win64). I'll give that a shot (I'm worried about all the libs rather than building qf itself).

[qbism]

im sure its because its a software engine and has some limitations.

super8 protocol and engine limits should be adequate, but could be a bug. Or could be the annoying warnings on opengl commands. gl_clear and similar commands in cfg files or stuffcmds are moot in a software engine. Maybe engine should ignore or translate "gl_" silently unless in developer mode.

I played a bit of the start map up to the amulet (where the [spoiler!] fresh wave of guards cornered me)-
1. Monster pathfinding and grouping together is uncanny. It is startling to see the fiend behind you after trying to lose it.
2. ...but sometimes monsters take the long way around a loop instead of direct path.
3. Seemed I was getting snagged too easily by geometry in curved corridors, maybe on the torches that are mounted low.
4. Lighting is well balanced- atmospheric without being too dark in any area.
5. It wasn't clear initially that stealth mode wasn't immediately available, but deeper into the start map than the other maps. Thought I was missing something near the spawn point.
6. As a noob to the mod, I'd say the stealth mode tutorial was right on target. Made it clear how to play in an short time. Also great that it was integrated into the level progression vs. a separate training level. Obviously light-years ahead of a "readme".
7. Would like to see additional texts for the books, really enjoyed reading them.

[taniwha]

Ok, I've got 0.7.1a up (a brown-paper-bag release).

Sock: could you take a look at the downloads page and let me know if that's any better?

[sock]

Thanks spike for the explanation and Taniwha for the update.

The QF web page still feels really busy to me, personally I would split the block of text into function like below but this is just a suggestion, nothing more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 0.7.1a (released 19 Jan 2013)

Player - Windows (32/64 bit) binaries:
[ Client download ] - QuakeForge engine
[ Server only download ] - Dedicated server for MP

MOD Developer
[ tar.bz2 | tar.gz | zip ] - Blender mdl import/export addon (bugfix)
[ zip ] - Tools - Map and pak manipulation.
[ zip ] - QFCC QuakeC/Ruamoko compiler and libraries

Programmer Developer
[ tar.bz2 | tar.gz | zip ] - Source code
[ zip ] - Libraries and header files, might be useful for creating new tools
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is what happens when I download and install the client:

• * I downloaded the client zip file.
  * I put the zip file in the root of my Quake directory and extract the files.
  * It creates a sub folder called 'quakeforge-client-sdl-0.7.1a-win32' (wow crazy long name)
  * I find two more sub folders (bin and QF)
  * I cannot find any readme file so I double checked the website again.
  * Website says use 'nq-sdl.exe' I double click it.
  * Get Fatal error message 'Couldn't load gfx/palette.lmp'
  * I move the 'nq-sdl.exe' to the root of my quake directory and now it runs
  * I have a very tiny window by default, runs super fast!
  * I try to execute any macro scripts and they cannot be found, odd because they are in the same directory
  * Type '-game shadows'
  * Type 'map start' and get a fatal error 'progs.dat: PR_Check_Opcodes: non-zero global index in invalid operand (statement 6: storep.v)'
  * Just noticed the 'nq-sdl.exe' has a default icon, makes difficult to spot in the quake directory
  * Create a shortcut to 'nq-sdl.exe' and add the command line paramters '-heapsize 64000 -game shadows'
  * Run the shortcut, small window and playing quake demo's. Type start and get above PR_Check error
  * Not sure how to run my MOD, any clues?