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Updated Q1SP MOD - Arcane Dimensions 1.7.1 *PATCHED*
Sock has been beavering away behind the scenes to get a fully updated tweaked fixed and finalised version of AD. So here it is. One point SEVEN.

Download (220mb):
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_v1_70final.zip

V1.7.1 Patch (see recent post below):
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_v1_70patch1.zip


Readme:
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_v1_70_readme.txt

Recommended Quakespasm 0.93:
http://quakespasm.sourceforge.net/download.htm

Past versions etc:
http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/sp/ad.htm

In his own words:
"The AD zip file is getting a bit big and inconvenient to download and I think its time to start splitting stuff off into separate files. The AD map source files are not needed or viewed much and if anyone wants to see them, just drop me an email request.

This download contains all the previous maps, some new extra code and features, lots of bug fixes, some new mapper features (check documentation) and as a final bonus, a couple of extra maps hidden away in the main map hubs, good hunting!"


Screenshots:
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_17_finish1.jpg
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_17_finish2.jpg
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_17_finish3.jpg
http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_17_finish4.jpg
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Crashing System 
Argh, that is bad. So QSS doesn't crash your system, and regular QS 0.93.0 does?

I think the most likely way to crash the OS is an OpenGL driver bug or QS doing something invalid with OpenGL. Try launching with -noglsl which will restrict it to OpenGL 1.x features, it might work around the problem. What are your GPU / GPU driver version / OS version? 
 
I don't know yet if QSS also crashes, but I want to try it.

I'm using Windows 7 on a Dell N5110 laptop, which has an Intel HD Graphics 3000 chipset.

Maybe the cause is the FSAA which I've enabled recently... the performance was good though. 
#608 
any qss/qs stability difference is more likely to be down to 64bit vs 32bit, or SDL1 vs SDL2.
the only real engine change is that QSS doesn't do the whole glmesh thing, but instead simply always uses vertex arrays instead of glBegin for mdls. This makes md3s easier to support, and fixes potential crashes on large mdls, but also means that bugs are more likely to crash the drivers rather than less...

QSS is meant to be a super-set of QS. pr_checkextension 0 will disable the extensions that AD (safely) checks for, which is the main difference between the two engines.
FTE should also be able to run it, but AD dev tends to focus on QS instead so it should work but its not well tested (eg: you should probably avoid rtlights).

regarding fence textures - alpha blending has issues when it comes to the depth buffer. Technically speaking, a pixel that contains colour info from two+ blended fragments should have two+ separate depth values - but it can't. This results in halos and weirdness and screwed up depth.
This is why we use alpha testing (even with high-res replacement textures) - it might not look the best but its simply more robust.
There are a few order independent transparency techniques, but they're generally slow and overcomplicated. If you've a software renderer that's generating spans then you could make that support overlapping/nested spans or something fancy, but you'd need to use the same logic for everything including mdls and particles. 
 
Disabling FSAA on regular QuakeSpasm seems to have fixed it. 
Good To Hear! 
 
AD 1.7 Patch 1 
* Fixed logic problem with trigger_count and message/message strings
* Fixed trigger_count message problem in ad_ac and ad_sepulcher maps
* Fixed eddict crash in ad_sepulcher by reducing particle setups
* Fixed spelling mistake in ad_chapters for ad_ac portal entrance
* Added missing features (triggers/bbox/explosions) to func_pushable
* Added func_pressureswitch bmodel entity for extra puzzle logic
* Added func_insidevolume to detect player, monster, item & pushables
* Added trigger_doorstate to force func_door entities to open/close state
* Removed invulnerability frames from zombie/zombiek when using shadow axe
* Changed the behaviour of zombie/zombiek to be easier for knockdowns
* Added death message for Gargoyle minions (spawned from minotaurs)
* Moved all player death messages to relevant monster QC files instead
* Fixed brkmondmg entity key on func_breakables to work with projectiles
* Fixed misc_demon not resetting gib model names when switching gib models
* Removed info_stuffcmd as it was open to abuse from malicious mappers
* Added trigger_cdtrack to allow for custom music changes after map load
* Added trigger_skybox to allow for different skybox setups after map load
* Added client check for changed music/skybox to load/quickload functions
* Fixed respawn_time on all items to not instantly spawn, minimum is 1s
* Fixed frozen bug crash for gargoyle/gaunt when waking up from perch/statue
* Fixed monster_firetopboss to cope with skill 3 shambler group attacks!
* Fixed sighttarget to check for health/damage before creating a sight entity
* Added trigger entity state reset to func_button (will override wait value)
* Added Impulse 170 to toggle monster body fade/removal when playing a map
* Fixed player weapon animation issue with idle/fire states being wrong
* Updated DEF file for GTK/Radiant editors with new patch features
* Added FGD file for Jack/Trenchbroom editors by Dan "twitchy" Ellis
* Added V/G models for players weapons from Stas "dwere" Kuznetsov



http://www.simonoc.com/files/ad/ad_v1_70patch1.zip 
Sweet! 
Has anyone done anything with presdure plates yet? I see a good coop opportunity there...and pushables. 
 
Playing through the original first episode of quake after these maps is dissapointing. Even the few of the more fleshed out test maps in Arcane dimensions stand above the episode 1 levels in quake. 
 
I'd love to see the OG shareware episode given the full AD treatment in a jam or something. One can dream! 
Nice Changes 
Zombie change is really nice, being able to gib them without waiting out the i-frames is much better. Not sure when it was changed but standard grunt enemies seem to now take two shotgun hits like in vanilla rather than the one they did before, much better since they were a bit squishy IMO. 
@Kim 
I think the original game was 2 SG hits before too? I assume that the SG was just slightly nerfed back to original damage. 
@619/620 
The AD shotguns previously did a bit more damage as a tradeoff for being projectile weapons instead of the vanilla hitscan, this was rolled back in v1.70 according to the changelog:
* Removed extra damage (+4 per shot) from projectile shotguns (SG/SSG/WM) 
 
I can't believe I forgot that - especially as someone who used to complain about the discrepancy a lot. I imagine it was nearly impossible to balance ammo for people who used the impulse command to switch modes. 
Bug Report 
This is probably not the place to report bugs, but I thought I give it a shot. I'm fairly new here, e.g. lurking until now, I normally hang out in the ZDoom forums, please forgive my ignorance.

Anyway, rockets (not grenades) fired at zombies have a blast radius of zero/don't inflict splash damage. If you stand directly in front of a zombie and fire the RL point blank, you won't be harmed, same goes for anything else standing close to it. The only workaround for now is to kill zombies with the GL. 
 
Just checked for myself and I can confirm it's true. Weird! 
 
"Playing through the original first episode of quake after these maps is dissapointing. Even the few of the more fleshed out test maps in Arcane dimensions stand above the episode 1 levels in quake."

Well, that stands to reason with 20+ years of tools development behind us. :) They were building the levels with first generation, still being written, tools... 
 
I wouldn't want to try running AD maps on a Pentium 90 with 8-16 MB of RAM, which was actually one of the better systems you could have had when the original Quake was released. The game had to run on that hardware (usually worse), so there couldn't be many details in the levels.

As great as it is to see what became possible in Quake mapping after all these years, the classic levels remain timeless and really shouldn't be compared to what the community comes up with these days. 
 
Leptis Magna is one of my favorite AD maps. However, it has way too many encounters where we can just nail the enemies from very far away, which makes the enemies not react, because the enemies will only target the player if the player is close enough, even when the player is attacking them.

If the player is too far away for the monsters to target, the monsters should at least dodge the player's projectiles when they're hit. Get the angle of the projectile's trajectory, and make the monsters run in an orthogonal direction. 
 
or just run around randomly when hit 
 
With the Benny Hill Chase music playing. 
 
Giftmarchar's ad_e1m3 is fully playable, and is different enough from AD schupuler, so should be added. 
+1 
 
AD On Finnish Game Magazine 
I discovered recently that AD was featured in the March 2018 issue of Pelit, (probably) the largest game magazine in the Nordic countries! :D

Brace yourselves as I reminisce: Back in the day, before the days of the Internet, I used to read the magazine a lot in the elementary school (1995-2001) library when I was a wee lad. But as Internet became more widespread, and I grew up, there was a long time I hadn't read the magazine at all.

But once I graduated in 2014 and got a stable job, I picked up reading the magazine once again. And I noticed some of the journalists in the magazine were still around as in the nineties, so there's a lot of oldschool flair in the magazine, with a lot of love for old or retro games.

Some highlights from the article:

"Arcane Dimensions is Quake as it's painted in our memories. The building blocks are largely the same but the action has been beefed up and the architecture is from another world."

"The culmination of the mod is Forgotten Sepulcher. Despite the size everything is thought out and detailed."

"20 years of practice in map design has produced fruit, the seed of which id Software probably didn't realize it had sown."

"I was enchanted by AD from the first bite."

After a brief description of his run of Foggy Bogbottom the author states: "Not every map of the mod is an epic like that of Foggy Bogbottom, but it sums up what AD is at its best: feeling the map, horror, action, exploration, pacing, replayability, a little bit of everything."

(The author seems to like large open maps with exploration with side paths and backtracking.)

"The Triforce of speed, avoidable projectiles, and ever surrounding punishment shines bright"

"The game keeps you on your toes."

"The maps in AD are spiky Rubik's cubes that occasionally lock in places to show something, but are often just skillfully intertwined geometry, art for the sake of art. They evoke a lot of images, but often slip to the realm of the incomprehensible, which since the days of Lovecraft has been a good setting for a nightmarish feeling."

"Quake Champions has shiny graphics and polish, but in attitude AD dominates. Rough is beatiful."

The author states how many of the maps draw inspiration from FPS games throughout the ages and states: "AD is Quake with two decades worth of experience. A map pack, which makes the id maps look like preschooler tinkering. Not that the folks at id were bad at the time but knowhow has simply just increased since then."

"Subjectively I have an unhealthy fixation with the Quake framework. Objectively AD is one of the best things that people have done with the framework."

Screenshot of the article with the text hidden to respect the text copyright:

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/AD_Pelit_jpg.jpg

The text at the beginning says:

"AN ANCIENT GOD AWAKENS

In capable hands certain games just keep getting better over the decades. One of them is Quake." 
Thanks Esrael 
Seeing this is very humbling and exciting at the same time, I feel honoured to have contributed to this mod. :) 
Thx! 
Very nice to read this. 
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