re: quake.rc - just an "exec autoexec.cfg"

You haven't seen enough mods. A number of single player mods come with an autoexec.cfg, even though they shouldn't (one example among many, Once Up Atrocity .. which is awesome btw).

And they often contain things they should not. Example ...

gl_flashblend 0
r_shadows 0
scr_centertime 4
scr_printspeed 16
r_wateralpha 0.6
gl_subdivide_size 1024
r_maxsurfs 900
r_maxedges 2800

re: DX8 crash that occasionally occurs

cl_autodemo 1 needs host_maxfps set to 72 -- otherwise it won't record because the demo size could be massive and 72 fps is only correct Quake physics in single player. (todo: document that)

But yeah, I'd need the autodemo. Console log doesn't help. 

Still black video after setting xvid as the codec.

Here is what I am doing now to test:

-I made a quick 20 second demo called test.

-I run Mark V, capturedemo test

It runs the xvid encoder window, once it is finished Mark V tells me so. I exit the game, check the created .avi and I get black video with proper sounds.

I am running at 640x480 for this test. 

I'll do some testing on a variety of different machines sometime this week. And we'll see what turns up! 

re: DX8 crash under certain conditions

However, I looked at your console log and filling in my imagination with knowing your preferences ...

I have successfully recreated the crash I believe you are experiencing with the DX8 version twice.

/We'll see what's up. 

Ok, but what is the problem with having "things they should not" in the autoexec for a mod? If you ran the mod the standard way with -game mod, it would all happen.... and it will only apply to that mod, right? It's not going to alter your config files in id1 or anywhere else, is it?

If the mod author wants you to have weird settings when running his mod, and he includes an autoexec with those settings, what's the real problem? That's been a standard way of doing it for a long time. Alternately, you have to do a bunch of stuffcmds in the mod itself... but many mods don't do that, since the autoexec is easier. Heck, the good old Blabalicious Quake movie uses an autoexec.cfg to adjust your screen settings and start the demo playing.

Or maybe the mod creator included vispatched maps, and he wants you to be able to see through the water, so he included r_wateralpha .6 in the autoexec for the mod, which will get executed when people run the mod the standard way with -game mymod, sincve that's default Quake behavior.

But by using the "game mymod" command in the console, now the player will not have the mod-specific settings applied, so he probably won't be seeing the mod as the author intended (hope there aren't any important buttons hidden in shallow water...). And Blahbalicious won't play, heh.



For players who just have different keyboard configurations for different mods, they also expect the autoexec to run automatically for each different mod.

I'm just wondering why anyone would ever NOT want to do so? If for some reason they don't, they just do the default Quake thing of deleting the autoexec, or modifying it to their liking.

I guess I should just say that "game blah" should mimic the default Quake behavior of "-game blah" 

Ah, good -- the DX crash isn't just my old netbook then. Now here's hope for a fix. Nice. 

Strange things happen if you noclip out of the level that has mirrors: fps drops, you see a reflection of player in different places and some pieces of level. 

There's an issue with the Winquake version if you run in a window with the vertical resolution set the same as your screen height. Like if I run in an 800 x 600 window on my 1024 x 600 netbook. The HUD is chopped off at the bottom of the screen.
Something has crossed my mind about this: it feels like it should be normal Windows behavior. I never play in windowed mode so I'm not sure but it seems logical to me that setting a specific window resolution should work for the CONTENTS of the window, not for the window itself (that is, not counting the window's borders). If this is how Windows work, then it makes sense to have the bottom of the window chopped off. Is there a Windows expert around to confirm this? 

Some mods come with autoexecs in their PAK files. At that stage it's no longer possible for the user to control their own settings.

The intention of Quake is clear: default.cfg is for the mod defaults, config.cfg is for user-configurable stuff that is saved, autoexec.cfg is an override to both and can also contain stuff that's not saved.

Mod authors have in the past enforced their own preferences on users. You see video modes, key bindings, look-and-feel settings, all enforced in ways that users cannot control and on occasion even freely admitted as intentional by the author.

Not running the cfgs is an unfortunate compromise but seems the only sane thing to do. 

Mods using autoexec.cfg to store their settings is only somewhat standart-ish because some mod developers aren't aware of this file's real purpose. This is player's territory.

If you need to force something in your mod, modifying quake.rc is a much better option.

With this in mind, executing only autoexec.cfg is very selective. It's not even supposed to be the most important part of the settings, even if sometimes it is.

As for whether to execute things when changing the game dir mid-session, I think it only makes sense for the behavior to be consistent with what's going on during startup. If the settings are questionable - well, blame the mod author(s). 

The chosen resolution in windowed modes is for what's called the client area of the window, in other words excluding the title bar and borders. Quake on startup calls AdjustWindowRect to add on the size of the title bar and borders, getting the actual window size.

This has been the behaviour of WinQuake and GLQuake from the beginning and is expected behaviour.

So Quake is just doing what you asked it to do: Create a window with a client area of 600 high, which will get another 30 to 40 or so pixels added after AdjustWindowRect, which will then push the status bar off screen.

The solution is to ask it for a smaller window. 

MH for the win. Read his post carefully. Some mods come with autoexec.cfg in pak files and such.

Mod authors almost never intentionally did wrong things, they only sought to provide a good user experience for their mod.

Nonetheless, there are toxic quake.rc and autoexec.cfg files out there.

And playing single player release with the player in control of his settings is #1 for Mark V.

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@ Gunter I'll soon be updating the version to build #1001 --- I believe will fix your DX8 issue. It only happened when a dynamic light was active, some lightmap fields needed cleared on map change. The DX8 wrapper reacted very negatively without those fields cleared. 

You're still executing these "toxic" settings during startup. So I'm not sure what's being achieved here. 

after disabling smoothing in the preferences and restarting the game, lerp reverts to default though smoothstairs remains off. Currently using lerpmodels/move 0 in an autoxec as a workaround (which is fine, since I want smoothstairs on, anyway).

Really sweet port, getting my retro fix! 

anyway to disable/adjust mips in the winquake fork? Using pixel quadrupling and the next mip level gets drawn when you're pretty close to the surface; it's a tad ugly/jarring.

again, minor gripes. I really am enjoying this port :D 

Addressed that in upcoming build.

@dwere -- If I want to play something, I start up Quake and do "game warpspasm -quoth". And then start playing ... (the mods quake.rc or autoexec.cfg is never run).

@killpixel +10. And just at the right time too! 

I understand what you say. I implemented what was easiest to do for approximate scaling solution in WinQuake build (stretch).

But yeah, I'd like to have full resolution pixels + scaled 320x240 or 640x480 HUD/Menu at same time --- but would take 3 weeks to write so ...

... maybe in the future.

/But notice it is separate option from GL Build automatic HUD scaling. Tells you I feel how you feel. 

Yeah, just as dwere said, I was going to point out that you are still running those files when mods are started by the standard, age-old method of "-game blah."

If a mod mod comes with an autoexec, generally it is is "part of the mod" that should be ran for the mod to function (as the author wanted). Of course, there can be "bad behaviors" from this, but any part of a mod is subject to such problems.

Though I suppose true "player in control of his settings" would allow a player to choose if he WANTS to disable the default Quake behavior of running an autoexec.cfg when starting a mod.... 

Build 1001

Same place as usual

1) DX8 build intermittent crash due to dynamic lights fixed (gunter)
2) Mirrors + noclip outside world slow fix (pulsar)
3) r_lerpmove/r_lerpmodels preference now saves (killpixel)

/Typing "version" in the console will show as build 1001. 

... maybe in the future.

Looking forward to it (maybe). In the meantime, this will do just fine!

But yeah, I'd like to have full resolution pixels + scaled 320x240 or 640x480 HUD/Menu at same time --- but would take 3 weeks to write so

Actually, I use the scaling because I like the look, not because I need larger hud/menu. Though, controlling those independently would be nice.

On that note, perhaps you could clarify something: I noticed that scaled pixels are square, meaning they aren't stretched to a different aspect ratio. So, when choosing scaling (320x240 or 640x480) it uses a constrained resolution/ratio that is closest to those listed resolutions? In other words, when using a 1920x180 display, your effective resolution when using scaling is 960x540 or 480x270? If this is the case, maybe it would be more clear to list the option as pixel doubling/quadrupling?

Ok, no more nitpicking, I feel like I'm sending the wrong message.

I'm off to play pixel quake... 

It was called vid_stretch in WinQuake so that's what I went with as the name. It finds the best multiple that comes closet to either 320x240 or 640x480 ... and goes with that number for stretch factor. 

Though I suppose true "player in control of his settings" would allow a player to choose if he WANTS to disable the default Quake behavior of running an autoexec.cfg when starting a mod....

Well, technically, you're in control now. You can "game gamedir" without executing anything, or you can "game gamedir" and then "exec quake.rc" after that.

Or "exec autoexec.cfg" if you know for sure that all you need is there. Executing quake.rc has a side effect of stuffcmds. 

i see. Thanks baker! 

Typical my you can divide Quake players into two broad categories: Those who know the inner workings of the game, and those who don't.

Those who know might start the game with command-line options, load new games with -game via batch files, and - crucially - will also have sufficient knowledge to deal with a rogue .cfg file.

Those who don't, won't.

There are more of the latter than the former, and this stuff is a barrier to entry. Hit one of those people with a rogue .cfg file that tries to set a bad video mode on their machine, or overwrites their keybindings, and what are they going to do?

This isn't theoretical talk either. These are real problems that real people face. Have a look at the QuakeOne or Steam or Bethesda forums - there are people who have trouble getting an engine or mod into the right directory.

These people are why the Quake Injector exists, they're why people like Spirit goes nuts if a mod is released with configs, and they're why unfortunate behaviours like not execcing configs on a game change exist too.

I would love to see it happen too. But because of rogue configs, having it not happen is the lesser evil.

After all: You are not representative of the typical Quake player. 

Here are a few more .lit/.vis PAKs to use with some Quake addons for colored lights and transparent water.

LIT/VIS for Abyss of Pandemonium, Malice & Shrak (ZIP, 16.6 MB)

LIT/VIS for Dimension of the Past, Nehahra & Travail (ZIP, 23.7 MB)

May they serve you well while exploring the power of Mark V!