because my last project is very linear... at least at the beginning: you will have to suffer this before having "fun".... 

that sounds like it would be a pretty lame map :-/ 

A passing-on type chainmap will necessarily be linear. It is a linear process.

If you make no rules, somebody might build eight exits from his part, two of which are underwater, and the project would DIE at that point because not enough mappers are participating to seal all those exits.

The rules I suggested already allow for branches to make it less linear than it would normally be.

I agree with JPL that such a project would need relatively strict and simple rules to have a chance of completion. I happen to have a basic understanding of the way open source project development works, because I have been kind of involved there. So I tried my hand (brain) at a simple ruleset.

In the open source community, it is typical that one person starts a project and then others pick it up, modify and improve it. It may not look like it, but there are actually very strict rules behind that simple process, some from the GPL and some from revision control systems like CVS and Subversion.

Strict rules can make a project work better instead of complicating it. Linux is probably the most prominent example.

As an experiment, let's outline what happens if you transfer the "linux model" to a Quake map:

1. You as a developer take somebody else's project, i.e. a map that is under the GPL (the rules.) If there is a maintainer, you either cooperate with him (wise) or you do a "fork" and become your own maintainer.

2. You improve it, make the changes you deem necessary, increase the version number and zip it up together with a readme, a copy of gnu.txt and the source code.

You don't need any permission to do any of this. It's not theft. It's actually THE NORMAL WAY.

It's the same as the passing-along chainmap model - you would just start with a complete map (for example one of the GPL Quake maps) and then it passes through many people's hands, everybody improves something and re-uploads it.

Large (non-linear) projects work more like the traditional chainmaps; they need someone to bring order to chaos, so to speak. And that's what a maintainer does. He decides what goes in and what doesn't. He puts the pieces together.

It's a social experiment, only successful as long as people are willing to give up control. Control-freakism (for "artistic" or commercial reasons) immediately kills the process. Even the maintainer is just a manager, not a control freak. If he is, there will typically be a fork, most developers will desert, and the old maintainer will be left in the dust. There are famous examples of this (Xfree86 to xorg was the last one.)

I think it's desirable for Quake mappers to understand that model, so further development of the now GPL'ed maps is even possible. Right now, people are just using them as a scrapyard. That's primitive. Why not adopt one instead, improve it, give it a version number and declare yourself the maintainer. Then let people send you "patches" and just bump the version number.

The Shub-Hub would be an ideal repository.

I fail to see why this would be too complicated. It's super-easy in fact. 

Man, I haven't stumbled into this forum since roughly ... 2002. I actually played some Q1 at a LAN few days ago, trying out the exQuake engine. We played some team headhunters on some old favorites, aggressr, efdm11, agent, warfare3, etc... and it reminded me a certain webpage that I haven't checked on in an equally long amount of time. Finishing that page is still on my life's todo list.

Hope all is well with everyone. Could someone list all the q1dm maps that have come out in the last five years for me? JK. Cheers. 

Browse through the news archive of func_msgboard 

q1dm maps that have appeared on the Func_board I'm afraid. You may find a half a dozen or so in the archive, some of them are pretty good.

Vondur has several great maps on his site http://vondur.net

If you are handy with a bsp compiler and have the sources for Quake2 or Quake3 Arena maps (some mappers open source there content), converting them to Quake bsp is a pretty trivial task.

If you need some bots and waypoints for newer maps check out the forum on inside3d.com. 

Get Gibbie's sexy maps!
Also maps by Zakaa: http://www.saunalahti.fi/zakaa/ 

I don't see multiple exits from a room to be a problem. If a mapper makes lots of exits, the person combining all the pieces can always have the extra doorways lead to little dead-end rooms with ammo, or have them link to secrets, or just have them curl back around and connect into the same room again. More exits only gives the mapper doing the combining more choices. 

when i start to hear this funny crackling sound (a bit like when crts turn on).

suddenly, BAM, like a motherfucking cap gun in the ear, from somewhere in my pc case or the monitor, this extremly loud pop noise comes out of nowhere...

screen goes black, i think the machine rebooted... i freak out and hit the powerbar off.

in shock, i sort of sit around for a bit, sniff the air, searching for smoke, nothing.
the inside of the case looks fine, and the monitor is giving the normal test pattern when it's not receiving any signal.

cautiously, i power it back on, dreading whatever odd errors would accompany some critical hardware failure, only nothing is wrong! it boots up perfectly fine, not even asking to do a disk scan.

has anyone ever heard of this (or had it happen to themselves)??

i'm trying to figure out wtf just happened. :S

obviously, it wasn't a capacitor as it would have smelt like ass and smoke would have been there... i'm guessing some kind of electrical arc from dust inside the case... but can an electrical arc be that loud? i mean, it was really really loud. o_o litterally like shooting a cap gun off in your ear. 

Just a quick hello to an old comrade =). Hope you are doing fine, too! What are you up to these days? 

Hey mate, how are you?

I actually thought of you the other day when I stumbled across your old PQ website again, good to see you're still doing the old Quake thing.

Also, hello Mr. walkR :D 

having a bunch of people interested in a map and just regularly 'checking in' your progress back onto the shub hub, with the only guideline being 'add what you feel is necessary if you have the map' sounds like it could work out real well. 

when you sum it up so sensibly, I can't see how he could have lost. So what does the juror award Golden_boy? 

Yes could be interesting to put up a repository for all of the GPL:ed quake maps and see what it can mutate too. Might work well because it doesn't require much commitment by any individual.

+Welcome back peek! 

That sounds like something worth trying. 

WalkR: I've been in grad school for landscape architecture, which is a bit like designing levels (not that I actually released any levels mind you). Nevertheless, my brief forways into worldcraft and other level design software really came in handy when working with CAD as well as other 3D modeling applications. I'm presently trying to figure out how to use Vue 6 and/or the World Construction Set to model future scenarios for a river restoration / dam removal / urban park project with which I'm involved. It's been a good time.

Anyway, my Quake+LAN experience is more of an anual event than anything, but it was fun.

Glad to hear from you all. 

Regardless, I think it would be nice to come up with a list of all the GPL maps available. They're useful for educational purposes too. 

it occurred to me in the shower [thinking about czg] that BT does what you want wrt to hash checking. 

Hopefully you won't mind a little selfp1mpage...

http://rpg.leveldesign.org/rpgdm1.html 

sigh i have to do it too

http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=36806

(it's best 2on2 imo) 

...I'll join the flock.

There's three in here http://www.quakeone.com/travail

qtdm1 is strictly 4v4 and not surprisingly not on any server

qtdm2 (2v2) and qtdm3 (8ffa) are on rage.quakeone.com (CAx) and quake.intertex.net (DM+) 

Actually, I was thinking of updating the site one day, then I ran into this:

http://mpqarchive.pauked.com/

You can tell I've been out of the loop a long while. Nevertheless, I'd be much more inclined to fill in gaps in that site than update an essentially redundant resource filled with a million broken links.

Thanks for the mentioning your maps, I'll look at them nevertheless. 

A tag system for the news would be very handy. :) 

notice any issues with fitzquake and the new nvidia forceware drvers (163 release).

When you load a demo or level, the text in the console starts behaving all blurry and jittery and out of focus. It seems to go back to normal on level/demo load.

Havent really ried it properly to know if that's the only issue. 

not all capacitors smell or smoke, either because they�re too small, or because they�re old and the stufff inside has dried out.
(I asked a friend because I found the story "interesting")

In any case you should run a thorough check.